Seeing yourself depicted on screen is a neat experience, & one I almost never get to have. Sure, I see a lot of myself in the male characters from some of my favorite films, some of Nicole Holofcener's women, & Frances Ha came pretty close, other than the straight part. But this movie! Man oh man, what a treat it was. So real, so warm, so hilarious. I love that Desiree Akhavan exists, that she was able to get this movie made, & that she got to go on to make Cameron Post. Can't wait to see what she does next.
1 March 2019: Greta
This was at least 75% wackier than I expected. Little Chloe continues her streak of picking interesting projects, & Huppert looks like she’s having a blast in the title role. I was surprised at how much this was advertised & how many screens it opened on, but I get it after seeing the movie. A mainstream crowd would have fun with this, too. I hope they give it a try.
27 February 2019: Piercing
Goddamn this guy has a great eye. A story in the same vein as Eyes of My Mother, this one’s also about a disturbed person whose past trauma affects the way he connects with others. It’s the flashy counterpart to Eyes’ lyrical understatement, & it’s just as beautiful in its own way. The scene in the cab with the lights outside playing on the window was a highlight. Loved the use of Goblin in the score, too. Could Pesce be claiming the killers in giallo classics have the same root as his protagonist? Not sure yet what to make of the use of those miniatures, but they sure looked neat.
26 February 2019: Satan's Slaves
Your standard jump scare fest. There was one impressive special effects scene where a character is run over by a bus, but nothing else of merit in that department. If you’re into Conjuring-style fare, go for it. Otherwise, pass.
25 February 2019: The Tenant
It was a neat experience to have seen Repulsion & Rosemary’s Baby so many times before watching this one. Those same themes of paranoia & isolation are there, but we’re let into the main character’s mind much more than in Repulsion. There are lots of interesting side characters, & weirdly funny interactions, like in Rosemary’s Baby. This is definitely the funniest of his “apartment trilogy.” Polanski seems to be aware of what we’re expecting after the success of Rosemary & Chinatown, & he subverts that & gives us something much closer to Repulsion. Pretty clever.
24 February 2019: Sorry to Bother You
This review may contain spoilers.
Man. I heard it was weird, but I still was not expecting those horse people.
This sagged a bit in the middle, but was otherwise a great, weird time. The cast is fantastic, & the music is a real highlight throughout.
The comparisons to Charlie Kaufmann are very apt, especially the morally ambiguous protagonist & his struggles to give meaning to his life. Plus all the surreal stuff, of course. I eat all this stuff up, personally, but I get why people might not enjoy it. I suppose it could take you out of the movie if there are lots of tricks that keep reminding you you’re watching a movie. But really, why not play with the medium more? Might as well take advantage of the freedom movies allow.
22 February 2019: Sennentuntschi
Not great. Just as rapey as it sounds from the description. The ‘is she or isn’t she?’ stuff is meant to be suspenseful, but not enough seeds were planted for the twist to be anything other than jarring.
21 February 2019: Abducted in Plain Sight
This review may contain spoilers.
Once we learn that they let “B” sleep in their daughter’s room to help him with his therapy, I stopped being sympathetic towards those parents. They’re selfish morons who were so caught up in their own drama they let their daughter’s life be ruined. I kind of wonder how the filmmaker wanted us to feel about the parents, though.
I think we needed a little less of an attempt to make us sympathize with mom & dad, & a lot more from the FBI dude. There should’ve been a voice of reason weighing in more often. More police, more neighbors & less of B’s creepy brother.
17 February 2019: Borgman
This reminds me of that story “The Drum” from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The one where the kids want this cool drum these gypsies in the woods have, but they’re told they have to be bad in order to get it. So they go home & do all this bad stuff & act like little assholes, but instead of getting what they want they drive their mother away instead, & in her place is a replacement mother with a glass eye & a wooden tail. Borgman doesn’t have quite that level of weirdness, but it’s still plenty weird, & they both feel kind of like a folktale or a fable. Don’t get tempted by the dark side, people. Wooden-tailed mother or no, it’s not going to end well.
15 February 2019: Braid
I really wanted to like this, but it just tried too damn hard. There were too many storylines, too many strange twists & detours that amounted to nothing & way too many trick shots. Madeline Brewer was great, of course, & some of the imagery was quite nice, but it’s to be expected that some stuff is going to stick when you’re throwing everything against the wall. Maybe I’ll like it better upon rewatch? Seems like lots of people I know have been into it.
10 February 2019: Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl
Pretty dece, though I’m not a big fan of the ending. I’d much rather stories like this remain ambiguous. Would’ve been four stars if not for that ending & the silly dead person makeup that didn’t go with the rest of the story at all.
PS: Anybody else notice that weird image in the mirror towards the end that sort of looks like a big feathered headdress? That creeped me right out 😱
6 February 2019: We are the Flesh
Nice to look at at times, & the lead performance is great. That’s about the extent of the positives, sadly. It felt long despite the runtime, & boring despite all the taboo-breaking. Hopefully the director will move past the urge to shock & lose the pretentious dialogue, because he has a good eye.
3 February 2019: Ghostwatch
12 year old me would’ve been so into this if I had lived in the UK. Watching it for the first time as an adult, it’s surprising to see so many elements of the found footage & faux documentary genre being mined for scares way before the onslaught of such movies in the aughts. It’s also filled with pleasant 90s nostalgia now, which was fun. The no nonsense show host was particularly entertaining.
2 February 2019: Possum
I keep forgetting to log rewatches, but wanted to update that I loved it even more upon second viewing.
29 January 2019: A Bucket of Blood
Just happened to watch this right before its star died. The movie is better than it has any right to be. The humor works very well, & the mood & performances are fantastic. Essential horror viewing.