30/9/2020 0 Comments September 2020 Movie/TV Round-UpEverything I watched this month including The First Wives Club, She's Gotta Have It and more! She's gotta Have it (1986)Nola Darling is feisty, sexy, and smart. Men love her and she loves them, so much so that she can't choose just one to have a relationship with and instead chooses to date three guys at once. This film had some of the most beautiful cine I have seen. Spike Lee's use of colour was something I had not seen used since the Wizard of Oz and aptly so. Although written by Lee himself, I felt the movie didn't try to make Nola the villain directly. There are many scenes where the men in the movie are seen more as the butt of the joke for their 'moves' and attitudes of entitlement toward women rather than the film itself trying to slut shame Nola. A really clever film. ratched (season 1)A troubled nurse joins the staff of a mental hospital in search of her long-lost brother, and gets involved in an array of risky situations. Filled with drama, suspense and intensity from the first episode, this thriller not only has brilliant set design but a compelling plot. Although I enjoyed the series overall, there were some plot points I had to overlook to enjoy the series. Firstly, I absolutely hate how Ryan Murphy's latest series' blatantly ignore racial tensions that occurred during the times he sets his period pieces. He brings to light some of the struggles LGBTQ+ people had to endure but it seems he does it as a compromise. It seems clear to me that PoC in these series are used to fill a quota and not to accurately represent even a fraction of the racial discrimination people of the same race faced during that time in reality. Secondly, the way in which mentally ill patients are portrayed, as violent and inhumane, is incredibly archaic. One of the most 'insane' patients is also the only female Black supporting actress, perpetuating the 'angry Black women' trope. In spite of my criticisms, it was an enjoyable show and reminded me a lot of American Horror Story season two. The First Wives club (1996)Three ex wives plot revenge against their ex husbands who left them for younger women. A feel-good film about women getting their own. It clearly inspired the film, The Other Woman which I watched a few years ago. I admire it for trying to fight against ageism and showing that women can still be sexy, fun and confident as they get older, however I felt it did just that: try. There was a lot of unnecessary slut shaming and making the younger women in the movie seem like stupid bimbos. With that said, when I watched the movie I was feeling down and it definitely picked me up with its humour and iconic dance scene. Seriously single (2020)Afraid of being single, Dineo falls head over heels in love with charmers and gets all the wrong ideas. She has to learn to love time with herself and embrace life as it is without being in a relationship. A really funny, cute movie about best friends having each other's backs. Tumi Morake and Fulu Mugovhani gave such good performances and the film feels like the perfect mix of local and international. In that I mean that sometimes South African movies feel like they want you to know, as a South African viewer, that this film was made here and its relatability to the South African experience is its whole appeal. I didn't feel that with this film. It was telling an honest contemporary story and it just happened to take place in South Africa. knocked up (2007)Alison (Katherine Heigl) and Ben (Seth Rogen) couldn't be more different, but a clumsy night together binds their worlds. Alison finds out she's pregnant and must try to determine if Ben is a suitable father. I don't really have anything good to say about this one. Although there were some good gags, the movie is largely sexist and uses cheap jokes for simpleminded laughs. Heigl, herself, commented on her discomfort with the role she played in this movie and in retaliation, the men who worked on the film like Seth Rogen and director Judd Apatow, tainted her working reputation in Hollywood. True to the 'boys club' nature of the film. casablancas: the man who loved women (2016)John Casablancas was the founder of Elite Models, a prestigious modelling agency that produced some of the world's most famous supermodels. The reason you can name supermodels like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and many others is thanks to his marketing. Was the driving force of me watching this documentary simply because John Casablancas is the father of the lead singer of my favourite band? Yes. Nonetheless, my review will be as object as it can be. I thought the style of the documentary was quite interesting. John essentially narrates his entire life story from beyond the grave and it did make for a more personal approach than typically used. However, the multi-perspective documentary style would have made a more holistic, objective and maybe even more interesting telling of his life. There was no room for criticism of the things he did or how other people were affected by his life. Written by: Vidal Thaver
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