Now that I’ve had enough time to compare the two and the effects they’ve had on me, I can safely say that Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon is no 20th Century Women; I haven’t spent every waking minute of the months since I saw it thinking about it, and I don’t think it’s changed the direction of my life (I’m pretty sure 20th Century Women played a large part in making me realize that I’m trans, while C’mon C’mon did not make me any more trans than I currently am). But it’s still terrific, a Beginners-tier journey through Mills’ anxieties about parenthood and the future we’re leaving behind for our kids (we know it’s not good, but this takes the more depressing angle of showing that the kids also know it’s not good). As with most Mills projects, I’ll carry some of the moments shown here with me for a long time: the crystalline beauty of how Mills and DP Robbie Ryan shoot nighttime cityscapes, “rock-tossing” as a stress relief tool, Gaby Hoffmann serenading her son with an impassioned performance of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Shoop”, Jaboukie Young-White giving a child “screen time” by shoving an iPhone screen directly in front of his face. But most of all, a little scene of Scoot McNairy doing what I can only describe as a pantomime of an average workday, so insignificant and silly and yet so profound I’m not sure I can put its effect into words. I’ll try soon enough, though.
What else? There’s Criterion’s Blu-Ray upgrade of Alex Cox’s “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards” anti-80s American imperialism satire Walker. Newly-minted Oscar winner Kenneth Branagh’s “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards” adaptation of Frankenstein comes to 4K from Arrow, as does Paul “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards” Verhoeven’s RoboCop. I guess you can buy Spider-Man too if you really want to.
American Flyers (Warner Archive Collection)
C’mon C’mon (Lionsgate)
Fabian: Going to the Dogs (Kino)
Fandango (Warner Archive Collection)
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 4K (Arrow)
New Year’s Evil (Kino)
Raised by Wolves: The Complete First Season (Warner)
RoboCop 4K (Arrow)
The Round-Up & The Red and the White (Kino)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony)
Tentacles (Kino)
Walker (Criterion)