A fucking great Paul Schrader film with a prodding story, nice direction, but the use of music is dynamic. It's absolutely wild that the three main characters, who are all fairly sympathetic in their own ways, concoct their plan in a coked up orgy. Compelling all the way through.
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Infernal Affairs II 2003
Fun thriller, but damn is the transfer on the Criterion disc just garbage. Very washed out, not super crisp.
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Avengers: Infinity War 2018
As much as this is just pure entertainment, it's amazing to watch how well directed it is. I feel like MCU movies get ignored by big awards because the action and CGI effects are more products of producers and studios, but those are the people who end up accepting the awards. This deserved The Return of the King treatment. And no other movie I've seen in the theater has had the kind of shocked silence that this ended on, a unique experience.
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2018
Always perfect. This little run of Marvel movies I've had sure has been a cinematic palate cleanser.
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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 2023
I feel like the complaints about this movie circulated a lot more than was warranted. Not enough jokes? Sure, but the first two Ant-Man movies' jokes felt a bit more forced and not especially funny, but the jokes in "Quantum" hit pretty nicely with some fun call backs and repetitions. I think what I enjoyed the most about this movie was that it reminded me of another scifi movie with a checkered reputation, John Carter. Carter bombed in the US,…
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Annihilation 2018
You know what? I was much more on board to enjoy this on rewatch. Realizing that the tone is a dreamlike sleepiness, not just in the colorful aura of the aesthetic, but the ominous score. This would make a perfect midnight movie to lead into that time of night when you're fighting to stay awake and it seems into your dreams.
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Black Panther 2018
While this does fall over itself in fantastical speculative fiction of technology, there is so much fun here. Stacked with characters, world building and a killer soundtrack and score. I had been in a little funk of movie watching and a little batch of Marvel movies was just what I needed to break out They are hardly the highest of cinematic art, but they do one of the greatest things movies can do, deliver fun and spectacle.
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Venom 2018
While this doesn't land perfectly as a movie, the humor, and look of the film are spot on I love that Venom even looks a little bit like a glossy action figure come to life in the right light. This really does miss out on not going a little nuts with gore, it feels more lazy than a tactic to excite the imagination. The idea of a Venom Eminem song in the closing credits is incredibly funny to me, even…
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The Mother 2023
There's really nothing special to this story, it feels like and expansion of a spy story that has been told as a single act or less in movies like The American or Hanna. Jennifer Lopez is better than expected. Overall, it's fine.
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Ant-Man and the Wasp 2018
These Ant-Man flicks don't quite feel right, not enough humor, action feels half assed. At least the effects are beautiful. A lot of the story feels thrown together, the ex cons feel too fanciful to enjoy their interactions.
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Deadpool 2 2018
Even on rewatch, it's still a surprise how well the humor works. The action is spectacular, even if the camera is floating at times. The use of time travel is great, I love the integration of Terminator aesthetic, while enjoying the loads of jokes it affords.