Everything I Watched In June, 2024
I'm officially in a new state, and the newsletter is getting a new format to match!
Welcome back to Braden’s Watch List! I’ve taken a bit more time off than initially planned, as I was adjusting to our new home following our move to California at the end of May/beginning of June, and with that move, I’ve decided I wanted to rework the format of this newsletter, changing it from a biweekly publication to a monthly one. As part of this format change, I’m going to run through everything I watched in a month, and if I have more to say about anything in particular, I will expand on any thoughts I want to add. This will make this a bit more manageable to work on, as time goes on, and you’ll get a more complete picture on all the movies I’ve been watching. As June is the month where I challenge myself to watch 30 films from queer filmmakers in celebration of pride, much of this month will center those films, with some other movies thrown in the mix as well.
Since this newsletter is likely going to be too long for email, I recommend clicking on the title, and viewing this in your browser. That being said, lets get into the movies!
June 1st
Trick - 1999, dir. Jim Fall, Criterion Channel
Totally fine but Coco Peru’s one scene performance is so fucking funny that it makes the movie itself so much better.
Born Yesterday - 1950, dir. George Cuckor, Criterion Channel
Had to watch this considering Judy Holliday won Best Actress for this over Bette Davis and Anne Baxter for All About Eve and Gloria Swanson for Sunset Blvd., 3 extremely good performances, but she’s also extremely funny in this so I cannot possibly be mad.
June 2nd
Orlando, My Political Biography - 2023, dir. Paul B. Preciado, Criterion Channel
This Is Me… Now: A Love Story - 2024, dir. Dave Meyers, Prime Video
Obviously watching this when the rumblings about the Bennifer 2.0 alleged split happened was wild (girly needs more petals in the heart factory ASAP), but writing about it now as it seems like the Bennifer 2.0 alleged split is rapidly progressing… What a bummer!
June 3rd
Lilies - 1996, dir. John Greyson, Criterion Channel
Water Lilies - 2007, dir. Celine Sciamma, Criterion Channel
I did watch these the same night because I thought it would be funny given the titles, but both are pretty great and definitely worth checking out.
June 4th
Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt - 1989, dir. Ron Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, Criterion Channel
June 5th
Power - 2024, dir. Yance Ford, Netflix
Stress Positions - 2024, dir. Theda Hammel, VOD Rental
June 7th
The Watchers - 2024, dir. Ishana Night Shyamalan, In Theaters
First movie watched in a theater in LA. While not great, especially from a script level, you can tell Ishana is a student of her father in both the best and worst ways, because any issue I had with the heavy-handedness of the script is met with some exquisite filmmaking, and much like her father, I can’t wait to see where her career goes next. (Also, super excited to see M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap next month, which looks like a blast)
June 8th
Am I OK? - 2024, dir. Tig Notaro & Stephanie Allynne, Max
Young Soul Rebels - 1991, dir. Isaac Julien, Criterion Channel
June 9th
The Long Weekend (O’ Despair) - 1989, dir. Gregg Araki, Digital
I was only able to watch this, which was considered lost for several years, because NYU suddenly uploaded the movie in two parts. While it’s not perfect, and the audio is not the easiest to hear at a lot of points, it’s still really exciting to watch because of where Araki’s career goes basically right after this, given that his next movie is the excellent The Living End. As a side note, extremely excited that Criterion is releasing a box set of his Teen Apocalypse trilogy this September.
Flaming Ears - 1992, dir. A. Hans Scheirl, Ursula Pürrer & Dietmar Schipek, Criterion Channel
June 10th
Totally Killer - 2023, dir. Nahnatchka Kahn, Prime Video
June 11th
Blue Jean - 2022, dir. Georgia Oakley, Hulu
The queerest of films I watched, not because of content, but because it is a lyric in the other half of Ariana DeBose’s now infamous BAFTA song where she shouts out all the women nominated a few years ago.
June 12th
Housekeeping for Beginners - 2023, dir. Goran Stolevski, Peacock
June 13th
Inside Out 2 - 2024, dir. Kelsey Mann, In Theaters
Despite some great voice performances from Amy Poehler, Ayo Edibiri and Maya Hawke, I really did not care much for this movie, which feels like it has many of the same beats as the first movie, but to an extent where many of the new representations of different parts of living just felt incredibly strained, especially the closer you get to the climax of the film.
June 15th
My Fake Boyfriend - 2022, dir. Rose Troche, Prime Video
A Dirty Shame - 2004, dir. John Waters, Kanopy
Since we had planned to visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures at the end of the month specifically to see the John Waters exhibit that’s leaving at the beginning of August, I wanted to prepare by finishing up the Waters movies I hadn’t yet seen, so every movie for the next few days after this one (which I had a blast watching) is a John Waters film I had not yet seen, which was extremely rewarding leading up to seeing the exhibit.
June 16th
Cecil B. Demented - 2000, dir. John Waters, Kanopy
Pecker - 1998, dir. John Waters, Kanopy
Mondo Trasho - 1969, dir. John Waters, Digital
June 17th
Desperate Living - 1977, dir. John Waters, Digital
June 18th
Polyester - 1981, dir. John Waters, Digital
This ended up being my favorite movie out of this string of John Waters films that I watched, and is my second-favorite of his films overall, just after Serial Mom. Waters lovingly lampoons the “women’s pictures” of the 50s, specifically the Sirk melodramas that both is a loving tribute and a hilarious send up of those movies and does so with Divine’s best performance ever. I really hope Waters gets to make Liarmouth, like I know he wants to, because while A Dirty Shame wouldn’t be the worst final film for him (it’s also a blast to watch, imo), I would love to see what he could do now.
June 20th
Edward II - 1991, dir. Derek Jarman, Kanopy
June 22nd
Kinds of Kindness - 2024, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, In Theaters
I managed to find an early screening for this before it’s first limited release weekend, and got a keychain (normal) and an air freshener (surprising and random). I seem to be less enthused by Lanthimos’ current output compared to others, as I didn’t love this and I didn’t love Poor Things, but I appreciate the direction of this over Poor Things in a lot of ways.
Mad Max: Fury Road - 2015, dir. George Miller, Max
Since this would’ve been skipped over given the format change, Furiosa was the last movie I saw before moving out of Illinois, which I enjoyed but I think going into this expecting it to be fully the same as Fury Road ultimately hurts the experience of watching Furiosa, which is still a pretty good movie, with a really great Chris Hemsworth performance.
June 23rd
Twelve - 2010, dir. Joel Schumacher, Prime Video
June 24th
Stonewall - 1995, dir. Nigel Finch, Prime Video
Fully watched this because one of my college acting teachers stars in it and to my surprise, throws the first punch at Stonewall. Anyways, enjoy this picture of him wearing a hat very normally.
I Can’t Think Straight - 2008, dir. Shamim Sarif, Tubi
June 27th
A Quiet Place: Day One - 2024, dir. Michael Sarnoski, In Theaters
Probably the best of the Quiet Place movies, strictly because Sarnoski is a stronger director than Krasinski, and because Lupita’s one of our best working actors (who is somehow also our most under-utilized).
June 29th
Chutney Popcorn - 1999, dir. Nisha Ganatra, Prime Video
Bedrooms and Hallways - 1998, dir. Rose Troche, Prime Video
Moffie - 2020, dir. Oliver Hermanus, Hulu
June 30th
Fancy Dance - 2024, dir. Erica Tremblay, Apple TV+
Lily Gladstone continues to be one of the best actresses working today, and I’m so glad this finally came out because she’s excellent in it, and the ending is just wonderful.
All The Kings Men - 1949, dir. Robert Rossen, In Theaters
Watched at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in the David Geffen Theater, which was gorgeous and featured one of the largest screens I’ve ever seen. A great ending to the month, and the John Waters exhibit at the museum was spectacular, both making for an incredibly worthwhile trip to the museum. I’ll include a few pictures from the exhibit below.
That’s all I have for June! I’ll be back the first Saturday in August, with everything I’ve watched in July, but until then, you can find me on Twitter and Letterboxd. Until next time!