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Franchise has gone bonkers. All this from a 70s tv show. From spy to Ethan Hunt as prophet. We will tell our kids stories of Tom cruise and these movies will be the only thing that stops them from putting us all in mental institutions. Christopher McQuarrie is a legend. Ving Rhames is Optimus prime. Simon Pegg is king. Pom Klementieff. Hayley Atwell is Mary Magdalene. Mission impossible is cinema.

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“Do not consider him secured unless you have driven a wooden stake right through his heart.”

Never going to be able to talk about this in a reasonable way. So good, almost hilariously so. Chaplin, Lang, Keaton, Hawks, everybody eat your hearts out. The slo mo when the train crashes is probably the most Cinema 5 seconds ever. Hayley atwell’s introduction is electric. This is almost 3 hours that feels like an 80 minute sprint. McQ gets it. The president gets it. So good it almost doesn’t matter that they killed Ilsa off (I have money on her being in final reckoning). Greatness.

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“You wanna shake hands with the devil? That’s fine with me, I just wanna make sure that you do it in hell.”

Rewatching after seeing McQ’s 3 (soon to be 4) another 2-3x each really gives you a new appreciation for this one just because of how radically different the franchise now is 30 years later. In a lot of ways, 7 makes a point of paying homage to this in a way that really does make them almost the same film in different epochs but it’s so cool to see just how much de Palma got out of this before it became the muscular exercise in mythmaking it now is. Also gained new appreciation for cruise’s performance here. Partial to the version of Ethan hunt that exists as Jesus Christ who jumps off buildings but this feels like the version with the least “Tom Cruise” in it. Shot expertly, really hones in on the espionage too and the creation of paranoia and anxiety that builds and builds from the floppy disk set piece all the way to the train sequence in the climax is so so so good. Love ving Rhames too. Can’t wait for Thursday.

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“If you wanna help me, just shut up and fuck me!”

Scratches an itch I’ve talked about in many a review at this point, actually feels like art reflective of our decade in a way beyond merely ideology. Everything is recognizable, and its formal qualities are unmistakably 2020s, and most importantly, it is not subscribing to the lazy notion that a smartphone cannot be a cinematic device. Great movie about a relationship rocky because of its neglect of the one thing that’s usually perceived as a given. A whole lot is made of finding partners who are “more than their looks/body” but that’s only said because the physical intimacy is usually considered to be inextricable from being in a relationship with someone. The lengths they go to with surveillance and all the games feels very much like the late 90s baby companion piece to Black bag’s 40 & over sensibilities. Phenomenal film that only slightly suffers when Ivy Wolk & prithik become weirdly central to it for a while (ivy wolk is pretty good at first but it becomes a diminishing returns thing) but it really rounds back into form with the final scavenger hunt that ends with the big payoff. How they pulled off the shot where the desert looks like they’re standing on a globe is epic. Dasha nekrasova is awesome and adds another movie into the rear window canon of guys who will inexplicably not sleep with their extremely attractive love interests. Add in the obsession with cameras and you can basically say Welcome back, Alfred Hitchcock. Shoutout MUBI.

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“Is it better to speak or to die?”

4.25/5

Guadagnino finally clicked for me last year. Feel like anyone who isn’t a believer after the double whammy of Queer & challengers is firmly on the wrong side of the coin but finally got around to seeing this one. Incredibly vampiric film, far more so than, ironically, the other one with Timothee Chalamet in it. The central relationship for large parts of this felt subdued in a way that didn’t feel like it was from the “denial is erotic” angle but moreso from one of there not being a whole lot there but once they reach an understanding it’s firing on all cylinders. The dynamic is naturally problematic but what really jumps out for me is just how much Armie hammer feels like more of a plot device than a full, equally hungry and yearning person. Chalamet’s Elio is a fascinating creature. Smart as a whip, brimming with something somewhere between sadness and a lack of direction, insatiably hungry, and at times very primal. (The way he jumps on hammer at times is almost like a nat geo wild doc. Completely abandons all technique and runs on instinct). This carries the film for a while but as the “love story” winds down, it no longer’s enough. Elio’s conversation with his father kind of opens it all up. The longing for youth in his eyes and words, a mix of regret and desire to be what stands before him. He sounds envious in a lot of ways. It’s almost like even though elio’s chasing on screen, the film is championing him as the true object of desire. Guadagnino makes the audience voyeurs watching youth in all its mess. What would usually be told as a cautionary tale, he almost argues as what to aspire to. Fascinating all around. Not sure if I would go with this or Dylan as timothee’s best performance but I think it’s awesome how much his reactions when he’s getting massaged on the shoulder in the early volleyball scene mirror the hand-box scene in Dune 1. Guy is an absolute monster. Gap between him and basically the entire field in his generation is comical. Much can be said about Elio & Marzia’s dynamic but Esther Garrel’s also just so hot in this it borders on unholy lmao.

Pretty underwhelming compared to Mabel’s strange predicament. Use of title cards not as effective, physical comedy pretty lacking and just not a very clear and compelling story. Still pretty cool to have uncovered a predecessor to the Chaplins & Keatons so I’m sure the oeuvre is a mixed bag but yea this one is largely forgettable. (Sidenote why does forgettable have 2 Ts)

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“There are a lot of things you don’t take seriously. One could get the impression you’re not a very serious person.”

Very much from the same cloth as Age of innocence even though set in a more contemporary time period, mostly in the almost British/french bourgeois aftertaste in most of the conversations and the major locations where the action takes place. For a while this feels like it’s trying to buy time to figure out where it should go and does so pretty well by just showing you how conceited most of the Ratpack is, really save for Audrey. Insane amount of punchable faces here too. It all really comes together in the third act when the focus in placed firmly back on Tom’s pursuit of Audrey and the mini-wild goose chase that ensues from it. Little cool detail but them in the trench coats when they get to Rick’s very subtly channels the bare bones of what makes up film noir aesthetics in a way that i just found slightly cool but outside of that this is pretty meh visually. Hoping I can find more of these 90s mid-low budget dramas that feel like predecessors to Noah Baumbach’s re-mastery of the contemporary New York bourgeoisie. 10s for the bunuel reference & Carolyn Farina is stunning lol. Feel like I need to recommend this to Audrey solely for the whiplash of having to watch a movie where there’s an Audrey who’s really into Jane Austen

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“Answer me this. You have only one match, and you walk into a dark room with a fireplace, a candle, and a lamp of oil. Which do you light first?”

In recent times, we’ve already seen dramas focus solely on the hustle and bustle of a restaurant kitchen and drive action almost solely off of that. La Cocina’s resistance of that path before the set piece where the kitchen floods is what makes that section all the more rewarding, because by then we’ve been introduced to so many of the players in ways that don’t negate their roles as restaurant workers, but cast them as much more. If New York is a melting pot, there may be no better case study for the multiculturalism of the city than the food service industry. Romance, deceit, pipe dreams, poverty, search for legitimate citizenship, racism and much more all occur in here. On a technical level, this is a masterpiece. What holds it back a bit for me is what feels like the central story, if only second to the question of who stole the money. It just feels like no one has been able to do the interracial dynamic thing in a not concerningly weird way. I’m sure some may argue that the degree to which it ventures into problematic territory at points is the point, especially in context of the amazing table scene where Pedro talks about how there’s “nothing more Mexican than groveling for the whites” but at times it neuters the power of other things going on in scenes. Most egregiously in the walk-in freezer scene, which *should* have been extremely erotic but just isn’t because the dialogue is *SO* weird lol. May seem like a strange complaint but yea I kind of had it in my head from that point on. It’s amazing otherwise though, up there as one of the best photographed films of the decade and Raúl Brione’s performance is electric. Rooney Mara is also pretty amazing in this. Feels like in a perfect world this is the career path Mikey Madison carves post-Anora, let’s see if reptilia is a good start.

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2.75/5

MCU is a complete mess, and so is this overall but it has just enough bright spots to still be decently worthwhile, almost all of them coming from Florence Pugh staking her claim for the title of “best actress at making subpar material look like a real person wrote it.” There’s a reason those scenes with Meryl in Little women are so electric, it’s literally just the torch being ed over and over again. The first act of this is absolutely tragic and it’s sad they can’t even hit the cliche beats of the “band of misfits fight then decide to work together” well anymore but as soon as Bob runs in front of the firing squad, it injects this with some life. A lot of fluff in the center but then the high concept act 3 has some decent stuff in it too. There’s a weird attempt throughout at framing this as some worker’s plight “grating cycle of nothingness” piece but it can only ever be so biting when it’s being put on screen by the empire. It just comes off as parody a lot of the time and any genuineness on screen is solely great actors playing against the material. The post credit was a load of garbage too I’m sorry. I really wish I still cared about this stuff but it’s hard to when the product is acknowledging its own cheap attempts at nostalgia mid-movie. They literally do a Bergman island bit with the Avengers tower that just feels sad to witness. Everything about the franchise is at all time lows, I’m just glad Florence Pugh is great enough that no matter how much crap they throw at her she makes it stick. Feel bad for Geraldine Viswanathan (but not her bank ) but am also glad Ayo edebiri got out of the way of this. I guess someone has to do it, hopefully she does better stuff cuz she’s amazing in drive away dolls

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“Who is our reader? A calm, honest, order loving man… who works, produces and creates income. But he is also a tired man. His children, instead of going to school, wage guerrilla warfare on the streets of Milan.…”

Is pretty good from the start as a study on the intersections between various pillars of society in creating or maintaining structures that benefit very specific interests, in the case of Italy at this time that happens to be fascist, but this really ramps up a whole notch in act 3. The way the story works kind of mirrors the exact strategy the newspaper is using because at a point, it starts to feel like Mario & Rita are the main characters even though they are merely pawns whose lives are being ransacked in service of invisible hands far beyond them. At a point, the coincidence begins to feel like a happy meeting of justice and political agendas so when the real culprit confesses to Lauri near the end it just flips everything back on its head in a way that really helps the film get its already pretty clear message across even better. Generally pretty interested in these collection of 70s Italian political satires because while I’m sure they aren’t the only cinematic trend to capture this mood, between this & Citizen above suspicion they just just seem to do them really well and Volonte is such a good vehicle to get them across with.

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“Holiday homes you’re building up there, are ye?”

Finally found time to watch something, anything. Solid “Hard Bastard”™️ cinema. Pretty engaging till it swaps perspectives from Abbott to Keoghan but overall it does a solid enough job at getting you to understand the landscape these people operate within and what counts as fair game vs what doesn’t. Nothing too standout overall but we love to see Christopher Abbott getting work, he should be in everything.

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“They selling you dreams, we gon give it to you straight. Chicago ain’t nothing but Mississippi with tall buildings.”

One of those that I was looking forward to originally and it likely would’ve lived up to expectations if the word of mouth in the direct lead up to it didn’t spike my expectations even more. I’m not judging this up against expectations though, this IS a good movie. I just think it lacked a certain bite to it that would’ve taken it over the top. Emotionally, it just doesn’t really get there and the vampirism isn’t nearly as brutish as it’s aiming for which makes it fall a bit flat. I think my biggest thing is the movie effectively starts 50 minutes after the movie starts. It’s a very long winded set up, with next to no hints of what the central plot ends of focusing on till the one guy shows up at the KKK’s house. That being said, even though those 50 minutes don’t aid this version of the film I think they say a lot about Ryan Coogler and the things he’s interested in getting across in a good way. This is far more in dialogue with something like killers of the flower moon than like, Django unchained or whatever people are itching to throw in the hat especially with its focus on the little ways that capitalism seemed to be “thriving” amongst minorities in the early 20th century, this specifically focusing on the black variant vs killers’ focus on the Osage. Stack & Smoke represent a kind of self made black elite giving back to their community by opening this space and filling it with people they know, while creating a space of respite for those like them in less convenient situations. It’s a much less exaggerated version of what Killmonger wanted Tchalla to do in the original black Panther, so it’s cool to see that’s a thing on his mind still and he’s not just doing hack jobs (well made hack jobs to be fair if they were) for marvel instead of making more shit like this. I think MBJ is a great guy to have to get shit like this made, but I think the version of this where Redacted plays his brother would be much better cuz MBJ lacks a certain gravity needed to make playing twins interesting in ways other than simply it being “one guy playing 2 guys and we have a shot where both are on screen so we aren’t cheating with a shot reverse shot every other scene.” I thought the major set piece was pretty strong, and the context does add to make the night a bit more engaging but again I just don’t think the vampires were done well enough both technically and narratively to really elevate this to the level it needed to be at. I was in a packed theater of almost exclusively black folk though, and that’s always a great thing to me. I’m glad Ryan Coogler can consistently craft experiences that get black people in theaters cuz we need to get to a point where a major release being “black” isn’t a thing anymore because we just are spoiled for choice relative to the percentage of the population we make of. We also just need more so that anything remotely competent isn’t touted as a second coming. But hey, I hope this bangs. I don’t have much to say on the post credits beyond “I guess even when you have the MCU by the balls with your visions, they can still poison you back”, but you could maybe sell me on a sequel set in the 90s if we finally get a high budget fictional film that drops itself fully into hip hop as a core aesthetic. We will see though.

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“I respect the working class more than the middle class, those people are connected to the earth… they have values, they have God. What do the middle class have? Infomercials.”

4.25/5

Great stuff. Love me a tight 90, and the texture of the late 80s-90s independent dramas (watermelon woman, sex lies & videotapes types) does it so much for me cuz it’s an archetype that’s been kinda fizzled out outside of like, Noah Baumbach on a consistent basis. Obviously in the space I’m in rn, can’t say I don’t love how central poetry is to the film’s DNA and the conversations around it scratch great itches. Obviously the main talking point is the reveal & aftermath but I honestly was pretty surprised by how sympathetically it handles Louis’ situation without sacrificing the perspective of its central character the whole way through. If this was made today, it likely ends with her telling her mom no when she asks if he’s sleeping with the woman before given him a “knowing” look and walking away in tears but here they actually go into what that means for them both. Stanley tucci plays the circumstance so well too, so well that the otherwise melodramatic outburst actually feels like a cry for help to make sense of his feelings and why he felt the need to conceal them from his wife. All in all really great stuff and Hope Davis is so gorgeous. The way the reveal is edited and how you can see the iration play out on her face when she first sees him is awesome and also a really good dynamic reversal because usually that level of unspoken desire is asked of the male lover on screen. Great great movie, would recommend.

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“I’m an ordinary woman. I didn’t think such violent things could happen to ordinary people.”

3.75/5

Probably the most “oh look I’m an adult and married” approach to this subject matter, and the professionalism and clarity of it all really does make it so sensational in the way that the unforbidden love malarkey usually would be. Yes, eroticism makes for great cinematic viewing but I guess there’s a charm to the occasional well done hays code stuff. Made the kiss payoff so much stronger. Also what a performance Celia Johnson gives with her eyes. Actually amazing.

Almost 3 days since I actually saw this

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“Well I gave it to myself. It’s given to me by me.”

4.25/5

Everyone talks about Get Out as the one from that 2017 batch but man this is really just 1of1. It’s corny at times and Lady bird is like one of the most insufferable characters of the last decade but it really has shaped a lot of the last 8 years culturally and even cinematically even though it doesn’t have as many clear rip-offs as get out does. It’s one of those situations where it’s such a nexus point you’re probably going to be thinking about if it was just one step in an already building trend, or if it actually just started the trend itself. Also, everyone is in this lmao kind of crazy to see now looking back. Saoirse & Laurie metcalf rightfully got a lot of the recognition but Christ I miss seeing Timothee Chalamet in ing roles. Instantly gives the film new life within a minute on screen, era defining talent. Such a great film, almost hard to believe what Greta Gerwig’a doing these days when this was her (official) debut. Oh well.

I need to rewatch this when I’m not taking care of important things but this is top tier “I would watch this if i scrolled through my tv channels and I saw it playing” cinema, which is a nice way of saying it’s very fine and largely inoffensive but that kind of film is also a bit of a lost art so yea.

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“He said to me, ‘in here, Abby, in here… I’m anal’.”

Sometimes, shit doesn’t land and it’s not more complex than that. Feels like so much is happening but it’s almost too moody for its own good that it becomes plodding. I have a feeling the guy behind this won’t go on to do much more interesting stuff, but I could be wrong. We shall see.

Weightless, meaningless chain of uninspired images. Pointing at the idea of being psychedelic rather than actually being it. Couldn’t care less about anything that happened across the entire runtime, because the movie doesn’t care either. Everything is an excuse to get into a glitched montage of deep red lights. Chop.

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“If you rely on a colorblind man for clues, don’t be surprised you get no answers!”

Has more in common with stuff like Enemy of the people & the visit than most noirs, but process wise it’s a clear predecessor to the High & Lows and Zodiacs of the world. I think its strongest point is how well it turns the community into a character at the expense of really fleshing out any individuals bar the murderer because this isn’t really a story about the indomitable spirit of the individual, but rather about what a community owes to its people even when there’s a huge distrust in the systems they operate within. It’s curious when this was made, because of course on some level the subtext here is Lang trying to rally the people because they’re at the dawn of a faulty state themselves with the rise of the Nazis. On a technical level, I just really appreciate how much of a master at cross cutting conversations Lang is. This isn’t quite spies, and the frequency of the dialogue almost dampens some of his stronger images imo but he still is able to keep it as frenetic as possible in ways that almost no one today can (almost, because jennifer Lame is a GOAT). Ridiculous image creator, glad to knock another one off from the canon.

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“It doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Somehow, it’s now .”

Pure fucking cinema. Suave, sexy, slick spy thriller that’s the most drawn out for effect sprint ever. The way this keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time is so so so incredible. Weaves so much and even though it feels like it should be telegraphed from early on, it finds ways to pay off the investment without breaking the logic it’s created over the 90 minute runtime. Fassbender and Blanchett, two of our best working actors, are possibly perfect casting for this. Two of the coldest exteriors possible who still don’t hide any emotion behind the smoldering poker faces. This is far from a comedy, but so much of the humor comes from Fassbender’s otherwise inhuman spy occasionally projecting a level of worry and stress that could make a man explode if this were a 2000s vacation comedy but he conceals it perfectly. The editing on this is a marvel too, I mean the dining room scene (first one) is a masterclass in escalation. I locked the fuck in from the second they put the Friday title card up (I’m a Se7en fan, neurons activated.), glad to be right. Not like it does much to soderbergh’s cache either way but hope the word of mouth of this translates, just so more filmmakers don’t feel the need to bury films like these on streamers like Linklater had to with hitman (should’ve gone with NEON!!!). Also, hello, Marissa Abela. Put her in more things IMMEDIATELY! Brightest spot of the ing cast.

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“ Lee and I had crossed the straight line that dad called law and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as I tumbled deeper into a life of crime. After all, murder was thicker than marriage and Lee and I were now bound by the life we took.”

Definitely from the same school as other independent films of the late 80s/early 90s tonally (Raising Arizona, Sex lies videotapes & the Tarantinos), but even more than QT’s this feels very much an American descendant of the new wave, and more specifically Truffaut. In plot, it’s a trashy borderline parody of Bonnie & Clyde (or at least its archetypes) but in reality, it’s a story about one trying to break past their immediate environments mundanity while not necessarily having the appropriate resources to do so, and Cozy’s interiority really helps take this up a few notches. Ending feels so freeing as a result too. The jazz score is amazing, especially the first time the drums begin to build. Completely turns pretty common images into something far more kinetic, although a few times here Kelly Reichardt’s camera is doing immaculate work (mostly in the few scenes where cozy is dancing to or listening to music, and the shot of the gun in front of the alligator graffiti.). Always fascinating to see a filmmaker’s first feature, had no idea she was an early 90s baby.

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“… well, I don’t have a huge urge to experiment, but I know that I have seen you in my dreams.”

Pretty solid documentary that manages to feel so much like real and grounded fiction at points. The discussions the woman have progressively begun to center on various tumultuous experiences with men, but some of the earlier discussions are immensely engaging. I guess in some way this could function as the basis of a case against the bechdel test as some metric for the validity of an on-screen interaction between two women though. I’m super tired so I can’t go in too deep but basically, stories are stored in our physical bodies. We are capsules of bygone minutes and seconds.

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“We hang suspended between the clarity of the angels and the desires of the beasts. Hashem gave us choice, which is a both a privilege and a burden. We must then choose the tangled life we live.”

3.75/5

Almost forgot to write my review. Two words: Jewish Lesbisns. Naturally a very lesbian film, Rachel Weisz doesn’t do anything halfway, and even though Lelio’s sex scene feels too voyeuristic to give the euphoria of say, Maggie Betts’ ‘Novitiate’, at points this is so charged erotically. The way all 3 major parties utilize and react to touch is so subtle but stands out the entire time, but nothing beats Rachel weisz and Rachel McAdams smoking a cigarette while Weisz asks if McAdams still likes only women. At the same time though, I think this might be the most Jewish film I’ve ever seen. Really is so immersed in the culture of this community, and I think it’s just interesting to see something like this be made about a group of Jews NOT from New York. New York kind of serves as the unexplored ideal hanging over the characters’ heads, it’s presented as a landscape so incredibly foreign from theirs that it might as well be something completely different. Never knew Jewish women wore wigs after getting married, but hey that’s a fun fact. Obviously I belong to neither of the main demographics so this is a fully outsider perspective on things. Technically though, this is in a weird place. It has moments of genuine magic (the ultra closeup on dovid as he addressed the congregation is incredible) but it’s counterbalanced by some of the most bland location and shot compositions ever in a lot of other scenes. Very BBC-drama like in that way. Also the ending seemed a bit confusing for me because even though they’re established as 3 friends, the dynamic the film operates in doesn’t ever really move towards earning that moment over a real 2-1 split either way. Rachel McAdams is the mvp.

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“That’s a key question! I, of course, can’t swim so it’s a question I never have to face.”

Kind of unsettlingly great. Have no idea if he really intended to but it’s such a biting portrait of an objectively horrible person (among horrible people) who also happens to bear a striking resemblance to woody Allen himself, so much so that it’s perfectly understandable if that blurring of the lines (especially given his reputation in our eyes now) wrecks the film as much for someone else as it enhances its already incredible potency for me. It’s a story of a particularly empty man in a town that he seems to believe represents both the zenith of civilization and its impending implosion. His life is so completely meaningless and he makes some mind boggling decisions along the way but he also carries himself in the manner of an idealist. In some ways it feels like it’s structured to be a great romance between him and Diane Keaton’s character but being the person he is, that was only a matter of time before it finally went wrong and that whole 3rd act is an especially high point in a film that’s just consistently riding this wave of highness. Everything around him just keeps doing exactly what he’s doing with himself and that young girl to him and he’s so full of himself that he’s oblivious to how almost ironic his karma is. When he finally sits to think about the reasons he considers life worth living, he only references great art because all he can do is watch those who can swim swim. He’s done some stuff in his life, but he’s generally inadequate in large part due to his personal shortcomings as just a pretty deficient guy. He has practically no redeeming qualities, truly incredible to witness. Also the best woody Allen performance I’ve seen so far, but how much of it is really a performance? Diane Keaton is amazing as usual, and I’m kind of convinced her in this is basically the perfect woman outside of her shortcomings as a person in relationship dynamics, but the mvp of this is the photography. Absolutely breathtaking. The lighting, blocking, and camera placement in the scene where he sends the 17 year old home from his place while she’s sitting by the lamp stand is all time.

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“…That’s the tragedy of war. Not that one man has the courage to be evil, but that so many have not the courage to be good.”

4.75/5

This one’s really a creeper. It’s obvious where it’s heading from the first title card but the journey there is so patient and considered that it feels like magic when you finally get there and every block Brady corbet puts into place over the 2 hours feels like they’ve been placed to near perfection. Always find films that focus on children to be fascinating because it’s really engaging to follow around an essential blank slate, and here it’s kind of posing the question of if the evil in him was nurtured or just a natural inclination giving the pathology from his childhood even with his parents’ concerns. Are some people just evil? What does it mean if so? If not, what exactly led to his evilness? The way his rebellion slowly ups its ante is amazing, the fact he decides to simply run around naked after being mistook for a girl one too many times is such A->B child logic that it works masterfully. The kid is so good, but Liam Cunningham is undoubtedly the star of the show here along with that Score. In awe of this honestly, that denouement is magical. Probably still the best sequence of his directorial career.

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“WHICH ONE’S THE MAMA?! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING AT WHEN I GIVE MY SPEECH?!?” 

4.25/5 

Finally… after 7000 years and ironically, 9000 deaths and revivals, this finally got its release. Thoroughly good film and of course bong Joon-ho has a lot he’s trying to get across politically here, mostly about the ways fascism carries itself in societies in uncertain times, but I think the one aspect he really hones in on is the role an obsession with aesthetics plays in how it spreads itself to the lowest common denominator. The sauce metaphor really gets the point home at the end of everything but it’s present throughout especially with the obsession with cameras from all the people who are presented as the forces of bad throughout the film. Wish the narrative ideas of form translated to the technical aspects but it still looks pretty fine so it’s not a grave sin or anything. Such a perfect cast overall too, and Robert Pattinson continues to stake his claim to being the most interesting actor watching today. Also, Anamaria Vartolomei!! Let’s go!!!

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“I am his sister. In faith.”

4.25/5

Definitely one that requires some patience and buying into everything it’s doing with no questions asked, otherwise you may mistake its muted pace for cynicism or nihilism. We live in mad times. Capitalism has never been less kind to the people on the lower end of the stick trying to make ends meet, the airwaves are flooded with stories of horrors all around us and it feels like the world is trying to get you. It’s so bleak that sometimes going to see a bad movie with a woman/man you half fancy might be the one glimmer of light you have to hold on to, and life will get in the way of your attempts to take it further, but if fallen leaves isn’t preaching to keep chasing, it’s not doing much else. Impressively charming little film that sneaks up on you. Feels like it takes a lot of cues visually from pulp fiction but the two couldn’t be more different in their views on sentimentality and genuineness. Glad i finally got to this one.

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“Well, I guess I’m a rather interesting man… refined, intelligent. But that stomach!”

One I’m still mad we didn’t get to watch in my Italian cinema class, but glad to have finally been able to see. Even before the whole section practically confirming it, this is kind of a ripple effect of La Dolce Vita as well as another significant film from the post-neorealist period. A lot of it is about the greed and gluttony of the upper class, but a lot of the ways he plans his divorce also stems from a very twisted but correct understanding of his place in society and how that changes the rules for him vs the woman from earlier in the film who did the same thing. It’s funny in parts because the concept is pretty extreme but it takes itself seriously in a way that really helps it all land, and that 3rd act is immaculate down to the final shot. After everything he’s gone through he’s now the one in the position he placed his wife in. Also there’s a very funny theme throughout pointing to his sexual depravity with the cuckoldry from trying to find the perfect partner to take his wife from him to her actually running off on him in the end. Mastroianni is a revelation here, the stuff he does with his face is immaculate and there’s something about giving a guy a moustache that turns him grimy. Really great stuff all around, I think a good rip off of this would go crazy again today fwiw.

This review may contain spoilers.

“… I realized I was hungry.”

Feels far more like performance art than cinema but with that in mind this was still pretty engaging for majority of its time on screen just because I find it interesting for something that seems infatuated with capturing mundanity and stagnation especially in act 1, it uses a lot of techniques that kind of break up the monotony it’s trying to impress on the viewer and I found that contradiction pretty interesting to watch unfold as it progressed out of the room and into her interactions in the real world. I think the 2nd section with the driver being the only one where we kind of lose her perspective on things is obviously super intentional and when juxtaposed with the final 15 minutes where she gives into her more primal instincts and finds her way towards something resembling eroticism after wrestling like an Olympian for like 8 minutes it’s kind of clear the two parts can’t work without each other. Not for everyone but definitely a worthwhile watch if you have the patience to meet it on its own .

This review may contain spoilers.

It’s inarguably really bad, cheesy in all the wrong ways & the leads have the chemistry of a stick and a bucket but not offensively so. It’s another one that falls into the trap of trying to do “gen z” in such ironic fashion that it just ends up being really sad because real people don’t speak that way and shame on you for trying to pretend they do. Will say the kills are pretty damn good though, and the violence has a weight to it that’s made more impressive by how weightless everything else feels. Miracle this made it past the script reader’s desk, and that ending was the nail in the coffin. Chalk it.

This review may contain spoilers.

“I’m pregnant.”
…
“I want to continue my studies.”

Largely fine film with a more than irable effort from its lead actress, but for something covering a topic & scenario of immense violence it all plays out with a kind of lack of urgency. There are moments where it feels like she’s trying to present something brutal on the screen, but the images just aren’t at the level of the intention so it falls flat. There’s also just a level of futility to the whole thing that isn’t really balanced out by moments of real hope to make them land stronger. Obviously a topic that needs to be touched on increasingly frequently, and by voices with the necessary experience, but I think my opinion on this can’t help be lukewarm especially after seeing Touzani & Ducournau’s offerings a year before and after this (Adam & Titane). Cool to see a period film out of though, even if it doesn’t utilize its different time to its fullest capacity. Feel like one of the best things about is the films that make it across the border are usually very present and that adds something, but still cool to see someone go in a different direction.

This review may contain spoilers.

“… sounds a little bleak. Or is it just the way you tell it?” 

3.75/5

Dusted one of in honor of one of the true greats. Brutal loss but man what a natural, practically effortless until the stakes pump up to life threatening levels in act 3 and he’s still so engaging to watch. What really interests me about this as a film though is how the images on screen kind of counteract the traditional tenets of a noir, and even of a neo noir to where it feels like a regular 70s drama visually (both technically and in of its locations), but yet on the page it still has every element of the classic noir. It’s a discord that kind of creates a new avenue for what you think a noir can play like which I think is cool. It gets a little too melodramatic in act 3 for my liking but the closing sequences are pretty epic, and overall the James Woods small role is huge for Videodrome-heads.

This review may contain spoilers.

“You’ll never get a penny out of me, you fat hunk of cellulite! I always record the women I love!”

What a way to kick off the 80s, extremely current (for its time, and probably still ours) as a satire that basically speed runs every major domestic talking point of 70s America from family planning/abortion to the death of the nuclear family to the “golden age” of porn films to the rise of the religious right and it does it all so seamlessly. Just endlessly wacky for its entire runtime but I feel like I missed out on the experience by not having the scratch and sniff board while watching. Still so good though and honestly the fact that the satirical depiction of the foot fetishist in this is just a guy stomping feet is incredible. Big John waters year for me so far, long may it continue.

This review may contain spoilers.

“I’ll ask again. Are you more interested in reing society than escaping it?”

4.75/5 (subject to change) 

Really really impressive, mainly for the fact that it might be the best depiction I’ve seen of someone so rotted by self loathing that they actually make it so much easier to hate them. The 2014 section of the Beast had been maybe the top of that department until now, but Mr. Okuyama is just unpleasant from the very beginning and his projection creates practically every possible problem he has throughout this film. It’s such a masterclass of a performance by Tatsuya Nakadai too, especially in act 1 because he does practically all of the storytelling through extremely dignified physical movements while his mouth spits out the most low self esteem things ever. Also makes it much more impressive how he manages to make performing with his real face feel so alienating. His cold exterior makes him kind of perfect for it already but he makes it so much more unnerving. I think it is a little dated in of its social ideologies (which isn’t a cardinal sin for a 50 year old film to be fair) and it gets a little lost in act 2 but the 3rd act is such a return to form that it wins you right back over immediately after. What an ending too. Incredible, incredible film.

This review may contain spoilers.

“I mean I get that everybody dies but this is like, everybody dying… at once.” 

Pretty disappointing honestly. The narrative in and of itself is bleak but he just mishandles the tone by being overly cynical so absolutely nothing that happens in the world has any real impact. The deaths are individually funny but they’re so weightless the pulp basically exits your mind the second it ends. Also just doesn’t have a good sense of humor, it’s the most “guess what? Chicken butt.” thing ever which is a shame. Not a strong follow up to Longlegs but they can’t always be winners.

This review may contain spoilers.

“…I hope we can laugh it about someday” 

Going to start by saying I’m weirdly shocked Baku & ryohei are played by the same guy. Them looking alike is the backbone of the narrative but I genuinely didn’t see it until maybe late act 2, and even then I didn’t think they were the spitting image which may just be my brain nitpicking, but props for being able to specify two characters so much that they don’t even remotely bleed together, and I’m sure the makeup team also played a huge role in it. This is basically perfect for 90 minutes. The conversations are superbly brimming with honesty as is expected from Hamaguchi and the story plays out largely unchallenged even with the unspoken history permeating through until the rug gets pulled under Asako. Now logically, it would seem foolish to throw away 5 years of a sure thing for an unproven commodity but when you think about human beings’ gravitation towards the unattainable it all starts to fully piece itself together. You think you have moved on from that person or thing you couldn’t get to be what you wanted but the moment that thing decides to present itself to you as an option again, your brain does all it can to rationalize chasing it down and in most cases, curiosity kills the cat. I think my gripe is that it’s kind of handled a bit too melodramatically with how drastic the scenarios get in the last 30 minutes but this is such a great film regardless. The scene where Ryohei’s friend meets Asako’s and he critiques her performance is so so so perfect. Drive my car is the pinnacle but with every lesser effort I see from him, my regard for Hamaguchi as a contemporary great is strengthened. Also erika karata is so beautiful it’s embarrassing at times.

This review may contain spoilers.

“I’m letting my imagination reach my stupidity, so it becomes reality.”

Right up my alley. Only recently dipping my big toe into Canadian indecent cinema but it seems to strike a really good balance between the American style and the European which makes sense given their cultural context but for some reason had never occurred to me till now. This is a really good film about the bondage of that space before it’s even a situationship where you kind of just both grant access to each other and throw a light jab every so often without ever giving yourselves the privilege of being able to voice what you want, let alone act on it. Mara mentions a “complicity” and that might be the perfect way to describe it. This gives us all the recognizable ingredients of a cliche friendship to leaving my unideal lover for you romcom but leaves them as simply that: ingredients. In not giving the audience that catharsis it kind of creates a stronger desire that bleeds across the 80 minutes. The conversations and scenarios are amazing, and the joy you see in Mara in the tender moments are basically worth the price of ission (a MUBI subscription!!), I just wish they actually had included a few of the student poems rather than discussed them in painfully broad .

This review may contain spoilers.

Really puts into perspective how hard someone can make shooting a fight scene. Captures everything asides the action in half of them and it’s completely weightless action. Nothing feels like it’s supposed to matter 2 seconds later which, I’m not asking for UFC realism but yea. Ariana debose is so hot though, feel like that needed to be said.

This review may contain spoilers.

“It’s called a hard stare, it’s for when people have forgotten their manners.” 

I’m slightly gassing it but also I fear I am never going to be immune to the power of a talking fuzzy animal. In a world dripped in cynicism, a Peruvian-British immigrant bear is the light. Just complete fun for an hour and a half. Paddington has Chaplin-esque superpowers & Olivia Colman is a legend. Who knew a paddington film would do commentary on immigrant double consciousness better than most things you’ll see?

This review may contain spoilers.

“You can’t buy time… can’t sell it either.”

Somewhere in the center of it all, just because MJB’s vigor at times feels in contention with the text in a way that doesn’t necessarily feel like Leigh planned it. This hovers somewhere between the high naturalism of some of the salon scenes and the heightened world logic of things like the parking lot argument scene and so even though the relationships are strong, it doesn’t necessarily feel like this is a fully stitched together story. A lot is also left unsaid even with how expressive its central character is. By the end I kinda felt bad for her. Well, I did from pretty early on but a lot of reviews talked about how this was a “movie about a bad person” and she doesn’t really come across that way to me. Maybe it’s because in some ways she reminds me of my mom, but it’s like a portrait of my mom if they left out all the parts in between the moments when she’s under duress to make her look like a perpetual gladiator. Still pretty solid overall but think some of the novelty in how people are discussing it comes solely from the fact that a white guy made a movie about black people that isn’t torture porn. Also this looks awful I’m sorry,

This review may contain spoilers.

“When did you bury him?” 

Kind of a perfect movie. Not in a “best movie ever” sense but in a “I can’t really say there’s much better ways this could’ve been made” way. At its core it’s still very much a family drama and its doubling down on that in act 3 confirms that, but what makes it all work so well is just how inextricably woven the personal and the political are in this film from wire to wire. The way every gathering even in the pretty unassuming first 20-ish minutes is laced with traces of a movement, the pretty regular bourgeois lives they live serving as the perfect mask for their efforts at upheaval without being fully acknowledged is so great, and it makes the home invasion sequence all the more poignant because now this elephant in the room has been made the center of attention. Routine, normalcy, everything is disrupted and at the same time, the family unit is de-stabilized. Having to watch Eunice juggle trying to aid efforts to find Rubens with having to raise 5 children without letting them know their father is gone creates some of the strongest dramatic irony of 2024, with her internal struggle really peaking for me when her daughter walks in on her with the doll. Another really key component of this is just how much it advocates for the power of cameras to immortalize and reinvigorate memory. Every Polaroid, every film reel or television pixel is laced with history for its in-world spectators and creates a stronger reaction in an audience member. The penultimate scene where Eunice watches the documentary and you kinda see life return back into her previously dead eyes is magic. Fernanda Torres is magical all the way through, and the score/musical supervision on this is so good. All that pales in comparison to the fact that I fear I am now in love with Valentina Herszage. God is real.
(Also, this channels Hunger at some point in act 2 in a way that really stamps just how singular early Steve McQueen is especially in the modern era. Complete night and day in impact.)

Watched on Sunday February 9, 2025.

This review may contain spoilers.

“Tony, I love you. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Ambitious and gains some novelty simply for its technical qualities (very much in dialogue with the Melvilles/Godards of the period, and the improv probably is a worthy case study for people interested in the form) but it’s just not very great. Kind of lacks focus, Hay Hughes is great and the sections that depict the interactions Lelia has while she’s still a sort of ing socialite are highly watchable but its studies on race are just limited by its leader’s lack of perspective (can’t help it but still). Makes me grateful we eventually got a spike lee, would be bleak if this was the bar for musings on being a black jazz player in New York. Just watch Mo Better Blues

Not very good is it. For something named “Clowns” about a theatre troupe at dinner, it’s just played too straight. This entire scenario should’ve been a far more in-motion comedy. Would be great in the hands of a Scandinavian.

“Hey brother, I made fun of you on camera, but you know how I feel.”

Was getting withdrawals, and when in doubt always come back with a short. This is really good at getting an idea into your mind even though its limited runtime means it can’t really go through all the beats of the journey to get you the same catharsis as a feature (different art forms different strengths I guess). Does a great job at starting the conversation on the artist/patron dynamic along with the added layers of being a black artist in the diaspora having to practically commodify your history to make the career tenable. Ends a bit abruptly but the sections especially at home are marvelous. At what point do you draw the line in the sand and hold other values over the dollar (euro)?

This review may contain spoilers.

“There is no virus in my village.”

Finally got the chance to see this after over a year of anticipation. Definitely a disappointment, in large parts because it just shows that maybe the answer for what a Nigerian cinema really looks like is no closer to being found. Let’s get the obvious out of the way: no one speaks pidgin like this. Both in syntax and in urgency, it’s almost offensive that this was made by a Nigerian who grew up in the country. I always have MUBI subtitles on, and the complete misunderstanding of how some things are translated is hilarious but also concerning because from following his process over the last year and a half with this film, I have reason to believe he was involved with CC’ing for this. That aside, I think this is far more of an aesthetic exercise than anything resembling a great film. I’m a believer in images, but the images should always work in tandem with the story being told and a lot of times, the two things seem to be out of sync here. The depictions of the water as deity are maybe the only truly strong images this produces, for all its use of heavy black and white contrast. Its story is far too lackadaisical and lacking in precision, but its strongest moments are when it truly tries to examine the relationship between belief and control that isn’t unique to, but is very much at the core of what makes Nigeria what it is both at the national level, and even in subcultures. This serves to some extent as a cautionary tale about how dissatisfaction without a clear alternative can lead to the rise of less than fit grifters attempting to take power. I criticized tribe called Judah for its lack of reverence for film as a form and how to properly synthesize that with the Nigerian experience. think this obviously does not lack in knowledge of the medium, but equally falls short in making its influences flow through in a way that translates to making a truly alive film centering around Nigerian folklore. Instead the result is mere posturing for the pretty shallow cultural elite to bask in while telling the average Nigerian viewer they cannot possibly enjoy it because their faculties are too low for it.

This review may contain spoilers.

“My first lie. It feels great. I see the appeal.”

2.25/5

Really wanted to like this but at the very least, Sophie Thatcher is quickly reaching “I will watch bad movies for her performance” status. This kind of swims against its own tide for the entirety of its runtime cuz its two central theses are in opposition. The allegory of the owner/robot dynamic as sex trafficking and a “woman in abusive relationship” doesn’t feel as strong when the entire film argues for the bots as simply being inhuman while centering one’s perspective the whole way through. A sad case of trying to play both sides so much it ends up playing neither well enough. Sophie thatcher is amazing, and I think the observations on the vagueness of AI’s “human coding” is done really well through the way the scenes of their memories are shot in shallow focus as well as the blocking. Great ideas but less than stellar execution. On to the next

This review may contain spoilers.

“Life is a dogma film. The words are hard to hear but it’s important.”

What a filmmaker. Endlessly fascinating with each film, no two being exactly the same. Due to its nature as a comedy examining performance, control, and the camaraderie of shared spaces as well as its common lead actor, it’s hard not to be reminded of the idiots while watching this but they’re vastly different films in both content and presentation. Von Trier’s absurdity comedy really shines in just how biting a critique it is of the increasingly common “corporate” arm of companies that exists almost as a mythical thing that you only hear from when it’s time to get a bonus and be rewarded for stuffing money in their pockets. As much as this is making fun of the boss here creating the persona to dodge the ire of his subordinates, the creation is only possible because of that. If nothing is perceived, anything can take its place and wreak havoc. Also always interesting to see how his films bend morality and present completely abhorrent things in a fine space between obscene and possibly okay. The one sex scene is kind of funny in the moment as a parody of improv’s main principle but like you really could make the case he’s getting raped and it only dawns on you afterwards, the power of a true satirical comedy. Laugh now and laugh hard, but after you laugh you should think about what you’ve been laughing at. Complete mastery of the genre, as he himself says with the brechtian pauses to address the audience. Also even though he probably never uses automavision again it created some interesting editing opportunities that had me questioning if some sections of scenes were simply “possible” reactions to things said. Most specifically when Lise first comes to tell him she thinks his performance has been bad.

This review may contain spoilers.

“We all voted for him. Because we all thought no one else would vote for him. Putney swope is the new chairman of the board… and I will defend that mistake with my life.”

Easiest 5 of my life. It’s not often you get recommendations from your favorite filmmaker but the PTA boogie nights lists dropped and this was 1 so I just had to. Always amazing to see a film that’s capturing minds today done in one scene like 5 decades ago, but the opening here is basically just conclave in 6 minutes and the rest is a wild ride so wild that you kind of have to succumb to it from the start. It’s a Dr Strangelove style parody taking aim at advertising and big corporations in the midst of the civil rights era, and the result is a blaxploitation film by a white guy so good that I’m sure Tarantino is so mad he didn’t make this. Its critiques are laid bare so bluntly that its opacity almost charms. Yea, characters are not subtle in a farce but this takes it up a few notches and the extremity of it all is so great. Also toes a thin line with some of the commentary on black culture (only because of its source rather than its content which is kind of a whole other convo. I might write about it for substack) that really makes you wonder if RDJ stole a black man’s script and just put his name over it. Also just marvelously shot all around. The scene where his head is basically a blank slate for the projections is awesome, and the random interjection of color ads in between the incredible monochrome of the main story rocks. The ending is so clearly telegraphed and still such a great payoff, like the one scene in alps where the leader kicks her out of the alps. Sometimes, the best answer is the one next to you, and it’s also such a strong image. Everything with the president & the “what do you think you are? Lawrence of Nigeria?” Line were personal highlights.

1. My Father's Shadow
2. Highest 2 Lowest
3. One Battle After Another
4. Avatar: Fire and Ash
5. The Drama
6. The History of Sound
7. Alpha
8. Bugonia
9. Die My Love
10. Hamnet

...plus 48 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
2. Black Bag
3. Paddington in Peru
4. Mickey 17
5. Sinners
6. Bring Them Down
7. Thunderbolts*
8. Companion
9. Heart Eyes
10. The Monkey

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

Tom Cruise performances.

1. Born on the Fourth of July
2. Rain Man
3. American Made
4. A Few Good Men
5. Edge of Tomorrow
6. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
7. Eyes Wide Shut
8. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
9. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
10. Mission: Impossible

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
2. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
3. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
4. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
5. Mission: Impossible
6. Mission: Impossible III
7. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
8. Mission: Impossible II

The beast & the bikeriders tied

1. Autumn Sonata

   Liv Ullmann

2. The ion of Joan of Arc
3. Persona

   Inseparable, but Bibi Andersson was better I think ever so slightly. (This ranking is both of them)

4. A Streetcar Named Desire
5. Sophie's Choice
6. The Last Duel
7. Jackie
8. The Bridges of Madison County
9. May December
10. Cries and Whispers

    Liv Ullmann & Ingrid Thulin

...plus 129 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Bikeriders/Challengers/Queer is a tossup
Dune/KOK/Sing Sing same thing

1. Nickel Boys
2. Megalopolis
3. The Beast
4. Nosferatu
5. A Complete Unknown
6. I'm Still Here
7. Gladiator II
8. Juror #2
9. Janet Planet
10. The Substance

...plus 67 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Based on the movie title, but list is mostly about quintessentially bourgeois dramas/comedies. The term Bourgeois is very loose in modern contexts but I can’t think of a word that captures what that aesthetic is any better.

• The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
• The Square
• The Squid and the Whale
• While We're Young
• Sibyl
• Toni Erdmann
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
• Sick of Myself
• The Worst Person in the World

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Pristine photography

• La Notte
• Cold War
• Rope
• Touch of Evil
• El Conde
• Once Upon a Time in America
• Citizen Kane
• The Godfather
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Blade Runner

...plus 88 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All my 5 stars ranked. I have a bunch of 3-5 film clusters that are pretty much interchangeable tbh

1. Nickel Boys
2. Persona
3. Autumn Sonata
4. Avatar: The Way of Water
5. The Kid
6. Se7en
7. The Godfather Part II
8. There Will Be Blood
9. Babylon
10. 12 Angry Men

...plus 146 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Dune

  Ferguson 

• Fences
• Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

  Chadwick boseman 

• The Revenant

  Hardy 

• Jackie Brown
• Django Unchained
• Mean Streets
• Silver Linings Playbook
• JFK
• Casino

...plus 75 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Revolutionary Road
• Oppenheimer
• The ion of Joan of Arc
• Once Upon a Time in America
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• A Fistful of Dollars
• The Godfather
• Phantom Thread
• Babylon
• Once Upon a Time in the West

...plus 36 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

RIP to Dune: part two & The Bikeriders

1. Memory
2. Evil Does Not Exist
3. Origin
4. Perfect Days
5. Lee
6. There's Still Tomorrow
7. Monster
8. 12.12: The Day

2-4 all in the same echelon

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Autumn Sonata

   Liv Ullmann

3. Lincoln
4. The ion of Joan of Arc
5. Malcolm X
6. Persona

   Both

7. Dog Day Afternoon
8. The Godfather Part II

   Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone

9. On the Waterfront
10. A Streetcar Named Desire

    Vivien Leigh

...plus 37 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Not necessarily the best movie ever, but movies that feel like a director actively aiming for that height as opposed to just making a movie that happens to be great. Varying levels of success & not a judge of quality. Just vibes. Inspired by QT saying There will be blood felt like PTA’s attempt at the “Great American Movie”

• Citizen Kane
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Barry Lyndon
• Schindler's List
• 12 Angry Men
• The Godfather Part II
• Apocalypse Now
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Interstellar
• Oppenheimer

...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Just because

• Novitiate
• Bamboozled
• Inside Man
• Malcolm X
• They Cloned Tyrone
• Mo' Better Blues
• 25th Hour
• BlacKkKlansman
• Shame
• Hunger

...plus 21 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Lorax
• Transformers
• Despicable Me
• Toy Story 3
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• Meet the Robinsons
• Home
• When Marnie Was There
• The Boy and the Heron
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Tediously precise… every detail micromanaged. With varying results

• Se7en
• High and Low
• Malcolm X
• Le Samouraï
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Anatomy of a Murder
• Inglourious Basterds
• The French Dispatch
• Zodiac
• Barry Lyndon

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Made possibly eternal impressions on me at different times in my 20+ years

• The Hateful Eight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• There Will Be Blood
• Doubt
• Dune
• Oppenheimer
• Babylon
• The Godfather Part II
• Rear Window
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Anora
• Bodies Bodies Bodies

• Handling the Undead
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Spaceman
• Exhuma
• A Real Pain
• The Balconettes
• Parthenope
• Tanz der Titanen
• Armand
• Música

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• La Dolce Vita
• The White Sheik
• Bicycle Thieves
• Umberto D.
• La Strada
• A Fistful of Dollars
• High Noon
• Rome, Open City
• The Great Beauty
• Amour

• Safe
• The Battle of Algiers
• Hunger
• The Great Journey
• Le Regard
• La Haine
• Get Out
• Free Men
• Rachida
• Long Day's Journey into Night

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

Don’t fight girls, you’re (mostly) all pretty!

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
3. Titanic
4. Catch Me If You Can
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
6. Shutter Island
7. Inception
8. The Revenant
9. Don't Look Up
10. Django Unchained

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Will update as I see more winners

1. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. La Dolce Vita
4. Titane
5. The Third Man
6. Scarecrow
7. Apocalypse Now
8. Paris, Texas
9. The Conversation
10. The Wind That Shakes the Barley

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Or at live theatre

• Babylon
• Cinema Paradiso
• Sibyl
• The Lost Daughter
• (500) Days of Summer
• Empire of Light
• Margaret

  At the opera… but it counts in my book.

• Mulholland Drive
• Vivre Sa Vie

The Greatest filmmaker to ever live

1. Persona
2. Autumn Sonata
3. The Virgin Spring
4. Winter Light
5. Cries and Whispers
6. To Joy
7. Hour of the Wolf
8. The Silence
9. Shame
10. The Seventh Seal

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Dune
3. The Beast
4. Interstellar
5. Inception
6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
7. Blade Runner
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey
9. Avatar
10. Dune: Part Two

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Zone of interest is 1-2 w/ Oppenheimer. Poor things/AOUS tie honestly.

1. Oppenheimer
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
5. May December
6. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
7. El Conde
8. The Teachers' Lounge
9. Rye Lane
10. All of Us Strangers

...plus 60 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Peeping Tom
2. Rope
3. The Third Man
4. Perfect Blue
5. The Teachers' Lounge
6. The 39 Steps
7. Elevator to the Gallows
8. The French Connection
9. Shoot the Piano Player
10. High Noon

Randomly felt the urge to recommend some double features I haven’t even tried (list view)

1. Heat
2. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

   Bob/Pacino, Pitt/DiCaprio.. it writes itself 

3. Dune
4. The Godfather

   Paul & Michael are both Jesus. 

5. Rustin
6. Mississippi Burning

   2 sides of the civil rights coin… and I actually did this one. 

7. 12 Angry Men
8. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

   A good men in rooms movie & a not so good one. Lumet-Kubrick dichotomy 

9. Insomnia
10. The French Connection

    Crazy cops amirite 

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The master of suspense. The godfather of juice.

1. Rear Window
2. Rope
3. Shadow of a Doubt
4. The 39 Steps
5. The Wrong Man
6. The Birds
7. Vertigo
8. Psycho
9. Notorious
10. Dial M for Murder

Hired dudes who drive or kill or something and don’t want to do anything but skip town with a beautiful woman. (Woman optional)

• Heat
• Collateral
• Thief
• Drive
• Baby Driver
• The Killer
• Le Samouraï
• Blade Runner
• A Fistful of Dollars

This is like choosing your favorite grandchild… is what I would say if I had grandchildren.

1. The Hateful Eight
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
4. Reservoir Dogs
5. Kill Bill: Vol. 1

   Tied with Reservoir dogs for 3rd

6. Jackie Brown
7. Pulp Fiction
8. Death Proof
9. Django Unchained
10. Kill Bill: Vol. 2

• The American Friend
• Purple Noon
• The Talented Mr. Ripley

If I had a dollar for every time, I’d have 3 dollars but it’s weird it’s happened thrice

• 25th Hour
• The Squid and the Whale
• Margaret

Put people in a room long enough, get them talking  and true nature comes out quickly

• 12 Angry Men
• Rear Window
• The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
• Oppenheimer
• Fail Safe
• The Hateful Eight
• The Sunset Limited
• Hunger

  Doesn’t count technically but the long take does

• Lincoln
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. The Squid and the Whale
2. Marriage Story
3. While We're Young
4. s Ha
5. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
6. Mistress America
7. White Noise
8. Margot at the Wedding

Shout out Cynthia O’Neal from Carnal Knowledge (1971)

1. Rear Window
2. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
3. Batman Returns
4. The Birds
5. The Naked Kiss
6. Gone Girl
7. Closer

   Natalie Portman

8. Atonement
9. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

   Rebecca Ferguson

10. Notorious

Color of Money & Mean Streets interchangeable

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Cape Fear
3. Casino
4. The Age of Innocence
5. The King of Comedy
6. Silence
7. The Wolf of Wall Street
8. The Departed
9. The Irishman
10. The Color of Money

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. The Godfather Part II
2. Barry Lyndon

   He wants to step into my shoes 

3. Inglourious Basterds

   Wait for the cream/Damn good scotch sir

4. Rope

   The whole movie

5. A Woman Under the Influence

   Stand up for me

6. GoodFellas

   Funny how

7. Collateral

   Perro el negro

8. Scarface
9. Killers of the Flower Moon
10. My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

    Fuck Plato! 

Haven’t seen a couple others. Dragon Tattoo & The killer is a wash.

1. Se7en
2. Gone Girl
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Zodiac
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
6. The Killer
7. The Game
8. Mank
9. The Social Network
10. Fight Club

Auteur extraordinaire

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Boogie Nights
3. Phantom Thread
4. Magnolia
5. Licorice Pizza
6. Inherent Vice
7. Punch-Drunk Love
8. The Master

   If it stayed at the same level as the first hour + change did, it would be top 2 easily

9. Hard Eight

By performance quality, I guess

1. A Few Good Men
2. Carnal Knowledge
3. Five Easy Pieces
4. The Departed
5. As Good as It Gets
6. Chinatown
7. Batman
8. The Last Detail
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
10. The Shining

1. The Batman
2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
3. Batman Returns
4. The Dark Knight Rises
5. The Dark Knight
6. Batman Begins
7. Batman
8. Batman & Robin

1. Oppenheimer
2. Interstellar
3. Inception
4. The Prestige
5. The Dark Knight Rises
6. The Dark Knight
7. Insomnia
8. Memento
9. Batman Begins
10. Tenet

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

Forget about it.

1. The Godfather Part II
2. The Godfather
3. Scarface
4. Casino
5. A Most Violent Year
6. Reservoir Dogs
7. The Wolf of Wall Street
8. The Departed
9. Mean Streets
10. GoodFellas

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Se7en
2. Boogie Nights
3. Cape Fear
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. A Few Good Men
6. Magnolia
7. Casino
8. Batman Returns
9. La Haine
10. The Age of Innocence

1. Gone Girl
2. The Hateful Eight
3. True Grit
4. Black Swan
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
7. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
9. Interstellar
10. Inception

4-6 all interchangeable

1. Babylon
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
3. The Batman
4. To Leslie
5. Decision to Leave
6. TÁR
7. Living
8. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
9. The Menu
10. God's Crooked Lines

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.