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The Crown: Willsmania (2023)
The tears.
The pauses. The glares. The staring into the distance.
The scores.
The dialogue.
The intimacy of each of the scene locations:
A dorm.
A small(er) tea room.
A car.
An empty and dark hall in a school, with lights only focused on the 2 characters in the scene.
It's impossible to miss this move, given the grand nature of the castle scenes we've known through the series.
This episode will bring you to tears, just as it does to the depth of the grief over Princess Diana's death, as depicted on the show.
Every single shot delivered an intense draw to the abyss of a terribly accurate amalgamation of all stages of grief.
The transference.
The isolation.
The disillusionment to help offered from those who see it for what it is: Love with no place to go.
The patience of a parent, that is only superseded by their love for their child.
The support rallied around the protagonist (trying to avoid any major spoilers) was soul-wrenching.
I may have to rewatch that episode alone.
The director truly delivered.
Take Care of Maya (2023)
"Our day will come".
This documentary should come with massive trigger warnings, so consider this one.
However, typing this with my telly on idle mode as I contemplate the gravity of what I have just watched, I am incredibly grateful that this message was put on a very powerful platform.
Yes, as an adult, you come to accept that systems do not always work for those it is meant to, but Maya's story is one that I will never forget.
Ever felt completely and utterly unheard? On a matter that you couldn't possibly be wrong about (your body, validated by your mother, a licensed nurse, 2 self sought specialists and a 3rd specialist)? That = Maya's and Beata's experience (You will appreciate why I've left out one key family member after you've watched the documentary.). This was aggravated particularly because she was a child when this took the worst turn, and was thoroughly dismissed in all possible directions by her JHACH doctors.
This documentary carries tremendous tragedy for the entire Kowalski family, and an incredible wounding of the soul, and I'm doing my best not to give any spoilers, but please, please, if you can, watch it.
Spread the message, sign any available petitions you can, because you'll come to find a destructive, unsubstantiated baseless pattern of 'probable' cause by one key individual. It is that pattern that needs to be evaluated, and changes made to a policy/manner of doing things that has destroyed hundreds/thousands of lives.
Maya, Kyle, I am with you <3.
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022)
Ineffable.
This story, right here, made me ponder a lot about whether 'unresolved' trauma can cause dementia in old age (Research loading).
I kept feeling so deeply that the protagonist never had a chance to properly feel and process all the events that have happened to him, or in his presence.
What a burden it must've been, walking around with knowledge of things you cannot change, and cannot accept because you're still processing their occurrence, deep into old age.
I thought about what it's like to grow old with money that you can't trust your family with. I thought about how alienating it must be to know this fact, but freeing once you find someone (outside your family) who you can rely on one hundred percent.
Is the world kind enough to be kind to strangers? People with their own life stories, trying to stay alive just long enough to right some wrongs?
I don't know; but I'm happy I watched that feeling captured.
Physical: 100 (2023)
Worth it.
I didn't know how to feel about reading subtitles throughout because I don't like not hearing the actual language even though I don't understand it; but boy!!!!!! This is a fantastic watch. Got me hooked. Waiting for the second instalment of episodes.
Incredible. Similar vibes to Squid Game but proper real life. Found myself questioning some quests (how is this legal? They could hit their head and die)...
I genuinely thought I knew what I was in for. I did not. Twists and turns all over the place.
I also didn't think I'd be learning so much about sportsmanship and basic human decency from this type of show. I am in awe of the level of respect competitors accord each other, particularly in the face of remarkably fierce competition; it's truly humbling to watch and experience.
The beauty of the show is that whilst contestants signed up for it, they themselves are experiencing the events for the first time just as the audience is.
Sounds ludicrous, but see for yourself.
🇰🇪
Dave (2020)
Thank you, Dave.
I've been thinking about this since the very first episode: When will IMDb introduce an above 10 rating system? Like, phenomenal, intrusively brilliant, intimate and otherworldly, so many options.
First episode, I literally recorded my telly, sent it to my mates, and my brother; most of them hadn't watched Dave, but my brother is familiar with his work. All he said: Yeah, he just ain't right.
Dave isn't right, or wrong, or all over the place. I mean, he is, but the level Dave the series is at is unmatched, incomparable. Started off as incredibly humorous, but then it got so deep so fast I had to take an actual break.
What really got to me was the direct attention paid to existential dread: What happens if I succeed? In incredibly intimate scenes that I felt it was just me and Dave, experiencing this together, him in his journey, and me in mine. There were tears.
The incredulous way in which mental wellness was addressed in the series blew my mind and broke my heart into tiny vulnerable pieces; so raw. I love this show, and I'm yet to see anything like it. It reminds me of all my favourite shows, films, documentaries like 'How to Die in Oregon', 'Listen to me Marlon', and a comical humour I hadn't experienced before.
Please watch it, rate it, let more people hear about it.
Work of art.
🇰🇪
Monster (2022)
Evan Does it Again!!!!
Wow!!!
The delivery was just chilling. Casting director really did do that.
Storyline and directorship is remarkably intimate for something that carries a heavy 'otherness' to it.
The silence, the confusion (Did Dahmer have prejudices or was it circumstance based on his environment? Did he choose to live there? I mean, he wasn't earning top dollar, but still (?)). Gotta do that thing with the research post watching this, I know we're a movement 😅 🇰🇪
Set in the backdrop of highly stigmatised gay people, people living with HIV (in this era, those two are one and the same), and (still very present) racism (opening scene, be sure to watch with subtitles else you might miss it as the audio is secondary to the audio from the opening actor's scene), in nuanced detail (the racism part), this mini series delivers what you think it will, and more.
Brilliantly dramatised story.
Zhou (2022)
Underrated
I had so many 'but why?!' questions during, and after watching the movie.
And there was a reference to it being tied to real events, I mean . . . Come on. It's spectacular, and the use of 1st person/protagonist shooting added a lot of depth to the horror, confusion, sense of being lost and helpless.
Give it a try. Well worth your time.
PS: I could only watch this during the day between meetings else I'd lose my sense of my reality.
Insecure: The End (2021)
Here I am in hot tears . . . Again.
I wish more people would watch it and rate it here. The documentary is a true reflection of any true Insecure-head's feelings and takeaways about the show.
I've watched the show twice and I can confidently say that even with this wrap up doc, be warned though: Multiple tear streams.
Dead End: Paranormal Park (2022)
100 percent Underrated.
There's an episode I rewatched 5 times in between actually watching it before I finally finished it.
It's just a really good show, and don't get me started on the graphics :'-)
Characters have solid storylines, almost too real/close to home, and that's what makes it incredible. I absolutely loved it.
Them (2021)
Nuanced.
There are a lot of films on racism and slavery but this is by far the most nuanced, and direct simultaneously. How a white man would confidently say that a black child is anywhere between age 15 and 30, or how a white woman can boisterously say that who can tell if a black woman feels pain, or whether or not she gives birth like a pony . . . These are sentiments that remain institutionalised in present day (debatable whether their strength have subsided over time), and it's incredibly otherworldly to me that all the people working on this series managed to capture a lot of these nuances, effortlessly.
Tremendous work. Truly.
But what will remain with me, years to come, is the fact that racism was, is, and always will be, a true horror; stranger than fiction.
This is the power of this series.
Getting On (2013)
Underrated
Completely.
Lots of character in this show, and for an arguably morbid theme, it was brilliantly delivered.
Haven't seen the British version that this was an adaptation of but just a job well done all round.
Small Axe (2020)
Otherworldly.
I've always wanted to learn about the history of black people in the U. K. and particularly in London.
But boy, was I in for a surprise.
The directorship, cinematography, scripts, otherworldly classes of supreme art. So much depth, and intimacy, direct confrontation, painfully felt antagonistic views, pockets of genuine gentleness amidst grasping chaos . . . What a series.
Incredible. Loved every second of it, will be rewatching soon.
Bel-Air (2022)
Worth the Reboot
I promise. It's pretty good.
Fills in the hole Insecure left after it was concluded.
Feels familiar, and yet, brand spanking new.
Thank me later. I promise.
The Bubble (2022)
Don't be dissuaded
It's a gem. Sure, not everyone gets entertained by very fresh memories of a pandemic, but it did kind of have subtle hints to what occurred in real life, maybe not centric to the pandemic theme but hey.
It's a lovely watch. Different perspective somehow, yah know?
Euphoria: Stand Still Like the Hummingbird (2022)
Yes. Award Winning
But, it's incredible.
I was scared the whole time, sitting up as opposed to lying down. I was worried. I was in hot tears.
This was transcendental acting. It's too close to the 'truth'. It wasn't acting.
It was otherworldly. 💔
The Witches (2020)
Listen
Pay no mind to the 5. Something rating.
There's something eerily nostalgic about the cinematography, directorship and storyline akin to a 90s feel.
Is it weird? Yes. CGI a tad off? Possibly.
Is it fun? Absolutely, 100 percent.
At no point did I know what to expect while watching this movie, even with obvious hints from the characters. It's unbelievable somehow.
Great holiday watch too.
Chad (2021)
It's just wholesome somehow
It is a tad weird getting used to a grown adult playing a child their opposite gender but if you've seen Pen15 (which is a lot harder to watch, particularly the first season) then you'll sort of appreciate what's being done here.
Blood Red Sky (2021)
8 stars for the Boy
Profound acting.
The movie might not be the best thriller/'horror' you'll have seen, but that kid was incredible.
The mum's mannerisms were remarkable. Possibly carried the entire film on her's and her son's backs.
The Real Househelps of Kawangware (2014)
Solid 10
If you understand Swahili and Sheng (slang), this will knock you off your feet every single minute of it.
Hilarious.
Unorthodox (2020)
Near 10/10
As Deborah Feldman said in the Making of Unorthodox, the languages spoken may be foreign to some, but the happenings within the story line are universally understood.
Completely underrated.
Hartstog (2017)
To Doctors 🥂
Life's mysteries, triumph amidst cognitive dissonance (Apartheid).
Bodied (2017)
Terribly Underrated
It took me a few minutes to understand what was happening but it's not exactly what you think it is.
It's remarkably pure...that we can access whatever part of ourselves we didn't even think we had...but always had a hint (of greatness) of. What a movie.
Toc Toc (2017)
Relatable, brilliantly executed
If you have any form of OCD, this film will have you laughing at yourself...in a sad way, but also in a comforting way.
Misery loves company...
Misery loves company...
*Wink*
*Wink*
The Escape (2017)
All the close ups...
I have never watched anything this well directed for this type of context. Yes its about the 'typical' problems inherent in marriage but that's a very small part of it. For me, this film isn't just about that, it's more about, without generalising, how the character, the woman, the mother, the stay at home housewife, the dedicated family being, had to find herself again.
What stands out throughout the film was that she was very much aware that she had lost something, that something wasn't right. You could see that from the very beginning. And what it comes down to is: Is it time to leave? (As opposed to: can I leave?)
What I believe should be the focus of principle here is that while there are various externalities that result in the making of a being as it is, marriage and it's societal demands of its participants have remain unchanged for a while. And In this film, Gemma was indeed tired of being the unappreciated housewife and sex doll of sorts. That's not a pleasant experience for anyone, I can imagine.
And so I rated this film a 10/10. The close ups are too real...nothing felt like acting to me while watching the film. It's real. It's real for someone.