Films I've Watched

It’s hard for me to watch a Dracula movie without comparing it against the novel or the Francis Ford Coppola film, and as much as I love Robert Eggers films, I have to admit that those mental snags did get in the way a little bit. But nonetheless, Eggers’ Nosferatu is monumental.

As any Dracula film is only as successful as the amount of dread and terror it inspires, I have to say this one is suffused with lurking horror in every scene. All the more so because Count Orlock isn’t at all glamorous or sexy or tragic. He is death and decay and inevitability. As he says in the film, “I am an appetite, nothing more.” He scares the bejesus out of me.

What really makes Eggers’ films great is his care for period details and his love of Jungian psychological subtext.

Of course the Weird Al biopic is a parody of a music biopic. And like everything else Al does, it’s pretty darn funny.

Where it works, it’s hilarious. But, like all forms of parody, the trick is to balance the form of the original work with the silliness. In this case, I’d say the elements of biopic films get the upper hand a little too much, and you find yourself at times feeling a little too involved in the straight emotions of the story. There are long scenes of Al sinking into megalomania and despair that have no humor other than the fact that you know they’re not true.

A fun film that could use a bit of editing down.

I really enjoy the rather bleak look at human nature that Suzanne Collins’ gives in her subversive Hunger Games books, and I was delighted when I read this prequel that success hadn’t robbed her of her edge. This film adaptation is very loyal to that text, so it should be an unfettered success.

The thing is, while the movie sticks very close to the plot, there are a thousand little choices and intangibles that dilute how well the message comes across. No one of them alone would have made much of a difference, but added up all together, you find yourself really lacking something.

The really damaging part is that, without a view into the inner thoughts and turmoil of the characters, the ending feels quite rushed and somewhat unmotivated.

I did enjoy the film, but only as a supplement to the excellent novel.

A nice little noir with a bottle setting that telegraphs the fact that it was based on a play. Not as memorable as John Huston’s more epic films, but still a great watch with a strong sense of place, plenty of mood, and an excellent cast (Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and Lauren Bacall — yes, please). And that’s what’s so great about theater adaptations — the focus on character, motivation, and interpersonal conflict.

I wish we based more movies on plays these days.

Another lame Tim Burton cash grab with none of the charm of the original. Way too much (convoluted) plot. Nothing new to say. And is it me, or is Jenna Ortega a terrible actor?

The only saving grace is that Michael Keaton is still having fun with the role.

The direction is fairly uneven, as is the editing, but this is a rare case where the story is good enough and the actors are fun enough to watch that it’s still really enjoyable. A great send up of trekies and late career television actors.

A movie that both stirs a natural joy in chaos and the warmth of found family—in Hawaii! The script isn’t perfect, but it does a great job of portraying flawed and struggling characters and showing you the value within them.

Funny and absurdist in a way that harkens back to The Hudsucker Proxy and Raising Arizona, without ever ascending quite to those heights. The characters are fun and you root for them, but the plot is less even.

More of the irreverence and silly violence you’ve seen in the previous two films, but for some reason it doesn’t quite land as well for me in this one. Maybe it’s the way multi-verses suck all the dramatic tension out of a situation. Or maybe the schtick is just wearing a bit thin. Cute dog though.

Certainly a landmark of naturalism and psuedo-verité, The French Connection is engrossing and watchable. Still, the tough guy cops with racist slurs on their lips rub me the wrong way often enough to put a damper on my enjoyment.

A simple story about vampires and how they find meaning in an eternal life. I’m sure the hoi polloi would complain that not much happens, but as always, they’d be missing the point.

Great performances, great mood, awesome music.

I saw this movie quite by accident, rashly assuming that it was the new Robert Zemeckis film whose title I couldn’t remember at the time. And it’s fair to say that I am not the intended audience for this sort of romantic tearjerker.

I have to give the movie credit for being reasonably well shot and for the actors bringing a lot of charm and chemistry that elevate the rather cliché plot. That said, I really don’t like that the moral seems to be that following the default life script is admirable and that the preservation of a woman’s breeding potential is worth her very life. Bleach.

Edward is the misunderstood, unfinished part of each of us. Burton’s hyper-suburbia is the perfect place to tell his story. Marvelous.

The scene that exemplifies this movie:

A gremlin finds a jar labeled “Acid, do not throw on face,” immediately throws it in another gremlin’s face. The disfigured second gremlin raises a Phantom of the Opera mask he has at the ready. Priceless.

Isolation, paranoia, and some of the best creature effects ever put on film. This may be John Carpenter’s magnum opus.

A movie that’s so iconic that the uneven script and rushed ending almost don’t matter. Subversive, funny, poignant, and just generally awesome. And the alleyway fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David is possibly the greatest thing in the history of the world.

One of my personal feel-good classic comedies. Delightful in every way.

Definitely a fun and generally effective return to the world of Inside Out, and the idea of the rise of Anxiety as a controlling force in early puberty is apt as all getout. But it lacks the focus and much of the emotional punch of the first film,

A great voice cast, memorable character designs, and a willingness not to shy away from the dark and disturbing make this a really unique and enjoyable take on the classic tale. My only real critique is that it’s not very successful as a musical; the songs are forgettable and the staging of the numbers is rather uninspired.

A lively comedy of errors with some nice tap dancing numbers and some surprisingly risque pre-code elements. The direction and numbers aren’t nearly as sophisticated as Hollywood musicals would become in just a few short years, but you have to walk before you can run.

Driven by the charisma of the band, the distinctive absurdist mid-century British wit, and the timeless songs of The Beatles, this film what this film doesn’t have in plot, it makes up in charm.

Silly though the show always was, I’ve long felt a connection to Monk, this OCD germophobe who still manages to be brilliant and driven and gets the job done when the chips are down. Rooting for him always felt a little like rooting for my own ability to cope with those same challenges.

That made it pretty sad to me to see that in this return to the screen the character is at an all time low and thinking of ending it all. The mystery is classic Monk fair, but seeing him in a less desperate place would have made this a more joyful reprise.

This movie is fun to watch, with a nice twisty plot and charismatic leads. But the script is somewhat underrated and the ending unsatisfying. Not one of Linklater’s best, but worth watching anyhow.

As fun, bloody, violent action films go, this one stands out for its simple self-aware (but not self-referential) joyfulness. Like a Paul Verhoven film, but with less overt satire. The protagonists have only very minor arcs as characters, the stakes are blessedly non-world-threatening, and it’s just a hell of a lot of fun to watch Dredd fight his way through a hundred or so bad guys while never batting an eye (behind that helmet he never takes off for the entire film).