Chronicles of a Reluctant Cinephile: March 2026
Better late than…pregnant? (iykyk…shout out to Blanche from the Golden Girls)
March’s Letterboxd Diary
But for real, better late than never. Here is my film round up from March, which is admittedly a little more sparse than February. I became enamored with the new Pokopia video game (I’ve already rolled credits), and I have fallen into a great evening routine of playing that while listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl (currently on Book 4), so I have kind of lost my movie mojo this month. All told, I watched six films, with two being new favorites. All six were at home, two on Netflix (we resubscribed for a month, more on that later) and four on DVD.
Last month, sequential order seemed to work, so let us not mess with a good thing, shall we?
Bundle, doing her best Leo-as-Gatsby.
This was the impetus for the resub to the ‘Flix. Girl, no. Book club read the book for February (I LOVED it and I totally recommend it), so I was so excited for the miniseries adaptation. First of all, it could have been 50% shorter. Second of all, THEY CHANGED EVERYTHING. I usually don’t mind that, honestly (see my feelings re: Wuthering Heights). But in this instance, the change wasn’t interesting. It made everything much, much worse. I loved Mia’s portrayal of Bundle, I loved the sets and the costumes, but beyond that? Bland. Your time is so much more well spent reading the book. In Agatha’s original, the relationship between Bundle and her father (and the DIALOGUE) had me actually laughing out loud.
Vibe Check: 1920’s England, estates, secret societies, beautiful scenery, poorly-executed plot changes
Do I recommend it? Nope. Book? YES.
Bugonia (2025)
Girlboss…or Alienboss?
Okay, so I am actually very glad I saw this one, but I do not think I could ever give it a rewatch. It was very…intense. The acting was great, the story was original, and I genuinely was invested in what was going to happen next. This was my first Yorgos Lanthimos film, and I am wondering if they are all so wild. Essentially, I have very similar feelings about this was as I did The Substance. I am so glad I saw it, it is objecively amazing, but it is one that I can only see once, so I cannot drop it into my all-time favorites. That said, I do want to watch the 2003 Korean film, Save the Green Planet!, that it is based upon.
Vibe Check: rural insanity, social commentary, big tech ruining small towns, conspiracy, aliens?, #girlboss
Do I recommend it? I do.
Poor, sweet things.
Okay, this was a serious instance of “don’t meet your idols.” Or, in this case, do not introduce your childhood favorites to your own children. This was a total winner for me when I was a wee lass and I owned a copy of this on VHS. I have such fond memories of that tiny orange kitten and little pug adventuring together with the commentary of the goofy narrator playing in the background. OOF, guys. What my tiny, underdeveloped brain didn’t question was how on earth they had the real, honest-to-God animals perform all of these daring feats (being chased by bears, poked by porcupines, JUMPING OFF A WHOLE DAMNED CLIFF INTO THE SEA). I felt pretty icky watching this cat and dog being essentially tortured on screen. A bummer, as there are some beautiful nature shots…but yeah. If this was also a childhood favorite of yours, I would recommend keeping it precious in your memories and maybe not sitting down for a 2026 rewatch.
Vibe Check: rural Japanese scenery, adorable animals, blatant animal mistreatment
Do I recommend it? No.
…still dancing with Domingo.
I follow SNL like others follow the NFL or MLB. It is my national pastime, and Lorne is a minor deity in my world. I was super excited to watch Marcello’s standup, and I will say that there were many times I laughed out loud. Generally though, Marcello’s brand of comedy isn’t always for me. He does a lot of modulation (usually ending up screaming—like Adam Sandler, for example), and I tend to tune out when that happens. Overall though, it was a solid set, and I will always support team Saturday Night!
Vibe Check: smart Adam Sandler, self-deprecating, roundabout feminist, easy laughs
Do I recommend it? Have you met Domingo? Then yes.
Perfect Days (2023)
The absolute perfect film.
Hell yes. Now we are getting to the good stuff. I am beginning to think, for better or for worse, I am a Criterion girlie. Even when I don’t fall in love with the movie (like last month’s valley of the dolls), I find the films they choose to be so thought provoking and capable of building my worldview. In the case of Perfect Days? Woah. This is the perfect film. I cannot recommend it enough. I didn’t think a man cleaning toilets could make me cry and feel the ways I felt…but here we are. I already want to see this one again.
Vibe Check: routines, cassette tapes, now is now, Zen, happiness?
Do I recommend it? Please, yes. Let’s watch it together!
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Do not sleep on this film. Or during it. I was awake the whole time and still got a little bit confused…
I have some complicated feelings about this one. It was clear to me based on the film’s history (+being destroyed during WWII) and our current world climate, that I needed to see this. I hoped it would offer me some insight, or some deeper understanding into what to do after acknowledging/criticizing society’s ills. I know I need to watch it again. It has some of the most insane shots I’ve ever seen in a film (including the hunting scene…that was hard to watch but also really profound). This is one I need to sit with for a little longer, definitely rewatch, and give a good viewing to all of the extra content on the Criterion dvd. That is my #1 true love w/these Criterion Collection editions—they really help you get a full contextual picture. I swear I am not sponsored (but am also not opposed to the idea). I love that in a world that promotes 10 second videos, Criterion gives me ten hours of content all surrounding the same piece of art so that I can go deep and really actually learn the thing.
Vibe Check: adultery, bad rich folks, parties, weird collections, masterful technical works
Do I recommend it? Mmmmhm.
So there is my March in film. Be on the lookout for my Broadway roundup— I need to tell you all about the shows I saw in January+the first week of April ahead of Tonys 2026!
-xx-
Allie