Paradise is impossible but this is a loving character study of people who are trying to make it work and find a subset of it. They and we are all quirky and our decisions and circumstances make us settle or strive for a life we can be happy with at the end of the day. Just because you get older doesn't mean things get less complicated.
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Moonlight 2016
Damn this movie rends my heart every time. The performances are weighty from the triptych but also the company of Mahershala, Naomie, Janelle, and Andre. In the moonlight, black boys look blue. In the moonlight, by the ocean, that is where they find calm. That is where they can find sanctuary for a moment and just breathe.
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Pitch Black 2000
With Blank Check Commentary
This is a film dusty with 2000s sci-fi energy clearly in the vein of the Alien franchise with a motley crew, xenomorphic swarms, and a reluctant female captain. The X Factor is Riddick who is almost a trickster god who cannot be killed because of plot armor but because he simply is above all that.
I always thought Burning Man was Riddick themed every year? -
The Harder They Fall 2021
Letterboxd Season Challenge Week 10: Lakeith Stanfield
The Western genre is like the Internet Sandwich debate. Is a hotdog a sandwich? What about a bagel with cream cheese? A Western is a category that helps us orient ourselves but that image of Stagecoach or The Searchers has diverged and reexamined especially in the past few years.
The colors of The Harder They Fall are kaleidoscopic and make up for the cheapness of the sets. You can almost see the facades… -
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The Disciple 2020
Slow cinema is such a jam for me and with the subject matter of music and devotion to a craft, this is the perfect vehicle for such themes. Sharad is in a terrible, beautiful relationship with his music; at times he loves it and then hates it because he is not as prolific or talented or recognized as he would like. Once he can give himself up and reconcile his relationship, then he can truly perform and give his all.…
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A Bigger Splash 2015
Ralph Fiennes is the best! But also Dakota Johnson... and Tilda Swinton... and Matthias. Just a bunch of sexy people hanging out on an Italian island and living the life. Until they aren't.
I was not expecting the third act shift. There was only one sense of danger or omen when they come across the migrants on their way to the tide pool. But I did not see Guadagnino shifting the dial on us in such a turn. But with Call Me By Your Name and Suspiria, it is hard for him to do wrong. He is a treasure.
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