What I Was Watching In November 2020
November is the month that a bunch of my shows came back (and when a ton of holiday baking themed programming started up) so I actually let my movies fall by the wayside. And I was needing more distractions than a two-hour movie would give me. The list of non-reviewed movies I saw this month may be a bit shorter, but there will be a lot more coming in the first half of December as I work my way through some streaming holiday movies.
Dave
HBO Max
This felt appropriate to watch as a distraction during Election Week cable coverage, and it exceeded my expectations (which weren’t really existent). I thought it was incredibly creative, very funny and oddly heartwarming. It was a political movie that literally couldn’t fully remind me of the current situation, and that was a welcome blessing.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Bad Times at the El Royale
Bought film
This movie had been on my to-watch list for literal months. I somehow missed it when it came out (maybe during the fiery demise of MoviePass - RIP), despite it being one of the films I was most looking forward to at the time. It was truly fantastic. The end got a little too Tarantino-esque for me, but it was beautifully done and held my interest every single minute.
The Verdict: 4/5
The Kitchen
HBO Max
I wanted to like this movie. Honestly, I did. Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss should be enough to make most films fantastic. Instead, I just didn’t care. I couldn’t get past their truly terrible attempts at Boston accents and I didn’t even kind of root for them. With those actresses at the helm, I figured I’d be along for the ride, but I just couldn’t wait for it to end.
The Verdict: 2.5/5
Ella Enchanted
HBO Max
How did a 2000s coming-of-age/romance/classic-retelling film escape me? These were my forte for years (and still are to an extent), but I never got around to this one. I wish I had, because I bet I would have loved it then and then enjoyed it more going forward with some nostalgia attached. Instead, it fell a little flat, but I could see the fun within it - and was literally laughing out loud at Cary Elwes in this film.
The Verdict: 3/5
Election
HBO Max
One thing I’ve learned by gaining access to HBO Max: Reese Witherspoon is in a freaking ton of movies that I’ve never heard of, and this is one of them. My main issue is that the premise this movie is based on is a student-teacher relationship occurred that then just….isn’t really talked about anymore and that made the whole thing a bit soured for me.
The Verdict: 3/5
Crash
On demand
Back when I wanted to start picking my movies more mindfully and being exposed to more diverse stories, my dad recommended this one, and after finally watching it, I see why. This film is incredibly hard to watch as you see both the offhand and heavy ways racism occurs every single day. Some storylines felt a little too “tied with a bow” for me, but other than that, I can’t come up with a single critique.
The Verdict: 4/5
Se7en
HBO Max
For some reason, like quite a few millennial females, I find solace in crime stories. Mostly that’s in the form of podcasts, but I have been watching more and more movies about some pretty horrifying people. I personally was taken aback by Kevin Spacey being in this movie due to recent revelations about him, and that took me out of the moment, but I thought the whole film was really compelling.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Pearl Harbor
HBO Max
This movie is three freaking hours. I just had to start off with that fact. Now I will say, for a three-hour movie, it is pretty well paced. I felt like the end was a little too “cue the swelling music” and a bit contrived, but I honestly don’t know much about Pearl Harbor outside the basics. Between yet another stacked cast and a based-on-a-true-story-ish plot, it works really well.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
All the President’s Men
HBO Max
I finished this movie and felt like I needed to immediately watch it again because I suspected I missed things. Somehow, despite a decent amount of time spent in journalism, Watergate and the Woodward/Bernstein story is not one I know much about. While this movie may have been over my head, it really did fascinate me as I learned more and more about it.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
It’s about to be December and for me that means two things: revisiting comforting movies and shows and diving into the wide world of mediocre holiday romantic comedies. And honestly, I can’t freaking wait.