Begun in 2024. I rarely enjoy watching movies; most of what's here came from an attempt to catch up on watching movies that 'everybody' has seen. I tend to prefer films with a smaller cast that focus on a single character (or is a character study); absurdity is occasionally welcomed. Not fond of war or mafia movies.
Dixiana (1930) for a musical, there sure wasn't much music. The tap-dancing sequence was nice. The outfits (think Southern plantation-owners) were pleasant to look at; I do enjoy the semi-excessive gowns. What else...near the end, it felt like the writers were scrambling to make the plot more than it was. It was a comedy, and they could've leaned into that aspect. Also: the last twenty minutes were in color. This fit the movie.
The Silver Hoard (1930) each scene felt disjoint. Had some nice scenery (Alaska) and other nice visuals (ex. the factory scene, where they're chopping & canning the fish). Who the characters were, and why they were around each other, was lost on me.
Bad Girl (1931) that was relatively good. The first half of the movie was funny. The two leads banter; they make jokes & jabs at one another. It's sweet, kinda. Then the woman is pregnant, and the miscommunication between the two of 'em increases dramatically. He thinks he knows what's going on, she's worried, yada yada, but things turn out fine in the end.
Behind Office Doors (1931) like a drama without the drama. The stakes were incredibly low. The plot---girl likes guy, guy cycles through girls---wasn't really my cup of tea. That being said, it was an okay watch. 1930s fashion tends to be nice.
The Law of the Sea (1931) seemed fine; two days later, I've little to note. I liked getting to look at the ocean. I liked the transitions between some scenes (wouldn't have worked in a contemporary film, mind you).
The Royal Bed (1931) loved the king and the checkers scenes. His reluctance (to be king) was funny. Other than that, I wouldn't have called it a particularly enjoyable watch.
Ten Minutes to Live (1932) took a few different plots and shoved 'em together. It'd be more accurate to call it a discordant set of stories that take place in a nightclub. Partway through, the director tries to provide context for the murder plot. The context feels out of place, though.
Narcotic (1933) by the person who directed Maniac (1934). The plots are similar. The outline---down to the title cards denoting each section---was similar. Nothing special, nothing remarkable, nothing memorable.
Tarzan the Fearless (1933) +1 for nice orchestra music. I'm half-asleep and don't care.
The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933) a bit of satire, I think. I loved the winter scenery. One of the characters was repeatedly hit with snow that was supposed to be from a gust of wind; it was evident that someone was throwing the snow, though. That was funny.
Maniac (1934) the plot could have been improved; it was linear and predictable. I liked the mad-scientist aspect. His de-evolution was nice, albiet lacking.
Palooka (1934) characters were very flat. Didn't offer any points of investment (to me). Had a few funny bits, such as the obvious parts that follow from "naive country boy enters the city." Overall, not of much interest to me.
Citizen Kane (1941) well, I can see why this one's acclaimed. Charles Kane is a very American character—not-quite rags-to-riches, but very much supposed to be a commoner who rises, gathers power, is corrupted by it. Nothing's ever enough for him. Another hollow excuse for a person. Past the plot: cinematography was nice. Sure, it's black-and-white, but the shadows. Man, did they know how to handle lighting.
Casablanca (1942) compelling plotline, albeit not my cup of tea. The current war—or build-up to it—served as context for the film without overtaking the plotline. Why was it compelling? Hmm. Ilsa was pretty—unfortunately, she didn't seem to have more to her than being a pretty face for the two guys to desire. Then again, Victor didn't have much to him either? Which sounds odd, when you take his journalism into account. He wasn't much more than the guy Ilsa's attached herself to. At least Ricky had a personality. Cynicism. Why'd these people get attached to one another? Maybe that's what made it compelling.
K (1954) a re-telling of Kafka's "Metamorphosis." The dream sequences were confusing; at first, I didn't even pick up on them being dream sequences. The parts filmed from Gregor's perspective were appropriately disorienting.
12 Angry Men (1957) didn't think much of it until I realized I'd not had criticisms of it. Solid film.
8 1/2 (1963) was something about a filmmaker who was recalling parts of his life & struggling to make a film. That sounded interesting, but I just found myself confused and annoyed. There was no delineation between his memories and the present-day. There wasn't much of anything to be invested in either. I'd heard this one was good, so I'll presume I'm not getting it.
Dr. Strangelove (1964) was funny; the satire aspects came through. Very nice dose of absurdity. The POTUS being on the phone with the drunk Russian Premier kept getting a kick out of me.
The Godfather (1972) did not interest me. There were too many characters to keep track of. I'd hoped that the mafia/gang aspects would appeal to me, but I couldn't get myself to pay attention. Too many moving pieces for a story I wasn't interested in.
Taxi Driver (1976) In slightly older movies, the audio quality (of voices) is slightly muffled. Newer movies have a cleaner, rounder, fuller, crisper audio. The imperfections are charming. Other than that...I don't see where the movie's appeal is. Turned it off partway through (shortly after he met Iris). Some lonely guy struggles to find a place in the world & lashes out at the world around him. Now I'm scrolling through reviews and disagreeing with people. His actions aren't particularly disturbing; if anything, his actions are logical. Learning to use guns gave him a sense of purpose. He had something to work towards, and could put effort into fixing the filthy city (vigilante style; that's the impression I got). His shift (to guns) after that woman didn't want to watch a porno with him felt out of place. Was he supposed to be a sympathetic character? He talked about people being scum, then dragged her into a movie she said she didn't want to see. She's uncomfortable; welp, time for him to take his life into his own hands. What..? He didn't seem particularly lonely either. What I watched was boring & pointlessly slow; okay, I was interested in the first ten minutes, since noir, gritty realism, weird insomniac narrator all appealed to me.
Airplane! (1980) the humor—verbal and visual—was too obvious to be funny. "Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop smoking / drinking / amphetamines / sniffing glue" got a snort. What could you make of this review? Could make a hat, or a pterodactyl, or—unrelated—a Ludovician. The often quoted lines from it wouldn't strike me as memorable if they'd not been quoted.
After reading some reviews, it's apparent that it's a spoof, and funnier if you're versed in the time period from whence it came. The better humor would've flown over my head, I'll presume. I'd recognized the opening as a Jaws spoof, though, and it only got an eye roll from me. Maybe it's closer to dad joke humor?
The Blues Brothers (1980) that was funny. Had the right amount of absurdity; a hodgepodge of seemingly unrelated elements that managed to be just right. Music, police, Illinois Nazis, some ex with a flamethrower, all to get money for an orphanage. I want to say it got a bit over the top near the end, but honestly? Somehow, it wasn't too much. Sure was pushing it.
The Shining (1980) I don't get what's so great about this one. Seeing the division between the dad and the family was more sad than it was horrifying. The plot was flat and boring. The dad is a "crazy" character from start to end; sure, his actions become wilder, but not surprisingly so. Would've been better if he seemed to be a decent guy and gradually went downhill. Family conflict was evident from the start, which contributed to the boringness. Also, the film relied on its soundtrack too much. ~wow scary music what's about to happen? oh nothing~ got old quickly. Whoever was behind the camera & in charge of the set / location / etc. did a good job. The building itself was eerie, what with winding windowless corridors and that—heh—yellow wallpaper.
I Am the Cheese (1983) had some nice scenery. The plot itself was lackluster and confusing. It lost the story it was telling.
Footloose (1984) fine, I guess.
Forrest Gump (1994) I think I just spent an hour watching a movie about a bona fide idiot. This man got by with nothing but pure luck. I thought I liked character studies. This character had no depth, no motivation, nothing more than that one girl he was always thinking of. Who the hell sits around and listens to a guy tell his (boring) life story? No, I did not like watching it, what gave that away?
Pulp Fiction (1994) ashamed to say that I could not get into this one. I know, I know, it's a classic, and it's got elements that I should enjoy. The characters, the slight cheesy-ness, leaning into noir or mafia type tropes. My attempted viewing was heavily interrupted by my own shit, which didn't help either. I tried. There didn't seem to be much to it---outside of nonlinear structure, there's the usual criminals & coke & violence. Somehow didn't cut it for me.
Reality Bites (1994) objectively not coherent; that is, the plot line can be followed, but what I spent 1.5hr on is unclear. Two characters deciding they do, indeed, like each other? Maybe there was a romcom aspect that wasn't fully realized, or something I didn't pick up on. That being said, I was in the mood for something low-stakes and light-hearted, and this one made me laugh. Troy was a bit of a dick; Lelaina's attitude towards documentaries and film-making was <3. I'm crossing between objective statements about the film and personal opinions (which doesn't help the reader, but who is my audience?).
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) I know, I know. It's a "classic story" about "the triumph of the human spirit." Naturally, I'm annoyed by it.
Fargo (1996) I don't get why this film is memorable to others, or the acclaim. The woodchipper scene? Not exactly creative. The film took place in winter, and seeing snow all over the place was nice. The plot should've gotten more of a reaction out of me, I think, but it only managed to bore me. Wow, uh, guy wants his wife kidnapped for money? Quite a few people get shot over this? What's there to it? Reviews on IMDB keep citing humorous elements of it; clearly the humor flew over my head. So did any darkness. It was straightforward and forgettable.
Dirty Dancing (1997) teen flick; nothing stuck out to me. Other than dancing being a thing the characters did.
Good Will Hunting (1997) that was sweet. Unbelievable, predictable, and shallow, but nice all the less. Maybe I've a soft spot for genius math loners.
Titanic (1997) weird to start a movie knowing full well most of the characters will be dead by the end. The ocean wise nice, the boat—or at least the handful of wood tones, the glimpse of the machinery—was nice, the two sunsets were lovely (could there be one that wasn't?). Couldn't find it in myself to care for the plot. Love stories are love stories, and idgaf. Wasn't even a compelling one. My reaction is disappointing, I know. At least watching the ship go down is getting to me.
Saving Private Ryan (1998) I understand that it's a good movie (cinematography, acting, (I liked the) minimal dialogue / focus on what was on the screen), but I couldn't get into it. Zero interest whatsoever.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) the poor audio quality and lack of subtitles diminished my ability to watch the movie. I get what they were going for, mind you; found footage has its drawbacks. Film-wise...eh. I know it was notable for its time, but nowadays? I've seen the same thing done better. Yellowbrickroad did a similar story; seen it 2-3yr ago, and I'd call it more memorable than Blair Witch. This was insubstantial. The horror aspects were lost on me; one of my sisters saw a few scenes and called it "intense for a Saturday afternoon," to me it was just an excess of vague screaming. Wow, people enter the woods, are lost, and scream. They see some things made out of wood. They ran through a derelict house. There's a person in the corner, and more screaming; the end. The excess of screaming left this viewer desensitized to it. What a waste of time.
Requiem for a Dream (2000) where to start? I did like watching it. The fast-paced shots of taking drugs were nice; they gave the movie a rhythm. Something is bad, so they take drugs, and everything is alright for a moment. And then things aren't. Rinse & repeat. I liked the portrayal of addiction. Characters kept wanting some better thing that'll never come.
Not Another Teen Movie (2001) parody; more miss than hit. Some of the teen bathroom talk was overdone. Not my cuppa.
Bruce Almighty (2004) easy comedy with some annoying romantic ignorance. Not my cuppa tea.
I Like Killing Flies (2004) a nice documentary about a restaurant owner.
The Machinist (2004) compelling watch. Got to focus on one character deteriorating due to a detail he forgot about 'til the very end. It'd be more accurate to say that I was interested in seeing his spiral than to say that I enjoyed his decline. Delusions, his break from reality, and outbursts of paranoia were also of interest.
we <3 a film score that uses bass clarinet
Idiocracy (2006) lacked substance. Felt cheap.
The Prestige (2007) heard of this one from a teacher a few years ago. I can see why it'd've appealed to him; the movie focuses on stage magicians and their tricks. The chronology of the film was confusing. There was little distinguishement between the past and present. The ending provides some sort of explanation for this, but it was less of an "oh" and more so of a "great, it's done."
There Will Be Blood (2007) it's a good movie, there's no denying that. Great camerawork, sparse dialogue, nice soundtrack, lovely landscapes/scenery. Why don't I like it as much as I want to? I wanted to keep watching, I kept watching. The main character started to devolve; the plot thickened. The composer gets a solid thumbs up from me. The music was just unsettling—used offbeats, unevenly distributed rhythms, slight dissonances. Lovely dissonance.
Burn After Reading (2008) turned it off after a few minutes; thought the characters were annoying and couldn't find it in myself to watch further.
Inglorious Basterds (2009) ww2-era fiction is consistently annoying. Everything I've seen (including what I've watched of this movie) is moralistic. Repeats the exact same shit over and over again. The film itself is too black & white, rah rah USA. Feels like the writer/director/etc. just want an excuse to live out their Nazi-scalping fantasy. Abandoned after 40 minutes.
Easy A (2010) I know I laughed while watching it, it was background noise, a few days later and it's been filed under "lighthearted and forgettable."
Bridesmaids (2011) raunchy. Would not recommend watching with parents. Other than that, it was funny. The food poisoning scene was hilarious. Everything was a tad bit over the top, and a tad bit excessive, but in a tasteful sense. I didn't pay much attention to the film.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) take the shallow decadence of Gatsby, mix in a metric ton of drugged debauchery, and you'll get this non-stop wild-ride of a film. Loved it. Whenever the disk glitched, I was annoyed (which isn't standard; with most other films, a disc stuttering is a relief). Some greedy fucker saying go-go-go; high energy; excess. Sure, the characters are shitty people. Reading bad reviews was hilarious; does their shittiness need to be balanced? Do they need redemption, depth, reflection? Do we need the characters' problems spelt out and treated seriously? Nah; this ain't the place for that. The plot itself is repetitive, but I'm not in the mood to find flaws in the film. Damn, was that fun.
Whiplash (2014) hurt. more, please.
The Imitation Game (2014) a massive shrug of a film which offers no investment points. The flashbacks in The Rose Code (by Kate Quinn) offered a more compelling retelling of Bletchley Park than this did. Such a shame. I'm not sure this stood a chance of being a good movie—cracking the Enigma machine would've been more intellectual than a film could portray. Not quite the right wording; I'm thinking about how Orson Scott Card said that Speaker for the Dead couldn't be adapted to film. That hypothetical adaptation would've been a lot of people standing around and talking. The same principle applies here.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) The opening of this strongly reminds me of the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Also: annoying. On multiple accounts. Felt like someone slapped a filter over the whole thing without thinking twice. And that greyscale? Changing screen ratio to distinguish past and present, when the vast majority of the movie took place in the past?Plot-wise, what was it trying to be? A cheesy sort-of-spy/mystery thing? The titular hotel was nearly irrelevant.
Columbus (2017) visually pleasing, with a distinct (and suitable) color palette. The town's buildings were necessary to the movie; they emphasized what the characters already had in common, or provided a starting point for the characters' relationships, common thread etc. The ending was a bit too clean/clear-cut. Still had its charms.
Dunkirk (2017) I'd say I liked the visuals, but I think I just like looking at the sea. Open bodies of water are beautiful, and this movie is full of 'em. Boats and single-passenger (fighter) planes are nice; the only thing that would've made it better would be some tanks. The sparse dialogue was also nice. Other than that, I wasn't all that interested in watching. Not quite disinterested either; just a bit bored. Struggled to see what the plot was (and I was paying attention! I wasn't knitting!). Behind the scenes (about filming on water) was interesting; the tides, wind, weather, etc. were a difficult set of conditions to work in. They'd mounted cameras on cranes (on boats) to film it. Also built the planes with the intent of crashing as many as they could. And needed divers to recover some cameras. Very cool.
Phantom Threads (2017) only watchable for visuals. Alma may well have grown attached to Reynolds as a substitute for being her own self. Though I'd say why she behaves the way she does could've been developed more, as does why he ends up going along with it. The costumes were nice; I'd appreciated the slightly old-fashioned, formal outfits.
An Easy Girl (2019) abandoned after 7min. Too teenage, too trashy.
Klaus (2019) odd animation; seemed to be 2d and 3d at the same time. I do not know what to make of that. Flat, but 3d? Kept tripping me up. I appreciated the town's rivalries, and seeing them---incidentally---overcome those rivalries. Predictable tale.
Weathering with You (2019) - had some beautifully detailed depictions of rain hitting the pavement. Slow and slice-of-life-esque. A character could have been a human sacrifice, but a boy rescued her; in doing so, Tokyo returns to being submerged by water. I suspect this can be read as commentary on global warming---the weather will be what it will be, and we can adjust to drastic changes that result from drastic weather. That being said, I didn't find it particularly thought-provoking.
Pig (2021) Dunno if the speed I was watching it at made the camera motion more obvious, but the camera was annoyingly shaky (or just moving too much) at quite a few points. Unnecessarily so. Moving on. This was an oddly compelling film about a man searching for his stolen pig. Simple. The lighting was dark (mostly blue, though there were some points where yellow & red tones were emphasized; lighting was definitely given attention), but not to a point where it obfuscated the visuals. I liked it.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) loved seeing a guy crank out an entire stick of chapstick and eat it. Don't deny, you've thought about it. The plot was chaotic. The scenes with the mother & daughter being rocks were funny. Okay dose of absurdity, something something, represented the chaos of everyday life. I'm writing these thoughts two days after having seen it; nothing is sticking with me.
Guiellermo del Torro's Pinocchio (2022) was trying to be Disney. The three musical numbers were unnecessary. Too moralistic. Overall, annoying.
The House (2022) stop-motion animation was nice, but nothing that stood out. Stories were mediocre and forgettable.
West Side Story (2022) disk stopped playing partway through; I'd lost interest and didn't try to restart it. The first hour is nice. I like jazz. <3 a nice hi-hat part. That soft but sharp "tss" might be my favorite percussive noise. Anita's black with red accents dress was lovely; I'm fond of dresses with long skirts that are great for twirling in. Dance battles are also nice (not quite an accurate description). The romantic plotline began to take center stage—ugh, ballads—and I started to ignore it.
Wendell & Wild (2022) something about the animation was unnatural and annoying. I've already forgotten it.
Beef (2023) was a wild, human ride. These two characters go off the rails. It's slightly funny, slightly dark, slightly serious. A bit of a character study. I loved it.
Fair Play (2023) the two main characters are shitty people. They were fine. Then the woman got a promotion, the man got jealous, shit devolved. I wish the break between them was more powerful than a cliche "hey he raped her." Have some creativity. A guy can make terrible decisions that fuck up his life & someone else without raping someone.
May December (2023) odd. Just...odd. I feel like this was an attempt at something---a character study of sorts, but something wasn't fully realized.
The Tutor (2023) waste of time.
Miller's Girl (2024) le shrug. Slightly over the top. Our girl, Cairo Sweet (seriously?), is dramatic. Some gothic thing. A bit cruel, IMO, and giving what she got---teacher rejected her, so she ratted him out--- was petty. Expected from her age. Our boy manchild is a wannabe-writer who can't make up his mind. His called-alcoholic wife eggs him on. The story has more to do with the failings of the teacher, Mr Jonathan Miller. He wants attention. He hasn't written a thing in fuck knows how many years---seriously, one short story collection?---a (slightly manipulative, almost cunt of a) student gives him some attention, and he comes (hah!) right after her. Except this might have consequences, and he ain't prepared to deal with that. +1 for Henry Miller. I should go back and try to read some of his other works. Stream of consciousness seems to have caught my eye/mind.
The Holdovers (2023) ahh, yes, watched a feel-good movie before my computer decided to find a new way to shit on my day. It was nice. Just people getting to know each other. Slice-of-life-like, characters have their ups and downs, calmly get an idea of who the characters are (and their problems) before they continue on with their lives. Nonspecific thoughts; lukewarm and not leaving a strong impression on me.
Spermworld (2024) a glimpse into the lives of some sperm-donators. Nothing special.
The Antisocial Network (2024) writing this review several weeks after watching it. 'Twas a quick look into how 4chan changed/devolved over time. Mostly people talking about the better days.
Shows
In alphabetical order. Only includes shows watched during/after 2024.
Baby Reindeer - the complexities of the main character were compelling. He makes poor choices. He is aware of the poor choices. His poor choices are predictable; same ol' bad habits. Same patterns. I wish he grew as a person. He's a bit of a coward, and a pushover. Unfortunately, "i was raped and that's why everything" felt a bit simplistic. Was that just the missing piece of the puzzle? I dunno. Overall, mediocre.
Boiling Point - forgettable.
The Good Place - pretty solid. I liked getting to see the characters change over time. Each of them were actively fighting against themselves, so that they could become better people. The episode about the trolley problem is the only episode that has stuck to my memory.
Veep - I was able to get through the first five episodes. It has had a few good points: Selina is a bit of a bitch. But I can't imagine continuing to watch more episodes of people being semi-vicious manipulative assholes. The show is too mindless for my tastes. The humor isn't great either. It's as if a middle-schooler just started learning about sex and swearing. Not much creativity, just bitter comments directed at one another. I wouldn't call it raunchy either.
Animated Shows
In alphabetical order. Only includes shows watched during/after 2024.
Komi Can't Communicate - This anime is about a high school girl with social anxiety. She primarily communicates through handwriting, but works to speak from time to time. It was funny; there was a bit of sexual humor that worked. Some line about a banana dipped in white chocolate got a good laugh out of me. The stalker's obsession with seeing Komi's underwear and touching her boobs was hilarious. I'd rate the show an okay way to spend a few hours, but not rewatchable, certainly not recommendable, probably not rememberable.