What movies did you see last week? (7/1-7/7)

Thoughts on Murder by Death? I've been meaning to watch that.

The Day of the Locust - overlong and on-the-nose depiction of Hollywood as a literal hell. gross and silly in equal measure. 4/10

Harry and Tonto - new favorite Mazursky film. this was super touching and sweet, anchored by Art Carney's performance and the screenplay's dry naturalistic sense and humor and observations on gentrification. the ending is just the most darling thing. 8/10

A Delicate Balance - how could a movie starring Paul Scofield, Katherine Hepburn, Lee Remick and Kate Reid be so goddamn boring? This wasn't so much a film as a filmed play and I knew that going in and had prepared myself for its staginess, but god what an uninteresting play to adapt. 5/10

The Heartbreak Kid - straight men are stupid and easily manipulated when they don't know what they want. Elaine May takes no prisoners in this biting sexual satire. Jeannie Berlin is hilarious and Cybill Shepherd is so gorgeous you could die, which of course makes the protagonist's eventual downfall so palatable and yeah, relatable. 8.5/10

Sounder - wanted to see this because of Winfield and Tyson's Oscar-nominated performances. Both are excellent (and Winfield is especially moving) but neither of them are leads. Regardless, this was a really sweet laid back film, neither sensationalizing racism in the 30s or ignoring it, but focusing mainly on the struggles and relationships within this family of black sharecroppers. 7.5/10

The Hospital - hilarious black comedy about American healthcare. Loses steam towards the end and has some serious tonal issues but Scott has some LEGENDARY tirades. 7.5/10

The Things of Life - the narrative is a bit too rambly for me but Romy Schneider is divine and Philippe Sarde's score is gorgeous. 7.5/10

Last Summer - Catherine Burns destroyed me. 8/10

La Chinoise - Godard's communist manifesto, which makes it sort of difficult to approach on its own terms. There are some elements that are startlingly relevant to our own situation. The ideological echo chamber of this Parisian apartment in which these young people parrot Communist principles at each other and barricade themselves behind a wall of little red books brings to mind the state of political discourse today. 8/10

Misery (rewatch) - solid thriller. a bit dull if you know where it's going and the horror peaks at the iconic hobbling scene, still fabulously nauseating. 7/10

The Great Silence - bland, uninteresting, paper-thin characterizations ruin this film. Corbucci is more interested in subverting expectations and twisting the knife than presenting characters that invite sympathy or interest, which both betrays his priorities and renders the attempt utterly unsuccessful. 5/10

Trans-Europ-Express - art imitates life imitates art imitates godard, but in a tongue in cheek sorta way and with A LOT more bondage. A fascinating French New Wave satire from the screenwriter of Last Year at Marienbad. 8/10

Ralph Breaks the Internet - boring, vapid, stupid, pointless. 5/10

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - a truly remarkable achievement on all scores. I feel like I never need to watch another MCU film. 9/10

Aliens (rewatch) - I wrote a ranty retrospective on my letterboxd. Feel free to hate on it, but basically this just entertains me less and less every time I come back to it. Too action-focused. The xenomorphs aren't quite as terrifying when they're so vulnerable to 10mm bullets and their acidic blood doesn't do shit. Newt is a lame plot device and she mostly brings Ripley down with her, mostly. 7/10

"Now what in hell am I going to tell this boy Schaefer's parents? That a substitute nurse ASSASSINATED him because she couldn't tell the doctors from the patients on the floor??"

Little Women - REWATCH. The 1994 one. Utterly delightful and truly moving. What a shame about Winona Ryder's movie career - she was so amazing back in the day.

The Collector - Interesting to see William Wyler step into such slimy territory. He did a decent job but the old-fashioned nature of his directing made the movie a tad less exciting than it could've been. Samantha Eggar was excellent while Terence Stamp's performance felt inconsistent to me. The ending did leave a strong impression on me though, even somewhat making up for the flaws of the movie.

The Wild Bunch - REWATCH. Pretty awesome. The shoot-out sequences are extraordinary and the natural chemistry within the band is great too. I do think some chunks could've been trimmed here and there to make the pacing smoother though.

Sergeant York - One of the biggest blockbusters of the 1940s and Howard Hawks's only Best Director nomination. I found it really enjoyable all the way through. It's not a great piece of cinema but it's highly watchable and well-made.

Woodpeckers Don’t Get Headaches - A low-key Soviet classic about teenagers, their passions and their loves. Pretty wonderful and, more importantly, truthful.

Presumed Innocent - Solid thriller which isn't really all that thrilling but is rather engaging nonetheless. Harrison Ford gives a strong performance and the big revelations are indeed pretty unexpected.

The Portrait of a Lady - I understand those who think it's a mess but I found myself enveloped in Jane Campion's peculiar vision. Terrific ensemble and techs too. One of Kidman's best performances.

My Darling Clementine - REWATCH. Beautiful, beautiful movie.

Spider-Man: Far From Home - Lots of fun and a rare excellent villain for an MCU flick.

Matador - An earlier period Almodovar film which is a bit trashier and less artful than his latter work. There is some interesting stuff here for sure but it felt like a rehearsal before later greatness (which in this case is "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!").

Wilson - A huge Oscar success and a huge financial flop, this was a passion project for Fox's Darryl F. Zanuck which he truly believed in. It's grand, it's lush, it's long and it's dry. A bit of a chore to get through, specifically because it doesn't really explore Wilson as a human being, opting almost exclusively for dry politics instead.

The Horse Whisperer - ROBERT RICHARDSON!!! Holy shit. The movie's very good too.

Sabrina - The 1995 Sydney Pollack remake. I watched this for John Williams's score tbh and my man didn't disappoint - I wish Pollack had used the score more often really! The film itself doesn't have the wit or the sparkle of the Billy Wilder classic but it's kind of alright. A bit of a slog but pretty charming nonetheless. I wasn't doubting Harrison Ford here and he indeed gave a rather excellent performance but Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear felt like really bizarre casting choices to me before watching the film. Well, Kinnear didn't convince me otherwise but Ormond was a pleasant surprise. She wasn't no Audrey Hepburn but her take on Sabrina worked on its own terms with her giving a more mature, subdued performance while still having that sweetness that's so important to the character.

I'm one of those who thinks this was a mess but the ensemble really was terrific. Martin Donovan doesn't get the credit he deserves for his performance in this.

Glad you enjoyed this. I've seen most of Alain Robbe-Grillet's filmography and I consider him a very interesting director, although his style definitely isn't for everyone. Have you seen anything else from him?