In recent years my main entertainment focus has moved from video games to television, and now to movies. I still enjoy all these mediums and still follow these industries closely, but I have a renewed passion for film. And of course, I take that free-flowing passion and squeeze it all into nice little compartments I can label.
I listen to film podcasts like The Filmcast, /Film Daily, and Fighting in the War Room where they discuss recent developments in the film industry and review new release films.
I have a Letterboxd account to log every film I watch, submit a star rating and sometimes offer a few words. You can follow me on there if you’re so inclined. I follow a bunch of folks to get a feel for the mood of new films and what to look out for. Letterboxd is social media for film nerds. Its headquarters is based here in God’s own, Aotearoa.
I’ve just joined The Wellington Film Society where they screen classics and hidden gems for its members at The Embassy. It’s like a mini film festival every week. Of course, Omicron is here to throw a wrench into the works and screenings are suspended for now. A major benefit of being a card-carrying member is getting discounted movie tickets at many cinemas throughout the region.
With the demise of United Video, keeping track of what I want to watch has gotten messy. There’s something to be said for having physical shelves to browse and knowing you can’t watch Zoolander 2 on DVD because each case is closed by a rubber band and a little slip of paper. Now there’s too much choice.
You might find something that works better for you but these are the systems I utilise. It’s a work in progress and probably always will be.
Where to watch in New Zealand
Flicks is a kiwi film blog but also a neat database of films. Every week it identifies every screen in your local area you can watch a particular film.
Now for streaming, it gets trickier. With multiple streaming providers, it’s hard to know where to find everything. Thankfully, Just Watch is here to save the day (it’s also built into Letterboxd). You select which platforms you have access to and it will tell you where you can watch that film. It also works with TV shows.
Netflix, Neon, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, MUBI, Kanopy, DocPlay, TVNZ OnDemand, Three Now, BeamaFilm, Shudder…
Top tip: check to see if your local library has a subscription to Beamafilm or Kanopy. They’re not the greatest for new releases but you can find some classics on there and best of all, it’s free!
And if that film isn’t available on any of your streaming subscriptions, you can still lay down some cash to rent or buy a film on platforms like iTunes (which has released onto more platforms like smart TV’s under the guise of “Apple TV”). Look out for their 99c rentals and other specials.
Because of COVID, in the US, Warner Brothers decided to release new releases to cinemas and day one on their HBO Max platform, simultaneously, shattering that “release window” cinemas have held onto for so long. Now we’re in a whole new world. And you can blame it all on Trolls World Tour.
Disney+ are releasing some Pixar movies straight to its service, like Luca and the upcoming Turning Red. Last year they had a 30-day theatrical window with Encanto. They also have “Premier Access” that was brought in with Mulan (2020) which lets you see a film currently screening in theatres from the comfort of your own home in advance of its general streaming release. But unlike HBO Max, you have to pay for the privilege.
Since Disney’s purchase of Fox, their adult-skewing films from 20th Century Studios like The Last Duel, The French Dispatch and West Side Story are releasing onto the platform just a few months after release in the cinema. It’s all a big experiment and they’re making it up as they go along.
With Apple iTunes you can “Bring the cinema to you” and in some instances rent a recently released movie for the princely price of $24.99 or $29.99, like Ghostbusters Afterlife and The Matrix Resurrections, or you can lay down an extra $5.00 to add it to your digital library forever. It’s the Wild West out there.
How to organise your watch list
Forget using the watch lists built into individual streaming platforms. They soon become a bumbling mess of films, something that may have caused a twinkle in your eye at one point in time, several years ago, and now you can’t remember why you added it in the first place.
As seen above, I first organised my watch lists using the iPhone Reminders app. I organised my Watching list into subcategories: Rentals, Of the moment, TV, Cinema, Streaming Films, Classic TV, Classic Films, 2021 Streaming Catch-up. The good thing about this method was I could add release dates, forget about it, and then be reminded when something was finally here. I could also add the streaming platform if applicable. This soon became unwieldy.
Now I’ve migrated my film watch lists into Letterboxd to make use of their database and integration with JustWatch. I’ve marked these lists as private on the app but will show them to you here as an exclusive to this here newsletter. Aren’t you lucky?
My main use of these lists is to drag films at front of mind to the top of the queue and to let the rest simply drift into an endless beyond, where I’ll probably never find time to watch them.
Coming soon - Essentially this list is made up of movies still waiting on a theatrical release in New Zealand or I’m waiting for them to become available to stream/rent.
Recent - This list is made up of films released in the last two years, available to stream/rent.
Classic - This list is made up of films I haven’t seen, released outside the last two years, available to stream/rent, or sitting already purchased in my iTunes library waiting for the day I finally hit play. From Lawrence of Arabia to Timecrimes, this list covers the gamut. And yes, I still haven’t seen The Godfather trilogy.
Rewatch - The name says it all. Films I’ve seen before but for whatever reason, I have that urge, that nervous itch to watch again. Like the above category these films span decades.
Cinema - This is a list that probably needs more refinement. By the time I add a film that’s started screening in New Zealand, it’s probably almost finished its theatrical run. It is also wishful thinking given babysitters, spending money and oh yeah, Omicron.
The random movie bot
I called it Movie Roulette. This was a bit of failed experiment but I had fun making it at the time. I nerdily created a spreadsheet compromised of my various lists for it to pick a random film out of each of the categories and then make a final random selection out of those pics. Because of this, I found myself watching rom-coms; Sweet Home Alabama and Juno.
All said and done, it’s a good incentive to visit a movie that’s long been on your watch list, that you haven’t had the motivation to follow through on until a robot tells you to. And of course, after all that, Letterboxd now has the option to shuffle your Watchlist.
At the end of the day
I feel better about having things organised than not. It’s just how my lizard brain works and I get some weird satisfaction from categorising things this way. I haven’t yet reached levels of nerdy like the Blank Check podcast who review directors’ entire filmographies but I’m getting close.
I recently watched both The Matrix trilogy and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in preparation for their respective legacy sequels. Maybe a better term for me is “film nerd wannabe” but that sounds slightly pathetic.
Here’s to the wannabes.
What I’m playing
Boss fights have been a part of video games since the medium’s early days. To break up the main gameplay loop and mark the end of a particular section you must memorise a series of attacks, when and where to dodge and take advantage of your opponent’s weak spots.
These days I don’t have much patience for boss fights, especially end of game bosses. I’m currently stuck at the end of Metroid Dread on the final boss with its multiple phases. I’m also still pushing through the final boss in Death’s Door.
A thing both these games have in common are hidden secrets like health upgrades. And if you miss collecting these you’re making the final boss harder on yourself. It wasn’t until I was near the end of Death’s Door and picked up a walkthrough that did I realise you could upgrade each of your main abilities by fighting secret boss fights. Fortunately, because I had waited so long into the game, these fights weren’t overly difficult.
Call me a baby. Call me lazy. But I do like to be able to play a game without banging my head against a wall. I just can’t get onto the same page as fans of Dark Souls where one wrong move can send you tumbling back to the start.
I do like some challenge but I’ve only got so much free time on my hands. I would rather use that time to check out new stories and experiences than submit myself to the masochistic tendencies of these game developers.
I would have preferred Metroid Dread without the bosses. It’s a game of exploration but every so often it all comes to a grinding halt as a big monster stands in your path. They have just released a “Rookie” mode as a free update but of course, you can only select that difficulty when starting a new game. They’re also going to release a “Boss Rush Mode” that has you taking on bosses until you die. Not for me thank you. My Samus ends her story at the finish line, paralysed by dread. Rather fitting I think.
Thankfully with Death’s Door, although you do have to run obstacle courses between fighting the final boss, there are a couple of checkpoints to ease the ordeal. I think I’m in the final stretch now.
I sense the end is in sight.
What you can do right now
After 15 months of negotiations with the District Health Boards (DHBs), 10,000 health workers have voted to strike. These are allied, public health, scientific and technical professionals. Workers who have helped us through this pandemic, including laboratory workers and contact tracers. Many of these health workers don’t earn a living wage.
Show your support and sign the petition to ensure the DHBs make an offer that addresses low wages and guarantees safe staffing.
Action: Sign the petition
Odds & ends
The Spinoff has a new web series called Takeout Kids. It’s about school-aged kids growing up in their parents’ fast food shops. Of four I’ve seen one episode so far; Martynique helping out at Samoa’s Finest in Porirua. It was a beautifully shot, fly-on-the-wall documentary and tells so much, even without having any context. I believe each episode is standalone, clocking in under 15 minutes but I will make sure to watch them all.
Rose Matafeo’s second series of Starstruck is here. Starstruck is her sweet London-based romantic comedy series about a regular Kiwi abroad, who hooks up with a famous film actor. All six episodes are now online. Again, I’ve only seen the first episode of Season 2, but the cuteness is still fully intact.
Vogue has an article on youth activist and style icon, Shaneel Lal, who has championed the conversion therapy ban since the very beginning.