4v291o
Race is too complicated of an issue to deal with for this genre, I think. Some good acting and some decent scenes but it’s really clunky.
]]>The two lead performances are just absolutely incredible. Plus the cinematography is just captivating.
]]>Play “Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven)” at my funeral.
]]>If you start a movie with a Swan Lake needle drop, you are legally required to provide at least one (1) Dracula. This film has no Draculas.
]]>This is a great summer kickoff movie. Mean enough to be truly horror, while showing that sharks are truly one of the coolest things on the planet. Also Jai Courtney gives a career best!
🦈 🦈 🦈
]]>As bloodthirsty as it is sparse, this is a great B-movie that feels elevated by its cinematography, production design, and making the most of its budget. Plus all the main performances are note-perfect.
]]>It’s cute! It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s a good time.
]]>Mothra is the best. And I love how much music is in this one. I wish I had this score on vinyl (Ifukube forever).
]]>The perfect example of “fun until it’s not” movie. Faye Dunaway is supreme chic sexiness in a way that no one has ever matched. Whew.
]]>I love wuxia, despite only having really scratched the surface, and this one is like watching a painting in motion. Absolutely gorgeous and the extremely minimalist use of score adds a lot of tension. Is that drum diegetic? I don’t know!
]]>A fun western/melodrama crossover. With Angela Lansbury!
]]>This is a five star movie with a three star story. Unless…
This is actually a body swap movie and the real Benjamin Braddock is somewhere on W 84th St getting bullied into eating lox and going to medical school.
]]>Headline from my newspaper review in 1971: NEW BOND OUTING “DIAMONDS” LACKS LUSTER
]]>What a great courtroom drama Jazz musical cartoon short, I thought as if this were a genre with a single other entry.
]]>My first experience with this franchise and it really does put me in between my love for Rube Goldberg machines and my ion for household safety.
]]>This is a movie about how everyone is actually insane but we all pretend to be normal due to the fear of instant ostracizing from our peer group. Every single person in this film (except maybe the son) is carrying a near-destabilizing level of anxiety and insecurity. The choice of living today is between ignoring the weirdness of our current dystopia or having an actual breakdown. Adulthood is a high school without end, making this a true horror film.
]]>I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.
]]>The H plot in this movie is the rise of air travel and the impact on American domestic tourism.
]]>Mission: Impossible is a film series that I’ve grown up alongside. I saw the 1996 original in the theater when I was 10 (my first De Palma!), and seeing an exploding fish tank, the famous CIA Black Vault break-in sequence, and a helicopter flying through the Chunnel blew my mind. I’ve been along for the ride ever since, though I it I didn’t see the third entry theatrically because, like the rest of us, I was annoyed by Cruise in the mid aughts. So here I am at 39–Cruise was 33 when this series began and is almost 63 now—looking at the eighth and possibly final entry. In addition to some of the most breathtaking stunts and high wire tension ever committed to film, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has a fitting existential bent to it.
The first section of The Final Reckoning dedicates a significant chunk of time to recapping the series thus far, including the plot of the previous entry. It has been two months since the events of Dead Reckoning Part One, and Ethan and his team are still out in the wind, holding the MacGuffin of the previous film—a fancy cruciform key—as Luther “Phineas Phreak” Stickell (Ving Rhames) works on a way to destroy the all-powerful artificial intelligence known as The Entity. The world’s governments and extremely hateable villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) all want to control The Entity, while only Ethan Hunt and his team wish to destroy it. The stalemate is broken when The Entity begins to attack the automated launch programs of the world’s nuclear powers, bringing the globe to the brink of armageddon. Benji (Simon Pegg), Grace (Hayley Atwell), Paris (Pom Klementieff), and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) attempt to track down the location of the Russian submarine Sevastopol, where The Entity’s original source code—the only way to destroy it—remains hidden at the bottom of the ocean somewhere, while Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) works with the President of the United States, former CIA director Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), and the military to get to the Sevastopol.
The Final Reckoning is the most serious-minded Mission since the J.J. Abrams-directed third entry, minimizing comic relief and foregrounding suspense. This gravity is underscored by the military presence in the film, with many scenes involving the Navy and the t Chiefs of Staff bringing this film far closer to a Jack Ryan story than previous Missions. The film’s second and third acts have countdowns-within-countdowns, running clocks that tick down the fate of our characters and the world at large, and the plans of Hunt’s team seem to be made up entirely of recursive Hail Mary es (even more than usual, somehow). Both centerpiece stunt sequences—one aboard the sunken Sevastopol and one involving Tom Cruise hanging from two different biplanes—are stunning in both visual composition and visceral thrills. Sound (and silence) is especially well deployed: the eerie silence of a sunken submarine and the rushing wind of open cockpit planes often replacing or overpowering the score combined with the visual storytelling of these sequences—you can always see Ethan plotting his next move—to create sustained spectacle. With its generous runtime and impeccable composition, Mission: Impossible–The Final Reckoning is a symphony of tension that had my heart pounding and my back sweaty for at least two hours straight.
]]>Mission: Impossible is a film series that I’ve grown up alongside. I saw the 1996 original in the theater when I was 10 (my first De Palma!), and seeing an exploding fish tank, the famous CIA Black Vault break-in sequence, and a helicopter flying through the Chunnel blew my mind. I’ve been along for the ride ever since, though I it I didn’t see the third entry theatrically because, like the rest of us, I was annoyed by Cruise in the mid aughts. So here I am at 39–Cruise was 33 when this series began and is almost 63 now—looking at the eighth and possibly final entry. In addition to some of the most breathtaking stunts and high wire tension ever committed to film, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has a fitting existential bent to it.
The first section of The Final Reckoning dedicates a significant chunk of time to recapping the series thus far, including the plot of the previous entry. It has been two months since the events of Dead Reckoning Part One, and Ethan and his team are still out in the wind, holding the MacGuffin of the previous film—a fancy cruciform key—as Luther “Phineas Phreak” Stickell (Ving Rhames) works on a way to destroy the all-powerful artificial intelligence known as The Entity. The world’s governments and extremely hateable villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) all want to control The Entity, while only Ethan Hunt and his team wish to destroy it. The stalemate is broken when The Entity begins to attack the automated launch programs of the world’s nuclear powers, bringing the globe to the brink of armageddon. Benji (Simon Pegg), Grace (Hayley Atwell), Paris (Pom Klementieff), and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) attempt to track down the location of the Russian submarine Sevastopol, where The Entity’s original source code—the only way to destroy it—remains hidden at the bottom of the ocean somewhere, while Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) works with the President of the United States, former CIA director Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), and the military to get to the Sevastopol.
The Final Reckoning is the most serious-minded Mission since the J.J. Abrams-directed third entry, minimizing comic relief and foregrounding suspense. This gravity is underscored by the military presence in the film, with many scenes involving the Navy and the t Chiefs of Staff bringing this film far closer to a Jack Ryan story than previous Missions. The film’s second and third acts have countdowns-within-countdowns, running clocks that tick down the fate of our characters and the world at large, and the plans of Hunt’s team seem to be made up entirely of recursive Hail Mary es (even more than usual, somehow). Both centerpiece stunt sequences—one aboard the sunken Sevastopol and one involving Tom Cruise hanging from two different biplanes—are stunning in both visual composition and visceral thrills. Sound (and silence) is especially well deployed: the eerie silence of a sunken submarine and the rushing wind of open cockpit planes often replacing or overpowering the score combined with the visual storytelling of these sequences—you can always see Ethan plotting his next move—to create sustained spectacle. With its generous runtime and impeccable composition, Mission: Impossible–The Final Reckoning is a symphony of tension that had my heart pounding and my back sweaty for at least two hours straight.
]]>This is just incredible from a design and effects standpoint. And the story is a bananas mix of Jules Verne, post-WW2 Japanese feelings, a bit of James Bond, and Atlantis-type mythology. This is one I would love to see on a giant screen.
]]>More movies where the stakes are just about the characters fates, please.
]]>When a filmmaker has such a distinctive visual style and recurring thematic obsessions–think James Cameron, Paul Schrader, Hayao Miyazaki, Michael Mann, Sofia Coppola–digging into their filmography can be extremely rewarding as you begin to find the commonalities and nuanced distinctions in their work. When one of them releases a new film, it feels like greeting an old friend, picking up right where you left off, catching up on recent developments. But if you are not on their wavelength, you will always seemingly feel out of step with them. I’ve been an ardent fan of Wes Anderson’s work ever since The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou–released the same year as his iconic American Express commercial–and ahead of his last film, Asteroid City, I worked through my Grand Theory of Wes Anderson, which helped me divide his filmography into two eras which both circle around a central theme: “the longing we all have to be accepted as ourselves and how we get in our own way in trying to find it.”
The Phoenician Scheme does not break out of the Wes Anderson mold in the slightest, but it does have its own specific preoccupations and themes. Yes, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) still fits Matthew Zoller Seitz description of an Anderson father figure as “a charismatic but selfish father figure who cares more about his own pleasure than his family’s needs, puts them through hell, suffers alongside them, and partly redeems himself.” However, Anderson’s view of these “Bad Dads” has evolved over time. Although Korda acts in similar fashion to the Tenenbaum and Zissou patriarchs–turning regret and redemption into another creative or business project–by the end of the film, it feels as though he has pushed through this abstraction and insecurities to the point where a sense of peace and happiness denied to most of Anderson’s other father figures.
]]>There are only two kinds of stories: Man loses his keys and man finds his keys. This movie is both. Plus the most amount of drums ever in a film score.
]]>The greater the suffering the greater the peace (it’s the time we spend waiting in between installments of this franchise).
]]>I can neither confirm nor deny details of any operation without the Secretary's approval.
]]>This is more of a straight up disaster flick than most of Honda’s other movies and it’s as compelling as any in the genre. The model work here is off the charts crazy.
]]>If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Self, what if they made a whole movie out of the paintings on the cover of pulpy sci-fi novels from the 50s?” this movie is for you!!!
]]>Sometimes you rent a movie so good you watch it again before the rental period ends.
]]>There’s some truly good stuff in this documentary, but it has none of the depth or reflection on the actual show that the DS9 doc had.
]]>If you work too hard, it loses its magic. Kiki’s burnout is so real.
I kind of wish the stuff over the end credits was another hour of movie, because I just love spending time here.
]]>There is so much packed into this 78 minute western, and I loved every minute. Scott and Marvin continue to be a great pair, and I really enjoyed Gail Russell, whom I’ve learned had a very tragic life.
]]>I don’t like when they make Scott play a Confederate (ex or otherwise), but this has a juicy dark story and some of the elements clearly made for 3D are very fun.
]]>I love the way this makes the generational anxiety of the slasher explicit, while also not once taking a conservative point of view.
]]>I really enjoyed hanging out with this cast, especially because Da’Vine got to do some action and Omar was able to speak French. The sincerity of the romance and parenting aspect really added a lot to the otherwise generic (but fun) plot.
]]>Did not expect this to remind me so much of THE FALL.
But this does contain a universal truth: Frankenstein will change your life.
]]>The Eighth Wonder of the World!
]]>With commentary for podcast reasons.
]]>Me in 2000: Wow, Carter Burke is kind of over the top.
James Cameron: Subtext is for cowards.
]]>It’s like Leone dug up Morricone’s score in a desert cemetery and was forced to will this movie into existence to try and make something worthy of it. (He did).
]]>BZZT!!
I need to watch more old (two strip) Technicolor movies. I always associate the German Expressionist vibe with black and white but Curtiz really shows how it can work well in color.
]]>What a great story.
]]>Added a half star because Donna Reed tells a Confederate solider to "stop fighting a war that is already over."
More westerns need that kind of ethos. The rest of this is pretty fun and occasionally very tense.
]]>The chain from Dashiell Hammett to Kurosawa to Leone to Zemeckis is kind of insane to think about.
Furthermore, the way that Leone manages to synthesize aspects of Ford and Kurosawa into one style is kind of intoxicating for me.
]]>The Aughts still lives, especially when the credits song hits.
]]>I’ve got Cabin Fever!
]]>Roz, listen, the world has become uncivilized enough without me stooping to that level. Of course I was sorely tempted last night. I went to the movies to see "How Green Was My Valley." Lady Luck seated me in front of two elderly women who said with the arrival of each new actor, "My God, doesn’t he look young; he's dead, you know." Finally I had to just walk out.
]]>More movies should look like this.
]]>This movie makes me happy.
]]>Control is an illusion. Life finds a way.
]]>...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>2022 re-ranking
...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies that I only have digital licenses for and no corresponding physical copy on disc.
My physical collection list is here.
...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Older movies I saw at a theater in 2025. List in chronological order by diary date.
...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>This ranking is based on my rewatch of the first 4 phases of the MCU, and will be added to as we get into Phase 5.
2/17/2023: Added Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
5/3/2023: Added GOTG3
11/20/2023: Added The Marvels
02/13/2025: Added Captain America 4
...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Ranking all the Godzilla movies as I watch them. And I will watch them all. Eventually.
Currently working my way through the Hesei era!
...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 50 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I’ll see Piranha 2 someday. Gonna try and watch his docs soon.
]]>Note: This does not include feature-length supplements, and may not include narrative films included as supplements on Criterion disc releases.
My digital movie collection is here.
...plus 1613 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Written up at MovieJawn 12/23/2024: www.moviejawn.com/home/2024/12/22/best-of-2024-ryan-silbersteins-top-15
...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Older movies I saw at a theater. List in chronological order.
...plus 22 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Ranking of all the Friday the 13th movies as I watch them.
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Ranking all of the theatrically released Batman films.
...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>All of the films we've done as a primary review on the Shame Files podcast. Listen here: shamefiles.libsyn.com/
Note that the numbers on this list don't quite match the episode numbers because we've doubled up on some, but they are all in episode order.
...plus 109 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Episode List for Dream With Mind And Heart: A Podcast for Every Disney Movie Ever! In this project, your hosts, Ryan Silberstein and Meagan Bojarski will be covering every theatrically released feature-length film from Walt Disney Studios.
Notes contain the link to where the episode is discussed!
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/4/4/episode-002-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/4/11/episode-003-pinocchio
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/4/24/episode-005-reluctant-dragon
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/5/2/episode-006-dumbo
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/5/2/episode-006-bambi
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/5/30/saludos-amigos
www.moviejawn.com/dream-with-mind-and-heart/2023/5/30/saludos-amigos-rhsfm
...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
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