August 2024 Watch - Part 1

Monday, 19 August 2024

Summer is always slow for me when it comes to TV and movies, and this summer especially so as I am preparing for a big move. I find it a little more difficult to keep my attention in the heat, but there were definitely some worthwhile watches for the first half of this month.

Lake Mungo (2008, dir. Joel Anderson)

A film I’ve had on my watchlist for a few months now, this was definitely not what I was expecting but it was absolutely what I was looking for. I’ve been very into water-centric horror recently, and this film fell into that category perfectly.

It is a documentary-style film about a family dealing with the loss and haunting of their daughter. I’ll admit--the style of a documentary is not something I tend to gravitate towards, and for fiction I’d imagine it gets a little too close to a rotating perspective for me, but it worked very nicely with this movie. Before watching, I heard absolutely stellar reviews, though people were very quiet about what actually happens in it. I’m hesitant to say definitively, but I would posit that’s because very little actually happens. That’s not to say the movie is dull or uneventful, merely that the style of the film almost places it in past tense; we are hearing about events that unfolded, not watching them unfold. This contributes to a slow, understated aspect of the film I really like.

Overall, I would say this is a good movie. The haunting is grounded compared to other movies, which creates a sense of realism I might admonish in a different film. With that said, I’m not sure it’s necessarily something that constitutes a full rewatch, but I won’t know how I feel about that aspect until some time passes.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2024, dir. Dolly Wells and Tom Vaughan)

This is something definitely outside of my usual taste, but so worthwhile. The characters were interesting, the pacing kept me engaged, and the mystery was neat.

The show is based on a novel by Holly Jackson and follows a student solving a cold case for a school project. Even if I didn’t know it was based on a book, it had that sort of feel to it--the framing of the plot felt very literary to me, and the characters had a thoroughness to them I often see in book-to-screen adaptations. This was a fun watch.

Beetlejuice (1988, dir. Tim Burton)

This is the only thing on the list that is technically a rewatch, but I saw it so long ago I hardly remembered it. Another haunting movie, though one entirely different from the first on our list in terms of tone. This movie follows the story of a family who moves into a haunted house, a couple who haunts the house, and the being that haunts them.

There is little to say that has not already been said, so I will just highlight my favorite aspects of it: the visuals. Obviously these are iconic sights: the character design, the costumes, the setting. I found myself intrigued by the use of miniatures, which I thought was a fun and charming aspect to bring in. I anticipated it being a stylistic choice in the beginning, but it was a pleasant surprise to see it come up so often throughout.

More surprising still is that I am generally not a fan of Tim Burton movies. I find them compelling conceptually and visually, but rarely find them worthwhile beyond movies that are vaguely dark yet still whimsical. The plots and characters are often straightforward in a way that leaves me wanting, and the interesting synopses and stylistic choices are not enough to make up for that. I’m not quite sure this movie disproves that general rule, but it was fun and engaging.

I watched this as part of a series as I’m showing my sister as many quintessential movies to watch as I can convince her to. They vary in quality, and in my opinion, but I’m glad I gave this movie another chance, as I think it was worth the rewatch.

The Decameron (2024, created by Kathleen Jordan)

This is a limited series loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s book of the same name. I can’t say I have read it specifically, but I’m more or less familiar with many of the stories thanks to contemporary retellings. The show follows a group of nobles as they seclude themselves from the plague in an idyllic countryside villa. It abandons the storytelling frame of its source material (though in my opinion, this is to its benefit as I like neither anthologies nor adaptations that follow strictly to their originals) and instead focuses on the interpersonal drama of the characters. Quintessential to my enjoyment is that the costumes are just lovely. The clothing and sets were visually interesting, and I just love a period piece with modern language.

Based on the brief advertising I saw of this show, I anticipated a raunchy, lighthearted comedy, and to some extent it was, but it ended up with this heartfelt, emotional ending that made the whole thing worthwhile. Not only was the drama great, but the character arcs were genuinely some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. They felt earned, in-character, and meaningful. I was absolutely teary-eyed by the ending of some particular characters, and even the more tragic endings felt entirely appropriate for what the show was.

Let it be known--I am likely to enjoy any brightly-colored medieval-and-adjacent comedy as it eschews the dark, gritty, and unbearably dull picture of the medieval world we otherwise see in television and film. Also, it feels more tonally appropriate to the period texts I’ve read and while historical accuracy is not a particularly important element to my enjoyment of a period piece, it’s always nice to see this era represented with a little more fun.

Wicked Little Letters (2023, dir. Thea Sharrock)

This film was recommended to me while I was watching Killing Eve, a show I have a very mixed relationship with. Suffice to say, I liked this movie. Quite a lot, actually. It follows two women, one who has accused the other of writing her insulting letters.

This movie was both silly and sad, a combination I find myself enjoying quite a bit this summer. While I felt the plot was predictable, I came to see this as a strength, as it really let the other elements shine through. The characters were heartfelt, the conflict had proper stakes, the interpersonal relationships were complicated and interesting. Twists were easy to see coming, yes, but not to the detriment of the movie. It was charming and fun!