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by Julian Spivey Last year I embarked on a movie challenge in hopes of seeing some films I’ve never seen and more importantly opening myself up to some kinds of films I likely would never see. The premise is that you have 12 months to watch 12 movies recommended by 12 friends. I don’t often participate in such social media challenges but being a movie buff, I felt this might be an interesting way to get out of my comfort zone a bit when it comes to watching movies. Like in 2023, I have some movies on the list that I’ve always meant to get around to watching but haven’t – most notably the 1962 classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which I think I saw the first half of in school but was absent on the day it finished. And there’s some stuff I probably never would’ve gotten around to like Andrzej Wajda’s 1958 Polish film “Ashes and Diamonds.” As I did last year I will write about my thoughts and feelings on each of these films after I have viewed them. Here are the 12 movies recommended to me and the months I’ve assigned myself to watch them: January: “The Wonder” (2022) February: “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) March: “Dreamgirls” (2006) April: “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004) May: “21 Jump Street” (2012) June: “Mamma Mia” (2008) July: “City of Angels” (1998) August: “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991) September: “Ashes and Diamonds” (1958) October: “Clue” (1985) November: “The Intouchables” (2011) December: “The Agony and the Ecstasy” (1965)  Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures My July movie recommendation was the 1998 fantasy-romance City of Angels, directed by Brad Silberling. My friend Brent recommended it. Good God, “City of Angels” is awful. I knew I might have a hard time with this one from the moment it was selected. I’m predisposed to dislike movies starring Nicolas Cage, and the idea of an angel falling in love with a human doesn’t seem like something that’s going to be up my alley – but, hey, getting out of my movie comfort zone is a big part of what this series is about. “City of Angels” is a loose remake of Wim Wenders’s 1987 foreign film “Wings of Desire,” which is neither here nor there as I haven’t seen that film either, but at least that one is pretty acclaimed. Spoilers will be ahead if you haven’t seen this 26-year-old movie and would like to. “City of Angels” begins horrifically with the death of a little girl, while Nicolas Cage’s angel Seth looks on waiting for her to draw her final breath so he can take her with him, assumingly to Heaven. The film is loose with its religion. There are angels. They look after the dying and take them to an afterlife, but there isn’t much talk about God or Heaven. I get this is what an angel would do, but beginning a movie - especially one that’s going to turn into a romance - with the death of a little child is bonkers. But just wait for how the film ends! The angels in this film don’t really seem to have many feelings, despite the fact that Seth obviously is enamored with and falls for Meg Ryan’s Dr. Maggie Rice, which leads to Cage looking mopey for most of the film, which I guess is easy for him. When Maggie loses a patient early on in the film, she takes it hard, and Seth finds out he can actually make her see him if he tries. So, they meet in the hall of the hospital, and despite Seth coming off as more like a serial killer than anything else, Maggie is immediately taken with him. This makes no sense, as Ryan and Cage have no chemistry whatsoever. In the middle part of the film, the two characters fall more and more, I suppose, though there’s really no reason for Maggie to. Seth, on the other hand, just wants to know what it’s like to feel human. Mostly to touch the skin of another. Essentially, he’s just really horny. Maggie finds out Seth is an angel and it kind of freaks her out, but probably not as much as realizing you’re in love with an angel should freak someone out. Meanwhile, Seth has struck up a friendship with one of Maggie’s patients, Nathaniel Messinger, played by Dennis Franz, who happens to be a former angel who fell to earth and became human and explains to Seth how he can accomplish this as well. Franz is the only interesting character in this movie, even if he’s only used for this necessary part of the plot. So, Seth turns into a mortal and tracks down Maggie. The two share a passionate evening. And then, the next morning, Maggie rides her bicycle into an oncoming log truck, and BAM, she’s dead. Yeah, I’m not joking. Seth mopes a bit and asks his former angel friend Cassiel (Andre Braugher, who is too good for this) what all this means. And basically determines, “Well, I got to have sex, so it was worth it.” Seth is going to be OK! Some will find much more in this flick than I did. I might be too cynical for it. But I haven’t seen a movie this bad in some time.
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