Kept thinking how much money this must have cost and how uncompromisingly uncommercial the whole thing is. Also, that ending is bold, sir.
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Bullet Train 2022
A bit more fun the second time when you're onboard with what it's going for, and you're only half paying attention.
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The Batman 2022
Love the commitment to tone and aesthetics but the story is too plodding and the central mystery around an informant is nowhere near as interesting or worthy of the stakes that the film builds around it.
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The Banshees of Inisherin 2022
Quietly powerful storytelling outwardly escalating from its quaint, hilarious folk tale premise into something deeply meloncholy and profound. It became, for me at least, a wrenching cautionary tale that measures the value of connection, friendship and emphapy against the gnawing weight of mortality and legacy. Brilliant performances all around. The most I've laughed in the cinema in a long time. I adored this.
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Barbarian 2022
Perhaps knowing too much going in impacted my score here but with an incredible set up and initial tense unfolding of mysterious goings-on (and a fun switch up), the third act's black comedy and gross-out violence lacks the precision of prior acts and turns something original and terrifying into random silliness.
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Fresh 2022
Watched this and Barbarian over a couple of nights, appreciating how both pushed its characters into clearly perilous situations whilst absolutely selling the reasoning behind it. And, like Barbarian, the less you know the better. But even with pre-knowledge of how events unfold, this is a stylish, tense and fun thriller with particularly game leads chewing on the material.