The best month of the year when it comes to movies!
TV:
Nicole Byer: BBW (Big Beautiful Weirdo) – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Succession: Season 3 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sex Life of College Girls – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dickinson: Season 3 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Insecure: Season 5 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We had a lot of finales this month, two being series finales. Dickinson is such a unique show that is truly nothing I’ve ever watched before. A coming-of-age tale of Emily Dickinson exploring the constraints of women and society in the 19th century through her poems. With cameos from famous writers like Emerson, Alcott, and Thoreau, this show is wonderfully contemplative and hilarious. Issa Rae also wrapped her HBO show Insecure with an excellent final season that brought closure to her beautifully developed characters. The show is such an excellent love letter to LA. I struggled a little through the long awaited third season of Succession, but that finale episode was WILD. The performances on that show are so out of this world they could really do anything and I’ll watch it. HBO really killed it this month with its third addition to my watchlist: Sex Lives of College Girls. Co-created by Mindy Kaling, this show follows the four freshman roommates as they navigate the freedom that college brings. Thank God this show was on not on network television because it could really depict college as it really is—sex, alcohol, and exploration. I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did and I can’t wait for the nest season.
Movies:
Ride the Eagle – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Single All The Way – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
West Side Story – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
King Richard – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spider-Man: No Way Home – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Being the Ricardos – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Encanto – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Licorice Pizza – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
We got a little bit of everything here: a musical, Disney, indies, and a couple biopics. Ride the Eagle was just 90min of Jake Johnson wearing flannels and hanging with his dog in the woods, aka my heaven. I ended up seeing West Side Story twice because I loved it so much. Spielberg did an incredible job with his reimagining of the 1957 play and 1961 movie. There wasn’t a weak singer or dancer in the bunch and actual Latinx were cast this time around. I’m still in awe of Rachel Zegler playing Maria at only age 18. Another Spanish speaking movie was Disney’s Encanto! With music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Encanto was about a nonmagical girl who does everything to save her magical family and their town from danger. It was really sweet and heartwarming, the music is still stuck in my head. Both biopics—King Richard and Being The Ricardos—turned out great performances but were essentially pretty average. From the Paul Thomas Anderson movies I’ve seen, I seem to always feel the same way: I like it, but I’ll probably never watch it again. Licorice Pizza was no different except that it took place and was filmed in the part of Los Angeles where I grew up and really made me nostalgic for home. Saving the best for last—Spider-Man: No Way Home. I promise no spoilers, but let’s just say, I cried. I cried a lot and often. Solidified Spider-Man as being one of my favorite Marvel characters. Tom Holland was born to play Peter Parker and gave his best performance ever.
Lindsay Glenne 