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2019 Movie Resolution: Roma, Stan and Ollie
Sheesh, it's been a year.
Not going to go into too many details right now, because I've wanted to post this specific thing for a while now, but hopefully it'll get the ball rolling (like I was hoping it would for at least three weeks).
My 2019 resolution was to watch one new movie and read one book every month. Throughout 2018, I felt that these were things that I enjoyed, but that were often getting pushed to the side when it came to finding time for things. I set a low bar (one per month) because I'm not trying to rearrange my media input, I just want to get back into building a habit of both.
In January, I saw two new movies: Roma and Stan and Ollie.
Roma
I saw Roma for my birthday with my wife and parents. It was as amazing as I expected, and as you've probably heard. If you haven't seen it yet, I urge you to do so, it's available on Netflix (and may make a return to theaters depending on how the Oscars turn out). It's fantastic in a theater, as the frame is always filled with incredible details, and the sound design is excellent. If you watch at home, I'd recommend removing distractions for a while and getting close to the screen, if you can.
Roma is about the life of Cleo, an indigenous housekeeper for an upper-middle class white family in a suburb of Mexico City in 1971. It's also about, just, everything. Cuarón works in references to his other work, and I strongly felt the connections to Y Tu Mamá También, which focuses on two young men in Mexico at the turn of the 21st Century, with asides to delve into the 20th Century Mexico that is the background to their story. In Roma, we're in that background, and around Cleo we see class stratification and a corrupt right-wing government using violence to attack and suppress reformist protests. And it all weaves through a story so closely listened and observed, it's hard to describe. I think that essays could (and eventually will) be written about every single frame of the film.
Watching with my father meant I to talk with him about his own experiences in visiting family Mexico during, before, and after the time in the film, which was a birthday gift on its own.
Stan and Ollie
My wife and I had a free night a few weeks later and met up to watch Stan and Ollie, which we'd heard good things about. It's about Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the most famous comedy duo of early Hollywood, as they embark on a comeback tour through the UK in 1953, trying to finance a new film. I really liked this one too, though it took a while for me to settle into its rhythm. When it starts, it feels a little bit gimmicky as the duo recreate vaudevillian bits in real-life settings, but as things go on, the movie communicates that these are two life-long friends who communicate mostly through comedy. Ultimately, I loved how it portrayed a very gentle, loving kind of male friendship.
OK. Books now.
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