Roar

Watched this for a third(!) time, my feelings on this move are well documented but Mandy who was watching it for the first time said it was the worst movie she’s ever seen :/

Crouching tiger Hidden Dragon

Damn dude, this still rules.  When I first saw it I was more of a film snob and really focused on the writing and beautiful cinematography, now that I’m older and dumber I focused primarily on how dope the fight scenes were.  And they are so dope.

Captive State

Very grim unique movie resting on the premise that if we were invaded by aliens that people high up in power structures would quickly sell everyone out in order to maintain any amount of hierarchical advantage they enjoyed previously. Told meticulously from the perspective of the human terrorist sect, with lots of nuts and bolts operational stuff.  Structurally really interesting, has a second act composed of a huge looping detour that meets up with the main story for the third. Quietly smart, not wearing it’s brain on top of it’s head a la Arrival other ‘thoughtful sci fi’ movies, a genre that (as I predicted *toot toot) has been obliterated by our current state of affairs.  

Memoirs of a Geisha

Didn’t finish this movie so this isn’t really a review.  I would just like to point out though, that it came out in 2004, was produced by generally progressive guy Steven Spielberg, and although set it Japan has a primarily chinese cast speaking english for the whole movie.  Apocalypto was made in 2006, by extremely unchill Mel Gibson, featured a cast of Native American and Indigenous Mexican actors and was spoken entirely in the indigenous Yucatec Maya language.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

I kinda think the filmmaker Alex gibney is bullshit tbh.  Dude knows how to make a documentary but he just kinda picks sensational hit non-fiction books, lets them do all the heavy lifting and research, then basically films them afterwards.  Maybe I’m way off on this one but it just seems like it’s his M.O. between this and Going Clear. As far as the movie goes though, it’s fun. Elizabeth Holmes is a wild lady who is fun/scary to look at and ponder and I, like a seemingly large subset of America am enjoying these tales of flim flam artists trying to maintain a constructed reality while it crumbles around them.

Captain Marvel

After initial reviews said it wasn’t good I drew a hard line in the sand saying that I was not going to see it.  Then someone asked me if I wanted to see it, so I went. Guess what?  It’s another totally fine and fun Marvel movie.  More of the extremely “do you like these movies?  Then you’ll like this one” vibe. Samuel L Jackson really cruises with a great energy, the Skrulls are super funny and the main one has an Australian accent which rules, and there’s a cute cat.  Not as distinctive and good as Thor:Ragnorak and Black Panther but miles better than Avengers: Infinity War which honestly, totally sucked.

The Matrix
Used it’s twentieth anniversary as an excuse to revisit this movie I haven’t seen in since it came out.  Not the most philosophically interesting Keanu Reeves action movie from the 90s (that would be Speed) or the best Wachowski siblings movie (that would be Speed Racer). Holds up as a pretty entertaining watch until post ‘I know Kung fu’ sequence where it starts to drag and turn into a real bummer, though it does have for my money it’s best scene at the very end of the movie (Keanu absentmindedly fights Agent Smith with one hand, then flexes reality after beating him).  Unfortunately we’re currently living in something of a post truth/reality society so a lot of the Matrixs gentle riffs on big ideas don’t seem as much fun anymore, and drawing a line from q supporters to anti vaxxers to this movie isn’t a stretch.  Pairing that with an extremely slick ‘cool’ sequence where two people walk into an office building and kill everyone in sight with machine guns, because “they’re not real people” and you’ve got a recipe for a troubling vibe in 2019. It’s heavy a real touchstone movie, and if we’re still here in 20 years I’m looking forward to checking in with it again to see how deep those ripples went.

It was a Feb and there were a lot of movies:

Out of Sight  

I didn’t really like this movie the second time around, good performances across the board but the dialogue never felt as sharp as I felt it should be.  Had a tough time with the cross section of fun criminal action and the rape-y sub- and fore-text. Movie has a lot of drift but not a lot at the center.

Oceans 11

Couldn’t figure out if this was a rewatch or something I was seeing for the first time.  The dialogue snaps, the performances are great, and the heist is good as hell.

Paddington 2

Last time I watched this with the wife she fell asleep in 5 minutes. Had better luck, with her getting to the climactic train chase before she hit the Z’s.  No real revelations from the 3rd(!) viewing but still good. Realized that I think about the husband hurling his pregnant wife stomach-first towards revolving doors in Paddington part one on a weekly basis.

Old Man and a Gun

Really beautiful breezy film about a dude who expresses his love of life through robbing banks and breaking out of jail.  In my memory of the film every scene is at sunset which isn’t the case but gives you primer on the lense I remember it through. Robert Redford’s last film, it works as an end of an era piece and as a thank you to the world for letting him do what he loves.  One of the nicest breakdowns of passion I’ve seen in a while: doing what you love (robbing banks) will have consequences (going to jail) but if you treat dealing with the consequences (breaking out of jail) with the same passion that you do the things you love (robbing banks), pretty soon you’ll be robbing banks again (doing what you love).  I’d be remiss to not mention that Sissy Spacek is in it as well, and she’s incredible.

High Flying Bird

Super compelling and sharp film with a bonkers performance from André Holland.   Thought about it a lot for about a week after but having a tough time thinking of anything to say about it now, nothing wrong with a movie burning bright and fast though and I would still recommend it.

The Meyerowitz Stories (new and selected)

High marks for this Baumbach beaut.  Incredibly funny movie that’s got a lot to say about the wake of “being an artist”, but is mostly a well drawn portrait about the invisible lines that connect family, for better or worse.  Lots of good scenes of Adam Sandler trying to park in Manhattan.

Deadpool 2

Watched again because I wanted to see what Mandys take on Deadpool was; her take: “Deadpool is not annoying he’s just a regular man.”  Realized that one of the reasons these movies work for me is that when his mask is off he never smiles and always looks like he’s in pain while he compulsively jokes.  

Dude Where’s My Car

Ended up watching this one due to a game of high stakes movie selection chicken with Dani B.  Has some funny bits but basically terrible. Rented it from the library and picked up a copy of Straw Dogs at the same time in an attempt to throw the librarian off the scent.  

Alita Battle Angel

Had a very nice time watching this deeply imperfect movie in the theatre.  A lot of what’s good besides the character of Alita you can find in the backgrounds and edges if you’d like my expert opinion on how to watch.  Great crowd scenes, often populated by several dads roaming freely, or ‘loose dads’ of which there are presumably a lot 500 years from now. Pretty much every character and performance in the movie is a waste except for the motion capture performance for Alita by Rosa Salazar which is weirdly super compelling.  Lots of robo dismemberment and cool super violent future sports round this bad boi out into a winner.

Ant Man and the Wasp

I basically like all these movies and this one isn’t an exception.  Michael Pena is super funny, lots of stuff gets shrunk down or embiggened, and an ant plays the drums.  It’s not Black Panther, it’s a run of the mill fun Marvel movie. I dunno man we’re all adults here, at this point in time you should know if this is your cup of tea or not.

Incredibles 2

I loved the character design in this movie, there’s a kind of marriage between the doll like construction and hyper expressiveness that really worked for me.  Otherwise it’s a totally good well-constructed movie that I didn’t care about while watching.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Watched on Valentines day as a part of a cultural exchange program with the wife where she watches a horror movie in October and I watch a Rom Com in February.  Julia Roberts at the height of her powers, playing a character that’s imminently unlikable transformed into peak likability by her crystal clear performance. It’s tough to name another actor who is as good as Roberts at conveying a character’s inner life through constant small touches. She’s as well gracious enough as an actor that she steps back to help Rupert Everett steal every scene they’re in together.  The scene where he leads the family in singing “I say a little prayer” is an all-timer, both for its expression of joie de vivre but also for how he completely takes her apart while doing it. Giamatti later shows up and gives her sage advice, which sealed the deal for me.

Star Wars – The Last Jedi

Watched this again on the anniversary of my brothers death, who loved Star Wars but didn’t get to see it.  A strange movie that I think is more laudable for its weighty themes than for the movie itself. I realized while watching that a big reason these most recent films aren’t that great is that while the original Star Wars trilogy was a conversation between George Lucas and what he loved as a child, mashed up with a heaping of interrogation into Joseph Campbell’s mythic archetypes, the newer films are mostly a conversation with how we feel about Star Wars.  I do think this one finds the right themes to elevate, and find the last third to be very moving and thematically complicated in a way most blockbusters aren’t, but understand what it’s missing which is the ability to tell a new story (weirdly, also one of the largest themes in the film). I wish I’d gotten to talk with Jonny about it, but can’t so instead I’ll just cherish my memory of him spoiling the ending of Rogue One for me with such speed and lack of guile, that I was both completely taken aback and extremely impressed.

Behind the Curve

Documentary about flat-earthers which had a very empathetic and kind angle on them.  I always felt like it was odd that I hadn’t run across more flat-earthers in the noise scene but after watching this movie I got a pretty good idea of how it’s a pretty complete scene in of itself, which seems like it could be pretty fun to be a part of if you’re interested in believing the earth is flat.  Has a lengthy subplot where flat-earthers do scientific experiments that continually prove the world is round, which is very nice. Strong possibility that I’ll be ashamed of watching this film in 9 years or whatever, when we elect a flat-earther as president.

We decided we’re gonna do periodic recaps of the movies we’ve been watching, so here’s everything I saw since my movies 2018 post; Davey’s list in a separate post shortly.

Recommended

Burning (2018) – tonally on-point Korean adaptation of a Murakami short story, about typical Murakami male-oriented takes on topics like cooking dinner, sitting in silence, being isolated but horny, and “the unknowable.” basically a slob gets a crush on a girl, who ends up with a snob, then disappears. every single scene has a twist or flourish of some kind, and the movie has a twist halfway through, giving it a micro/macro wriggling quality which I felt was formally impressive and satisfying in a way that the story itself maybe isn’t. I don’t like Murakami’s writing very much but did feel that it was majorly elevated by such an aggressively stylized but faithful rendition in movie format. Shoutout Pat for recommending!

Phantom Thread (2017) – I loved this one, a Daniel Day Lewis “never stop working and never leave the house” movie with an amazing script that’s cozy and jammed with detail. Recommended.

Roar (1981) – mindblowing; we wrote about this

The Rules of the Game (1939) – incredible OG that def doesn’t need my endorsement. Robert Altman said “I learned the rules of the game from The Rules of the Game.”

Tommy tricker & the stamp traveller (1988) – watched this twice this week, expect more about it

Worth watching

A Scanner Darkly (2006) – we wrote about this last week

A Simple Favor (2018) – Davey and I had a long email exchange abt this one that maybe we should distill and post – a highly plastic and absolutely demented Paul Feig suburban thriller, recommended to anyone who likes mutant “wtf even is this” movies that are way too broken for their genres, in the vein of Grown Ups 2 (2013). Recommended(???????).

The Duelists (1977) – we wrote about this one. Bumped to “Recommended” as a double feature following Barry Lyndon.

The old man and the gun (2018) – Robert Redford ruled (RIP) and he’s well-deployed here; Casey Affleck is as good as ever at being listless and depressed (cf. Manchester by the Sea (2016)). this movie’s slightly overcooked and high-budget in a way that feels “awards”-oriented to me, but is still fun and cute. with Tom Waits, who seems to be riffing off-script, Danny Glover, yet again in old-timer mode, and a regal Sissy Spacek as “the girlfriend.”

Support the girls (2018) – fun new Andrew Bujalski restaurant movie with a strong ensemble centered on Regina Hall. recommended, tho not as good as his best-of-decade last one, Computer Chess (2013).

Everything else

Adjustment Bureau (2011) – Matt Damon is trying to run for office and also kiss some lady he met in a bathroom; the angels-as-bureaucrats insist he choose one. plays like a less visually interesting, less dangerous Dark City (1998). a PKD adaptation; it’s bad.

Black Rain (1989) – ugly Ridley Scott movie with Michael Douglas as a racist asshole cop in Osaka. Not recommended.

(Cock) Blockers (2018) – I didn’t realize that John Cena and Channing Tatum were different people until Davey corrected me, which explained why this was not as good as I expected it to be

Crooked House (2017) – not great, not terrible Julian Fellowes murder mystery with a legitimately bonkers ending. unlike his best stuff (Gosford Park (2001)) it’s a bit bleak and not very fun.

Deliverance (1972) – we wrote abt this

The Duchess (2008) – Kiera Knightley gets into a bad 18th century marriage with Ralph Fiennes and has to figure out ways to persevere. Featuring tons of huge wigs, and at least a couple shots of carriages rolling up to mansions.

Good Manners (2017) – Brazilian “newborn baby werewolf” movie in the same pocket as Let the right one in (2008), but a little more twee and a little less goth

The favourite (2018) – I liked it and it’s a great period movie with the always-killer Rachel Weiss pitching a perfect game, but it’s got a “Lanthimos in Hollywood” feel that I found a little sad, it’s not his best one. Hopefully there’s a resurgent interest in Hot Fuzz (2007) now that everyone in America knows who Olivia Colman is, and in Dogtooth (2009) now that everyone knows who Lanthimos is.

Galaxy Guardians 2 (2017) – pretty boring Chris Pratt daddy issues movie. I didn’t realize Chris Pratt was different from Ryan Reynolds until Davey told me, when he read this post’s draft.

IJ raiders of lost ark (1981) – the best part of this is the Karen Allen bar scene, it’s otherwise pretty much a montage of typical Spielberg obstacle courses, chases, spills, and mini-games. Imo this whole franchise is “just okay”.

Minority Report (2002) – stars a supercomputer you control by dancing around with a nintendo powerglove, that reads data off of glass floppy disks, and is operated by cornball later-era Tom Cruise, completely misreading the movie and trying to make every scene Mission Impossible-style urgent and physical. a PKD adaptation; it’s bad.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – absolute waste of time Agatha Christie adaptation, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, in what Jeff calls the “what a cast!” genre. nobody is good in it. for “train book made into a weird dumb movie,” “take” The Polar Express (2004).

Night Moves (1975) – I watched this after we watched Roar to get a better sense of what Melanie Griffith’s life on film had been like so far, and… she’s kinda in an exploitation role in this one too. Night Moves is a bleak Gene Hackman noir, but not as bleak as Chinatown (1974), not as noir as The Long Goodbye (1973), and not as Gene Hackman as The Conversation (1974), but is still pretty good.

Paddington 2 (2018) – the best Wes Anderson movie in ages

Skate Kitchen (2018) – nice relaxing movie about teenage girls skating the lower east side and being young, for some reason featuring Jaden Smith. shoutout Bennett for recommending!

Smuggler (2011) – a Katsuhito Ishii (Redline, Taste of Tea) movie. it’s got some good stuff in it but is overall a bit like an unfun, unpleasant side story in the John Wick universe.

Spiderman spiderverse (2018) – I had fun watching this but don’t remember a single goddamn thing about it

Taj mahal travellers on tour (1973) – watched this at Spectacle, tho it’s widely available (ubuweb; youtube). a painter’s-eye camera follows Japan’s OG delay jammers on european/asian tour, fully 30 years before Double Leopards et al popularized touring USA basements with this style during the Bush era. untranslated, and with a Don Cherry sequence where his interview is completely obfuscated by a Japanese overdub, it’s pure image and sound with occasional English stage-setting placards. super beautiful and dialed-in in the mode of Crystal Voyager (1973), and in a “languid, abstract images foregrounding jams” mode not unlike Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (1968); strongly recommended if you like that stuff, guaranteed extremely boring otherwise.

subUrbia (1996) – watched this to accompany A Scanner Darkly; it appears to be the “forgotten” Linklater movie or at least the only “100% definitely bad” one. Giovanni Ribisi is an angsty “writer” teen who’s friends with racist assholes and, somehow also, a riot grrl; they hang out together drinking behind a Texas gas station until Parker Posey shows up in a limo with their old high school classmate. It’s like a worse Mallrats (1995), is not to be confused with Penelope Spheeris’s excellent Suburbia (1983), and is not recommended.

Vanity fair (2004) – we wrote about this

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) – typically bad & plastic Netflix-produced movie, this time abt haunted art that attacks art world stereotypes. aptly starring Jake Gylenhaal, the least-organic screen presence in movies.

Venom (2018) – love Tom Hardy and will watch him in anything but I didn’t like this as much as everyone on the TL; it seemed like an absolutely normal superhero movie to me.

Cabin Boy (1994) – we wrote abt this.