Letterboxd Recap: August!

Here's what I watched in the month of August!
Men (2022)

"What is it that you want from me?"
"Your Love."
This movie was very interesting. It left me quite bewildered and curious of its underlying meaning. I will start off by saying I don’t find this film pretentious and preachy by any means. I feel like some men like to play the victim, and act as if every type of content that addresses the topic of toxic masculinity sets out to vilify men. It doesn’t. It’s also quite annoying to hear men who identify themselves as individuals that understand toxic masculinity, complain about their gender’s bad behavior being thrown in their faces. You’re tired of hearing about it? Imagine how tired women are of living it lol. I don’t want to be exclusive here either. In reality, toxic masculinity affects women. It affects men. It affects transgendered and gender non-conforming people. It affects everyone.

I think this film was aiming to depict the torment the main character endures in overcoming the trauma she experienced in her past relationship with a man, who exhibited very toxic and manipulative behaviors. However, the film gets quite convoluted and it becomes difficult to follow what the protagonist is experiencing throughout the story. If the storyline was fleshed out better, I think this film could have been extraordinary. In my opinion, the movie had good intentions, but it could have been executed better. The ending was bizarre with the body horror being quite disturbing. I’ve read multiple interpretations of the ending by viewers, and I’ve become more intrigued. I wasn’t aware of the folklore of The Green Man, who is a legendary being conceived as a symbol of rebirth, and the cycle of new growth. This fills in a lot of the blanks within the film.

This film will resonate with those of us who deal with sexist microaggressions. Those of us who have experienced toxic masculinity in our past relationships, and are left with the mental anguish felt from the fallout. I can definitely relate to what this film is trying to convey. I feel sorry for people who are left blinded by their bitchass-ry of said topics, and not going beyond that to see the effects toxicity has on people. Men always out here doing the bare minimum by saying they don’t do these things, instead really learning how it affects other people.

The Black Phone (2021)

"If you knew what you had coming, you’d be fucking terrified."
The Black Phone is a short story turned movie, so it lacks substance and detail. Who is the Grabber? Why does he wear these masks? How did he become this prolific serial killer? It’s not a bad film, but it could have been better. Sometimes, commercial horror films don’t know how to execute interesting storylines. The kids who portray the Blake siblings, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw, along with Ethan Hawke as The Grabber were great in the film though.

They/Them (2022)

"You try to make yourself special. You become they."
This was the PERFECT title for a horror slasher with LGBTQ+ representation, but the film is just so bad. There’s no clear direction for the movie’s storyline. The slasher element is barely present in this film. It seems that this film does more to exploit the trauma of the LGBTQ+ community by having the story take place at a conversion camp. Is this film trying to be a unique slasher film? Or is it utilizing past physical and psychological torture of the LGBTQ+ community for entertainment? There’s also a musical number with Pink’s Fuckin’ Perfect thrown in. I’m sorry, but I really don’t think the Gen Z of today knows every single lyric to a song that came out 12 years ago. It’s not believable. This movie was not it.

Honorable Mentions:

Host (2020) - A short but very effective found footage film utilizing webcams. Definitely better representation of Rob Savage's potential than Dashcam.

Not Okay (2022) - This movie gave me Mean Girls/Clueless vibes just from the movie poster, and pressed play right away.

Prey (2022) - Without a doubt, the best installment in the Predator series since the original. I wasn’t even remotely excited to watch this film, but was pleasantly shocked with how good it was.

The Northman (2022) - This is typically not a movie I would go out of my way to watch, BUT it was worth the watch. I spent the entire time wondering if that was really Alexander Skarsgård or not…

Watcher (2022) - A slow burn that plays on real-life horrors women dread encountering in every life.

TV/Documentary

Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (2022)

It’s the promoters passively blaming bands like Korn for the failure and destruction of Woodstock ‘99 for me. Instead, they should be taking responsibility for their incompetence in creating a safe, clean and fun environment for the thousands in attendance. Just plain greed. Documentaries on Woodstock are also beyond disturbing when you see how many women were blantantly being sexually assault at this festival. It’s sick to think that the mindset back then was “oh well, shit happens.”

The Most Hated Man on the Internet (2022)

It's always these 'The Hills Have Eyes' looking fuckers that victimize women and think they are a godsend to this Earth. Hunter Moore... Andrew Tate... those Fresh & Fit idiots…