Watched on Saturday January 18, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Saturday January 18, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Friday January 17, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Wednesday January 15, 2025.
]]>
This felt incredibly tame to me. As with the directors previous film Bodies Bodies Bodies, I felt as a director and writer she had next to nothing to say about the subject matter. How can you make a film about taboo sex and power dynamics and not take any real risks. She seems to be a director that is drawn to the idea of risk and power and sex, but only at a surface level. It’s all just very vanilla and obvious.
I was listening to a new episode of the Louis Theroux podcast earlier today, where he interviews Willem Dafoe, and Dafoe made some interesting points about taking risks as an actor and as a filmmaker. He spoke about how it’s important to make art that pushes boundaries and makes you reexamine your preconceptions about a given topic or taboo subject matter (his film Antichrist being an example that this films director should study). This film fails on that level, the only shock is how straightforward and predictable the story is. On the positive side Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson are both brilliant actors and they do a great job with what they’re given - their chemistry elevates the material and ultimately just makes you wish that they were actually let off the leash.
Watched on Sunday January 12, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Sunday January 5, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Sunday January 5, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Saturday January 4, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Thursday January 2, 2025.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday December 31, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday December 27, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Thursday December 26, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Wednesday December 25, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday December 24, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday December 24, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Sunday December 22, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday December 20, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday December 20, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Thursday December 19, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday December 17, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Monday December 16, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday December 13, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Wednesday December 11, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday December 10, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday December 6, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday December 3, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Monday December 2, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Sunday November 24, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Saturday November 23, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Thursday November 21, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday November 15, 2024.
]]>
This review may contain spoilers.
Decent fun but I can’t help but feel that it could have been so much more. The big set pieces are mostly excellent and Denzel has a lot of fun with his role, however it never really justifies its existence.
The biggest issue is that the film repeatedly tells us what the stakes are and how we should feel, without showing us anything to truly back it up.
The emperors are bad - why? Based on what we’re shown, the main brother isn’t particularly cruel or unpleasant or incompetent.
Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius is a great noble man who wants the best for his people - does he? What is his grand vision? Why did he form his plan to overthrow the emperors?
Paul Mescal’s Lucius is a slightly bizarre character. He’s probably miscast but he’s also not exactly given much to work with. He rarely speaks and when he does his accent is all over the place. I think Mescal works best with subtly and he never quite figures out how to tap into the supposed rage we are constantly told his character has. It’s a bit of a constipated performance, Mescal never really knows how far to dial it up or when to scale it back to something more precise. In his defence, the character is basically just a plot device to keep the story moving forward as opposed to an actual person.
Denzel is given a much more straightforward role in Macrinus. He wants power and he’ll do anything to get it, and most importantly he’s going to have fun along the way. Crucially, he elevates the straight forward material in a way that Mescal and most of the rest of the cast struggle to. He’s a star with pure presence on screen. Russell Crowe had that in the original and Mescal just never gets there. In the final moments it’s most apparent, when the sight of Maximus’s hand flowing through the fields carries more emotional weight than Mescal’s semi-victorious soldier.
Watched on Tuesday November 12, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Saturday November 9, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Monday November 4, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday November 1, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Thursday October 31, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Thursday October 31, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Wednesday October 30, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Wednesday October 30, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Monday October 28, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Monday October 28, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Thursday October 24, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Monday October 21, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Tuesday October 15, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Sunday October 13, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Saturday October 12, 2024.
]]>
Watched on Friday October 11, 2024.
]]>Best Film: Challengers
Best Director: Luca Guadagnino - Challengers
Best Screenplay: Anora
Best Editing: The Beast
Best Cinematography: The Zone of Interest
Best Actor: Josh O’Connor - La Chimera
Best Actress: Mikey Madison - Anora
Best Supporting Actor: Yura Borisov - Anora
Best Supporting Actress: Margaret Qualley - The Substance
Best Production Design: The Beast
Best Costumes: Dune 2
Best Score: Challengers
Best Surprise: Rebel Ridge
Worst disappointments: Longlegs, Gladiator 2, Blitz
Best Hidden Gems: Kneecap, Femme, Junkyard Dog
- Challengers
- La Chimera
- The Beast
- The Zone of Interest
- Dune: Part Two
- Anora
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- The Substance
- Rebel Ridge
...plus 97 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>My ever changing 100 favourite movies.
- Barry Lyndon
- Heat
- The Thing
- Cure
- The Godfather
- Stalker
- Under the Skin
- Paris, Texas
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Best Film: All of Us Strangers
Best Director: Christopher Nolan
Best Screenplay: Killers Of The Flower Moon
Best Editing: Oppenheimer
Best Cinematography: Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell
Best Actor: Andrew Scott
Best Actress: Emma Stone
Best Supporting Actor: RDJ
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz
Best Production Design: Poor Things
Best Costumes: Poor Things
Best Score: Oppenheimer
Best Surprise: John Wick 4
Worst disappointments: The Whale & Talk To Me
Best Hidden Gem: Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell
- All of Us Strangers
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Babylon
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
- The Holdovers
- Godland
- John Wick: Chapter 4
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
...plus 114 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
- Mickey 17
- The Brutalist
- The Battle of Baktan Cross
- Eddington
- The Running Man
- After the Hunt
- 28 Years Later
- Nosferatu
- Friendship
...plus 76 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Thing
- Cure
- Alien
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- The Shining
- Hour of the Wolf
- Suspiria
- Only Lovers Left Alive
- The Night of the Hunter
- Phantom of the Paradise
...plus 189 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Alright, here we go again. Last year I somehow managed to watch 39 out of the 55 movies in my list. This year I’m aiming to get to a more modest 20+ movies.
Rules this year:
There must be 31 horror films
6 countries
8 decades
ALL of the films from a horror franchise with at least 4 entries (if there is a hard reboot, you can choose whichever has 4+ that you prefer)
1 film by Wes Craven
1 film caused by/worsened by weather
1 film starring a Black woman
1 Donald Sutherland film
3 films from New World Pictures
2 Indian films.
4 Italian films
2 Horror comedies
2 films made primarily or entirely in Texas
1 film that exists in at least 2 available cuts (you just have to watch one. Bonus if you watch them all.)
1 Robert Wiene film
1 Michele Soavi film
1 film from 2011
1 film from 1984
And 1 Tobe Hooper Film (There must ALWAYS be a Hooper film)
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II
- Who Can Kill a Child?
- Cemetery Man
- The Substance
- Heathers
- A Ghost Story
- Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
- Santa Sangre
- Sole Survivor
...plus 22 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Godfather
- Parasite
- The Godfather Part II
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Amadeus
- The Silence of the Lambs
- The French Connection
- No Country for Old Men
- The Apartment
- Moonlight
...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Barry Lyndon
- Phantom Thread
- Only Lovers Left Alive
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Call Me by Your Name
- The Handmaiden
- Before Sunset
- The Red Shoes
- Bones and All
- Chungking Express
...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Thing
- Stalker
- Alien
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Matrix
- Children of Men
- Under the Skin
- Blade Runner 2049
- Interstellar
- Escape from New York
...plus 65 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Mission: Impossible – Fallout
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Hot Fuzz
- Hero
- Miami Vice
- Face/Off
- Where Eagles Dare
- Escape from New York
- Aliens
- The Dark Knight
...plus 62 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Hot Fuzz
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Airplane!
- After Hours
- Shaun of the Dead
- The Big Lebowski
- Step Brothers
- Best in Show
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
...plus 67 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Barry Lyndon
- The Godfather
- Paris, Texas
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
- The Right Stuff
- The Godfather Part II
- The Insider
- There Will Be Blood
- Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
- The Leopard
...plus 105 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>...plus 118 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Lawrence of Arabia
- Ran
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Inglourious Basterds
- Where Eagles Dare
- Army of Shadows
- Apocalypse Now
- Dunkirk
- The Thin Red Line
- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>A ranking of the films I watched during Hooptober X. I ended up getting through 39 of the 55 films in my list. I foolishly kept adding to the list so while I haven’t technically met the original criteria, I still feel like I got through a nice mix of films.
I think my main takeaway is that the way I watch films doesn’t really gel with these movie challenges. Generally what I do these days is open up my watchlist and see where my mood takes me; that really allows me to jump around between genres and keeps things feeling fresh. Still, I discovered a handful of new favourites and I’m aiming to tick off the rest of the list over the coming months.
Awards:
Biggest surprise (positive): The House That Jack Built - did not expect this to be a masterpiece
Biggest surprise (negative): Seconds - I expected to love it but ended up thinking it was just ok. I may revisit at some stage as I mightn’t have been in the right mood.
Biggest hidden gem: Dead and Buried
Favourite performances: Matt Dillon (THTJB), Isabelle Adjani (Nosferatu), Álex Angulo (The Day Of The Beast), Ralph Fiennes (Rat Catcher), Boris Karloff (Black Sabbath), Annabelle Wallis (Malignant)
Favourite Director: Tie between Kurosawa and Kobayashi
Favourite Cinematography: Tie between Pulse, Kwaidan and Nosferatu
Favourite Production Design: Kwaidan
Favourite Script: The House That Jack Built
Favourite Editing: Pulse
Favourite Costumes: Kwaidan
Most deranged: Tie between Pieces and The Day Of The Beast
Least surprising: 7 of the bottom 10 came out this year. Honestly, take away the upper 10-15 movies of this year and we may be looking at the worst year of movie releases of all time.
- Pulse
- The House That Jack Built
- Kwaidan
- Nosferatu the Vampyre
- An American Werewolf in London
- The Signalman
- The Day of the Beast
- Dead & Buried
- Bride of Frankenstein
- The Rat Catcher
...plus 29 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I would suggest these are the 50 most essential horror movies of all time. Different from my favourites and more focused on originality and/or impact. Would be happy to hear people’s thoughts.
- The Thing
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- The Shining
- Psycho
- The Exorcist
- Alien
- Carrie
- Cure
- Jaws
- Rosemary's Baby
...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- GoodFellas
- Silence
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- After Hours
- Raging Bull
- The Color of Money
- The King of Comedy
- Taxi Driver
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Irishman
...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Dunkirk
- Interstellar
- Memento
- Oppenheimer
- The Dark Knight
- Inception
- Tenet
- The Prestige
- Batman Begins
- Insomnia
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>35 Under 35 List:
I moved to London recently so I haven’t had much time or energy to write (or read other people’s) reviews lately. Hoping to get back to it soon. In the meantime, after listening to a movie podcast put together their list of 35 movie stars under 35, I decided it would be fun to put together my own list; mainly to look back on in a few years to see how they performed. I’ve gone for the 35 most exciting actors under 35 which is slightly different. My rankings are mostly based on past performances + future potential. This ended up being a bit trickier to put together than I had anticipated - I couldn’t find many non English speaking actors to include unfortunately. I’ve used an upcoming film from each of them (that I’m most excited about) to create the list.
1. Margaret Qualley
2. Josh O’Connor
3. Kristen Stewart
4. Jessie Buckley
5. Daniel Kaluuya
6. Harris Dickinson
7. Paul Mescal
8. George MacKay
9. Anya Taylor-Joy
10. Timothée Chalamet
11. Glen Powell
12. Austin Butler
13. Cailee Spaeny
14. Barry Keoghan
15. Saoirse Ronan
16. Jennifer Lawrence
17. Jodie Comer
18. Emma Corrin
19. Mia Goth
20. Dakota Johnson
21. Maika Monroe
22. Julia Garner
23. Adèle Exarchopoulos
24. Florence Pugh
25. LaKeith Stanfield
26. Mike Faist
27. Paula Beer
28. Haley Lu Richardson
29. Elizabeth Debicki
30. Jeremy Allen White
31. Alison Oliver
32. Carol Duarte
33. Zendaya
34. Adria Arjona
35. Zazie Beetz
- The Substance
- Separate Rooms
- Rosebush Pruning
- The Bride!
- The Upper World
- Blitz
- The History of Sound
- The End
- Sacrifice
- A Complete Unknown
...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Matrix
- The Insider
- Eyes Wide Shut
- Sleepy Hollow
- Audition
- The Blair Witch Project
- The Iron Giant
- Fight Club
- Being John Malkovich
- The Mission
...plus 47 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Drive
- The Nice Guys
- La La Land
- Blue Valentine
- The Place Beyond the Pines
- Blade Runner 2049
- First Man
- Half Nelson
- Barbie
- The Notebook
...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Sicario
- Edge of Tomorrow
- The Devil Wears Prada
- A Quiet Place Part II
- A Quiet Place
- Oppenheimer
- Your Sister's Sister
- Looper
- The Fall Guy
- The Adjustment Bureau
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- King of New York
- The Deer Hunter
- The Dead Zone
- Catch Me If You Can
- New Rose Hotel
- Batman Returns
- True Romance
- Seven Psychopaths
- Pulp Fiction
- The Jungle Book
...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- In the Mouth of Madness
- Exotica
- Chungking Express
- Pulp Fiction
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Lion King
- Speed
- Léon: The Professional
- True Lies
- Dumb and Dumber
...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Melancholia
- The Beguiled
- Marie Antoinette
- The Power of the Dog
- Civil War
- Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Interview with the Vampire
- Bring It On
...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Brokeback Mountain
- Nightcrawler
- Zodiac
- Prisoners
- Donnie Darko
- End of Watch
- Enemy
- Guy Ritchie's The Covenant
- Source Code
- Ambulance
...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Inside Llewyn Davis
- Fargo
- The Big Lebowski
- Blood Simple
- Raising Arizona
- No Country for Old Men
- True Grit
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- Miller's Crossing
- Hail, Caesar!
...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Cure
- Princess Mononoke
- Face/Off
- Boogie Nights
- Lost Highway
- L.A. Confidential
- Starship Troopers
- The Game
- Grosse Pointe Blank
- Con Air
...plus 41 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Mission: Impossible – Fallout
- Burning
- Lady Bird
- Hereditary
- The House That Jack Built
- Annihilation
- Cold War
- Widows
- You Were Never Really Here
- The Favourite
...plus 56 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Dark Knight
- In Bruges
- The Chaser
- Step Brothers
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- The Wrestler
- The Good, the Bad, the Weird
- The Hurt Locker
- Synecdoche, New York
- Frost/Nixon
...plus 89 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Place Beyond the Pines
- The Hangover
- Nightmare Alley
- Limitless
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Licorice Pizza
...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>2022 Awards
Best Film: Bones And All
Best Director: Park Chan-wook
Best Screenplay: The Banshees of Inisherin
Best Editing: Top Gun: Maverick
Best Cinematography: The Banshees of Inisherin
Best Actor: Colin Farrell
Best Actress: Tang Wei
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance
Best Supporting Actress: Kristen Stewart
Tiers:
1-10: Excellent
11-25: Highly Enjoyable
26-56: Decent
57-78: Disappointing
80-90: Shouldn't Exist
I have a handful of movies on my watchlist from this year that I need to catch up on, so this list is subject to change.
My biggest wishes for 2023:
1. Studios go back to releasing films in cinemas, with proper release windows.
2. Studios don't put films on streaming / VOD until at least 8 weeks after their premiere.
3. We get 2+ movies worth seeing in the cinema every month (I hate that I even have to say this, but we haven't had this in years).
- Bones and All
- Aftersun
- Decision to Leave
- TÁR
- Nope
- After Yang
- Crimes of the Future
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- Stars at Noon
- Top Gun: Maverick
...plus 82 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Memoria
- Dune
- The Green Knight
- C'mon C'mon
- Pig
- The Card Counter
- The French Dispatch
- The Power of the Dog
- Annette
- The Sparks Brothers
...plus 54 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Uncut Gems
- Punch-Drunk Love
- Happy Gilmore
- The Wedding Singer
- Funny People
- Hustle
- 50 First Dates
- Billy Madison
- Big Daddy
- You Don't Mess with the Zohan
...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- No Country for Old Men
- Sicario
- Hail, Caesar!
- Inherent Vice
- True Grit
- Dune
- Dune: Part Two
- Milk
- Sicario: Day of the Soldado
- Avengers: Infinity War
...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Going to attempt this MAW challenge - 30 films from 30 countries over the month of March.
My list of countries:
Japan
Thailand
Arrakis
Germany
USA
Sweden
France
China
Russia
Spain
Austria
England
Netherlands
Italy
Norway
Denmark
Australia
Hungary
Argentina
Brazil
Cuba
Algeria
South Korea
Ireland
Greece
Poland
Scotland
Wales
Iran
Mexico
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
- Tropical Malady
- Dune: Part Two
- Wings of Desire
- Lone Star
- The Seventh Seal
- Diabolique
- Raise the Red Lantern
- Mirror
- Who Can Kill a Child?
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Underground Railroad
- Master Gardener
- Loving
- Warrior
- Animal Kingdom
- The Great Gatsby
- It Comes at Night
- Thirteen Lives
- Midnight Special
- The Gift
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Princess Mononoke
- Akira
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Ghost in the Shell
- My Neighbor Totoro
- The Boy and the Heron
- It's Such a Beautiful Day
- Spirited Away
- Duck Amuck
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
...plus 47 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Catch Me If You Can
- Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Revenant
- The Departed
- Titanic
- Inception
- Django Unchained
- Revolutionary Road
...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Silence
- Schindler's List
- Michael Collins
- Taken
- The Grey
- Batman Begins
- Kingdom of Heaven
- Seraphim Falls
- Widows
- Gangs of New York
...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Asteroid City
- Rushmore
- Moonrise Kingdom
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
- The Rat Catcher
- The Swan
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Ocean's Eleven
- Solaris
- Contagion
- Logan Lucky
- Magic Mike
- Out of Sight
- Che: Part Two
- Ocean's Twelve
- Side Effects
- Ocean's Thirteen
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Sleepy Hollow
- Batman Returns
- Beetlejuice
- Edward Scissorhands
- Batman
- Frankenweenie
- Big Fish
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Mars Attacks!
- Corpse Bride
...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Step Brothers
- Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
- Elf
- The Other Guys
- Blades of Glory
- Zoolander
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Lighthouse
- Wild at Heart
- New Rose Hotel
- Light Sleeper
- Spider-Man
- Platoon
- The Florida Project
- To Live and Die in L.A.
- Mississippi Burning
- Streets of Fire
...plus 29 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>