While its heart is in the right place, Krampus is ultimately too sterile and rushed to capture any of the humor, horror, or holiday spirit it so eagerly strives for. Dougherty is too busy rushing to get plot points in and hurl out unfunny jokes to build up any convincing atmosphere, or sense of tension. Even the visual language of the film feels bland and more befitting of a studio improv comedy than this pumped up mixture of cartoon and grotesque. There are some nice creature designs and practical effects in the movie's final stretch, but it's too little too late. Ultimately Krampus feels like the in-flight movie version of Gremlins.
I maintain that it's best to go all out on spoofing the Gremlins Cinematic Universe (GCU) as Youtube videos, including 'Gremlins REACT to Gremlins 2 ending'. I mean, as gadget lovers it would only make sense for them to go nuts with Youtube. Also the cheapest possible way to market a movie that's never going to happen. Just pretend you're doing it and then drop that 'fuck you, it's all youtube now' bomb.
(Gremlins On A Plane should just be one of those)
It was also disappointing that the final showdown was in a room full of mirrors. It looked cool, but that shit has its own page on TV tropes full of examples. Just a couple of years ago The Guest ended with basically the same showdown, and its unrelated, but that movie also weirdly guest starred Lance Reddick.
As someone who loves (most of) Twin Peaks but is not necessarily a fan of Lynch, I'm enjoying the show just fine so far. I do understand people expecting a more traditional TP wanting more structure/plot, but it's too early to judge anyway.
As someone who watched the show for the first time this year and loved it, even in spite of its (S2) warts, I don't know if I would care if we never saw the town or the people in it ever again. I'm all in this for Cooper's journey, wherever that is and whatever that entails, and my interest in his scenes is always exponentially greater than anything happening at the sheriff's station or wherever else.
Well, nothing against mirrors specifically, but in that context it felt a bit tired. A problem the entire third act of The Guest had imho.
Mirrors can be great though, I don't think it was a very elaborate sequence or anything, but I seem to recall there's a couple of absolutely breathtaking shots in Wim Wenders's Don't Come Knocking involving mirrors.
Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953): I've heard a fair bit about Jacques Tati's Hulot films over the years, their being fairly famous French comedies in cinephile circles, and eventually got the chance to watch one of them. It was dull. I really don't have much more to say about it than that.
Lovesong (2017): One of the many small scale indie films that now find a home on Netflix. In this case, a minimalist story about two longtime friends whose relationship is roiled by sexual tension, which proves to be a showcase for amazing, naturalistic acting by Riley Keough and Jena Malone. The director, So-yong Kim, has an instinct for good composition as well (and for making the images feel naturalistic, as opposed to self-consciously showy). There's a particular
kiss
that is one of the best I've seen onscreen in a while.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946): One of the major Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger films I hadn't had the opportunity to see until now (there's no Criterion Blu-ray, as yet), this aired on TCM the other night. This was, I believe, their last film made with Roger Livesey (the star of Colonel Blimp and I Know Where I'm Going!), and features in supporting parts a few actors who would appear more prominently in later works (Kathleen Byron and Marius Goring). I didn't find this quite as emotionally impactful as their very best work (though it's a well-told story), but goddamn, this film is amazing on a technical level. Powell and Pressburger always used Technicolour to perfection, but in addition to that there are some really remarkable special effects used here to tell the story. The opening sequence of the universe alone is beautiful. Toward the end of the film
the trial gets kind of bogged down in its attempt to bridge the supposed divide between British and American people, but it has a strong final few minutes.
Lust, Caution (2007): Ang Lee's entry into the genre of prestige films that attracted a lot of attention for graphic sex scenes (which are, indeed, graphic; and they feature a woman with armpit hair, surely shocking to many). But those only account for ten minutes of its two-and-a-half hour running time, the rest of which is a well-told story about espionage and entanglement. I wasn't aware while watching it that Tony Leung's character was a real historical figure, since I'm not particularly familiar with modern Chinese history. Also, Joan Chen is here, in her second big movie role as the spouse of a Japanese puppet ruler of China. Tang Wei, the star, is superb.
The ending is perhaps the bleakest in any of Lee's films, which will stay with you.
Lego Batman 9/10. So cleverly written and plotted. Wonderfully directed as well. Doesn't stop being smart and endearing.
Oculus 7/10. Works up until the lacklustre and unsatisfying end. It would have been a massive directorial and planning pain doing all of the cross cutting to the past and present. Ghosts need rules, the mirror needed clearer more defined rules as well but there was effort put into it.
well, I have about fifteen new ones to catch up, and a ton of rewatches to mention, so let's get to it.
45. Soylent Green (1973) I was watching this under the impression that being memed to death meant it was probably going to be an underwhelming movie to watch. It was not. After nearly 45 years, we are near the future presented in this movie, which is thankfully turned out a bit better thanks to dwarf wheat in particular, but we are far from in the clear on the possibility of it all going down the drain. While this movie certainly starts out as if its going to be just preachy on the perils of overconsumption, it works extremely well as a straight drama, earning both its place as a genuine classic, and its memed ending being an injustice to its story. Dont worry, knowing the meme doesnt ruin it since thats not the point of the movie. Its worth seeing, particularly on account of Charlton Hestons nihilistic character and Edward G. Robinsons final performance.
On a side note, you have to be pretty typical Silicon Valley sick fuck to think that you should name your product after this movie (or the book its based on). Go to hell, Soylent.
46. Futureworld (1976) yeeeeaaah so after Westworld there was this other movie, and ehm.. well theres a good reason nobody remembers it, because it is fucking terrible. Surprisingly however, this movie seems to be the actual source for the recent TV show, when it literally starts with that eye shot and has a lot more in common with the show than the actual movie Westworld (which is actually worth watching, whereas Futureworld really isnt) does. Blythe Danner is a charming lady and really tries to save this movie, but Peter Fonda sounds like he could literally not give less of a fuck about being in it. And for some weird reason there is an awkward dream sequence with Yul Brynner, where youre almost hoping for him to swoop in and save it, but nope, hes just in it for being Westworld incarnate and the movie needed a reason to fool people into thinking it was on the same level. It isnt. Oh, and to wrap this hard pass up: they framed vital parts of the story in the wrong order so the ending literally makes no sense. I guess they wanted to do a different one but then changed it, so now its just what? and that yur movie. Just rewatch Westworld (1973) for Yul Brynners iconic performance as the cowboy, and delete this one from your databanks.
47. Logan (2017) yeeeehaw, partner, this is how you do a depressingly realistic depiction of inequality upon a dying group of people living in the shitty current political world with no hope of being replaced or being relevant after death. YEEEEAAAH!
And it does not let up on it either, bringing these well known performances of Logan and Xavier round to their depressingly realistic ending, and it does not take prisoners or decide to go easy on violence or the general shittyness of life when youre not surrounded by superpowered guards. I loved how the movie worked for the viewer, not the costumes, including pointing out that you cannot actually just ram down a fence with a car. Sure, it has a really weird iphone made secret documentary in it, but between tag-team lunging (fans of the Origins video game should rejoice as that is in here. And yes, that is awesome), a nearly un-Hollywood amount of actual political ideas like border walls, racism, immigration, and so on, and an actually satisfying story, this movie is basically the first actually great X-Men movie. Its Children Of Men if it took place in the X-Men universe, and it is well worth seeing.
48. Get Out (2017) Speaking of racism, this movie is racist towards white people! .... Ahahaha, no. But Im sure there are people out there that are all up in arms about a movie effectively showing how awkward, creepy, and downright unsettling it is to be the only black guy for miles while surrounded by white people. Get Out really is an appropriate title for what that feels like, and its in the service of a well-made horror movie, which is honestly best watched not knowing anything about it (sorry to say that only now).
For a first time director, this is fantastic. However, it does not escape that first timer feel either, which is something you only start to notice when you watch a lot of movies, and is the way things move, if you will. Like transfers, blocking, camera movement, that stuff. Also, I know from the Gremlins 2 pitch sketch that Key and Peele know their horror movies, and I couldnt help thinking afterwards that I just saw a type of remake of
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch.
Except a lot better made, of course. And consistent in its rules, which is honestly becoming increasingly rare in movies these days when it shouldnt be. Get Out is worth seeing and rewatching too. Well played, Peele.
If I were WB / DC, Id be checking whether he might be interested in directing a Val Zod movie. ( #ForTheLoveOfZod ). I should not have to explain why after Wonder Womans current Box Office run, as well Get Out doing extremely well for its genre.
49. Fantastic CGI Beasts And How To Ruin Them (2016)
No wait, I can handle it. I can do this. We're going to get through this.
Can I just link the Honest Trailers video on this one? Because that is exactly what this movie is. Its trying to be this charming oh look at this! Isn't it cute? thing in the same way Harry Potter was, but without actually having any charm, wits, or even a remotely likeable or enjoyable character or plot to throw at you. You know, like Harry Potter actually did have. Hell, the wannabe baker and blondie the mindreader are the only genuinely enjoyable thing in this. Also, one moment its warm enough, then there is a frozen lake, and theyre doing that scene from Peter Jacksons King Kong in the charmingly not charming way this movie does things. AND EXPLOSIONS, because you need those in a BLOCKBUSTER movie! Oh dear god, it's a literal checklist of crap.
And to boot, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, looks like it has that green shine of the fucking Matrix without the characters ever becoming aware of it, asking the damn question, or waking up for this trivial nonsense existence of pretending to magicians in the fucking matrix. WAKE UP, DAMMIT!
I hated this movie. I hate it with almost all the hate that I have, and that is, quite frankly, an accomplishment. I know that may sound hyperbolic to some, but I hated Prometheus significantly less than this Matrix.. thing. This movie felt like a literal lie to cinema itself, to the point where I started to feel sorry to diegetic characters that do not exist for not being aware of their Matrix existence. And with that, I'm going to take a little break, and get myself a cup of tea- oh nononono *ding*
Caught a double bill the other night that started with Scott Pilgrim vs the World on 35mm. Looked great, firmed up my feeling that it's a masterpiece. And now with a couple years of distance I like how it encapsulates 00s "indie." The soundtrack collates the 70s-90s major influences of that time and the fake bands all work as examples of what was cool in the underground vs the mainstream--noise rockers like Crash and the Boys and Pixies-derivatives like Sex Bob-omb hoping just to get a show, Clash at Demonhead as a Yeah Yeah Yeahs-type band that have enough post-punk in the DNA to be hip but rely heavily on image, the Katyanagi twins sound almost like Fuck Buttons and show how rock kids had fully accepted djs and boundary-pushing synth acts.
Second half was A Fistful of Fingers. Edgar Wright sent over a pre-roll along with the dcp that provided crucial context in the form of British television ephemera: first an intro he recorded explaining how he's come to terms with the movie now, then a bunch of Milky Bar Kid commercials, lastly a then-popular Jeremy Beadle clip.
Then the movie. While it's absolutely a backyard movie made by a bunch of kids, it's also the most professional-looking one of those everand is, as the tag line promises, the greatest Western ever made in Somerset. It's a nice spag parody with a bevy of Python-esque slapstick gags and wordplay. The jokes are dumb and silly but not facile. I was surprised at how hard and often I laughed. Just shows how fully formed Wright's comedic sensibility was already, it's a short straight line from this to Spaced. It's cine-literate and hyper-referential without using references as a crutch, because it's all built on Wright's kinetic rhythm and intuitive visuals. Not only am I glad to finally see this (I guess I could have found it earlier but it was nice to see on a big screen and in a legitimate, director-permitted manner), but I'm happily impressed that it's actually good.
My initial expectations for this movie was that it was gonna be a feel-good inspiration tale made to raise the morale during the war, but after seeing it, I find that it was able to go beyond that and present a more personal and poignant view of the war on the homefront.
The film does a great job at making me care about the community and characters way way before any of the war stuff happens. The performances were mostly great, but I got a little distracted by the accents and it takes some getting used to. I really cared about the Minivers in this picture.
There's a handful of truly memorable sequences that I was really impressed by. One sequence involving boats heading off to Dunkirk. Another one involves Mrs. Miniver confronting a German pilot in her house in a terrifying and tense scene that is carried by Greer Garson's performance and the direction by William Wyler. The ending was pretty great, too.
49. Fantastic CGI Beasts And How To Ruin Them (2016)
No wait, I can handle it. I can do this. We're going to get through this.
Can I just link the Honest Trailers video on this one? Because that is exactly what this movie is. Its trying to be this charming oh look at this! Isn't it cute? thing in the same way Harry Potter was, but without actually having any charm, wits, or even a remotely likeable or enjoyable character or plot to throw at you. You know, like Harry Potter actually did have. Hell, the wannabe baker and blondie the mindreader are the only genuinely enjoyable thing in this. Also, one moment its warm enough, then there is a frozen lake, and theyre doing that scene from Peter Jacksons King Kong in the charmingly not charming way this movie does things. AND EXPLOSIONS, because you need those in a BLOCKBUSTER movie! Oh dear god, it's a literal checklist of crap.
And to boot, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, looks like it has that green shine of the fucking Matrix without the characters ever becoming aware of it, asking the damn question, or waking up for this trivial nonsense existence of pretending to magicians in the fucking matrix. WAKE UP, DAMMIT!
I hated this movie. I hate it with almost all the hate that I have, and that is, quite frankly, an accomplishment. I know that may sound hyperbolic to some, but I hated Prometheus significantly less than this Matrix.. thing. This movie felt like a literal lie to cinema itself, to the point where I started to feel sorry to diegetic characters that do not exist for not being aware of their Matrix existence. And with that, I'm going to take a little break, and get myself a cup of tea- oh nononono *ding*
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: The first half of the film will try your patience whenever Kate Capshaw is on the screen, and though it's not her fault that Willie is an awful character from a writing standpoint (especially after how fun and exciting Marion was in Raiders), she's still the one delivering all of the shrill screams that the film became notorious for, while also playing her part in no-selling the romance between Willie and Indy. Ford helps out on that front, too, which is strange in the face of how much more believable the relationship between Indy and Short Round feels in comparison, which is why I've never had anywhere close the animosity for that character that some have had. It also doesn't help that nearly all of the comic relief in the first half is due to Willie reacting to things, and it always falls flat, along with an interminable opening number that feels like it belongs in the small pocket of hell reserved for every copy of 1941 known to man. Once the film goes underground (literally!) and decides that the story really wasn't that important after all, things pick up tremendously as it glides through one great action scene after another, buoyed by a memorable villainous performance from Amrish Puri and some really stellar production design of the mines, all capped up by one of John Williams' best scores for the series. Yes, the film can feel like it's going too far in the violence department compared to the original, as the frequent moments of violence upon children is out of sorts with the rest of the series, to say nothing of the more graphic violence that happens at the hands (tee-hee) of Mola Ram, but I don't think it ever gets too excessive to spoil the fun that Spielberg is having making it, nor for the viewer to be highly entertained. You definitely have to put up with a whole lotta bullshit with the leading lady to get to the goods, but in my book, it's worth the pain.
Comedy is so subjective. From the recommendations of the upper two posters, I agree with What We Do in the Shadows and Everybody Wants Some!! I hated Hail Caesar! and Popstar. The Grand Budapest Hotel was okay.
I'll add Deadpool and The Greasy Strangler. The Wolf of Wall Street was hilarious. Pushing your 5 years criteria, but Casa De Mi Padre was funny.
Lot of different kinds of comedy but here are a few.
The World's End (2013)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Grand Budapest Hotel (2015)
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
The Nice Guys (2016)
Mistress America (2015)
The Big Sick (not out on home release yet but it's the funniest film I've seen this year)
What We Do In The Shadows + Hunt for the Wilderpeople
The Grand Budapest Hotel + Moonrise Kingdom
Spy Movie
Wanderlust
21 + 22 Jump Street
Mistress America
The World's End (although Scott's Pilgrim is much funnier)
Churchill is an excellent example of a pretty middling film thats bolstered by a couple of superb performances by Brian Cox and Miranda Richardson.
It's a particularly superb performance by Brian Cox as Churchill (imagine that, churchill in a film called churchill) shown as having already led the nation through the darkest days of the second world war, now flailing and almost impotent as American domination of the anglo-american alliance becomes explicit, as shown in another great performance by John Slattery as General Eisenhower.
So Brian Cox does a superb job as an old and frustrated Churchill, but also extremely sympathetic as the reasons for his mad flailing are extremely understandable, Miranda Richardson does a subtle role as the understated and tired Clementine Churchill. The film really anchors itself around those performances, and it wouldn't work without them.There's also an odd subplot involving a pretty secretary and her fiance which doesn't really work and feels terribly contrived.
It's intended to be a thriller, but... we already know the answer? So it doesn't really work as intended. D-Day happens, thats history now. Or maybe the film assumes we don't know, as a helpful caption at the end informs us of who won the second world war.
So, not bad, not great. Maybe wait for a netflix release.
Lot of different kinds of comedy but here are a few.
The World's End (2013)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Grand Budapest Hotel (2015)
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
The Nice Guys (2016)
Mistress America (2015)
I watched The Thin Blue Line (documentary) again after having not seen it since I was a little kid. Wow, infuriating. The detectives in that case were so incompetent and credulous of absurd narratives it defies belief.
A Better Tomorrow II: I didn't think there was any chance I would see another movie this month that could rival the absolute insanity of Gremlins 2, but, well, here we are. Leave it John Woo, folks.
The narrative here, particularly in the early goings, feels substantially less cohesive than the first film, and at times totally perfunctory, but eventually blows up the themes and action of the first film to outsized proportions to the point where you can't help but be entertained.
The thing is, this movie ludicrous even by John Woo standards. Mental trauma is portrayed as switch that goes from stark raving mad, to full on normal, curable by a one two punch of jamming food in your mouth as you slobber about and then having to save your bro from imminent death. The movie is packed with things that beggar belief (such as Chow Yun Fats entire character this time around), but the sheer spectacle of it all just about makes up for its scizopheric storytelling and lack of that perfect balance of melodrama from the first film.
Despite the movie's absentminded plotting and wildly hapahazard character work, its themes this time around feel even more fascinatingly idiosyncratic to Woo and expressed more symbolically. In particular he explores the lingering effect of violence, with lots of shots of blood covering pure white surfaces, mud being cleansed off hands, and of course the mental trauma of violence that one character has to overcome in the silliest of ways I mentioned earlier. It's something that Woo later more thoroughly, and successfully, explores in Bullet in the Head, but I still find that particular pet theme of his fascinating when mixed in with all the melodramatic brotherly love stuff he always does.
There are so many standout individual sequences in the movie too, like when two undercover brothers must confront each other to earn the trust of their target, an incredible shootout in an apartment complex, and one surreal sequence in which a character must confront the embodiment of the grim reaper after he sees a shooting star and takes it to be an omen of death. They come as sintillating reminders of Woo's unique capabilities after a few extended bouts of head scratching.
A Better Tomorrow II is not as good as the first film, but the strengths of this movie's individual moments and sheer madness are enough to overcome most of its bizzarre shortcomings.
The Spy in Black (1939): This film is most notable as the first teaming of the dynamic duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (only the former getting a directing credit in this instance), but I found it fascinating in that its having been produced literally right before the outbreak of the Second World War means that, as a tale of German saboteurs out to infiltrate Scapa Flow in 1917, it is largely devoid of the propagandistic elements that would have been mandatory mere months later. Told almost exclusively from the German point of view, it is actually rather sympathetic to the characters, even if we're obviously meant to root for jolly old England to pull off a victory. The technical elements are quite solid as well, another consistent feature of Powell and Pressburger's later work.
I haven't gotten into a pure comedy in a while. I miss the days of Stripes and the OG Ghostbusters and Caddyshack. Oh, hey, those all have Bill Murray in them.
I tend to like the action movies with comedy aspects:
Deadpool
Spy
Nice Guys
GotG and GotG2
I guess I could toss a couple others in there: 50/50 (although it's 2011) and is another example of a good Seth Rogen performance; Pitch Perfect was fun. I second Wolf of Wall Street as a black comedy.
Or animated movies with humor like Despicable Me 2 & Inside Out
Well, that was hopelessly depressing. Incredibly gripping, but Jesus, it was such a massive downer of a movie. If kids are playing music loudly on the beach, go home.
Beware the Slenderman
A documentary about the Wisconsin Slender Man stabbing. It is well done and takes a deep dive in, but it's also a little too reliant on Slender Man clips and footage from the interwebs.
As Above, So Below
Started very promising, and then went way off the rails for me. It's a little unfortunate when your movie gets bad when it gets to what's meant to be the good part.
If ya liked Your Name I recommend 5 Centimeters Per Second and perhaps Shinkai's other movies (those are the only two that reeally struck a chord with me) if you dig it, but also definitely recommend Mamoru Hosada's body of work, which consists of some of my favorite stuff next to Ghibli. It's similarly YA fluff, but he implements a sense of complexity and worldliness that extends beyond the stories you see on-screen, and has a very controlled, nuanced touch. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children, and The Beast and the Boy are simply great, and the last one is pretty much a Disney film with edge, anime-style.
If ya liked Your Name I recommend 5 Centimeters Per Second and perhaps Shinkai's other movies (those are the only two that reeally struck a chord with me) if you dig it, but also definitely recommend Mamoru Hosada's body of work, which consists of some of my favorite stuff next to Ghibli. It's similarly YA fluff, but he implements a sense of complexity and worldliness that extends beyond the stories you see on-screen, and has a very controlled, nuanced touch. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children, and The Beast and the Boy are simply great, and the last one is pretty much a Disney film with edge, anime-style.
Okay, so quick reviews to help out anyone who might be looking for something to watch. Here we go:
.
Half Nelson (Re-watch): Still a good film with a fantastic performance by Ryan Gosling and some really good moments, but it had lesser impact than the first time round. Good story however and a good character drama and I'd highly recommend. 4/5
The Belko Experiment: If you're looking for a good "leave your brain at the door" popcorn flick that's supremely entertaining and a great way to spend ninety minutes then look no further. Thought this was going to be trash and ended up enjoying it way more than I thought I would. Would also recommend. 3/5
Berlin Syndrome: One of the best films I've seen in ages. Just brilliant and absolutely harrowing. Theresa Palmer is enchanting as well as being stunning in this, showing she's actually an underrated and great actress. Great performance from her, and a great film. 5/5
Colossal: A little disappointed in this one. It's good, but I was expecting more. It's strong in that it's highly original and there's nothing else out there quite like it, but it felt very Hollywood and formulaic, and quite predictable. Still enjoyed it however. 3/5
Lion: I think I've posted about this one before in an earlier thread, but it deserves another mention. It's one of the best films I've ever seen in my life, period. An absolutely heart rendering final act and one hell of an emotional pay-off. It's just damn good and you should stop whatever you're doing and watch it now. 5/5
Get Out: A good film, and quite enchanting but also a bit of a let down. I think the rave reviews made me think it was going to be a masterpiece when really it was just good, and not great. Enjoyed it so much I watched it twice, but it's not the world shattering film the reviews made it out to be. Would still highly recommend. 4/5
Creed (Re-watch): Probably the best Rocky film ever and it doesn't even star Rocky as the central character. One of the best boxing films ever made and just an extremely well produced, well acted and transfixing two hours. Really good film and you should definitely see it. Looking forward to the sequel. 5/5
T2: Trainspotting: I guess I'm one of the lucky few who never saw Trainspotting growing up, and having recently watched the original it's a masterpiece. T2 however fails to live up to its predecessor, but I guess such a feat was always going to be impossible. It's still a good film, with some great moments but only hints of the greatness and surreal brilliance of the film that preceded it. Also Ewan McGregor looks incredible for 46. 3/5
Without Name: Complete letdown unfortunately. It feels like ninety minutes of build up to a pay off that never comes. It's a horror film without actually any horror, and I can't really say anymore without spoiling it. See it if you're curious, but it's a bit of a joyless slog that kind of made me regret the Google Play credit I spent on it. 2/5
Nerve: Another fun popcorn flick that's pretty Hollywood and formulaic, but it's also an enjoyable good time with a great soundtrack. It's very by the numbers but it's also surprisingly entertaining and captivating and ultimately a really good flick. Liked this a lot. Also Emma Roberts in her underwear. 3/5
.
That's it for now. Next on the list is The Wedding Invitation which is a low budget indie comedy I've heard good things about. Waiting also for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to hit VOD, along with Alien: Covenant and War of the Planet of the Apes, the latter of which I'll probably catch in theatres.
The Wackness appeals to my narcissism. A coming of age film about a stoner who listens to hip-hop and is infatuated with Olivia Thirlby? Johnathan Levine is speaking to me. The film is a typical Sundance-y movie, awkward kid building relationships and whatnot, but Josh Peck, Thirlby, and Ben Kingsley are so good in this. Finding out Kingsley got a Razzie makes zero sense to me, but The Razzies will be The Razzies.
Shame Levine kinda disappeared. I know he did 50/50, but then he did that dumb Rogen/JGL Christmas movie
A Cry in the Dark (1988): "Dingoes ate my baby" is one of those random lines that floats around in the pop cultural consciousness, but I remember being alarmed the first time I learned that that was something that actually happened. Why did that become a toss-off joke? Anyway, this is a solid, almost docudrama-ish dramatization of the Chamberlain case, with great acting, but it's hampered by the fact that the story doesn't particularly lend itself to dramatic structure. In particular, the resolution is delivered via
a brief montage of the evidence against Lindy coming undone more or less offscreen
. The best parts of the movie to me are the various cutaways showing ordinary people debating new developments in the case, which feels very realistic.
This is the ninth of Meryl Streep's twenty Oscar-nominated roles I've seen.
Patriot Games: Maybe it's because I watched Clear and Present Danger a shitload as a child, but these 90's Harrison Ford thrillers are so comforting to me. Patriot Games is kinda long, slow, and stodgy, and a bit heavy on not particularly interesting intrigue, but the whole thing is very cozily competent. It has a solid cast filling predictable roles, it's handsomely shot though not particularly inventive (or colorful. If I had to assign a color to this movie it would be a grayish-beige), a sweet James Horner score, and it's got a couple of nice sequences of tension that let Ford grouchely throw people to floor and run and around looking confused (the night-vision home invasion sequence is pretty awesome).
This is probably the only kind of movie where it's not really a bad thing when I say it makes me sleepy.
