I write these posts every year to acknowledge some of the movies that I've made a conscious decision to skip watching. In some cases there's a reason, and in some cases there's just a lack of enthusiasm. I've got very strong completionist tendencies, so I hope writing about some of these films this way will help me put any lingering doubts to rest. So, here are seven films below that didn't make the cut this year. I reserve the right to revisit and reverse my viewing choices in the future. However, I still haven't watched anything from last year's list.
Malcolm & Marie - This came so early in the year that it was counted as part of the 2020 awards season, really taking advantage of some of those extended deadlines. Frankly, the reviews weren't great and the material didn't appeal to me at all - its essentially a troubled couple hashing out their personality flaws, where Zendaya and John David Washington get to deliver long, emotional monologues. A few film critic in-jokes aside, I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
I Care a Lot - I'm all for Rosamund Pike getting more lead roles, but the subject matter for "I Care a Lot," involving grifting and elder neglect, was something I knew was going to be upsetting. To prep myself for similar films, I often read reviews and plot synopses to get myself mentally prepared, but in this case it was totally counterproductive. The people who love this film seem to love it for all the reasons that I would find it absolutely infuriating. So, let's move on.
Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry - So, it's taken me a while, but I've worked out that Billie Eilish's music really isn't for me. I'm okay with her in small doses, but the mumbly low volume singing really is her thing, and I'm not into it. I generally like musician profiles and music docs, but I don't think an entire documentary about Eilish is something that I need to see. I don't need to be convinced of her talent or her appeal. She's quite simply not for me.
Gunda - This one, along with Andrea Arnold's "Cow," are documentaries with the admirable goal of showing us life from the perspective of modern farm animals. Gunda is the name of a mother pig, who shares screentime with cows, a one legged chicken, and others. It's all well and good to stoke some empathy for the creatures who make our lives easier, but I don't usually do well with films like this. I hate "Au Hasard Balthazar." Haaaate it.
Respect - I spent a good chunk of the awards season hoping that Jennifer Hudson wouldn't swing a nomination for playing Aretha Franklin because I was so resistant to seeing "Respect." I don't have anything against Hudson or Franklin, but the marketing for this film has been terrible. I've seen enough bad and middling biopics about musicians in recent years, and this one had all the red flags. I'd honestly much rather just watch "Amazing Grace" again.
The Many Saints of Newark - I watched all of "The Sopranos," and never really became a fan. The prospect of a prequel didn't interest me because I wasn't too interested in finding out more about the characters. And we'd only see younger versions of them, so the original actors would only be appearing as cameos, if at all. I'm a little curious as to how Michael Gandolfini fares as an actor, but if he's any good, he'll pop up somewhere else eventually.
Memoria - Finally, this is a film I'd like to see - Tilda Swinton appearing in an Apichatpong Weerasethul film! - but the American distributor has settled on the most puzzling release strategy that I've ever heard of. The film is only screening at one theater at a time with no planned physical media or streaming release. That means I'm not going to have access to it for the foreseeable future - well, not in this country anyway.
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