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:
Waka Waka!
I cannot say where these came from.
Someone pointed out that a movie called “Bitter Harvest” was actually made a few years ago. If you want your poster of imaginary movies to avoid having real counterparts, steal this version instead:
I’m out of practice.