Honestly, I just have one thing to say: Disney, please stop. IMMEDIATELY.
-
-
-
Rebel Ridge 2024
…is this just a different version than what was playing on Netflix when it premiered? I was kinda bored for long stretches, despite Aaron Pierre’s burning charisma. Whenever I’m streaming a movie at home, there always comes a point where I lock in, where I *really* put away all the distractions and become super invested. That didn’t happen here until the final third of a film that has no business being over two hours. And that ending is BADLY out of tune with everything that came before.
-
The First Omen 2024
Hate that I forgot to log this back when I saw it around Halloween, because it's deliciously creepy and well done. I see you, Nell Tiger Free.
-
Young Werther 2024
Allison Pill and Douglas Booth have great chemistry together and are incredibly charming separately, which helps push this well-done classic lit update over the top. First-time director José Lourenço makes a lot of striking decisions that push his low budget to the extreme, but this still feels a little thin, a little chintzy. It works, but feels kinda generic, like it would be good background watching.
-
-
What Women Want 2000
Gibson has enough roguish charm to pull this off, and it pretty much works right up until the point where it doesn’t, which thankfully is right at the very end. It’s just… really hard to get over a movie with this title that doesn’t give its female lead any real inner life (Hunt is maybe too good of a casting choice, as she just comes across as too intelligent to want to have anything to do with this guy after he comes clean to her).
-
Queer 2024
Even on rewatch, those needle drops are so bracing, so unexpected, that every single one lands with full force. There are several shots that just hold on Daniel Craig’s face for longer than you’d think possible, and I just feel EVERYTHING that he’s feeling. But the big takeaway for me is the sensuality of two disembodied men finally finding a body, as they both try to inhabit the same skin (with the aid of ahauyasca). The film just throbs with feeling.
-
Obsessed with Light 2023
Not the Isabelle Huppert jump scare!
Look, I’m pretty much the ideal audience member for this and even I found it esoteric and standard enough that I questioned what we were even doing here. Not that Loïe Fuller doesn’t deserve a film made about her - she was a pioneer in just about every aspect of her life at a time when women were NOT allowed to do so and is now largely lost to history even though her influence…
-
-
The Wild Robot 2024
The family picking this from the screener pile the day after The Substance felt like a direct response to that, but after lots of chatter in the opening scenes by the migration they were completely silent, a rarity. Most said they liked WALL-E better, though, and I can’t exactly argue with that even though I don’t agree.
-
The Substance 2024
Family picked this from the screener pile based on the trailer. Half of them loved it, half of them DID NOT. They all agreed the last act went too far, but thought Demi Moore was amazing. They all wanted Oscars for makeup and costume design, at least!