What I Was Watching in March 2021
This month’s watches are all over the place, and it’s been so fun. A mixture of award nominees, new releases (I actually got a couple of reviews in this month - Cherry & Moxie) and some classics - from the OG classic of Citizen Kane and the modern romantic classic of Love and Basketball. It’s been so fun writing about everything this month, so I’m going to just keep the ball rolling with my mini-reviews below.
Hoosiers
YouTube TV on demand
I was inspired to watch this because a podcast I like covered it and I was baffled why it seems to have been held in such high regard. I think that is what soured me on it. I don’t know if anything was truly technically wrong with it, but it did not deserve to be considered one of the best sports films. I’m more inspired by Major League than I was this film, and let’s not read too much into what that fact says about me.
The Verdict: 2/5
Promising Young Woman
Rental from Amazon
I’ve been waiting to watch this movie for literal months. When I realized the rental cost went down to a normal level, I all but literally pounced on it. Carey Mulligan is phenomenal in this movie, and I was immediately hooked on her performance, and the parade of Nice Guys who managed to appear in the film provide the perfect foil. I can’t say much more before I just wax poetic into a five paragraph essay about how great it is.
The Verdict: 4/5
Justice League
HBO Max
Well, guys, we did it. We survived the race to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. And I’m not sure what was longer, the Twitter campaign to get it out or the movie itself. It’s definitely better than the original release and provides an impressively more coherent plot than I expected after the clusterf**k that was the Joss Whedon version. It was far too long - mostly due to slow motion scenes - but it could have been so much worse. Which we’ve already seen proven.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Mank
Netflix
I watched Citizen Kane this month and have the blasphemous opinion of it not being the greatest film of all time, so I figured maybe this semi-behind-the-scenes movie about the writing of it would warm me up to the classic. Sadly, it did not. But I did get to see Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in a period piece, so that was quite a delight, even if it did seem a bit cheesy at times.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Pieces of a Woman
Netflix
The only real film commentary I have on this Netflix release is that Vanessa Kirby is wonderful in this role that it almost didn’t matter that I was semi-dreading watching this movie. The most important thing I can say is that it deals with some really, really sensitive topics and is definitely not for everyone. But, if it is something that you believe you can handle, it’s well worth seeing to enjoy (if that is the appropriate word) her performance.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Hillbilly Elegy
Netflix
This was another award contender I wasn’t super excited about watching since I remember it getting mostly scathing reviews from a lot of critics, but having low expectations worked in my favor, because I actually liked it! I felt like I could see every plot point as it came, and it is a picture-perfect example of an award nominee: based on a true story, some trauma and someone gaining/losing a lot of weight and/or wearing prosthetics.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
A Nice Girl Like You
Hulu
I share a love of extremely mediocre romantic comedies with a friend of mine, and I adore Lucy Hale, so this movie was tailor-made for a movie night. Is this movie amazing? Absolutely not. Is it better than a great deal of extremely meh rom-coms? Definitely. Will you cringe? Oh, many times. 2.5 felt too harsh for this movie, that clearly was trying to be decent, but 3 felt like way too much credit.
The Verdict: 2.75/5
The One And Only Ivan
Disney+
I knew literally nothing about this movie, so let me say when it opened up with Bryan Cranston as a ringmaster, I was fully shocked. The voice cast is ridiculous (just try to guess who is voicing who as you go and then check yourself after) and this movie is in no way bad, but it is a bit cliche. In that respect, it felt a bit like a waste of time. I didn’t know what it was bringing to the table that I hadn’t already seen, and I still don’t.
The Verdict: 3/5
Tom & Jerry
HBO Max
Why did I watch this? Am I just a sucker for a limited-time new release? Or perhaps a glutton for punishment? I think both can be true. And almost have to be since I spent almost two hours watching this movie. I may have a soft spot for my beloved old cartoons I spent a whole childhood watching, but after seeing this film, it’s making me reconsider any idea I had about watching the movie Scoob that came out last year.
The Verdict: 2/5
Love and Basketball
HBO Max
I have no idea how I lived to be almost thirty years old without watching this fantastic movie. I feel like it’s something I need to apologize for because it is one of the biggest oversights on my part. Everything about this romantic comedy is perfect. The cast is stellar, the writing holds up, the chemistry is believable and the overall story draws you in. I don’t know how it could be more perfect, but I’m going to keep thinking about it.
The Verdict: 4.5/5
Tolkien
HBO Max
I had hoped that I would get to see a look into Tolkien’s life as he was writing the Lord of the Rings books, but if I had paused for even a moment, I would have realized that this is about his life even earlier on, what helped shape him into the man who would become one of the most famous authors of all time. It’s a well done movie, but I think there’s another take on this tale that would have been even more interesting.
The Verdict: 3/5
Most of April’s watches will be as many Oscar nominees as I can fit in. I think I have 16 that I can watch for free with my current streaming memberships, so I need to get to work!