Undeniable. A dark, gothic fable, both broad and nuanced in equal measure. Orson Welles is magnetic. I was expecting a masterfully written, directed, and edited film, which it is, but his lead performance as Kane was every bit as captivating.
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Touch of Evil 1958
Caught the 1998 reconstruction at the Cinematheque in Vancouver, yet despite that seemingly optimal viewing experience, I was largely underwhelmed by Touch of Evil. Everything that has been said about the opening oner is true, it's well executed and engaging. The film on the whole was very well shot, except for a bizarre abundance of out of focus shots, which unfortunately cast the movie in an amateur light. Orson Welles and Janet Leigh were both wonderful, but they were both…
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Sunset Boulevard 1950
Maybe the greatest revelation is that Norma Desmond is kind of goals for zoomer Tik Tok girls.
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Broadcast News 1987
Maybe overstays its welcome by five minutes, but otherwise this was near flawless. All three leads are stellar, bringing to life such vital and well-defined characters from script to screen. I do think the script really is key to these wonderful performances, because Brooks characterizes his leads organically through little beats and interactions that don't strictly move the story forward, but are the beating heart of this movie. One of the greatest thrills as a viewer is to watch someone…
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Late Spring 1949
I wonder if it originates from the design of Japanese homes, how people sit on the floor, but the dominance of low angle shots in Ozu's coverage is uniquely striking. On a literal level, the camera feels more grounded in the space, but the angle almost feels as though the camera is taking the perspective of the house, the film providing space for the characters to live.
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A Single Man 2009
I mean... just devastating. Colin Firth delivers a career best performance here. Despite such a reserved, bottled character, we are still able to intuit so much from microexpressions his face. This is brilliantly supported by Ford's changes in colour saturation, which highlights the captivating drama in the smallest of interactions.
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Star 80 1983
I feel nauseous. Viscerally upsetting, in a way only Bob Fosse could pull off. Only someone as intimately familiar with the dark, dark, dark side of the entertainment industry could craft something so unsensational, yet so tragic. First, the performances: pitch perfect. From Mariel Hemingway's heartbreaking innocence, and Eric Robert's slimy, sociopathic charisma, to every single bit part, all so well calibrated. This is supported by Fosse's impressive screenplay, which toys with the chronology, slowly doling out information, so that…
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Eraserhead 1977
It's clear to me that this is a film not meant to be understood in logical terms, but instead appreciated based on the visceral, emotional reaction to its haunting, abstract imagery. Lynch certainly paints some impressively evocative pictures, especially for a film with such a low budget. On the whole, I was able to pick up clear thematic threads relating to fatherhood, genetic disease, commitment. Unfortunately, most of the film felt a little too esoteric to be engaging, lacking that visceral, emotional response I get from similarly surreal films. Still, credit to Lynch, he nails the ending.
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Nope 2022
Much less of an explicitly "issues" focused horror movie than Get Out and Us, Nope fully delivers on the laughs and thrills while still providing thematic depth, albeit less directly. One clear through line from this first viewing is how humans seek to tame, dominate, profit off of nature, especially as it pertains to the imagery taken from Western films. On the other hand, the movie contains probably Peele's most impressively directed, suspenseful sequences yet, with extended bouts of tension…
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The Card Counter 2021
Lesser Paul Schrader, but still leaves you with much to chew on. Wasn't a fan of some of the music choices, but Oscar Isaac was great.