4v291o
Enjoyed this. Simple and coherent in a way the worst Wick's aren't. Ana De Armas is a stylish/sexy/believable action star.
They don't do dumb gender flopped one-liners to drive the point home; they just let her beat the shit out of everyone and maybe aim at their balls more than we're used to.
She's as good as Keanu is to be honest, which is a tribute to the stunt work in these flicks in general.
Has maybe one action sequence too many. The end drags a tiny bit.
Still, came into this pretty done with this universe after 4 (which I dug, it just felt appropriately final), and happy to it they made a fun little thing here.
]]>
I wish it would shut up, occasionally.
Wes seems to be using dialog as a comedic crutch to an unusual degree here. There are still some visual flourishes, like the slap to face camera jokes and an early disembodiment, but a lot of this is just people yammering in a Wes Anderson-esque tone at an even more breakneck clip than usual.
After the truly funny, visually dazzling The French Dispatch, surprisingly mature Roald Dahl shorts, and the masterpiece that is Asteroid City, it's a letdown for me.
Still has some charm. Love the long overhead shot near the beginning. But again, no one is rifling dialog off at me during it.
]]>
If you're lucky enough to have a partner, don't get all drunk and jealous and do something stupid. Especially in the honeymoon phase! If you do, their shit ex might temporarily knight in shining armor it.
This is all-time babe Geena Davis we're talking about here. Play it cool!
I still have to close my eyes during parts of this.
It's so concise and methodical that the only thing it might be missing is a little fat, like the test subjects in the pods.
In rarefied air near the peak.
]]>
While culture reboots itself in 2025, I'd humbly suggest it ingests a lot of Toni Morrison and learns how to do identity politics in fiction correctly.
Dirty, raw, and daring. All the performances, including Oprah's (this isn't the Oprah brand schlock you fear) are great/brave. Kimberly Elise and Thandiwe Newton (I'm still upset Mission Impossible never recognizes your existence) are sublime.
Demme does the Demme thing and infuses all the characters with deeply earned empathy. Nice use of the color green to represent various things. Close framings. Almost always interesting composition.
I haven't read the book, which I'm sure is better simply by virtue of the masterclass that is Morrison prose, but the adaptation pinpoints her complete control of complex narratives.
Less than 10k views on Letterboxd? Let's get those numbers the fuck up.
]]>
Patient!
Notable for all the things it's not; quip-a-minute, action packed. irably so. If genre had this cadence more often it would be in a better place.
I'm not saying they all need to be three hours, but there really should be like two stellar set pieces that are built up to, not five that are dispensed haphazardly.
Of those, the submarine easily wins the day for me. World class. Lightly trippy, as was the presentation of "The Entity" which I also enjoyed.
There are more sci-fi elements than you expect. A nice cross between Black Hat and The World is Not Enough with a touch more internet dread.
When Tom accuses the kid he's wrasslin' with of spending too much time on the on the web, it's a pretty unoriginal line, one which didn't land with my audience, but I got a kick out of it.
Cuz that's what Tom Cruise and this movie are here to argue for, right? Our attention spans and our attention in general. I think this succeeds on its own level there.
It takes itself seriously enough (the plot is obviously bonkers) and respects our time by telling us to calm down and take more of it.
It's a fitting send off for Cruise and one of the better Mission Impossible movies, in my opinion of course.
.
.
I guess we're openly acknowledging that Israel has nuclear weapons now? That's probably an accidental step forward.
.
.
Are we really expected to give any shits about Nick Offerman? Come on.
Let Richard Kelly cook so that we can all eat.
Holmes Osborne is cool.
Like halfway Up.
]]>
I want to believe, as they say.
It's a low budget indie with a good attitude and two better than average stars, but the lack of production hinders it.
It's very dark, which at times can feel like a choice and at others like the budget didn't allow for lights (empathy).
There's a strange number of extremely long, static takes of dialog. The actors are actually good enough carry them which adds a certain je ne sais quoi.
I wish I was more involved in the plot. I'm an aliens guy!
Layers of care away from being an awesome, micro-budget Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Was led here by an interview we did with Sierra McCormick, who was delightful in real life and this movie.
]]>
We love a short local doc made by a local.
]]>
Liked the animation and whimsy! Extra points for baseball.
]]>
Rocks. Massive crowd pleaser in all the right ways. Early contender for best summer movie at the theaters.
]]>
I think two seasons Andor (fantastic) does make this more palatable. I've also really come around on Gareth Edwards, at least a stylist, as both this and The Creator look unique and nice.
If we're being honest, Felicity Jones' character is such a drag in this, and she takes up a lot of the screen time. Some of the rag tag elements are fun and probably should have taken a bit of her spotlight.
]]>
You know what? Despite my general aversion to horror/slashers, I can kind of fuck with this.
The opening is pretty riveting, and the bratty Y2K young actors are all eating.
The real horror would have been unleashing them all on The City of Lights. Merciful plane.
]]>
I think the 50’s one is more psychedelic, to take nothing away from the sick opening credits of this.
One of those ultimate “no one will listen to women” flicks from the past. Nimoy as psychiatrist/author wearing a tweed jacket simultaneously hitting on the same woman he’s calling crazy is great.
Dig the Chapman photography.
Decently representational of San Francisco in a way, even if it’s mostly around the edges.
Philip Kaufman has had an interesting career.
]]>
One of the best flicks with characters named Dude, Chance, and Colorado that I can think of.
My western taste leans a bit more range life and less settled, but we’ll take it.
]]>
Finally, some real escapist cinema.
Love how the Nazis are at like a 2/10 on the traditional evil-film-Nazi charts here. They do delineate that the Lutfwaffe is more lax, I suppose.
Just a blast. Baseball and American moonshine ftw.
Kinda hate that I think if Spielberg had made this it would have magically pushed five stars.
]]>
I did the longer Kino with the recovered footage this go around.
It’s such a spectacular thing.
If I had to knock it for anything, it’s the somewhat softening of the workers revolt in dedication to the mediator idea.
I kinda love batshit machine Maria and Rotwang causing Luddite chaos for their own reasons.
]]>
Hm. The performance, which you’ve likely seen all over the place in memes, is pretty good, but I don’t think the rest of Downfall stakes much of a claim, substantively or stylistically, for needing to exist.
I guess I don’t find Hitler’s last days in the bunker as interesting as other people might, and the aesthetics of this are merely competent and a bit too green.
I will say the sound kinda ripped on my home set-up, so credit to the mix.
]]>
Felt like seeing the earliest screening of whatever at the AMC. Walked out after an hour. Flat and chronically unfunny. I had forgotten, after years of avoidance, just how much I hate the Marvel tone.
Florence Pugh still a babe tho.
]]>
Was happy to sit in a theater and take in the vision without the cultural commentary track playing in my head.
A subdued weekday matinee to avoid the more event natured, meme-loving, insufferable "fans" of the franchise did the trick.
I'm not sure any film with heavy effects has looked better in the twenty years that have followed this. I'm not completely enamored with the lava, but everything else just looks stunning.
I still probably like Menace more, but who's counting.
]]>
Looks pretty wonderful. Nice, textured feel. Good pacing. Loved the musical bits. Not a horror guy so those were the worst parts, but they didn't ruin it.
Also let's stop being children and doing post credits sequences. Just put that in the movie. It was good.
]]>
Soldier. Soldier never changes.
It’s a looker, I’ll give it that. The aesthetics are rightly praised (in what seems like universal fashion) and it definitely had a big influence on video games (complimentary, I'd say the same about Aliens), but I can’t shake that after 30 minutes or so the characters become poorly written and the plot twists, for twists sake, into another mini movie that’s only mildly of interest.
Will probably remain a classic in people’s minds, for the lo-fi looks, mostly.
Somewhere around 90
]]>
Yeesh. Late to the boat here, but Ryan Coogler has talent.
]]>
Relentlessly entertaining flick that use to be on cable a lot back in the day. Wesley Snipes is just short of iconic in this.
Humor rides the rail of corny pretty well. Action and production design are both better than they need to be.
Somewhere near 50
Currently #28 on The Mountain
Fembot-esque women and shirtless, muscular men punctuate a thought-filled, at times tension-less, triumph of 70’s science fiction. Don’t sleep on it if you like either the genre or Fassbinder, it’s pretty rad.
]]>
One of the rare red envelopes mailed to me in high school that I sent back without viewing. It’s interesting to think if I had, not only because so much has and hasn’t changed about the internet in the interim, but also the sexual violence.
Goes a bit too far into the “is this real or a dream” territory for my tastes, but it’s hard for me not to respect it as a kind of Urtext about creepy Stans in the early days of this terrible cyber world we now live in.
]]>
It’s blocked within an inch of its life to pull off the camera gimmick, which I’m 50/50 on. At times it’s immersive, at others completely distracting and emotionally logic breaking.
I’m thinking mostly of episode 2 at the school where people we’ve seen in heated states 5 minutes ago are in completely different ones 10 minutes later (supposedly in real time), all to accommodate the inflexible idea of the floating camera.
Between this, Severance, and some recent movies, we’ve become way too obsessed with making hallways cinematic. There are other things to film.
Outside of that, it’s a really well acted show that can definitely keep your attention and I’d recommend it, even if I think the style can obscure what doesn’t ultimately amount to enough meat.
I hate Andrew Tate ionately, but this isn’t exactly a deep thesis on masculinity, youth, or a broken justice system.
It’s a compelling watch regardless, however.
]]>
Sitting over here with a massive headache waiting to go to the dentist this week and can’t really focus on anything more strenuous than true crime, but this was pretty decent as far as these go.
Liz Garbus takes the time to excoriate the police and interview people lesser docs (and unfortunately the police themselves) tend to ignore; drug s, sex workers, etc.
I didn’t love her feature narrative that’s loosely based on this, but I think I like the direction she comes at it from.
Again, only if you have a tolerance for somewhat formulaic true crime.
Or a giant headache that has left you bedridden.
]]>
Currently near the bottom of Science Fiction Mountain.
Rather flat and unremarkable. I don’t think it’s a reach to say that Card’s bigoted views about homosexuality are present in his depiction of young males and masculinity here.
I also don’t find the concept all that interesting to be honest. Maybe the books contain more, idk.
The production feels clinical and sterile. The child actors are pretty meh.
]]>
The 4th Element.
As a Romantic comic book about a young woman swept out of banality into universe of imagination, it works, and if I had to guess that’s the intent here.
Ugly, unmotivated, unnatural lighting, but that’s kinda par for the course in these spectacles.
Cool scope. Liked the creatures.
]]>
Comes into its own after an uneven first half. I can't shake this feeling that, at least sexually, America was a defiantly more liberal place in the 70's. I think the way they handle it here is surprisingly mature.
Randy is obviously a little bit of a shit, but I kind of liked him and Angel, lol.
Solid soundtrack.
]]>
Tinker, Tailor, Sexy Spy
The interiors in this are magnificent.
The trailer was very Kevin coded and so was the movie. Bravo.
]]>
Less campy than I imagined, Rollerball is an effectively realized corporate future where drugs and violence keep the peace.
The action scenes are well done, and the sport of Rollerball itself is cleverly imagined. I was reminded of the underplayed Deathrow videogame on the Xbox 360, which surely drew some inspiration from this.
I appreciate the modestly diverse cast and bluntly 70’s moral code at play. Huxley is an obvious influence, and the constantly sedated society run by a global cabal of six or so CEOs isn’t far from the mark.
The brief political conversation with Caan's ex-wife was kind of lame, however. That whole angle doesn't really work.
The odd thing, if anything, is that mainstream sports have “gone soft” since the 70’s. I don’t mean that as a complaint, I just think it's hard to argue that hockey (probably the heaviest inspiration here) and football look the same as they once did, even if the current safety regulations are mostly a naked act of appeasement.
Impressive climb more than halfway up the mountain.
]]>
My Yellowjackets
]]>
Let’s be honest about how lucky we are this film was made in 2001 and not 2025, aesthetically speaking.
]]>
Pretty young things of Echo Park take notes: this is how you correctly rock a mustache.
Years ago, I had a brief fling with a woman for three months. It ended with her hiking me up a mountain, cutting my hair, and moving to Morocco the next morning. We amiably agreed never to speak to each other again. I the whole thing fondly, even if we didn’t quite cut a hole into a tree.
At one juncture in life, I probably wanted to be nothing more and nothing less than Tony Leung in this: miserable, drunk, lonely, chain-smoking, writing longing literature, and looking great doing it. Time had/has other plans for me, but the sentimentality and Romance of peak Wong Kar Wai have never lost their somewhat dark allure.
I had the pleasure of seeing this in the theater when it was released, one morning after an all-night college party, at the UCI theater, and oddly, it strikes me now the same way it did then. For my money, it's one of the sexiest films ever made and on a visual shortlist of things I think of when I hear the word cinema.
If we're counting it as sci-fi, which I think it warrants, it's somwhere near the very top.
]]>
Somwhere near 100.
Very busy. More Naomi Ackie in movies.
]]>
Somwhere near 70.
The production design becomes oppressive, as if too much time went into the costumes and details, making the perceived distance between the audience and the screen a bit too far for the politics and tension to hit properly.
In that way, it sort of feels like a violent Disneyland ride. Every time it is about to actually unnerve you; it takes its foot off the gas and reminds you it’s a movie with some lighthearted sentiment or another.
I miss 2013, when global warming was not a niche topic of conversation.
I don’t particularly miss Chris Evans; I find him somewhat dull and uncharismatic, if irably workmanlike.
The camera is very alive, with unique framings and choreography working with the cramped confines of the train.
If nothing else, it’s doubtlessly cinematic, and Bong Joon Ho can definitely make a film with the best of them, but I need something different tonally.
I think.
]]>
Naked timecop-aganda.
Somewhere near base camp.
]]>
Hook 90’s Japanese supernatural eco Donnie Darko cyber spiritual sci-fi straight to my veins.
]]>
The United States government is lying to people again and a sarcastic/plucky Elliot Gould has to get to the bottom of it; that’s right, it’s a 70’s movie.
I put this on with designs of fleshing out Science Fiction Mountain, but it quickly became obvious that this is more of a political thriller.
It’s a good one despite a few leaps of logic, just short of being as enjoyable as say an Alan J. Pakula flick.
It also has O.J. Simpson in it.
]]>
At the end of the day, every vulnerable, good child from the suburbs can relate to Eliott. That’s no easy emotional feat for a filmmaker, it’s a rare/magical one, and it feels like every attempt since ET to reach for it has seen diminishing returns.
Also, the way Spielberg treats the “other” in his better films, be that robots in AI, the benevolent galactic buddies in Close Encounters, or my guy in ET, is with a degree of empathy you just don’t find in big budget western cinema. I’d extend that to Munich too, tho that’s a longer conversation.
I’d also argue it’s why great modern films like TV Glow still seem to converse with ET and early Spielberg.
I’ve been on this tip for a decade, and I’m well aware it’s not cool in hip circles, but Spielberg still my GOAT.
]]>
Psychedelic 70’s hippy-adjacent nonsense with extremely silly and touching songs.
Obviously I like it.
]]>
There are people who dislike this?
]]>
Papers please, Mr. Paddington.
If I were being snarky, I'd say Paddington in Peru only cares about documented bears.
It has "The Simpsons go to ______" notes. You know, one of those forgettable episodes of a show you like that's good for a few laughs either way.
Speaking of, Olivia Colman steals the show with some physical comedy chops, and the family unit is still likeable, but Banderas can't follow up Hugh Grant and the second act is somewhat plodding and inconsequential.
The last portion has a decent action sequence, and the message (despite my snark) isn't a horrible one in these times.
If I had kids or was a stubs list member (I am) I'd say check it out.
]]>
Chalamet: The Basement Tapes
]]>
When I moved to Los Angeles I briefly dated a woman who said she cried everytime she watched Robocop.
I get it.
#15 on The Mountain
]]>
Koji Yakusho, production design, locations, and obsession. Someone light me up a cigarette.
]]>
A respectable #70 on The Mountain
Extra half star mostly for aesthetics.
Reminds me of the time when “presented by Peter Jackson” had real clout.
They must say “fuck” or “fokkin” 150 times, which is whatever.
The treatment of Nigerians is iffy.
The aesthetics still look wonderful imo.
The plot has some decent twists and turns.
]]>
Both shorter and more 60's than I it being. Had to look up how they pulled off that leopard! Scary.
Unsurprisingly high up on the mountain, currently #8.
]]>
It started out with a boob, how did it end up like this?
It was only a boob, it was only a boob!
As I would have it every time, the herald of comedy arrives promptly in the form of shy breast fondling.
After that, everything becomes transactional. It starts with the joke about Quin’s all-important 1,500 pounds a year. It flows into highway robbery steeped in propriety, talk of debt from Captain Grogan’s dying lips, mutation into an officer via a change of clothing, negotiated sex in Prussia, gambling debts with the Chevalier, estate debts, and, finally, a small annuity.
A strenuous quadrangle of a picture.
]]>- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
- Black Bag
- Final Destination Bloodlines
- Adolescence
- Ballerina
- Sinners
- The Phoenician Scheme
- Mickey 17
- Paddington in Peru
- Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>In which I regress into my teenage boy self and watch/rank notable science fiction films indefinitely.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Alphaville
- Metropolis
- Alien
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence
- The Matrix
- 2046
- The Terminator
- Jurassic Park
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
...plus 136 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>The World Wide Web.
A hot collab with @bigcriticlolo
Sorted by release date, earliest first.
- Ghost in the Shell
- Perfect Blue
- You've Got Mail
- The Matrix
- All About Lily Chou-Chou
- My Little Eye
- Demonlover
- The Matrix Reloaded
- The Matrix Revolutions
- Her
...plus 21 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Lighthouse
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Ash Is Purest White
- Marriage Story
- Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
- Apollo 11
- The Souvenir
- Uncut Gems
- Booksmart
- Midsommar
...plus 48 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies by the bay.
]]>Takes one to know one.
]]>- Mulholland Drive
- Jackie Brown
- The Terminator
- Blade Runner
- Her
- Chinatown
- Strange Days
- Blade Runner 2049
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Miracle Mile
...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>don't actually i quit awhile ago but jesus.
]]>- Miami Vice
- Heat
- The Insider
- The Last of the Mohicans
- Manhunter
- Ferrari
- Collateral
- Thief
- Blackhat
- Ali
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I will probably jostle these ratings over time as I rewatch them, but here is a ranked list of Spielberg feature films after watching them all in one year.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Munich
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence
- Schindler's List
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Jurassic Park
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Jaws
- Catch Me If You Can
- Hook
...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Asteroid City
- May December
- The Zone of Interest
- Return to Seoul
- Ferrari
- The Boy and the Heron
- Showing Up
- The Swan
- Anatomy of a Fall
- John Wick: Chapter 4
...plus 36 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Zodiac
- The Silence of the Lambs
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- The Night of the Hunter
- Manhunter
- Halloween
- Cure
- Se7en
- Memories of Murder
- Red Rooms
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies where someone falls in love with their cousin. Or worse.
]]>- Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
- Queer
- I Saw the TV Glow
- Dune: Part Two
- The Beast
- Challengers
- Janet Planet
- Evil Does Not Exist
- No Other Land
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Queer
- I Saw the TV Glow
- Dune: Part Two
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Megalopolis
- A Complete Unknown
- Alien: Romulus
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
- A Real Pain
- The Wild Robot
...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Last Days of Disco
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch
- West Side Story
- West Side Story
- Metropolitan
- Megalopolis
- Escape from New York
- Husbands
- A Complete Unknown
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Heavily set in an airport.
]]>- Drive My Car
- Annette
- Can't Get You Out of My Head
- West Side Story
- Dune
- The Green Knight
- The Card Counter
- Titane
- A Hero
- Nightmare Alley
...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Phantom Thread
- Good Time
- Song to Song
- Blade Runner 2049
- The Beguiled
- The Florida Project
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
- The Work
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- We're All Going to the World's Fair
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- TÁR
- Elvis
- The Northman
- White Noise
- Crimes of the Future
- The Fabelmans
- Jackass Forever
- Glass Onion
...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Sorry We Missed You
- Lovers Rock
- Beanpole
- Martin Eden
- Emma.
- First Cow
- The Whistlers
- Nomadland
- The Assistant
- Shithouse
...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Suspiria
- Zama
- First Reformed
- The Rider
- Happy as Lazzaro
- Shoplifters
- You Were Never Really Here
- Won't You Be My Neighbor?
- The Party
- Paddington 2
...plus 56 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Has at least one prominent scene at the races
]]>An ongoing list of films that have adapted novels I've read
- All the King's Men
- The Magnificent Ambersons
- The Postman Always Rings Twice
- The Remains of the Day
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
- Jackie Brown
- Stalker
- Fat City
- A Clockwork Orange
- Dune: Part Two
...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>There will (probably) be teenagers on bicycles.
]]>Movies where an eclipse features heavily.
]]>- Knock at the Cabin
- You Hurt My Feelings
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Barbie
- Bottoms
- Oppenheimer
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
- The Creator
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Killers of the Flower Moon
...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Unstoppable
- Man on Fire
- Days of Thunder
- Crimson Tide
- Spy Game
- Enemy of the State
- Beverly Hills Cop II
- Déjà Vu
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
- The Hunger
...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>As it becomes harder to see films in the theater, a trend, I fear, that has legs, I wanted to start listing those that I did see in the cinema each year. There weren't many this year, but each one was a joy.
Ordered by when I saw them, earliest first.
Films are listed here if they were released in 2021, regardless of whether or not I saw them in 2022.
]]>Just the features.
]]>A breezy ranking of the X-men films.
- X2
- X-Men: First Class
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
- X-Men: Apocalypse
- The New Mutants
- X-Men
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- Logan
- The Wolverine
- X-Men: The Last Stand
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>