What movies did you see last week? (9/17-9/23)

Went all amok on 2018 Netflix stuff mostly….

> American Vandal S2 & Maniac; reviews in their threads.

Double-featured (in what makes an interesting modern high school critique trifecta with Vandal though these two are more YA and fluttered with flaws) -

> Sierra Burgess is a Loser; a bit Much Ado and Cryano de Bergerac in its conspiratorial masked-identity pratfalls, but chiefly indebted to Pretty in Pink. Debut director does a fine job with the rapport of the cast, who are mostly memorably drawn, and reaching an effective emotional climax but this has a candy-coated third act that feels awkward more than anything else. Lotta people calling the movie problematic bc the narrative kind of goes against the code Sierra is meant to have—that she doesn’t care about her appearance so she wouldn’t care about someone else’s opinion of it—yet the way the movie turns Sierra into something very unexpected is what imo made the film a somewhat more potent and pretty complicated look at all of this. MVP: the “bully” character played by Kristine Froseth is excellent. 6ish.

> To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; another typically tertiary character is instead here the protagonist and Lana Condor is bubbly, believable, and felt. With the same love interest from Sierra Burgess: the jock-with-a-heart-of-gold played well (in both) by Noah Centineo. The movie has a rushed and jumpy pace (it kinda feels like a TV show jammed into a movie) and the set-up, and later coincidences, weren’t easy to buy, but the resolutions feel earned and the cast do a solid job. Both movies talk to the socially or superficially needed “face” of a relationship to deceive someone or furtively court someone else. And the ways technology aids and abets in these schemes. Not unlike with Vandal S2 either. 6ish or higher.

> Land of Steady Habits; major flaws at the script level, never interesting, and there are way too many one-on-one scenes that feel unintentionally make-believe, cast okay. 5/10

> A Self Made Hero (1996); Audiard’s Catch Me If You Can in terms of tone and a wily, deceptive, identity-shifting protagonist. Mostly very wittily well-done except for the modern day “doc” clips that interrupt and distract more than add to the movie. Mathieu Kassovitz plays the role as meek and he’s very good esp in scenes where he’s alone and you can’t tell if he’s insane or ingenious. Also had a thought this should’ve been in B&W. 7.5

> The Sisters Brothers (2018); well made all around—visuals, score, production detail—a fairly poetic and poignant Western, laugh-out-loud funny but never forced. Unpredictable and very well-acted too. Gyllenhaal better than expected and very subtly comedic, Reilly great….but Joaquin MVP, though critics aren’t talking about him much. He balances a childlike devilmaycare delight with a deep, doleful and haunted quality. (Saw a screening with a John C Reilly post Q&A, he seemed so genuinely happy with the outcome of the movie which was an 8 year long process.) 7.5 or higher maybe on re-watch.

> Class of ’44 (1973); first half is amazing, amusing, Altmanesque, hilarious, intuitively paced and shot. Second half suffers from major tonal shifts, dated elements, and a banality. Most consider this just some picayune sequel (to Summer of ’42) but I liked it and plan on revisiting at least the first half again eventually.

Border - 4 / 10

Girl - 8.5 / 10

Call Me By Your Name (rewatch) - 9.5 / 10

Dogman - 6.5 / 10

Free Solo - 8 / 10

Twelve O'Clock - 7.5 / 10

The Visitor (2007) - 8 / 10

The Wife - Enjoyed this quite more then I expected to. Much more then just a convenient "drama", it's actually an interesting case study of a neglected spouse of a "writer". Close is as engaging and engrossing as ever, but I also thought Jonathan Pryce was terrific as the husband. It's really good. - 8 / 10

This has always been one of my go-to picks for a Criterion release, or at the very least, a proper home video transfer. I appreciate the grungy, seedy aesthetic but the DVD makes it look far too dark.

Definitely agreed. The DVD is 15 years old and looks as bad as some of the late-90s DVDs do. Hopefully it'll get a decent release in the near future.

24 Frames (Kiarostami, 2017) - some pretty fantastic slow cinema, really surprised that it was more or less as good as it was toted to be, if not better. 8

Green Snake (Hark, 1993) - super fun, super pretty, super emotional. i really love how much this challenges the wuxia film while still being super committed to delivering on that experience. 8.5

August in the Water (Ishii, 1995) - i wish it was more committed to the genre elements as i think those could have enhanced the emotional punch. not sure if i like ishii really. 6.5

Devils on the Doorstep (Wen, 2000) - funny as shit, dark as shit, entertaining as shit, pretty much gets everything right that it goes for no matter the genre or setup. get on this one yall. 8.5

Phase IV (Bass, 1974) - someone said it was roeg doing scifi which just reminds me that i need to see his actual scifi, but this comes close to that realization anyways. 8

The Predator (Black, 2018) - a movie about why i hate liberals. 4

School of Rock (Linklater, 2003) - cool power structures and pretty funny although i'm not super won over by some elements. 7

The Time Machine I Found at a Yard Sale (Sandt, 2011) - these no budget films always have wonky structures and i live for it. sort of in the After Last Season vein but not nearly as good.

i don't really like oshii either lol

i do feel as though other people on here might enjoy this tho, got it from asia torrents

Warrior (2011) — 4/10
Shamelessly manipulative garbage. Everything about it rings false, even Hardy's accent, but at least that (unlike anything else in the film) was entertaining.

Another Earth (2011) — 7.5/10
This was a pleasant surprise. One of those fascinating "what if" movies that serve deep-rooted regret and shame mixed with tentative hope. Would make an excellent companion piece with Rabbit Hole. Also Solaris but it ain't quite on that level.

War Horse (2011) — 6/10
What I liked: the ballsy sequences, the scene where Joey gets rescued from the barbed wire, and the masterful techs. What I hated: basically everything else. This film represents both the best and the worst of a what Spielberg has to offer as a director. When it wasn't impressing me, it was nauseating me. By the ending I just felt queasy, like you get when you eat too much sugar.

Kill List (2011) — 7/10
Excellent atmospheric filmmaking and some truly shocking moments of violence but the ending is so fucking dumb. To the folks that didn't like Hereditary, just wait till you see this.

Tyrannosaur (2011) — 7.5/10
Wow this was a tough watch. I won't deny that I wasn't that invested in the first half but was totally hooked by the ending. Olivia Colman is just heartbreaking. My new Best Actress winner for 2011. Peter Mullan wasn't too shabby either even if he was serving too much discount Jake La Motta in the first act.

True Grit rewatch (2010) — 8.5/10
Haven't seen this since 2010. I didn't even like it back then but now it has so much nostalgic value for me. I remember 2010 being the first year I started following Indiewire on fb, caring about reviews, following Oscar predictions. Seeing it now it's held up incredibly well, and is definitely the film I needed right now. I always liked Steinfeld's performance but now I'm in love. I like Bridges a lot too, Damon still not so much. One thing I still don't get is Mattie's relationship with LaBeouf especially in their early scenes (that quip about him wanting to steal a kiss and then straight-up beating her five minutes later...what was that about?). I also don't care much for Rooster and Labeuf's constant bickering and dick-measuring. It just isn't interesting to me. Everything else about the film is virtually flawless, and that bittersweet ending is everything. Silhouette of elderly Mattie leaving Rooster's grave, then, "Time just gets away from us," then that gorgeous hymn, then my heart breaks.

The Proposition (2005) — 8/10
This was a really interesting film. Can't really say much negative about it except Emily Watson's character was a bit underwhelming and as much as I love Nick Cave, his singing on the soundtrack was so freaking distracting. Bordering on obnoxious actually. Other than that, excellent hard-hitting film, and that whipping scene is probably the best I've seen.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) — 6/10
You know, this one was really frustrating. As much as I love the Coens, I've noticed that I gravitate more to their "serious" films than their absurdist comedies or any of their projects involving John Turturro. This film is amusing enough but there's nothing deeper than those surface comedic elements and hilarious one-liners to really invest me in these characters. I liked Clooney, but I didn't care about his problems and I didn't care about his companions. The satire didn't connect with me either. Felt really shallow and easy. Sometimes I wonder if there are people that find a lot of meaning and depth in Coen films like The Big Lebowski and O Brother, but most of the times I just assume all those people are just on the wavelength and I'm not.

Same Time, Next Year (1978) — 7.5/10
What a trip. Two young married people meet and fall in love and agree to meet in the same place every year to continue their affair, and every time there's a time leap we're treated to this crooning love song that I'm not convinced wasn't supposed to be hypnotic. These two people change A LOT over the course of several decades, and it's all pretty hokey. Alan Alda goes from being a neurotic accountant to an angry conservative to a pretentious Freudian wannabe, and Ellen Burstyn goes from being an uneducated housewife to a hilariously stereotypical hippie to a business-minded stone cold bitch. And honestly, as silly as it sometimes was, I enjoyed getting to know these two adulterous lovebirds. The same things about Boyhood or the Before Trilogy (for example) that appealed to me were mostly on display here. That sense of witnessing someone grow and evolve and mature and have ups and downs throughout the course of their lives. But then there's also Ellen Burstyn in head-to-toe hippie garb bursting through the door and asking Alan Alda without a hunt of irony, "wanna fuck?" So it's definitely a love-hate relationship I have with this film.