This movie is desperately hurting for Kiefer Sutherland as the bad guy on the other end of the line.
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The Rock peed into empty water bottles to bring us this movie.
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Sydney Pollack’s picture earns that bleak title, especially at the end, feeling every inch of the characters despair, depression and dehumanization. Truly ahead of its time. That shook my insides.
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Carol Reed’s picture switches from marital drama via an impressionable young boy’s perspective into a suspense examining the loss of innocence - and it’s masterfully executed. Bobby Henrey’s performance is a draw, as is Georges Périnal’s cinematography.
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CLOSE YOUR EYES is in full conversation with thematic ties to identity, memory and legacy while angst over mortality and an unfolding future courses in the undercurrent. This is vital, personal filmmaking from Victor Erice. Cinematographer Valentin Álvarez delivers striking imagery.
Plus, there’s an epic dog blep!
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Fighting to rise above everyone’s expectations? That’s the good stuff.
A solid underdog sports film that excels in the way it treats disability and the mother-son arc.
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Director Rachel Morrison and screenwriter Barry Jenkins deliver a knock-out. A pure lump-in-your-throat, winning crowd-pleaser that resonates and shines brightly. If you love underdog sports films, it’s for you. Brian Tyree Henry and Ryan Destiny are a force.
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It’s certifiably loony. Wall-to-wall wacky buffoonery. When you need a laugh, it’s the gift that keeps giving.
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Caustic, prickly and fails to coalesce into anything that justifies such bitter rage fueled by grief and loss. Characters don’t act like humans. They are inert, which is the point of this piece. Dick Pope lights the heck out of it though.
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Y’all did not undersell that vape hit. It is magnificent.
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Henry Czerny plays Lindsay Lohan’s dad - and he’s a goddamn delight.
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It’s the equivalent of an older man saying “Remember when Bob Dylan went electric?! That was pretty wild,” and then walked away. Except that it’s 141 minutes.
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Thomas Hutter’s trip to Count Orlok’s castle is one of the most spellbinding sequences in any film this year (let alone in quite some time). Robert Eggers harnesses the power of deft sound design, choral score and entrancing moonlit visuals. We need an “anatomy of a scene” done on it.
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This is the real deal. It’s unconventional and uncompromising in the scope and scale of its vision, delivering a compelling, brilliantly crafted music biopic unlike any other. Jonno Davies absolutely nails his incredible performance as Robbie Williams.
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Like when everyone else is upstaging Paul Mescal in this film, including a CGI monkey, that’s a problem.
Was only semi-entertained with this. The action sequences are great (and all contain bonkers, Looney Tunes appeal). But it takes until the 2nd hour to find its drive. Mescal is miscast. But Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger are worth the show.
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Overheard the woman sitting behind me tonight tell her friend, “I’m putting garlic all around my house when I get home.”
Lily-Rose Depp gives a spectacular, full-throttle performance. She’s in total possession of her body as an instrument of fear & sexuality, contorting it into grotesque, unnatural positions (in tight, binding corsets!) in frightening fits of hysteria.
Nicholas Hoult’s work is brilliant. His arc is a feverish nightmare, nimbly negotiating the naïveté & terror-filled extremes. It’s a razor sharp performance, balancing sanity, love & peril. The command of tears that stay welled in his eyes he never lets fall.
Linda Muir’s costume design is exquisite. A ton of thought went into all the almost innocuous details (bespoke buttons w/ fishing weights! Metallic threads to catch light!). She adds textured fabric to characters’ lived-in fashions, deepens the context of themes.
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Today I learned Michael McDonald was high AF the first time he saw the SCTV skit where Rick Moranis plays him speeding from session to session. McDonald thought he was hallucinating. “Is this really happening or am I just losing it?”
This is MY JAM - and yours too if you dig learning about the stories behind the liner notes of albums by the kings of soft rock. A tribute to terrific musicianship. It’s the next best thing to seeing these acts in their heyday.
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Come for the muscles. Stay for the metaphors.
It borrows from SPLASH, but levels things up establishing its own identity. This saucy, sweet story of a snowman that turns into a himbo with a heart of gold is a winner!
My full review is on Variety.
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So many folks sleeping on this gem. Watch it immediately.
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Imagination, innovation & immersive world-building collide. A love letter to Golden Age Hollywood heart and razzle dazzle in a contemporary classic. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are splendid. Heroines for a new generation. Jonathan Bailey is magnetic.
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MEET ME NEXT CHRISTMAS is a Pentatonix propaganda film.
They say the group’s name no less than 80xs during - and then has the audacity to let them act.
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Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU remake goes HARDER than any other horror film this year. Holy fuck. A gorgeous grotesquerie of dread-infused terrors & a divine dark delight. Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok is pure sinister nightmare fuel. Lily Rose Depp & Nicholas Hoult’s best work to date.
It incorporates breathtaking homages to Murnau’s masterpiece with thoughtful thematic artistry. Robin Carolan’s haunting compositions, Jarin Blaschke’s painterly cinematography & Craig Lathrop’s inspired production design augment its frightful atmospheric allure.
Also: if you’re not afraid of rats before seeing this movie, you will be now!
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Pure hagiography. It keeps things 98% about his work and staggering contributions to cinema. We don’t find out who this man is behind the notes and what lies under his sheet music.
If you’re looking solely to marvel at his accomplishments, this is for you.
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This movie was way ahead of its time.
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That’s a “No” from me, dawg.
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Still stand by my original assessment: when it’s good, it’s solid. However, it too frequently gets tripped up in a lot of nonsense. It’s certainly got its moments though.
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Y’all were right: It’s disturbing AF. My stomach was in knots and I felt like I was gonna barf. High marks! It’s an absolutely unnerving, unshakable psychological horror about the parasocial nature of the true-crime obsessed.
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It’s a very good thing.
The documentary charts an iconic homemaker’s journey from superwoman to everywoman. It’s blessedly not a hagiography as Martha Stewart confronts her life’s imperfections head on (jail, infidelity, business failures), introspectively delving into her psyche.
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If this winds up being Clint Eastwood’s last as a director, the 94-year-old has crafted a finely-tuned 40th feature as his finale, proving that his work remains as vital as ever.
It’s a sly nail-biting thriller. Eastwood delivers, exploring moral ambiguity of humanity in this compelling character study. Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette are terrific. Zoey Deutch is the beating heart. Bélanger’s cinematography is highlight.
My full review is on FreshFiction.tv
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What a gem of a film. A testament to the power of the arts healing broken souls. Smart storytelling and well-acted.
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DON’T MOVE is blissfully oblivious of what it’s actually doing, spotlighting a heroine fighting for her life in the face of death …which is courtesy of a man who saves her from choosing self-harm so *he* can harm her instead - and, thus, *he* bestows her with a will to live.
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This review may contain spoilers.
I am not here for Robert Zemeckis’ HERE.
It did NOT work for me. The graphic novel by Richard McGuire is inventive and creative. However, this adaptation stinks, not honoring the source material with proper internal life and connective tissue.
He and co-writer Eric Roth would rather give Robin Wright Alzheimer’s than agency. POC and their stories are ornamental and, quite frankly, insulting.
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Twas otherworldly to see this again in IMAX. Paul riding the worm, Feyd Rautha’s gladiator battle, those freaky picadors and Paul’s evolution into a leader (embracing his latent secret familial legacy) all felt MASSIVE and IMPACTFUL on a grand scale. 🧡💛
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The rumors are true: this movie is exceptional. Easily compared as “Spotlight, but make it TV and set it over the span of a day.” John Magaro and Leonie Benesch are standouts. Shot on Red cameras, yet has a gorgeous 70s film look texture and tactile nature to immerse.
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Deviously twisted. A clever concept fully fleshed out. Beck and Woods carefully craft Hitchcockian levels of suspense and smarts. Keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Hugh Grant is terrific in pure sicko mode.
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Tiny details (painterly brushstrokes, character expressions and movements) feel larger than life on the Big Screen. Loved how, at the start, Roz stands apart in design from the woodland creatures and evolves, becoming part of their community, moss-softened by end.
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A fucked up funhouse of demented frights. It’s a rarity that a sequel - especially a horror sequel - surpasses the original as it does here by leaps and bounds, examining symbiotic trauma linked to fame and addiction. Banger score and soundtrack. Naomi Scott’s a goddamn scream queen.
The choreography on the number where Skye Riley tweaks her back is genuinely impressive. Love how it turns, faintly foreshadowing the predatory, possessed fans groping and preying on her later during a scare in the sanctuary of her apartment
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Pablo Larraín’s unofficial psychologically tormented royalty trilogy “concludes” with this emotionally enveloping character study. Angelina Jolie is resplendent delivering powerful poignancy in this haunting portrait of an iconic woman’s end of life crisis. Edward Lachman’s cinematography & Sofía Subercaseaux’s editing are supporting stars.
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Tarsem Singh created his masterpiece with THE FALL. Moving, compelling, jaw-dropping, humorous & riveting. Lee Pace and Cantinca Untaru are perfectly cast. Eiko Ishioka’s costume designs are meant for the big screen, entrancing in such gorgeous detail.
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I think we all need to realize that Jason Reitman’s best work is behind him (Up in the Air, Young Adult, Tully).
30 ROCK did this all better. Solid impressions of real life folks. However, there’s no tension because we know the outcome. It’s genuinely shitty to see the filmmakers throw not only Jim Henson under the bus, but also rely on the “unions are lazy” trope.
It also mistrusts the audience’s smarts and abilities to remember details that happened 15-30 min prior - not once but twice!
The best thing about it are the end credits made to look like SNL’s opening credits.
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Certified banger.
Pairs beautifully with All The President’s Men.
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Finally a dead mom due to cancer movie I didn’t cry during. (I have a dead mom due to cancer so I can say these things).
A surprisingly conventional weepie, despite its non-linear gimmick that never justifies its utilization. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh elevate the material, infusing it with tenderness and vibrancy. Still, Bryce Dessner’s score is the highlight.
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Anna Kendrick spotlights how women are forced, on a daily/ hourly, basis, to negotiate a world of full of danger, suffering not only the slings & arrows of men, but their toxic, deadly advances. A taut, gasp-eliciting, expertly-told true story.
There’s moments in it where I felt extreme stress. I think back on times I’ve felt unsafe (like the time a creep followed 14YO me & my best friend from a movie theater) and other times I’ve been “blissfully unaware” of the dangerous circumstances I was in.
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A slow-burning, red-hot crime-thriller, capturing insidiousness festering under a perverse guise of power. Heists and shootouts are perfectly calibrated. Adam Arkapaw’s cinematography and Jed Kurzel’s score lend strong atmospheric support. Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult are compelling.
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Unlike Joel Kinnaman’s previous gimmick-heavy “silent” film, this one was in desperate need of a gimmick.
My full review is on Variety.
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This was the first movie I’ve ever wondered about the showering habits of its lead female character. How her hair looked freshly washed every day when all she did was swim in a pool, it’s beyond me.
My full review is on Variety.
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An undeniable, must-see crowd-pleaser. These ladies are absolutely incredible, preserving their culture traditions & financially supporting themselves, as well as their families & communities. Plus it’s got a strong ecological and feminist message.
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A provocative, compelling tale on female sexual desire & lust, intimacy & infidelity. Nicole Kidman is mesmerizing and has scorching chemistry with Harris Dickinson. “Father Figure” and “Never Tear Us Apart” montages are exquisite. Verdict: HOT!
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My 9th and most epic time seeing it in a theater.
This film only gets better with age.
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A masterclass in clear-eyed filmmaking. Brady Corbet’s crafted a sharp, transfixing, new American classic. Impeccable delivery by Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn and Alessandro Nivola. Lol Crawley’s cinematography is pristine.
]]>These are MY favorite films of the year. If you’re tempted to scream at me because you don’t see YOUR favorites reflected, YOU are welcome to make YOUR OWN list.
- Barbie
- All of Us Strangers
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Perfect Days
- The Zone of Interest
- Poor Things
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Nimona
- Priscilla
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>How does it work? I’m honestly dumbfounded after watching these films.
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