#uk lockdown
Boris Johnson: I’m sure you’re all keen for everything to be accessible again
Me: *laughs/cries in disabled*
Bored in quarantine?
Want some good movies to watch but don’t want to support the careers of racists, r!pists and general jerks?
Worry not! There are plenty of good movies out there that you might not know about
If you liked:
Baby Driver
Watch:
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Why?
They have the same editors (Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos), director of cinematography (Bill Pope) and the same director (Edgar Wright) so that cool style and pace is there that a lot of people love about Baby Driver
And if you loved the music aspect of Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is full of it! The soundtrack is awesome and includes original songs written for the film (and performed in it) including ‘Black Sheep’ by Metric, and you can even listen to songs by the bands in the film on Spotify. Another great addition to the album is 'It’s getting boring by the sea’ by Blood Red Shoes.
Here’s a gif that showcases the classic whip-pan that Wright’s work often uses so well
Note: Given the context that prompted this post, I feel I should make you aware that at the start of the film, Scott (22) is dating 17-year old Knives. Although they only ever hold hands, are never alone together and her parents are aware and ok with it, please don’t watch if this will be triggering for you. To give an example of the nature of their relationship, Knives wants to kiss Scott and says “I’ve never kissed a guy before”. Instead of kissing her or initiating any contact, Scott responds “Hey… me neither”. Scott decides he’s too old for her but doesn’t handle this particularly well, not wanting to upset her (don’t worry- he gets called out for it) She remains a key character throughout the film and really develops as the story goes on. Bonus points for having her own arc and not being there as the foil for the white love interest. I love you Knives!
I also love the female characters in general they’re so different but cool here are some gifs ok bye
Attack the Block
Why?
Attack the Block has the same composer as Baby Driver (Steven Price), and is also edited by Jonathan Amos (Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) and co-produced by Edgar Wright.
It stars John Boyega, which is of course a reason itself to watch it, especially because supporting his work makes it harder for Hollywood to drop him (if you didn’t know, he is a vocal leader of the BLM movement in the UK and so stated he might lose his career). He is also just a good actor and general good person which seems rare these days.
Its cast were mostly unknown at the time, and a lot of the dialogue is based on quotes from real teenagers- in the same demographic as the characters- spoken to during research. Joe Cornish (writer/director) also discussed with the actors any changes they wanted to their characters’ dialogue and the last drafts were influenced by their choices.
This is especially important as the movie also deals with race and class issues, as well as treatment of black British people and people of colour by authority
I won’t write a lot about it since I don’t know it as well as I do Scott Pilgrim, but will be rewatching soon and if you need to know if there’s any subjects that might be triggering for you check the website doesthedogdie
I’ll just leave this quote from the film here:
“They arrest us for nothing anyway”
“No, I reckon yeah, I reckon, the Feds sent them anyway. Government probably bred those things to kill black boys. First they send in drugs, then they sent guns and now they’re sending monsters in to kill us. They don’t care man. We ain’t killing each other fast enough. So they decided to speed up the process”
Cast members you may also recognise!
Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who)
Frank Drameh (The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow)
I can do a pt.2, if there’s particular films/actors you want alternatives to let me know
