Streamathon
August 2017 - Reunions
Preface: This is part of an ongoing blog series of curated movie
marathons that are thematically or otherwise tied together. The other common
factor tying these films together will be their availability to watch them all
from the comfort of your own home on various streaming platforms. The goal is
that writing this blog will somehow justify the excessive number of streaming
platforms I subscribe to. The films will be found on some combination of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Mubi, FilmStruck, and/or Fandor. These titles will be
available for the month that the blog is published. All of these subscriptions
offer free trials so feel free to dive in and follow along… Have fun. Just
don’t message me for my login information.
By: Emery Martin-Snyder
REUNIONS – What better setting for a film than a reunion?
Old friends, families, lovers, enemies and casual acquaintances all come with
their own baggage and backstories. Maybe we’re watching a couple of blond
bombshells try to convince their old high school classmates that they invented “Post-It
Notes” in David Mirkin’s ROMY & MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (1997). Or we
spend another night with Jesse & Celine as they reunite nine years after
their European romance in Richard Linklater’s BEFORE SUNSET (2004). Either way,
there’s a common rush of emotional anticipation that accompanies the set.
What’s old becomes new, what’s familiar becomes awkward and what’s safe begins
to terrify. Here’s a list of films that you can put on when you’re trying to
avoid talking to the people you’ve recently been reunited with.
The Stream
BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (1996)
Directed by Ted Demme – Streaming
on FilmStruck
Timothy Hutton’s character Willie shows us why we can never
go home again. He shows back up in his hometown to essentially give up on his
dream of being a professional musician. Willie’s old friends are less than
enthusiastic at the idea of not being able to live vicariously through him any
longer. But they all have their own problems to deal with as well. For all
intents and purposes, this is an ensemble piece with a cast list that reads
like a 90’s who’s who of talent. Some performances are better than others, but
I particularly like Michael Rappaport here as Paul.
THE BIG CHILL (1983)
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan –
Streaming on Hulu
Lawrence Kasdan is better known as a screenwriter than a
director. He was responsible, or at least co-responsible, for some really big
screenplays during the 80’s including RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and EMPIRE
STRIKES BACK. He is currently working with J.J. Abrams to extend the STAR WARS
universe. In 1983, he co-wrote and directed this little Oscar nominated gem
about a group of college friends reunited for a funeral. Now older, the group
reminisces about their revolutionary years at the university and wrestle with
the notion that they have grown up and out of their principals. They get drunk,
high, argue about philosophies and hook up with each other. I actually think
that this is a great time capsule film. The characters perfectly portray the
type of upper crust thirty-somethings that you would likely find in the early
80’s. The baby-boomers were working hard to ensure that their liberal social
principals wouldn’t clash with their conservative economics. Cocaine helps.
CHEAP THRILLS (2013)
Directed by E.L. Katz – Streaming on Netflix
Craig (Pat Healy) and Vince (Ethan Embry) are a couple of
old punk rock friends that reconnect at a bar after Craig, now settled down,
has lost his job and faces an eviction. They happen to meet up with an
eccentric couple that introduces them to what turns out to be a potentially
lucrative opportunity. All that it will cost them is any sense of decency or
morals that they may have left. This film is a lot of fun. Watch it with an old
buddy.
IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD (2016)
Directed by Xavier
Dolan – Streaming on Netflix
Xavier Dolan has a magical habit of directing small family
melodramas as though they’re Hitchcockian thrillers. He’s kind of like the
anti-Ozu. His filmmaking is manipulative and overwrought and beautiful and at
times transcendent. This is one of those times. This film got very
understandably mixed reviews. For some reason, those seem to frequently be my
favorites.
LAST TRAIN HOME (2009)
Directed by Lixin Fan – Streaming
on Amazon Prime Video
There are 130,000,000 migrant workers in China. And they all
want to head home to be with their families to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
This is exactly the logistical nightmare you would expect for a mass public
transit system. Director Lixin Fan takes us on this journey with one family
year after year in this heartbreaking documentary. The reunions are short and
bittersweet at best, usually more bitter than sweet. Watch this film the next
time you start feeling sorry for yourself.
PEPPERMINT CANDY (1999)
Directed by Lee Chang-dong –
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
The reunion here takes place at the beginning of this film
but at the end of its story. It is a character piece that is told in reverse
chronology by one of my favorite Korean filmmakers. We first see its tragic
end, and then we witness all the events that led to our main character’s
ultimate demise. This is a very effective way to show how we should feel
empathy for Earth’s fellow inhabitants. Someone who may seem calloused and
heartless probably wasn’t born that way.
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008)
Directed by Jonathan Demme –
Streaming on Hulu
Rachel, the titular character of this film, is not the main
character. And that is part of the problem. It’s supposed to be her big day but
her little sister Kim (Anne Hathaway) has come home from rehab to attend the
event. Emotions that the family had been working so hard to suppress seem to
have so easily found their way back to the surface. BEAUTIFUL GIRLS director
Ted Demme was the nephew of this film’s more prolific filmmaker, Jonathan
Demme. Ted passed away back in ’02. Unfortunately, we lost Jonathan earlier
this year. If you’re not familiar with his work, this is as good of a place as
any to start.
TOKYO STORY (1953)
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu – Streaming on
FilmStruck
This is probably the mother of all art-house family
melodramas. An elderly couple comes to visit their children and grandchildren
as they enter the twilight of their lives. They find their children to be much
less receptive and compassionate than they were hoping for. This film, like
much of Ozu’s work, beautifully illustrates how values will always change
generationally and just how finite the time we spend with our loved ones can
be.
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