I'm Still Here

Well hello there, Happy New Year! It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve written an entry here so I thought it was about time to write some more nonsense and share some movies I’ve enjoyed watching recently. We have just started going back to the movie theater this past year and boy does it feel good to be back. 2020 was the first year in which I don’t even know how long I haven’t made a top 10 list for the year. It's been tough to get excited about movies with all the theaters being closed and the production companies delaying releases. It’s been hard with everything going on in the world but we managed to move shortly after my last entry so we’ve been residents of the city of angels for over a year now and we love it! 

Also, Greg and I started our own movie podcast based around the Epic Movie Collection Instagram thing that we started years ago. There have been some delays recently but we are excited to get it up and running again. If you are reading this and interested in listening to me talk bullshit about some of my favorite movies, the name of our podcast is: Greg and Katy’s Epic Movie Collection - The Podcast and you can find us on just about every podcast service available.

This year I did make a top 10 so I figured I would post it here to keep the tradition alive. So here it is, out of all the films I watched that were released in 2021 here are my favorites in order from best to least:

1. Last Night in Soho
2. Licorice Pizza
3. The Mitchells vs. The Machines
4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home
6. Respect
7. The Sparks Brothers
8. King Richard
9. Don’t Look Up
10. The Last Cruise

Since it’s my first time back in a while I thought I would keep this entry just to one movie and what better movie to talk about than my favorite one of 2021! So sit back and enjoy my take on Edgar Wright’s masterpiece ‘Last Night in Soho’.

Last Night in Soho (RT 75%)

Cut to the chase: An aspiring fashion designer obsessed with vintage culture moves to London to study fashion and ends up magically entering the 1960’s where she is able to live through Sandie, a woman with a desire to sing and perform on stage.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie. Did I mention I love this movie? I’m a real sucker for coming of age movies with strong female leads and also love psychological thrillers. We saw an early screening of this at the theater down the street (we can walk to the theater now!! LA is awesome).  I went in relatively blind – I had seen the trailer and I’ll watch any Edgar Wright film (obviously… 2 of his films are on my top 10) but I was really glad I didn’t know much going into it. If you are reading this and haven’t seen the film yet I recommend you stop reading and go watch it before you read any further because it is a really fun ride – especially if you have no idea where it’s going.

The film follows a college age woman named Eloise (AKA Ellie) as she is embarking on her first year at fashion school in London. She is obsessed with designing vintage clothes and has a large record collection of music from the 60s which she cherishes.  She lives with her grandma and it’s implied that her mom had a mental breakdown and committed suicide.  As she leaves home her grandma repeatedly tells her to come back if she can’t handle the city and if things get too overwhelming so it’s apparent that mental illness runs in the family. From the get-go we keep getting introduced to creepy middle aged English men. I can imagine the casting call for all the creepy old English men they paid to be in this movie, there were so many! First off, her cab driver gives her the creeps and starts talking about wanting to know where her dorm is so he knows where to go watch the young ladies. She ditches him before she gets to her destination and ends up walking the rest of the way. When she gets to her dorm she meets her roommate who is a total two faced bitch and makes a lot of backhanded comments to her. She gets sick of how hectic the dorm is so decides to find an apartment of her own to stay in. The landlady is a friendly but stern old woman who is very adamant about no male visitors after dark and Ellie states that that won’t be a problem. That night as she goes to sleep she gets transported back to London in the 60s into the body of a confident and mesmerizing woman named Sandie. Every night after she continues following Sandie on her journey to break out as a singer and performer on stage. Things start out great and Ellie can’t wait to go to sleep and continue Sandie’s story each night but soon the dream changes into a nightmare and the lines between the dream world and reality start to blur. 

I will leave it at that because I would hate to spoil the twists and turns that this movie takes. Being a huge fan of the 60s and 70s culture myself along with strong female leads, this movie was made for me. When the credits rolled I immediately looked at my husband Greg and said “that was the best movie of the year” and he laughed and replied with “well that makes sense, this movie has all the ingredients of a ‘Katy movie’”. Maybe it’s not the best movie of the year for everyone. It definitely takes a weird turn and the second half is not for the weak but it’s got a great soundtrack and one of the most original films I’ve seen in a long time. 

That’s all for now. Hope 2022 is a much better year for everyone. Looking forward to all the great movies coming out this year and I’ll be back to talk about my favorites along the way.