Films I've Watched
-
Road House
Sometimes a movie is chock full of all the familiar tropes but it has such a unique flavor and perspective that it feels entirely original. The formula of Road House is the classic western story of a badass who comes into town to clean up the place and runs afoul of the corrupt local powers that be. But it walks this really interesting line between all out camp and meditation on whether one can be masculine and gentle at the same time.
Pain don’t hurt.
-
Triangle of Sadness
A meticulously directed film that escalates from a dry and subtle satire into something surprising and frenetic. Compare to Parasite and The Menu in all the best ways.
-
Lawrence of Arabia
Epic, sumptuous, and powerful. There are a number of shots and edits in this film that rank among the greatest of all time.
-
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Not a great movie. Perhaps not even a very good one. But it’s feel-good nostalgia for me.
-
Jailhouse Rock
Jailhouse Rock is perhaps more interesting as a historical artifact than it is enjoyable as a movie. It’s fascinating how unglamorous and even unsympathetic Elvis’ protagonist is allowed to be, especially compared to his more vacuous later filmography. Also intriguing is the ways in which his character’s rise to fame, transition to Hollywood, and ultimate alienation as a result mirror Elvis’ own life. It’s too bad that he wasn’t able to read the film as an omen and extricate himself from that path.
-
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A classic I’d somehow never seen before now, and brilliant all the same. Funny, painful, and heartbreaking. (And also very similar to Cool Hand Luke.)
-
Three Thousand Years of Longing
This film feels like a Neil Gaiman story, all about myth and narrative and heartbreak. The script is a bit uneven and the directing leans into the cartoonish, which is a shame because it might otherwise have been really effective.
-
Spider-Man: No Way Home
This is one of the most fan-servicey films I’ve ever seen, apart from the intolerable Ready Player One. Still, I actually enjoyed it more than most of the other Marvel movies I’ve watched in the last few years. I suppose I have a soft spot for young, always in over his head, always anchored to his moral center Peter Parker.
-
When Harry Met Sally
I don’t go in much for romantic comedies, which I find to be generally formulaic and saccharine, but Nora Ephron’s oeuvre is more charming and genuinely funny than most.
-
An American in Paris
I think I might have enjoyed this more if I could just stop comparing it against Singin’ in the Rain. They have a lot in common: loose plotting interspersed with delightful song-and-dance numbers and an extended, highly abstract ballet sequence toward the end, not to mention Gene Kelly at the center of it all. But, despite the excellent Gershwin score, this one seems like a dress rehearsal for the masterpiece that Singin’ in the Rain turned out to be.
-
Amadeus
This is one of my all time favorite films. It’s about music and talent and jealousy and vengeance. It’s deftly directed and emotively acted and just perfect.
-
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
I admit that I never finished this one. It’s trying to be about something, but whatever that is gets buried under the weight of endless CGI bust-em-ups and whatever spinoff origin stories the studio mandated. The MCU gets staler w.ith each new film.
-
Elvis
An overlong movie that falls prey to many of the common pitfalls of the biopic genre, but Baz Lurmann’s signature kineticism and Butler’s portrayal of The King make it a thoroughly enjoyable film.
-
Empire of Light
Subtle and emotional. Brilliantly shot by Roger Deakins and brilliantly acted by Olivia Colman. I can only guess that those who reviewed it so poorly were looking for a more ham-fisted theme than the subtle arc of three wounds mending. Not a perfect script, but thoroughly immersive.
-
Much Ado About Nothing
Like most Branagh films, this one is stagey, over the top, and lacking in subtlety of any kind.
This isn’t a full review, but I will dwell on one particular gripe: Rather than letting trusting in the humor of the play itself, one of Shakespeare’s most truly funny characters, Dogberry, is ruined by wacky choices like having him ride an invisible horse, Monty Python style. All it does is distract.
-
The Fablemans
Rather long and meandering, but still one of the best things Senior Spielbergo has done in a long time. It has plenty of his signature schmaltziness, some great character moments, and for once Janusz Kamiński’s cinematography doesn’t look like digitally color-corrected vomit.
-
The Menu
Suspenseful, twisted, and a lot of fun at the same time. Not a one-hundred percent perfect script, but the directing, performances, and satirical nightmarishness more than make up for any small flaws.
-
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
So much unhinged fun. All kinds of wacky themed gremlins, all running amok… in New York!
-
Brain Candy
Delightfully silly.
-
The Northman
A little bit more formulaic than Eggers’ other films, but still deeply interested in the psychological experience of a world where myth is reality. A phantasmagoria of magic and blood.
-
Thor: Love and Thunder
Pretty meh
-
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Not as streamlined, poignant, or satisfying as the first Knives Out film, but somehow a lot of fun nonetheless.
-
The Muppet Christmas Carol
-
Safety Last!