So as suspected, I reached this next goal far earlier than the standard “watching one new film a day” would have gotten me (my goal date was May 30th, and I hit 150 on May 21st), and that’s largely due to the fact that the Seattle International Film Festival has begun! Since the evening of the 18th, I’ve been spending most of my days in movie theaters, and it’s been glorious.

This grouping of twenty-five films begins before the festival, and then halfway through I begin watching films from the festival. The special thing about SIFF is that it features over 400 films from around the world, and so many of them are films you really won’t get another chance to see (over half of them don’t have distribution deals right now, so they seriously may not be available again). It runs for a little over three weeks (until June 11th), so there’s still plenty of days left if you’re in Seattle and looking for some great cinema. At the end of the festival, I’ll work up a list of movies you really must see if they become available near you, but for now, let’s get to the highlights of movies 126 through 150!

Remember, you can check out my up-to-the-day list of films I’m watching here on IMDb.

Bombshell (1933) I think the main point of this movie is that Jean Harlow is fantastic. She’s Lola, a blonde bombshell movie star who wants a new image, rather than the scandalous narrative her studio’s publicist keeps spinning. However, the zany cast of people in her life make it hard for her to turn things around. The film walks the line between slapstick and screwball comedy, with fantastically hilarious hijinks and witty, fast-paced dialogue.

In preparation for Alien: Covenant (which as of writing I have now seen, though not in this chunk of 25 films) I watched all three Alien films that I had missed in one day. Let’s be honest, Alien 3 (1992) is just bad – I want to say that I saw what they were trying to do, but the movie just didn’t work for me. (Even as much fun as ‘spot the Game of Thrones actor’ can be…) Also, the special effects have aged REALLY poorly. Yikes. Alien: Resurrection (1997), however, exceeded my (low) expectations by delivering a super badass Sigourney Weaver. I mean, the logic of a half alien/half human clone is really thin, but getting to watch her kick ass and stride around at full height (she’s 5’11”, but it’s really only in this film that you notice just how tall she looks) was just awesome. I could have done without the weird sensual interactions with her ‘children’ the aliens (she describes herself as their mother, guys, seriously) but Oedipal complexes aside, it was a fun Alien romp. And then we get to Prometheus (2012). Look, no matter what original scripts or deleted scenes may offer, the actual end result is what was shown in theaters. Outside material can’t be counted on to redeem a plot-hole laden story with too many characters trying to have their own moment in the spotlight. The finished product seemed like an almost intriguing sci-fi film about exploration and the search for a Creator that was somehow hijacked into being an almost Alien film. Which is too bad, because there was potential there, not in the least where the visuals and cinematography are concerned. In the plus column: The opening scene is a great tourism plug for Iceland – I really want to go to that waterfall now.

The Big Sick (2017) I’d been to the Seattle International Film Festival’s Opening Night once before, and it unfortunately featured a film that I felt was a bit weak, which cast a bit of a pall over the entire evening. This year I was able to attend Opening Night in a working role, which was fantastic for a start, and the featured film was ‘The Big Sick’, which is a brilliantly funny, poignant, and lovely film. While it’s billed as a rom-com, it features an incredibly witty, funny script that had the audience laughing so hard at points that we missed the next several lines (so clearly it’s good for a few re-watches!). The story is semi-autobiographical, about the love story between Kumail Nanjiani (who co-wrote and also plays the lead character) and his now-wife, Emily V. Gordon (his co-writer as well). I believe this film is getting wide distribution later this year, so I would highly recommend checking it out when it hits theaters near you.

The Midwife (2017) I’ll admit, I added this to my watch list for the festival largely because Catherine Deneuve is in it. However, beyond her sublime performance, this film is beautifully done. Claire (the title character, played wonderfully by Catherine Frot) is a midwife in a small, close-knit clinic about to close, living a quiet life with just her son as family, when Deneuve, her father’s mistress from many years ago, suddenly reappears in her life. The pace is lovely, running its way between Deneuve’s upbeat, at times frantic life while slowing back down to explore Claire’s gradual change of heart. The juxtaposition of the two characters, as they rediscover each other while dealing with their own individual struggles over the course of the story, is played perfectly. The film draws contrast between Claire and Beatrice (Deneuve) by showing their preferred settings – Claire lives outside the city, in a quiet town where she can have a garden and her son can swim in the river, while Beatrice lives her life going between nice cafes and bars and shops in the city. The relationship between the two is touching, and as the story drew to a close I was just stuck by how lovely the execution of the film was as a whole.

The Bar (2017) I’ll preface this by saying this is probably not a film for everyone, but I greatly enjoyed it. The essential plot idea is there are several people in a bar in Madrid when a shooting happens right outside, and they find themselves trapped together for reasons I won’t spoil. What follows is a tense psychological thriller about human nature, and a what-would-you-do type of story line. It’s written well, with moments of humor that land incredibly well without breaking the line of suspense being pulled tighter and tighter as the story goes on. It’s definitely brutal, make no mistake there, but I was caught up in it and along for the ride to the very end.

Brigsby Bear (2017) There are some movies that make you smile right at the very beginning, and by the end of it your cheeks almost hurt for holding onto that smile the whole way through. For me, this is one of those films. In the beginning we meet James, a young man obsessed with a TV show that he’s been watching since childhood called ‘Brigsby Bear’. Living with his parents in what seems to be a secure bunker in the middle of nowhere, there is a sudden shift in reality as we discover life as James knows it is not quite as it appears. One thing he discovers is that the TV show he loves was made for an audience of one: James. As he tries to come to terms with his new reality, James becomes determined to make a Brigsby Bear movie to finish the story. There’s a beautiful joy in this film, as James explores life, friends, family, and filmmaking – seeing the world through James’s eyes brought a huge smile to my face for most of the film. On top of the story, the cinematography was really lovely, and the performances across the board were really great.

All Films: 126 through 150

126. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
127. The 39 Steps (1935)
128. Bombshell (1933)
129. Magnum Force (1973)
130. Alien 3 (1992)
131. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
132. Prometheus (2012)
133. Fast Five (2011)
134. Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)
135. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)
136. The Searchers (1956)
137. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
138. The Big Sick (2017)
139. Death in Sarajevo (2016)
140. The Midwife (2017)
141. The Fabulous Allan Carr (2017)
142. Lemon (2017)
143. Chavela (2017)
144. After the Storm (2016)
145. Beach Rats (2017)
146. The Bar (2017)
147. The Unknown Girl (2016)
148. The Force (2017)
149. Brigsby Bear (2017)
150. Bad Day for the Cut

I’ll try to get the next 25 up as soon as I finish them, but SIFF has me pretty busy, so while I’m jotting down notes as I watch them, finding the time to type them all up is a balancing act - I’ve already seen 20 films during the festival, and it’s only the first week! I’ve also got a movie list post coming soon of films that I love but not many people have seen, so watch for that in the coming days.

If you missed any of my previous MovieADay posts, catch them all here.