Amy Wren Watched What? December 30 2024-January 5, 2025

Hundreds of Beavers (2024) - Directed by Mike Cheslik
Part Buster Keaton, part video game, and part live action cartoon, this movie is unlike anything else that came out this year. Like, I could try to sit here and describe it, but I guarantee I can't do it any justice. You just have to watch it to get it.

Some of the gags get too repetitive, and there are points in the middle where it really started to drag for me. However, there are also parts throughout the movie that are just damn funny. It's well worth a gander, for sure.

When Harry Met Sally (1989) - Directed by Rob Reiner
Amazingly, I had never seen this film until this past week. And you know what? I loved it! There's a reason this is the gold standard of the modern romantic comedy. It's funny, it's touching, and it's just so well put together. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal work so well together. It's sometimes hard to believe how wonderful of a run Rob Reiner was in the 80's and 90's, given how the last 25 years or so have been the exact opposite for him.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) - Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
A gripping and harrowing film. I appreciate the way it ties the overarching political story of the 2022-23 Iranian protests following the murder of Mahsa Amini into a fictional familial drama. Authoritarianism ultimately leads to horror and atrocity, whether in a government, or in a family.

What makes this film even more notable is how its very production is tied into the events in Iran. Seriously, it was an ordeal just to get the film made and shown. The immediacy of the events depicted in the film gives the film an extra edge that one about something that happened decades or centuries ago just wouldn't have.

Between the Temples (2024) - Directed by Nathan Silver
Carol Kane has a very particular way of acting that she can both say something hilarious, while also giving you the full emotion of the moment as well. This talent of hers is on display all over this film, and she is magnificent in it. Jason Schwartzman is dang good as well, as a cantor who is having a very rough year. This film features one of the most amazingly, entertainingly awkward dinner scenes I've ever seen. And it's so hilarious, while also being so emotionally honest and. In short: the last film I watched in 2024 was also one of the best.

Other Movies Watched

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) - Directed by Tim Burton
Just one heck of a movie. I'm going through Burton's filmography this year, and it's going to be a lot of fun...until it isn't.

Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) - Directed by John Hough
Better than you'd think it would be. Weird, but also intensely Disney, so not as weird as it could have been.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) - Directed by Peter Jackson
Not as perfect as the first, or as relentless as the second. But still my favorite.

India Song (1975) - Directed by Marguerite Duras
A beautiful dream of a movie that isn't much more than that.

Broadcast News (1987) - Directed by James L. Brooks
A stupendous film. Had I seen this as a kid or teenager I would have probably been a news producer, for better or worse. I'm not even kidding.

Do you have thoughts about the movies on this list? Want to share what you watched last week? Join the conversation in the comments!

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