What I watched March 10-16, 2024
This week's round-up includes nostalgia, gay hermit genius, and the most adorable human being on the planet.
The Notebook
Directed by Nick Cassavettes, 2004
2004, a.k.a. the year of Rachel McAdams. Headlining both this film and Mean Girls, we saw her in two very different lights, highlighting—in my opinion—her incredible range and ability to bring undeniable realism to the screen.
The Notebook is a film that reminds me of eighth grade Lynsey, outwardly rejecting the concept of true love and gushy romance movies, yet finally allowing my childhood best friend to put this movie on at a sleepover. Admittedly, this movie worked for my black hole of a heart, AND IT STILL DOES.
Despite Allie’s immature, haphazard, semi-violent outbreaks, I believe this movie holds up pretty nicely, and very much still opens the tear ducts.
Loving Highsmith
Directed by Eva Vitija, 2022
A documentary covering the hidden lesbian life of Patricia Highsmith as told by her own account from her posthumous diaries and those who knew her before she passed.
I first heard (knowingly) about Patricia Highsmith through the release of Todd Haynes’ Carol in 2015. Searching for any semblance of myself in books, I listened to the audiobook and was completely blown away by the story as a whole, even more so when I discovered when the book was written.
Having since read The Talented Mr. Ripley, Strangers on a Train, reread Carol, or The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith certainly intrigues me as an author. Her work is very focused on the psyche of her characters, which in hindsight speaks volumes of the kind of life she led. Having skimmed a few of her published diaries after this film, one could agree Highsmith was someone who very much lived within the confines of their own mind.
However, when she was younger and spritely, her adventurous free spirit took her to New York City and eventually throughout Europe where she wrote, lived, and had a real way with the ladies. According to her diaries and this documentary, Highsmith loved to adore and be adored by a beautiful woman—I get it, Pat.
Jenny Slate: Seasoned Professional
2024
Jenny Slate has returned! She’s married, she’s a mother, and she’s more adorable and hilarious than ever! For those who are annoyed by Jenny Slate, I beg you to watch not only her stand-up specials but her independent filmography. Slate has such a lovability about her, an innocence and genuine kindness that makes her work so beautiful to me.
If you’re looking for light-hearted, silly goose energy, look no further than the one and only Jenny Slate.
Thanks for reading! ttyl <3