Hi friends! It’s time for this month’s Blind Spot entry. I had planned on reviewing Jacques Demy’s hidden classic A Room in Town but Manda couldn’t find it on streaming (it’s a Criterion Channel exclusive evidently.) She hadn’t seen The Umbrellas of Cherbourg so we decided to just cover that so I’ll give you my thoughts on Room here but make sure to listen to our discussion on Umbrellas here:

A Room in Town is an interesting contrast to Umbrellas. While both are sad love stories Umbrellas is more innocent and youthful where Room is older and more cynical.  Room is about a man named Francois (also a name in Umbrellas) who is unhappy in his life and struggles to get invested in any causes including his fellow shipyard worker’s strike. He has a beautiful but naive girlfriend named Violette but then falls madly in love with a mysterious woman/prostitute named Edith.

I don’t think Jacques Demy ever made an ugly film and they all are a joy to watch even though they are sad because it’s clear a true artisan is working here. Just the colors and the backgrounds that he works into shots are breathtaking. Like I said, Room is a lot darker with Edith having an abusive husband and Violette getting pregnant to a man who does not love her. It’s sad stuff but at only 90 minutes it never becomes too overbearing or frustrating.

The music is perhaps less memorable than Umbrellas but especially as it builds to the climax with the workers it becomes like a true operatic tragedy. If you have Criterion Channel I definitely recommend watching their entire Jacques Demy collection including A Room in Town. What a master of his craft he was!

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Hi friends! Well, I certainly have a variety of films to report to you on today. Nobody can claim I don’t see a wide array of films. That’s for sure. I still haven’t seen Novocaine but hoping to get to that this week if I can still find it at a local theater (it came out when I was at SXSW and so I missed it.)

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

https://youtube.com/shorts/HI1Orsn9fRg?feature=share

I have to admit I wasn’t planning on seeing A Minecraft Movie as I have no experience with the game whatsoever and the initial trailer was awful (I also missed the screening because I was covering the national tour of Life of Pi) But then I heard pretty good things from people I trust and it did so well at the box office I decided to give it a try and I’m glad I did. A Minecraft Movie is by no means a masterpiece but it’s a pleasant piece of family entertainment most people will enjoy watching.

While I am positive players of the game will have more fun watching this film than n0n-players like myself but there was enough humor and story to keep everyone entertained. Director Jared Hess brings in his signature dry humor effectively into what should be a cynical exercise and he also has his trademark nods to Idaho throughout which I appreciated as a Napoleon Dynamite lover.

Jason Momoa is the standout of the cast playing a legendary gamer named The Garbage Man but Jack Black is reliably funny and manic as Steve a wild man who has been living in the Overworld for many years. I do think the movie gets too lost in the quest middle sections and we definitely go too long without Momoa and without enough jokes but then they bring things back to an effective conclusion.

Even with its flaws, A Minecraft Movie gives more entertainment than anyone is expecting from a movie like this and overall I left having had a pretty good time. Take that for what you will

Smile Worthy

ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD ROAD TRIP

When I heard there was a sequel to the first Alexander movie I was actually quite excited. I really enjoyed that first film and thought it carried the tradition of the slapstick Disney live action comedy (in the spirit of North Avenue Irregulars, Shaggy Dog, Absent Minded Professor etc.) quite well. Unfortunately like most direct to Disney Plus this sequel does not deliver on its potential.

This film is a stand-alone sequel so it has none of the characters from the first Alexander movie. Here we have Latino family with a young Alexander who finds an old Mexican idol that puts an unfortunate curse on the family’s road trip. Then what we get for 94 minutes is one road trip movie cliche after another with lots of lowbrow humor including a skunk spraying over all the family members. None of it lands, none of it is funny and even Cheech Marin can’t bring any spark into this sad family affair.

My advice just watch the original film which is also on Disney Plus or read the book. That will keep you from having a terrible, no good, very bad movie watching experience.

Frown Worthy

MY LOVE WILL MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR-

https://youtube.com/shorts/IKAHb8ckiNw?feature=share

I love getting a chance to watch romantic comedies from all over the world. Recently I reviewed an Indonesian film on Hallmarkies Podcast called The Most Beautiful Girl in the World which was bonkers but fun and this week I had the chance to see a Filipino film called My Love Will Make You Disappear, which was also a bit crazy but sweet.

The story in this supernatural romance focuses on a young woman named Sari (Kim Chiu) who believes she is cursed so that men who fall in love with her disappear. One day she meets her kind-of landlord named Jolo (Paulo Avelino) who genuinely wants to disappear but of course the actually start to fall for each other as they get to know one another.

I do think this movie is about 25 minutes longer than it needs to be. It would be perfect at a Hallmark TV movie length but the leads are sweet and it’s pleasant watching them fight the curses and forces trying to keep them apart. If you like a romance with a dose of over-the-top melodrama this is the romcom for you. I also came to learn about the Filipino concept of kilig which is basically their version of being twitterpated or in love. It’s a lot of fun to learn about these things from other cultures. This movie actually got a pretty decent rollout so it might be playing near you.

Smile Worthy

WARFARE

https://youtube.com/shorts/2Tj4k2iKTzk?feature=share

Our final movie, Warfare, is not only by far the most intense of the movies we are talking about but it is one of the more intense war films I’ve ever seen. In fact, I wonder if it has more value as a piece of historical record than a feature film. It’s so grueling to watch that one can’t help but be exhausted from the experience, but I think chronicling what these soldiers went through has value.

Warfare tells the story in real-time of a platoon of Navy SEALs in Iraq in 2006. Co-director and writer Ray Mendoza based it off his own unit and Alex Garland worked with him to craft the film. It has an all-star cast with Will Poulter (who it seems like is in half the movies these days,) Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Michael Gandolfini and more. The group starts by taking over a house on busy street and then they become under attack as they try and leave the house.

Like I said this film is told in real-time and it is incredibly tense and realistic. It will definitely not be for everyone and I’m sure it will be quite triggering for many people. Still, part of movies is not only entertain but to chronicle and capture the experiences and stories of our fellow-man. This does so in spades and on that level I’m glad I saw it. These brave men deserve to have their stories told in all its gripping realism- to be understood has value.

Mendoza and Garland don’t even have music for most of  Warfare. That’s how realistic things get. There is no attempt to Hollywood the events up. Just a minute-by-minute account of what these men went through and it’s likely to be one of the more memorable movies of 2025. Let’s just say- these men have got guts!

Smile Worthy

So there you have it! All the new movies I’ve been watching lately. Quite the variety! Make sure you check out Hallmarkies Podcast and my youtube channel for more reviews and podcast episodes! Enjoy!

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.