Letterboxd — Your life in film

I really, really enjoyed 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar', I'm just so in love with Wes Anderson as a film maker, every visual is a painting so purposefully orchestrated for a specific product that looks beyond stunning. Every actor understood the tone, the story was simple but fun, and I respect how aware Wes Anderson was that this was a far better short film than dragging it into a feature length, he clearly cares far more about the quality of his films, rather than making the most money. I highly recommend.

While I would probably say 'The Killing of a Chinese Bookie' is my least favourite of Cassavetes movies so far, it still has undeniable intimacy, fantastic performances and dialogue. I just wasn't interested in the characters or story much at all and found it a real drag after a while. It's pretty good, but also pretty forgettable.

'A Woman Under the Influence' may have been a tad too long, but it contains some of the best performances I've ever seen, marvellously crafted dialogue and delivery that kept me consistently engaged for the most part. John Cassavetes really is magic in terms of directing such long scenes of dialogue and making me constantly believe in the characters and the realism of the dialogue. It's amazing, and one I highly recommend.

While I didn't particularly care for the characters or story in 'Shadows', the performances and film making was consistently impressive and engaging, making for a solid recommendation overall.

I enjoyed 'Dumb Money' far more than I was expecting after such a forgettable trailer, and while it's still not amazing, the snappy editing, fun performances and engaging script left me consistently enjoying it with a big grin on my face by the end. It's fun and I recommend.

'Expend4bles' was a complete tonal mess that goes from grieving to laughing in a matter of seconds, with performances and dialogue that didn't exactly help its case in terms of me trying to take it seriously. Possibly the worst CGI of the year, predictable beyond belief, action scenes that lack any style or originality, such a paper thin plot that the middle act also takes up the third act because there was so little to write about. This movie is genuinely awful, I didn't realise this franchise could get any worse, but here we are.

I really wanted to like 'Drive My Car' more than I did, but I respected it far more than I enjoyed it. I just found it way, way too long, and I could barely focus during the last hour due to honest boredom. Great performances, writing and visuals, but I just couldn't get into the characters or story personally and found myself really very uninterested throughout. It's a shame, I thought I'd love it, but I only liked it.

I'm still reeling from what I saw in 'Requiem for a Dream', a devastating, frightening, and haunting look into drug addiction that left me feeling genuinely ill and shaken, I stared at my screen for a solid 5 minutes in shock. Frankly I just can't fault it, its horrifying depiction of drug addiction is like nothing I have ever seen before, and while I will consider this film a masterpiece, I don't think I can ever put myself through it again. I recommend it, even though it is such a difficult watch.

I found 'The Expendables 3' to be a complete drag and bore, where the original characters were practically not even in the film which resulted in zero charm throughout. The new younger characters are duller than dull, the action is bland, and the CGI was particularly terrible. Just useless and a waste of time, I don't recommend.

'The Expendables 2' was actually better than the first, especially in terms of how the action was filmed and edited, making it much more enjoyable to watch. I really liked what was done with Liam Hemsworth's character which added more emotional stakes to the story. Of course the script is beyond terrible, and everything that came out of Arnold Schwarzeneggers mouth was just abysmal, the characters are still fairly bland and it's overall very forgettable. Surprisingly, I'm going to say this film is good, but perhaps that's just in comparison to the first. I recommend for fans of the first.

While 'A Haunting in Venice' is my favourite of Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptations, it still didn't blow me away. Of course it's got a great reveal, great twists, and an interesting (although a bit bland) set of characters, but still has yet to do anything to blow me away. I enjoyed the Venice setting a lot, and I respect the horror route it went down, even though I wish it were a bit more ambitious with it. It's fun but forgettable, just a simple, good time at the movies in summary.