movie

Rated Dune 7/10

Rated Contact 5/10

Rated Death on the Nile 7/10

Rated Sherlock Holmes Faces Death 9/10

Rated Evil Under the Sun 10/10

Rated The Pelican Brief 7/10

Rated The Lady Vanishes 7/10

Rated The Scarlet Claw 9/10

Rated The House of Fear 9/10

Rated Have a Nice Day 5/10

Rated Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat 6/10

Rated Tongues Untied 10/10

Rated The Cabin in the Woods 5/10

For a horror movie I have to say it's pretty astounding. I can certainly see how it ended up becoming a cult classic given its commitment to self-awareness throughout its runtime. I almost want to call it the perfect marriage between pure horror and absolute camp (a la Scary Movie and even the Scooby Doo remakes). I enjoyed it that much.There's a good deal of tension in the first half and there were quite a few times where on first viewing I literally freaked my shit out. On the sound front the music is scored, cued, and mixed particularly well and the latter half is a ridiculously entertaining romp through the crass and utterly ridiculous (one word: unicorn).With all of these jostling ideas and tones it's impressive that you actually feel for some of these characters especially given to the shortness of the film--it comes over at just over 90 minutes--so credit obviously lays with the writers. The actors themselves are equally talented, though it's really the writing that compels them to be something new, something more, to what have become conventional horror archetypes.All in all my first viewing was great and its an enjoyable ride on repeat.

Rated A Quiet Place Part II 5/10

It's enjoyable but mostly forgettable. We do learn some new things about the creatures and I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing of the world-building especially where other people are concerned, but this needed to do more and with quicker pacing. It's great that it has something to say about young people and maturation but it doesn't do nearly enough to carry on the character development that was EXACTINGLY earned in the first film. A movie where Emily Blunt goes on to find her daughter and leaves the strange man to take care of her son and baby would've been a lot more interesting to me, but I also understand how that presents the potential for discontinuity. It is passable and holds things together, which is more than most sequels can so, so I really hope Part III builds on and expands the stakes. Give us more direct conflicts with and between humans, PLEASE.

Rated V for Vendetta 8/10

Rated Underground Fragrance 6/10

Rated The Reluctant Fundamentalist 6/10

A moving film about allegiances at the social, national, and personal levels, The Reluctant Fundamentalist has high aims but fails to fully render its many messages. Because of this, a beautiful film about the origins of culture clash and the role patriotism and fear play in producing these inevitabilities, comes across heavy-handed. This is a bit of a disappointment as the casting is spot-on--Riz Ahmed, Kiefer Sutherland, and Om Puri give some incredibly magnetic performances--and there is no dearth of technical skill.Typically I'm a fan of overambitious films, but this manages to somehow telegraph a variety of positions while never quite putting its foot down. It is perhaps too comfortable with ambiguity, certainly more comfortable than its audience is. At the film's opening this makes for compelling and interesting material, but the fact that few concrete answers or explanations are offered on the ontologies of its characters' motivations ensures that the congealed product is unrewarding. It comes as no surprise, then, that many of the supporting cast exist solely to add context and are themselves underdeveloped.All said, the film IS vibrant. When not dominated by the rich sounds and visuals of Pakistan, ethereal vocalizations and sheer and embroidered textiles, the film is arguably at its most uninteresting. One of the things I loved, in particular, was how the soundtrack was used to inspire feeling or to accompany the feelings being created and shown on screen. The sound profile of the film is itself incredibly diverse and enjoyable; the soundtrack contains oral chants, hip hop beats, and melodious instrumentations, all of which are creatively and effectively woven into the narrative.Through this film we come to realize that militancy is rarely a mask of our making or choosing, that sometimes it is chosen for us. This is the kind of film that brings cerebrality and moral philosophy to characters we often hear about but never see. While a smaller scale might have provided for more powerful meditations on the social constraints of identity, this remains a film to be seen because it manages to be both race and class-conscious, all while subverting the popular characterizations of peoples and groups in the middle east. It doesn't do it well, but it does it. And that is saying something.

Rated The Place Beyond the Pines 7/10

This is a slow, well-directed movie that aims to bring to life meditations on fatherhood and the cyclical nature of violence, but never quite does so because its narrative and thematic focus is frequently interrupted. The idea of tackling the the material through a time-spanning saga was an interesting take, but in focusing so much on the masculinities of fathers and sons this film leaves its female characters thinly drawn and wanting. Offering some of her most engaged acting, the treatment of Eva Mendes was, for me, a decisive misstep.

Rated I Don't Want to Go Back Alone 7/10

Rated I Am Not Your Negro 6/10

Added Is God Is to Movie Watchlist

Rated Bodyguard 6/10

Brisk B-Movie noir... And story credits from Robert Altman

Rated The Flight of Dragons 7/10

Pure nostalgia! I loved this movie as a kid.

Rated Supergirl 7/10

My dog loved it so much I just ordered him a Krypto toy. I thought it was a good introduction and vet to know Supergirl movie. Learning about her struggle and what she’s been through. The heel had absolutely no depth and I never really cared about and the plot was simple. But I did enjoy Kara and thought it did a good job building her character even if everything around it in the movie was more on the stake side.

Added The Odyssey to Watched Movies