4 Favorite Recent Movies
Date idea: let’s go to the movies! Or Netflix and chill?
Watching a movie is a classic date activity for a reason – we get to sit next to each other and let the tension build as we enjoy a cinematic experience.
But, as a popcorn LOVER, please don’t expect me to share my popcorn with you. (Kidding…kinda…)
Here are some recent movies I enjoyed watching last year. You will see a common theme of science fiction/horror. I am open to other kinds of movies, but these are the ones I tend to go see on my own.
1. Sinners
Sinners was definitely my favorite movie last year, and not just because the director, Ryan Coogler, is from Oakland. I simply found it to be a beautiful love letter to the history of Black American music, blues, and folk music, with a few vampires mixed in. I loved that it was totally genre-bending and could have been classified into 5 different categories.
2. Good Boy
This was a movie that was clearly a labor of love. It’s shot from the perspective of a dog watching his owner slowly descend into possession by some creepy entity. The movie, directed by Ben Leonberg, stars the director’s own dog and was filmed over 3 years because the dog is not a professionally trained actor who is accustomed to being on set. In one interview I read with him, he mentioned that they would kind of storyboard out the scenes and then just see what the dog wanted to do that day, often getting just one or two shots each day. Many times on set was just him and his wife, Kari Fischer, the producer of the film. The couple and dog also lived in the house for the 3 years of shooting the movie. Besides having a fascinating production story it’s a great horror movie with a super creative premise.
3. Bugonia
So many things about this movie were incredible. First, it’s incredibly socially relevant touching on themes of conspiracy theories and political and class division. Second, it is a movie that truly demonstrates the principle that music has the power to make huge emotion in a movie. The influence of the music in this movie turns a mundane scene into a powerful moment full of anxiety or tension. Plus, the ending is TO DIE FOR. LOVED.
4. Freaky Tales
This movie was a total love letter to Oakland, which coincidentally, I love too. It was extra special to see it at the beautiful Grand Lake Theater because that is an important place in the film. It takes real things that happened in Oakland in the 80’s and turns them into surreal, larger than life tales. The title of the movie comes from a Too $hort song of the same name. The movie pays homage to Bay Area musical and cultural history with nods to the punk scene, hyphy music, classic Oakland businesses present and past, and the strong history of Bay Area political activism with a healthy dose of neo-nazi bashing.
Wanna watch a movie together?
