Letterboxd — Your life in film

As Anne, her siblings, their families, and I are grieving the loss of her mother's mind to the unfathomable labyrinths of dementia, and as they have been through the hardships of moving her from one care center to another — some of which show signs of actual caring (others don't) — I am grateful for a film that gives unflinching attention to the increasingly tedious hardships of such ordeals. If you are a person of faith, few things will test that…

For Your Consideration: Gregg Turkington — Best Supporting Actor.

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Everything about this film feels unlikely and pleasantly surprising.

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As Donya, Anaita Wali Zada's performance is so muted that I started worrying that the rest of the movie would just disappear into that void. But stick with it, and don't take your eyes off of her. The way her eyes darken, her expression warms, her confidence grows — this is character development of a…

One of those rare films I enjoy thinking about more than I enjoy watching it.

Don't get me wrong: It looks and sounds great, and while Jarmusch's meandering style is an acquired taste, I think it feels great too. But the funny bits aren't particularly funny even by Jarmusch standards. The plots aren't particularly absorbing, even by Jarmusch standards. Come to think of it, none of the characters here are likely to be celebrated in any gallery of his fans'…

[UPDATE: I now have a full review at Give Me Some LIght.]

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Original post with embarrassing typos repaired:

I’m always down for some stunning panoramic cinematography of mountains, forests, rocks, streams, and glaciers. (Trying hard not to say “nature” like, this movie insists, an idiot.) And films about platonic male relationships are too rare. What’s more—the central tension between our narrator, his friend, and his father is fascinating and not a dynamic I remember exploring in other…

Great writing all the way through. Most memorable lines? This searing, over-the-top lecture from a corrupt cop into a megaphone:

"Listen up — Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and everybody else. Most police shootings can be avoided. It comes down to respect for authority and obedience. If a police officer tells you to stop, you stop. If a police officer tells you to put your hands in the air, you put your hands in the air ... It’s as simple as that. Even…

Having re-subscribed to Criterion for a season, I was startled to discover this—a film that I don't think I've ever heard of before from 1987, my favorite year in cinema history, featuring Eric Stoltz (who usually improves whatever he's in) and, more importantly, the great Jennifer Jason Leigh just a few years from her best work.

And so I took another step in my education on The Complete Works of JJL. Alas—another checkmark in the "L"s of Wins and Losses.…

CAUTION: Avoid the trailer for this film. I'm so grateful I didn't see it before I saw the movie. It's basically a highlight reel of most of the movie's best shots.

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As the checker scans my ticket, he says, "You realize that after the next showing, the writer-director Morissa Waltz, actress Lily Gladstone, and the co-writer Vanara Taing will be here for an in-person Q& A, yes?"

No.

No, I didn't realize.

Dang dang dang dang dang.…

This movie about desperate women deciding that their happiness depends upon the worst kinds of Kens — the direspectful, egomaniacal, and physically abusive sorts who don't know that "No" means "No" — just made me wish I could take all of them to see Barbie. Maybe they'd learn something.

One of the primary causes of their loneliness is easy to diagnose: Their world is so very, very small. Given that one of them claims to be a spy and a…

Saw this in a very small theater tonight in which most of the crowd knew each other and were very clearly former theater-camp kids. And I'm so glad. There was so much joy in the room.

If I'd had some kind of Scale of 1–10 Laugh Meter running over the course of the film, the results would have been something like: 7 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 6 - 5 - 6 - 7…