I don’t really have anything insightful to add about this. Really good documentary about a music icon that likely doesn’t get discussed enough. Not really very flashy at all but that’s okay. Glad I got to see this & might even rewatch it one day.
HBO Max Originals, Ranked (#4 out of 5)
Sundance 2023 (#3 out of 4 this year)
2023 Releases, Ranked (#5 out of 7 so far)
Watched in 2023, Ranked (#9 out of 11 so far)
I liked this a lot despite the main character being one the most unlikable in recent memory.
This features some pretty nice technical work, especially for Park’s debut: that cool shot in their apartment early on of them in separate hallways in the same frame, the sound design from the ticket booth, the shot from outside the car into it, the unique way the camera sometimes followed a character around the room.
I was really into a lot of the…
So I intentionally went into this as blind as possible other than Rafael’s recommendation (thank you once again). And wow, what a powerful movie.
The commentary on gender & power dynamics & how that shifted as the movie progressed was *chef’s kiss*. The camerawork was just stunning. The two lead performances were so powerful. Really intense ending too.
I can’t believe this was Chloe Domont’s directorial debut, what a a masterful film this was.
Sundance 2023 (My top watch from this year’s festival…
“You’re not a bad person, just bad behaviour.”
There’s things to like here no doubt (especially considering this is Englert’s debut feature) but ultimately this movie just wasn’t for me, maybe it just went way over my head.
The highlight of this though is assuredly its lead actors who deliver such tortured performances, especially Connelly. But as stellar & profound as the lead performances are, what took me out of this the most was the pacing. This just moved way too…
“Rock n roll is risk”
“This is life. Drive it like you stole it.”
I FINALLY got a chance to see this after all these years. I adore Carney’s other two movies Begin Again & Once (the former being one of my all-time favorites, even saw it 3 times in 48 hours in 2021 lol). But this one never seemed to pop up on any streaming services like the other two do until now. Rafael in particular has been on my for years to see this…
This is my final log leftover from 2022. Can’t believe another year has gone by.
Overall, this was a decent mini-series carried by solid performances (that scene near the end between Nick & Steve was chilling) yet this felt like it was missing something to put it over the top. Don’t get me wrong though, this was still relatively engaging. I also pretty much didn’t know any of the backstory going in, which I’m sure helped.
The soundtrack choices were fun…
This movie still holds up so well & its intensity might’ve given me Whiplash.
I love that this movie wastes no time getting into it/diving right in with that opening, really sets up the rest of the movie. The camera work in this was astounding. The way the focus would shift. The random crash zoom-ins were always so perfectly timed too.
Obviously one of the highlights is Simmons’ Oscar-winning performance but I still had forgotten just how otherworldly his work here…
In my opinion, it’s optimal to go into this as blind as possible like I did to get the most out of this. There may be recency bias influencing this take, but this might be the most horrifying movie I’ve ever seen. I definitely wouldn’t call it the best horror movie in general, but still might be the most terrifying; might even be the most originally made too. I’ll admit though, I definitely did not understand the ending. But that…
So I had seen all the positive ratings for this & wanted to see it but going in blind. And then an hour before the showtime I realized I had seen the trailer for this before a different movie awhile back so I knew the gist of it. Or so I thought.
They showed a clip from the director right before the movie where he talked about how this features generationally talented actors. And he couldn’t have been more spot-on. This…
I feel like I’ve seen ratings & opinions all over the place: some great, some bad, some in the middle. And that piqued my interest in this considering the trailer didn’t really grab me. And count me as someone in the middle of that spectrum. I thought this was fine. Definitely not great but not terrible either (the random signing though, that was downright bad).
I’m glad this wasn’t my first movie at the cinema for the new year, that would’ve…
I really wish I had been able to catch this in theaters/they had put this in theaters longer than a week. Either way though, I’m so glad this is another new release that met the hype for me.
I was super into this from beginning to end. Even gave me some White Lotus vibes early on. I knew the murder mystery aspect would be a lot of fun going in but I was not anticipating this would be so humorous.…