This is an MCU film so it was a must watch but I’m beginning to think that I’ll have to be pickier after Avengers: Endgame. As Marvel’s first solo movie featuring a female superhero lead, this was always going to be heavily anticipated and predictably elicited a toxic response from the anti-feminists. Unfortunately while the intentions here are laudable, this is a mediocre film at best, let down I think by the untested directing duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

Clocking in at nearly four hours, this is one of the longest films we’ve watched. It’s also one of the darkest, an observation that is made especially poignant by the fact that its director Hu Bo committed suicide shortly after finishing it at the age of 29. The film itself is based on a novel by the director himself, apparently being what caused him to shoot to fame. This therefore represents the director’s first and final feature film.

Here’s another John Hughes directed teen film that is considered a cultural touchstone of America. It also reentered the public consciousness recently when its star Molly Ringwald spoke about this along with The Breakfast Club in the wake of the #MeToo revelations. I wanted to watch this one as well because while The Breakfast Club isn’t exactly great, it did take the worries and concerns of teens seriously. Unfortunately Sixteen Candles is nothing at all like it and is an execrable film all around.

This film, made on the occasion of Karl Marx’s 200th birthday, caught my attention when it appeared on the festival circuit and so added it to my list. I only later noticed that it has a rather atrocious Rotten Tomatoes rating. Having watched it, I understand why but I don’t regret spending the time on it at all as I admire director Raoul Peck’s clear passion for the subject and for knowing exactly what he intended to achieve with this film.

I found this on the usual critics’ lists and knew it that it starred Ethan Hawke playing a priest. I did not realize that it was directed by Paul Schrader who seems to have been desperately trying for the past several years to revive his career and make money through a succession of awful films. I don’t understand how he convinced Hawke to appear in this one. Indeed while it starts out as a fairly conventional story about a priest wrestling with internal demons, it soon goes off in a dark direction that is not at all convincing.

Here’s yet another film by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev and it pretty much completes his entire filmography until he comes out with something newer. This one is even slower paced and more languorous than any of his other films. The cinematography is exquisite and credit for that should be due to Mikhail Krichman. Unfortunately the film’s poor characterization and weak grasp of its themes make it unworthy of its beautiful imagery.

We don’t usually watch reality shows but Tyler Cowen mentioned this in his blog and I was curious enough to give it a try. The series follows a businessman Marcus Lemonis as he meets with owners of various businesses which under some form of distress or another. He then makes an offer of money in exchange for a stake in the company or a share of the profits. The series appears to be very successful as it now has six seasons but watching just this first season is enough to satisfy my curiosity.