GTFO (get the f*ck offline) #2

Get off your phone and into the cinema.

Welcome back to GTFO, a supplement of Chronically Online where I encourage us all to forego our internet connection and maybe touch some grass… or in this case, go see a movie.

1999 is often referenced as one of the best years in cinema; it was the year that gave us movies like Eyes Wide Shut, Girl Interrupted, The Virgin Suicides, Cruel Intentions, American Beauty, Fight Club, Jawbreaker, The Matrix, The Blaire Witch Project, Magnolia, Being John Malkovich… need I go on? It’s kind of mind-blowing to think of such a roster coming from a single year in cinema, but it did.

Industry-wise, Hollywood never took more risks; the films were polished, sexy, avant-garde and subversive… but box-office smash hits. We were pre-9/11, post-grunge and in the middle of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Gen X was preparing to set Woodstock on fire. Eminem was the breakthrough artist, despite his songs being anything but radio-friendly. Marilyn Manson was one of MTV’s biggest pulls alongside Britney Spears; it was a year of cultural dichotomy.

I don’t think we’ll ever have another year like it. Culturally, we’re too different to our 1999 selves, plus, streaming has changed the landscape of movies and TV forever—but we’re getting pretty close. I’ve been to the cinema more times in the last 12 months than ever before, recently it seems that I don’t have enough time to catch all that I want to see in theatres. I’m prebooking screenings weeks out, only to come out of the movies with another 3 films on my list. It’s awesome.

The cinema is a special place, and it is one of the only public entertainment spaces where I have noticed people actually putting their phones away. Social media has ruined concerts to a degree, I’ve been to so many gigs where I’ve watched my favourite artist through the screen of the person in front of me, who insists on recording every song although we both know they will never look back on the footage. Galleries and Museums are not totally lost, but they have become hot spots for influencer photoshoots. It’s hard to go anywhere without being assaulted by noise blaring from a nearby phone, since watching TikTok and YouTube in public with no earphones, at full volume is apparently, socially acceptable now.

Bar one or two of the fancier movie theatres, the cinema remains the same; it exists in a liminal space. The halls are musty and the theatre’s reek of old buttered popcorn, mashed into the 90s patterned carpets by the troves of movie-goers who have scooted awkwardly into their seat. Who knows what lies in the cracks of the seats you pay to sit in for the next two hours, it’s all part of the magic.

Sometimes the cinema is like the set of a sitcom, where every human trope imaginable can be found; the space nerds, anime-heads, the first dates, the cinephiles, the early birds, the bored parents going to see whatever CGI nonsense Disney has thought up next; it’s somewhere I love to people-watch when I can.

So, if you’re looking for something that will get you off your phone this weekend, but you’re not one for touching literal grass, here are some of my recommendations.

Some Recent Faves:

Poor Things

This film is whacky, sexy, trippy and subversive. Follow Bella Baxter, a grown woman with a child’s brain, and discover the world and all the nastiness in it. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cringe and you’ll be in awe of the stunning visuals.

Zone of Interest

A film about the Holocaust is never as easy to watch, but this takes that feeling of uneasiness and disgust to a new level. Glazer plays with hiding the horrors from the viewer but hints at them through genius soundscaping. What is hidden in plain sight becomes another character in the film itself. This is an absolute must-watch.

Past Lives

I think this has stopped screening at most theatres, but you might get lucky. But, if not, it’s been added to Netflix. Two childhood friends are forced apartthrough emigration, with Nora moving from South Korea to the United States. Then, years later, they are reunited. I can’t express how this made me feel, I’m not one for love-stories but this rocked my world.

On My List:

Iron Claw

A film about wrestling would usually not make my list, especially not for the big screen, but after hearing so much hype for this and seeing the trailer in the movies a few weeks back I am dying to see it. It follows the Von Erich brothers, as they make history in the highly competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. It’s based on a true story and it’s meant to make you cry like a baby.

All of Us Strangers

Another film guaranteed to make me weep like a baby. I don’t know much about the plot other than Scott and Mescal meet and develop a relationship, and Andrew Scott goes back home and (from what I could tell from the trailer) relives some childhood trauma of sorts. It’s meant to blend romance and fantasy and be very sexy. Sign me up.

This Will Be Awesome

I saw the trailer for this in IMAX last week and have since refused to watch the long-awaited sequel of DUNE any other way. My tickets are booked and I am so ready for 3-hours of Sci-Fi at its very best.