Just watched Passengers on prime, I was surprised by how much i liked it. It was engaging and not too heavy, but not too light either.
The Hunt for the Red October 4.5/5: Didn’t realize this was technically an early Jack Ryan movie. This is just perfect cold war espionage drama. The twists and turns keep you hooked and it feels well paced at 2:15
The Roses 4/5: I’ve been bombarded by this ad in theaters but the movie was good. I enjoyed how I was laughing at totally different jokes than the 2 older women behind me. Maybe not worth seeing in theaters but worth a watch
The Breakfast Club 4/5: It’s a classic for a reason. The kids talking about if they’ll still be friends is just so heartbreakingly real
The Toxic Avenger 3.5/5: I am entirely unfamiliar with the source material, both comics and movies. However I found this funny, the satire was criticizing the right stuff and it was fun to watch
Twinless 4.5/5: I really didn’t know anything about this going in. I thought it might possibly be a horror movie but it is not at all. The premise of a twin support group is really cool and the movie adds a lot of layers on top. It’s ambitious to write, star, and direct your own movie but I can’t argue with success
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 3.5/5: By far the peak of the series, which is an indictment considering there are 8 movies that follow it. The music rocks, the cars are so fucking cool, and it’s still largely practical effects while being partially grounded in reality (nobody drives a car in space)
The old 1984 Toxic Avenger or the remake that just came out? I remember liking that on VHS way back in the 80s/90s, but my kick back then was Re-Animator and its follow-ups.
The remake with Dinklage and Elijah Wood, I haven’t seen the first one
Good to know! I’ll check it out (but probably not soon because I have to get through my cuckoo to-view queue).
I watched Colossal and I uh… well I loved it. It’s so incredibly strange and it stars actors I find talented and easy to watch.
Thanks for the tip, looks like something I’ll enjoy.
You are not alone, I really liked that, too! I saw an earlier work by the same director at a film fest: Timecrimes (2007). Timecrimes is extremely low-budget and quite sloppy, but there’s enough there to explain why Vigalondo got to make Colossal ten years later.
Watched Napoleon on Apple+. Had to pause every 10 minutes or less to explain the historical context to my wife. Even having some knowledge of the historical context, the movie was a rushed mess. While I understand that some reviewers thought the movie was too long, it really needed to be longer. Like, HBO limited series long. The whole context around the first French Revolution, The Terror and Napoleon’s rise to, and fall from power needs a lot more screen time to really cover. That, or just give up on the history and make a movie about a controlling, abusive relationship.
Sinners
I went in with zero information and it was certainly not what I assumed. It started well but seemed to decline at about 2/3rds in and by the end I wasn’t really bothered by what’s happening.
F1
Absolutely awful. By halfway through it was just background noise and would have been much more fun if he had taken the Baja drive instead of F1.
Unknown number: The High School Catfish.
It is a documentary about a high school girl who becomes the target of a vitriolic cyber stalker. It is a story that has been told many times So it starts with some typical terrible shit. As the thing progresses it gets more and more insane until it reaches the point where there is no way this shit was real except it is.
It is on Netflix.
Theme of the week was adult movies about kids or from kids’ points of view, and skipping a bunch I’ve already seen (like Never Let Me Go, Pan’s Labyrinth, Empire of the Sun, and so on).
- Super 8 (2011): kids try to make a movie while adults deal with other issues. J.J. Abrams directed. Skippable.
- The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965): Mom runs off with her lover, and the kids object. Unexpectedly lighter than the setup implies. I won’t say this is great, but I appreciated it for what it is. If you like older movies (pre-1970s), it is worth a view, but skip it if you prefer post-1980s movies.
- Drowning by Numbers (1988): Kids count and adults get murdered. I love Greenaway. Arty. Nudity. Self Mutilation. You can skip for those reasons or because it (like all Greenaway) drags on and on so he can use the camera like a paintbrush.
- The New Boy (2023): Australian kid gets sent to Catholic boys school while nuns struggle. There’s a thing about native/catholic miracles and Nick Cave contributions to the score.
- The Assessment (2025): This is a stretch because it doesn’t match the theme, but I didn’t realize that going in. If you don’t mind another dystopian world, I might recommend this film.
- Central Station (1998): Unlikable duo (kid and retired teacher) distrust one another but get stuck having to deal with their circumstances. Recommend because there aren’t enough stories where the leads are meant to be unlikable.
- The Young and the Damned (1950) (Los olvidados): Luis Buñuel groundbreaking work, so required viewing, but a modern audience will be reminded of all the copies that came later and may consider this a less effective tale of impoverished street kids (Salaam Bombay! / City of God, etc.). Note the dream sequence for comparison with other Buñuel work.
Off-theme:
- Taking Venice (2023): History packed documentary on how artist Rauschenberg won the 1964 Venice Biennale with the help of USIA in their work at pro-U.S./anti-Commie soft-power moves.
- Manchester by the Sea (2016): Since there was a community post/review on it, I figured I better catch up on modern movies I missed! Good flick, but y’all know that already.
I wanted to see The Assessment but missed it in theaters. It seemed comparable to The Lobster to me, is that accurate?
Yup! Off the top of my head, that seems like the most accurate comparison.
