Spring report – Movie Journal

            Spring is in full swing, a lot of things have changed (including my hair!) – it is the perfect time to look back at March & April movies. Sun is not really helping with staying home and watching films, but I still find myself looking for that comforting feeling. Especially considering that my social batteries are… Dead.  

Before we move into the summary, let’s chat. I just made myself ice coffee and moved to the swing to write these words. My balcony is looking lit these days – fake grass on the floor, so I can walk barefoot. Swing with a soft pillow. The balcony is covered with blue material so no one can see me walking around in my sweats. Sunflowers are catching the shade now, but in a few hours as the sun travels across the sky… They will enjoy the sun.

Previous weeks were so tough. And… Part of me is happy that I will be occupied. Part of me is terrified with the amount of work. On top of all that, I feel like I’m going with whatever comes, as calmly as possible. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt like this, because it’s neither good nor bad. It just is… 

            Anyway, I am here and that is the most important thing. I truly enjoy life and accept all that comes. As long as there are movies and coffee… I think I will be good. 

What changed?

            Not much – the file is still divided into 12 months and your job is to watch one film a week. I think that the concepts (themes) are pretty challenging – but in a good way. It is supposed to be a fun challenge, right? Each year I try to make it even more personal.

So, the idea for this year was to give you Lot the liberty of choosing your own concept. That happened in January and will happen again in July. Other than that, this year there are no other additional tasks (Marta, Gavin, Radek – please remove that D column, I totally forgot to do that…). 

You can also get yourself to the movie theater or your home couch and score a “premiere”. As always – it can be an official premiere or… Something absolutely new to you. Rules are (only sometimes) meant to be broken. 

March – Movies that… Have a number in their title.  

            Quite a nice challenge, no? It made me look for some movies I’ve wanted to re-watch or give a second chance. I have to be honest – I only watched one “new” movie for me. Why? Well, my anxiety was over the roof and you know how it works. Maybe it’s Spring or maybe I am just tired and need a break 😀 

Anyway, I am happy to see my fellow contestants’ choices! As for the premieres – only one and not a great one. As for the TV series, I caught up with the second season of phenomenal Euphoria and very funny Brooklyn 9-9. Lots of guilty pleasure with Bridgerton!

            Take a look at all the movies we watched in March:

Here are the Twin Peaks Café March highlights:

HIGHEST NUMBER OF THE MONTH: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – one of the movies that takes my breath away each time I put it on. How can you make a movie like that in the late 60s?! It’s amazing, puzzling and just… Takes a Visionaire, right? 

“MEMORY LANE” OF THE MONTH: Rocky II (1979) – Rocky has a special place in my heart, the entire series. It lifts me up when I’m down and puts me back on the track. I believe everyone struggling with low self-esteem and feeling low should watch this. I guarantee it will help! 

HIGHEST SCORE OF THE MONTH: A Quiet Place II (2021) – not as good as the first, but still pretty decent. I was afraid to watch it, given the genre, but… It is more of a thriller. But you know, the scariest thing is the one that you cannot see at first. Also, I watched it for Cillian Murphy. Okay? There, I said it.  

BEST MOVIE OF THE MONTH: 8 mile (2002) – Sometimes all you need is to… lose yourself to the music! One of my favorite movies. Great cast and wonderful Eminem. The Oscar for “Best song” was so well deserved. They don’t make movies like that anymore… 

APRIL – Movies… directed by women

            We did this podcast at work around Women’s Day in March, but I thought this would be a good idea to incorporate it into the Movie Journal. I like to treat this as awareness, not angry and toxic trait of feminism. Awareness! There are so many great movies made by women. I mean, I had no idea that American Psycho was directed by Mary Harron! 

When it comes to premiers, I watched Morbius – which was absolutely wrong. I hated it, because it made no sense, it was all over the place and just… Ugh. Second premiere was top of the top, though. Nick Cage and Pedro Pascal in a buddy movie? Yes please. 

Look at what we watched in April: 

 Here are the Twin Peaks Café April highlights:

“SURPRISE” OF THE MONTH: American Psycho (2000) – not because it was a new movie for me, but the older I am, the freakier it gets for me. Plus, when it comes to surprises, finding out that it had a woman behind the camera… Wow! Kudos. Great movie, really. Tough and controversial material to work with, but grew to the rank of all-time classic. 

DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE MONTH: Morbius (2022) – so far, the worst movie I’ve seen in 2022. This had no right to work. It is such a shame it will be associated with the same universe and timeline as Venom (which – to be fair – wasn’t perfect, but at least entertaining). Ugh. I hope they will not make part 2. 

BEST MOVIE OF THE MONTH: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)– what a fantastic surprise it was. It’s a feel-good-buddy-black-comedy with a giant pinch of Nick Cage nostalgia. What a wonderful, sweet tribute to one of the best actors in Hollywood. But hey, you can read more here.

HIGHEST SCORE OF THE MONTH: One night in Miami… (2020) – I watched it as part of Oscars run-down few years back, but I like watching it every once in a while. It is a great “what if” story and you can see the masterful hand of Regina King from a mile away. 

What’s next?

            Third part of the summary (May & June) will be posted sometime in June, but I can’t promise anything. There are some cool concepts in store: for May, it’s movies with color in their name. I LOVE IT! And June is dedicated to biopics and the list in my head is already growing for that month.

And hey, if you would like to join the fun and start your own Movie Journal, get your copy here. It’s completely free 🙂