4v291o

Absolutely trash. I thought maybe this was okay but omg was my memory WRONG. We nearly didn’t finish this and I wish we hadn’t. I’m having a bad couple of days with films and I only have myself to blame.

I like submarines but this wasn’t great. Somehow it’s feature but doesn’t feel like there’s enough meat.

Just when I was checking my watch things shift up 10 notches. The subject matter and stories are heavy and heart breaking from go, but the second half…

It’s a solemn long night meeting these women who seventy years prior suffered out of sight in the Second World War, and then suffered on in silence afterwards. Out of sight and hindsight.

It’s important to know these stories. The survivors know that and the documentary shows it.

Out of the blue I realised I wanted to rewatch The Martian. Perhaps it was because my situation here in the South Island this last week has some parallels with Mark’s struggle. Fortunately, like Mark, I will soon return to my crew.

They’ve captured the tone of the book very well. Mark is a bit insufferable in print (well, audiobook), and it translates to film in a way that hurts me. The famous “science the whatever out of this” or whatever hits me like a nose hatch. But that’s a small part. The rest is fun and great, with story to enjoy on Earth as well as Mars.

What a curious, surreal, stylised action movie. It reminded me of Sucker Punch or something French. The time with the family is my favourite; the whole thing was played like a fairy tale. Is the finale set in a real place? How can I go there?

It’s been a long time coming but now I’m here. 

I am really impacted by social tension in movies, especially of the Talented, ‘Burn and now Parasite kind. Impacted to distraction. For short term tension, like Shutter Island when Teddy is roaming around in the dark, a few 15 second jumps forward establishes whether or when anything happens and I can then go back and watch in peace. I may have deployed this technique at least once in Parasite. Longer term tension has no jump to fear but also no jump forward workaround, except to break. Needless to say, I will need to watch Parasite again to properly enjoy it.

Thinking about it afterwards—recalling and enjoying scenes—I can sense that it comes together to make something incredible. Unlike other BJH films, where I haven’t enjoyed the farce, Parasite keeps the farce in check. The ensemble cast were excellent and I see their faces in moments. I saw the comedy but was holding myself too tight to react to it. All signs point to a Rewatch. I’ll report back.

I’ve wanted to rewatch Starship Troopers since I saw Mickey 17. I watched it with my son on a dark night in Palm Beach (the power was off thanks to the storm); we had no water, but fortunately we found a can of Sprite and a zero beer.

I first saw Starship Troopers outdoors at the university quad during orientation. It’s undoubtably more fun with regular beer, but still a lot of fun with the zero. And I got what I wanted; Verhoven’s political commentary without the pantomime of 17.

I’m adopting “do you want to live forever?” as an interview question.

I love family movie night. The four leads do a great job of the body swap and the script is fun. Everyone gets something to do. I want to make dance fighting one of my strengths.

Well I finished it. My favourite of the series was the first; I enjoyed the politicking and the attempts to bring values while simultaneously being the oppressor… such an interesting situation to play out.

The third instalment is a development from the second—where Kaji runs up against the fascism of the army; now Kaji discovers socialism and communism hasn’t made POW camps fair. For a moment it seems a Russian Kaji will complete the narrative symmetry, but the language barrier prevents it.

I really appreciated seeing this tale from and about the Japanese in the Second World War and particularly about the war in China. It’s not a common part of the war for me to see—usually it’s European focused—but from it comes such huge change in post-war Japan and China.

I don’t ever feeling this awake. 

Euphoria. Heightened senses and clarity project from Thelma as she rediscovers life. I loved it. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are truly award winning. Delightful and captivating; completely selling an incredible story. Sometimes not incredible: with deep sadness; in 2025 the rape and aftermath reasoning is timeless.

It’s quite late to start a film on a Thursday night after a big week. 8pm or thereabouts. But we’re here in Arrowtown watching Thelma & Louise with most of the Letterboxd crew and I’m ready to go again.

Tenth anniversary in the beautiful Hollywood cinema in Avondale, complete with a Q&A with director Florian, hosted by @Gemma. It was such a buzz to see this film again. I first saw it at the Auckland premiere 10 and a bit years ago. I think I loved it even more this time. Pulp sound so great. I think I understand the film a bit more now, with the wisdom of time. The Help the Aged scene in the cafeteria is just next level jaw-dropping.

Not for me. The political satire missed—leaving me feeling as gross as that which it satirised. Some interesting ideas wrapped in too long a shell.

Just beautiful. We had the privilege of attending the Auckland premiere; very well attended, in fact surrounded, by cast and crew. Such a colourful (dress-code Island Fresh) and joyously raucous evening—I’ve got to rewatch when Tinā is in cinemas on Feb 27 to catch some of those lines sans huge laughter and applause!

Tinā’s most beautiful scene is about breathing together, and Tinā likewise lets its scenes breathe. When the choir performs it feels like we get to see a whole song; especially in the Civic theatre with perfect volume we’re in the room for the performance.

Watching with a home crowd—the intake of breath at the mention of the CTV centre. It was tough watching Christchurch shake. But the real hard yards were watching the aftershock in the characters three years after. Tinā doesn’t labour the earthquake but we see it in Mareta, in mum and daughter and step-son and maybe coach without it being named. We see it every time Mareta walks home through still-munted streets. 

Tinā is so full of delightful moments I’m smiling thinking about it this morning.

Footnotes:

Director Miki Magasiva gives a lovely introduction before the film. He makes fun of his dad. He dedicates the film to his mum. 

Magasiva’s son gives a touching tribute to his father and the film team after the screening. In Samoan and in English. Very well done. 

The final reintroduction of the cast and crew to the stage is interrupted by spontaneous singing lead by one man on his feet behind me whose dedication sticks it. Our MC is into it, his shirt vanishes and he’s dancing and Miki and everyone is coming onto the stage and it’s a celebration.

Second one in the can. Or is it the third and fourth ones? It’s all three. Thanks archive.org. Surprisingly riveting for the duration and age. It was long, but I also feel satisfied. Years ed!

How the story plays out in little vignettes is a lovely metaphor for the human condition. People come into and out of the story very easily. The brief relationship with the nurse was pitch perfect. Kaji’s relationship with his other hospital mate was more significant than I saw on screen. I also didn’t mind that. We weren’t supposed to see everything.

Kaji is a beautifully flawed character. Idealistic. Realistically realistic and unrealistic. I can’t stop thinking about what a huge failure of character his last interaction with Yoshida was. The film doesn’t judge but it observes. Fade to black.

Rewatch energy not as strong :-(

Cliche really quickly: Brave role for Nicole Kidman. Holy moly yes. Fearless. And she’s absolutely incredible in it. Stunning. I think fellow kids say no cap. Killer soundtrack. Challengers level. Straight on App Music. Antonio Banderas. Visceral. Ticking hot and sweaty with Banderas and Kidman off my bucket list in one night. It’s that much. Harris Dickinson. Loved to hate. But they rode right within my tolerance of awkward. Captivating. I was hoping that big jacket concealed base jumping stuff. No spoilers: that was just what I hoped.

I like a courtroom drama and this had the bones of something I’d like. But I watched the park bench conversation twice and I don’t get it. A moment happened and I didn’t see it.

Fun, quirky, but a little too meta for my mood.

Still incredible. And incredible on IMAX. I want a TARS.

The same colour poster as Piece By Piece. This cannot be a coincidence; they make for a fun double feature. Bizarre not to have been aware of Allee Willis, but there it is. I hope to have my own Allee-era of home decorating; is there dust in LA? There’s dust here :-(

Watched on Thursday December 26, 2024.

Straight to video. Do not Go. Collect your good judgement on the way out.

Watched on Sunday December 22, 2024.

A special preview screening from Whānau Mārama (NZIFF) after I missed Anora at Telluride. What a ride. Ivan won’t be running for office! But Annie knows what’s up.

Some fun moments. Not my cup of tea. A Christmas screening with (most of) the NZ-based Letterboxd crew.

It’s a cracker. I’ve really enjoyed these life stories with a twist this year. Piece By Piece being the obvious neighbour. I saw Piece at Telluride and I wish I’d seen Better Man there too so I could have already been raving about it. The monkey is so well done. Always in the room but just Robert in my head.

This time with both kids marks the fifth time I’ve watched This and I have overdone it. That it hasn’t improved for me on repeat viewings just highlights how much fun I had seeing it the first time in a theatre. And I have enjoyed sharing it with my kids. If this would be your first time; you know what you’re getting into and it will still overall surprise and delight you.

Pineapple Express is in the first row of my watchlist. One of the films that has been on there the longest. Probably because it’s referenced so much in This Is The End. Ask me how I know.

Pineapple… perhaps best seen at the time? I enjoyed it but it didn’t entirely have me. Maybe I just needed to be a bit more ready to recognise a good time? We were certainly laughing out loud several times. The over indulgence of best buds making a film schtick is what derailed it for me, especially as part of a double-feature with This Is The End where it becomes very obvious and leads me to perhaps underrate this film.

The catholics have the best outfits. And some pretty great political drama. Hats off to you.

Very cool that this was made. It’s certainly a novel experience, and I wasn’t distracted by the medium. I love submarine stories so a short is never going to be enough for me, but narratively this is also satisfying.

Pretty cool that happened. What a joy and a nightmare organising that group. They made that pretty clear. The talent was really present. I was particularly impressed by Cyndi Lauper and MJ. An intimate and authentic glimpse at these folks is what this is all about.

4K remaster premiere at the Terror-Fi film festival. Dear Reader, there is no one less likely to be at a Terror-Anything festival than your humble writer and yet there I was. And I 🐑ing loved it. Very nicely kiwi in a way that is elusive. Delightful performances throughout the cast, and delightful moments throughout the film. Also some bad sheep. My favourite moment is an interaction with a rifle that looks like it’s riding farce. Super fun to watch it with a room of horror fans with the director and one of the actors in attendance to Q&A and to announce a sequel! More blood.

Amélie, but a real bummer.

Sentimental and intriguing. A life story from the perspective of a living room… a slow life, and poignant with its banality. I enjoyed the presentation of literal changing windows into the past and future. At times it’s heavy handed but I was still pleasantly moved.

Ugh. I enjoyed it.

Having missed you at Telluride I’ve finally caught up with you. Over a year has gone by. You’re very good. Mesmerising at times. Amazing music. You had me pretty confused at times, and I think this might still be one of those times.

Jennifer Lawrence’s horrified is so great. Her pissed is so great. Her ionate is so great. Chris Pratt also good.

I didn’t love the first one when I saw it. It was only when I returned years later that I appreciated it. Maybe it will be the same here.

I do love a submarine. So much going on and it all comes together.

I’ve used charming in a review once already this month but here I am again. Charming. Thelma delivers on its premise. It’s lovely. It’s impressive to see this cast making a film. They’re really old! The aged comedy is gentle, PG and amusing.

At our local fancy cinema the behaviour of patrons is quite poor. This evening was exemplary. Two older patrons entered talking, a minute after the film had started playing. They sat down and then proceeded to use a phone! When they’re done they put it down on their lap, leaving it to dim and finally turn off of its own accord. Thankfully all was redeemed in the end one of them, without irony, remarks “she’s talking very loudly isn’t she”. You may have heard my gleeful facepalm.

My first rewatch of Prometheus is mostly due to a colleague’s incidence that it is underrated, and also due to my disappointment with Romulus—because it felt like an homage, trotting out the same Alien beats and shots, without adding anything new. Prometheus really does add something new. Maybe at the time it was disappointing that the inclusion of capital A Aliens was so minimal; after Romulus it feels refreshing.

Charlize Theron’s Vickers is incredible. Did that ten minutes come up?

I too show up for mushrooms. I locked my bedroom door.

An interesting documentary about a woman I knew next to nothing about. I got chatting with a gentleman in line who had seen Triumph of the Will in 1962 at college and been interested in Leni Riefenstahl ever since. He noted that Riefenstahl was mentioned in the book of The Boys in the Boat in relation to the ‘36 Olympics. As regular readers will know, I just watched that film on the plane!

An interesting documentary, but it used some documentary techniques that I dislike; aligning a narrative with unrelated clips as proof, and leaving hanging questions where the answer is assumed but I’m interested in how it was actually answered—even if the subject is unreliable. And oh boy is the subject unreliable. I prefer not to feel so lead. My favourite pieces, and the pivotal pieces of the film (as described by the director after the film), are where we get to see Riefenstahl representing herself, especially when she thinks the camera has stopped running. Emotions always run high and defensive. She’s concerned and controlling of how she appears; how she looks. She records phone calls (on cassette) with random ers. All of which gives insight into Leni that feels genuine to me. Leni is egoistic and vain. How this aligned her with Hitler and the Third Reich is obvious. That she’d later persistently attempt to reshape her history, also obvious. 

The access the documentarian had to the estate was phenomenal, and the documentation that Riefenstahl collected equally. Most of the correspondence and tapes she kept were positive—she’s definitely that kind of curator. The documentarian poured over 500 letters and so much other material to reach his conclusions. Some of his slam dunks didn’t quite land for me—I felt there were obvious more generous reads, after my two hours on the subject! Overall the film is a success and I’m grateful to have seen it.

I fucking loved it.

I cried, cried, cried, laughed, and cried. ZvT is an incredible story of INCREDIBLE women and families. Abbie & Maisie you’ve made an amazing thing. I had the pleasure of meeting Abbie the night before seeing the film, fortunately, I’m not quite ready to cry in a bar.

Molly: thank you. I wanted to say, I also talk to myself when I’m working through things out and about. Now I wear headphones and pretend I’m on a call.

A tight little film in subject and space, September 5 really delivers. The director introduces the film to let us know that nearly all of the footage of events in the film is archival footage. I don’t 100% understand until I see the story playing out in the TV control room with streams of footage on little screens, and the control room talking to archival footage of the anchor in the studio.

Leonie Benesch is my standout; beautifully providing a German point of view laced with its complications.

Wow Saorsie. The Outrun is so beautiful and harrowing. Saorsie’s Rona captures drinking so profoundly I felt like it dares me; is this cool? You think this is cool? I’m not a big drinker and fortunately I can literally stop at any time, but I still felt… self conscious? Embarrassed? Fortunately The Outrun also delivers grounding, cleansing, promise, and even some funny moments shared with new friends.

Incredible performances, sets, concept but more message than heart for me.

A subtle drama comedy with a light touch. Both characters broadly play themselves, which makes their on screen relationship feel extremely genuine. Watching the Q&A afterwards confirmed it.

Jesse Eisenberg tells us he believes they’re the only narrative production to be allowed to film in the Majdanek concentration camp, and about the collaboration the production had with the conservators to ensure the right tone. That’s the tone of the film, a buddy comedy with multiple serious subject matters, treated with respect.

You guys, you’re not going to believe it, the music in this is amazing. A total best of. It bounces. I wasn’t sure ing LEGO beforehand. I am 2000% sure about it afterwards. This doesn’t feel like a doco slash biopic, it’s a story. Pharrell told us afterwards that he wanted to use LEGO to tell his story so that his kids could enjoy it. With LEGO the filmmakers are able to show any moment and any place with full fidelity and consistently, rather than visiting Ken Burns or mixing old footage, aspect ratios and talking heads. I was left thinking that every biopic should be animated in some way. Like, without it you’re at a disadvantage. Thanks for coming to the party LEGO. And Pharrell did get to keep a mini-fig.

Films that do something interesting with time-travel or thereabouts. I expected to find more than three films, but I don't just want good films that include time-travel (such as Terminator) but actually films that take time-travel head-on. Suggestions wanted.

I'm not including Primer, don't even mention it.

• Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
• Groundhog Day
• Back to the Future Part II
• Memento
• The Terminator
• The Butterfly Effect
• About Time
• Timecrimes
• Safety Not Guaranteed

• Commando

While school may be out for summer, film school is in.

• The Godfather
• Holiday in Handcuffs
• The Godfather Part II
• Magic Mike XXL
• Magic Mike
• Before Sunrise

• The Truffle Hunters
• Blue Crush
• Call Me by Your Name
• Decision to Leave
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• All the President's Men
• A Man Called Otto
• The Fabelmans
• Palm Springs

I don’t like a cigar sniff. Looks like golden finger to me. Now I’ve started noticing them.

• Titanic
• Bad Boys for Life

Sometimes you have to make the rules.

• The Dark Knight Rises
• Top Gun

• Tango & Cash
• RoboCop
• K-9

• Pride

• Ocean's Eleven
• True Lies
• Casino Royale
• Ghostbusters
• Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
• The Fly
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• The Italian Job
• King Kong
• Little Shop of Horrors

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• The Revenant
• War Horse
• Beverly Hills Cop III
• The Hateful Eight
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Inside Out
• White Christmas

...plus 1105 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All of these films are ones I've watched with the kids. Some of them have been a little challenging for them, but all were achievable.

• Back to the Future
• Back to the Future Part II
• Back to the Future Part III
• Labyrinth
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Flight of the Navigator
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Jurassic Park
• Star Wars

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

1. 20,000 Days on Earth
2. Only Lovers Left Alive
3. Pride
4. Captain Phillips
5. Olympus Has Fallen
6. All Is Lost
7. God Help the Girl
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. About Time
10. Her

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I welcome suggestions in the comments for this list. This could be important.

• Annie

  Annie was on TV so many times I'm not sure how many times I've seen it. Was it on every Christmas, or something like that? I think this will be a great film to watch with the kids, and might even create some leverage.

• The Great Muppet Caper
• Labyrinth
• Short Circuit
• WarGames
• The Princess Bride
• Star Wars
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• Flight of the Navigator
• Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

1. Skyfall
2. American Reunion
3. Indie Game: The Movie

Franchises that go back and tell the story's origins. Suggestions please.

• The Godfather Part II
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
• Batman Begins
• Casino Royale
• Hannibal Rising
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• Star Trek
• X-Men: First Class
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• The Amazing Spider-Man

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

If anyone ever says nothing good came out of the cold war, you tell that commie where to stick it. Then show them this list.

• WarGames
• Top Gun
• The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
• Sneakers
• GoldenEye
• The Rescue
• Firefox
• Iron Eagle
• Red Dawn
• The Day After

The ultimate up-size indulgence when a band makes a movie.

One film per group unless there's a compelling reason to expand it. The one-man-band is no longer acceptable. Surely there must be more films than this. Help! Why don't more bands make films!

• A Hard Day's Night
• Spice World
• Head
• Tommy
• Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
• KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park

  Suggested by Steve Worsley. More info

• Rock 'n' Roll High School

  Suggested by Mike Harding.

• Seeing Double

  Suggested by Simon Lieschke. More information on Wikipedia

Look out world, especially you bad guys, there's an old cop / CIA agent in town and he'll cook you breakfast then slap you down.

• Out for Justice
• Under Siege
• Above the Law
• Exit Wounds
• Machete
• Executive Decision
• Marked for Death
• Hard to Kill

Not since the Spice Girls made Spice World has a pop group made such films.

• A Hard Day's Night
• Help!
• Magical Mystery Tour
• Yellow Submarine
• Let It Be

A helpful list so you can check the buggers off.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Toy Story 2

• Helvetica
• Bobby Fischer Against the World
• The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
• First Descent
• Dogtown and Z-Boys
• Page One: Inside the New York Times

• King Solomon's Mines
• Enemy Mine
• Pulp Fiction
• Real Genius
• Cocoon

• Aliens
• Short Circuit
• RoboCop
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Zardoz
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Children of Men
• WarGames
• D.A.R.Y.L.
• The City of Lost Children

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.