Films Seen in 2024 Part 1

These are thoughts on films I’ve seen so far this year.

Movie #1/ New Movie #1: Ferrari (Movie-Theater)
Penelope Cruz is amazing as the estranged wife/ awkward business partner. Adam Driver is solid as an autocrat trying to hold it together. Patrick Dempsey is decent in the dream role for a middle-aged racing aficionado. The racing sequences are impressive, as is the depiction of the great tragedy.
8/10

Movie #2/ New Movie #2: Swiss Army Man (DVD)
It is very weird. I appreciate the opening six minutes as a measure of whether someone can be on board with the rest of it. It’s an interesting debut for the Daniels and for A24. The grossness actually fits the life-affirming message that the world is beautiful, even the gross stuff. I don’t quite buy the execution of the last act when it shifts gears from private regrets to public embarrassment.
8/10

Movie #3/ New Movie #3: Middle of Nowhere (DVD)
It’s a well-told film about the wife of a prisoner and a moment of crisis. It’s generous even when dealing honestly with flawed people, and depicts a very specific experience. It makes sense as an early work by a major director.
9/10

Movie #4/ New Movie #4: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Movie-Theater)
This was a mediocre sequel, mostly following characters introduced in Part 1 and adding a plot derivative of Lord of the Rings (the Black Trident is basically the ring of power.) It often just looks fake, and gets me to wonder if it’s just an example of how CGI- heavy films have been compromised with Covid protocols and the expectation that everything can be fixed in post.
4/10

Movie #5: Oppenheimer (IMAX)
I watched it again in Imax and it remains astounding. Something I appreciated in the fourth watch was the arcs for some of the background characters, even those played by former Oscar winners, like the set-up to Rami Malek’s testimony or reappearances by suspicious officers.
10/10

Movie #6/ New Movie #5: The Beekeeper (Movie-Theater)
It’s a decent action film that obviously sets up a new potential franchise. My 77 year old dad liked it. There’s a good sense of escalation as the film often sets up bad guys who seem like they could be the big bad of the film, but then get dispatched within five minutes so someone tougher has to take over.
7/10

Movie #7/ New Movie #6: Wonka (Movie-Theater)
It is basically a Roald Dahl pastiche, but a fun one. Chalamat plays the role well of an eccentric making a name for himself with hints of the excellent film we know the character for.
8/10

Movie #8/ New Movie #7: Zone of Interest (Movie-Theater)
It’s an excellent depiction of the banality of evil, focusing on the family of an Auschwitz commander where they care more about garden, getting covered in ash and unexpected transfers than the atrocities. Sandra Hüller is amazing, especially when the mask slips. What’s really effective is how they just come across like upper middle class bureaucrats, discussing the operation of death camps as if it were tunnel repairs. The direction calls attention to itself, but is interesting- with some unexpected and unusual transitions. With the discussion of whether Greta Gerwig was snubbed for Barbie, I am happier to see this nominated. The five films nominated for Best Director were my five favorite films of the last year, so kudos to the academy.
10/10

Movie #9/ New Movie #8: American Fiction (Movie-Theater)
It’s an intelligent take on race, dysfunctional families with Jeffrey Wright excellent as a black writer frustrated at being pigeon-holed. Writer/ Director Cord Jefferson explores these questions in clever ways.
8/10

Movie #10/ New Movie #9: Origin (Movie-Theater)
A docudrama focusing on the author’s experience coming up with a tome isn’t a bad way to deal with ideas. But man this film gets pretentious and self-important, especially if you see it with the Q&A after (which suggests a dialogue that doesn’t exist.) The ideas in Caste get short-shrift here, as I’m assuming the book is better than a handful of anecdotes (even if some are compelling) and someone’s realization that different societies treat the other badly.
7/10

Movie #11/ New Movie #10: The Devils (Criterion Channel)
This is up my alley since I like rural horror, and movies like the Witchfinder General. Oliver Reed is compelling as a deeply flawed priest who is self-destructive and seductive in his private life but acts with integrity on an important political question. As messed up as he is, others are worse- especially Vanessa Redgrave as a crippled obsessive, Michael Gothard as a witch-hunter and Graham Armitage as a royal who does terrible things, but exposes the rot in the faithful.
8/10

Movie #12/ New Movie #11: Argylle (Movie-Theater)
The film about a novelist of spy novels who stumbled onto big mysteries could have been good, and it’s worth looking at it why it fails. It’s okay with some scenes riffing on spy dramas, but that kind of meta exploration requires the underlying story to be good, and it is not. The twists are mostly predictable and sometimes lacking in execution. There’s a CGI unreality which could work for the fantasy sequences, but then the same stuff happens in the real world scenes. This is a film that could have been decent with better practical effects and another screenwriting pass.
4/10

Movie #13: Pierrot Le Fou (Criterion Blu-Ray)
There are movies Godard made that I like better (Vivre Sa Vie, Band of Outsiders), but this seems to be the ultimate example of his Brechtian vision. It’s very rich.
10/10

Movie #14: Dune Part One (IMAX Movie-Theater)
It was worth checking it out again in Imax. I did appreciate the efforts to set up the final confrontation to make this seem like more than just Part 1 of 2, even if it clearly is that. It’s also so well-produced.
9/10

Movie #15/ New Movie #12: City Unplugged/ Darkness in Tallinn (Movie-Theater)
This feels a lot like a Czech New Wave film, which makes sense given the historical context as a repressed country suddenly has the freedom to tell new stories (even if much of the crew is Finnish.) It was made shortly after Estonia became independent, as criminals cause a blackout as part of an effort to steal a gold shipment. It’s imperfect, but there are some great lines and one fantastic stylistic choice in the last quarter that is one of the most impressive movie scenes I’ve seen in some time. I am a bit bothered by the body count, and how we’re supposed to like the people responsible, but it is still a crowd-pleaser.
8/10

Movie #16: Tenet (IMAX Movie-Theater)
I saw this in Imax 70 MM and it was stunningly beautiful.

It takes a while to understand the mechanics of the narrative and I think I have a good understanding of it at this point. It takes a sci-fi concept in a new direction from what we’ve seen before, and Nolan is a genius for making people moving in reverse seem consistently impressive. For all the talk of how this is Nolan’s Bond, the set pieces and action sequences are better than what I see in Bond. In that category, it’s on the level of Indiana Jones.
9/10

Movie #17: Young Frankenstein  (Blu-Ray)
It’s weird to consider what makes this work so well when so many parodies fail. Part of it is just how well they capture the atmosphere of the Boris Karloff originals. The cast is excellent and the gags are world-class. And there is actual heart- Frankenstein’s grandson wants to help the monster.
10/10

Movie #18/ New Movie #13: Madame Web (Movie-Theater)
The story shoehorns various Spider-Man IP characters into a story that might’ve been able to work (You could have a decent comic book story about a woman who sees the future protecting future heroines from a villain who sees them as a threat) but the execution’s just so off and the messages are twisted.
3/10

Movie #19/ New Movie #14: Dune Part 2 (Movie-Theater)
Man, this was a stunning film. It was a bit less finished than I expected, explicitly feeling like the middle of a trilogy rather than the second half of a book adaptation. Chalamat is effective at showing the transition from boy to messiah, while Zendaya, Ferguson and Bardem are standouts as the main people in his life. Austin Butler and Léa Seydoux are effective as new villains; ferocity for one, and manipulativeness for the other.
9/10

Movie #20: Leptirica (Blu-Ray)
On a second watch, there is a good sense of peasants trying to figure out a solution to a werewolf murdering millers, and a young man whose girlfriend’s father hates him seeing it as an opportunity first to get money to leave, and then to wed her. The twist is predictable, but the execution is decent. I do think it plays fair.
8/10

Movie #21/ New Movie #15: The Murder of Fred Hampton (DVD)
This documentary doesn’t provide much context, and I’m not sure if that’s because the material would be understood by a 1970s audience for these types of films, or if this was just a Cinéma vérité approach. The first half deals with Fred Hampton as an activist. The second half is the response to his suspicious death, contrasting spokesmen for the Black Panthers with the official police explanations. It’s provocative in the best way; even if his habit of calling authorities pigs is annoying, they did so much worse to him.
8/10

Movie #22: Akira (DVD)
It starts out pretty decent, the story of two friends in a motorcycle gang in a fully realized futuristic Japan. But then the scope gets bigger, and the stakes get greater for the two former friends. Just astounding. The visuals and action sequences are stunning, but there is also substance.
10/10

Movie #23/ New Movie #16: Love Lies Bleeding (Movie-Theater)
This lesbian bodybuilding crime-drama has some interesting twists, but also says some things about the effort to live your best life. The highlight is Ed Harris as the flawed father figure, especially when we get into just why he’s estranged from his daughter.
7/10

Movie #24: Poor Things (Movie-Theater)
It’s still a weird film. It remains an excellent showcase for Emma Stone in one of the most interesting performances of the 21st Century. I have a slightly better appreciation for Mark Ruffalo’s dandy lawyer; his Oscar nomination is no longer weird.
9/10

Movie #25/ New Movie #17: Sexy Beast (Criterion Channel)
It’s a story we’ve seen before of a criminal who thinks he’s out and is dragged back in, but it just feels different. It showed a new side of Ben Kingsley the actor, but it doesn’t feel like a movie as much as a career criminal who doesn’t get why everyone else is hesitating.
8/10

Movie #26/ New Movie #18: The Maiden’s Tune (Blu-Ray)
This was an extra in the All The Haunts Be Ours folk horror box set. It’s not very original, but there is a good Eastern European sense of atmosphere.
7/10

Movie #27: Antman and the Wasp (DVD)
I watched this again with my dad, who liked the first one and who I’ve trying to get ready for Avengers: Endgame. It’s fun and shows how wrong Marvel was to try to go in a different direction for Quantumania. One thing that works is just how insufferable Hank Pym is, but I generally enjoy the dynamic of the group and challenges that aren’t about the end of the universe, but about saving one person.
8/10

Movie #28/ New Movie #19: One Life (Movie-Theater)
This was a well-made movie about a decent man who convinces other people to do something meaningful to save lives during the Holocaust. It’s not very surprising, especially if you’re familiar with the story. It is no shock that Hopkins is excellent as the understated lead. It’s a decent film to watch with other people- especially normies who don’t watch a lot of movies- as a reminder that one person can make a big difference.
8/10

Movie #29/ New Movie #20: Ocean‘s 8 (HBO Max)
This works really well as a hangout movie. I just like seeing Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and company figure out how to make a jewel heist work, and all the tricks. Anne Hathaway has fun as a seemingly ditzy celebrity paying more attention than she lets on. The plot is lightweight, and there’s barely any conflict, but it’s enjoyable and I can see myself watching it again. It’s a good movie to have on in the background, which is useful at times.
8/10

Movie #30: Pygmalion (HBO Max)
This may have one of the smartest scripts ever written, which isn’t a shocker if this is the film that got Shaw an Oscar (making him and Bob Dylan the two Nobel Prize winning Academy Award winners.) I like that the conflict isn’t whether Higgins will succeed, but what happens to Eliza afterwards. There’s a great use of dramatic irony as Eliza has expectations about propriety and Higgins is careless about how to treat anyone, rich or poor. I do still prefer My Fair Lady, but this version is excellent.
9/10

Musings on AI Art

From my perspective AI is a tool that artists can use, rather than a replacement. The main pitfalls are if it were to use an artist’s work without compensation, although there seems to be solutions.

If a program uses the work of a copyrighted artist without compensation, that would be wrong. But there should be ways to have AI-generated art that doesn’t come with that problem. Hiring young artists to churn out examples for the model (and taking advantage of public domain material) seems to be the easiest fix to the “theft” argument.

It still comes with the problem that it’s a new form of competition for professional artists, but I don’t support the argument for stagnation.

Comments about how artists may suffer seem to be like the libertarian complaint that if the lightbulb were invented today, the candlemakers would call for legislation protecting them. Or it would be like painters complaining about the invention of the camera.

Obviously if there’s theft involved, this adds insult to injury. But if you can do it without theft, there are a lot of possibilities. Some people will lose as with any change. They have specialized skills that might not translate to an environment where new tools are available.

But talented people will be able to produce more material in less time. A comics artist may be able to draw 50 pages instead of 20. A vfx team can do more. This will allow more types of stories to be told, if special effects budgets can be cheaper. Or it could also be that we’ll have a race for spectacle, and the budgets will be the same, but the effects will be bigger.

There’s a feat that it will put a lot of people out of work, I don’t think a comic book artist drawing 60 pages a month instead of 20 would put two other artists out of work. If an artist can work faster, they can appeal to a smaller audience or tell stories differently (scenes can be allowed to breathe if the cost of additional pages is reduced.) 1-2 people making the work of hundreds are just not going to produce good enough work.

I don’t think AI will get good enough that a handful of people can make a 3D animated film. You’re going to need humans to sand the rough edges especially in film and comics, where it’s not just about having one image.

If AI gets good enough that someone with a program can make a movie that would’ve normally employed a hundred people, there’s not much that can be done to stop it. Pressuring Disney won’t stop independent outfits, and changes to American laws won’t stop China (though I suppose China might be nervous about whether they can control AI.)

I wonder if a subtext of this controversy is that some people like artists, and want them to be financially supported even if this results in worse and more expensive art.

For the hell of it, a few months ago, I decided to try an AI art generator. I went with Bing Creator, since it seems to be well-regarded and it’s free. The above picture is a World War 2 biplane flying over Medieval Tallinn (capital on Estonia) in a pop art style.

The image quality varies a lot. A fan of Spider-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog and New York City, I asked for pictures of Spider-Man chasing Sonic the Hedgehog at Coney Island. Bing Creator approximates Spider-Man consistently, but Sonic not so much.

For this one, it kind of made a Spider-Man with Sonic’s mouth. And Sonic is certainly not on-brand.

This was a nunnery with three people in a forest. It came out okay in one image, even if it got the number of nuns wrong.

This nunnery seems unholy.

These poor sisters appear deformed.

Film language is versatile, so it is possible that there will be work-arounds to the shortcomings.

This short is a silent film based on shapes more than a hundred years ago. People adjust to things.

Films Seen in 2023 Finale

This the conclusion on thoughts on films I’ve seen this year. My favorite new movies of the year are Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Anatomy of a Fall, Poor Things and Godzilla Minus One. The best older films I watched for the first time this year were Blood on Satan’s Claw, John Wick: Chapter 2, Memories of Murder, Black Girl, Trading Places, Mary and Max, and Marty.

Movie #151/ New Movie #109: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Movie-Theater)
I enjoyed the Hunger Games prequel, which works okay as a standalone or as more of what worked in the original series (teens thrust into life and death situations forced to play the media while fighting one another.) The traps and challenges are decent, as are the solutions. It’s bold to feature an empathetic take on the future dictator- the relatively unknown Tom Blyth has a decent showcase here, as does Rachel Zegler, whose role as a performer plays to the actress’s strengths. There is a very clear break where it may have been a better idea to split into two movies, because it takes a turn in structure, but I can understand the reasons not to go that way and to just go for one more bite at the apple.
8/10

Short Movie #25: South Park- Join the Panderverse (Paramount Plus)
This works pretty well as a standalone special which tackles multiverses, diverse reimaginings, and the larger cultural problems that tie into anxiety on all of that. For years I’ve believed that when South Park is good, there’s no better satire and this is one of many examples. It targets Woke Hollywood and the people who obsess over it with decent gags and character moments.
9/10

Movie #152/ New Movie #110: Anatomy of a Fall (Movie-Theater)
It’s a smart courtroom drama. I can’t say how accurate it is to the French legal system, although it’s intriguing to see things I take for granted in a different lens. I keep thinking about how an American version of this movie would be different, with melodramatic twists, emotional manipulation and obvious lessons where we know who the bad guys are. This version works, looking at what happens when a marriage comes under the scrutiny of a murder trial. Sandra Hüller is exceptional as a novelist in an absurd situation.
9/10

Movie #153/ New Movie #111: Hotel Fear (Youtube)
This is pretty much the only other film directed by Francesco Barilli after The Perfume of the Lady in Black, which was an interesting giallo (he did have some collaborations in the last decade.) In terms of genre, it’s hard to place. A young woman in World War 2-era Italy tries to run a hotel surrounded by perverts and criminals. It doesn’t become a giallo until an hour it when terrible things happen and lead to a violent reprisal. But there is a good sense of atmosphere and panic.
8/10

Short Movie #26: Bob & Don- A Love Story (Youtube)
Poignant recollections of a friendship between two of the funniest people ever. Of course the clips are going to be amazing.
9/10

Short Movie #27: Danny & Annie (Movie Theater)
This was an intro to a film I saw at the IFC, and it is so lovely and tender. It’s moving enough when you’ve got animated versions of an elderly couple talking about how much they love each other, based on recordings from a public radio project. But then the last few minutes…
10/10

Movie #154/ New Movie #112: Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Movie-Theater)
This was an interesting project, focusing on conversations some Estonian women have inside a sauna. It’s progressive and feminist, with discussions of abortion, rape, the awkward process of coming out and health problems. It’s well shot, and some of the conversations are powerful. It’s interesting what isn’t included. They don’t talk much about their children and spouses, or professional ambitions, or at least those conversations didn’t make the final cut.
9/10

Short Movie #28: Life Beyond 2: The Museum of Alien Life (Youtube)
This was a weird project, an excuse to show some CGI art and theorize about the potentially radically different life that could exist in new environments. The execution is decent.
9/10

Movie #155/ New Movie #113: Silent Night (Movie-Theater)
The John Woo revenge drama is visually interesting. The gimmick of the silent lead works okay with his difficulty making sense of life after a tragedy. It alternates between weird revenge fantasies that make John Wick and Sisu seem realistic, and scenes where we get a sense on the toll on the guy.
7/10

Short Movie #29: Portrait of God (Youtube)
Man, this short film is creepy. It makes better effect of dark colors being pixelated on modern screens than anything else I’ve seen, and conveys a concept effectively.
9/10

Movie #156/ New Movie #114: Maestro (Movie-Theater)
It does work better as a showcase for the Bernsteins than as a film; I wouldn’t mind if Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan win Oscars for this. The movie seems to be a bit unsure of itself, which might make sense since the subject was never sure of himself and kept wanting to contradictory things: an introvert and an extrovert, an artist and a performer, a composer and a conductor, a devoted family man and a hedonist. And then the film has great moments like a musical sequence modeled on the films he worked on, or a performance by his children that shows love in a flawed family.
8/10

Movie #157/ New Movie #115: Godzilla Minus One (Movie-Theater)
This is probably my favorite Godzilla movie. The lead is one of the most interesting of any monster movie: a failed kamikaze pilot who finds himself with a found family after the devastation post-World War 2. Godzilla is scarier when technology is more primitive. The supporting cast surprises in positive ways: a woman introduced as being bitter that the lead survived while her children died helps take care of a baby. There is a bit of a “Good Bye, Lenin!” vibe with Japanese veterans finding purpose and accomplishment after being on the losing side of a global conflict.
9/10

Short Movie #30: Doctor Who- The Star Beast (Disney+)
Letterboxd thinks it’s a short film and who am I to disagree? It’s a solid Doctor Who story, where Donna Noble rejoins the fray and we get a decent A-plot in the tale of the adorable Meep hunted by the Wraiths, which has a good twist and a great trial scene. It’s a satisfying new adventure for a duo that seemed done with it.
9/10

Movie #158: Airplane! (DVD)
Man, this is excellent. It’s weird to consider why it works so well when so many other parodies fail. Maybe the gags are genius. Maybe it’s how straight everyone plays it. It’s hard to appreciate with Leslie Nielsen becoming a comedy star, but the big gimmick was getting a cast known for dramatic roles in a ridiculous riff on disaster films.
10/10

Short Movie #31: Doctor Who- Wild Blue Yonder (Disney+)
I expect to see the three Tennant/ Tate specials pop up in best of lists. This one’s a solid example of something the series does well, an exploration of a space where one thing is creepy. And we get the beginning of the mavity running gag, and the final appearance of one of the best companions.
9/10

Movie #159: Die Hard (Movie-Theater)
It was great to see this on the big screen. One thing I appreciate is the attention to detail, as well as how McLane and his enemies figure out one another. It’s a decent spotlight of decadent LA in the late 80s.
10/10

Movie #160/ New Movie #116: Napoleon (Movie-Theater)
It works for excellent military set pieces, and a look at the ultimate example of a cult of personality, a great man who led his followers to success after success, and then lost his touch.
8/10

Short Movie #32: Doctor Who- The Giggle (Disney+)
The Toymaker, especially Neil Patrick Harris’ version is a great enemy for Doctor Who. This is a continuity heavy story that sets up more flexibility going forward. And it ends up being a hell of a debut for Ncuti Gatwa, as well as a celebration of what makes the Doctor special and what he needs.
10/10

Short Movie #33: Lava (Youtube)
Just a lovely tribute to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and Hawaii.
9/10

Movie #161/ New Movie #117: Poor Things (Movie-Theater)
This is a weird riff on gothic horror exploring what it’s like if it’s really for mature audiences. Emma Stone is incredible, depicting the transformation of a child into a philosopher in the same body. The cinematography and sets are amazing. Ruffalo is absurd and different than usual, although I’m more impressed by Willem Defoe’s benevolent mad scientist.
9/10

Movie #162/ New Movie #118: Saltburn (Movie-Theater)
This story of a scholarship kid at Oxford ingratiating himself into a rich family comes at a time of “eat the rich” films (Parasite, Triangle of Sadness, the Menu) where the main distinguishing thing is how perverted it’s all allowed to go, and the cast of grotesques. There are some developments that are presented as twists that seem very obvious, but the ending does land.
9/10

Movie #163/ New Movie #119: Melchior the Apothecary (DVD)
This is the first in a series of medieval Estonian mysteries. An apothecary (pharmacist) makes sense as the lead of that kind of series, and I like how it depicts the chaos of the times, when powerful knights can deputize people and force them to help. It’s not the best start. The production values are excellent for Estonian film, but the story is a bit generic, the lead is bland and the case doesn’t seem to have stakes for the detective.
5/10

Short Movie #34: Doctor Who- The Church on Ruby Road (Disney+)
The Christmas special is pleasant, introducing a new companion and setting goblins up as a race of bad guys worthy of further exploration, though there’s plenty here with the language of ropes and emphasis on luck. I like how they show the meaning Ruby brought her family, which makes this a decent Christmas story.
9/10

Movie #164/ New Movie #120: White Christmas (DVD)
It’s a bit weird to have Bing Crosby playing a slightly ungrateful square, but the songs are great and it is fun. Just a cozy film.
9/10

Short Movie #35: South Park- Not Suitable for Children(Disney+)
Matt Stone and Trey Parker compromised on the quality of South Park, and likely gave up years of their creative life in the combination of their deals with HBO/ Max and Paramount+, which include these specials. I can’t blame them if nine figure sums were on the table. It’s a fun riff on influencers and the morals of selling out, which seems like the Streaming Wars specials to be an admission.
8/10

Movie #165: Hamilton (Disney+)
It remains one of my favorite works of art of the 21st Century. The songs are incredible. The scale is both epic and personal. Renée Elise Goldsberry and Leslie Odom Jr give two of the best performances ever.
10/10

Movie #166/ New Movie #121: The Boy and the Heron (Movie-Theater)
It’s excellent that Hayao Miyazaki had at least one more film in him, and appropriate that when he decided to join directors like Stephen Spielberg, James Grey and Alfonso Cuaron in telling a story inspired by his coming of age, it includes a doorway to a fantasy world.
9/10

Movie #167/ New Movie #122: Crimes of the Future 1970 (DVD)
It’s mostly a low-budget sci-fi with a parody of how messed up things can get. For the most part, it seems tame compared to modern takes on these topics. But there’s something messed up in the last few minutes that just made me lose interest in finishing the film, even if I know it’s not going where it seems to be. But it’s just too gross.
N/A

Movie #168: Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde (Max)
Frederich March is excellent as the two sides of Jekyl and Hyde. The film suffers a bit from the clumsiness of early sound, but benefits greatly from being pre-code.
9/10

Movie #169: Unforgiven (4k Ultra HD Blu-Ray)
Man, this is even better than I remembered. Gene Hackman is set up really well as the antagonist, a man who isn’t taken seriously as a carpenter, but is quite impressive against gunslingers. It’s probably the best western Eastwood ever made, and may possibly be the best ever, as the ultimate deconstruction.
10/10

Movie #170/ New Movie #123: Promising Young Woman (Amazon Prime)
The casting is excellent here. Carey Mulligan depicts a woman defined by tragedy who doesn’t get how everyone else isn’t, and it works to have someone more girl next door than bombshell in a film abotu the willingness of men to abuse. The “nice guys” make an effective statement.
9/10

Films Seen in 2023 Part 5

This is a continuation of thoughts on films I’ve seen this year.

Movie #121/ New Movie #89: Black Girl (Movie Theater)
This is a film that can be appreciated in its context as the first major Sub-Saharan project and a snapshot of a particular cultural time. But it’s also quite effective as a showcase of a woman in turmoil, going to a foreign land with high expectations and discovering that life in France is worse than what she left behind in Africa, and languishing in an inability to communicate, as well as the carelessness of her employers.
9/10

Movie #122/ New Movie #90: Dumb Money (Movie Theater)
It really wants to be The Social Network, and not just because Aaron Sorkin was the first choice for screenwriter and its based on a book treatment by Ben Mezrich. It just seems to go for similar vibes. The results are fine, although it seems to try to hard to be pro-Reddittor propaganda.
7/10

Movie #123: The Dark Knight (Movie Theater)
So the Writers and Actors Guild strikes are bad for the film industry and bad for creative types, but since it leads to movie theaters playing the Dark Knight trilogy again, and various other weird repertory things that wouldn’t be expected outside of arthouse cinemas, it’s working out for me.

Obviously, the Dark Knight is a great film. Ledger’s Joker is one of the best villains ever, and it clearly reached the public consciousness, but it seems underappreciated in serious analysis. Joker is so effective as an agent of chaos, who just pushes everyone else to their absolute limits and raises interesting questions about whether might makes right when the bad guy is just ridiculously effective.

I wonder if Eric Roberts has ever alluded to the idea that he had a pretty big role in a film more significant than anything his sister ever did.
10/10

Movie #124/ New Movie #91:Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (DVD)
It’s amateurish and promising, a low-budget film school project made by a future Oscar winning director, a proof of concept for something like La La Land. But there are some good moments, in the depiction of everyday awkwardness and even more heightened awkwardness, like an innocent encounter between a young woman and a retired cop that they have to explain to the guy’s daughter. The music’s pretty good since this was also a calling card for Justin Hurwitz.
7/10

Movie #125/ New Movie #92: Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (DVD)
This kinda feels like a film Netflix would have commissioned if they existed in the 1930s. It’s an A-list director Ernst Lubitsch (with Billy Wilder on screenplay) adapting a major property (remake of a Norma Shearer silent film which was itself an adaptation of a French theatrical farce) with a major cast (Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper and David Niven have four Oscars between them.) The first half is kind of slow, with Cooper miscast as a high-strung millionaire. The second half is an underwritten revenge scheme. There are some decent moments, although the main reason to watch this is the weirdness that it got made at all.
6/10

Movie #126: Stop Making Sense (Imax)
Man, it was worth seeing this on Imax. I might appreciate it even more if I was a bit more into David Byrne or the Talking Heads. Some critic had an illuminating point that this functions quite well as the story of a weird guy giving in to the power of music, and making friends.

I can appreciate the focus on what it’s like on stage, with a combination of catchy songs and an unconventional way of introducing everything, with one player of the band joining at a time. And then there’s the literal rock star charisma of David Byrne, in a way that’s a bit odd, but the film is evidence that he could have been a movie star as well; he gives off Jeff Goldblum and Daniel Day Lewis vibes.
10/10

Movie #127/ New Movie #93: The Creator (Movie Theater)
It’s a new sci-fi story outside of any established universe with its own well-established backstory and sense of aesthetic. The production values are really good, and it depicts a suitably messy conflict and one guy’s realization that he was very much in the wrong. Some twists are predictable, but there is a good sense of the realism in outlandish scenarios.
7/10

Movie #128/ New Movie #94: A Haunting in Venice (Movie Theater)
It’s an okay locked room mystery. The Venice setting is used well and there are some interesting twists.
7/10

Movie #129/ New Movie #95: Marty (DVD)
It’s a relatively short film about a likable guy deciding to make the right decision despite pressure against him. It’s just nice to see a film about someone so salt of the earth.
9/10

Movie #130: Avengers: Infinity War (Blu-Ray)
This is a pretty good escalation of the previous Avengers films, bringing in Dr Strange, Spider-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther. Thanos and his death cult are sufficiently impressive villains. Recent movies have shown that this film wasn’t guaranteed to land as well as it did.
9/10

Movie #131: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Blu-Ray)
The highlight is obviously the expressionistic sets, but it is worth checking out for the other reason because this was at one point the best movie ever made. The competition was the work of DW Griffith, and various serials.
10/10

Short Movie #20: From Caligari to Hitler (Blu-Ray)
This is a decent extra on the Kino Caligari blu-ray, a documentary that looks at the historical context of films in Weimar Germany while considering a critic’s views that this also says something about how German Society would go very wrong (even if it was not an example of that.)
9/10

Movie #132: Frankenstein (DVD)
The first big Universal film seems a bit unfinished at times, but comes with one of the great film monsters in Karloff’s Frankenstein.
9/10

Movie #133: Bride of Frankenstein (DVD)
I have to agree with the consensus that this sequel is better than the original, building on the story and its themes, while introducing some new concepts and sticking with excellent production designs, and benefitting from a director who has much more fluid camera motion than was the typical in the early sound era.
10/10

Movie #134: The Invisible Man (Amazon Prime Video)
Along with the first two Frankenstein films, and The Old Dark House, this is a reminder that James Whale is one of the best horror directors ever. The story just covers what the reaction would be if a lunatic was able to turn invisible. It’s a great showcase for the mostly offscreen Claude Rains, the debut of a major film career.
9/10

Movie #136/ New Movie #96: Kadaicha  (Blu Ray- All the Haunts Be Ours collection)
This Australian teens targeted by ghosts film is generic and weirdly shot. There’s a level of amateurishness that I’m not used to. The plot and ghosts are mostly stuff we’ve seen before. The big difference is the aboriginal connection. The metaphor of kids trying to get their parents to admit mistakes and heal tormented spirits is rather on the nose, but is ahead of its time.
6/10

Movie #137/ New Movie #97: Killers of the Flower Moon (Movie Theater)
This is a good and rich film on multiple levels. Lily Gladstone excels in a difficult performance, depicting someone poisoned by her family unable to articulate her suspicions. DeCaprio is bold for his willingness to play someone so vile and stupid. We’ve been waiting decades for a Scorsese/ DeCaprio/ De Niro film and it is worth the time. Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow and Jesse Pleimons are great. I wouldn’t mind a surprise Oscar nomination for any of them, although it may be a good idea to push for Tantoo Cardinal or Cara Jade Myers in the now open Best Supporting Actress category, with their depiction of other victims of the plot. This is an important film that allows for a lot of nuance and discussion, without obscuring how vile the betrayal was.
10/10

Movie #138/ New Movie #98: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Blu-Ray)
It really should be called Abbott and Costello meet Dracula, given Bela Lugosi’s bigger role. It’s a decent comedy vehicle as two dopes intersect with Universal horror monsters, though I may miss part of their appeal. There might be some context in which they’re funnier.
8/10

Movie #139: Night of the Living Dead (Criterion Blu-Ray)
It feels like it was made years into the genre, rather than something that created an entirely new type of film monster. It’s good enough that it might never be surpassed, just because there will never be a zombie film where people aren’t expected to be aware of the living dead series.
10/10

Movie #140/ New Movie #99: The Quatermass Xperiment (DVD)
Competent and sometimes enjoyable, but often boring.
6/10

Short Movie #21: The Telltale Heart (Youtube)
The 1957 short narrated by James Mason is astounding. The sense of mood is exceptional.
9/10

Movie #141/ New Movie #100: Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune (Arrow Video Player)
It’s a relatively typical behind the scenes documentary, although it does show the level of care and thought that was put into an epic flop. There are plenty of decent anecdotes, like why Patrick Stewart came in at the last moment or Orson Welles’ response to a casting offer.
7/10

Movie #142/ New Movie #101: The Great Ziegfeld (DVD)
The early Best Picture winner tells the story of a great but often broke producer in the style of his shows, where every and now everything is paused for an extravagant showpiece. There are some really impressive performances, especially the Fanny Brice cameo.
7/10

Movie #143/ New Movie #102: The Slumber Party Massacre (Arrow Video Player)
Tonally it’s a mess, a script that was a satire of horror movies produced as a generic horror movie, just more ridiculous than most. I guess there’s an excuse for the cliches.
4/10

Movie #144: The Nightmare Before Christmas (Movie Theater)
Watching it on the big screen, the visuals are really impressive. The character designs are astounding, and they’ve got a sense of three visual schemes: Halloween, Christmas and the unholy amalgamation. The songs are excellent. The story’s a bit thin.
9/10

Short Movie #22: Italianamerican (Criterion Blu-Ray)
Martin Scorsese makes enjoyable home movies.
9/10

Movie #145/ New Movie #103: Penda’s Fen (Blu Ray- All the Haunts Be Ours collection)
This is just a weird and interesting example of English folk horror, as a young religiously conservative man grapples with same-sex desires and the realization he is destined for something evil and twisted. It’s a weird and new mythology that unfolds in such a matter of fact way.
9/10

Movie #146/ New Movie #104: The Marvels (Movie Theater)
The Captain Marvel sequel is a mixed bag. I like the central dynamic between Danvers, Rambeau and fangirl Kamala Khan. Some of the sequences are impressive. I don’t quite buy the central drama of why Danvers hasn’t been back to Earth (her character seems undefined and almost detached), and the main villain is generic. The herding cats and musical planet sequences are fun, although likely could have been done better.
6/10

Movie #147/ New Movie #105: It’s a Wonderful Knife (Movie Theater)
Seems up my alley as a fan of It’s a Wonderful Life and horror films. The angel design is decent. I didn’t care for it. I just don’t buy how bad things get, even with a potential supernatural explanation. There is also something odd about a horror movie where casualties are so inconsequential, because of the possibility the hero will fix everything.
5/10

Movie #148/ New Movie #106: The Holdovers (Movie Theater)
It feels like a New Hollywood film focusing on a character study (Five Easy Pieces, The Graduate), something that would get its own Criterion edition. It’s a good piece about some very different characters forced together, all much more complicated than is immediately apparent. Da’Vine Joy Randolph ends up stealing the show, given what she’s been through and how that shapes her, and I recognize that if this film were made in the early 1970s when it was set, her role would be much smaller. Giamati is fearless, and Dominic Sessa has an amazing debut as a kid who seems privileged and obnoxious, but has great complexity.
9/10

Movie #149/ New Movie #107: The Killer (Movie Theater)
It’s a decent drama about a hitman seeking revenge that pokes fun at the stereotypical criminal philosopher showing how full of shit they really are. And because it’s David Fincher, it is beautifully shot.
8/10

Short Movie #23: The Pledge  (Blu Ray- All the Haunts Be Ours collection)
This short about highwaymen honoring a promise to an executed comrade unfolds in a matter of fact manner, and gets to an interesting conclusion.
7/10

Short Movie #24: Parent Teacher(Arrow Video Player)
This is an impressive short film, taking a simple concept of a parent teacher conference where the parents are acting like high-school brats, and making it one unbroken shot. And the central performance of a new teacher breaking down just works.
9/10

Movie #150/ New Movie #108: The Perfume of the Lady in Black (DVD)
This is different than the usual Giallo, showcasing a young woman’s breakdown in the wake of a Rosemary’s Baby style conspiracy. The atmosphere is decent. It’s nice and creepy.
8/10

A point on partisan misinformation

There was an argument that conservatives believe more misinformation than progressives do, based on how often viral stories tend to be right-leaning. I can certainly agree that too many conservatives believe misinformation, but a measure of viral stories on social media isn’t necessarily going to demonstrate that conservatives are worse than Democrats.

An easy explanation is that stories that favor Democrats are likely to appear in multiple places, so the odds that any one story will go viral are reduced. Julie Swetnick says that she witnessed Brett Kavanaugh participate in habitual gang rapes in Suburban Maryland when he was a teenager, and that’s covered in a lot of places.

A few years ago a science blogger went viral based on an interesting concept (the most recent winter solstice is the longest night in Earth history because tidal friction is causing the Earth’s rotation to slow down at a rate of a millisecond a century) that had obvious flaw he was unaware of (there is variability from other causes that means some days are milliseconds longer than others as measured.)

This year’s solstice – The longest one yet

https://www.vox.com/2014/12/21/7424371/winter-solstice

A big reason the story went viral is that it was unique. No one else was reporting it. The reason for that is that others did their due diligence and would realize the error.

If CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox and BBC are all reporting something big, their website’s version is unlikely to go viral because it is covered by everyone else.

If we really wanted to compare how informed Democrats are compared to Republicans, we could ask about things that progressives are more inclined to believe. For example…

How much student loan debt is held by the median 30 year old American? (The answer is zero)
Was the material on Hunter Biden’s laptop fabricated? (Nope)
What percentage of homicides are committed with so-called assault rifles? (Roughly four percent which has implications for the effectiveness of an Assault rifle ban)
Does the median blue state resident pay more in taxes due to the removal of the SALT deduction? (Nope)
Are young African American men more likely to shot to death by police than to die in traffic accidents? (Nope)

Then we could compare the results to false things that conservatives are inclined to believe.

The Indigo Blob

Nate Silver had an interesting piece a few months back on Twitter and its problems pre-Elon Musk, where he noted a group that was excluded from the conversation.

In American media and political discourse, there has been a fundamental asymmetry during the Trump Era. Left-progressives, liberals1, centrists, and moderate or non-MAGA conservatives all share a common argumentative space. I call this space the Indigo Blob, because it’s somewhere between left-wing (blue) and centrist (purple). The space largely excludes MAGA/right-wing conservatives — around 30 percent2 of the country.

I think the description of an indigo blob is a useful one about assessing an intersection of media, culture and politics. There are some follow-up questions.

Are the other groups that the Indigo blob doesn’t include beyond MAGA? Would any of those groups be statistically significant? For example- rural African Americans could very well be excluded in these argumentative spaces but they’re a much smaller percentage of the population. I’m also thinking of communities that don’t really talk about standard political questions- the Discord leaker seemed to be part of an online community that analyzed weapons and tactics, rather than which side is right.

He wrote about media asymmetry and the idea that Fox News is much more conservative than the mainstream media is progressive, and I’m not as persuaded by that. One immediate question is whether there a scale for how bias is measured? Is it based on the views of the typical American voter (IE- the median American voter is 0, a score of +5 means that roughly 25 percent of Americans are to the right on an issue, and a score of -3 means that roughly 35 percent of Americans are to the left?) Is it proportional or something else (IE- is the difference from +6 to +7 the same as the difference between +7 and +8 )?

A problem in modern politics

On a political forum, someone said that part of the problem in getting to an understanding is an unwillingness by some liberals to admit that they understand where conservative arguments come from. I agree it’s a problem, although not limited to the left. Many on the right would also be suspicious of people who could articulate left-wing viewpoints.

One issue is that if you can understand someone’s best arguments, you can understand why the strawman version is inaccurate. Anyone whose understanding of a position is limited to the strawman is going to have a different frame of reference for any politics discussion, and that’s going to result in people talking past one another. There’s a tendency for some people to want to be on the right side of the issue, rather than to care about the facts of a specific question, so they’ll view every question as a proxy for whether a side is correct.

If you can articulate the other side’s argument, you’re often going to be able to explain why someone who is very unpopular with your side has a point, which goes against the rhetorical strategy of going after the person rather than the argument. A right-wing version would be claiming that if Bernie Sanders believes something, he has to be wrong. But a good politician or commentator would be able to note when the other side is right.

Films Seen in 2023 Part 4

This is a continuation of thoughts on movies I’ve seen this year.

Movie #91/ New Movie #66: Robin Redbreast (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
This was creepy. It’s a British TV movie about a woman in her thirties who moves into a small town after a break-up, and the mannered stylings help obscure what’s really going on. It’s obviously influenced by Rosemary’s Baby, while heralding folk horror films to come. The surviving copy isn’t the best, but it’s much better than not having this at all.
7/10

Movie #92/ New Movie #67: Barbie (Movie Theater)
It does a lot, but generally successfully. Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera are great as the leads; I wouldn’t mind any of them getting Oscar nominated. There’s a weird logic to it as a symbol tries to figure out what she means.

Part of the reason it’s a box office hit is that Barbie hasn’t been overexposed in film, but I bet there are a lot of conversations about sequels and spinoffs for a Barbie or Mattel Cinematic Extended Universe.
8/10

Short Movie #14: The Sermon (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
It’s a solid creepy short, exploring the homophobia that is a natural part of folk horror, but ignored in the earlier films. The twist works.
8/10

Movie #93: To Catch a Thief (DVD)
I watched this on a DVD that may not be the best version of the film- I suspect it’ll soon have some good 4K restoration soon, but it’s not yet available in the format in physical media. It’s low stakes for Hitchcock, although an excellent showcase for Grant and Kelly. It’s a bit dull in the first half, until a twist when someone’s understanding is much more complex than initially understood.
8/10

Movie #94/ New Movie #68: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Movie Theater)
This was kinda dull. Indiana Jones has literally become an elderly guy who yells at young neighbors playing their rock music. Some of the action scenes have an energy of staff at a nursing home dealing with someone grumpy and confused. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is okay as the co-lead; she seems to be going for a Katherine Hepburn or Barbara Stanwyck vibe which fits the series. Unfortunately, the film’s just dull when it’s not depressing. Crystal Skull was more fun. An underappreciated reason this flopped is that it’s not a fun movie to watch again and again.
5/10

Movie #95/ New Movie #69: Alison’s Birthday (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
This Australian horror movie feels amateurish at times. There are some creepy sequences, like an ouija board that feels different than what we’ve seen before. But some moments there take me out of the story. The larger conspiracy has some okay twists, and the ending is good enough that it elevates the film to one that I’ll give a mild recommendation to.
7/10

Movie #96/ New Movie #70: Tilbury (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
The Icelanic TV movie takes the old myth of an imp that steals food, and applies it to Iceland at an uncomfortable time, when the British and Americans took over during World War 2. That makes for a film that’s definitely not generic, and has a completely different visual system.
9/10

Movie #97/ New Movie #71: Leptirica (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
It’s a fifty year old made for TV film from Yugoslavia, so production values are a concern; it reminds me of similar Estonian projects in the vibes and acting. The drama is okay and there’s a good sense of the working class environment. The menace is set up well and comes to an adequate conclusion.
7/10

Short Movie #15: The Rabbit in Australia (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
It’s a brief history of rabbits in Western culture and the problem in Australia included as an extra on a folk horror box set to go along with a film about a girl in Australia affected by anti-rabbit attitudes. There is some matter of fact footage of dead bunnies.
8/10

Movie #98/ New Movie #72: The Day After Trinity (Criterion Channel)
The Criterion Channel made this available for free do the interest in Oppenheimer. It’s a solid talking heads documentary with the benefit of having ridiculously accomplished individuals talking about a major accomplishment and unsettled questions. It’s a good companion to Oppenheimer, showing what some of the people looked like, adding key context and providing a different perspective of it all.
9/10

Short Movie #16: Satanic Panic in Australia from Rosaleen Norton to Alison’s Birthday (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
A solid extra to an Alison’s Birthday blu-ray which provides a context to why Australians were so freaked out about the occult, with attention to subversive artist Rosaleen Norton. It’s a decent extra that provides insight into the main film.
8/10

Short Movie #17: A White Spot on the Back of the Head (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
It’s an Icelandic student film that was an extra for Tilbury, another folklore based film by director Vidar Vikingsson. There are some clever moments, but this is when the director was an amateur with relatively limited resources.
3/10

Short Movie #18: Hunting the Nazi Gold Train (Paramount +)
I watched this with my dad who is a train and history buff. It covers some of the history of missing gold and other valuables stolen by the Nazis, and why some Polish explorers think they’ll be able to get it with a little bit of money and permission. It does seem manipulative in the way it hides key information, like when a Geophysics professor reaches a conclusion that sets up an egghead VS regular people conflict.
7/10

Movie #99/ New Movie #73: Dark Waters (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
It’s okay. It definitely has some 90s euro vibes, which isn’t my cup of tea. The production values seem more like syndicated genre-TV (Babylon 5, Xena) though the atmosphere is creepy, and the family secret lives up to the hype.
7/10

Movie #100/ New Movie #74: Umberto Eco: A Library of the World (Movie Theater)
It’s a bit disjointed, and I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s better than 80 minutes of curated Youtube videos on Umberto Eco. But it’s pleasant, and provides the sense of what this great writer gained by being a voracious reader. His sense of humor, and willingness to borrow from high culture and pulp carries through.
8/10

Movie #101/ New Movie #75: Double Mommy (DVD)
This is just trashy and ridiculous.
4/10

Movie #102/ New Movie #76: The Last of Sheila (DVD)
This mystery is a bit of a slow burn. The lack of an audience surrogate character may be necessary for the resolution, but it did make it hard for me to connect the film. I suspect at the time, the actors were better-known, so audiences could connect to characters. It took about half an hour for the film to click for me, when we get the sense of what’s really going on.

And then it gets good. And it doesn’t go the conventional route, in terms of revelations, further twists and the overall solution. There are some decent set pieces. And it’s funny to see Ian Mcshane as an actor at thirty, since I’m much more familiar with his later work.
9/10

Movie #103/ New Movie #77: Okja (Netflix)
This is a bit of a Rosetta stone for Bong Joon Ho, his second Hollywood sci-fi film and one that explores themes of exploitation and capitalism that are crystalized in Parasite. It did make one of my friends cry, even if she agreed it is a well-made film.
9/10

Movie #104/ New Movie #78: Talk to Me (Movie Theater)
It’s important to note that this Australian horror film gets about as messed up as Smile or Hereditary. The sense of dread is phenomenal. Granted, a movie about people trying to see ghosts is going to be creepy. It works pretty well as a metaphor for losing yourself to psychedelics. It does seem like these young idiots should get an adult and see if there’s a specialist, although that may be part of the story for the sequel.
8/10

Movie #105: Coco (DVD)
The Criterion Channel made this available for free do the interest in Oppenheimer. It’s a solid talking heads documentary with the benefit of having ridiculously accomplished individuals talking about a major accomplishment and unsettled questions. It’s a good companion to Oppenheimer, showing what some of the people looked like, adding key context and providing a different perspective of it all.
10/10

Movie #106: Bad Education (DVD)
There’s a bit of an odd structure to it in that it’s initially evasive about what is going on with Hugh Jackman’s superintendent. It kinda works as a procedural, with a student reporter exposing it all. It’s a great conversation starter on entitlement, budget questions and education. Allison Janney is terrific as someone whose corruption is exposed.
9/10

Movie #107/ New Movie #79: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (MAX)
The story is so rich and well-documented that a two-hour documentary is a teaser for more extensive projects. It tackles the important question of why a woman would lie so brazenly about something so serious, and there are some decent stories like the suspicious grandson of a former Secretary of State and the bipartisan efforts to go after whistleblowers.
8/10

Movie #108/ New Movie #80: Sound of Freedom (Movie Theater)
If the American right has fallen in love with a movie in which admirable men cry, a Qanon loving actor presents a special message about how the real heroes are two BIPOC children, and the good guys include a working man from Honduras, Columbian authorities and a former cartel member, that’s a good thing. So much of the controversy is deeply stupid. It’s not perfect, but it’s a well-made thriller about facing true evil. Bill Camp gives my second favorite supporting performance of the year as someone who did bad things, for whom the road to redemption was not obvious. There are clever twists and investigative techniques.
8/10

Movie #109: Suyiyaki Western Django (DVDI)
I enjoyed it more on a rewatch. I guess if Sergio Leone’s films were spaghetti westerns, this would be a sushi western, bringing a Japanese sensibility to it all. Tonally, there’s a mismatch at times with fun sequences, and stuff that doesn’t fit that. There is a good twist with a legendary shooter, and the sensibility is interesting, even if the actors are inconsistent. Tarantino’s in it, and he’s one of the better ones, though the villain is pretty good.
8/10

Movie #110/ New Movie #81: Trading Places (Download rental)
I was watching this on my Ipad on an airplane, and realized it’s much more R-rated than expected, with nudity and slurs that would be much more controversial now. But the story of a wall street trader and street hustler put in each other’s shows is quite decent, with great sequences and a fantastic cast.
8/10

Movie #111/ New Movie #82: Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (MUBI)
It reminds me of Don’t Look Back with the footage of a young and immensely popular artist dealing with fame and expectations. For Basquiat, we get a sense of a man who is talented and too sensitive, as well as the world he lived in. Although it seems a bit ambiguous on the important question of whether he was properly rated.
8/10

Movie #112/ New Movie #83: Mary and Max (DVD)
This was a weird film about an unconventional friendship. I went into it knowing very little, which might be ideal, given the twists and surprises. One reassurance would be that there is no hint of a romantic relationship between the title characters. It’s funny and quirky, although at times close to mean-spirited in a direct children’s book kind of way.
8/10

Movie #113/ New Movie #84: Weird- The Al Yankovich Story (Airplane)
It was a smart move to use Weird Al to parody the tropes of musical biopics. Daniel Radcliffe is quite solid as this version of a hit musician.
8/10

Movie #114/ New Movie #85: Legally Blonde (DVD)
The legal comedy is imperfect, but a good vehicle for Reese Witherspoon. And there are plenty of funny sequences, and opportunities to subvert expectations.
8/10

Movie #115: Singin’ in the Rain (4K Blu-Ray)
My brother hinted he’d be cool with 4Kblurays as a birthday gift, so I got him a bunch including this one. It’s so much fun. It may be the best musical ever. Part of what makes it work is that the sequences are plausibly diegetic, coming from actors who don’t take themselves too seriously.
8/10

Short Movie #19: Hunt For the Nazi Gold Train (Mubi)
I watched this with my dad who is a train and history buff. It covers some of the history of missing gold and other valuables stolen by the Nazis, and why some Polish explorers think they’ll be able to get it with a little bit of money and permission. It does seem manipulative in the way it hides key information, like when a Geophysics professor reaches a conclusion that sets up an egghead VS regular people conflict (and the egghead is completely right.)
7/10

Movie #116: Dr. Strange (Disney+)
Watching it again, this is one of the most visually distinctive MCU films. Perhaps it sets up problems for later movies with the obvious reliance on CGI, and the mostly successful move of swapping Downey Jr’s Iron Man for Cumberbatch’s Dr Strange. But it works pretty well at depicting a screw-up’s complex recovery.
9/10

Movie #117: From Russia With Love (Blu-Ray)
I remember really liking this when it was on broadcast TV, and I wonder if the early Bond films are boringly shot. That’s fine if you’re watching it on television, where it stands out in comparison to syndicated shows. But it’s not more impressive than contemporary Hollywood productions. There is still a good sense of mood. And Sean Connery’s Bond is an all-time great lead.
8/10

Movie #118/ New Movie #86: The Death of Dick Long (DVD)
I have to imagine some night in the middle of filming Everything Everywhere All At Once where a member of the cast announces that they have a DVD of a film made by one of the directors, and they should all check it out. And then they get this. It’s an imperfect execution of a gonzo concept but it is understandable in terms of the willingness to stick with such flawed characters that the director did soon get an Oscar.
7/10

Movie #119/ New Movie #87: The Great Waltz (DVD)
I watched this film since Polish-Estonian actress Miliza Korjus (who was nominated for an Oscar) has a connection to a family friend. She’s pretty good as the other woman, giving the mistress some decency. The production is lavish, although the story is quite cliched, and I suspect it was seen so at the time.
7/10

Movie #120/ New Movie #88: Hoosiers (DVD)
It took me a little while to start enjoying the film. It may be the style which is often matter of fact (a review described the lead as struggling to articulate himself or understand his anger, which makes for a good movie but requires set-up), or how it sets up multiple threads about different characters, so once they start being challenged, the story becomes more engrossing. It could also be that I didn’t have an obvious entry point to a film about a small town high school basketball team in the 1950s, growing up in New York City and not caring about sports.

But there came a point when the film clicked. Gene Hackman is excellent as the mysterious new coach, pulling off the difficult trick of being likable and complicated. Dennis Hopper is quite good as the town drunk, struggling to stay sober when given a new chance in the spotlight.
8/10

Mati Nuude’s Odessa

My mom found a weird Estonian song referencing Odessa, and realized how the meaning may be different for people hearing it now, thanks to Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. It’s by Mati Nuude and it’s called “Eh, Odessa.” He sang it in the 1990-s, before Estonia joined the European Union.

Unfortunately they don’t include the English translations. Some of the lyrics might be appreciated by modern Ukrainians.
“…When we left Moscow
then we sang “Proshchai !”
When we will step into EU
then we sang “Hi, Hi! “

Mati Nuude was an odd guy. He was born to a family of an Estonian officer, repressed by the Soviet Union. In 1949 Nuude, his mother and brother were deported to Northern Kazakhstan. They were allowed to return to Estonia in 1958. When he did, his understanding of the Estonian language was so poor he had to be taught in Russian. During 1965-1975 he was Estonia’s weight-lifting champion at least seven times, and at his peak he was the 8th strongest man in the world. Before his singing career, he was a firefighter. From 1975-1989, he was a member of the band Apelsin. And then he went for a solo singer.

Mom notes that Estonians saw Odessa as a generic Russian city, but they’ve got a different understanding now.

Films Seen in 2023 Part 3

This is a continuation of thoughts on movies I’ve seen this year.

Movie #61/ New Movie #41: Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (Movie Theater)
The Spider-Verse sequel is not perfect but it is brilliant. It lags a bit in the second half, because it comes abundantly clear that the story is not going to be resolved in a meaningful way, and some of the animation doesn’t land. But the things that do are astounding. It’s a great challenge for Miles Morales, building on his earlier lessons and setting up some challenges with the rival Spider-Men and the Spot, a villain who goes from loser to absurdly dangerous pretty quickly. And the cliffhanger rocks. Highlights include a new take on the Vulture, an Indian Spider-Man and the visions of Spider-Gwen’s world.
9/10

Movie #62/ New Movie #42: Blackberry (Movie Theater)
It seems similar to the Social Network and Steve Jobs, down to some musical cues, but I did really enjoy the take on a company’s improbable rise and fall, the challenges they survive and the things that takes them under, even if it is a bit odd to see my high school and college days in a period film.
9/10

Movie #63/ New Movie #43: A Plastic Ocean (Youtube)
It’s a decent Super Size Me style documentary about plastic waste and efforts to stop it.
7/10

Movie #64/ New Movie #44: The Flash (Movie Theater)
I think this movie suffered from inflated expectations. Early hype was that it’s the best superhero movie since The Dark Knight, and it’s not even one of the top two superhero movies in theaters right now.

It’s a mixed bag. Ezra Miller plays a dorky superhero and a less experienced variant pretty well, although I don’t know if any take on a lead superhero got the personality as wrong as this one did (The writer Grant Morrison suggested that Peter Parker was a geek in contrast to the confident Kennedy men superheroes like Reed Richards, Hal Jordan and Barry Allen; this version of Barry Allen makes Peter seem like a chad.)

There is a unique take on time travel and multiverses, even if other films have had more fun with it. With the introduction of Supergirl, I was thinking they should have just called this film Justice League 2, although there is a clear arc for the Flash, even if so many of the trappings are from other DC series. His rogues don’t exactly show up here. It seems to continue the video game aesthetic of the Snyderverse, which leads to some lame CGI.
7/10

Movie #65/ New Movie #45: Fireball: Vistiors from Other Worlds (Apple+)
This was an odd combination of Werner Herzog’s film persona, which shifted from being in the contention of the top-tier post-WWII German directors favored by arthouse cinema (along with Michael Fasbender and Werner Herzog) to the top commentator for oddball nature documentaries. And this is a good one, surveying places meteorites have been found and looking at the ramifications later from Australia to New Zealand. One fascinating aspect is the things that I should know about that are just tossed off, like the successful effort to move an asteroid, as well as the location of the impact that killed the dinosaurs and made the dominance of Homo Sapien possible.
8/10

Short Movie #8: The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Apple+)
It’s a bit slow but it’s a pleasant and beautifully animated story about different individuals working together and learning to appreciate one another, while trying to get a child home.it.
7/10

Movie #66/ New Movie #46: No Hard Feelings (Movie Theater)
This was an odd movie to watch with my 76 year old dad- he asked me about it based on a New Yorker review. It works as a vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence and balances R-rated humor with social commentary on the differences between Generation Z and millennials, gentrification and helicopter parents, while also taking advantage of the Long Island setting. Some of the gags are pretty solid. This will join my eclectic Letterboxd list of films dad likes.
8/10

Movie #67/ New Movie #47: Nightbooks (Netflix)
This is a pretty decent film to show a group of kids (I used it in the last day of middle school before the summer) with scary elements that are PG-rated and a format that works with viewers who are easily distracted, with new brief stories that don’t require major explanation. As a narrative, it’s fine. The twists work and the messages on storytelling and the struggles of children are okay.
7/10

Movie #68/ New Movie #48: Dream No Evil (Blu-Ray)
This was weird. I watched it as part of Arrow’s American Horror Project series, and it had some decent extras about director John Hayes to give context. The film is amateurish and primitive, but worthwhile. Twists are telegraphed but decisions are so weird they have to be intentional. Edmund O’Brien is also really good in a very specific villainous role.
7/10

Movie #69: Chariots of Fire (DVD)
This is just a well-made film, a bit narratively different than what we’re used to with a focus on two driven athletes who intersect with one another in strange ways. And the messages are contradictory, with one athlete a missionary worried about compromising his Christian values, and the other a Jew facing discrimination.
10/10

Movie #70/ New Movie #49: Elemental (Movie Theater)
It’s a standard Pixar film which means it’s pretty good. The details are astounding and the central metaphor mostly works. It is a bit derivative, kinda like Inside Out with ethnic stereotypes, but the world here is rather well-realized.
8/10

Movie #71/ New Movie #50: The Velvet Underground (Apple+)
The main difference between this and standard rise and fall of a band documentaries is the sheer sensory overload when they’re trying to capture the era. Beyond that we get a good sense of the clashes at that time (New York VS California music scenes, Hippies VS Warhol, etc.), and how it led to an oddball great album.
8/10

Movie #72/ New Movie #51: Come From Away (Apple+)
This captures an impressive theatrical performance so it should be understood in that context. I’ve seen the play before and this captures what worked about pretty well, including theatrical flourishes. An odd thing is that it might be the best September-11 inspired work of art.
9/10

Movie #73/ New Movie #52: Tetris (Apple+)
It reminds me a lot of Argo especially the parts that had manufactured danger for the American involved in a touchy deal. It’s an okay film, and the video game aesthetic adds texture.
7/10

Movie #74/ New Movie #53: Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (Criterion Blu-Ray)
The final Lone Wolf film seems to be different stories stitched together. Some of the sequences are impressive, and it does feature an escalation with the Yagyu clan, although it’s hardly a satisfying conclusion. It has moments from two of my favorite stories from the manga, which affirms my good taste.
7/10

Movie #75/ New Movie #54: Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (Criterion Blu-Ray)
Weirdly I had skipped over this Lone Wolf and Cub film. Like most of them, it combines several stories from the manga and highlights an uncompromising world where people are expected to die on a whim. This episode does have some cool sequences and seems to have a larger message about changing society, especially gunplay in samurai stories.
8/10

Movie #76: Sully (DVD)
It would be an impressive accomplishment for anybody but it’s strange in the context of Clint Eastwood’s career, with big SFX heavy set-pieces and a look at how the media responds to a major story. Hanks and Eckhart are likable as the pilots, and sell their expertise. The central drama fizzles a bit, although it could also be how Sully was worried about reputational harm that wasn’t a serious possibility. I like how the movie functions as a 90 minute joke.
9/10

Movie #77/ New Movie #55: Asteroid City (Movie Theater)
I watched this with my brother who hated it. He thought the framing device of a theatrical production was mean-spirited in terms of the implications on the stylized performances (He also thought it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which would leave a different impression.)

We also had an obvious color-grading problem at the theater (which applied as well to the black & white scenes and the trailers) so it may not have been the best environment to watch the film. I liked it, although trying to make sense of the framing scenes may make it more of an intellectual puzzle in a way that can take us out of a quirky and fun story.
9/10

Movie #78: Dr. No (Blu-Ray)
The first Bond film sometimes plays more like a procedural with a suave agent investigating the murder of a colleague. It’s slow at times, and sometimes seems to be shot in a boring way. But Sean Connery emerges as a star, and Honey Ryder is one of the best Bond girls ever. I did like the next two better.
7/10

Movie #79/ New Movie #56: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
A three hour documentary on a type of film described as more of a mode than genre (especially since these works are produced by different movements) is generally pretty interesting, dragging a bit only at the end. It has some excellent points on films from all over the world, even if a large focus is on British film.
9/10

Movie #80/ New Movie #57: Blood on Satan’s Claw (Pluto)
It was mentioned in the documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched as one of the unholy trinity of folk horror along with The Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man, both of which I’d give the highest grade. It’s on Pluto, although there are a few issues. It could be that I wasn’t in the right environment for the film when they were establishing the new status quo, and the ads on Pluto are distracting, but it did take a while to connect with the film. When I connected to it, I enjoyed it. The score is excellent. It does capture the 18th Century village setting well. The concept is creepy and some of the performances are quite good, especially as Angel, the leader of a cult of twisted teenagers.
9/10

Movie #81/ New Movie #58: Titanic (1943) (Kino Blu-Ray)
There are films that are chaotic behind the scenes, and with this one, there’s an unresolved question about whether the director killed himself or whether he was killed under Goebbel’s orders. It’s fascinating to watch propaganda this unsubtle, a take on the Titanic where the good guy is a made-up German captain who is willing to do the right thing damn the costs to himself, and where a desire to prop up stock prices leads to tragedy. It’s a moral abomination (not a shocker for something produced in Nazi Germany) though it also fails on many other levels, with the brisk pace meaning we don’t learn enough to care about anyone when the Titanic hits the iceberg (a scene that is quite underwhelming for what was one of the most expensive German movies ever) although it’s not like we’d care about one-dimensional characters lacking in any chemistry (granted actors may have been concerned about behind the scenes stuff.)

This is the worst score I’ve given out of a 1,000+ movie reviews.
0/10

Movie #82/ New Movie #59: Shaft (Criterion 4K Blu-Ray)
This detective movie seems a bit like Jaws in that there are all sorts of reviled spinoffs but the original is quite good. Richard Roundtree is an immensely charismatic lead, very different from African-American protagonists in mainstream films up until that point. Issac Hayes has an all-time great score. The story about a private eye trying to find a gangster’s kidnapped daughter has some good twists, even though the body count gets distracting. But goddamn John Shaft is awesome.
9/10

Movie #83: For All Mankind (Criterion 4K Blu-Ray)
I watched the Criterion 4K HD Blu-Ray. Stanley Kubrick is a genius.

On a serious note, it’s an impressive look behind the scenes of one of the most impressive accomplishments in human history. The taped footage doesn’t always look the best on a big-screen TV, but the film footage of the moon and the Earth is absolutely stunning. One issue is that it may be missing some context, because so much of the original audience would be familiar with seeing this happen live, or at least with these astronauts as major celebrities.
9/10

Short Movie #9: The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler (Youtube)
This short is essentially a decent episode of the Twilight Zone, as an investigation into a missing child in East Germany has a supernatural turn, and plays with expectations in clever ways. The lead performance is quite similar to a major recent Oscar-winning performance, although to say which one may be a bit of a spoiler.
8/10

Movie #84: Idiocracy (Hulu)
I watched it on Hulu on my brother’s big-screen and for a film that’s notoriously cheap, it doesn’t look bad. The gags are great, and the world of idiots is well-realized.
9/10

Movie #85/ New Movie #60: Eyes of Fire (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
The Severin blu-ray is nice, and captrues the creepy atmosphere as colonial wierdos are forced to be go out into the wild. The colonial setting is underrated for Amercian horror. It’s visually inventive with a nightmare logic to the cheap special effects. The resolution to the mystery isn’t as interesting and the set-up and I wasn’t wowed by any performance, but it’s not generic..
8/10

Short Movie #10: Sinking of the Lusitania (Youtube)
This is just fascinating as a historical document: an early animated film with propaganda from Winsor McCay, one of the giants of early comic strips. Aside from the historical significance, the visuals are generally decent.
8/10

Movie #86/ New Movie #61: Mission Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One (Movie Theater)
It’s not a shocker that this has some exceptional set pieces as that’s normal for the series. Hayley Atwell is a great addition as a thief who gets involved in life and death stakes. I also love Pom Klementieff’s joyful assassin. The main plot is about something, and they luck into several timely stories. And Esai Morales works pretty well as the main bad guy; from a meta-perspective it makes sense to pick a character actor who is relatively unknown but can do action scenes in his late 50s since it lends a sense of mystery you wouldn’t have with a bigger name.
9/10

Short Movie #11: The Voyage of Time (Mubi)
I watched this on Mubi, which isn’t as immersive as seeing it on Imax, but it’s lovely visuals and a nice meditation on how the world has transformed.
8/10

Movie #87/ New Movie #62: Lake of the Dead (From the All These Haunts Be Ours Blu-Ray collection)
I got this as part of a box set on folk horror, although it’s more of a thriller through the lens of the Scandinavian new wave. To clarify might be a spoiler but it’s similar to the work of a major Hollywood director at the same time. This film came out earlier and it was obscure enough that it probably didn’t impact the director, so the similarities are likely more about parallel interests than anything else. It’s okay for what it is, and there’s something weird about traditional horror tropes in a Bergman-esque environment.
7/10

Short Movie #12: The Fleischer Brothers Superman Cartoons (Youtube)
I’m just counting all 17 as one entry. They’re available on Youtube and they’re fantastic (although the depiction of Japanese soldiers is problematic.) The shorts have a basic formula of Superman facing a challenge. Early on it was mad scientists holding the city hostage, but later stories have Superman fighting dinosaurs, escaped circus animals or committing acts of sabotage during World War 2. My favorite is “Billion Dollar Limited” due to the sequence where a Superman who isn’t as powerful as we’re used to has to save a train. This is likely the best Superman content made in the golden age.
9/10

Movie #88/ New Movie #63: Past Lives (Movie Theater)
This reminds me of Lost in Translation and In The Mood For Love. The cinematography is gorgeous; there are quite a few moments when I’m astonished at how well shot everything else. This is a film about very specific experiences conveyed with immense skill. I did realize that I’m an aspiring writer the same age as the characters so it connects. I don’t quite buy the section where you have actors pushing 40 playing grad students in their mid-20s, though it gives me hope I could pull that off now that I’m 37. It was my favorite film of 2023 for a few days- then I saw Oppenheimer.
9/10

Movie #89/ New Movie #64:Borg VS. McEnroe (Cinemax- Amazon Prime Video)
The final tennis match is exciting, and gets across their attitudes and struggles. But the film’s kind of a bore. I don’t buy Borg’s nervousness behind the scenes, and McEnroe is underdeveloped. The actors also seem clearly ten years older than the part.
6/10

Short Movie #13: Rhythm 21 and other films by Hans Richter (Youtube)
These are groundbreaking short abstract animated films and early examples of avant-garde cinema. It’s impressive to show the development of film language.
9/10

Movie #90/ New Movie #65: Oppenheimer (Movie Theater)
I was certainly primed to like this movie as a fan of Nolan, much of the cast, nonlinear storytelling and movies about ambitious, smart people. And so far it’s my favorite movie this year. And trumps any movie made last year. It’s about big ideas and big conflicts with a director who can three Oscar winners for Best Actor to cameo in it. It may very well get nominated for five other performances: Cillian Murphy gives a star turn as the lead; as a Peaky Blinders fan, I’m ecstatic that he headlined a $70,000,000 opening weekend. Matt Damon is quite solid as his top military connection. Florence Pugh plays the tragic ex well. Emily Blunt is astounding as a complicated housewife. Robert Downey Jr gives what’s probably his best performance as a man convinced that Oppenheimer’s out to get him; his arc is extraordinary. The visuals are astounding. The score is amazing. This is a big serious mature R-rated 1970s drama like Patton, The Godfather Part 2 or The Deer Hunter.

I think I will see this several more times while it’s in theaters.
10/10