Maybe the single most essential piece of arthouse cinema. I don’t love the French New Wave, but I do love the 400 Blows. There’s such an intentional disconnect between the way Antoine views his situation and the way we are supposed to view it, and it’s phenomenal to me how such a simple premise is elevated to greatness through tight direction, inventive editing techniques, stellar performances, and a wonderful script. One of the greatest films ever made.
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The Graduate 1967
I just rewatched this for maybe the fifth time last month, but I wanted to rewatch it again because it's just that good. I've always had this in my top 25 or so, but I genuinely think it's creeping towards my top 10 films of all time. It's got humor, perfect performances by Hoffman and Bancroft and Ross, a super tight script, the only possible ending is nailed, and the best use of Simon and Garfunkel ever put to the silver screen. What's not to like?
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Good Burger 2 2023
Is this stupid? Yes. Is it good? No. Still, this knows exactly what people loved about the first film and brings it all back in spades. This is how you do a legacy sequel: keep the stakes low, the entertainment light, and don't take yourself too seriously. This is not earth-shattering or the start of a franchise reboot, but that is everything legacy sequels shouldn't be, and so I'm glad Good Burger remembered that.
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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory 1971
New video coming soon where I'll be waxing poetic for over 30 minutes about how fantastic this film was and still is. As I see more and more footage of Wonka (2023), I see just how monumental of an achievement the cast and crew of 1971 were able to achieve. Stay tuned.
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The Killer 2023
Any movie that relies this heavily on “The Smiths” for the soundtrack automatically loses points in my book. I’m joking, of course, but I think the use of The Smiths (perhaps the most generic band ever used in movie soundtracks) shows a larger problem with The Killer: it lacked originality. It was stylish and benefited heavily from the genius of its accomplished cast and crew, but it was far from memorable and not really anything we haven’t seen many times before.
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Barbie 2023
I just started a new job and so I haven’t been able to watch as much as normal, but I was glad to check this out last night. It was great! The jokes almost all landed for me and while I do think it’s one of those films that may not age super well given how much the jokes cater to the current age, I am glad I saw it in theaters (in pink!) and it is another great 2023 theater experience in a year that is proving to be full of shared movie experiences.
