mm has written 129 reviews for films during 2020.
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The Irishman 2019
First movie of the year. First movie of the decade. First movie of the life, really.
I honestly never thought something could challenge JFK as my favorite movie, but here we are.
It’s what it is.
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Little Women 2019
The first thought I had after leaving the theater to see this for the first time was that I had to go again.
And spoiler alert for my top 10 of the year, it’s the highest placing movie I had only seen once before now, so now that they’re on even footing, figuring out how to order my top 4 will keep me awake at night. Worth it tho!
I loved Little Women even more the second time. Gerwig’s screenplay…
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Eyes Wide Shut 1999
I have lived in NYC for 2 years and have not been invited to a rad Masquerade party on Long Island. Wack.
But this still rules. Knew nothing about it coming in and I am so glad I came in that way. Expected much more melodramatic marital strife and not so much secret society intrigue.
Kubrick directs the hell out of this and I can already tell there’s a ton to unpack.
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Castle in the Sky 1986
I fall in love with this more and more with every viewing.
Movies don’t get much better than this.
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The Master 2012
If Phillip Seymour Hoffman wasn’t present, I’d be neutral on this.
If Joaquin Phoenix wasn’t, I’d probably love the movie.
It’s hard to put into words how little he does for me in a given performance. His skill is obvious, commitment moreso. But for me watching him makes me feel nothing, which paired with Hoffman who is electric, makes the divide seem even wider.
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Underwater 2020
Lil' Paul deserved better.
I was completely ready to just push everything aside and enjoy Alien in the ocean. But this is all just so bland and boring, there proved to be no fun to be had. Bummer.
My big takeaway is that it took Hollywood so long to do Cthulu. Justice for my large devil son.
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U2: From the Sky Down 2011
Writing these songs... from the sky down
Get me an acoustic guitar at the speed of light
Went to look up Edge's acoustic cover of Achtung Baby classic "Love is Blindness" and ended up watching the whole thing. The story of my favorite band making my favorite album is a good one!
Amazing to hear the development of "Mysterious Ways," and how it brought about the birth of "One" a song that is responsible for the band existing to this day.
I really really really need a similar documentary about the making of Songs of Innocence.
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The Gentlemen 2019
My relationship with Guy Ritchie is a lot like my relationship with my Trump-loving Uncle; I don’t have one.
So coming into The Gentlemen, having not seen Snatch, I hoped for a middleish of the road studio picture kinda like the Sherlock Holmes movies. But I was prepared to see Aladdin-level work.
Turns out, I got something closer in quality to The Man from U.N.C.L.E, which is a long way of saying this movie fucking rules. Last year it…
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Color Out of Space 2019
Adding this to my long-gestating film thesis that just because you (Lovecraft) did it first doesn’t mean you did it better (Annihilation).
Recognizing that this is an adaptation of a book by a genre director, I’m not saying it *should* have been as good as Alex Garland’s masterwork, but I can see where he and author Jeff VanderMeer got a lot of their inspiration from. Thing crashes to earth, alters the environment, and hilarity ensues.
Garland and…
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The Irishman 2019
I Heard You Paint Houses
Well, it's official. I've spent a day of my life watching this, my (still can't believe I'm saying this) favorite movie of all time. I've written and talked about it a lot already, but for this entry, I want to hone in on the four things that make this so special to me.
The Performances
De Niro. Pesci. Pacino. 3 names that will never be forgotten as long as movies are made or even thought… -
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) 2020
This lost me when there was a gag about Harley voting for Bernie. Not in a bad way, I just couldn't focus on anything for more than a couple minutes because I kept wondering... Trump exists in this universe? Is there a #YangGang in Gotham City? Has anyone straight up murdered Don Jr.? If not, why?
Anyhoo, Birds of Prey ain't for me. It'll be for a lot of people but ol' Mason ain't one of them.…