From time to time, I will sit down in front of the TV with my mom and ask her to choose a movie for us to watch. This has become a more common occurrence since the Pandemic started, as we’ve had more time on our hands at home. This article is about some of the more interesting movies she has picked.

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

This movie is a collection of vignettes (a brief evocative description, account, or episode) about the writer’s dreams. The first is about a young boy who is warned by his mother not to go into the forest when it rains and shines at once. He goes, and sees a fox’s wedding, which could be fatal. There are also stories about the spirits of peach trees, dolls, and near-death from a blizzard.

Watching this movie was truly like peeking in on someone’s dreams. There wasn’t very much plot or dialogue, however, which made it hard to sit through. It is in Japanese, but because there wasn’t a ton of dialogue, subtitles were not really an issue. I must admit that I did not really enjoy this movie, because although I did generally understand what was happening, I caught my mind wandering. However, there were lots of beautiful visuals and good messages from each “story.” If you are in the right headspace, and want to watch something more meditative, this might be good for you. But if you’re looking for action, choose something else.

First Cow

This movie was one of the few that came out during the pandemic, so I was excited to watch something new. However, my hopes were dashed.

It started out interestingly enough, by a woman uncovering a skeleton, which was promising. I was thinking that it would be about archeology or something (note: the synopsis on iTunes was very vague) but it turned out to be the story of the life of a chef who joins a fur trapper society and meets an immigrant and they make and sell “oily cakes” by stealing milk from the only cow on the island. Set in Oregon, 1820. Definitely not about archaeology!!

It was just strange because these two guys were pretty much doing nothing with their lives except steal milk and make weird 1800s doughnut things. I wondered what the point of this movie was. It seems to be another movie about just a story of two kindred spirits. But what made this story so interesting that it became a movie?? The only thing I took away from it was that people can be happy with simplicity. Which is a good lesson. Still, though, just why?

Pirate Radio

This movie is about a radio station without a license in the ’60s, in Britain, where rock music wasn’t allowed to be played on the radio. The station is based on a boat where about a dozen broadcasters live. It is not super Hollywood-y which I appreciate, it seems more down to earth which I liked. The playlist is fun, and it is comedic with good rivalry.

The characters all have their own unique quirks, and their own struggles and happy times too. The boat is filled with camaraderie, and the story is fun. One thing that I did not like about this movie was that the (few) women portrayed were all sexualized and lacked their own identities.

I most likely would not have chosen to watch this movie on my own, but I was ultimately glad I did. I had mixed feelings about it- it was neither happy nor sad but it made me laugh which was good.

These movies were definitely not all great (especially First Cow) but I am glad and grateful that I have access to movies that are more on the weird side, and that I would not have watched on my own. I hope you branch out and watch something weird yourself!