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Media itt: movie/film discussion - Beware Spoilers
- Thread starter Jebus McAzn
- Start date
My new year's resolution going into 2021 was to watch more movies and TV series. And I think I did a decent job at that! I watched a total of 37 movies/shows this year. That might not seem like a considerable number, but its about 50% more than I did last year! Plus when I watch a movie I like to make it a thing. Which just means I buy a lot of snacks to eat while watching it.
Here are all the movies/shows I watched in chronological order:
And now, because I have nothing better to do, I’m gonna rank each one and give a little review on it! And I’m posting it here because screw letterboxd! (minor spoilers ahead)
37: Survivor: Season 2
Look, I'm a huge Survivor fan. It’s currently the only reason I have a Paramount Plus subscription (even though I only watched one season this year lmao). Early Survivor certainly has its quirks and charms, but Season 2 didn't do much for me. While it has a strong early start with some twists and fun characters, it becomes a bit predictable and slow as the game progresses, with few characters I really became attached to. Spoiler Alert: The ending was also astonishingly surprising, but not really in the fun way but in the way..... astoundingly astonishingly bizarre way. I guess having such a crazy twist at the end of a pretty predictable and slow paced season was a lot to take in. To be fair I didn't really watch much of the last episode because to be honest I didn't really care much at that point.
36: Over the Garden Wall
This might be controversial, as I am totally aware of how beloved this animated mini-series is. I watched it at the crack of October, which I hear is when most people take their pilgrimage back to series that's so graced by Elijah Wood's sweet, sweet voice. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I found it ultimately a little boring. Perhaps its biggest downfall was its own reputation. I may have went in expecting a moodier, more atmospheric experience, only to be disappointed by how.... Cartoon Network-ish, it was. I get thats probably a weak criticism for a cartoon that aired on Cartoon Network, but looking at it strictly as a cartoon, I was a bit disappointed in the pacing of each episode and how, honestly, some of the episodes were just plain boring- like the schoolhouse one or the nonsensical dream sequence episode. The overall narrative was really interesting though, and I liked some of the concepts on paper, like the ferry of Victorian-Era Frogs. I don't think that Over the Garden Wall will become a staple of Autumn viewing for me, although the main theme song is.... really really dang good! So atleast I got something out of it. Also, Elijah Wood.
35: Captain Phillips
Eh. Captain Philips is... cool. Kinda predictable cause, like, you know the pirates are gonna board the ship. That's like, the whole thing, right? Some tense moments toward the end made the film a fun watch. But apparently the real events didn't quite go exactly as portrayed and the whole crew hates the real Captain Philips' guts? I dunno. Who cares. Fine movie but a little disappointing overall.
34: Unknown
The first movie I watched this year was the relatively unknown (see what I did there) Liam Neeson flick, Unknown. The biggest Unknown about Unknown is my reason for watching Unknown. I think I was cooking some buffalo chicken dip while inattentively looking for something to watch and the little trailer for the movie kept popping up and I kept hearing Liam Neeson's voice out of the speaker. But the main premise of the flick is fairly interesting. A guy wakes up from a minor coma to find out that he effectively doesn't exist anymore. What's at play here? Aliens? Ghosts? Some cosmic, Lovecraftian entities that control reality? The real answer is kind of funny and kind of makes Liam Neeson's character look a little clown-ish if we're being honest. But it's a pretty typical action flick that I enjoyed enough while watching. No super intense action set-pieces that you'd expect from Bond or something, atleast none that I remember, but alas, still enjoyable for the fun premise alone.
33: Bad Trip
My least favorite Eric Andre bits are when he's messing with random people in the street, but Eric Andre does that kind of comedy right since he knows to make *himself* look like the fool- not the other people. Most Youtube "pranksters" can learn a lot from this. The comedy of this movie comes from seeing people's genuine reactions to Eric's outlandish set-ups. And it mostly delivers in that regard.
32: Superbad
Superbad is.... SuperALRIGHT! A fine comedy in a year where I watched mostly better comedies, but a lot of the moments have solidified themselves as cultural staples. I have a problem with the film's ending, though. I think Jonah Hill's character gets away too easily! I mean his whole goal the entire movie was to sexually assault some girl... and he ends up getting that girl at the end! Yeah, I guess I shouldn't expect much from a 2007 Judd Apatow movie. But I think the ending was a missed opportunity. You had this sort-of sub-plot point about Michael Cera's character (I dont remember the two protagonists names and I refuse to care) denying his crush's drunken sexual advances: setting the character up as the complete contrast to Jonah Hill. This pays off in the end because Michael Cera gets the girl. But any lesson about respecting women or consent is lost by also having Jonah Hill get the girl, too, yknow?
I think the movie could've ended with Cera and his girl walking off together at the mall, leaving Jonah Hill by himself at some table. He spots some girl sitting alone, then casually approaches her and CUT- Leave the audience to believe he learned the error of his ways and like, idk, respects women or whatever. Maybe set up this girl early in the movie by having Jonah Hill say some fucked up thing about her or her appearance to really drive home the amount he's changed. Am I thinking about this too much? Probably.
Oh, and another thing. What the fuck are up with some of the reviews for this movie? Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times said "Physically, Hill and Cera recall the classic comic duos—Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Aykroyd and Belushi. But they are contemporary kids, sophisticated and sensitive to nuance"; she added, "I hope it's not damning the movie with the wrong kind of praise to say that for a film so deliriously smutty, Superbad is supercute." Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa??? Cute? What about this movie is cute? Sophisticated??? The fuck?
31: Dune
I read Dune this year, which is about 5 years later than I had meant to read Dune. I was pretty excited to see the movie because its not every day a movie comes out for a book you so recently enjoyed. I went to the movie theater ALONE to see Dune. Honestly, let's normalize going to the movie theater alone. Movies make for weak dates and hang-outs anyway. I sit alone in dark room most of the time anyway, I don't want one of the rare times I'm with my friends to be doing that too. Overall my experience seeing Dune was like a $30 experience, between the ticket an the popcorn, which is pretty wack and probably a big reason these theaters are going out of business (aside from, yknow, the pandemic, but anyway...). Was it worth that when I could've watched it for free in the comfort of my room without the risk of spreading a deadly disease? Not really.
I have to give the movie some benefit of the doubt, since I did read the book beforehand, I knew a lot of what was going to happen, which did sap some of the tension. I also feel like I did my homework diligently, while I didn't read any of the Dune sequels, I did know quite a lot about the Bene Gesserit and god-emperors and the Butlerian Jihad and whatnot, so I feel like I had a pretty strong grasp of the universe as a whole. I sat next to a group of girls who spent a good deal of the beginning of the movie chatting to each other, but as the movie progressed their chatting was a lot less enthusiastic and I think they were either too confused to care about the movie anymore or fell asleep.
I do not think Dune was a good adaptation. I don't think the movie did anything better or more interesting the book did, which is... not great. I think I would have liked more creative liberties. Part of me still falls into the camp that Dune just can't work as a movie. A TV series would've been better, probably. There just wasn't enough time to give characters like Duncan Idaho and Dr. Yeuh the development they needed to make their arcs emotionally resonant. As a result, the movie kind of felt hallow.
I predicted that the movie would end (spoiler alert) with Paul's duel with the Fremen dude. In retrospect I think this was a bad choice. I think it should've ended with Paul digging his mother out of the sand after escaping the Sardouker attack after Idaho's death. While this wouldn't have saved too much time, it would've allowed for more character development while still having an emotional climax to end on. Ending WITH the Harkonnen's attack and Paul's escape could've been fine too, and maybe could've set up the film to be a trilogy. Or just making the movie itself longer, though I was kinda bored through most of it so maybe not that.
I also agree with some criticism against the general art-style of the film, especially in regards to the desert scenes. Watch Matt Colville's video on Youtube about it for more depth analysis on that. It pretty much sums up my thoughts as well.
30: Elf
I watched Elf on Christmas Eve. A genuine masterclass in family-friendly comedies. Doesn't rely too heavily on fart/poop jokes and slapstick humor and Will Ferrell absolutely nails the character. Charming. The black guy store manager is the best character.
29: Idiocracy
This 2006 comedy probably has gotten more resurgence in recent years than it deserves. "Idiocracy was supposed to be fiction!" has become sort of a rallying cry of disillusioned millennials who grew up on this cheeky Mike Judge comedy. This does a disservice to Idiocracy more than anything else, really. In my opinion, Idiocracy isn't really a commentary on American politics or whatever. I mean, it's really just a fun concept for a gimmick-y comedy film, but if you want to look deeper, I think its moreso a commentary on landscape of comedy itself. One of the first things we see in the future is Dax Shepherd watching some shitty TV show. One running gag in the movie is that the most acclaimed movie of the year is just a single shot of some butt. The death penalty is an over-the-top monster truck show. The writers were low-key geniuses for making the premise of their movie about a bunch of morons because any racist or sexist joke is just written off as, well, they're *idiots*!! But perhaps that's the exact message they were trying to send.
28: Tommy Boy
I think topping off the "mostly-pretty-good" comedies is Tommy Boy. I don't really have anything to say about Tommy Boy.
27: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Y'know, the cultural osmosis that taught me everything I knew about this movie before I actually watched it had me thinking that the quirky blue-haired girl would be more present in the movie than she actually was. Anyway, this movie has done for "nerd culture" what I have done for the Smogon OU RMT forums: probably made it worse in retrospect.
26: Timecrimes
I was introduced to Timecrimes by some Tik Tok that described it as something like a "disturbing thriller that will have you watching between your fingers." Which, is like, the biggest overstatement of all time. Don't get me wrong, Timecrimes is awesome and I'm not going to spoil it, because it's best to go into it blind, or as close to blind as you possibly can. A really fun, if gimmick-y, movie that handles its absurd premise well. It's science-fiction, technically, but if you're the kind of person who likes to pick and pry at every detail of a film until the logic falls apart... this isn't the movie for you. You have to just sit back and accept the absurd premise, in which case the movie becomes gold. A little bit boring in the 3rd act when the mystique of it all starts to fade but.... overall a fun watch.
25: Coraline
Shit man, this ranking is getting hard. Coraline is great. A darkly eerie film that can appeal to any quirk-adoring person, child or adult. I'm a sucker for stop-motion, too.
24: Casino Royale
The only James Bond film I've ever seen did not disappoint in its crunchy action that lets you just shut off your brain for the duration of its run-time. So many hot people in this movie (including Judi Dench)
23/22: The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey / The Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug
Watched these pretty soon after watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy just because I did not want to stop being in those worlds yet. They are notably less good than their earlier counterparts, but I still enjoyed them well enough. It's hard to exactly pinpoint why exactly they are less good? I think its because they feel more like kid's movies than the original trilogy. Which I suppose makes sense- The Hobbit was intended as a children's book. Lot's more slapsticky kind of action and overall silliness. But, enjoyable nonetheless.
Also, yes, I did also see the third movie in the trilogy, Battle of the Five Armies. I actually watched that one before even seeing the original LOTR. I substitute taught an 8th grade English class that had just finished reading The Hobbit and so they watched the movie over a couple periods. So, I watched it while also juggling subbing for an 8th grade class. So.. I don't really count it so much. But I saw enough that I didn't really feel like re-watching it.
21: The Wolf of Wall Street
A movie as funny as its own decadent over-the-topness. Less of the treatise on the business world that some people seem to treat it as and more of the burning downfall of a guy who played it too fast and too loose for too long. I like that the movie brings up themes about how these types of businessmen make their money by scamming innocent people, but it probably could've leaned into that a bit more.
20: Ghostbusters
Like Idiocracy, this movie has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years due to attempts to re-boot/sequel-ize it. Both of which apparently ended mostly as failures in their own respects. What those movies did succeed at, though, is bringing people back to the original. This is quite possibly the most perfectly casted movie of all time and I love how it mostly came about due to Dan Aykroyd's obsession with, like, ghouls and shit.
19: Seinfeld
Note that I did not watch all of Seinfeld, only the first 2-3 seasons, so this is the only show/movie on this list that I did not technically finish.... Oh well. I have fond memories of Seinfeld in part because of the context I started watching it in. In January/February of this year, I was living mostly on my own for the first time ever. While I was working at job I mostly hated, getting to spend evenings/weekends completely by myself was quite nice. I made a lot of the aforementioned buffalo chicken dip. I made a cheeseburger that came out so surprisingly not-terrible that it gave me dopamine for days. Spent a lot of evenings lounging around, eating food I made for myself, watching Seinfeld on a big TV in the basement. Sometimes I'd fuck around and walk to the corner store and get a Root Beer. This probably sounds very unremarkable to most people. Anyway, I got fired from that job and moved back home. So, whatever.
Anyway, Seinfeld is funny.
18: Hotel Rwanda
While Hotel Rwanda might not excel at being the most accurate depiction of the events portrayed as it might seem, it does do its job at portraying the excessive and brutal violence that one group is capable of causing to another. I'm sure the true events of the Rwandan Genocide are 1000x more horrifying than those portrayed in the film, and any discussion on how accurate the movie is to the true story of Paul Rusesabagina seems to be missing the point. It's a movie that makes me uncomfortable in the realization of how easy I have it in life, but also in how fragile society really is. Also Don Cheadle is great.
17: Eighth Grade
I'm a sucker for coming-of-age stories and Eighth Grade delivers. As a teacher, I really appreciate how accurately this movie portrays 8th graders. They're constantly spouting random memes thinking they're hilarious. I liked the interactions between Kayla and her dad. I mean, I felt bad for the dad, but I liked what it added to the film- I think it would've been easy to make Kayla an objectively good and kind person. There's more layers to the movie about growing up and young femininity and sexuality that I am not really qualified to discuss, so, I'll just leave it at that.
16: Eraserhead
I don't know what compelled me to interrupt my viewing of the LOTR triology with Eraserhead- but here we are. Eraserhead is weird, disturbing, harrowing and nightmare-ish, but all I could think of while watching is... "this is awesome." I love this shit. I love a movie where you have absolutely no clue whats going to happen next, and Eraserhead pulls no punches when it comes to unsettling imagery. I'm not good enough as a film analyst to try and come up with any epic Film Theories on what it supposed to be happening here, but I also I am content with the "weirdness for the sake of weirdness" atmosphere this movie's got going on. Art is meant to illicit an emotion, right? Dread, paranoia, unease- these are emotions as valid as any, and Eraserhead delivers as an experience to let the viewer revel in these emotions for a short time. Why would anyone want to do that? Catharsis, I guess?
15: Squid Game
I think it would've been really really really easy to botch the surprisingly simple concept that is Squid Game. I think a lesser screenwriter would've focused too heavily on the games themselves, maybe having some basic character arcs throughout. But Hwang Dong-hyuk avoided that trap entirely, I think. First and foremost, the movie is about the characters and their reactions to the games- not the other way around. All of it leads up to one of the most emotional wrecking-ball of scenes in anything I've ever watched that still lives absolutely rent free in my head.
It's not perfect, of course. The policeman's side-plot felt pretty rushed and underdeveloped for what it was. There is also one line from the first episode that always stuck in my brain- when the main character was supposed to be buying a birthday present for his daughter but instead uses the money to bet on horse racing: he says something like "my mom cares more about my kid than I do!" I get that they wanted him to be like a seedy-kinda guy, but considering his whole motivation was to prevent his daughter from moving to the U.S. setting up early that the character doesn't really give a shit about his daughter seemed like a weird choice.
Also, the "VIPs" are perhaps the worst and most obnoxiously annoying characters in anything I've ever watched. I get that they're *supposed* to be over-the-top but like..... GOSH DANG are they bad.
14: Shadow & Bone
A real sleeper hit for me. I actually had a bit of background knowledge on this series before digging into it. I didnt read the Grisha Triology, from which the series is adapted from, but I did read Leigh Bardugo's other series, Six of Crows, which is set in the same universe. Despite sharing its name with Bardugo's original novel, Shadow & Bone uses many of the characters and settings from Six of Crows, which I really loved. Seriously, if you are into fantasy, read Six of Crows. Regardless, I did go into this series with some knowledge of its universe, which did probably help me get into it moreso than the average viewer. Or maybe it didn't, I dunno. I was kind of expecting Shadow & Bone to be bad, with production quality on the level of those really bad TV shows, like Supergirl or whatever. But I was really surprised at the production values for this series! They really nailed the costumes and settings- it really felt like a real world and I really wanted to spend more time in it. I didn't care too much about the main plot, but it's serviced quite a bit by the vastly more interesting subplot that intermixes with it. And, again, I really can't stress enough how much of the show is carried by the production. I'd recommend the show, but I would recommend the book Six of Crows even more. So... go read that.
13: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Always loved Fantastic Mr. Fox since I was a kid. A remarkably simple yet creative premise with a lot of wit and humor that provides an interesting study on an interesting character. I should say interesting studyS on interesting characterS. Uncharacteristic for an animated family movie, each character that makes up the main crew of Fantastic Mr. Fox has a lot of depth to delve in to, which really elevates the movie beyond just a family-friendly adaptation of a children's book. I said before that I love stop-motion and Mr. Fox delivers fantastically.
12: Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro
I am a BIG FAN of the 'gentlemen thief' genre of characters and Lupin is no exception. Beautifully animated and excessively charming, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro will undoubtedly live in my imagination for years.
11: Gattaca
I first watched Gattaca in my high school biology class, probably back in like 2012-2013. I remember even back then noting how good of a movie it actually was: a level of quality that you don't usually get with in-class movies. Decided to give it a re-watch. Knowing all of the major plot-points kinda did sour the rewatching of the movie, and I am kinda regretful that I didn't get to watch it for the first time in a context where I could've appreciated it more. Regardless, I can recognize the artistry in the movie in pretty much every aspect.
10: Whiplash
Another example of a perfectly casted character: J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. But also as Terence Fletcher in Whiplash. Funny man yell loud! Like Wolf of Wall Street, its a movie about a a guy who goes too hard too quickly and explodes into a fiery mess. In both cases literally. Also in both cases the protagonist is very unlikeable. But, like, in a way thats fun to watch. Only difference here is instead of playing with billions of dollars and federal law, its... the drums. Whiplash will keep you on the edge of your seat and its got some great tunes!
I think Whiplash has an interesting theme that isn't seen too much in movies. It's about being the best. But more than that. It's about NOT being the best. It's about coping with coming up short on your dreams. It's about passion but it's also about when passion goes too far.
My only issue with this movie? Early on there's a date scene between the main character and his love-interest. They have 0 chemistry. Like, none at all. I actually thought the movie was like TELLING me that the date was going awfully. Like I thought the awkwardness was intended? But it wasn't? I dunno.
9: The Matrix
Yeah, that’s right. I saw the Matrix for the first time this year. What are you gonna do, bully me about it? I’m surprised at how little I actually knew about the Matrix. For all much of a cultural icon it is, I thought I’d know more about it. Fun fact: I have not actually seen the Star Wars movie- yet I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp of the world. (Probably mostly from 100%ing Lego Star Wars as a kid).
Anyway, I was pretty surprised at how cool the idea of the Matrix is. The idea that the world is just an computer simulation to keep us placated while the computer overlords farm us for energy. That’s so gosh dang cool.
8: Taxi Driver
Love watching the slow-burn descent of a young dude from somewhat dead-beat, diligent worker to absolutely bat-shit insane crazyperson. Gets really tense at some parts the makes the movie a real experience to watch. Scorsese managed to make 70s New York City seem like an absolute nightmarish heck-hole. I mean, it probably was, but that’s besides the point. They do a great job at setting up Travis as a well-meaning, if not a little creepy, misanthrope who struggles to connect with others. I think the scene where he brings Betsy to the p0rn theatre is indicative of that: he generally sees no problem with those movies- its something he enjoys, and doesn’t even consider that someone else wouldn’t like that.
Travis obviously descends into some dark shit, though, that is much, much, much less defensible, and I think the movie does a good job a portraying how poverty and loneliness (among other things, like PTSD) can drive a young guy into madness.
And then they ruin it with the ending. Lol. Look I’m no high-falutin film critic, but I think they missed the mark with the ending of the movie. They set up this cataclysmic ending for Travis- where his desperation for murder explodes into an epic cascade of violence. And then he’s like…. better? He gets off scot-free. Better than scot-free: he’s hailed as a hero. This seemed really weird to me and really undermined the catharsis of Travis’ final acts.
People talk about the ending like its purposefully left up-to-interpretation: is the ending a dream? A fantasy as Travis lays dying? Did any of the ending really happen? Did any of the movie really happen? But the writer of movie, Paul Shrader, pretty much deconfirms this: “When asked on the website Reddit about the film's ending, Schrader said that it was not to be taken as a dream sequence, but that he envisioned it as returning to the beginning of the film—as if the last frame "could be spliced to the first frame, and the movie started all over again." This decision, to me, makes the movie a much more dangerous piece of cinema- and it’s not surprising, in retrospect, that it was the inspiration for a real-life assassination attempt a public figure.
If they wanted to blur the lines between hero and villain… I still think that it would’ve been a better ending to let Travis die and not leave it up to interpretation. I think the most interesting aspect of Travis’ character is the dichotomy between the legacies of heroes and villains. As critic James Berardinelli writes (in a quote I stole from wikipedia) “Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader append the perfect conclusion to Taxi Driver. Steeped in irony, the five-minute epilogue underscores the vagaries of fate. The media builds Bickle into a hero, when, had he been a little quicker drawing his gun against Senator Palantine, he would have been reviled as an assassin.” THAT is cool, and something that is interesting to think about. Otherwise, I think the ending we got really took away from the catharsis. It made the events of the film feel like the dream… not the other way around. But, I dunno.
7 / 6: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz
I posted earlier in this thread about how I thought Shaun of the Dead was better than Hot Fuzz…. But now I’m not so sure. I really racked my brain over and over about which one I liked more but…. In the end I have to take the coward’s way out and put them at the same level.
Shaun of the Dead is both a great comedy film and an excellent zombie movie. At some point in the middle/late half of the movie, it honestly stops being a comedy at all and goes full-throttle on its zombie premise. It’s even got some gore in one of the most horrifying scenes I’ve seen in a movie! You probably know the one: the imagery stuck with me for a long time. Overall it’s a really strong comedy; I loved the parallels between the real zombies and the “real” zombies- the people who are just going about their daily routines and whatnot.
Hot Fuzz was equally as good and much more… comfier movie. Idk something about it was cozy. Was it the small, English village feel? The buddy-cop relationship between the two leads? I don’t know. Hot Fuzz was equally as strong comedic wise as Shaun, if not a bit sillier.
Either way, both movies are the pinnacle for comedies and prove that the best comedies strive to be good movies first. None of the tripe that is associated with modern comedy movies is present…. No dumb slapstick, fartypoopy jokes or any of that. Overall just really great movies.
5: Pan's Labyrinth
I think Pan’s Labyrinth might be a perfect movie to be honest. I don’t mean that it’s flawless but like, it’s really really good and I can’t think of anything else to say about it other than I really loved it. Overall a fantastic low-fantasy combined with quasi-political drama combined with…. so much other good stuff. 100% worth a watch.
4: The Shining
I don’t really have anything to add to the conversation surrounding this movie that hasn’t already been said over the course of the last 40 years. Good movie. Jack Nicholson.
3 / 2 / 1: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Oooooh what an awesome and epic climatic ending to my epic list. I can’t really decide which of these three movies I like the most… I think I like the first one the best but maybe that’s just because it was my introduction to this beautifully realized fantasy world. Something about these films just…. captures you. I can’t really explain it- but I’ve never been so thoroughly sad when a movie ended before. I wanted to live in them- I wanted to be a part of the Fellowship. These movies totally ruled my brain for weeks after I watched them, so I can’t put them anywhere else but #1. I realize I’m pretty late to this but like oh well lmao i was in like kindergarten when these came out. Also…. Elijah Wood.
ANYway thanks for reading I hope my opinions aren't too terrible
Here are all the movies/shows I watched in chronological order:
And now, because I have nothing better to do, I’m gonna rank each one and give a little review on it! And I’m posting it here because screw letterboxd! (minor spoilers ahead)
37: Survivor: Season 2
Look, I'm a huge Survivor fan. It’s currently the only reason I have a Paramount Plus subscription (even though I only watched one season this year lmao). Early Survivor certainly has its quirks and charms, but Season 2 didn't do much for me. While it has a strong early start with some twists and fun characters, it becomes a bit predictable and slow as the game progresses, with few characters I really became attached to. Spoiler Alert: The ending was also astonishingly surprising, but not really in the fun way but in the way..... astoundingly astonishingly bizarre way. I guess having such a crazy twist at the end of a pretty predictable and slow paced season was a lot to take in. To be fair I didn't really watch much of the last episode because to be honest I didn't really care much at that point.
36: Over the Garden Wall
This might be controversial, as I am totally aware of how beloved this animated mini-series is. I watched it at the crack of October, which I hear is when most people take their pilgrimage back to series that's so graced by Elijah Wood's sweet, sweet voice. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I found it ultimately a little boring. Perhaps its biggest downfall was its own reputation. I may have went in expecting a moodier, more atmospheric experience, only to be disappointed by how.... Cartoon Network-ish, it was. I get thats probably a weak criticism for a cartoon that aired on Cartoon Network, but looking at it strictly as a cartoon, I was a bit disappointed in the pacing of each episode and how, honestly, some of the episodes were just plain boring- like the schoolhouse one or the nonsensical dream sequence episode. The overall narrative was really interesting though, and I liked some of the concepts on paper, like the ferry of Victorian-Era Frogs. I don't think that Over the Garden Wall will become a staple of Autumn viewing for me, although the main theme song is.... really really dang good! So atleast I got something out of it. Also, Elijah Wood.
35: Captain Phillips
Eh. Captain Philips is... cool. Kinda predictable cause, like, you know the pirates are gonna board the ship. That's like, the whole thing, right? Some tense moments toward the end made the film a fun watch. But apparently the real events didn't quite go exactly as portrayed and the whole crew hates the real Captain Philips' guts? I dunno. Who cares. Fine movie but a little disappointing overall.
34: Unknown
The first movie I watched this year was the relatively unknown (see what I did there) Liam Neeson flick, Unknown. The biggest Unknown about Unknown is my reason for watching Unknown. I think I was cooking some buffalo chicken dip while inattentively looking for something to watch and the little trailer for the movie kept popping up and I kept hearing Liam Neeson's voice out of the speaker. But the main premise of the flick is fairly interesting. A guy wakes up from a minor coma to find out that he effectively doesn't exist anymore. What's at play here? Aliens? Ghosts? Some cosmic, Lovecraftian entities that control reality? The real answer is kind of funny and kind of makes Liam Neeson's character look a little clown-ish if we're being honest. But it's a pretty typical action flick that I enjoyed enough while watching. No super intense action set-pieces that you'd expect from Bond or something, atleast none that I remember, but alas, still enjoyable for the fun premise alone.
33: Bad Trip
My least favorite Eric Andre bits are when he's messing with random people in the street, but Eric Andre does that kind of comedy right since he knows to make *himself* look like the fool- not the other people. Most Youtube "pranksters" can learn a lot from this. The comedy of this movie comes from seeing people's genuine reactions to Eric's outlandish set-ups. And it mostly delivers in that regard.
32: Superbad
Superbad is.... SuperALRIGHT! A fine comedy in a year where I watched mostly better comedies, but a lot of the moments have solidified themselves as cultural staples. I have a problem with the film's ending, though. I think Jonah Hill's character gets away too easily! I mean his whole goal the entire movie was to sexually assault some girl... and he ends up getting that girl at the end! Yeah, I guess I shouldn't expect much from a 2007 Judd Apatow movie. But I think the ending was a missed opportunity. You had this sort-of sub-plot point about Michael Cera's character (I dont remember the two protagonists names and I refuse to care) denying his crush's drunken sexual advances: setting the character up as the complete contrast to Jonah Hill. This pays off in the end because Michael Cera gets the girl. But any lesson about respecting women or consent is lost by also having Jonah Hill get the girl, too, yknow?
I think the movie could've ended with Cera and his girl walking off together at the mall, leaving Jonah Hill by himself at some table. He spots some girl sitting alone, then casually approaches her and CUT- Leave the audience to believe he learned the error of his ways and like, idk, respects women or whatever. Maybe set up this girl early in the movie by having Jonah Hill say some fucked up thing about her or her appearance to really drive home the amount he's changed. Am I thinking about this too much? Probably.
Oh, and another thing. What the fuck are up with some of the reviews for this movie? Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times said "Physically, Hill and Cera recall the classic comic duos—Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Aykroyd and Belushi. But they are contemporary kids, sophisticated and sensitive to nuance"; she added, "I hope it's not damning the movie with the wrong kind of praise to say that for a film so deliriously smutty, Superbad is supercute." Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa??? Cute? What about this movie is cute? Sophisticated??? The fuck?
31: Dune
I read Dune this year, which is about 5 years later than I had meant to read Dune. I was pretty excited to see the movie because its not every day a movie comes out for a book you so recently enjoyed. I went to the movie theater ALONE to see Dune. Honestly, let's normalize going to the movie theater alone. Movies make for weak dates and hang-outs anyway. I sit alone in dark room most of the time anyway, I don't want one of the rare times I'm with my friends to be doing that too. Overall my experience seeing Dune was like a $30 experience, between the ticket an the popcorn, which is pretty wack and probably a big reason these theaters are going out of business (aside from, yknow, the pandemic, but anyway...). Was it worth that when I could've watched it for free in the comfort of my room without the risk of spreading a deadly disease? Not really.
I have to give the movie some benefit of the doubt, since I did read the book beforehand, I knew a lot of what was going to happen, which did sap some of the tension. I also feel like I did my homework diligently, while I didn't read any of the Dune sequels, I did know quite a lot about the Bene Gesserit and god-emperors and the Butlerian Jihad and whatnot, so I feel like I had a pretty strong grasp of the universe as a whole. I sat next to a group of girls who spent a good deal of the beginning of the movie chatting to each other, but as the movie progressed their chatting was a lot less enthusiastic and I think they were either too confused to care about the movie anymore or fell asleep.
I do not think Dune was a good adaptation. I don't think the movie did anything better or more interesting the book did, which is... not great. I think I would have liked more creative liberties. Part of me still falls into the camp that Dune just can't work as a movie. A TV series would've been better, probably. There just wasn't enough time to give characters like Duncan Idaho and Dr. Yeuh the development they needed to make their arcs emotionally resonant. As a result, the movie kind of felt hallow.
I predicted that the movie would end (spoiler alert) with Paul's duel with the Fremen dude. In retrospect I think this was a bad choice. I think it should've ended with Paul digging his mother out of the sand after escaping the Sardouker attack after Idaho's death. While this wouldn't have saved too much time, it would've allowed for more character development while still having an emotional climax to end on. Ending WITH the Harkonnen's attack and Paul's escape could've been fine too, and maybe could've set up the film to be a trilogy. Or just making the movie itself longer, though I was kinda bored through most of it so maybe not that.
I also agree with some criticism against the general art-style of the film, especially in regards to the desert scenes. Watch Matt Colville's video on Youtube about it for more depth analysis on that. It pretty much sums up my thoughts as well.
30: Elf
I watched Elf on Christmas Eve. A genuine masterclass in family-friendly comedies. Doesn't rely too heavily on fart/poop jokes and slapstick humor and Will Ferrell absolutely nails the character. Charming. The black guy store manager is the best character.
29: Idiocracy
This 2006 comedy probably has gotten more resurgence in recent years than it deserves. "Idiocracy was supposed to be fiction!" has become sort of a rallying cry of disillusioned millennials who grew up on this cheeky Mike Judge comedy. This does a disservice to Idiocracy more than anything else, really. In my opinion, Idiocracy isn't really a commentary on American politics or whatever. I mean, it's really just a fun concept for a gimmick-y comedy film, but if you want to look deeper, I think its moreso a commentary on landscape of comedy itself. One of the first things we see in the future is Dax Shepherd watching some shitty TV show. One running gag in the movie is that the most acclaimed movie of the year is just a single shot of some butt. The death penalty is an over-the-top monster truck show. The writers were low-key geniuses for making the premise of their movie about a bunch of morons because any racist or sexist joke is just written off as, well, they're *idiots*!! But perhaps that's the exact message they were trying to send.
28: Tommy Boy
I think topping off the "mostly-pretty-good" comedies is Tommy Boy. I don't really have anything to say about Tommy Boy.
27: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Y'know, the cultural osmosis that taught me everything I knew about this movie before I actually watched it had me thinking that the quirky blue-haired girl would be more present in the movie than she actually was. Anyway, this movie has done for "nerd culture" what I have done for the Smogon OU RMT forums: probably made it worse in retrospect.
26: Timecrimes
I was introduced to Timecrimes by some Tik Tok that described it as something like a "disturbing thriller that will have you watching between your fingers." Which, is like, the biggest overstatement of all time. Don't get me wrong, Timecrimes is awesome and I'm not going to spoil it, because it's best to go into it blind, or as close to blind as you possibly can. A really fun, if gimmick-y, movie that handles its absurd premise well. It's science-fiction, technically, but if you're the kind of person who likes to pick and pry at every detail of a film until the logic falls apart... this isn't the movie for you. You have to just sit back and accept the absurd premise, in which case the movie becomes gold. A little bit boring in the 3rd act when the mystique of it all starts to fade but.... overall a fun watch.
25: Coraline
Shit man, this ranking is getting hard. Coraline is great. A darkly eerie film that can appeal to any quirk-adoring person, child or adult. I'm a sucker for stop-motion, too.
24: Casino Royale
The only James Bond film I've ever seen did not disappoint in its crunchy action that lets you just shut off your brain for the duration of its run-time. So many hot people in this movie (including Judi Dench)
23/22: The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey / The Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug
Watched these pretty soon after watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy just because I did not want to stop being in those worlds yet. They are notably less good than their earlier counterparts, but I still enjoyed them well enough. It's hard to exactly pinpoint why exactly they are less good? I think its because they feel more like kid's movies than the original trilogy. Which I suppose makes sense- The Hobbit was intended as a children's book. Lot's more slapsticky kind of action and overall silliness. But, enjoyable nonetheless.
Also, yes, I did also see the third movie in the trilogy, Battle of the Five Armies. I actually watched that one before even seeing the original LOTR. I substitute taught an 8th grade English class that had just finished reading The Hobbit and so they watched the movie over a couple periods. So, I watched it while also juggling subbing for an 8th grade class. So.. I don't really count it so much. But I saw enough that I didn't really feel like re-watching it.
21: The Wolf of Wall Street
A movie as funny as its own decadent over-the-topness. Less of the treatise on the business world that some people seem to treat it as and more of the burning downfall of a guy who played it too fast and too loose for too long. I like that the movie brings up themes about how these types of businessmen make their money by scamming innocent people, but it probably could've leaned into that a bit more.
20: Ghostbusters
Like Idiocracy, this movie has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years due to attempts to re-boot/sequel-ize it. Both of which apparently ended mostly as failures in their own respects. What those movies did succeed at, though, is bringing people back to the original. This is quite possibly the most perfectly casted movie of all time and I love how it mostly came about due to Dan Aykroyd's obsession with, like, ghouls and shit.
19: Seinfeld
Note that I did not watch all of Seinfeld, only the first 2-3 seasons, so this is the only show/movie on this list that I did not technically finish.... Oh well. I have fond memories of Seinfeld in part because of the context I started watching it in. In January/February of this year, I was living mostly on my own for the first time ever. While I was working at job I mostly hated, getting to spend evenings/weekends completely by myself was quite nice. I made a lot of the aforementioned buffalo chicken dip. I made a cheeseburger that came out so surprisingly not-terrible that it gave me dopamine for days. Spent a lot of evenings lounging around, eating food I made for myself, watching Seinfeld on a big TV in the basement. Sometimes I'd fuck around and walk to the corner store and get a Root Beer. This probably sounds very unremarkable to most people. Anyway, I got fired from that job and moved back home. So, whatever.
Anyway, Seinfeld is funny.
18: Hotel Rwanda
While Hotel Rwanda might not excel at being the most accurate depiction of the events portrayed as it might seem, it does do its job at portraying the excessive and brutal violence that one group is capable of causing to another. I'm sure the true events of the Rwandan Genocide are 1000x more horrifying than those portrayed in the film, and any discussion on how accurate the movie is to the true story of Paul Rusesabagina seems to be missing the point. It's a movie that makes me uncomfortable in the realization of how easy I have it in life, but also in how fragile society really is. Also Don Cheadle is great.
17: Eighth Grade
I'm a sucker for coming-of-age stories and Eighth Grade delivers. As a teacher, I really appreciate how accurately this movie portrays 8th graders. They're constantly spouting random memes thinking they're hilarious. I liked the interactions between Kayla and her dad. I mean, I felt bad for the dad, but I liked what it added to the film- I think it would've been easy to make Kayla an objectively good and kind person. There's more layers to the movie about growing up and young femininity and sexuality that I am not really qualified to discuss, so, I'll just leave it at that.
16: Eraserhead
I don't know what compelled me to interrupt my viewing of the LOTR triology with Eraserhead- but here we are. Eraserhead is weird, disturbing, harrowing and nightmare-ish, but all I could think of while watching is... "this is awesome." I love this shit. I love a movie where you have absolutely no clue whats going to happen next, and Eraserhead pulls no punches when it comes to unsettling imagery. I'm not good enough as a film analyst to try and come up with any epic Film Theories on what it supposed to be happening here, but I also I am content with the "weirdness for the sake of weirdness" atmosphere this movie's got going on. Art is meant to illicit an emotion, right? Dread, paranoia, unease- these are emotions as valid as any, and Eraserhead delivers as an experience to let the viewer revel in these emotions for a short time. Why would anyone want to do that? Catharsis, I guess?
15: Squid Game
I think it would've been really really really easy to botch the surprisingly simple concept that is Squid Game. I think a lesser screenwriter would've focused too heavily on the games themselves, maybe having some basic character arcs throughout. But Hwang Dong-hyuk avoided that trap entirely, I think. First and foremost, the movie is about the characters and their reactions to the games- not the other way around. All of it leads up to one of the most emotional wrecking-ball of scenes in anything I've ever watched that still lives absolutely rent free in my head.
It's not perfect, of course. The policeman's side-plot felt pretty rushed and underdeveloped for what it was. There is also one line from the first episode that always stuck in my brain- when the main character was supposed to be buying a birthday present for his daughter but instead uses the money to bet on horse racing: he says something like "my mom cares more about my kid than I do!" I get that they wanted him to be like a seedy-kinda guy, but considering his whole motivation was to prevent his daughter from moving to the U.S. setting up early that the character doesn't really give a shit about his daughter seemed like a weird choice.
Also, the "VIPs" are perhaps the worst and most obnoxiously annoying characters in anything I've ever watched. I get that they're *supposed* to be over-the-top but like..... GOSH DANG are they bad.
14: Shadow & Bone
A real sleeper hit for me. I actually had a bit of background knowledge on this series before digging into it. I didnt read the Grisha Triology, from which the series is adapted from, but I did read Leigh Bardugo's other series, Six of Crows, which is set in the same universe. Despite sharing its name with Bardugo's original novel, Shadow & Bone uses many of the characters and settings from Six of Crows, which I really loved. Seriously, if you are into fantasy, read Six of Crows. Regardless, I did go into this series with some knowledge of its universe, which did probably help me get into it moreso than the average viewer. Or maybe it didn't, I dunno. I was kind of expecting Shadow & Bone to be bad, with production quality on the level of those really bad TV shows, like Supergirl or whatever. But I was really surprised at the production values for this series! They really nailed the costumes and settings- it really felt like a real world and I really wanted to spend more time in it. I didn't care too much about the main plot, but it's serviced quite a bit by the vastly more interesting subplot that intermixes with it. And, again, I really can't stress enough how much of the show is carried by the production. I'd recommend the show, but I would recommend the book Six of Crows even more. So... go read that.
13: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Always loved Fantastic Mr. Fox since I was a kid. A remarkably simple yet creative premise with a lot of wit and humor that provides an interesting study on an interesting character. I should say interesting studyS on interesting characterS. Uncharacteristic for an animated family movie, each character that makes up the main crew of Fantastic Mr. Fox has a lot of depth to delve in to, which really elevates the movie beyond just a family-friendly adaptation of a children's book. I said before that I love stop-motion and Mr. Fox delivers fantastically.
12: Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro
I am a BIG FAN of the 'gentlemen thief' genre of characters and Lupin is no exception. Beautifully animated and excessively charming, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro will undoubtedly live in my imagination for years.
11: Gattaca
I first watched Gattaca in my high school biology class, probably back in like 2012-2013. I remember even back then noting how good of a movie it actually was: a level of quality that you don't usually get with in-class movies. Decided to give it a re-watch. Knowing all of the major plot-points kinda did sour the rewatching of the movie, and I am kinda regretful that I didn't get to watch it for the first time in a context where I could've appreciated it more. Regardless, I can recognize the artistry in the movie in pretty much every aspect.
10: Whiplash
Another example of a perfectly casted character: J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. But also as Terence Fletcher in Whiplash. Funny man yell loud! Like Wolf of Wall Street, its a movie about a a guy who goes too hard too quickly and explodes into a fiery mess. In both cases literally. Also in both cases the protagonist is very unlikeable. But, like, in a way thats fun to watch. Only difference here is instead of playing with billions of dollars and federal law, its... the drums. Whiplash will keep you on the edge of your seat and its got some great tunes!
I think Whiplash has an interesting theme that isn't seen too much in movies. It's about being the best. But more than that. It's about NOT being the best. It's about coping with coming up short on your dreams. It's about passion but it's also about when passion goes too far.
My only issue with this movie? Early on there's a date scene between the main character and his love-interest. They have 0 chemistry. Like, none at all. I actually thought the movie was like TELLING me that the date was going awfully. Like I thought the awkwardness was intended? But it wasn't? I dunno.
9: The Matrix
Yeah, that’s right. I saw the Matrix for the first time this year. What are you gonna do, bully me about it? I’m surprised at how little I actually knew about the Matrix. For all much of a cultural icon it is, I thought I’d know more about it. Fun fact: I have not actually seen the Star Wars movie- yet I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp of the world. (Probably mostly from 100%ing Lego Star Wars as a kid).
Anyway, I was pretty surprised at how cool the idea of the Matrix is. The idea that the world is just an computer simulation to keep us placated while the computer overlords farm us for energy. That’s so gosh dang cool.
8: Taxi Driver
Love watching the slow-burn descent of a young dude from somewhat dead-beat, diligent worker to absolutely bat-shit insane crazyperson. Gets really tense at some parts the makes the movie a real experience to watch. Scorsese managed to make 70s New York City seem like an absolute nightmarish heck-hole. I mean, it probably was, but that’s besides the point. They do a great job at setting up Travis as a well-meaning, if not a little creepy, misanthrope who struggles to connect with others. I think the scene where he brings Betsy to the p0rn theatre is indicative of that: he generally sees no problem with those movies- its something he enjoys, and doesn’t even consider that someone else wouldn’t like that.
Travis obviously descends into some dark shit, though, that is much, much, much less defensible, and I think the movie does a good job a portraying how poverty and loneliness (among other things, like PTSD) can drive a young guy into madness.
And then they ruin it with the ending. Lol. Look I’m no high-falutin film critic, but I think they missed the mark with the ending of the movie. They set up this cataclysmic ending for Travis- where his desperation for murder explodes into an epic cascade of violence. And then he’s like…. better? He gets off scot-free. Better than scot-free: he’s hailed as a hero. This seemed really weird to me and really undermined the catharsis of Travis’ final acts.
People talk about the ending like its purposefully left up-to-interpretation: is the ending a dream? A fantasy as Travis lays dying? Did any of the ending really happen? Did any of the movie really happen? But the writer of movie, Paul Shrader, pretty much deconfirms this: “When asked on the website Reddit about the film's ending, Schrader said that it was not to be taken as a dream sequence, but that he envisioned it as returning to the beginning of the film—as if the last frame "could be spliced to the first frame, and the movie started all over again." This decision, to me, makes the movie a much more dangerous piece of cinema- and it’s not surprising, in retrospect, that it was the inspiration for a real-life assassination attempt a public figure.
If they wanted to blur the lines between hero and villain… I still think that it would’ve been a better ending to let Travis die and not leave it up to interpretation. I think the most interesting aspect of Travis’ character is the dichotomy between the legacies of heroes and villains. As critic James Berardinelli writes (in a quote I stole from wikipedia) “Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader append the perfect conclusion to Taxi Driver. Steeped in irony, the five-minute epilogue underscores the vagaries of fate. The media builds Bickle into a hero, when, had he been a little quicker drawing his gun against Senator Palantine, he would have been reviled as an assassin.” THAT is cool, and something that is interesting to think about. Otherwise, I think the ending we got really took away from the catharsis. It made the events of the film feel like the dream… not the other way around. But, I dunno.
7 / 6: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz
I posted earlier in this thread about how I thought Shaun of the Dead was better than Hot Fuzz…. But now I’m not so sure. I really racked my brain over and over about which one I liked more but…. In the end I have to take the coward’s way out and put them at the same level.
Shaun of the Dead is both a great comedy film and an excellent zombie movie. At some point in the middle/late half of the movie, it honestly stops being a comedy at all and goes full-throttle on its zombie premise. It’s even got some gore in one of the most horrifying scenes I’ve seen in a movie! You probably know the one: the imagery stuck with me for a long time. Overall it’s a really strong comedy; I loved the parallels between the real zombies and the “real” zombies- the people who are just going about their daily routines and whatnot.
Hot Fuzz was equally as good and much more… comfier movie. Idk something about it was cozy. Was it the small, English village feel? The buddy-cop relationship between the two leads? I don’t know. Hot Fuzz was equally as strong comedic wise as Shaun, if not a bit sillier.
Either way, both movies are the pinnacle for comedies and prove that the best comedies strive to be good movies first. None of the tripe that is associated with modern comedy movies is present…. No dumb slapstick, fartypoopy jokes or any of that. Overall just really great movies.
5: Pan's Labyrinth
I think Pan’s Labyrinth might be a perfect movie to be honest. I don’t mean that it’s flawless but like, it’s really really good and I can’t think of anything else to say about it other than I really loved it. Overall a fantastic low-fantasy combined with quasi-political drama combined with…. so much other good stuff. 100% worth a watch.
4: The Shining
I don’t really have anything to add to the conversation surrounding this movie that hasn’t already been said over the course of the last 40 years. Good movie. Jack Nicholson.
3 / 2 / 1: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Oooooh what an awesome and epic climatic ending to my epic list. I can’t really decide which of these three movies I like the most… I think I like the first one the best but maybe that’s just because it was my introduction to this beautifully realized fantasy world. Something about these films just…. captures you. I can’t really explain it- but I’ve never been so thoroughly sad when a movie ended before. I wanted to live in them- I wanted to be a part of the Fellowship. These movies totally ruled my brain for weeks after I watched them, so I can’t put them anywhere else but #1. I realize I’m pretty late to this but like oh well lmao i was in like kindergarten when these came out. Also…. Elijah Wood.
ANYway thanks for reading I hope my opinions aren't too terrible
i mean, yeah, the film outright says it lol. Warner Bros demanded a Matrix sequel with or without the Wachowskis so Lana decided to play into the fans' hands instead of letting grey suits taint a franchise that means a lot to people like me. it's a retelling of the first film: the first 40 minutes or so about dysphoria and anxiety permeating daily life, rest of the film about the decision to love manifesting The One; both a re-telling of Neo and Trinity's story as well as Bugs ('blue-haired queer sjw') and Lexy's. Resurrections plays like a passing of the torch to a new generation; a celebration of how queer people are allowed to express their desire more and better because of The Matrix, while affirming an older generation's burning desire that they can still unplug. so yeah it's a very heavy-handed and self-celebratory film but trans ppl deserve more trans-optimist art so i love it and it doesn't surprise me one bit larger reception has been so cold
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There are a lot of ways to deep dive into this, but to stick to the essentials, you already answered the gist of it yourself -
Check out The World's End asap! It's noticeably different in many ways, but is equally great.
I promise I don't mean this as an attack, but I find this logic interesting. You've mentioned how you enjoy the MCU, which is famous for doing exactly these things, over and over and over again (and commenting on this is a big theme in the new Matrix vis a vis the state of modern blockbusters). I'm genuinely asking: how is this repeatedly given a pass/cheered for in the MCU (even/especially the disgusting nostalgia bait of the new Spider-Man), but when the Matrix does it (whether it's for the fans or to comment on the current system, or both), it's suddenly terrible?
As it happens, I watched Spiderman NWH the day before, and noticed the same nostalgia bait, and concluded that this a relatively common trend in cinema (though friends have pointed out that it's possible that in earlier cinema there were different themes that were common among many films, that performed the same purpose). NWH was an absolute blast. It had a few weak points (like Sandman randomly deciding to be evil, and Doc Ock just fucking off for most of the film after being cured), but overall the plot, themes and action sequences were on point. That said, having watched the matrix the day after opened my eyes a bit to this trend (I freely admit I have severe Stockholm Syndrom w.r.t MCU) and I found NWH somewhat tiresome in retrospect. Though that might also be because of it referencing pre-Iron Man films.
I'm not sure why I treat the two films so differently, so I'll try to work it out as I go along:
1. The Matrix is 9 years older than Iron Man, the earliest MCU film. It predates the current trend of blockbusters, so the latest film taints the franchise with that treatment. This is particularly bad because The Matrix is a truly iconic piece of cinema.
1.1 The film is pulling in, among others, people who haven't grown up with constant references to everything in cinema. It's bringing in Gen X-ers and boomers and millennials who want a nostalgia hit and want to live in the past for a brief moment and I have a huge personal distaste for that.
2. As I've made obvious in my posts about the MCU, I almost completely suspend my disbelief about everything in those films, often to the point of trolling. I fully expect the MCU to be a clusterfuck of logic and dubious plot physics. Relatively speaking, The Matrix is hard sci-fi. There's a lot of world-building in the film that tries to stay self-consistent and within the bounds of the audience's physics. The MCU does worldbuilding but its physics is purely plot-driven. I must stress that this is speaking in relative terms. In absolute terms it's still kind of bonkers.
3. I was much, much younger when I watched the Matrix series. And it coincided with a time when I was smart enough to start forming opinions about things but feel happy to shit on films I didn't understand without trying harder to engage with them. The Matrix series has been on my re-watch list for a while actually. I'm a more humble and thoughtful cinema-goer now, so films (and franchises) I've watched I try to understand what they're trying to convey. So I admit having a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the franchise (and by my logic, for any pre-Iron Man films), because films 2 and 3 made no sense to me at the time when I watched them.
I have a lot of respect for that. I'll be honest the exact details of what Smith was explaining to Anderson escaped me so thanks for filling in the context here.
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I haven't seen it yet, but I would guess some of the criticism leveled at resurrections stems from the fact that the originals contain some of the best fight choreography and shootouts in cinema history, certainly groundbreaking at the time. Today, average cgi action blend finales are expected. I have heard that the new matrix film's action scenes are average at best
Ok so this thread pretty dead, and TV thread no where in sight, so bumping this for BIG TV post. If you don't like TV, just do not read ez
Basically, when the Covid-pandemic started I decided to go full no-life and go to nursing school. During covid+nursing school I rotated between the hospital, home, and if I was lucky and good, the gym. But a lot of the time, I was like definitely not gonna go to the gym, cause just feels irresponsible given my risk of covid-exposure. And during that time I watched a shit ton of TV while working out, and a shit ton more tv while being hella burnt out.
So I'm gonna hl the better TV ive watched in 2021 until present, if I don't mention a show, it isn't because I didn't watch it I just don't want to write things about it, and probably not gonna write abt any reality tv in this post. But don't be confused, I have really watched everything tv related and I am no-life, so don't go around accusing me of otherwise. Some of these shows didn't come out in 2021-2022, but thats when I watched them.
The best of the best (you don't even have to do lunges while u watch to justify watching them):
Ted Lasso- This show, built on an awful premise of an American college football coach going over to England to take charge of a PL midtable, manages to somehow 'out show' all the other tv shows. It is definitely one of the most appropriate shows to watch during the pandemic, with its strong message about positive-self-talk and self-compassion. It's just a goldmine that you'd never expect.
My Brilliant Friend- If you watch one show in a foreign language w subtitles in your life, it should be this one. This show is unbelievably goated, it's based on a historical novel that details the lives of working class families in post-ww2 Naples, Italy. The show focuses on Elena Greco (i.e the real life writer of the novels, Elena Ferrante) and her friend Lila and uses them as a device to record gender and class dynamics at a time when Italy was being transformed by capitalism.
The White Lotus- There is a scene at the beginning of the 2nd episode of this psychodrama mystery miniseries where ASMR is performed using the sounds of drugs and paraphernalia, that is so disturbing that I cannot think about it w/o shivering. Anyway, a major theme of this thriller staged in a Hawaiian beachside resort is the parasitism of the rich on the underclasses. The 6 episode miniseries is low commitment, but contains many interesting critiques of the aesthetics and habits of rich ppl, such as their appropriation/co-optation of 'wokeness' through speech acts and through fashion.
Couples' Therapy w Orna Guralnik: If you're only going to watch one of the pandemic therapy shows this is the one. She's a truly incredible therapist, with couple's therapy being by far the most difficult form to do well.
Ziwe- 1st season and already maybe the best variety/sketch news comedy show ever, idk u watch and decide. For me though, it's much better than any other left of centre comedy news show.
The Rest (worthy mentions, non-costume drama, worth wasting your life to watch, but lunges recommended):
Top Boy- Like a british version of the wire, only with more focus on the lives of poor people involved in drug trade than on cops and institutions.
Yellow Jackets- Feels kind of like an early season of Lost, but without quite as much mystery, more defined structure, and much better characterization. The premise is that a girl's high school soccer team and their coach and some others survive in the wilderness after their plane crash lands. The show alternates between the past and the present, so that we see the consequences of the survival experience on their psyche. The first season ends with a lot of suspense, so looking forward to seeing if this show ends up going anywhere.
Maid- Ok, I know it probably sounds pop-y, but this drama about a woman trying to exit an abusive relationship is incredibly accurate and mostly comes across as having sufficient self-awareness for the subject matter. A good use of the tv fiction drama genre is to make comments on and to present true facts about parts of society like the laws and legal system, and this miniseries (I think it's only one season) is successful in exposing injustices related to poverty, domestic violence, and gender that occur within the context of the American legal system.
Morning Show: If nothing else this show will make you wonder whether Jennifer Aniston is a good or bad actress. Big MeToo movement commentary, but seems oddly overly focused on its task of exposing 'real' issues- to the point that it occasionally feels a bit all over the place.
Brand New Cherry Flavor- Horror/thriller starring Rosa Salazar, comments on sexual assault and intellectual theft in the Hollywood film industry. Might be too gross out for some seeking more horror in their horror tv, but a fun time imo.
Succession- It makes me feel gross inside watching all these rich ppl and their misdeeds, really demonstrates that empathy isn't always a good thing. Still, there is an unhealthy joy I get from watching such unlikable characters compete with each other.
The Costume Dramas:
Borgias (2011)- The GOAT Costume drama, Cesare Borgia was THE PRINCE, as in Machiavelli's The Prince. Even non costume drama fans will like this one, and I would never say this about any of the other costume dramas mentioned.
The Great w Elle Fanning- not even a real costume drama+ they don't even care abt history+ basically make it up as they go+ irl catherine the great murdered all her political opponents. skip it.
Versailles- the 2nd best costume drama, mainly because the intro is that one m83 song
. Louis IVX's court and political economy were p interesting imo and the show is helped by that look, but this is probably more for the enthusiast than the first-time costume drama consumer.
Harlots- This one is about thots thoting in Victorian England, it's strong at first but falls off slightly w each subsequent season. Still worth watching for the average costume drama enjoyer (costuuuuuumer).
Downton Abby- like Harlots starts off strong but falls off a little bit each subsequent season. One of the most GOATed costume dramas of them all, which is probably most interesting for it's look at WW1 England, class relations, and the economic upheavel that took place during the time period.
Cartoons n shows about puberty:
Sex Education- the mom/sex therapist is fun and compelling because shes an exaggerated combination of familiar qualities and we aren't supposed to like her all the time. Unfortunately a lot of the other characters are going through young adult stuff and it's mostly not as fun to watch by the 3rd season because there is nothing comedic about them doing bad things and the plot doesn't make for something thats super watchable.
Big Mouth- if ur gonna watch a cartoon about puberty this is the one. The s5 thanksgiving episode is iconic and although it may be a bit too sexual for some viewers, u shouldnt be watching cartoons n shows about puberty if u cant handle it. This is a good didactic cartoon on psychology and puberty with characters like the Shame Wizard and anxiety mosquitoes, the humor is super top notch.
pen15- goated (?) in the puberty genre, but you may find that being goat in the puberty genre isn't really that amazing after all. The 2 actresses portray the younger versions of themselves, and thats the "gimmick" technique that sets this show apart in the genre, and it also has all the elements of the usual puberty dramas.
aight thanks for coming to my tedx talk, if u want to talk w me about these or other tv shows u know where to find me (on discord). Like I said I watched more than this, but I've already run out of steam for this post.
Basically, when the Covid-pandemic started I decided to go full no-life and go to nursing school. During covid+nursing school I rotated between the hospital, home, and if I was lucky and good, the gym. But a lot of the time, I was like definitely not gonna go to the gym, cause just feels irresponsible given my risk of covid-exposure. And during that time I watched a shit ton of TV while working out, and a shit ton more tv while being hella burnt out.
So I'm gonna hl the better TV ive watched in 2021 until present, if I don't mention a show, it isn't because I didn't watch it I just don't want to write things about it, and probably not gonna write abt any reality tv in this post. But don't be confused, I have really watched everything tv related and I am no-life, so don't go around accusing me of otherwise. Some of these shows didn't come out in 2021-2022, but thats when I watched them.
The best of the best (you don't even have to do lunges while u watch to justify watching them):
Ted Lasso- This show, built on an awful premise of an American college football coach going over to England to take charge of a PL midtable, manages to somehow 'out show' all the other tv shows. It is definitely one of the most appropriate shows to watch during the pandemic, with its strong message about positive-self-talk and self-compassion. It's just a goldmine that you'd never expect.
My Brilliant Friend- If you watch one show in a foreign language w subtitles in your life, it should be this one. This show is unbelievably goated, it's based on a historical novel that details the lives of working class families in post-ww2 Naples, Italy. The show focuses on Elena Greco (i.e the real life writer of the novels, Elena Ferrante) and her friend Lila and uses them as a device to record gender and class dynamics at a time when Italy was being transformed by capitalism.
The White Lotus- There is a scene at the beginning of the 2nd episode of this psychodrama mystery miniseries where ASMR is performed using the sounds of drugs and paraphernalia, that is so disturbing that I cannot think about it w/o shivering. Anyway, a major theme of this thriller staged in a Hawaiian beachside resort is the parasitism of the rich on the underclasses. The 6 episode miniseries is low commitment, but contains many interesting critiques of the aesthetics and habits of rich ppl, such as their appropriation/co-optation of 'wokeness' through speech acts and through fashion.
Couples' Therapy w Orna Guralnik: If you're only going to watch one of the pandemic therapy shows this is the one. She's a truly incredible therapist, with couple's therapy being by far the most difficult form to do well.
Ziwe- 1st season and already maybe the best variety/sketch news comedy show ever, idk u watch and decide. For me though, it's much better than any other left of centre comedy news show.
The Rest (worthy mentions, non-costume drama, worth wasting your life to watch, but lunges recommended):
Top Boy- Like a british version of the wire, only with more focus on the lives of poor people involved in drug trade than on cops and institutions.
Yellow Jackets- Feels kind of like an early season of Lost, but without quite as much mystery, more defined structure, and much better characterization. The premise is that a girl's high school soccer team and their coach and some others survive in the wilderness after their plane crash lands. The show alternates between the past and the present, so that we see the consequences of the survival experience on their psyche. The first season ends with a lot of suspense, so looking forward to seeing if this show ends up going anywhere.
Maid- Ok, I know it probably sounds pop-y, but this drama about a woman trying to exit an abusive relationship is incredibly accurate and mostly comes across as having sufficient self-awareness for the subject matter. A good use of the tv fiction drama genre is to make comments on and to present true facts about parts of society like the laws and legal system, and this miniseries (I think it's only one season) is successful in exposing injustices related to poverty, domestic violence, and gender that occur within the context of the American legal system.
Morning Show: If nothing else this show will make you wonder whether Jennifer Aniston is a good or bad actress. Big MeToo movement commentary, but seems oddly overly focused on its task of exposing 'real' issues- to the point that it occasionally feels a bit all over the place.
Brand New Cherry Flavor- Horror/thriller starring Rosa Salazar, comments on sexual assault and intellectual theft in the Hollywood film industry. Might be too gross out for some seeking more horror in their horror tv, but a fun time imo.
Succession- It makes me feel gross inside watching all these rich ppl and their misdeeds, really demonstrates that empathy isn't always a good thing. Still, there is an unhealthy joy I get from watching such unlikable characters compete with each other.
The Costume Dramas:
Borgias (2011)- The GOAT Costume drama, Cesare Borgia was THE PRINCE, as in Machiavelli's The Prince. Even non costume drama fans will like this one, and I would never say this about any of the other costume dramas mentioned.
The Great w Elle Fanning- not even a real costume drama+ they don't even care abt history+ basically make it up as they go+ irl catherine the great murdered all her political opponents. skip it.
Versailles- the 2nd best costume drama, mainly because the intro is that one m83 song
Harlots- This one is about thots thoting in Victorian England, it's strong at first but falls off slightly w each subsequent season. Still worth watching for the average costume drama enjoyer (costuuuuuumer).
Downton Abby- like Harlots starts off strong but falls off a little bit each subsequent season. One of the most GOATed costume dramas of them all, which is probably most interesting for it's look at WW1 England, class relations, and the economic upheavel that took place during the time period.
Cartoons n shows about puberty:
Sex Education- the mom/sex therapist is fun and compelling because shes an exaggerated combination of familiar qualities and we aren't supposed to like her all the time. Unfortunately a lot of the other characters are going through young adult stuff and it's mostly not as fun to watch by the 3rd season because there is nothing comedic about them doing bad things and the plot doesn't make for something thats super watchable.
Big Mouth- if ur gonna watch a cartoon about puberty this is the one. The s5 thanksgiving episode is iconic and although it may be a bit too sexual for some viewers, u shouldnt be watching cartoons n shows about puberty if u cant handle it. This is a good didactic cartoon on psychology and puberty with characters like the Shame Wizard and anxiety mosquitoes, the humor is super top notch.
pen15- goated (?) in the puberty genre, but you may find that being goat in the puberty genre isn't really that amazing after all. The 2 actresses portray the younger versions of themselves, and thats the "gimmick" technique that sets this show apart in the genre, and it also has all the elements of the usual puberty dramas.
aight thanks for coming to my tedx talk, if u want to talk w me about these or other tv shows u know where to find me (on discord). Like I said I watched more than this, but I've already run out of steam for this post.
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Diophantine
Banned deucer.
Top Boy is actually season 3. Seasons 1 and 2 were made in 2009 and 2011 respectively and are called Top Boy Summerhouse. Only 4 episodes each season that give good backgrounds to Dushane and Sully in particular with other storylines and themes unique to their own seasons. Also I hear a season 4 (which they are cheekily calling a season 2 lol) has been announced. Trailer is on YouTube.
Ema Skye
Work!
Abbott Elementary is my new drug of choice. I am a sucker for workplace mockumentaries and put Parks and Recreation on a pedestal of my favorite media, and it is so good to have another one of these back in my life. It captures that Parks and Rec level of endearment with the absolute impossibility of The Office’s workplace dynamics.
...except I can say that as a teacher, I have met every archetype presented in the show. The show manages to be simultaneously cathartic and representative of my work day. I don't know how and I don't know why, but it's just perfect. Tuesdays and Fridays are now my favorite days of the week (Wednesdays continue to suck because that's staff meeting day).
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Imma write a top 5 movies cause why not. Top 5 movies of all time imo, some comedy, some drama, some in between.
5: The Pianist
This movie, in short, is quite amazing. The story and way this film was made just makes it so, so good. Adrien Brody did such a good job preforming in this movie, and this scene is, in my opinion, the greatest film scene ever made. If you havent watched it yet, please do, its honestly such a amazing movie and i give it a 9.5/10.
4: Meet the Fockers.
This is honestly the pick i feel the most about being in the top 5. Honestly one of the best comedy films written, it builds up so much story that Meet the Parents had started and Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro did such a good job in this film, and the foreskin bit is actually so funny, if anything just watch that one scene its hilarious. This might be very controversial but this is also a 9.5/10, this could be 5th tho, tbh 5 and 4 can be interchanged.
3: West Side Story (1961.)
I did not think it would be this good. For a story based off of Romeo and Juliet, this is one damn good of a movie. All of the songs are so damn good, and i specifically love Gee Officer Krupke. Such a good such and a top 3 musical song. Another 9.5/10 and its such a good movie, and its not like the 2021 version was bad even, you can even make a case for it being better than the 1961 version.
Now this movies i think are 10/10s, no flaws at all.
2: The Prince of Egypt.
Holy shit. This is the greatest piece of animation ever made. Its truly an amazing movie. Rameses is such a good villain, all the songs are amazing, heck let my people go with all the plagues is a top 5 favorite song for me just in general. The story, the animation, the characters, the voice acting, holy shit its perfect. No flaws, what a good retelling of the bible story. Please watch it if you haven't. Its worth it. If i didnt want to go over 10, this would be like a 13, edging on 14 out of 10 movie. 10/10, bravo dreamworks, sometimes you produce a turbo or shark tale but sometimes you make a masterpiece like this.
Honorable Mentions.
Spider-Man into the Spiderverse and Spider-Man: No way home are really good, but i didnt think they were worth a top 5 (ok, maybe over meet the fockers.) Also props to Rocky,The Dark Knight,Saving Private Ryan, and Its a wonderful life. Those ones would def be on the list if this was a top 10, with Saving Private Ryan prob being my 6th favorite movie of all time. Alright time to get to number 1.
1: Schindler's List
God, this one broke me. This is.. such a masterpiece of a movie. This. Damn. Scene. holy shit i cried. It breaks you when you see what these people had to deal with, and to think each one of them had a story, a family, a life. The actors did such a good job. I legit thought i wasn't watching a retelling of the story of what happened during this brutal time, i thought i was watching the real thing play out in real time. This movie man. Plus, the guy who played Amon Goeth did an amazing job protraying what is basically pure evil into a character. Wow, just wow. Nothing will top this ever in my opinion. Its truly the greatest movie of all time. This is like....... a 16, nearing 17 out of 10. My god. and this isnt even talking about the Girl in the Red dress, the liquidation of the Ghetto, the near gassing of the female jews near the end of the movie, or any other part. I cant say how much this movie is a work of art. This is the movie you should watch once in your life. If any movie, watch this one.
5: The Pianist
This movie, in short, is quite amazing. The story and way this film was made just makes it so, so good. Adrien Brody did such a good job preforming in this movie, and this scene is, in my opinion, the greatest film scene ever made. If you havent watched it yet, please do, its honestly such a amazing movie and i give it a 9.5/10.
4: Meet the Fockers.
This is honestly the pick i feel the most about being in the top 5. Honestly one of the best comedy films written, it builds up so much story that Meet the Parents had started and Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro did such a good job in this film, and the foreskin bit is actually so funny, if anything just watch that one scene its hilarious. This might be very controversial but this is also a 9.5/10, this could be 5th tho, tbh 5 and 4 can be interchanged.
3: West Side Story (1961.)
I did not think it would be this good. For a story based off of Romeo and Juliet, this is one damn good of a movie. All of the songs are so damn good, and i specifically love Gee Officer Krupke. Such a good such and a top 3 musical song. Another 9.5/10 and its such a good movie, and its not like the 2021 version was bad even, you can even make a case for it being better than the 1961 version.
Now this movies i think are 10/10s, no flaws at all.
2: The Prince of Egypt.
Holy shit. This is the greatest piece of animation ever made. Its truly an amazing movie. Rameses is such a good villain, all the songs are amazing, heck let my people go with all the plagues is a top 5 favorite song for me just in general. The story, the animation, the characters, the voice acting, holy shit its perfect. No flaws, what a good retelling of the bible story. Please watch it if you haven't. Its worth it. If i didnt want to go over 10, this would be like a 13, edging on 14 out of 10 movie. 10/10, bravo dreamworks, sometimes you produce a turbo or shark tale but sometimes you make a masterpiece like this.
Honorable Mentions.
Spider-Man into the Spiderverse and Spider-Man: No way home are really good, but i didnt think they were worth a top 5 (ok, maybe over meet the fockers.) Also props to Rocky,The Dark Knight,Saving Private Ryan, and Its a wonderful life. Those ones would def be on the list if this was a top 10, with Saving Private Ryan prob being my 6th favorite movie of all time. Alright time to get to number 1.
1: Schindler's List
God, this one broke me. This is.. such a masterpiece of a movie. This. Damn. Scene. holy shit i cried. It breaks you when you see what these people had to deal with, and to think each one of them had a story, a family, a life. The actors did such a good job. I legit thought i wasn't watching a retelling of the story of what happened during this brutal time, i thought i was watching the real thing play out in real time. This movie man. Plus, the guy who played Amon Goeth did an amazing job protraying what is basically pure evil into a character. Wow, just wow. Nothing will top this ever in my opinion. Its truly the greatest movie of all time. This is like....... a 16, nearing 17 out of 10. My god. and this isnt even talking about the Girl in the Red dress, the liquidation of the Ghetto, the near gassing of the female jews near the end of the movie, or any other part. I cant say how much this movie is a work of art. This is the movie you should watch once in your life. If any movie, watch this one.
idk if anyone has seen this trailer for Benediction yet, and maybe it was just because I was high at the time, but i thought this trailer was incredibly, perhaps immaculately done. Don’t even really know what it’s about but I’m sold
so i saw thor love and thunder
i thought it wasssss not fantastic!!! not a painful watch overall but let's say 6/10
tonally the movie is kind of a mess. def had its good moments, enjoyed the action, but for sure had its bad moments, disappointments, and outright ??? moments. plot felt very up and down, had good moments but other times struggled to handle its weight. would have to rewatch to more meticulously analyze its flaws and strengths but i am, well, not going to do that
the first five minutes really set the tone for my experience, even if the following experience was better than those first five minutes, which were... memorable. one of the most memorable parts of the movie. but don't be fooled, this isn't a compliment. it had interesting ideas and scenes but garbled tone, more setup than it could handle, and some real ??? decisions
disclaimer on below: i am not a comics reader, so i don't know what was present in the original comics and what worked better or worse, so i'm just evaluating this movie "on its own"
i thought it wasssss not fantastic!!! not a painful watch overall but let's say 6/10
tonally the movie is kind of a mess. def had its good moments, enjoyed the action, but for sure had its bad moments, disappointments, and outright ??? moments. plot felt very up and down, had good moments but other times struggled to handle its weight. would have to rewatch to more meticulously analyze its flaws and strengths but i am, well, not going to do that
the first five minutes really set the tone for my experience, even if the following experience was better than those first five minutes, which were... memorable. one of the most memorable parts of the movie. but don't be fooled, this isn't a compliment. it had interesting ideas and scenes but garbled tone, more setup than it could handle, and some real ??? decisions
disclaimer on below: i am not a comics reader, so i don't know what was present in the original comics and what worked better or worse, so i'm just evaluating this movie "on its own"
more on those five minutes. the cold open with the soon-to-be villain and his daughter in the desert felt like it had potential but was bungled. the daughter and her death felt so transparently a plot-device that I was honestly icked out. not the first time this movie gave me that feeling. when villain-man's god tells him to eat shit and die, there's lots of potential for subverting god-follower dynamic in an interesting and compelling way, but there's a few problems in practice. the desert scene was so short and the characters so unestablished that the pathos of the scene is limited. the god and his courtiers are so flat that the scene feels kinda just dismal and nihilistic, and maybe even uninteresting once the initial shock wears off. (such a tone could be interesting if it was converted upon well later in the movie, but it isn't) also it's kind of contrived how quick the god is to literally murder his last worshipper... i get he's supposed to be a total dickhead, but we have to assume even the most selfish gods somehow benefit from having mortal followers and supportive political entities? any order of the stick readers itc? just kind of confusing business all around.
and then we get to the sword and the villain establishment scene. oh god. what a bad villain intro. this scene made me nostalgic for thor: dark world, and thats probably not ideal right? first, villain-guy is getting choked to death, and the sword uh flies into his hand i guess?? he's in a passive position and almost has to pick up the sword for self-defense and avoiding death; taking up the sword isn't really felt as an impactful moral decision.
writing and thinking about the above, it feels like a subversive setup. instead of the human(oid?) being the real narrative villain, the sword is actually a sentient mastermind that will present a compelling character and cunning foe. im down for it. does the movie follow through on this setup line?
...kind of, but not well. the sword is said to be "Cursed" and it "Corrupts him", but look under the hood and it's really just a plot device. the movie picks villain-guy ("god-butcher" felt passable in-movie but man it feels cringe to rewrite here) to be the narrative "Character" with personality and compelling agency and all that. so... why isn't this Character given a Villain Establishment Moment that provides them more agency and meaningful development? why is he getting killed and only picking the sword in self defense: wouldn't it be much more interesting if he blind-rage bum-rushed the god first, got laughed off, noticed a weapon, swung with little hope homicidal intent, and SIKE it's the godslayer thingy. now he can REFLECT on his VOLUNTARY ACTIONS and CHOOSE a new path forward. Character Development. Wow! why is the structural editing this oddly self-hindering?
i've kind of beat around a problem with the Villain Establishment Scene. villainguy immediately goes from justified outrage against this one authority figure to MURDER THEM ALL. why is that? why is the villain's plot-driving motive so shaky? my best answer: the sword possessed him, i guess? but the sword doesn't have some kind of, idk, sick & impactful possession scene that indicates it is in control. this would simultaneously kind of explain the initial focus on the Sword and the later focus on the Human(oid). this hypothetical scene solves two problems in one stone and it's not present, or it was so de-emphasized / brief / forgettable i somehow forgot it. confusing stuff.
now we can talk about tone! this dismal, nihilistic, dark scene transitions into: WACKY thor hijinx!! is it to Contrast the Serious Something* (stick a pin in that for later) to thor's Irresponsible Immaturity? i don't think so. the thor hijinx achieves this contrast much more effectively anyway, very unsubtly highlighting his immaturity against a much more concrete Serious Something: his allies fighting for their lives in a warzone to liberate an entire planet's most sacred site. honestly thor's total lack of fucks given, especially when he whoopsie destroys the sacred site, honestly makes him kinda unlikable. i get character development has to happen and all, but this felt a bit much and an bit unbelievable. also there's a really weird awkward korg-tells-a-story framing device thrown in. and then we have another jilted & inexplicable tonal transition to the marvel opening credits with, idk, chill vibin music overlay? it was real weird. maybe i'm missing some deep underlying purpose here? dunno.
nice, now we're past the first five minutes. it gets better from here but not so much better that i went above 6/10. i only have so much more attention span for this so uh
thor being stripped naked in front of thousands for comedic effect? kinda gross? thor pressing children into soldiering to fight for their lives being... played for comedy? kinda gross & weird. child soldier (at the end this time) being played for heartwarming, going into a war zone alongside her dad? kinda gross & weird.
the end to the zeus interaction is so weird. the crew just KILLS THE KING OF THE GODS (as far as they know) and nobody really bats an eye? i thought these were the good guys?? zeus and (some # of) these gods are real pricks, but murdering the guy in charge and running away is kind of not an awesome move for the cause of good? look, i know thor & crew were fighting in self-defense (mostly), but we're getting into Thermian Argument territory. i'm less concerned w thor's actions as a fictional character, but more wondering why did the filmmakers choose to have their hero straight up murder (so he thought) zeus instead of just incapacitating/stunning/etc. him? very odd tonal choice to just leave there on a slaying, kind of lampshade it for comedy, and bolt off for Starship Cruise Deluxe.
*(glad you remembered the pinned Serious Something, which is not fully formed in the first five minutes but eventually solidified) villainguy brings up an interesting combination of nihilism and commentary on the nature of power/authority/rulers, but this interesting juxtaposition is kind of quashed. it doesn't get much development/screen time, thor is foregone to win, nobody on team goodguy is meaningfully swayed by anything he says, the commentary on the nature of power isn't really expanded on, etc. (and he gets very quickly redeemed in the climax by uh the power of love (cliche-free) (i promise)) (also his powers seem to range from pedestrian to overpowering As The Plot Demands)
king valkyrie is sick but kind of uh tags along with our costars
eternity's existence (and villain-guy pursuing him_ dramatically alters the stakes but the movie doesn't lend this escalation sufficient gravitas. in general it was hard to take the idea of "godslaying" as seriously and deeply as the movie seemed to want.
uhh i did a lot of complaining but there were good parts for sure. it's harder to talk about them more concretely. i liked the goats hehe. thor and foster were a good leading duo. there were definitely strong moments. most obviously to me, when evil-guy got to eternity first and argued with/taunted thor, thor goes "you're gonna kill me, so im going to spend time with the person i love instead of fucking around with you for nothing" (but better said). honestly i found this a pretty powerful moment and was def my favorite part of the film. it kind of steps outside the standard "fight the bad guy" dynamic and flow in a jarring but very believable / realistic / compelling / meaningful way that starkly evidences thor's growth thru the movie. i also liked star lord going all sincerity mode at the beginning to try and set thor right, and how his words eventually come to help him out. and queen valkyrie kicking ass in new asgard as like a competent leader / response team element was great. love to see it.
so yeah these are words i have typed
[/spoiler]
and then we get to the sword and the villain establishment scene. oh god. what a bad villain intro. this scene made me nostalgic for thor: dark world, and thats probably not ideal right? first, villain-guy is getting choked to death, and the sword uh flies into his hand i guess?? he's in a passive position and almost has to pick up the sword for self-defense and avoiding death; taking up the sword isn't really felt as an impactful moral decision.
writing and thinking about the above, it feels like a subversive setup. instead of the human(oid?) being the real narrative villain, the sword is actually a sentient mastermind that will present a compelling character and cunning foe. im down for it. does the movie follow through on this setup line?
...kind of, but not well. the sword is said to be "Cursed" and it "Corrupts him", but look under the hood and it's really just a plot device. the movie picks villain-guy ("god-butcher" felt passable in-movie but man it feels cringe to rewrite here) to be the narrative "Character" with personality and compelling agency and all that. so... why isn't this Character given a Villain Establishment Moment that provides them more agency and meaningful development? why is he getting killed and only picking the sword in self defense: wouldn't it be much more interesting if he blind-rage bum-rushed the god first, got laughed off, noticed a weapon, swung with little hope homicidal intent, and SIKE it's the godslayer thingy. now he can REFLECT on his VOLUNTARY ACTIONS and CHOOSE a new path forward. Character Development. Wow! why is the structural editing this oddly self-hindering?
i've kind of beat around a problem with the Villain Establishment Scene. villainguy immediately goes from justified outrage against this one authority figure to MURDER THEM ALL. why is that? why is the villain's plot-driving motive so shaky? my best answer: the sword possessed him, i guess? but the sword doesn't have some kind of, idk, sick & impactful possession scene that indicates it is in control. this would simultaneously kind of explain the initial focus on the Sword and the later focus on the Human(oid). this hypothetical scene solves two problems in one stone and it's not present, or it was so de-emphasized / brief / forgettable i somehow forgot it. confusing stuff.
now we can talk about tone! this dismal, nihilistic, dark scene transitions into: WACKY thor hijinx!! is it to Contrast the Serious Something* (stick a pin in that for later) to thor's Irresponsible Immaturity? i don't think so. the thor hijinx achieves this contrast much more effectively anyway, very unsubtly highlighting his immaturity against a much more concrete Serious Something: his allies fighting for their lives in a warzone to liberate an entire planet's most sacred site. honestly thor's total lack of fucks given, especially when he whoopsie destroys the sacred site, honestly makes him kinda unlikable. i get character development has to happen and all, but this felt a bit much and an bit unbelievable. also there's a really weird awkward korg-tells-a-story framing device thrown in. and then we have another jilted & inexplicable tonal transition to the marvel opening credits with, idk, chill vibin music overlay? it was real weird. maybe i'm missing some deep underlying purpose here? dunno.
nice, now we're past the first five minutes. it gets better from here but not so much better that i went above 6/10. i only have so much more attention span for this so uh
thor being stripped naked in front of thousands for comedic effect? kinda gross? thor pressing children into soldiering to fight for their lives being... played for comedy? kinda gross & weird. child soldier (at the end this time) being played for heartwarming, going into a war zone alongside her dad? kinda gross & weird.
the end to the zeus interaction is so weird. the crew just KILLS THE KING OF THE GODS (as far as they know) and nobody really bats an eye? i thought these were the good guys?? zeus and (some # of) these gods are real pricks, but murdering the guy in charge and running away is kind of not an awesome move for the cause of good? look, i know thor & crew were fighting in self-defense (mostly), but we're getting into Thermian Argument territory. i'm less concerned w thor's actions as a fictional character, but more wondering why did the filmmakers choose to have their hero straight up murder (so he thought) zeus instead of just incapacitating/stunning/etc. him? very odd tonal choice to just leave there on a slaying, kind of lampshade it for comedy, and bolt off for Starship Cruise Deluxe.
*(glad you remembered the pinned Serious Something, which is not fully formed in the first five minutes but eventually solidified) villainguy brings up an interesting combination of nihilism and commentary on the nature of power/authority/rulers, but this interesting juxtaposition is kind of quashed. it doesn't get much development/screen time, thor is foregone to win, nobody on team goodguy is meaningfully swayed by anything he says, the commentary on the nature of power isn't really expanded on, etc. (and he gets very quickly redeemed in the climax by uh the power of love (cliche-free) (i promise)) (also his powers seem to range from pedestrian to overpowering As The Plot Demands)
king valkyrie is sick but kind of uh tags along with our costars
eternity's existence (and villain-guy pursuing him_ dramatically alters the stakes but the movie doesn't lend this escalation sufficient gravitas. in general it was hard to take the idea of "godslaying" as seriously and deeply as the movie seemed to want.
uhh i did a lot of complaining but there were good parts for sure. it's harder to talk about them more concretely. i liked the goats hehe. thor and foster were a good leading duo. there were definitely strong moments. most obviously to me, when evil-guy got to eternity first and argued with/taunted thor, thor goes "you're gonna kill me, so im going to spend time with the person i love instead of fucking around with you for nothing" (but better said). honestly i found this a pretty powerful moment and was def my favorite part of the film. it kind of steps outside the standard "fight the bad guy" dynamic and flow in a jarring but very believable / realistic / compelling / meaningful way that starkly evidences thor's growth thru the movie. i also liked star lord going all sincerity mode at the beginning to try and set thor right, and how his words eventually come to help him out. and queen valkyrie kicking ass in new asgard as like a competent leader / response team element was great. love to see it.
so yeah these are words i have typed
[/spoiler]
thor love and thunder - 6/10 for me too. the pitch meeting vid on youtube surprisingly nails a lot of my gripes with this movie
to the people who have issues with how the villain was portrayed - it's the typical 1 movie and done villain so they don't care
the movie seemed a lot of filling for "thor getting from where you last saw him to where we want you to see him in the next movie" instead of being a fleshed out story in itself.
also the fights are somehow just so bland. whoever needs to win in that moment for the plot just does something to overpower the opponent and not even in a dbz shouty way
to the people who have issues with how the villain was portrayed - it's the typical 1 movie and done villain so they don't care
the movie seemed a lot of filling for "thor getting from where you last saw him to where we want you to see him in the next movie" instead of being a fleshed out story in itself.
also the fights are somehow just so bland. whoever needs to win in that moment for the plot just does something to overpower the opponent and not even in a dbz shouty way
I saw Nope as well, it was p watchable, however the ending failed to deliver an emotional pay-out which may have been the point (so meta!!1). Get Out and Us were masterful, and made clear advancements in psychological horror. But Nope seemed to me to be a gimmick and not without pretensions. It is an entertaining film capable of capturing the audience, but even if the point was to lose the audience at the precise peak of the suspense I think it just does not end up making any legible comments on psychological horror the way the other Jordan Peele films do. But probably I am just too dumb.
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Fishy
tits McGee (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
forgive me not actually elaborating on why i came to my concluuuusionI liked Nope, it's a different ''horror'' and a movie full of enigmas/hidden messages. It has good photography and that ending is left to the imagination of each one.
Edit; He lowered his average on Letterboxd. A minute of silence pls.
but i admit i was attempting to coax a reaction/prompt discussion by FORCE!!!my main and largest gripe with Nope is that i didn't believe in the character of the protagonist whatsoever. he is introduced as perhaps a sullen black man with a chip in his shoulder as he attempts to continue the legacy of one of the first black men ever filmed on camera because of x, where x = managing and tending to horses in hollywood. he attempts to do this with the help of his adorable sister with her own interests and energy, and he exists in the modern world. that's great, interesting, i'm down. surely this is a whole, complete person with a range of emotion in what will amount to be a suspenseful film! what i could not stomach, then, is that our protagonist isn't really phased by anything that happens to him throughout the plot.
1) apparently, aliens are real or at least "the elite" (in this case, Hollywood child stars and that ilk?) agree they're real and they just profit off of it by having a strange little amusement town wherein you can sit in a small outside theater and catch The Show. protag happens to be the guy who sells horses to this amusement town for the sake of... sacrifice to the aliens? for the sake of... entertainment? maybe this explains why he was so quickly able to express disbelief about aliens and then be (quite easily) swayed to the side of "okay, how do we defeat it?" and go hero mode? but i don't BELIEVE he wants to defeat the alien for any reason better than "it's my duty bc i grew up training horses so i got this." ???
2) coincidentally i watched "The Watch" within a few days of watching Nope, and not even with the express intent to compare the two because i went into The Watch completely blind!! in The Watch, the main protagonist and his rowdy gang he collects in the first half of the movie have begun a neighborhood watch because there's a Disturbance in their little town (a murder!) and they hope to solve it bc all cops are bad(see: incompetent). it just so happens that the murderer is an alien, and they spend the second half of the movie actively coping with the fact that it's a fucking alien while also trying to figure out how to defeat it. this huge contrast alone made me review Nope again in my head and think (haha, wait for it: nope!!!!!!!
2) coincidentally i watched "The Watch" within a few days of watching Nope, and not even with the express intent to compare the two because i went into The Watch completely blind!! in The Watch, the main protagonist and his rowdy gang he collects in the first half of the movie have begun a neighborhood watch because there's a Disturbance in their little town (a murder!) and they hope to solve it bc all cops are bad(see: incompetent). it just so happens that the murderer is an alien, and they spend the second half of the movie actively coping with the fact that it's a fucking alien while also trying to figure out how to defeat it. this huge contrast alone made me review Nope again in my head and think (haha, wait for it: nope!!!!!!!
i have more thoughts but i don't want to make my whole post a spoiler sooo :3
Nope felt engaging for all the wrong reasons, like i was unsettled but not because there was any eerie/artful synchronicity of visuals and sound, moreso that whatever messages and greater commentary Peele felt he was sewing into the movie was either contradicting itself by not maintaining continuity even for the length of the movie, or simply made too murky by attempting to squeeze so many themes together at once. i wanted the interesting story of a guy with a smallish life and narrow scope of HIS reality in THIS movie universe, and it seemed so farfetched that his character didn't develop in any meaningful way on screen based on the events around him.
i'm not even gonna mention the fucking shiny helmet, that was like visual noise, very odd (what the *uck!!)
I liked Nope. I don't think it's gimmicky or pretentious at all. It's his most spectacle-driven, yes, but that spectacle is very much part of the point - it's interrogating cinematic spectacle and its history.
One of the biggest things it explores is the detachment of seeing something through a camera / screen, which leads to exploitation in the name of a Big Show, versus the jarring terror of experiencing it in real life. This is a recurring element throughout the film. It's most apparent in Steven Yeoh's character; first, we see the remains of the chimpanzee attack through the sitcom camera, then we see a young Yeoh actually experiencing it, then we see Yeoh as an adult being so traumatized that, in turn, he attempts to deal with it by exploiting it himself (including using one of Daniel Kaluuya's horses, much like the Hollywood crew at the beginning). Other characters - the cinematographer, the TMZ guy, the audience that comes to see Yeoh's show (who, of course, film it with their phones) - all want to see and participate in the spectacle / exploitation.
The aforementioned Hollywood crew at the beginning, self-absorbed and insensitive to Kaluuya's horse, is similar in this vein, except their solipsistic behavior winds up in Kaluuya and Keke Palmer being fired despite not doing anything to merit it.
The chimpanzee sitcom tells a different-yet-similar tale; if I remember correctly, that whole segment even ends with the chimpanzee looking directly into the sitcom camera.
Another important note:
We can even see this theme in the Bible verse that opens the film: "I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile and make you a spectacle."
The movie isn't just all subtleties and concept, though; Peele thoroughly delivers on the story's necessarily ferocious horror via the most overwhelming, horrifying images he's conjured thus far.
Re Kaluuya not being big and open about any development; I think it's there, he just plays it very low-key, and this seems intentional, given the film's neo-Western aspects. The stoic cowboy. He's basically Clint Eastwood placed into a John Carpenter-esque tale of mysterious cosmic horror. There's so much going on here thematically; it all comes together beautifully, and the vision is delivered with a precise blend of grace and force by a confidently unique authorial voice in equal measure...I really dug it.
Glad to see some discussion here again! I will also give mentions to Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave, which I thought was excellent, and Claire Denis' Both Sides of the Blade, which I'm really looking forward to. Has anyone else seen either?
One of the biggest things it explores is the detachment of seeing something through a camera / screen, which leads to exploitation in the name of a Big Show, versus the jarring terror of experiencing it in real life. This is a recurring element throughout the film. It's most apparent in Steven Yeoh's character; first, we see the remains of the chimpanzee attack through the sitcom camera, then we see a young Yeoh actually experiencing it, then we see Yeoh as an adult being so traumatized that, in turn, he attempts to deal with it by exploiting it himself (including using one of Daniel Kaluuya's horses, much like the Hollywood crew at the beginning). Other characters - the cinematographer, the TMZ guy, the audience that comes to see Yeoh's show (who, of course, film it with their phones) - all want to see and participate in the spectacle / exploitation.
They are all, of course, devoured by the alien - no longer a spectacle, but a real, tangible terror.
The aforementioned Hollywood crew at the beginning, self-absorbed and insensitive to Kaluuya's horse, is similar in this vein, except their solipsistic behavior winds up in Kaluuya and Keke Palmer being fired despite not doing anything to merit it.
The alien even devours the horses...
The chimpanzee sitcom tells a different-yet-similar tale; if I remember correctly, that whole segment even ends with the chimpanzee looking directly into the sitcom camera.
Another important note:
Kaluuya successfully hides from the monster - the spectacle - by not looking at it.
We can even see this theme in the Bible verse that opens the film: "I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile and make you a spectacle."
The movie isn't just all subtleties and concept, though; Peele thoroughly delivers on the story's necessarily ferocious horror via the most overwhelming, horrifying images he's conjured thus far.
The shots of the people trapped inside the monster are the highlight of the movie - have a Carpenter-esque quality of brutal, crushing claustrophobia and near-incomprehensible cosmic terror.
Blood raining down on the house was similarly striking. Complete triumph of all-enveloping atmosphere.
Finally, this one's not as out-and-out scary, but the (gorgeous) wide shots of the gulch, coupled with beautifully fluid movement in unbroken shots that capture both the paranoia of waiting for not just something, but something potentially unfathomable up there, anywhere in that enormous sky, and eventually the transient attempt to grasp a sight of the the alien weaving in and out of the clouds...I would argue this is the best filmmaking of his career.
Blood raining down on the house was similarly striking. Complete triumph of all-enveloping atmosphere.
Finally, this one's not as out-and-out scary, but the (gorgeous) wide shots of the gulch, coupled with beautifully fluid movement in unbroken shots that capture both the paranoia of waiting for not just something, but something potentially unfathomable up there, anywhere in that enormous sky, and eventually the transient attempt to grasp a sight of the the alien weaving in and out of the clouds...I would argue this is the best filmmaking of his career.
Re Kaluuya not being big and open about any development; I think it's there, he just plays it very low-key, and this seems intentional, given the film's neo-Western aspects. The stoic cowboy. He's basically Clint Eastwood placed into a John Carpenter-esque tale of mysterious cosmic horror. There's so much going on here thematically; it all comes together beautifully, and the vision is delivered with a precise blend of grace and force by a confidently unique authorial voice in equal measure...I really dug it.
Glad to see some discussion here again! I will also give mentions to Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave, which I thought was excellent, and Claire Denis' Both Sides of the Blade, which I'm really looking forward to. Has anyone else seen either?
So I haven't gotten a chance to watch "NOPE" yet as my heart is not the strongest organ in the human body but I finally got around to watching a few films! The one I'd like to talk about the most right now is "Everything Everywhere all at Once"! Absolutely phenomenal film that quite frankly, I don't think I've properly figured everything about the film myself yet, so I'll probably rewatch it sometime again! But I'm sooooo glad Michelle Yeoh finally got her chance to attain success in the international stage! (Yeah Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was successful internationally, but it was still largely an eastern production).
I appreciate that the nihilism/depression felt by Joy is relatable to a lot of people, there's a lot of emptiness behind knowing that in the grand scheme of things, what you do doesn't matter, with the whole "illusion of freedom" and all, but also deeper images of just depression with "I'm tired"... The imagery of self-harm through the transitions is also very poignant in spite of the goofiness of the style, gosh darn I love it when scenes portray pain and suffering in such a happy style. It'
Another note is I love all the references to other films! From Michelle Yeoh's actual career starting out, success AND THEY EVEN REFERENCED IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE WITH THE SCENE DIRECTING AAAAAAA. When Wang in another life met Evelyn but they never ever shared the screen in spite of being so close to each otherrrr,,,, AND THE ONLY TIME THEY SHARED A SCREEN IN THAT WAS WHEN THE SHADOW CASTS THE MOST DARKNESS UPON THEM SDGFLKLOK
God what a solid film. 9/10 it's still not "In the Mood for Love."
I appreciate that the nihilism/depression felt by Joy is relatable to a lot of people, there's a lot of emptiness behind knowing that in the grand scheme of things, what you do doesn't matter, with the whole "illusion of freedom" and all, but also deeper images of just depression with "I'm tired"... The imagery of self-harm through the transitions is also very poignant in spite of the goofiness of the style, gosh darn I love it when scenes portray pain and suffering in such a happy style. It'
Another note is I love all the references to other films! From Michelle Yeoh's actual career starting out, success AND THEY EVEN REFERENCED IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE WITH THE SCENE DIRECTING AAAAAAA. When Wang in another life met Evelyn but they never ever shared the screen in spite of being so close to each otherrrr,,,, AND THE ONLY TIME THEY SHARED A SCREEN IN THAT WAS WHEN THE SHADOW CASTS THE MOST DARKNESS UPON THEM SDGFLKLOK
God what a solid film. 9/10 it's still not "In the Mood for Love."
I haven't seen either, but I have been recommended "Decision to Leave" before! I'm not usually a big fan of thrillers but I'm willing to try something new if it has good scene directing!
Jeong
Banned deucer.
Well, I didn't quite like "Everything Everywhere all at Once", I guess it's a film that is divided a lot and depending on how you see it, you may or may not like it. Of course, it has a nice message and funny scenes even if they are a bit "wtf"
Can we talk about Blonde? How satisfying to see how your average in Letterboxd drops every day. Literally when I saw it it was on 2.9 and now 2.2 lol. It's honestly normal, what I can't understand is that there are people who really liked it. Surely most of them are lmao men. The positive point is the great performance of Ana de Armas as Marilyn. Too bad it was this time. She deserves every award she receives.
Can we talk about Blonde? How satisfying to see how your average in Letterboxd drops every day. Literally when I saw it it was on 2.9 and now 2.2 lol. It's honestly normal, what I can't understand is that there are people who really liked it. Surely most of them are lmao men. The positive point is the great performance of Ana de Armas as Marilyn. Too bad it was this time. She deserves every award she receives.
It's a shame because I feel like a lot of these films specifically meant to portray the life of a known artist (Musician, actor, etc.) always ends up being oversensualized in some way, and even though the acting of the main character can be great, the story itself falls apart nonetheless. I appreciate the approach to grayscale, and the scene directing is pretty good at times! Reminiscent of films like Bohemian Rhaspody in some ways, although in this case, Blonde is especially not great.
In other news, I rewatched "Farewell my Concubine" once again, and Leslie Cheung is as beautiful as the day he left us. I highly recommend it but I'm very biased towards sinosphere films. Although, I've heard Elvis was a pretty good film, so I will give it a watch!
It's November, my favorite month - and time to do this again! col49 trc Eagle4 Tomahawk bunnyy Triangles BIHI and of course anyone else who'd like to join in!
I figured, rather than post all-time favorite lists which likely haven't changed too much since the last time (or at least, mine hasn't) - though if anyone wants to do that please feel free - I would instead take a cue from what col/Eagle did last time and request your favorite films you've seen since last year (no limit to how many!) and / or 2) the horror movies you watched in October!
I'll start with the latter, as I personally wanted to do one of those challenges where you watch one horror movie you haven't seen before for each day of the month. On Letterboxd, it's referred to as Hooptober, and I started mine off with a rewatch - not part of the challenge, but what better way to kick things off than the Texas Chain Saw Massacre? I then followed that up with:
I also really enjoyed these two horror (slasher in particular)-adjacent movies: Robert Harmon's The Hitcher, which features Rutger Hauer in perfect form, and Anthony Waller's Mute Witness, which I'd go so far as to say out-de Palmas de Palma; I think it was my favorite movie of the month. Also, Alex Winter & Tom Stern's Freaked - featuring the truly unbelievable makeup talent of Screaming Mad George, whose work in Brian Yuzna's Society is some of the most bonkers stuff you'll ever see - is absolutely hilarious.
Finally, I concluded this terrific month with one of my favorite movie theater experiences ever - seeing all three of the original Evil Dead trilogy on the big screen. They're still the best. Groovy, even.
Now, here are my very favorite films I've seen for the first time since exactly one year ago (in order of having seen, not ranking). There was a lot more I'd love to have included but I tried to restrain myself (lol) (also didn't include any of the movies mentioned above). It's been an amazing year of discovery!
Looking forward to what everyone else has been seeing!
Finally, Albert Serra's Pacifiction is my favorite film of the year (thus far). Seek it out!!!
CINEMA!!!!!
I figured, rather than post all-time favorite lists which likely haven't changed too much since the last time (or at least, mine hasn't) - though if anyone wants to do that please feel free - I would instead take a cue from what col/Eagle did last time and request your favorite films you've seen since last year (no limit to how many!) and / or 2) the horror movies you watched in October!
I'll start with the latter, as I personally wanted to do one of those challenges where you watch one horror movie you haven't seen before for each day of the month. On Letterboxd, it's referred to as Hooptober, and I started mine off with a rewatch - not part of the challenge, but what better way to kick things off than the Texas Chain Saw Massacre? I then followed that up with:
1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986, Tobe Hooper) - okay. I appreciate what they were trying to do with the bigger, more bombastic and sensational approach - conceptually, it's great - but the execution was subpar; felt dragged out rather than as urgent and over-the-top as its premise would suggest. Dennis Hopper having a chainsaw battle against Leatherface managed to be...lifeless and drab. Had its moments but didn't quite work for me.
2. Toolbox Murders (2004, Tobe Hooper) - enjoyed its grimy claustrophobia quite a bit!
3. The Mangler (1995, Tobe Hooper) - decent. Started off strong - the soul-crushing factory machine evolving into a more physical threat was great - but the film definitely overstays its welcome.
4. The Funhouse (1981, Tobe Hooper) - okay. Again, really liked the idea, but it wasn't as sharply aggressive as it needed to be for the impact to really sting - meandered quite a bit. Beautifully shot, though. Hooper doesn't get enough credit for how great his movies look; that's what does a lot of the heavy lifting in creating the atmosphere here. Sadly, the rest doesn't deliver strongly enough.
5. Eaten Alive (1976, Tobe Hooper) - amazing! Rivals TCM for me. Absolutely gorgeous-looking, which results in thoroughly evocative, foggy paranoia which quickly escalates into blunt terror. A vivid, tactile, fully swampy nightmare.
6. The Death King (1990, Jörg Buttgereit) - good. An off-kilter approach brings out the disturbing nature of the story and especially the images.
7. Dark Glasses (2022, Dario Argento) - pleasantly surprised! Sensitive and well-crafted but no less fierce.
8. The House by the Cemetery (1981, Lucio Fulci) - like The Beyond, this has seriously powerful atmosphere, but leans too much into the overtly goofy for the fear to stick as much as it could've, as opposed to the fully-committed fusion of the two you might find in something like Evil Dead. Still - hits some really great spots! Also, I refused to let this affect my overall appreciation of the film, but the dubbing for the kid is seriously horrible. Despite its flaws, a fine movie.
9. City of the Living Dead (1980, Lucio Fulci) - pretty much the same as the above.
10. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972, Lucio Fulci) - liked this one a bit more. It's not as silly, eschewing the oft-distracting irony of the previous two on this list; instead, it twists and turns its way through a hazy, uncertain setting, folk horror-esque in its dive to find the hidden darkness secretly perverting the idyllic.
11. Steel and Lace (1991, Ernest D. Farino) - loved it! A revenge story tinged by sadness, betrayal, anger and helplessness, silently howling its way through with gazes and steel both ice-cold as flesh is ripped apart.
12. The Ice Demon (2021, Ivan Kapitonov) - did not like. speaking of betrayal, the incredible poster for this movie, which is very in line with the title - and even the opening scene - had me thinking I was in for an entirely different film. I didn't mind the premise of what the movie actually was, but I did mind the trite, going-through-the-motions direction it was delivered with. Alina Babak's performance was pretty much the only thing here with any life or personality.
13. Kicking Blood (2021, Blaine Thurier) - enjoyed! Perhaps a little too leaning into its self-conscious hip indie-ness, but I found this to have a lot of heart.
14. The Children (1980, Max Kalmanowicz) - okay. Intriguing premise which is then delivered on via an appropriately suspenseful build-up for a bunch of killer kids flying around, but the impacts don't quite land as hard as they needs to. Furthermore, the film's in-between spaces are generally lifeless to the point where you realize it's just going through what it considers to be obligatory filler before getting back to "the good stuff" and that is decidedly not the way to go. The opening is effective, and the zombie movie it turns into near the end is solid, but the movie doesn't care about most of what happens in between, and the overall result is lackluster.
15. Berserker (1987, Jefferson Richard) - really pleasantly surprised! I was not expecting this to turn into a quasi-ambient drone of a slasher (reminiscent of something like the amazing Sorority House Massacre) but that's exactly what it was, and it was executed wonderfully. Takes some interesting narrative paths, too. Dug it.
16. The Omen (1976, Richard Donner) - mixed. Most of the delivery is too staid for this story. It tells of a labyrinthine, hellishly manic paranoia fraught with biblically ominous terror, but doesn't show it. When it turns violent, it is utterly vicious, and the effect is appropriately disturbing - but it's too restrained to be as intense as the tale it's telling.
17. Saint Maud (2019, Rose Glass) - decent. Most of my issues with The Omen apply here as well, though I think this one is delivered better overall. I enjoyed it overall, but feel disappointed in that it could've been so much better. The final image is so powerful - I just wish it lasted longer than half a second.
18. Black Sunday (1960, Mario Bava) - utterly phenomenal. Beautifully mesmerizing, transfixing, a triumph of all-enveloping atmosphere. Absolutely adored it. Instant favorite.
19. The Burning (1981, Tony Maylam) - great! Genuinely engaging throughout, with actual personality to the characters - and when the killer shows up, the sequences are among the most kinetically savage I've seen. Surprised by how inwardly conflicted it was, too. Dug it quite a lot.
20. Curtains (1983, Richard Ciupka) - enjoyed! Taut and bitingly critical.
21. The Keep (1983, Michael Mann) - really enjoyed! Despite some minor residual complaints, the audiovisual atmosphere is off the charts, compensating for pretty much all of them and then some. I wish Mann made more films in this vein.
22. The Mother of Tears (2007, Dario Argento) - meager. Surprising in ways because for the most part it's by-the-numbers and forgettable - Argento doing Argento plot without the Argento approach that makes his best films so incredible - then in the last third or so it descends into an extended sequence so tense and evocative that feels like it's from a different film, like one where Argento does actually take the usual Argento approach. Lot of potential, sadly squandered.
23. Black Christmas (1974, Bob Clark) - incredible. Not only does it do everything you could want in a slasher as perfectly as you could want, it does more. It dives in so deeply, with such commitment and emotion, dragging you in mercilessly and never relenting, just going further and further and further - in a way, it doesn't even "end." I can't wait to return to this. Another instant favorite.
24. Hagazussa (2017, Lukas Feigelfeld) - enjoyed! Akin to Antichrist and The VVitch in a slow cinema style sparse in dialogue. Extremely up my alley.
25. Dark Waters (1993, Mariano Baino) - enjoyed! An intense descent of religious fervor and betrayal in the uncertain spaces of hellish convents and catacombs.
26. Dark Water (2002, Hideo Nakata) - good. Domestic drama as horror movie done right. As always with the Japanese horror movies of the late 90s/early 00s, the atmosphere is palpable through the sparse, vaguely foreboding city sounds and low-light grainy visuals portraying its quotidian settings into something naturally, insidiously ominous.
27. Mister Designer (1987, Oleg Teptsov) - good. Lavish and stately before descending into a feverish, whirling extended climax.
28. The Untamed (2016, Amat Escalante) - good. The Possession influence is obviously great but Escalante makes this all his own.
29. Phantasm (1979, Don Coscarelli) - mixed. For most of its runtime, I was positively underwhelmed...then the last fifteen minutes came around and threw me into a proto-Beyond the Black Rainbow nightmare. I wish the film was more like that. I felt similarly about the Evil Dead remake, whose incredible climax was preceded by what felt more like obligation than interest.
30. The Mutilator (1984, Buddy Cooper) - did not like. Visceral when the time strikes, but settles for next to nothing besides that.
31. Chopping Mall (1986, Jim Wynorski) - absolutely loved. Wacky and over-the-top without easing up on the brutality. Reminded me of Verhoeven in the best way possible.
32. Bliss (2019, Joe Begos) - really enjoyed! Kind of like Kicking Blood in that it's a little too self-consciously indie, but this one bypasses that problem by going all-in on atmospherics, which are on full, immersive display throughout. A great time.
33. Messiah of Evil (1973, Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz) - decent. I wish it was more, because the unsettling, quasi-dreamy giallo style of this movie is really great, theoretically - and there are moments where it really hits its stride. It just doesn't maintain it throughout, unfortunately. That said, it's intriguing enough to where I think I might glean more from revisiting it.
34. Vampires (1998, John Carpenter) - enjoyed! No idea why this isn't more well-regarded within Carpenter's oeuvre - it's incredibly tight. Really liked the pacing, the action and horror aspects are classic John C, and the performances are standouts; James Woods kills it up and down, and a perfectly cast Sheryl Lee is absolutely amazing.
35. Satanic Panic (2019, Chelsea Stardust) - did not like. Had some promise at first, and I particularly liked what Hayley Griffith, Rebecca Romijn and a brief-yet-hilarious Jerry O'Connell were doing. Sadly, the uninspired execution let that and the intriguing premise down.
36. Daniel Isn't Real (2019, Adam Egypt Mortimer) - decent. Really straddles that line where I'm not sure how much I like it - what first comes to mind is the initial, rather generic approach to a teen movie, but then I remember how genuinely depraved it gets, and then I kind of go back and forth - I don't think it's quite a bait-and-switch considering it maintains that teen movie feel...but overall, interesting and worthwhile.
37. The Endless (2017, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead) - mixed. The opposite of the above; starts really engaging and then loses itself along the way, with overlong meandering sapping it of the impact it tells of yet doesn't show - until the end, which does deliver on that...all too briefly before returning to its previous, lukewarm territory. Frustrating because of what it could've been.
38. The Eyes of My Mother (2016, Nicolas Pesce) - enjoyed! Maybe could've been fleshed out a little more, but the sparse approach is great and it's delivered well with heavy silences punctuated by invasively disturbing moments, with terrifically immersive cinematography throughout.
39. The Slayer (1982, J. S. Cardone) - decent. Nicely atmospheric and the main character is fantastic - it's a shame everyone else is so thin. Enjoyed, but lamenting the missed potential.
40. Pieces (1982, Juan Piquer Simón) - decent. I mostly feel the same as the above, except switch the main character with the killer.
2. Toolbox Murders (2004, Tobe Hooper) - enjoyed its grimy claustrophobia quite a bit!
3. The Mangler (1995, Tobe Hooper) - decent. Started off strong - the soul-crushing factory machine evolving into a more physical threat was great - but the film definitely overstays its welcome.
4. The Funhouse (1981, Tobe Hooper) - okay. Again, really liked the idea, but it wasn't as sharply aggressive as it needed to be for the impact to really sting - meandered quite a bit. Beautifully shot, though. Hooper doesn't get enough credit for how great his movies look; that's what does a lot of the heavy lifting in creating the atmosphere here. Sadly, the rest doesn't deliver strongly enough.
5. Eaten Alive (1976, Tobe Hooper) - amazing! Rivals TCM for me. Absolutely gorgeous-looking, which results in thoroughly evocative, foggy paranoia which quickly escalates into blunt terror. A vivid, tactile, fully swampy nightmare.
6. The Death King (1990, Jörg Buttgereit) - good. An off-kilter approach brings out the disturbing nature of the story and especially the images.
7. Dark Glasses (2022, Dario Argento) - pleasantly surprised! Sensitive and well-crafted but no less fierce.
8. The House by the Cemetery (1981, Lucio Fulci) - like The Beyond, this has seriously powerful atmosphere, but leans too much into the overtly goofy for the fear to stick as much as it could've, as opposed to the fully-committed fusion of the two you might find in something like Evil Dead. Still - hits some really great spots! Also, I refused to let this affect my overall appreciation of the film, but the dubbing for the kid is seriously horrible. Despite its flaws, a fine movie.
9. City of the Living Dead (1980, Lucio Fulci) - pretty much the same as the above.
10. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972, Lucio Fulci) - liked this one a bit more. It's not as silly, eschewing the oft-distracting irony of the previous two on this list; instead, it twists and turns its way through a hazy, uncertain setting, folk horror-esque in its dive to find the hidden darkness secretly perverting the idyllic.
11. Steel and Lace (1991, Ernest D. Farino) - loved it! A revenge story tinged by sadness, betrayal, anger and helplessness, silently howling its way through with gazes and steel both ice-cold as flesh is ripped apart.
12. The Ice Demon (2021, Ivan Kapitonov) - did not like. speaking of betrayal, the incredible poster for this movie, which is very in line with the title - and even the opening scene - had me thinking I was in for an entirely different film. I didn't mind the premise of what the movie actually was, but I did mind the trite, going-through-the-motions direction it was delivered with. Alina Babak's performance was pretty much the only thing here with any life or personality.
13. Kicking Blood (2021, Blaine Thurier) - enjoyed! Perhaps a little too leaning into its self-conscious hip indie-ness, but I found this to have a lot of heart.
14. The Children (1980, Max Kalmanowicz) - okay. Intriguing premise which is then delivered on via an appropriately suspenseful build-up for a bunch of killer kids flying around, but the impacts don't quite land as hard as they needs to. Furthermore, the film's in-between spaces are generally lifeless to the point where you realize it's just going through what it considers to be obligatory filler before getting back to "the good stuff" and that is decidedly not the way to go. The opening is effective, and the zombie movie it turns into near the end is solid, but the movie doesn't care about most of what happens in between, and the overall result is lackluster.
15. Berserker (1987, Jefferson Richard) - really pleasantly surprised! I was not expecting this to turn into a quasi-ambient drone of a slasher (reminiscent of something like the amazing Sorority House Massacre) but that's exactly what it was, and it was executed wonderfully. Takes some interesting narrative paths, too. Dug it.
16. The Omen (1976, Richard Donner) - mixed. Most of the delivery is too staid for this story. It tells of a labyrinthine, hellishly manic paranoia fraught with biblically ominous terror, but doesn't show it. When it turns violent, it is utterly vicious, and the effect is appropriately disturbing - but it's too restrained to be as intense as the tale it's telling.
17. Saint Maud (2019, Rose Glass) - decent. Most of my issues with The Omen apply here as well, though I think this one is delivered better overall. I enjoyed it overall, but feel disappointed in that it could've been so much better. The final image is so powerful - I just wish it lasted longer than half a second.
18. Black Sunday (1960, Mario Bava) - utterly phenomenal. Beautifully mesmerizing, transfixing, a triumph of all-enveloping atmosphere. Absolutely adored it. Instant favorite.
19. The Burning (1981, Tony Maylam) - great! Genuinely engaging throughout, with actual personality to the characters - and when the killer shows up, the sequences are among the most kinetically savage I've seen. Surprised by how inwardly conflicted it was, too. Dug it quite a lot.
20. Curtains (1983, Richard Ciupka) - enjoyed! Taut and bitingly critical.
21. The Keep (1983, Michael Mann) - really enjoyed! Despite some minor residual complaints, the audiovisual atmosphere is off the charts, compensating for pretty much all of them and then some. I wish Mann made more films in this vein.
22. The Mother of Tears (2007, Dario Argento) - meager. Surprising in ways because for the most part it's by-the-numbers and forgettable - Argento doing Argento plot without the Argento approach that makes his best films so incredible - then in the last third or so it descends into an extended sequence so tense and evocative that feels like it's from a different film, like one where Argento does actually take the usual Argento approach. Lot of potential, sadly squandered.
23. Black Christmas (1974, Bob Clark) - incredible. Not only does it do everything you could want in a slasher as perfectly as you could want, it does more. It dives in so deeply, with such commitment and emotion, dragging you in mercilessly and never relenting, just going further and further and further - in a way, it doesn't even "end." I can't wait to return to this. Another instant favorite.
24. Hagazussa (2017, Lukas Feigelfeld) - enjoyed! Akin to Antichrist and The VVitch in a slow cinema style sparse in dialogue. Extremely up my alley.
25. Dark Waters (1993, Mariano Baino) - enjoyed! An intense descent of religious fervor and betrayal in the uncertain spaces of hellish convents and catacombs.
26. Dark Water (2002, Hideo Nakata) - good. Domestic drama as horror movie done right. As always with the Japanese horror movies of the late 90s/early 00s, the atmosphere is palpable through the sparse, vaguely foreboding city sounds and low-light grainy visuals portraying its quotidian settings into something naturally, insidiously ominous.
27. Mister Designer (1987, Oleg Teptsov) - good. Lavish and stately before descending into a feverish, whirling extended climax.
28. The Untamed (2016, Amat Escalante) - good. The Possession influence is obviously great but Escalante makes this all his own.
29. Phantasm (1979, Don Coscarelli) - mixed. For most of its runtime, I was positively underwhelmed...then the last fifteen minutes came around and threw me into a proto-Beyond the Black Rainbow nightmare. I wish the film was more like that. I felt similarly about the Evil Dead remake, whose incredible climax was preceded by what felt more like obligation than interest.
30. The Mutilator (1984, Buddy Cooper) - did not like. Visceral when the time strikes, but settles for next to nothing besides that.
31. Chopping Mall (1986, Jim Wynorski) - absolutely loved. Wacky and over-the-top without easing up on the brutality. Reminded me of Verhoeven in the best way possible.
32. Bliss (2019, Joe Begos) - really enjoyed! Kind of like Kicking Blood in that it's a little too self-consciously indie, but this one bypasses that problem by going all-in on atmospherics, which are on full, immersive display throughout. A great time.
33. Messiah of Evil (1973, Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz) - decent. I wish it was more, because the unsettling, quasi-dreamy giallo style of this movie is really great, theoretically - and there are moments where it really hits its stride. It just doesn't maintain it throughout, unfortunately. That said, it's intriguing enough to where I think I might glean more from revisiting it.
34. Vampires (1998, John Carpenter) - enjoyed! No idea why this isn't more well-regarded within Carpenter's oeuvre - it's incredibly tight. Really liked the pacing, the action and horror aspects are classic John C, and the performances are standouts; James Woods kills it up and down, and a perfectly cast Sheryl Lee is absolutely amazing.
35. Satanic Panic (2019, Chelsea Stardust) - did not like. Had some promise at first, and I particularly liked what Hayley Griffith, Rebecca Romijn and a brief-yet-hilarious Jerry O'Connell were doing. Sadly, the uninspired execution let that and the intriguing premise down.
36. Daniel Isn't Real (2019, Adam Egypt Mortimer) - decent. Really straddles that line where I'm not sure how much I like it - what first comes to mind is the initial, rather generic approach to a teen movie, but then I remember how genuinely depraved it gets, and then I kind of go back and forth - I don't think it's quite a bait-and-switch considering it maintains that teen movie feel...but overall, interesting and worthwhile.
37. The Endless (2017, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead) - mixed. The opposite of the above; starts really engaging and then loses itself along the way, with overlong meandering sapping it of the impact it tells of yet doesn't show - until the end, which does deliver on that...all too briefly before returning to its previous, lukewarm territory. Frustrating because of what it could've been.
38. The Eyes of My Mother (2016, Nicolas Pesce) - enjoyed! Maybe could've been fleshed out a little more, but the sparse approach is great and it's delivered well with heavy silences punctuated by invasively disturbing moments, with terrifically immersive cinematography throughout.
39. The Slayer (1982, J. S. Cardone) - decent. Nicely atmospheric and the main character is fantastic - it's a shame everyone else is so thin. Enjoyed, but lamenting the missed potential.
40. Pieces (1982, Juan Piquer Simón) - decent. I mostly feel the same as the above, except switch the main character with the killer.
I also really enjoyed these two horror (slasher in particular)-adjacent movies: Robert Harmon's The Hitcher, which features Rutger Hauer in perfect form, and Anthony Waller's Mute Witness, which I'd go so far as to say out-de Palmas de Palma; I think it was my favorite movie of the month. Also, Alex Winter & Tom Stern's Freaked - featuring the truly unbelievable makeup talent of Screaming Mad George, whose work in Brian Yuzna's Society is some of the most bonkers stuff you'll ever see - is absolutely hilarious.
Finally, I concluded this terrific month with one of my favorite movie theater experiences ever - seeing all three of the original Evil Dead trilogy on the big screen. They're still the best. Groovy, even.
Now, here are my very favorite films I've seen for the first time since exactly one year ago (in order of having seen, not ranking). There was a lot more I'd love to have included but I tried to restrain myself (lol) (also didn't include any of the movies mentioned above). It's been an amazing year of discovery!
1. Carnival of Souls (1962, Herk Harvey)
2. Eyes Wide Shut (1999, Stanley Kubrick)
3. Paris, Texas (1984, Wim Wenders)
4. High and Low (1963, Akira Kurosawa)
5. Birth (2004, Jonathan Glazer)
6. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
7. The French Connection (1971, William Friedkin)
8. Blowout (1981, Brian de Palma)
9. Band of Outsiders (1964, Jean-Luc Godard)
10. Jigoku (1960, Nobuo Nakagawa)
11. Burning (2018, Lee Chang-dong)
12. The American Friend (1977, Wim Wenders)
13. Damnation (1988, Bela Tarr)
14. Censor (2021, Prano Bailey-Bond)
15. Fear X (2003, Nicolas Winding Refn)
16. Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 1960s in Brussels (1994, Chantal Akerman)
17. Jeanne Dielman (1975, Chantal Akerman)
18. Dead Man (1995, Jim Jarmusch)
19. Soy Cuba (1964, Mikhail Kalatazov)
20. A Woman Under the Influence (1974, John Cassavetes)
21. The Cranes are Flying (1957, Mikhail Kalatazov)
22. Letter Never Sent (1960, Mikhail Kalatazov)
23. The Double Life of Veronique (1991, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
24. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975, Peter Weir)
25. Twilight (1990, Gyorgy Feher) - if you even remotely like Bela Tarr this is a must-watch
26. The Human Condition (1961, Masaki Kobayashi) - I'm counting all three installments as one nine-hour film (as per most sources I could find), but even if you considered them three separate films they'd all be on this list. King Kobayashi.
27. Samurai Rebellion (1967, Masaki Kobayashi)
28. The Devil's Trap (1962, František Vláčil)
29. The Valley of the Bees (1968, František Vláčil)
30. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, Zhang Yimou)
31. Carrie (1976, Brian de Palma)
32. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl (2017, Masaaki Yuasa)
32. The Sword of Doom (1966, Kihachi Okamoto)
33. Thief (1981, Michael Mann)
34. Down by Law (1986, Jim Jarmusch)
35. Pulse (2001, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
36. Something Wild (1961, Jack Garfein)
37. Dreams (1990, Akira Kurosawa)
38. Rebels of the Neon God (1992, Tsai Ming-liang)
39. Belladonna of Sadness (1973, Eiichi Yamamoto)
40. The Meetings of Anna (1978, Chantal Akerman)
41. Kolobos (1999, Daniel Liatowitsch & David Todd Ocvirk)
42. Dream Demon (1988, Harley Cokeliss)
43. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Wes Craven)
44. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, Monte Hellman)
45. Casino (1995, Martin Scorsese)
46. Alice in the Cities (1974, Wim Wenders)
47. Beau travail (1999, Claire Denis) - previously, the most powerful ending to a movie I'd ever seen was L'eclisse's...and that one's still incredible beyond words. However, this tops it. As soon as it ended, I rewound and watched it five more times.
48. All the Colors of the Dark (1972, Sergio Martino)
49. Death by Hanging (1968, Nagisa Oshima)
50. Mother Joan of the Angels (1961, Jerzy Kawalerowicz)
51. The Silence (1963, Ingmar Bergman)
52. News From Home (1977, Chantal Akerman)
53. The Warped Ones (1960, Koreyoshi Kurahara)
54. Irma Vep (1996, Olivier Assayas)
55. Trouble Every Day (2001, Claire Denis)
56. Happening (2021, Audrey Diwan)
57. Inland Empire (2006, David Lynch)
58. The Wailing (2016, Na Hong-jin)
59. Le doulos (1962, Jean-Pierre Melville)
60. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, David Lynch)
61. Love Exposure (2008, Sion Sono)
62. How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989, Bruce Robinson)
63. August in the Water (1995, Gakuryu Ishii)
64. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, Celine Sciamma)
65. Maborosi (1995, Hirokazu Koreeda)
66. 3 Women (1977, Robert Altman)
67. Shoot the Piano Player (1960, Francois Truffaut)
68. Manchester by the Sea (2016, Kenneth Lonergan)
69. The Snow Woman (1968, Tokuzo Tanaka)
70. Phenomena (1985, Dario Argento)
71. Autumn Sonata (1978, Ingmar Bergman)
72. Red Moon Tide (2020, Lois Patiño)
73. A Visitor to a Museum (1989, Konstantin Lopushansky)
74. Hazard (2005, Sion Sono)
75. The Earrings of Madame de... (1953, Max Ophuls)
76. Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)
2. Eyes Wide Shut (1999, Stanley Kubrick)
3. Paris, Texas (1984, Wim Wenders)
4. High and Low (1963, Akira Kurosawa)
5. Birth (2004, Jonathan Glazer)
6. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
7. The French Connection (1971, William Friedkin)
8. Blowout (1981, Brian de Palma)
9. Band of Outsiders (1964, Jean-Luc Godard)
10. Jigoku (1960, Nobuo Nakagawa)
11. Burning (2018, Lee Chang-dong)
12. The American Friend (1977, Wim Wenders)
13. Damnation (1988, Bela Tarr)
14. Censor (2021, Prano Bailey-Bond)
15. Fear X (2003, Nicolas Winding Refn)
16. Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 1960s in Brussels (1994, Chantal Akerman)
17. Jeanne Dielman (1975, Chantal Akerman)
18. Dead Man (1995, Jim Jarmusch)
19. Soy Cuba (1964, Mikhail Kalatazov)
20. A Woman Under the Influence (1974, John Cassavetes)
21. The Cranes are Flying (1957, Mikhail Kalatazov)
22. Letter Never Sent (1960, Mikhail Kalatazov)
23. The Double Life of Veronique (1991, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
24. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975, Peter Weir)
25. Twilight (1990, Gyorgy Feher) - if you even remotely like Bela Tarr this is a must-watch
26. The Human Condition (1961, Masaki Kobayashi) - I'm counting all three installments as one nine-hour film (as per most sources I could find), but even if you considered them three separate films they'd all be on this list. King Kobayashi.
27. Samurai Rebellion (1967, Masaki Kobayashi)
28. The Devil's Trap (1962, František Vláčil)
29. The Valley of the Bees (1968, František Vláčil)
30. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, Zhang Yimou)
31. Carrie (1976, Brian de Palma)
32. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl (2017, Masaaki Yuasa)
32. The Sword of Doom (1966, Kihachi Okamoto)
33. Thief (1981, Michael Mann)
34. Down by Law (1986, Jim Jarmusch)
35. Pulse (2001, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
36. Something Wild (1961, Jack Garfein)
37. Dreams (1990, Akira Kurosawa)
38. Rebels of the Neon God (1992, Tsai Ming-liang)
39. Belladonna of Sadness (1973, Eiichi Yamamoto)
40. The Meetings of Anna (1978, Chantal Akerman)
41. Kolobos (1999, Daniel Liatowitsch & David Todd Ocvirk)
42. Dream Demon (1988, Harley Cokeliss)
43. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Wes Craven)
44. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, Monte Hellman)
45. Casino (1995, Martin Scorsese)
46. Alice in the Cities (1974, Wim Wenders)
47. Beau travail (1999, Claire Denis) - previously, the most powerful ending to a movie I'd ever seen was L'eclisse's...and that one's still incredible beyond words. However, this tops it. As soon as it ended, I rewound and watched it five more times.
48. All the Colors of the Dark (1972, Sergio Martino)
49. Death by Hanging (1968, Nagisa Oshima)
50. Mother Joan of the Angels (1961, Jerzy Kawalerowicz)
51. The Silence (1963, Ingmar Bergman)
52. News From Home (1977, Chantal Akerman)
53. The Warped Ones (1960, Koreyoshi Kurahara)
54. Irma Vep (1996, Olivier Assayas)
55. Trouble Every Day (2001, Claire Denis)
56. Happening (2021, Audrey Diwan)
57. Inland Empire (2006, David Lynch)
58. The Wailing (2016, Na Hong-jin)
59. Le doulos (1962, Jean-Pierre Melville)
60. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, David Lynch)
61. Love Exposure (2008, Sion Sono)
62. How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989, Bruce Robinson)
63. August in the Water (1995, Gakuryu Ishii)
64. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, Celine Sciamma)
65. Maborosi (1995, Hirokazu Koreeda)
66. 3 Women (1977, Robert Altman)
67. Shoot the Piano Player (1960, Francois Truffaut)
68. Manchester by the Sea (2016, Kenneth Lonergan)
69. The Snow Woman (1968, Tokuzo Tanaka)
70. Phenomena (1985, Dario Argento)
71. Autumn Sonata (1978, Ingmar Bergman)
72. Red Moon Tide (2020, Lois Patiño)
73. A Visitor to a Museum (1989, Konstantin Lopushansky)
74. Hazard (2005, Sion Sono)
75. The Earrings of Madame de... (1953, Max Ophuls)
76. Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)
Looking forward to what everyone else has been seeing!
Finally, Albert Serra's Pacifiction is my favorite film of the year (thus far). Seek it out!!!
CINEMA!!!!!
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Another day, another opportunity to continue bothering BKC about movies (and "showing off" the incredible number which I haven't seen). As the reason I've gotten back into watching and thinking about movies as much as I have lately, it's only right he bears the brunt of the annoyance, right?
Alright, horror movies in October! Some new, some old, hopefully some fresh titles for a lot of us. Unfortunately, I didn't clear one horror movie a day, but I think I did make it to at least one movie a day, so I'll take that.
Favorites from this year... I'll try to keep this one shorter, and definitely not in any sort of order. I'm just going off the cuff here. Please be kind if you see a movie on this list that I should've seen years ago, I clearly don't watch many movies.
I'll leave it there for now or I'll be late for work on this fine morning. Perhaps I'll edit this post throughout my workday as I reminisce on the power of the genre... Those are the ones that really stand out to me off the top of my head, though. I definitely didn't add four movies after writing that sentence, no sir. EDIT: I'm a big fat liar and I've gone back and added several movies... go figure.
As for my favorite release of 2022, I've gotta go with Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave, which I was fortunate enough to see in theaters this past weekend. What an experience!
Cheers, all
Alright, horror movies in October! Some new, some old, hopefully some fresh titles for a lot of us. Unfortunately, I didn't clear one horror movie a day, but I think I did make it to at least one movie a day, so I'll take that.
1. Pulse (2001, Kiyoshi Kurosawa) - Kurosawa is a master and I'm upset at myself that I didn't get to watch many, many more of his works throughout this month, but I was busy between work and watching other movies, for better or for worse. A unique concept with fantastic execution that had me from start to finish.
2. Exte: Hair Extensions (2007, Sion Sono) - Alright, I'll admit it: this one was just cuz I like Sono-san, or as Nic Cage calls him, the Warlock of Cinema. However, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be when I read the phrase "haunted hair extensions."
3. X (2022, Ti West) - Very fun spin on the TCSM formula. It felt a bit draggy at times, and you could tell they wanted to milk however much they paid Kid Cudi for his time, but not really many complaints from me on this one.
4. Thirst (2009, Park Chan-wook) - We come to our first vampire movie of not too many, and it's a fun one. Funnily enough, this was added to the Criterion Channel about 2 days after I watched it. Just the right amount of cheese and Kim Ok-bin puts on a stellar performance throughout.
5. Thirst (1979, Rod Hardy) - Why yes, dear reader, I /did/ watch two movies named Thirst back to back! Quite fun for a 70s vampire flick. Society vibes (and we'll get to Society later).
6. The House by the Cemetery (1981, Lucio Fulci) - Normally, I'm OK with the dubbing on 70s and 80s gialli, but I will never forgive Lucio Fulci for whatever the hell he did with Bob. Premise and story were fun, though.
7. Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg) - This kicked off a night of me looking at my roommate and going, "Wait, you haven't seen this?!" and putting on old favorites, and honestly, what's a good spooky month without an old classic like Videodrome? Or, for that matter...
8. The Thing (1982, John Carpenter) - I have nothing to say about The Thing other than if you haven't seen The Thing, you need to watch The Thing. Fantastic movie, let alone horror movie.
9. Barbarian (2022, Zach Cregger) - For a guy whose last listed directing credit on letterboxd is a Whitest Kids U Know movie from a decade ago, Cregger put out a fun little horror-comedy with Barbarian. I'm not sure how much we needed Justin Long in this one, but it certainly added something to the movie.
10. Tetsuo: the Iron Man (1989, Shinya Tsukamoto) - Lots of fun and body horror crammed into just over an hour. Perfect for a first date or putting the kids to bed!
11. The Eyes of my Mother (2016, Nicolas Pesce) - What can I say except you're welcome, Kevin? I kid, of course. Fun little movie, though, and Kevin is more eloquent than I am, so I'll leave it here.
12. Possession (1981, Andrezj Zulawski) - A movie that somehow had managed to slip through the cracks for entirely too many years. Haunting, horrifying, and it has one of the few Kubrick stares that really made me wanna crawl out of my skin. I think I may have fallen in love with Isabelle Adjani watching this (though not her character, before anyone puts me in a padded room).
13. Society (1989, Brian Yuzna) - Oh, Screaming Mad George, you devil. Teen movie turns left and veers into a different genre. Fun stuff. I guess I am a butthead! Ha ha!
14. Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento) - Another one of those movies where I turned to a friend and said "You haven't seen this?!" The lighting and sound design are unmatched, and the atmosphere Argento creates is truly something to behold.
15. The Wailing (2016, Na Hong-jin) - This one came straight from the horse's mouth, and boy did it deliver! One of those (many) movies I'll keep in my back pocket to recommend.
16. Pearl (2022, Ti West) - I liked this one better than X, honestly (and not just for giving Mia Goth a bigger platform). I almost wish that they'd been released in chronological order so that we /hadn't/ known Pearl's fate going into it, but not my movies, I suppose...
17-19. The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness (1981, 1987, 1992) - Hail to the king, baby.
2. Exte: Hair Extensions (2007, Sion Sono) - Alright, I'll admit it: this one was just cuz I like Sono-san, or as Nic Cage calls him, the Warlock of Cinema. However, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be when I read the phrase "haunted hair extensions."
3. X (2022, Ti West) - Very fun spin on the TCSM formula. It felt a bit draggy at times, and you could tell they wanted to milk however much they paid Kid Cudi for his time, but not really many complaints from me on this one.
4. Thirst (2009, Park Chan-wook) - We come to our first vampire movie of not too many, and it's a fun one. Funnily enough, this was added to the Criterion Channel about 2 days after I watched it. Just the right amount of cheese and Kim Ok-bin puts on a stellar performance throughout.
5. Thirst (1979, Rod Hardy) - Why yes, dear reader, I /did/ watch two movies named Thirst back to back! Quite fun for a 70s vampire flick. Society vibes (and we'll get to Society later).
6. The House by the Cemetery (1981, Lucio Fulci) - Normally, I'm OK with the dubbing on 70s and 80s gialli, but I will never forgive Lucio Fulci for whatever the hell he did with Bob. Premise and story were fun, though.
7. Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg) - This kicked off a night of me looking at my roommate and going, "Wait, you haven't seen this?!" and putting on old favorites, and honestly, what's a good spooky month without an old classic like Videodrome? Or, for that matter...
8. The Thing (1982, John Carpenter) - I have nothing to say about The Thing other than if you haven't seen The Thing, you need to watch The Thing. Fantastic movie, let alone horror movie.
9. Barbarian (2022, Zach Cregger) - For a guy whose last listed directing credit on letterboxd is a Whitest Kids U Know movie from a decade ago, Cregger put out a fun little horror-comedy with Barbarian. I'm not sure how much we needed Justin Long in this one, but it certainly added something to the movie.
10. Tetsuo: the Iron Man (1989, Shinya Tsukamoto) - Lots of fun and body horror crammed into just over an hour. Perfect for a first date or putting the kids to bed!
11. The Eyes of my Mother (2016, Nicolas Pesce) - What can I say except you're welcome, Kevin? I kid, of course. Fun little movie, though, and Kevin is more eloquent than I am, so I'll leave it here.
12. Possession (1981, Andrezj Zulawski) - A movie that somehow had managed to slip through the cracks for entirely too many years. Haunting, horrifying, and it has one of the few Kubrick stares that really made me wanna crawl out of my skin. I think I may have fallen in love with Isabelle Adjani watching this (though not her character, before anyone puts me in a padded room).
13. Society (1989, Brian Yuzna) - Oh, Screaming Mad George, you devil. Teen movie turns left and veers into a different genre. Fun stuff. I guess I am a butthead! Ha ha!
14. Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento) - Another one of those movies where I turned to a friend and said "You haven't seen this?!" The lighting and sound design are unmatched, and the atmosphere Argento creates is truly something to behold.
15. The Wailing (2016, Na Hong-jin) - This one came straight from the horse's mouth, and boy did it deliver! One of those (many) movies I'll keep in my back pocket to recommend.
16. Pearl (2022, Ti West) - I liked this one better than X, honestly (and not just for giving Mia Goth a bigger platform). I almost wish that they'd been released in chronological order so that we /hadn't/ known Pearl's fate going into it, but not my movies, I suppose...
17-19. The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness (1981, 1987, 1992) - Hail to the king, baby.
Favorites from this year... I'll try to keep this one shorter, and definitely not in any sort of order. I'm just going off the cuff here. Please be kind if you see a movie on this list that I should've seen years ago, I clearly don't watch many movies.
1. Helter Skelter (2012, Mika Ninagawa) - Wow. Not just a favorite from this year, but ever. Great stuff.
2. Hazard (2005, Sion Sono) - WE ARE HAZARD!! Beautiful movie. I think I bugged Kevin about this one every day for like, 2 weeks until he caved and watched it. I'm still going to pretend that was my idea even if it was on his shortlist first...
3. The Cremator (1969, Juraj Herz) - I've taken the liberty to subtitle this "BKC Got me Addicted to the Czech New Wave"
4. Marketa Lazarova (1967, Frantisek Vlacil) - See above
4. Happening (2021, Audrey Diwan)
5. Shoplifters (2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda)
6. The Double Life of Veronique (1998, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
7. August in the Water (1995, Gakuryu Ishii)
8. Naked (1993, Mike Leigh)
9. The Voices (2014, Marjane Satrapi) - Didn't expect to like this nearly as much as I did
10. Annette (2021, Leos Carax)
11. The Handmaiden (2016, Park Chan-wook)
12. Beau Travail (1999, Claire Denis)
13. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019, Quentin Tarantino)
14. An Elephant Standing Still (2018, Hu Bo) - I'll take a moment here to wish we'd gotten more from him. If you ever feel like you need help, reach out to those you trust. RIP
15. Drive My Car (2021, Ryusuke Hamaguchi) - I love Haruki Murakami and how did I not see this when it came out?
16. I Killed My Mother (2009, Xavier Dolan)
17. Maborosi (1995, Hirokazu Kore-eda)
18. Blue Velvet (1982, David Lynch)
19. Day of the Wacko (2002, Marek Koterski)
20. Love Exposure (2008, Sion Sono) - The best 4 hours movie about an erection that exists, I guarantee it
21. Lars and the Real Girl (2007, Craig Gillespie)
22. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik) - Andrew Dominik is still an idiot, though
23. Heaven Knows What (2014, Josh & Ben Safdie)
24. Pelisky (1999, Jan Hrebejk) - "It is a rite of passage for every young Czech man to fall in love with Jindriska" -BKC, 2022
25. Tiempo de Revancha (1981, Adolfo Aristarain) - I wish I could find this movie anywhere that was subtitled. It was truly a delight!
26. Raw (2016, Julia Ducournau)
27. Persona (1966, Ingmar Bergman) - I'm adding it to the list right as the credits roll. Oh my God. Visual poetry, visceral emotion, and just the right amount of surreality.
2. Hazard (2005, Sion Sono) - WE ARE HAZARD!! Beautiful movie. I think I bugged Kevin about this one every day for like, 2 weeks until he caved and watched it. I'm still going to pretend that was my idea even if it was on his shortlist first...
3. The Cremator (1969, Juraj Herz) - I've taken the liberty to subtitle this "BKC Got me Addicted to the Czech New Wave"
4. Marketa Lazarova (1967, Frantisek Vlacil) - See above
4. Happening (2021, Audrey Diwan)
5. Shoplifters (2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda)
6. The Double Life of Veronique (1998, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
7. August in the Water (1995, Gakuryu Ishii)
8. Naked (1993, Mike Leigh)
9. The Voices (2014, Marjane Satrapi) - Didn't expect to like this nearly as much as I did
10. Annette (2021, Leos Carax)
11. The Handmaiden (2016, Park Chan-wook)
12. Beau Travail (1999, Claire Denis)
13. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019, Quentin Tarantino)
14. An Elephant Standing Still (2018, Hu Bo) - I'll take a moment here to wish we'd gotten more from him. If you ever feel like you need help, reach out to those you trust. RIP
15. Drive My Car (2021, Ryusuke Hamaguchi) - I love Haruki Murakami and how did I not see this when it came out?
16. I Killed My Mother (2009, Xavier Dolan)
17. Maborosi (1995, Hirokazu Kore-eda)
18. Blue Velvet (1982, David Lynch)
19. Day of the Wacko (2002, Marek Koterski)
20. Love Exposure (2008, Sion Sono) - The best 4 hours movie about an erection that exists, I guarantee it
21. Lars and the Real Girl (2007, Craig Gillespie)
22. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik) - Andrew Dominik is still an idiot, though
23. Heaven Knows What (2014, Josh & Ben Safdie)
24. Pelisky (1999, Jan Hrebejk) - "It is a rite of passage for every young Czech man to fall in love with Jindriska" -BKC, 2022
25. Tiempo de Revancha (1981, Adolfo Aristarain) - I wish I could find this movie anywhere that was subtitled. It was truly a delight!
26. Raw (2016, Julia Ducournau)
27. Persona (1966, Ingmar Bergman) - I'm adding it to the list right as the credits roll. Oh my God. Visual poetry, visceral emotion, and just the right amount of surreality.
I'll leave it there for now or I'll be late for work on this fine morning. Perhaps I'll edit this post throughout my workday as I reminisce on the power of the genre... Those are the ones that really stand out to me off the top of my head, though. I definitely didn't add four movies after writing that sentence, no sir. EDIT: I'm a big fat liar and I've gone back and added several movies... go figure.
As for my favorite release of 2022, I've gotta go with Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave, which I was fortunate enough to see in theaters this past weekend. What an experience!
Cheers, all
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heyyooo awesome we're doing this again. i watched only horror movies in october but amounted to like 10 of them so i'll just post my top 25
i think all in all i had a decent year with the movies. didn't watch as much as i wanted to but found a lot of cinema i already hold very dear to me. especially understanding my identity more and clearer with every year i think i fall deeper in love with films themselves also
i think all in all i had a decent year with the movies. didn't watch as much as i wanted to but found a lot of cinema i already hold very dear to me. especially understanding my identity more and clearer with every year i think i fall deeper in love with films themselves also
1. Crash (1996, David Cronenberg) — first time I saw this it felt like a philosophical revelation more than a movie. has lingered on my mind and foundationally changed the way I see life
2. Madoka Magica II: Eternal (2012, Yukihiro Miyamoto) — cinematic uphaul of the most influential cinema I'd seen at a young age
3. Angel's Egg (1985, Mamoru Oshii) — wrote about it here. the violence of being
4. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper) — America's culture of violence, secrets better not uncovered. news so gnarly its better not to know
5. The Matrix (1999, the Wachowskis) — a cinematic exclamation point of perfect early-00s aesthetic and (rare) trans positivity
6. Heat (1995, Michael Mann) — the heaviness of a rapidly modernizing California, experts at violence who fail at relationships yet they try and fail again
7. Ghost in the Shell (1995, Mamoru Oshii) — as a contemplative and meditative experience of the corporeal
8. House (1977, Nobuhiko Obayashi) — unimaginable horrors and trauma of WW2 filtered through a candy haunted house and proto-shoujo manga romanticism
9. Cat Soup (2001, Tatsuo Sato) — traversing the incomprehensible depths of generational suffering just to see that smile again
10. Halloween II (2009, Rob Zombie) — "I'm not strong enough and I'm tired of pretending I am" etc
11. Spirited Away (2001, Miyazaki)
12. American Psycho (2000, Harron)
13. Gummo (1997, Korine)
14. Miami Vice (2006, Mann)
15. Melancholia (2011, Von Trier)
16. Nowhere (1997, Araki)
17. Trainspotting (1996, Boyle)
18. Revue Starlight: The Movie (2021, Furukawa)
19. Fireworks (1997, Kitano)
20. The Adolescence of Utena (1999, Ikuhara)
21. Moonlight (2016, Jenkins)
22. The End of Evangelion (1997, Anno)
23. Liz and the Blue Bird (2018, Yamada)
24. Taste of Cherry (1997, Kiarostami)
25. Sonatine (1993, Kitano)
Honorable mentions of short films:
Baja's Studio is Yoshiji Kigami's final work before passing away the Kyoto Animation arson attack. touches on the loss of a friend but finding them back always through a connection of love. becomes retrospectively meta, as if telling us his and friends' wonderful art will find us even if we're lost in a deep black sea
Daicon IV like come on man its pure joy
pilotredsun's work is still fascinating to me, especially the excellent renditions of mundane suburbia and cities outskirts. in perfect liminal harmony yet it effortlessly sketches worlds and storylines with vague suggestion. ultimate fuel and not so fast as his masterpieces
Chainsaw Bunny wrote some more about why this is great here https://letterboxd.com/maylancholia/film/chainsaw-bunny/
Fox Fears by Miyo Sato is a beautiful paint-on-glass adaptation of a classic Japanese short story. ending dialogue always gets me
i know its a bad time to talk about Kanye West but Runaway is important https://letterboxd.com/maylancholia/film/runaway-2010/
also Ano chi by Harune Sato (haunting), Puparia by Shingo Tamagawa (indescribably essential), and Gerorisuto by Shozin Fukui which has become so formative to my entire being u have no idea
2. Madoka Magica II: Eternal (2012, Yukihiro Miyamoto) — cinematic uphaul of the most influential cinema I'd seen at a young age
3. Angel's Egg (1985, Mamoru Oshii) — wrote about it here. the violence of being
4. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper) — America's culture of violence, secrets better not uncovered. news so gnarly its better not to know
5. The Matrix (1999, the Wachowskis) — a cinematic exclamation point of perfect early-00s aesthetic and (rare) trans positivity
6. Heat (1995, Michael Mann) — the heaviness of a rapidly modernizing California, experts at violence who fail at relationships yet they try and fail again
7. Ghost in the Shell (1995, Mamoru Oshii) — as a contemplative and meditative experience of the corporeal
8. House (1977, Nobuhiko Obayashi) — unimaginable horrors and trauma of WW2 filtered through a candy haunted house and proto-shoujo manga romanticism
9. Cat Soup (2001, Tatsuo Sato) — traversing the incomprehensible depths of generational suffering just to see that smile again
10. Halloween II (2009, Rob Zombie) — "I'm not strong enough and I'm tired of pretending I am" etc
11. Spirited Away (2001, Miyazaki)
12. American Psycho (2000, Harron)
13. Gummo (1997, Korine)
14. Miami Vice (2006, Mann)
15. Melancholia (2011, Von Trier)
16. Nowhere (1997, Araki)
17. Trainspotting (1996, Boyle)
18. Revue Starlight: The Movie (2021, Furukawa)
19. Fireworks (1997, Kitano)
20. The Adolescence of Utena (1999, Ikuhara)
21. Moonlight (2016, Jenkins)
22. The End of Evangelion (1997, Anno)
23. Liz and the Blue Bird (2018, Yamada)
24. Taste of Cherry (1997, Kiarostami)
25. Sonatine (1993, Kitano)
Honorable mentions of short films:
Baja's Studio is Yoshiji Kigami's final work before passing away the Kyoto Animation arson attack. touches on the loss of a friend but finding them back always through a connection of love. becomes retrospectively meta, as if telling us his and friends' wonderful art will find us even if we're lost in a deep black sea
Daicon IV like come on man its pure joy
pilotredsun's work is still fascinating to me, especially the excellent renditions of mundane suburbia and cities outskirts. in perfect liminal harmony yet it effortlessly sketches worlds and storylines with vague suggestion. ultimate fuel and not so fast as his masterpieces
Chainsaw Bunny wrote some more about why this is great here https://letterboxd.com/maylancholia/film/chainsaw-bunny/
Fox Fears by Miyo Sato is a beautiful paint-on-glass adaptation of a classic Japanese short story. ending dialogue always gets me
i know its a bad time to talk about Kanye West but Runaway is important https://letterboxd.com/maylancholia/film/runaway-2010/
also Ano chi by Harune Sato (haunting), Puparia by Shingo Tamagawa (indescribably essential), and Gerorisuto by Shozin Fukui which has become so formative to my entire being u have no idea