Movies I Watched August 2023 - Greenfield Writes

Talk to Me - dir. Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

Supernatural Horror

Possibly the most horrifying thing about Talk to Me is its willingness to put characters in danger that usually go unhurt in horror films. Modern horror, at least, seems to balk at the idea of going far enough to really hurt kids. Adults are fine, teenagers can be brutally murdered, but pre-teens are usually guaranteed to be left without a scratch by the end of your typical paranormal horror movie. Where this movie gets you is in its subversion of that expectation. I consider myself to be something of a horror junkie and by this point I can usually predict where it’ll go–this time, I was indeed caught off guard. And I have to respect that. 7/10.

The Hot Rock - dir. Peter Yates

Heist/Comedy

Robert Redford, as I’ve come to understand, is one of the few actors in the canon who can actually pull off the ‘strong silent type’. Unlike Tony Soprano, I do not find these kinds of characters or actors interesting or engaging. In fact, the ‘strong silent type’ is usually just… a plank of wood. Not Robert Redford. His dryness here belies a wit that grows ever more desperate throughout the plot of this comedy heist film. As the stakes get more and more dire, Redford’s composure gradually continues to erode, until he snaps. It’s funny as hell to watch. 8/10.

Inglorious Basterds - dir. Quentin Tarantino

Action/Black Comedy

Do you people understand how rare it is to find a WW2 movie that doesn’t depict Jews as sniveling victims or nebbish losers who need rescuing? It’s so fucking annoying. In a lot of ways, it almost feels like we’re not allowed to be the heroes of our own stories. Even filmmakers with good intentions seem to view us through the lens of pity, which gets annoying pretty fast. That’s why watching this movie was such a treat. Not only do you get to watch Jews be fucking badass for two and a half hours, you also get the satisfaction of watching them specifically kill Nazis in the most painful, satisfying ways possible. This movie was like therapy for generational trauma. Hell, I’ll even invite Brad Pitt to my cousin’s bar-mitzvah. He’s an honorary yid. 9/10.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - dir. Jeff Rowe

Comedy

I badly wanted to like this movie, as I do all animation. I’m a proponent of the new wave of Spiderverse ripoffs. It’s a far more dynamic and personalized style to imitate, so I have no issue with the trend. It’s great in Spiderverse, it’s great here, so no complaints with this film visually. It’s really just the lack of coherent story or character arcs (for any of the individual turtles) that bums me out, because you can tell this movie could’ve been so much more if it had a little more room to breathe. There’s a great script if you cut out all the unfunny pop culture references and ‘teehee awkward characters talking over each other for a minute straight’ moments. There’s a great script if you actually give each turtle a journey instead of sort of lumping them all together. Like, Mike apparently is good at improv? Uh, sure. I dunno. Stuff like that made it hard to sink my teeth into this film. 4/10.

Begin Again - dir. John Carney

Musical Comedy/Drama

I was ready to quit this movie about fifteen minutes in. It was like a bargain bin of cliches, unfunny and trite. But something strange happened as the movie went along. My heart opened up, little by little, until the movie had fully nestled its way in. I let myself enjoy the chemistry between Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. I found myself entranced by the music, which, just like in John Carney’s OTHER great film Sing Street, is phenomenal. I caught myself pumping my fists during every chorus. Hell, I think I like pretty much every character here, even James Corden and Adam Levine. I love how much this movie loves music. I love how excited it is to just exist. I love that Ruffalo and Knightley don’t end up together in the end, but they get their happy endings regardless. It’s not final, it’s not absolute, but it’s enough. It’s optimistic. Without getting too personal, it’s exactly what I needed. 8/10.

Hereditary - dir. Ari Aster

Supernatural/Psychological Horror

I have a hard time writing about this film because so much of what I appreciate about it comes from videos I’ve seen breaking it all down to its barest minutiae. I feel as if any thought I could give on it would be an obvious retread of something I’d seen on the internet, and I don’t like regurgitating talking points to seem intelligent. So I’ll just say this–Hereditary is really terrifying. One sequence in this film (several sequences, really) had me unable to speak for several minutes. I looked at my partner and she looked back at me and we had to process what had just happened. This is horror at its peak, with every department firing on all cylinders. Ari Aster–you continue to floor me. 9/10.

Juno - dir. Jason Reitman

Coming-of-Age Comedy/Drama

A quirky indie romcom about a quirky teenage girl who gets pregnant after fucking this real quirky guy and oh my god isn’t it all just so fucking quirky??? Foshizzle, my broski! No flippin’ way, man. You’ve gotta be joshin’ my horndingle with your bloopster if you think this movie isn’t the total bomb! No just kidding it’s pro-life propaganda fuck off bye. 3/10.

Meg 2: The Trench - dir. Ben Wheatley

Action/Adventure

BRO I FUCKING LOVE SHARKS BRO OH MY GOD BRO THIS SHARK MOVIE IS FUCKING CRAZY BRO THE PART WHERE THE SHARKS ARE SHARKING AND JASON STATHAM GOES SHARK IS FUCKING WILD DUDE HOLY FUCKING SHIT I AM JIZZING ABOUT SHARKS SO FUCKING HARD RIGHT NOW FUCK YEAH BRO. 2/10.

Princess Mononoke - dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Epic Fantasy

I rewatched Princess Mononoke in AMC as part of the theatre’s Ghibli fest, because it is (probably) my favorite animated movie of all time, and seeing it on the big screen for the first time was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up. Needless to say, this is a breathtaking experience from every conceivable angle. Even though they played the dubbed version, I was still able to get a lot from every character’s performance. Some of the translated lines came across as awkward, but as somebody who grew up with the dub, it didn’t bother me as much.

My favorite part of the movie is how it depicts nature. It’s all about trying to figure out a way for human progress to live in harmony with spirituality. The spirits of the forest are not peaceful innocent creatures, however–they are violent and cruel, and humans have good reason to fear them, so while you appreciate the tranquil beauty of the still forest, you’re still always reminded of the fact that at any given moment, a wolf god can crunch your head off.

The only two people who can stride the line between humanity and nature are Ashitaka and San, who are inevitable as the main characters. Ashitaka may not be of nature the way San is, but because he comes from a less industralized village, he still holds the forest in veneration. Because of his community, he has grown to love humanity as well, making him the ideal diplomat to bring the two worlds together. San, on the other hand, is further to the side of nature. She was born a human but raised a wolf, yet inevitably finds herself rejected in many ways from the forest community she wants to be a part of. The apes and the boars reject her claim against humanity, so San winds up agreeing with Ashitaka–that balance MUST be achieved. 10/10.

Shiva Baby - dir. Emma Seligman

Comedy/Drama

Without coming across as too much of a simp (which I am, to be clear), I think Rachel Sennott might be one of my favorite actors of my generation. She’s not Jewish, but she IS, I’m sorry. This movie just CONVINCES me that she was SUPPOSED to be Jewish, because my god, I’ve met so many Rachel Sennotts in my short and storied Jewish life. I think that sense of intimacy and familiarity added another dimension to her already brilliant performance, because we ALL know somebody like Danielle, and we can all relate to that sickening anxiety spiral that she experiences throughout this movie’s short and sweet runtime. Shiva Baby is US. She’s human, she’s bisexual as fuck, and she’s terrified of being a fuckup, but she is. And that’s okay, because every one of us college students is a fuckup too. 8/10.

Minari - dir. Lee Isaac Chung

Family Drama

Not gonna lie, I didn’t connect to this one. Every performance here is solid, and I like the cinematography, but the film lacks a certain momentum, and I got bored. 2/10.

Mean Girls - dir. Mark Waters

Teen Comedy

Watching Rachel McAdams act here is kind of hilarious, because she’s so far above and beyond every single one of her costars that the entire movie genuinely gets worse whenever she’s not on screen. I’m not kidding, Regina is the most compelling character in this film and it’s literally just because Rachel McAdams is incredible. She’s like Colonel Hans Landa but if he was a bitchy high school queen bee in the early aughts. For what it’s worth, Mean Girls does succeed in creating a miniature version of Game of Thrones for its runtime. Even if the script has a lot of awkwardly unfunny jokes, I did enjoy the psychological transformation of Cady from girl-next-door to queen bee. It feels remarkably natural and effective. 6/10.

Suzume - dir. Makoto Shinkai

Coming-of-Age/Adventure

Suzume tries to be about ten different things and it kind of just fails at all of them. Its animation is stellar, but no amount of “move to Japan look how pretty it is” level animation can distract from the fact that this movie is a complete mess. You could easily cut about half of this film, because a whole lot of it is the same thing happening over and over again with no variations and no differences in the character dynamic. The main pairing of the film doesn’t work either, because we don’t really understand WHY they’re even drawn to one another in the first place. As far as I was able to glean, it’s because… well… uh… don’t think about it. Just… feel it, right? Yeah, sorry. I didn’t feel anything. This was really disappointing. 3/10.

Nameless Gangster - dir. Yoon Jong-bin

Crime/Drama

Choi Min-sik might be at his best here. And yeah, I’ve watched Oldboy. Definitely the better movie, and upon rewatch I might reassess the take I’m about to make, buuuuuut… he’s REALLY good here. Like, frighteningly good. I’m an actor and a writer first and foremost, so when I watch movies, I look at performances and script primarily. Choi Min-sik demonstrates in Nameless Gangster a robust understanding of his character’s status at all points of the film, which is especially difficult here because the very theme of the movie is power and power dynamics. The way our protagonist is able to maneuver up the ranks but never find his place at home there, despite his fervent desire to wield control. He is a schlubby, unfunny drunkard at times, and a keenly cunning manipulator at others. It never feels cartoonish. It’s a tightrope act that he carries out flawlessly. 7/10.

Pig - dir. Michael Sarnoski

Drama

Pig actually kind of reminds me of The Menu in a lot of ways, mostly in how its lead characters relate to food and art and grief. The problem with Pig is that its story is plain hollow. It struggles to convince me that it has anything beyond the surface. A shallow plot would be fine if the film embraced it but it seems convinced of its own importance in a way that makes its pace drudgerously slow. Everything comes to a grinding halt constantly because Nic Cage’s character takes like fifteen minutes to respond to simple questions. He’s good here, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not tense at all, it’s literally just annoying. If this movie leaned into its own objective silliness a bit more, I could maybe see it working. I mean, it’s a movie about a guy going to Portland to get his truffle sniffing pig back. That is like objectively goofy as hell. 5/10.

American Psycho - dir. Mary Herron

Black Comedy

To be a man is to be driven psychotic.

Hilarious, twisted, surreal. So basically my kind of movie. Huge fan of how this film tackles American corporate culture and the masculine ideal without feeling like a ‘fuck men’ exploit. While Patrick Bateman is indeed a complete scumbag lunatic, I do feel a shred of pity for him, because in a lot of ways, he’s living out his own personal nightmare. Unseen, unheard, undistinguished–he’s just another cog in a machine that will NEVER care about him. He endeavors to try to fit into the white, rich, well-manicured culture of Wall Street, as men are indeed meant to within the context of capitalism–but also transcend it. He’s meant to rise above it somehow, be exceptional in some way. Yet the paradigm of masculinity offers no room for the exceptional. All men must behave and act the same way in order to be perceived as great. It is that very notion that prevents many, many men from actually BEING great. From actually FEELING great. To aspire to be like Bateman is missing the entire point of the film, because the only way one could actually BE Bateman is via psychopathy. A guy like Patrick Bateman might have it all, he might be society’s ideal man–but he will never feel ANY enjoyment about it.

Failan - dir. Song Hae-sung

Crime/Romance

The poster gives you the impression that you’re about to watch a romantic comedy. This could not be further from the truth. Unfortunately, while the movie does have a strong emotional core, it bogs itself down with fairly generic crime genre pastiche. I’ve seen most of this before–if the purpose of the opening forty minutes is to show us a man rotting in his own degeneracy, there are more effective, streamlined, and original ways to do so. We only get introduced to the titular character almost halfway through the film, and the rest of her story, while sad, feels more like tragedy porn than true character development. We never learn much about Failan beyond the fact that her life is miserable, and though the simplicity of her character works to give her this minimalistically pure vibe in contrast to Kang-jae’s character, which is brutally complicated, mired in the bullshit of the world, it never feels more than one-dimensional. There is emotional potency to this script, but just like Kang-jae, it’s bogged down in the bullshit. 6/10.

First Cow - dir. Kelly Reichardt

Historical Drama

It’s shot so delicately that you fear it may break if you move too abruptly. It’s paced so slowly that you can lose track of it for three minutes and your understanding of the plot won’t change at all. The friendship at the center of the film is so gentle and quiet that when they finally run into trouble, you fear like they do that they may never see one another again. It’s beautiful. But it’s also unnecessarily tedious. 7/10.

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets - dir. Shūji Terayama

Experimental/Drama

I caught myself appreciating the movie more than actually enjoying it. That’s not to say there’s nothing here at all ‘entertaining,’ but the enjoyment I did get out of it was a masochistic kind. Seeing vile, transgressive imagery certainly AFFECTED me, but how much of an impression did it leave? I’m not squeamish, I can handle fucked up surrealistic imagery–in fact it’s usually my cup of tea. I actually really appreciated the depiction of a man getting sexually assaulted. It is rarely ever portrayed with the claustrophobic horror that it deserves, and it’s far more tastefully choreographed than the OTHER rape scene in this movie… not gonna get into that, though. Women far more intelligent than me have already explained why they hate it. Though I appreciate this film’s willingness to experiment (it’s really my first foray into avant-garde cinema) I just wasn’t able to actually enjoy it. 5/10.

Five Easy Pieces - dir. Bob Rafelson

Psychological Drama

An unbelievably bleak look at a man so far beyond the realm of avoidance that he becomes a shell of a person. The pity and sadness I felt for Karen Black’s Rayette in this movie is nothing compared to the existential sadness that Bobby will feel as he drifts from place to place and life to life, incapable of ever finding joy or connection. 9/10.

Gran Turismo - dir. Neill Blomkamp

Sports/Biographical

Archie Madekwe really is the star of the show here. Don’t get me wrong, David Harbour is excellent as well, but I firmly believe that without Madekwe grounding his scenes in quiet vulnerability and jubilance, the movie would not have had the same emotional impact it had on me. When Jann wins, I feel exhilarated. When Jann loses, I feel deflated. The kneejerk emotional response I have is only possible because of how well Madekwe understood the assignment. It may be a fairly cliche Hollywood story, but… it isn’t. It actually happened. That’s the craziest part of it all. Plus, I’m biased, because my dad teared up at this movie, and any movie that gets my dad to cry in front of me is good. Sorry, I didn’t make the rules. 8/10.

The Brand New Testament - dir. Jaco Van Dormael

Black Comedy/Fantasy

God is locked out of heaven, forced to contend with the misery of his own sadistic creation. His wife, daughter, and son all fear him, but his daughter, Ea, takes action. The movie balances a bunch of different storylines and character arcs with aplomb, something I’ve come to expect from Jaco Van Dormael, who impressed me with Mr. Nobody. Whatever you might say about his style, you cannot deny how much he commits to making his films a visual feast for the eyes. They might not even be the most aesthetically crafted, but they are unafraid of going the extra mile to make something look bold and exciting. A woman has a relationship with a gorilla. The sky becomes flowery. People walk along skyscrapers, and a psychopath hugs himself through a mirror. Ea as our anchor takes us on a journey through the troubled lives of her six brand new apostles, empathic to all of them, no matter their quirks or oddities. Very funny, very absurd, very cute. 8/10.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 - dir. Quentin Tarantino

Revenge/Martial Arts

My review of this will of course be half-baked, as I’ve only seen one half of the duology. It’s very late right now though and I’m tired, but I can’t lie–this month seems to be a bit of a Tarantino renaissance for me. Inglourious Basterds and now this? Sheesh. Talk about 9/10 cinema. I used to call him overrated, but I can’t justify that anymore; Kill Bill cements Tarantino as an auteur, a lover of cinema, a lover of all that is story and image, and somebody who I now believe rightfully deserves his spot in the pantheon of all-time directors. Not because I love all his films, mind you (I’ve only seen a few), but because of just how goddamn original he is. How much passion goes into his work.

But enough about Quentin–let’s talk Kill Bill Vol 1. Firstly, the choice to dub the movie “Vol 1” as opposed to just Kill Bill (1) and Kill Bill 2 is not just a quirky lil choice made by a quirky lil guy, it’s emblematic of how the film uses music to tell its story. The whistle is a cue for dread, the usage of Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra is sort of like the primary theme for Thurman’s revenge arc, music at large is a core part of how this story is told.

Not only can records be divided into volumes–comic books can too, and the visual flair of the movie is apparent from its very first couple of scenes. Transitioning from black/white to color to invoke a sense of visual rhythm in the viewer. There are scenes that are animated, there are transition cards to denote time passing, and the action is uninhibited, the gore untethered to the bounds of reality. It’s all very SURREAL, very CAMP (I think?) but in a good way. I can see the influence of Blaxploitation cinema on Tarantino’s work here. The quick zooms, the affinity for classic samurai tropes, the kitsch of it all. It’s great.

Needless to be said, I cannot wait to watch Vol 2 tomorrow. 9/10.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - dir. Quentin Tarantino

Revenge/Martial Arts

Individually, each volume is very, very good. Imperfect, but brilliant. Together, they’re transcendent cinema–the most gory breakup story ever told.

I cannot believe just how good Kill Bill is. Like, I’m still wrapping my head around it. I gave each volume 9/10, but the complete version received a 10/10 because only by putting the two halves together do you get a masterpiece, which I wish Tarantino had done from the outset, but of course capitalism has to do its thing.

The needle drop moment of the film is when Beatrix finds Bill with her daughter. Bill’s power does not come from his physicality but from his cunning, from his machiavellian presence. He is the most abusive, possessive ex that ever lived but he doesn’t really use violence as much as he uses his wit to corner his prey. Dangling Beatrix’s own daughter in front of her is a stark mirror to the first action sequence of Kill Bill Vol. 1 where Beatrix holds off on killing Copperhead because her daughter is in the room.

This time is different.

This time, it’s HER daughter, the one Beatrix thought was dead. By a stroke of acting genius, Uma Thurman melds grief, euphoria, fear, and relief into a moment. Surely this can’t be real, and yet it is. Bill made it so, as he so taunts her with his slow, languid, relaxed movements. Like a snake coiling before a strike. Just like he did four years ago in Beatrix’s wedding rehearsal.

This time is different.

This time, Beatrix isn’t as susceptible to her ex’s abusive tactics.

This time, she’s able to strike first.

“Why did he teach you that?”

“I don’t know.”

A mother protecting her child. A lioness reunited with her cub. A natural-born killer. Black mambas can kill in minutes. And evidently, so can the Black Mamba herself, if you’re not careful. 9/10.

Blue Jean - dir. Georgia Oakley

Psychological Drama

Somehow, this film is Georgia Oakley’s first feature. What a ridiculously impressive feat. It’s set in the 80’s, it’s got intimacy coordination up the wazoo, it’s got a poignant script, it’s got phenomenal performances from all of its actors, and it’s a fucking debut feature.

Rosy McEwen is the star. Her quiet anxiety is like a lump in your throat the entire film, until she breaks. You can see her internal suffering when her coworkers gather around a radio to listen to the homophobic spew of the British government, relieved that people like her can no longer ‘poison’ children’s minds.

All the while Jean carries the weight of it all in the background.

There’s a beautifully subtle moment here, towards the end, when Lois asks where the ‘bog fund’ gets its money from, and the camera pans over to Jean, who Lois has viewed the whole movie as a frightened conformist. It is thanks to Jean’s quiet sacrifice that the bog fund has the money it has.

But of course, it doesn’t have to be this way. It SHOULDN’T have to be that way. Nobody should have to suffer in silence and bear the weight of the world the way Jean does.

Also, fuck Margaret Thatcher. 8/10.

Jules - dir. Marc Turtletaub

Sci-Fi/Comedy

I’m a little baffled by how good the performances are. The script certainly isn’t doing the heavy lifting here, and neither are the trite music cues and middling visuals, but Kingsley, Sansom Harris, and Curtin all deliver in spades, allowing their age to shine through. It’s a cute movie, almost disarmingly so. It doesn’t feel like it belongs in 2023, and yet it’s here, and it’s a breath of fresh air. Even if it’s nothing crazy (hence the 3.5) it’s still sweet. I’d have to be a total asshole to hate this film. 7/10.

Enter the Dragon - dir. Robert Clause

Martial Arts

Action can really only take you so far. As much as I respect the choreography and skill that goes into shooting martial arts set pieces, I can only watch guys kick the shit out of each other for so long. There needs to be SOMETHING beyond that to keep me invested. And sure, there is definitely some comedy to be had between the three leads. I like those comedic moments a lot. Unfortunately, they’re few and far between. I wish we could’ve gotten more time with them together, just shooting the shit and vibing. Probably would’ve made the movie land for me. 6/10.

Real Women Have Curves - dir. Patricia Cardoso

Coming-of-Age

I was probably gonna open this review up by making a joke about how this is “Lady Bird if it was good” but I suppose that joke has already been done to death. Plus, it IS kind of dismissive to a film that stands on its own merits. It’s not a perfect film, a lot of the dialogue and acting leaves much to be desired. But it’s got this vulnerable sense of realness to it. The scenes with Ana and Jimmy in particular were spellbinding. There really was this awkward teenage romance on screen, I could feel it. I could relate to it.

What made this film really work for me is how much it actually committed to its themes. How much it really put Ana and Carmen’s relationship through the ringer. And we don’t get a ‘satisfying’ ending, where mother and daughter resolve their issues and everything is okay. Instead, Carmen cannot accept her daughter’s nonconformity, her inability to feel the same shame that she does, and she rejects her. She gives one last look of pain before turning away from the window. It’s haunting. 7/10.

Suspiria - dir. Dario Argento

Supernatural Horror

If you ever REALLY wanna put your zoloft prescription to the test, this is the movie for you. I can’t remember the last time I was THIS stressed watching a movie (except for maybe mother! dir. Aronofsky). Suspiria plays with every one of your senses. Shadows play tricks on your eyes, non-diegetic whispers toy with your ears… hell I even farted a few times during this movie and it fucked with my nose.

Suspiria’s first five minutes specifically are enough to induce discomfort. Maybe it’s the autism but the idea of being caught out in a rainstorm like THAT makes my whole body tense up. The eerie score adds to the sense of dread. The sickly neon colors create an uneasy contrast with the gothic (I think?) design of the setting. Everything is WRONG. The taxi driver? HUGE dick. And like, imagine getting to the school of your dreams in pouring rain and the lady on the other side of the doorbell tells you to fuck off. That would really suck, I think. 9/10.

Little Nicholas - dir. Laurent Tirard

Family Comedy

Cute slice of life French film with some indie quirk about a kid doing kid stuff. Didn’t blow my socks off, but not bad at all.

Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be - dir. Benjamin Massoubre, Amandine Fredon

Comedy/Slice-of-Life

A lot of people are dismissing this film as nothing more than a cute exercise in playful animation, and while it CAN be that, Little Nicholas is also so much more. As somebody who used to be heavily into comics (not French ones, though), I really like how the movie portrays the creative process. Talking to your characters, getting attached to them, dealing with your trauma by vicariously living through them. It’s a big part of being a writer.

The movie isn’t exactly subtle about how the two creators of the Little Nicholas comic use the titular character to live out their idealized childhoods. It’s a form of escapism. For Goscinny, Nicholas represents an innocence he could never have, because of the Holocaust. For Sempé, Nicholas is an escape from the troubled home he came from. He says at one point that Goscinny was his first real friend. This makes sense.

I don’t LOVE this movie. But it is more than just wholesomeness for the sake of it. 7/10.

Barefoot Gen - dir. Mori Masaki

War

You watch a boy’s innocence razed off the face of the Earth in mere milliseconds. You’ve spent about half an hour invested in his everyday trials and tribulations, his family’s loving dynamic, his father’s anger towards the Japanese government, his mother and the baby inside of her slowly starving to death.

Gen is a kid who cannot possibly know the full extent of the horror he’s about to endure. He’s carefree. He’s a fucking KID. How could he have possibly known what was to come?

He couldn’t have.

God, this movie is fucking devastating. 10/10.

Love And… - dir. Zhang Lu

Experimental/Drama

I didn’t end up finishing this. Hence, no rating. My interpretation of what I saw was that it was an attempt to capture love in the form of ghosts. I know that might sound ridiculous but the motion of these small objects in conjunction with the large spaces they occupy gives me that idea. It’s not my thing, but I respect the artistry.

Falcon Lake - dir. Charlotte Le Bon

Coming-of-Age/Romance

She was a ghost, ethereal, unreal. She made my heart rush, my stomach swirl, my head run laps around my eyes. I was around his age. Fourteen-ish. Fifteen-ish. Doesn’t really matter. First love or third love. Again, doesn’t matter. She’s so far beyond fantasy, she’s as distant as a deity and yet you find yourself close enough to see every beauty mark on her skin. When you breathe her scent your pupils widen. I couldn’t believe she deigned to give ME her attention.

You would’ve done anything for her.

I would’ve done anything for her.

Spoilers ahead.

Falcon Lake feels. That’s it, honestly. It just feels. I feel it. I feel everything about it. Just like Chloe says–she knows the story to be true because she feels it. The movie proves her right, in a way, because by the end, she herself is approached by an unknowing ghost. We never get to see that last interaction, though. It’s left in the crevices of our imaginations to figure out how that went.

Bastien is boyhood. At least for me, he is. A heterosexual guy. As you can probably guess from that opening paragraph of my ‘review,’ I’m kinda into women. So when I see Bastien fumble for the words to say to Chloe or desperately crane his head out of the water to see her tits, I get it. Especially when you’ve never been given that kind of attention before by a woman, it’s exhilarating. It’s fucking euphoric. And of course, when that attention is taken away, when you fuck up, it’s devastating. It’s heart-wrenching.

Bastien indeed fucks up. He breaks the fragile trust that Chloe gives him in the hopes of impressing an older guy, to feel more masculine. Bastien is still a boy, still searching for that approval from his older, ‘cooler’ peers. He’s finding his place, still deciding what he wants to grow into.

Chloe’s femininity is intoxicating to him. He doesn’t know what to do with it, mentally. He’s still trying to understand the rush, fumbling through feelings and words, still incapable of conveying what she means to him, how important she makes him feel. When Chloe gives him attention, he’s the life of the party, the king of the world. When she’s dancing with another man, Bastien is like a lost puppy.

When I tell you this ending fucking destroyed me… It’s not an exaggeration. I’m still processing it. Still processing how insanely accurate this movie felt to my own experiences as an adolescent. Right down to that weird little thing Bastien does with his throat (the dubstep thingie, hard to explain) that Chloe finds funny. I used to do that too. Fuckin wild man. 10/10.

Oldboy - dir. Park Chan-wook

Revenge

Fun for the whole family. 10/10.

School of Rock - dir. Richard Linklater

Comedy/Music

I will probably be quoting “read between the lines” on a regular basis moving forward. Sorry not sorry. This movie was so much fun. Dewey Finn is so endearing, all the students are endearing, this movie is just… man. So sweet. My favorite scene is the scene between Dewey and Tamika. I’m not fat so I didn’t ‘relate’ to it per se, but fatphobia is an issue I feel very strongly about so the conversation just touched me on a deeper level than the movie was probably going for. 8/10.

Elemental - dir. Peter Sohn

Meh. It used to be pretty easy for Pixar to get me. A couple of years ago you probably would’ve seen the waterworks (lol!!! WATER!!!!!) at that fake-out scene. But not anymore. I’m just cynical, I guess. I’ve seen them rehash the same formula for almost a decade now. As much as I love Inside Out, it set a pretty horrible precedent that Pixar seems doomed to repeat over and over and over again. At the very least this movie didn’t have some grand quest with quirky obstacles along the way, but everything about it was predictable. No expectations were subverted in any interesting ways. It’s just… meh. 99% of the jokes didn’t land, the dialogue was flat, the animation was impressive, but didn’t blow me away or anything… it’s just Pixar’s latest entry into their now formulaic filmography. Can we get villains in animated movies again? That’d be great, thanks. 3/10.

The Nun - dir. Corin Hardy

Supernatural Horror

Generic horror that’s not even silly or entertaining enough to make fun of. 1/10.

Kiki’s Delivery Service - dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Coming-of-Age/Fantasy

A neat allegory for depression. Can’t say I was too blown away by this film in comparison to other Ghibli movies, but it was a cute lil time. Enjoyed watching this while Los Angeles battled Hilary outside. 7/10.

The Outwaters - dir. Robbie Banfitch

Supernatural Horror/Found Footage

Went into this one super excited, as I am a big fan of weird sci-fi indie horror, but was left bored, unfortunately. This film desperately needs an editor. 1/10.

Women Talking - dir. Sarah Polley

Drama

Women Talking is confused, I think. Its color-grading is a strange choice, and tonally it seems like it wants to be a period drama. Most of the characters talk like they’re familiar with modern feminist lingo, though (not too distractingly, at least). As a guy, I got a lot out of the movie. I like dialogue, and the conversations here are well-written. They have energy, they’re kinetic, and they’re real. But do they ALL need to happen? Probably not, no. A lot of the same points get retread over and over again. It’s a flawed film, but it’s still got a lot to say. 7/10.

Strays - dir. Josh Greenbaum

Comedy

I only got a ticket for this film so I could sneak into Wind Rises, but I was left impressed. I actually found this to be a pretty funny movie. It’s like Secret Life of Pets but for adults in abusive relationships. I like it! Will Ferrell and Randall Park are great. Ferrell, especially, is able to sell his character’s emotional state well. Like, I really did feel for Reggie. I don’t know how much of that I attribute to Ferrell and how much I attribute to the fact that it’s a cute dog on screen looking sad, but I do like how ‘puppyish’ Ferrell sounds. It works. 7/10.

The Wind Rises - dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Romance/War

Lately, I’ve been wondering if I’m too old for Ghibli, because every movie I’ve seen from the studio as an adult just hasn’t hit me as hard as I wished. Spirited Away was good, but Kiki’s, Howl’s, and Wind Rises just… meh. I mean, look, I still gave this film 3.5 stars, because it IS good, but… I dunno. It’s disappointing because I have impossibly high standards for Ghibli. I grew up on Mononoke, Totoro, and Ponyo. That trifecta is damn near impenetrable.

But why didn’t I LOVE Wind Rises?

I think it’s honestly just how boring the main character is. He’s just kind of a plank of wood, and while that may just be who his character is, it left me feeling hollow and uninvested in his love story, which is the emotional core of the film.

Plus the soundtrack didn’t do it for me. Shucks.

My favorite aspect of the film was actually the dream sequences, because to me, that’s where the Ghibli animation took priority over the ineffectual emotional beats and I could at least enjoy some wild airplane designs doing their thing.

I don’t HATE this movie. I don’t even DISLIKE it. I just wasn’t super into it. 7/10.

Elite Squad - dir. José Padilha

Crime

With Elite Squad, Brazilian cinema is 3/3 for me. City of God and 7 Prisoners are both 10/10 films and Elite Squad gets pretty fucking close. I believe that the reason for this is because Brazilian filmmakers are unafraid of showing brutal reality, pointing a camera at truth and capturing it on film for the world.

Elite Squad is very much concerned with truth and integrity. Its central characters are all trying to work within a corrupt system, trying to keep their integrity intact. They cannot do so, of course. The system is more powerful than any individual. Even merciless captain of the BOPE Nascimento cracks under the pressure.

Those accusing the film of defending or glorifying the Brazilian police have obviously watched the wrong film. This film is not NECESSARILY anti-cop, but it sure as hell did not make me support the Brazilian police–I’ll say that much.

Excellent deconstruction of systemic corruption. Frenetic, spellbinding cinematography. It puts you right down on the ground of a city ripped apart by violence and fraud. And a chilling performance from Wagner Moura, who so precisely straddles the line between kind family man and ruthless police captain. 9/10.

House - dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi

Comedy/Experimental

From what I gather this is supposed to be one of those insane dumb fun movies, but I think it just annoyed me more than anything? If that was the point, then I guess it accomplished what it set out to do. I do give it points for just how unique it is. If it wasn’t clearly trying its goddamned best I probably would’ve given it an even lower rating. 4/10.

Mad Max: Fury Road - dir. George Miller

Post-Apocalyptic/Action

The costume and set design here IS pretty stellar, I’ll give this movie that much. I like how creative the worldbuilding is, even if it gets repetitive after about an hour. The post-apocalyptic insanity definitely goes hard, even if the plotting is bafflingly dumb. We spend like an hour and a half getting as far away as possible from Point A, only to spend the last half hour circling back to it? Like, what? It made the first hour and a half feel like a waste. Also, I wish the movie was more violent. 6/10.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within - dir. José Padilha

Crime

Witness a system whose only goal is to extract profit from the minute and exert control over the weak. Witness a police officer come to terms with his role in upholding the system, and watch him attempt to destroy it. Witness a master class in deconstructing the intangible tendrils of the system as they worm and crawl their way into the slums and the proverbial oval offices of Rio de Janeiro.

That’s what The Enemy Within is. Where the first film showed us the corruption of the police in conflict with the gangs and drug dealers of Rio de Janeiro, Enemy Within zooms out. It shows us how the police force relates to the media and the government at large. Where Elite Squad showed how cops with good intentions turn bad, Enemy Within shows how the entire police force becomes one big cog in the system.

When corruption is rewarded (and in capitalism, it always is), cops will seize any opportunity to take control of the profit stream. As Nascimento’s narration laments, why keep the middleman? Why not take it for yourself? You’ve already got the infrastructure in place to tax the shit out of the gangsters, why not just replace them? And that’s where the genius of Enemy Within really lies–its ability to slowly zoom out, to reveal what was there all along. Cops, gangsters, politicians. There’s no difference. Not to the system. The cops take out the gangsters for the politicians, the cops become the new gangsters. And sure, by the end of the film, all the ‘bad’ cops are dead. But as Nascimento’s narration states, the system is always willing to sever a hand to save an arm. New corruption will manifest itself.

Under capitalism, it always does. 10/10.

After Yang - dir. Kogonada

Sci-Fi/Drama

Didn’t end up finishing this. Literally every actor here was terrible except for Colin Farrell.

The Holy Innocents - dir. Mario Camus

Drama

Sadly, this is a really boring film. I say sadly because there are a lot of ideas that are thematically subversive. It’s a film that focuses on the unseen workers, the ones who usually get shafted to the background. It’s class-conscious. I didn’t finish this movie (got about halfway through) but I’m pretty sure I got that much out of it. Unfortunately, these ideas are executed in the least engaging ways possible. I don’t need spectacle, I just need something… more. Something visual, something emotional, something gripping. 5/10.

Landscape with Invisible Hand - dir. Cory Finley

Sci-Fi

The acting in this film is Disney sitcom level. And that’s not a compliment. I can’t tell if it’s the acting or the script, but both are pretty bad. The dialogue was clunky and unnatural, and the actors seemed so unenthusiastic. Josh Hamilton (Chloe’s dad) was the only actor I actually found engaging. There are some interesting ideas here. But that’s all they are. Ideas. The movie jumps from idea to idea without fleshing anything out. The movie spends its first half on the relationship between Adam and Chloe (which was actually pretty solid even if the two actors lacked any chemistry) only to pivot into being a completely different story in the second half. It brings up IDEAS of free market exploitation, classism, etc. but does nothing with them. Meh. 3/10.

Sound of Freedom - dir. Alejandro Gómez Monteverde

Drama

Sooooo fucking cheesy. I see a lot of discourse about the Christianity of this movie and its flawed portrayal of child trafficking but that honestly didn’t bother me. You know what did bother me? The fucking corny ass cheesy ass obnoxiously melodramatic soundtrack. Jesus christ almighty was I annoyed with the stupidly over-the-top music. Besides that, though, it was fine. Nothing crazy, but nothing too awful. 6/10.

Asteroid City - dir. Wes Anderson

Sci-Fi/Comedy

Sure, it’s aggressively Wes Anderson, but unlike French Dispatch, where I felt like I was watching somebody jerk off onto a canvas, it’s got heart, and it’s got a plot that moves. It’s got energy. It’s got pizzazz. I’m not entirely sure what the meta-commentary added to the movie. It’s just one of those Andersonisms I had to accept. I liked the alien stuff (as did this one other guy in the theatre who could not stop fucking laughing, very funny). I liked Jason Schwartzman. I liked this film, surprisingly! 7/10.