I thought I had this whole movie figured out from the trailer. I did not. I mean, everything I expected to happen happened, but not in the way I expected.
That was a weird sentence.
Fascinating power dynamics and an incredible performance by Nicole Kidman.
…and the Letterboxd movie poster special:
Sure, it’s racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic (“it was a diffferennnnt tiiiiiiime!”), but if you can see past that, just underneath is a thoroughly stilted and unfunny film. I do thank it for being mercifully short, though.
This movie’s poster:
It’s not great, but it’s not much worse than the real poster I based it on:
I should have made Leslie Nielsen more orange and been more careful with the white space around the logo. Too late – not going back.
This movie is on the shortlist for best international picture. It takes place in India, so naturally it’s being submitted by France. I had a hard time connecting to this at first – possibly because my old man ears struggled to differentiate the voices of the three leads, or possibly because I might have a cold coming on – but eventually my brain figured it out and I locked in (as the kids say).
So, good, but be ready to focus on dialogue processing unless you’re familiar with the 23 official languages of India.
This movie’s “attempt to be confusing” Letterboxd poster:
I forgot how good this movie is. Malcolm McDowell 110% charm, which he needs to be to make a brutal thug like Alex a protagonist worth watching.
Now I need to find the full version of “I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper.”
Today’s poster:
My first movie of 2025!
…and it’s not great. This is Pedro Almodóvar’s first English language movie; maybe the rhythms of English don’t flow as naturally for him, and it’s effecting his directing and editing. Lots of stiff exposition, including a couple of scenes with dialogue so hamfisted that people laughed. Still, it’s mostly Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, and they’re often watchable.
I track the movies I watch on Letterboxd. When I log a movie, I can accept the default poster, choose one of the available alternates… or UPLOAD MY OWN. My goal this year: create technically accurate but misleading posters for every movie I see. This is the first one I’m posting:
This is going to be A Post With a Lot Of Links to Old Posts.
I saw a lot of movies in 2024: 182, If my count is right. Most of them for the first time. Most of them at a movie theater. Thanks, AMC & Alamo movie passes. I liked most of them. Counting repeat views, and pre-show videos, that’s about a solid month looking at movie stuff.
98 of them are eligible for the 2025 Academy Awards. The rest were released too early to be considered, even thought some of my favorites (like Perfect Days, Hundreds of Beavers, and La Chimera) were not available for mere mortals until 2024. The oldest film I saw was Suspense from 1913 – it was great.
I wrote little snap reviews for all of them right after I watched them. My feelings for some of them have changed with time. They’ll probably change again.
Would you like some lists?
My favorites of my favorites are in bold.
Some of these didn’t get much of a release, but they’re worth finding.
…and, since I know people will ask:
…and a special shout out to Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One, Two, and Three for turning a celebrated classic comic book maxi-series into six hours of lifeless mush.
I made graphics for every movie I saw in 2024, plus a few other things. They’re all in this google drive folder. Wheeee!
SPOILERS FOR A 64 YEAR OLD MOVIE BELOW.
I’d never seen this but I knew lots of people watched it on New Year’s Eve, so I decided this would be my year. Here’s what I knew: It starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, it was directed by Billy Wilder, and it was a comedy about a guy who loans out his apartment to people so they can have affairs. All of that is accurate. I also heard it was great. I agree.
HOWEVER…
All the descriptions, images, and clips I’d seen managed to gloss over the very serious suicide attempt in the middle of the film. I’m not saying I need a movie to stay in one lane the whole time; Anora, probably my favorite film of the year, took some VERY sharp turns. I was just surprised that this comedy had a dark center I had somehow completely missed hearing about.
…and that’s a wrap on movies seen in 2024!
So many rats.
I’m learning that the amount I like a film has very little to do with the amount I have to say about it. I liked this a lot, and I should be talking about the style and performances to show that I liked it, but for some reason all I’ve got is “So many rats.” Don’t let that stop you from seeing it.
This is one a series of films at Alamo Drafthouse that Dave Eggers says influenced his creation of Nosferatu. I can see a lot of it in the long takes and tense silences, but this is a much “artier” film. Mostly realistic, and much less direct in its storytelling. It probably would have been more effective for me if it wasn’t the second half of a double feature.
Very red.
Bonus graphic!
Here’s the graphic I made for Cries & Whispers I made but didn’t use for the featured image:
I’ve seen big chunks of this before, either as part of this collection or as separate pieces, but this was the first time I watched it all together. What I’ve now realized: Atomic bombs are bad.
The wild thing about this movie is that people in 1990s Cuba really did inject themselves with HIV for a chance at a better life (the better life being having food and a place to sleep). Weirdly positive for people in such dire circumstances, but it works. I’ll bet it’s better if you know Spanish and don’t have to rely on subtitles.
Two movies in one day means I have an extra movie image! Here’s the one I made for Los Frikis:
What says Christmas more than Nicolas Cage, playing struggling actor Nick Cage, having personal and financial troubles that get him involved in a CIA scheme to recuse a girl and prevent the destabilization of a foreign power?
It’s a brave movie that starts out openly borrowing from the star’s previous roles and builds to a climax that steals from Austin Powers. It doesn’t always work, but there’s fun to be had. Also: I know no one has ever said this, but that Pedro Pascal fellow is pretty darn charming.