Everything I watched in May

As a girl who's trying to watch 100 movies this year.

I truly think it’s so important to reflect on why we love the things that we do. As silly as it sounds, I’ve been finding out so much about my own personal style, interests, and emotions just by creating these little film reviews. I also just love talking about movies, haha. So, anyway, here’s my May recap of films I watched this month! It’s not a long one, but it is a fun one (and by fun, I mean extremely random). ENJOY!

1. The Devil Wears Prada 2

   Two decades after the original, The Devil Wears Prada, journalist Andy Sachs is hired back at Runway as a features editor. The story follows Andy and her former boss, Miranda Priestly, as they navigate the shift to digital media. I watched this on a Tuesday afternoon, and the entire theater was filled with old women. Safe to say it was an amazing experience, and I think I’ve found my new favorite time to head to the theater. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, but I think films just aren’t the same as they used to be. Films nowadays simply lack the color, the whimsy, and the uniqueness that they used to have.

   

   2026

   

   2006

   While I did enjoy this film (and gave it 3.5 stars), I just feel it did not live up to the original. I mean, the coloring alone was not even close to being the same. Maybe I’m being harsh, but I truly just long for the early 2000s feel that we took for granted.

2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

   The 2011 adaptation of Jeff Kinney's novel centers on the sibling rivalry between middle-schooler Greg Heffley and his older brother Rodrick. This is unironically a 5-star film for me, sorry. The writing? Genius and absolutely hilarious. The cinematography? Also genius and somehow perfect.

   

   

   Don’t even get me started on the casting. BEST CASTING OF ALL TIME. I’m sorry, David Bowers nailed this adaptation, and this film will go down as a classic.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

   Volume 1 (2014) follows an unlikely group of rebels who band together in a fight to save the universe. If you’ve been following my film journey, you’ll notice that I’ve been trying to get into the Marvel Universe (this genre has never been my favorite). I wanted to watch this simply because I wanted to know the lore of the Disney ride, oops.

   

   I gave it 3 stars - which felt generous because I genuinely did not know what was going on half the time. I found it very funny, so I loved that, and, of course, the soundtrack was amazing. I think it’s my personal disinterest in action movies that keeps me from fully getting into the Marvel Universe, but I still enjoyed the characters and appreciated the writing at times.

4. Crazy Rich Asians

   This story follows economics professor Rachel Chu and her boyfriend Nick Young as they travel to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding, when she discovers Nick’s family is extremely wealthy. Leaving her to navigate family dynamics, judgmental relatives, and disapproval. After years of seeing this classified as THE airplane movie, I finally got to watch it (sadly not on an airplane). All I have to say is Jon M Chu eats EVERY SINGLE TIME! He does not miss. Wicked? Amazing. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never? Also amazing. He’s a director with range, and I love him for that. I gave it 3.5 stars, but as I’m writing this, I fear I might need to change it to 4 because it’s truly amazing. For a 2018 film, this sure did give off an early 2000s vibe when it comes to lighting/color, etc.

   

   

   I also loved the character dynamic between Rachel and Nick’s mother as the story progressed. I feel as if Jon M. Chu always does such a good job of capturing real human emotion, and that’s something that makes this film so great. I just simply loved Rachel, and I can’t wait to watch this on an airplane someday. I get the hype!

5. Tangled

   The 2010 Disney animated film follows Rapunzel, her 70 feet of magical hair, an escaping bandit named Flynn Rider, and her quest to see the floating lanterns on her birthday. This was (of course) a rewatch. I’ve been trying to watch at least one animated film a month - it’s such an amazing art form that can teach SO much. This is a 5-star movie for me. In fact, my Letterboxd review sums it up perfectly:

   

   It’s truly such an incredibly beautiful animated movie. The lantern scene is probably one of my favorite scenes of all time. How are animated CARTOON characters able to hold THAT much depth and emotion? How can a scene that’s not real be THAT visually stunning? And the song??? Don’t even get me started.

   

   

   Overall, I found myself getting teary-eyed at the portrayed message of following your dreams. Leave it to Disney to make a 25-year-old woman feel like a little kid with giant dreams again.

Anyways! That’s all I watched this month!!!! I have loved making these little recaps! I think it’s really important to actually sit down, understand, and be able to articulate WHY you love the things that you love. I truly enjoy being able to reflect on these films (no matter how cheesy or silly) because I believe there’s a message in all of them waiting to be found.

So let this be your sign to rewatch a favorite film and let yourself truly discover why it makes your heart excited! Oh, and also give me more recommendations (I’ll add them to my watchlist, then decide to rewatch my own favorites instead). 33/100 films so far this year!