I watched a ton of movies this year. Like SO many more than I usually do.
How do your Top 10 movies of 2020 rank?
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I almost named this blog post “We’re All Going to Die Anyway, So Here Are Some Dystopian Movies and Series to Freak You Out Even More”, but I thought Ewan (aka my boss) would veto that… so here we are.
Most of the world has been quarantined, all of the toilet paper and hand sanitiser has been stolen by angry boomers, but hey, we still have the internet? For that reason, the QOS team decided to offer you some lists of what to watch when quarantined.
First up: Dystopias!
For all of you rich kids with AppleTV+, check out See. The sci-fi drama (starring Jason Momoa, drool) tells the story of a future world, where all people have lost their sight, until one day, where a pair of twins is found, who are able to see! With just 1 short season of 8 episodes (renewed for season 2), this would keep you busy for at least a day.
-> See is available on AppleTV+
The Handmaid’s Tale! Now, this was an obvious one. Ever since the Margaret Atwood book got picked up for a series (and a film in the 90’s mind you), The Handmaid’s Tale has become a worldwide sensation. Be aware: If you wish to have a full Offred experience, check out the book before watching it (if you’re still able to order any) and then watch the first series. As a purist myself, I refrain from watching on after the first season, which is where the book ends. (Even though yes, Atwood released a sequel to the book 34!!! years after the first one, but it seems more like a capitalist move to me). The series tells the story of a future world where human fertility is at an all-time low, meaning that fertile women now serve the higher-ups of the country, as handmaidens, who are basically baby-birthing machines.->The Handmaid’s Tale is available on Hulu.
If you don’t mind a subtitle, check out the Brazilian thriller 3%. You will immediately fall in love with the way they say three percent, and the plot, which is SOLID. Very binge-worthy and a great introduction for Brazilian productions. 3% tells the story of an extremely poor Brazil, where every year, the best 3% of every year make it to the “Offshore”, a utopic island, where every single wish you may have is fulfilled.
-> 3% is available on Netflix.
Are we over The Hunger Games yet? Nah. In case you have been living under a rock, The Hunger Games books and movies took the world by storm. The Hunger Games follow Katniss through the yearly system of “sacrifice”, which has been implemented through the government of Panem. Also, if you’re interested in seeing the low-rent version of Hunger Games, Divergent is currently available on Netflix.
-> The Hunger Games is available on Amazon Prime
For those of us with a child’s heart, Wall-E still remains a crowd favorite. The adorable animation introduces us to Wall-E, a clean-up robot left on Earth to clean trash and to find any signs of plants to restart human living on Earth. After Wall-E stumbles upon a beautiful plant, he then sneaks his way onto a rocket onto the humans’ cruise ship in space. All in all, it’s a beautifully heartbreaking story of climate change and the impending problem of drowning in our own trash.
-> Wall-E is available on Disney+
As you might have noticed by now, this list does not include too many super high-end films or series, because we’re all just here to have fun, right? A stupid fun film to watch is Idiocracy, starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Terry Wilson, Dax Shepherd and many more… Luke Wilson plays soldier Joe Bauers, who wakes up after 500 years of a military hibernation experiment to the dumbest society you could ever imagine. He is then recognized as the “smartest person alive” and is quickly given the task to fix everything wrong with America he has to wake up to.
->Idiocracy is available on Hulu
Is it even a list if there isn’t Will Smith on it? I, Robot will give you an evening full of action and of the fresh prince of Bel-Air fighting off robots who wish to take over the world. And if I, Robot isn’t enough Will Smith for you, go check out I am Legend, if you haven’t already (it will break your heart).
-> I, Robot and I am Legend are available on Netflix
I left the spookiest for last: Contagion. In short 106 minutes, you can witness a virus, originating from Chinese bats taking over and killing the whole world. Sound familiar? Yeah, this one will leave you up all night until the end of your quarantine.
-> Contagion is available on Amazon Prime
That’s it for today’s list, watch out for new lists being posted both on our webpage and on Letterboxd. For the time being, stay safe and take care!
Edit: Recommendation from Rory: High Rise starring Tom Hiddleston in a high stake drama about the life of residents of a tower block that quickly spirals out of control.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You is the second installment in the Netflix teen romance To All the Boys trilogy, which is based on the novels of Cathy Yan. After the huge success of the first To All the Boys film in 2018, the fans were quickly promised the rest of the trilogy. Principal photography was already finished in 2019. The second installment of the trilogy, P.S. I Still Love You, was directed by Michael Fimognari, who’s best known for his work in cinematography in the drama and thriller genre, for films such as The Haunting of the Hill House (2018) or Doctor Sleep (2019). This marks Fimognari’s debut as a director.
Spoilers ahead! (Even though, the film’s title will already spoil it for you)
The film follows Lara Jean Covey (Lara Condor) navigating through the milestones and difficulties of a teenage relationship with her boyfriend Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). Instead of the perfect relationship she had always imagined of, Lara Jean is constantly reminded of the past: she worries about Peter’s ex-girlfriend daily and more importantly, she receives a return letter from her middle-school crush John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher, replacing Jordan Burtchett) from Model UN, who was also one of the recipients of Lara Jean’s love letters from the first installment. The rest of the plot is painfully predictable, which can leave the viewer especially underwhelmed.
Yet, P.S. I Still Love You suffers from more than just a predictable plot. The essential part of Lara Jean’s character, the support system of the three sisters, which is emphasized in the first installment, is now almost non-existent. Lara Jean’s sisters are now replaced by a retirement home resident, played by Holland Taylor. This older lady sure is a fun new addition to the story, yet it seems unfitting as Lara Jean’s beloved sisters are now on the sidelines. One can see even more unfitting character development, when Lara Jean’s current boyfriend Peter is suddenly portrayed as (pardon my language) an asshole, and the returned John Ambrose as an angel.
The cinematics of the film are fine, it is what you’d expect from a teenage romance on Netflix. What P.S. I Still Love You excels in, is the creation of an idyllic atmosphere, with beautiful use of color, a strong soundtrack and quote-worthy dialogue. The combination of which creates the impression that this film wasn’t intended to be good or award-worthy, but instead, the creators are designing a perfectly repostable facade, appealing to the teenage viewer, which will essentially result in free marketing.
In conclusion, To All the Boys I've Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You underwhelms with a predictable plot, and problematic character development, which allows for the film to be quickly forgotten as just one of those high school romances. The question now is if the last of the trilogy, To All The Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean, will manage to revive the story from sequel fatigue and present us with a worthwhile end to the trilogy, or if it will follow down the path of many failed trilogies, such as Divergent, Legally Blonde, 50 Shades and so on...
If you haven’t caught up with the first part of the trilogy, don’t bother. If you are a fan of teenage romance stories, such as The Fault In Our Stars or Five Feet Apart, go ahead, you’ll have a blast.
Netflix Release Date (Global): 12.02.2020
Film Data: Director: Michael Fimognari - Writers: Sofia Alvarez, J. Mills Goodloe - Cast: Lara Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher, Anna Cathcart, Janel Parish, Trezzo Mahoro, Emilija Baranac, Holland Taylor, John Corbett - USA - 102’ - Netflix
Photo and Video Source: Netflix Switzerland. All Rights Reserved.
Horse Girl is Writer and Director Jeff Baena’s fourth feature film and launched on Netflix this Friday after premiering at the Sundance film festival in late January. This is the second collaboration between Baena and lead Alison Brie after 2017’s The Little Hours. Horse Girl tells the story of a socially awkward woman with a fondness for art and crafts, horses and supernatural crime shows who increasingly finds herself in ludic dreams that trickle into her waking life.
Alison Brie mentioned in interviews that she was inspired to write this story because of her personal family history of mental illnesses. She questioned if her relatives' conditions could suddenly spark up in her as well. Brie’s performance comes across as genuine, raw and honest. The film, however, is never able to match her performance and dedication. Most secondary characters are one dimensional and never serve a more important purpose function than illustrating Sarah’s (Alison Brie) social awkwardness and lack of self-awareness.
The movie starts off somewhat grounded and reasonable but shifts gears in the latter half towards a crash of an ending. The introduction of our protagonist Sarah, a saleswoman at a crafts store called Great Lengths also takes a great length to introduce us to her unusual quirks and daily life structure. At that point, it becomes clear that the story is relatively slow and panders in awkward social encounters for the sake of awkwardness and spends time on a love interest subplot that does not lead to a meaningful conclusion.
Throughout the film, there are a few hints of good ideas and concepts, but they either get abandoned or lose focus in the often stagnant plot progression. Horse Girl is a sad movie about loneliness and susceptibility to extremist ideas when one’s own sanity is questioned. The basis for an introspective Indie film about mental health is given. The film, however, panders in boring subplots and a confusing main plot that switches genres from a Drama to a Sci-Fi Thriller out of thin air in the third act.
Debby Ryan as Nikki, Jake Picking as her boyfriend Brian and John Reynolds as Darren were all fine but suffered from bad writing for their characters. Especially Darren was quite inconsistent and just a plot device to show Sarah’s rapidly increasing deliriousness. The rest of the cast is good as well, but no one as captivating as Alison Brie’s performance.
Should I see this film? I would not recommend this film to anyone other than fans of Alison Brie as her performance is the best part of the movie. See these movies instead as they deal with mental illness in a more interesting way: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Shutter Island, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape or Fight Club.
Release (Global) 07.02.2020
Film data: Director: Jeff Baena - Writer: Jeff Baena, Alison Brie - Cast Alison Brie, Debby Ryan, Stella Chestnut, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, Hazel Armenante, Jay Duplass - USA - 2020 - Netflix
Video and Picture Source: Netflix Switzerland All Right Reserved
