This week hit me like a truck. Working on the run-crew for “A Little Night Music” on top of a week of big deadlines made it impossible to make it off campus and do anything this week. Despite not seeing any new movies, I still find myself harboring so many thoughts on film. What better way to exercise this desire than to talk about my most recently logged films on Letterboxd from the month of April?
“Little Miss Sunshine” (2006) — rewatched April 17, 2024
In my screenwriting class we watched the first and last 10 minutes of “Little Miss Sunshine.” This is mildly sadistic, given that it’s impossible to give people a taste of this movie and have them leave not wanting more. So, I carved out time for a “Little Miss Sunshine” rewatch. Very worth it. The movie follows a dysfunctional family as they take a roadtrip to California so the youngest member of their family can compete in California’s Little Miss Sunshine youth beauty pageant. The thing I appreciate most about this movie is the way it approaches the complexities of family relationships. The movie is overflowing with heart and care and it’s impossible to not root for Olive and her pageant dance routine to Rick James’ “Super Freak.”=
“Kiss the Blood Off My Hands” (1948) — watched April 16, 2024
I was not anticipating this watch whatsoever. For legal reasons, I did NOT watch this movie backstage during a run of “A Little Night Music.” But if I did… it would have been such an experience. A few weeks back I treated myself to a free trial of the Criterion Channel, and then I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a month’s subscription. Hoping to get my money’s worth and looking to procrastinate doing my homework, I stumbled upon the “gothic noir” subcategory. The description for “Kiss the Blood Off My Hands”’ stood out to me. A nurse tries to fix an ex-soldier who has violent tendencies? Sign me up. My degree of investment in this movie caught me incredibly off guard. If every gothic noir film is like this one, I think I have a new favorite genre. One thing Hollywood needs to bring back is the idea that the regular man is capable of killing a man with a single punch. If you agree with this take, you would be a huge fan of this film.
“Stagecoach” (1939) — watched April 14, 2024
This movie has been on my watch list since my first year of high school. I can definitely appreciate the hilarious nature of this film. “Stagecoach” puts the wild in Wild West. It is a wonderful stepping stone into the genre of Western film. Hollywood often takes itself so seriously, and it’s nice to see a movie that’s so tropey and bizarre, at least by modern standards. I wish I was betrothed to a cowboy within two days of us meeting. Take notes!
“Frances Ha” (2012) — rewatched April 11, 2024
“Frances Ha” is a movie that I always recommend to people, mainly because she is just like me for real. I rewatched this at Row House Cinema on what was supposed to be the first day of Carnival but instead turned into a day of nonstop rain. Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig never fail to impress me. This movie has become a recent favorite of mine to revisit. It explores love beyond the confines of romance and invites audiences to consider the ways love manifests within relationships that aren’t particularly romantic.=
“Almost Famous” (2000) — watched April 5, 2024=
This movie took me a very long time to watch. I went to the gym (a few weeks ago I was a person who went to the gym), but I flew too close to the sun when I tried to be a person who watched movies at the gym. The soundtrack is the thing that makes this movie good. It’s a really nice soundtrack. That’s all I have to say about that. Oh wait! Philip Seymour Hoffman is in this movie! Watch this movie if you are craving a nice Philip Seymour Hoffman moment.
“Before Sunrise” (1995) — watched April 1, 2024
“Before Sunrise” is another movie that escaped the watchlist purgatory. It’s a movie where two people just talk to each other and it’s perfect. This movie had me talking to the TV and trying to tell the characters what to do and screaming every time they made a decision I disagreed with. Mind you, I was by myself in the Donner lounge watching this movie, which might be the reason people see me as a girl who talks to herself. But there are always worse things to be, like a person who hasn’t gotten around to seeing “Before Sunrise” yet. Get to watching it immediately.
Leave a Reply