Last year I didn’t start writing posts about my monthly movie themes until April so I didn’t get to talk about Science Fiction Month. Science Fiction is one of my favorite genres of film. Since I didn’t get to talk about my 2022 selections, I will cover those first and then cover my 2023 selections.
January 2022 Selections
Since this was the start of my experiment I only picked three movies. If you have not seen *batteries not included, from the late ’80s, it’s a fun and memorable movie. I’ll admit it’s a little hokey but I enjoy it. Inception is an excellent mind-bender movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, and JGL. The Island stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson and it’s directed by Michael Bay. I think this is one of my favorite performances by Ewan McGregor, who has to portray two versions of his character.
2023 Selections – Knock, Knock Neo
I barely remember the first time I saw The Matrix in the theater because I was coming down with the flu. In fact, I think I had a fever while I was at the movie, which is vehemently atrocious in 2023.
I enjoy the original Matrix trilogy, which is an unpopular opinion. An even more unpopular opinion is that I didn’t mind the fourth installment. After watching it a second time, I did catch more details about the story and it did make more sense. I’ll admit that it is the weakest of the movies and doesn’t add any value to the original trilogy (i.e. not necessary to watch).
Equilibrium is a movie from 2002 that feels a bit like Matrix. They introduce a hypothetical form of fighting called “Gun Kata”. Gun Kata feels like it draws some inspiration from Bullet Time.
Bonus/Special Event Movie(s)
The only important date in January is New Year’s Day, obviously. However, I cannot think of a movie that seems appropriate to watch every year on New Year’s Day. If anyone knows of one, please let me know.
With that said, I did watch a fairly recent movie on HBO Max called The Menu. It’s kind of a pseud0-horror, more like a thriller movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Nicolas Hoult. I don’t watch a lot of horror movies, they’re not really my thing, but I did quite enjoy The Menu. The link in this paragraph will take you to my review.
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.”
– Stanley Kubrick