Are you feeling whiplash from all the recent releases in cinema and on streaming? Are you showing signs of sickness due to reboots, remakes, and sequels? Do you yearn for something entirely new, perhaps a new sweet surprise? Trying to keep up with the Jones’ can be exhausting and expensive, I’d love to spend my days catching up on all the new pictures that have been released this summer alone but 1. I can’t afford it and 2. I feel guilty spending these hot days engulfed in the darkness of a cinema surrounded by the smell of popcorn and carpet. Instead I waste my days binge-watching movies on my laptop because 1. I pay for streaming so I can enjoy cinema in my sheets and 2. I can still see the sun, so no guilt there. I have my qualms about streaming, believe me, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by their output of odd-ball movies that I'd normally never be inclined to watch. My usual routine for finding something new to watch goes like this: open all streaming platforms and scroll until something tickles my fancy. Well yesterday nothing was tickling so I went on Tik Tok and scrolled until I found something that interested me- this finally led me to that sweet surprise. That sweet surprise was the 2024 film released in February, Marmalade. Have you heard of it? Yeah me neither, but boy are you in for a treat!
Marmalade came out earlier this year with a theatrical release in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, then had a limited theatrical release in the States (select theaters of course), only to be released on digital February 9th of this year. Starring Joe Keery and Camila Morrone I had little to no expectations for this film other than, I hope they look hot- and they sure did! I want to emphasize that watching this movie with no expectations is the best way to watch this movie. My favorite way to watch something new is to click on it and press play, obviously read the description if that interests you but sometimes I don't even bother. typically I would sit here and review the movie with spoilers however this is a film that I think needs to be experienced with a little to know explanation. The film follows a character named Baron played by Joe Keery who ends up in jail and tries to get out in order to see his lover Marmalade played by Camila Morrone and right when you start getting bored the movie starts getting really good. It has a handful of twists and trunks and really knows how to keep you engaged. The cast is phenomenal and Aldis Hodge who plays Otis is a scene stealer, he is so talented I was actually gagged when I found out he was only 37. That's all I'm going to tell you because that's all I knew going into it and thank god. If you like thriller, mystery, romance, aesthetic, and all around good vibes with good performances I think you're really going to like this movie; I think you're really going to like the ending as well. If you need more of a reason to tune into this masterpiece (on Hulu), the director Keir O’Donnell starred in Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and American Sniper- this is his feature directorial debut and it is a splendid start if you ask me. This is a fun flick and I think that’s what Hollywood is missing at a time like this. We need more single story spectacle’s, not everything needs to be revisited, I promise. I encourage you, I implore you, watch something at home this week. Something you haven’t already seen, something you know nothing about, something you have no expectations for. Watch Marmalade and then watch something else, and keep watching stuff until you have exhausted one platform and move to the next. My favorite thing about movies is that you can never say you don't have options. You could watch a movie everyday for the rest of your life and not even skim the surface of Cinema. So please, before you sit down and press play on something you have seen a million times, allow yourself to enjoy something new, or hate it- I don't care. We need to prove to the big guy’s that there are still people out there who enjoy cinema, no matter the cost of the community. So here is a little letter I've written to the people of Hollywood and the executive producers who continue to make and produce films we've already seen out of fear of creating something new:
Dear Hollywood,
I know you're scared. I know you're scared to make something new and have people dislike it, but isn't that the whole point of Cinema? Isn't Cinema subjective? Aren't you supposed to make movies and tell stories that excite people that challenge the status quo? I thought that was your thing. This whole reboot wave your riding is breaching tribute band territory and I’m not a fan. “If it’s not broke don’t fix it” does not apply to art, it may apply to a beat up Honda Civic that runs fine as long as you don’t use the AC and the radio at the same time. So switch it up. Make more movies like Marmalade, and less like those other ones (you know what I’m talking about). Audiences deserve a sweet surprise, hell they’re certainly paying enough for it! Cin Cin!
See you soon,
Paige B.
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