I'm tempted to nitpick about a few things, but at its core Licorice Pizza is a simple, charming slice (heh) of two well-written & acted characters lives that had me smiling and laughing throughout.
Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are just electric on screen, and Bradley Cooper gives one of the all-time heat checks. Wandering the streets of the valley, sweating through his clothes, asking girls if they like peanut butter sandwiches, just so great.
PTA did it again! The movies!!
The first half is the best movie of the year.
The second half is… fine.
35mm 🤩🤩🤩
The movies!!
Pretty sure I didn’t see this in theaters back in the day (I didn’t really pick up on HP until my late teens weirdly) so I guess I can tick this box now.
The acting is all over the place expectedly, but this is the rare movie that succeeds almost entirely on its artisan work. Music, production design, cinematography etc. Eventually the people in front catch up with the people behind the camera, which is when this series really takes off.
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…
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood
After a career spent speeding down the 405, Tarantino’s penultimate (?) film is a relaxed Sunday cruise down Sunset Boulevard.
Hollywood is jarring at first sure, but finding Tarantino in such a pensive, wistful and nostalgic mood as he thinks back on his youth is, in retrospect, the only way to tell this story.
Tarantino’s devotion to the movies shines through more than ever before (the Basterds ending a close second) as he succeeds in…
In 6 months I’ll either look back at this as a masterpiece or an abomination.