Watched Garden State

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 18mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
“Watching Garden State” Cedar Park, 2022

While browsing Amazon Prime Movies, Garden State popped up in the recommendations. I have kind of known about this 2004 movie for a long time and have been mildly interested but not enough to actually watch it but since i had a couple of hours, today was the day!

Although I enjoyed Garden State, I think it is more suited to a younger version of myself. I think I would have been really into if I saw it when it first came out, but now it felt a little naive and lacking. Still, I am happy I watched it.

One thing I am happy about is that while reading the movie’s Wikipedia page, I learned about the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. I think that bit of info was worth watching the movie for. 😀

I Finally Watched La Dolce Vita

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/4, 1/15 sec, ISO320
“La Dolce Vita” Cedar Park, 2022

This afternoon, I watched Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita”. What an odd movie! Watching the 1960 film in 2022 added another disorienting dimension for me and I couldn’t tell which parts were truly indicative of the times, and which were more fantastical versions. I suppose that added to the charm and mystery.

My favorite part of the film was when Marcello’s father came to visit. He seemed like the character who was most grounded in real life, which is probably why I enjoyed his scenes.

Overall, I am happy I watched to have finally watched this cinematic masterpiece, but I felt like I was watching from a great distance, both culturally and artistically.

Old Movie

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/3.2, 1/110 sec, ISO640
“Sayuri” Cedar Park, 2022

Tonight I watched “The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch / 蛇娘と白髪魔”, a Japanese horror film from 1968. I enjoyed watching it, not because the story was good, but I because I thought the props and special effects were interesting for the era. There were plenty of snakes, both real and fake, flying swords that turned into snakes, and creepy dream sequences. Lots of fun!

2022 Movies & Books

Here’s my 2022 list of books I’ve read and movies I’ve watched, with my rating of how much I liked it in parentheses (out of 10).

To see other years’ lists, click on the “List Love” menu in the top navigation.

Books

Movies and Dorama