4v291o

Masterpiece, Ray depicts all the characters with such empathy and grace

The scene right after the robbery where the kids are drinking and laughing in the carriage and then everything rapidly gets even worse </3 When Manju's mother is told that it's best to forget about the past, it's a very pointed articulation of how the characters are forced to live in the present. They ally with people they've had conflict w in the past and their attempts to plan for the future are routinely ruined. Yet it's also so moving to see the meaningful connections w each other they form in spite of the constant uncertainty (the funeral procession the kids have for Chillum </3) Also the lead little boy, Shafiq Syed, is so good in this.

9/10 is rounding up—I think it got a little too slow around the 80 min mark—but when this film succeeded it was something really special. It captures both the beauty and ugliness of city life in such a simple but evocative way. And recently I've been interested in stories that complicate the traditional emigration narrative, which happens here with Parvaty (within India, not internationally, but still relevant imo.) Such an excellent look at little moments and aspects of life that hold so much love and meaning (loved the young women sharing earbuds on the train in the opening sequence—bring back wired earbuds!) Also I stan the doctor's principled anti-Hindi imposition stance :)

I haven't seen the 1922 film, so my primary point of comparison is the original Dracula novel. But narratively I love how the film heightens the focus on Ellen. On a basic personal level she is a literallyme for the ages, but also doing so allows the work to more explicitly tackle the eroticism of the novel and approach the eternal theme of women and love and sensuality in a way that is both deeply gothic and contemporarily resonant. The perfect way to finish my Dennis Cooper/D.H. Lawrence/Angela Carter Lacanian hysteric year.
Also: Lily-Rose Depp is excellent in this. And some people are complaining about the limited color palette, but I thought it was very effective, especially when you finally see the light of day at the end.

"The difficulty is to convince someone else he is really part of you."

Luca Guadagnino has such a talent for capturing eroticism in all its tension and anxiety and beauty. And also this film depicts Lee's desperation for mutual understanding and true communion in such an agonizingly powerful way. This film reminded me of Thomas Mann's short stories in that it felt humiliating to see myself so vividly in it (this is a compliment.)

Girl who has spent the year comparing everything to Lolita, Interview with the Vampire, and/or Lacanian theory: rip jacques lacan you would have have loved dogtooth (2009)

On a rational intellectual level the flaws are obvious but I have no respect for anyone giving this a genuinely bad rating and also if you only view art through the lens of reason and intellect you are uninteresting

The surprising lack of a Jesse Plemons/Willem Dafoe sex scene can only be explained by pure cowardice but otherwise a banger

Idk man I get what this was trying to do but it didn't really come together for me

Why are you as a man blond... forgivable in women occasionally but with men it's just a waste!

They called Todd Haynes the Fellini of fellatio for this but iirc there wasn't even any (literal) fellatio?! Stolen valor smh. THAT BEING SAID, this is such a fascinating film. I'm glad I watched it in person at a screening, bc it was thought-provoking to hear people laughing so often. Of course the melodrama section in particular is intentionally over-the-top, and the genre conventions the film is playing with are stylized and outmoded, so I do understand the humor on some level, but there's a deeper and very moving truth that Haynes is getting at.

Watched on Tuesday May 21, 2024.

Gorgeous gorgeous film. I went to a showing in the middle of the day on Friday, and when I walked in there was only one guy in the theater. I contemplated sitting right next to him to be funny but it's very good that I wasn't bold enough because I was crying the whole second half.

How is that the gayest thing they did at boarding school?! I'm unimpressed. Unreal score and sound etc tho

I get why some of you don't like this one as much—it kind of is baby mode Haneke. Less refined and nuanced and in a 2024 context it can risk coming across as a cliche "what if tv bad..." moral polemic. That being said! I thought it was very well-executed, fantastic acting all around and Haneke instills a sense of dread in me like no other. If I were Benny's parents I simply would not cover up murder for him however (he has bad vibes.)

Baby's first Haneke! Was going to watch last night but I was sleepy so I watched it first thing this morning instead 😭 Day ruined.

Watched on Monday March 4, 2024.

Watched on Sunday March 3, 2024.

Watched on Saturday March 2, 2024.

The women truly snubbed by the oscar nominations are teyana taylor and a.v. rockwell tbqh

Watched on Thursday February 22, 2024.

Watched on Thursday February 8, 2024.

Watched on Sunday February 4, 2024.

Watched on Sunday January 21, 2024.

Watched on Thursday January 18, 2024.

Watched on Sunday January 14, 2024.

Watched on Saturday January 6, 2024.

Watched on Thursday January 4, 2024.

Watched on Monday January 1, 2024.

Watched on Saturday December 30, 2023.

Watched on Wednesday December 27, 2023.

Watched on Saturday December 2, 2023.

Watched on Sunday November 26, 2023.

Watched on Wednesday November 8, 2023.

Ladies... NEVER fall for the hindutva bro. I wanted to love this but imo it's the weakest of the Ray films I've seen (Apu Trilogy, The Big City, The Music Room.) It's visually stunning but felt sterile emotionally—so much of the film's plot is dependent on overwhelming emotion and strong convictions, and yet I wasn't convinced that the characters really felt this ion, maybe because of the acting or perhaps a lack of development of the characters and relationships in the writing.

Watched on Tuesday October 24, 2023.

Autistic girl autumn, ty park chan wook 💗 This is one of his weaker films of those I've seen so far (I say as I click 4 stars), but they can't all be 10s. I did not always love Matthew Goode's performance, it seemed like exaggerated movie insanity in some places. I also didn't think the script was as strong as in Park’s other films—this is the film's biggest weakness imo, it's visually stunning but the dialogue can fall flat. That being said, the fundamental story is so rich and right up my alley tbqh. I was really intrigued by the relationship between Charlie and Richard, I think it could have been explored more.

Obvious comparison is Lolita (though India’s not as young), both in the romance-with-mother-to-get-with-daughter aspect and the larger critique of the nuclear family. Much to think about.

Watched on Wednesday September 27, 2023.

a literally me for the ages 💔 can't really imagine a better 60 min

Baby's third Pasolini! Such a delight to watch, Pasolini is such a charismatic interviewer and really succeeds at getting people to open up. One might question to what extent the documentary presents an accurate picture of Italy at the time given its methodology—as Pasolini and Alberto Moravia discuss in the film, Pasolini can interview the true Italy, "but the one that didn't want to be interviewed is just as real." (Sidenote: need to read some Moravia, he's so interesting here.) But despite its limitations, it's a compelling watch, especially because of the group interview format.
I think this film is less decisive than Teorema, which deals with similar questions (fictionally) but has a clearer political stance. Certainly Pasolini's politics are not invisible, but there's no neat answer to the questions the film raises, which I think is fitting. (To be clear Teorema owns, I think each film's approach works well in context.)

The basic premise of “Hollywood J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic” leads one to understandably assume that this film will be a hagiography, or at least a quite sympathetic treatment of a supposed tragic hero, even more so since it’s directed by Christopher Nolan. The standard U.S. narrative is that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (to say nothing of the costs of obtaining the materials for the bombs and the testing) were necessary evils that ultimately saved lives. What’s surprising about Oppenheimer, the film, is that the titular character is hardly consumed by guilt. There are the occasional moments where the weight of his actions is apparent to him, but he shrugs these feelings off. He speaks of “I” when discussing accomplishments and “we” and “the scientific community” when delving into moral questions. Just as Oppenheimer takes an intellectual interest in left-wing politics, he is intellectually interested in the creation of the bomb and its import. His convictions fall apart remarkably easily.

The scene in the auditorium, when Oppenheimer delivers his victorious speech, is a stand-out. He’s momentarily haunted by the specter of mass death, and then he shakes it off. Later, he’s unable to even look at the photos of the devastation caused by the bombings. which Nolan also choses not to show the viewer. (As a side note, Nolan’s decision not to show the actual bombings or the victims is one of the best choices he made with the film.)

I also thought it was interesting how the film handled Oppenheimer’s Jewish identity—obviously, the initial intended target for the bomb is Nazi and Oppenheimer expresses concern about the Nazis developing the bomb first,. Yet he doesn’t seem really connected to Jewish communities or culture himself (for example, he doesn’t speak yiddish or show any interest in doing so despite knowing many, many other languages.) When is defeated, he barely even reacts because he’s so singularly focused on the bomb, and doesn’t have any qualms with the change of target to Japan. (To be clear I am not doing imperial Japan apologism—I just think this is notable since he invokes Nazism as a justification for developing the bomb initially.)

Now for the not-so-good. I think one of the weaknesses of the film is the lack of development of the women in Oppenheimer’s life. It seemed to me like there were several occasions with clearly intended emotional beats involving Jean or Oppenheimer’s wife whose name escapes me but the characters (and Oppenheimer’s relationships with them) weren’t fully realized enough for these moments to have a real impact. Nolan’s dialogue is sometimes annoying and can be overly quippy. The parallels drawn between the Strauss and Oppenheimer hearings are a little too neat at the end imo. Also, I think I legitimately have some kind of low-level auditory processing disorder but I’ve seen others complaining about the dialogue mixing, so it’s not just me. And finally, the biggest question of all: WHY the fuck did we not see Cillian Murphy’s dick?! I thought we were promised that?! It’s so fucking over.

look how they massacred my boy :( For real though I think this is not a good film and an outright bad adaptation, but it is quite interesting to think about why it is not good, so it's worth watching.

Watched on Wednesday July 19, 2023.

Watched on Sunday July 16, 2023.

Watched on Thursday July 6, 2023.

Watched on Friday June 9, 2023.

Watched on Thursday June 8, 2023.

Yuri fans r insane,,,
Fr though I'm so glad someone else sees the psychological thriller aspect of In Search of Lost Time... he is so fucking obsessed!
Shoutout to the very first scene of Simon watching the film of the girls at the beach, absolutely stunning 💗

Insert Margaret atwood male fantasies age. You are your own voyeur!!

Watched on Saturday April 22, 2023.