Hidden Gems: Brad Pitt

There were a few hours left of May when I sat down to write this. Not because I didn’t want to, or that I kept putting it off… I was simply very busy and this month had a very crazy start.  But I didn’t want to miss the deadline so here I am. If this sounds coherent or has some typos, it’s because I didn’t have time to proof read it. Anyway, it’s the fifth Hidden Gem of 2020. Almost half way through the year and it has not gone well so far. Can Brad Pitt come in and save the day?

WHY BRAD PITT?

Mister Brad Pitt has been a name in my household for years. Since Brad emerged into the Hollywood scene in the 90’s, and since we had a VCR, my family watched a lot of Brad’s movies. Like a lot a lot! And my mom was a fan which meant I was a fan, even as a kid. If that’s not a reason to pick Brad I don’t know what is. Besides, after some rough times, Brad has made a very strong comeback and he has aged like a really good and very expensive wine.

Honestly, what the hell is he eating because Brad looks fine as hell! Anyway, as I said, the reason Brad was picked for Hidden Gems was because I have always had him in my life. But the reason I haven’t seen many of his movies is because I didn’t really pay attention to the TV as a kid. I kept reading or drawing which meant that I remember very little of the movies. When I listed all the movies I’ve seen on Letterboxd a few years ago, I skipped so many Brad’s 90’s movies. I guess I either really didn’t see them or I simply don’t remember. That is why I wanted to catch up (again) and crossed my fingers I’d get most of his early stuff instead of the newer unseen ones.

STATISTICS

Rough count on Letterboxd tells me Pitt has appeared in 74 movies. Out of those I’ve seen 25 which is pretty okay but that still leaves 49 movies I haven’t seen. But to be completely honest, I looked for two of his earlier movies (after randomly picking them) and I didn’t even find them. So I had to randomly pick again.. In other words, I’m probably not going to be able to see all of Brad movies anyway.

That being said, out of those 36 movies I have a lot of favourites so this one is possibly the longest list I’ve had in this series for this section: Snatch, Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fight Club, Se7en, Burn After Reading, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Interview with the Vampire and Meet Joe Black because of reasons.

I’ve also seen: Inglourious Basterds, Ad Astra, 12 Years Slave, The Big Short, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Tree of Life, Deadpool 2, Being John Malkovich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 12 Monkeys, World War Z, Moneyball, Megamind, Ocean’s 13, Babel, Troy, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and The Mexican.

My picks for the Hidden Gems challenge were random and I ended up watching Thelma & Louise (1991), Kalifornia (1993) and Spy Game (2001).

SPECIAL SURPRISE GEM

This month we also recorded a Hidden Gems episode for Across the Universe Podcast. Me, Nik and Sofia all watched one Brad movie we hadn’t seen before. Which means, I ended up watching FOUR movies this month for Brad and I watched The Devil’s Own as well (1997)! Now I realise it was a very 90’s month for me and I don’t know how I feel about that. You can listened to the episode HERE.

THELMA & LOUISE

When I picked this one, in the first round, I was super thrilled! I have had this in my watchlist for ages and I finally had a very good motivator to watch it. So I had high hopes for this and it did not disappoint! Ladies and gentlemen, the first true and authentic Hidden Gem of 2020! This movie was so fun, exciting, and most of all timeless – it was amazing.

Of course this was the movie that put Brad on the map and I can see why. He had very little screen time, with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis being the two amazing leading ladies. Yet, his screen presents was so good that he lingered on my mind as he lingered on Thelma’s. This was funny, emotional, dramatic. I loved the style, Susan looked amazing in those jeans. Brad looked even more amazing in his! I just, tens across the board!

KALIFORNIA

Another 90’s movie I ended up picking and of course it was also two hours long (as are all four picks). In ways, this movie is great. We have a guy needing to write a book about serial killers so he goes on a road trip with his girlfriend to see all the places horrible crimes have happened. Fun right? It is and they even take Brad and his girlfriend Juliette Lewis with them. It’s all fun and games!

Then the movie starts to drag a little. It reveals something way too early on in the movie and the suspense is almost gone. Yes, sure, there is suspense but it’s not mysterious. It’s way too obvious for the viewer. That dragged the experience down for me. Plus, love Brad but this character was a bit too over the edge. 90’s David Duchovny is hella cute too!

SPY GAME

The first movie I watched this month for Hidden Gems was Spy Games. A movie about spies and well.. spying. At the time I was thinking this is the best one I’ve seen but well, like I said, Thelma & Louise take the lead and leave Spy Game to eat their dust. Plus, it’s been a while since I saw it and it’s starting to fade from my stuffed brain. I have a feeling Thelma & Louise won’t.

Anyway, Brad is good here. He has some excellent action scenes and I loved how Robert Redford was teaching him spy stuff. The movie is maybe a bit too hard to follow, or maybe I’m just too slow these days. Some moments I was very confused and maybe in ways that’s what makes this movie smart. It’s just not too overly explained.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all I had a great month! Hidden Gem finally found and I hope it’s not the last one. This month really made the challenge more fun because I was actually having fun with the movies. With four movies watched, the possibility of bad movies was higher but the statistics look good. This gives me hope. Thank you Brad for giving me hope!

Previous month on Hidden Gems –  NICOLE KIDMAN

Next month on Hidden Gems – SAM ROCKWELL