the most broken non-linear structure I’ve ever seen? undermines any tension or intrigue it could have had with stupid structural jumbling. it doesn’t even lead to anything interesting because the last two segments are the last ones linearly, so it just sacrifices the natural accumulation of interest in order to try and pull a fast one on the audience. to do all that structural deception to culminate in such a flat finale…what a terrible script. so slavishly devoted to the…
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Mulholland Drive 2001
used to watch this obsessively to the point where I have theories for every single aspect of the film, in a way that I’ve never done with anything else before or after. it inspired a single-handed devotion in me to understand its labyrinthine nature. yet, even with the clarity of what I believe is happening and what it seems to mean, I am truly struck by how much it continues to transport me effortlessly into its haze of dreams and…
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It's Kind of a Funny Story 2010
read my old review of this and was alarmed by how much I’d changed. the suffering teenager who wrote those words feels completely unrecognisable to me now, as if it was a different person inhabiting my body for a period of time. it was pretty wonderful to watch this and not relate to the desperate suicidal ideation and teenage melodramatics. wish I could tell 16 year old me that worse things would happen than anyone could have anticipated, but that we’d be okay.
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Money Plane 2020
the way Edge says “refugees of Syria” while discussing redistributing the wealth to people who need it was the highlight of this rewatch.
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024
dreadful final 15 minutes which are rushed, unfunny and dramatically unsatisfying but it was pretty solid for the most part. Winona is incredible, undead Bellucci is a real highlight and the rest of the ensemble are having a good time, but it doesn’t focus heavily enough on any of its plot threads, emotional arcs or antagonists to be a fully cohesive experience. spends weird amounts of the runtime on random deviations like the endless Soul Train bits. the ending whiffs…
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Tokyo Twilight 1957
the darkest Ozu I’ve seen so far. instead of watching the family unit be torn apart by the winds of change, whether that’s marriage or death, we witness the repercussions of earlier destruction. Ineko Arima gives one of the best performances I’ve ever seen as a woman who simply cannot comprehend the choices made by her mother, even as her sister next to her considers doing the same to her own child. Hara and Ryū are also tremendous as they…
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It Ends with Us 2024
lost my mind at Thom Yorke’s Dawn Chorus and Post Malone’s White Iverson being back-to-back needledrops. could not believe it. honestly thought this was pretty good. Baldoni has decent instincts behind the camera, some good handheld work and an understanding of how to time grace notes. there’s a particular cut to Atlas’ (stupid name) hand which stood out as extremely precise melodrama, Baldoni knew exactly how to play it without being overblown. performances are all good which helps its case…
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Boyz n the Hood 1991
Fishburne is the greatest cinematic dad. weep every time at the scene where he convinces Tre to give him the gun. as remarkable as I’d remembered it being.
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The People's Joker 2022
aesthetically repellant, terribly written, seemingly has no real interest in the art that it’s apparently slavishly devoted to. none of the elements (beyond a very bad reconstruction of the also terrible Joker stairs scene) actually seem to be parodying direct elements of the source material, at best they’re surface-level imitations, but Ra’s Al Ghul isn’t even playing off of elements of that character! not one good joke in an entire 90 minute film is pretty impressive. lots of the dialogue…
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The Royal Tenenbaums 2001
Stiller and Hackman give two of the best performances I’ve ever seen. “I’ve had a rough year, Dad” would be my favourite Anderson moment if it wasn’t for Asteroid City. few things have ever captured what it feels like to lose the love of your life at such a young age, Anderson’s done it twice.