I've Seen Parts #4

Atlantis - Battle of the Sexes

Oct 23, 2020

If you happened upon this page because your right-wing uncle shared it on Facebook in an effort to root out the Gay Agenda, or if you’ve suddenly come to in front of a desktop at your local public library clutching one of those plastic squeeze coin purses full of nickels for printing, let me kindly direct you to the About page.

This week, say hello to some B’s, as well as a couple of baby treatises on my youthful fixation with the superhero genre—but none about how that genre informed my nascent understandings of masculinity, equity, and corporeality because that would mean the end of this newsletter as I would then require some time away :). It’s impressive to have made it through the A’s in this undertaking given that, for a time in my youth, I took it upon myself to go through the literal Merriam Webster Dictionary and copy down the definitions of words I thought were particularly noteworthy, and I didn’t make it past “arborescent.” Here’s to a more diligent effort!

Last Week’s Call-In

Megan shared her experience of tapping into some dormant childhood trauma with Annabelle’s Wish (1997), which I posited was an indie Christmas movie but then everyone was like “I’ve also seen it” so, like, I get it, I did not “discover” Annabelle’s Wish. Megan was also gracious enough to tell us about seeing The A-Team (2010) in a movie theater (remember those?) on a date (remember those??).

Annabelle’s Wish is now a recovered memory that I find kind of unsettling for some reason.
Also, The A-Team was the movie I saw on my very first ever date with my very first ever boyfriend. I don’t think it was my pick!!

This is excerpted from Megan’s submission to the NYT’s Modern Love column.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

dir. Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, 2001

I refuse to quietly sit by and ignore that Milo is a prime cut of grade-A erudite dreamboat. I should probably also refuse to ignore that this movie is brimming with imperialist overtones.
I had a Happy Meal-esque toy version of the magic crystal from this movie and remember feeling pretty good about that. Now, I feel pretty good about aspiring to dress like every principal character in this movie.

Atomic Blonde

dir. David Leitch, 2017

This was better than I thought it’d be, and it had a sprinkling of gay in it which is always nice to see. I especially enjoyed the long-take/hidden-cut action scene in a stairwell because yes, I can be masc if I choose that journey for myself.

Atonement

dir. Joe Wright, 2007

Very pleased that baby Saoirse was not pigeonholed early in her career as strictly antihero material. You don’t need to tell me this was adapted from an Ian McEwan novel because a fun fact about the British film industry is that every other film is required to be either a McEwan or a Forster adaptation per the Magna Carta.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery & Austin Powers in Goldmember

dir. Jay Roach, 1997; 2002

You would have thought my extended family had invented these movies given how often they came and continue to come up. It’s possible (likely?) I saw the second one in the franchise (The Spy Who Shagged Me) but I don’t really remember it, and does it really matter? The only thing truly worth remembering is Beyoncé Knowles (pre -Carter) fully leaning into Blaxploitation as Foxxy Cleopatra (!!)—even with all the record sales, live event tickets, and Ivy Park merch, we will never adequately repay her.

Avatar

dir. James Cameron, 2009

Firstly, after trying to remember Atlantis a few minutes ago, I’m realizing that these two movies have almost entirely the same plot? Hmm. Anyway, I’m proud that I can say I contributed to history in the making by going to see this big-budget Pocahontas-in-space which has since remained the second-highest grossing film of all time after Gone with the Wind (have not seen!). My sister has refused to watch this since its release for unclear reasons that are at this point foundational for her identity, I think she’d agree.
I love that being deemed a cinematic visionary means you can just roll over in bed and announce upwards of three billion-dollar sequels and know you will be able to do them whenever you get around to it—more of that!

The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity Wars, & Avengers: Endgame

dir. Joss Whedon, 2012; 2015; dirs. Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, 2018; 2019

Yes I have seen them all, and yes I find them to be fun in a regressive and lose-all-sense-of-self-for-two-plus-hours kind of way that also makes me tired to think about Hollywood—is the magic of movies acquiescence?
Something to keep in mind as you continue to read I’ve Seen Parts and witness the cropping up of Marvel films (the “MCU” if that’s something that gets you off) is that the intricate lattice of superhero mythology occupied me for most of youth—maybe someday via dance or crying into a journal I can unpack the appeal, influences, and effects of that lore in various facets of my stupid little life (Hanya vibes).

The Aviator

dir. Martin Scorcese, 2004

I remember starting to watch this on Netflix and then realizing the aspect ratio was cropped, so I had to find it on a different streaming platform because that is a pet peeve of mine that my character developers wrote into my code to give me some flair. Good thing I was able to track down an un-cropped version so that I could watch it and then retain nothing from it four years later other than Cate Blanchett in a big fur coat (essentially a screen-test for Carol (2015)).

L’Avventura

dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960

I might have been a little distracted while watching this (on 2013 13” MacBook Air), and by the end I was slightly more focused on why I thought I smelled dog food in my room, but otherwise I enjoyed looking at this film.

The Babadook

dir. Jennifer Kent, 2014

Did not find this to be as deserving of the hype when I watched it with my then-boyfriend (are we loving the recurring cast of characters yet?). The “Babadook is gay icon” narrative is lost on me, sadly, and regardless, I don’t think it’s fair or ethical to out someone just because they are a celebrity! Going [plane emoji] ACLU!

Baby Driver

dir. Edgar Wright, 2017

Fun to have this one right after The Babadook because I watched this with my sister a few days after I was dumped by the aforementioned then-boyfriend! My (unpaid) interns are spending their (18-hour) days meticulously arranging these reflections chronologically so that they can eventually be published as a coffee table book by Prestel Publishing (known for art books naturally).
I do not like Ansel Elgort and never have. This is the last film I saw and will see with K***n Sp***y in it, but not Ansel Elgort I suspect.

Baby Mama

dir. Michael McCullers, 2008

I think my sister and I bought this DVD at Target for my mom, but only so we could watch it. What will these two do next? (My sister and me, or Amy and Tina?)

Back to the Future

dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1985

First saw this in my friend’s basement at a sleepover-style event circa 2007, where I mostly remember noting Marty McFly’s purple underwear (cue bards’ groans); most recently saw it this past summer projected on my neighbor’s garage, where I spent a while trying to recall if “Biff” was also the son’s name in Death of a Salesman (it is).

Bacurau

dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, 2019

Not everyone knows that I wrote my undergraduate thesis on indigenous people’s enacting agency over the terms of their assimilation in the Brazilian Amazon during the mid-nineteenth century—not entirely relevant here, but it’s something not everyone knows.
This film is a tonal rollercoaster in a good way, I think.

Bad Words

dir. Jason Bateman, 2013

I have never been in a spelling bee, but I did come in second place in my 2006 middle school geography bee (second place because I failed to name two landlocked countries in Asia—the failures of a Western education are endemic).

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

dirs. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 2018

Thought this was great. Zoe Kazan secures her place as cinema’s go-to pioneer woman.

The Ballad of Oppenheimer Park

dir. Juan Manuel Sepulveda, 2016

Saw this when I attended the Flaherty Film Seminar in 2015 because the Film & Media Studies program at Colgate University (where the event takes place every year) selected me to take part. Somewhere in the mid-bowels of the web, I am quoted talking about my enriching experience there, which was not untrue, but elides the fact that I didn’t feel qualified to be there, and as a result I didn’t say much to anyone about anything. I was still (un)learning that academic/cultural spaces should generate enthusiasm and discourse and not fear—he said “pedagogy”!

Bambi

dirs. David Hand, James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, Graham Heid, 1942

I’ve never killed a deer, so in many regards I’m comfortable naming this movie as a success for Walt Disney and co.

Band Aid

dir. Zoe Lister-Jones, 2017

For a time (the nostalgic year 2017), I was recommending this film to anyone who would listen—sometimes even I will participate in Straight Propaganda if it is for a good cause (charming indie songs by writer/director/star Zoe Lister-Jones, an all-women crew, and a score by Lucius, a band I like and have seen live but sometimes forget about).

Batman & Batman Returns

dir. Tim Burton, 1989; 1992

There was a puzzle of the Batman poster completed, glued together, and hanging above my basement stairs, as well as the poster for Total Recall (1990; have not seen) and one of a vintage Coca-Cola ad—can a trained anthropologist confirm for me that this is not unusual?
This is the beginning of what is going to be a salvo of Batman content, so it seems appropriate to once again remind readers that I was definitely a “superhero kid,” and also note that every time a friend and I played Batman (or if I was daydreaming, which comprised most of my mental output between ages 5 and 15), I pretended to be amenable by accepting the role of Robin while in fact that was what I preferred, and we are going to not read into that, ok?

Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, & The Dark Knight Rises

dir. Christopher Nolan, 2005; 2008; 2012

I would like to say on the record that I am firmly team Maggie Gyllenhaal (in general, but specifically as the very Nolanian woman-as-pawn-character “Rachel Dawes”).
Something quirky and beautiful about me is that I purchased Hans Zimmer’s The Dark Knight Rises score from the iTunes Store and listened to it while running around Hamilton, NY in 2013 (my Best Fitness Playlist Choice runner-up, after the Suspiria (2018) soundtrack).

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

dir. Curt Geda, 2000

Owned this VHS, watched the animated series, and had quite a few of the franchise’s comic books (including one where the Batman Beyond himself whose name I remember is Terry is half-naked and has to swim through some tunnels—if we remember my strange addiction to water-filled spaces from a couple weeks ago, you can imagine the titillating marriage of that scenario with a comic-book young man I did not know I was attracted to). There is a flashback narrative in this movie that is darker than everything in Nolan’s trilogy, and it is for children.
In hindsight, this franchise took a revisionist approach to the Batman mythos in a way that we’ve collectively as a culture ignored, and have since relapsed into—“grittier” is not moralistically elucidating (and that’s on periodt, etc.). Just today, as I write this, Ocean Vuong, who possesses a mind I am made more envious of and grateful for every day, was cited in a Q&A saying this about his childhood hero: “Now, grown up, I realise Batman is just a billionaire with a cool butler who beats up people suffering from mental illness.”* Much to think about.
*Link, because I always cite my sources: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/qa/2020/10/ocean-vuong-qa-batman-just-billionaire-cool-butler

Batman Forever & Batman & Robin

dir. Joel Schumacher, 1995; 1997

I recognize the controversy inherent in grouping these, but they exist in my head as a complete pair (imagine if I said “diptych”). If you listen closely or just normally, you can hear these movies pleading to be put down, or maybe that was just the ‘90s.
“Dr. Chase Meridian” clatters through the fissures of my psyche once per month.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

dir. Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm, 1993

I had a comic book tie-in with this movie, and I remember once asking my cousin (probably nearing 30) if she could draw something from it on a piece of paper for me (I was passionate about reproducing images, Benjamin’s “aura” be damned to Marxist Hell), and when she said she wasn’t a good drawer, I was like, “Can you at least trace it?” Sometimes I fear I might have been a lot.
A tracing I recall making by of course holding the pages against the window for adequate transparency is of Batman kneeling as he pours out some sort of bio-hazardous liquid from a small barrel—the mind is truly a playground.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

dir. Zack Snyder, 2016

Went to see this in London with the guy I had just started to hook up with and another guy we were sharing a flat with who probably knew we were hooking up but didn’t say anything—someone nominate him for a GLAAD ally award.

Battle: Los Angeles

dir. Jonathan Liebesman, 2011

Hate to report that during this late-afternoon matinee, my friends and I were those teenagers darting back and forth between our gendered rows of seats to giggle and whisper conspiratorially. I hope we didn’t distract any of the other patrons too much from immersing themselves in the cinematic experience of what I feel comfortable assuming was a battle that look place in Los Angeles.

The Battle of Algiers

dir. Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966

Watched this in a minimum of two undergraduate courses, so I can say with authority that this film is important… for cinema?… and for… anti-colonialism. And guerrilla tactics. And urban warfare. I am the picture of scholarship.

Battle of the Sexes

dirs. Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, 2017

This movie actually cured sexism and homophobia in one fell backhand—amazing work to all involved!

PLEASE share your own experiences with any of this week’s films in a comment—I’ll include my favorite in next week’s email for my millions of beautiful fans* to enjoy.

I've Seen Parts