Movie Moods

Recently I was on bed rest for a few days after having surgery (appendectomy), and I got to do something that I haven’t done in a long long time. Binge watch a bunch of movies all day for several days. This was exciting.

But the big question was— what do I watch?

The problem though, anytime you have an open-ended choice, is becoming paralyzed with decision fatigue. I have a list of movies I want to watch just for this type of rare occasion, filled with both new to me and rewatches suggestions. But after glancing though them, nothing fit with what I was searching for. What I was feeling?

I was looking for something specific to fit this weird state I was in— drugged up, dull discomfort, and tired.

I wanted something that I’d seen before that was fun, easy, and enjoyable— something I didn’t need laser focus on. Moving on from my list, I went searching, which can be its own perilous adventure.

After pecking around a few different services, I stumble upon The Gentlemen from Guy Richie. BINGO! It was exactly what I was looking for.

It’s a doozy of a movie. Classic Guy Richie at the top of his game, with a perfect blend of kinetic action violence, layered ensemble cross cutting story lines, and quickest wit comedy possible, all with a modern posh polish to boot.

This movie so hit the sweet spot for me, that upon rewatching, it has instantly jumped into one of my all time favorite movies. It has a tone of high style ethos while an essence of rugged brutality, all with a laugh. It’s pitch perfect. And I wanted more of it.

Now that I broke the ice on my movie watching, I returned to my movie list to see if anything else would be a good followup to this banger. One stuck out to me that I’ve been itching to rewatch— Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. While this isn’t a direct correlative to the vibe to The Gentlemen, there are similar hallmarks.

I trusted my instincts and had the time, so let’s do it.

While Guy Richie and Tarantino share manic over the top violence and punchy dialogue, there is a drastic shift in tone and pacing. And being a big sucker for anything about Hollywood and the movie business, I was able to adjust and make that shift due to this fact and also that One Upon a Time is freaking great. Funny, potent, touching, and weird.

Hollywood ended up being a great choice and I now was in a Hollywood state of mind, and decide to roll with those vibes. But I wanted to watch something I haven’t seen before. Looking through my library (yes I still buy movies — digitally), I found it.

The Bad and the Beautiful

It’s been on my list (and in my library) for years now and it was the perfect movie for this moment and my mood. Released in 1953 from director Vincent Minnelli, it tracks the rise and fall of a studio mogul (played by Kirk Douglas) through the flash backs of an actor, director, and screenwriter who’ve worked with him.

This hit me in all the right places that maximized my vibes. What I didn’t expect is how much I loved this movie, earning a new spot on my favorites list (this is proving to be a productive day). I was stunned at how great the movie was. I had a huge smile on my face from my visceral reaction to it.

It was amazing piece of story telling with a wonderfully smart framing that was efficient in its execution yet complex in its sentiment. An absolute recommend.

Coming off that high, I decided to revisit a classic favorite of mine in the same vein, with In a Lonely Place. This one has always had a distinct sense in my heart and mind for years.

It has a darker and more subversive tone than Bad and the Beautiful. Leaning hard into noir’s bleak call signs. It revolves around a brash, arrogant screenwriter under suspicion of murder. It’s strange and morbid, with questionable ethics and message, but it’s so opaque that you can find a way to justify the characters actions. In short this viewing had me questioning my love for this film. Something I wasn’t expecting. Either way this ended my first night.

The next day of bed rest, I decided to change it up. Having scratched the itch of Hollywood and a noir film, a lingering urge for the British action thriller resurfaced. So I went back to the Guy Richie pipeline and jumped into the spinoff Netflix series of The Gentlemen.

While not quite as punchy as the film counterpart, trading posh London drug trade for the perspective of the aristocrats housing the pot operation on their property, it was a quality production.

I was unsure at first if this show was going to work for me, but it quickly set up its tone that fit in the mood I was feeling. All the trademark Guy Richie’s flare was there in spades fulfilling the vibe of the movie while standing on its own with it’s distinct voice and style.

Since I was recuperating, I burned through this show out in about two days (which is the fastest I’ve binged a show in years). I was full into the wit of the British action comedy, so I decided to to stay in the family, firing up the cousin of The Gentlemen —The Kingsmen. I’ve always had a special joy for this movie when it came out (almost ten years ago), and that feeling was recaptured with its cheeky humor, fun action, and spot on send up of the spy genre. And Sam Jackson is freaking in hilarious.

Keeping these good vibes going, I jump to the prequel, The Kingsman. (Kingsmen: The Golden Circle misses the charm). This installment brings all the essence of the first film— humor, action, clever spy tactics— while adding genuinely compelling narrative turns that I forgot from the first viewing. Really well done and entertaining.

Now at this point I am feeling over extended on the engagement with my mood for this type of movie. Which has worked out as I was closer to full recovery at this point, so my free pass of doing nothing was expiring.

All in all, this extended stay of movie binging (with a quick TV binge) was an interesting look at finding the movie your in the mood for and how that can project forward. Once a movie captures your sense, you want more like it. But finding that movie is key.

This is a top priority of the streamers, especially Netflix. I’d say their recommendation engine is decent, but it’s only correlative to what you’ve watched in cumulation. It doesn’t work so well in the moment, when you in a certain mood.

I got lucky in stumbling across The Gentlemen, on Netflix by the way (so maybe the algorithm did work). But one can hope the a smarter, more elegant system for finding what you’re in the mood for, in the moment, will be achieved soon. This actually seems like a great practical application for artificial intelligence.

Because even though I had a list of movies to watch, your mood dictates so much of how you’re going to enjoy and engage with a movie in that time and place.

I was in a weird state, but found the exact story I needed for that moment. It parlayed several days of movie watching of the same vibe, both old and new (to me), that make me laugh, filled me with joy, and satisfied me deep down. It’s not the movies I’ve been planning to watch but it was the movies I needed.

So while pushing yourself outside your comfort zone is good, having a list is smart, sometimes you need just trust how you feel.