Letterboxd — Your life in film

Godzilla Minus One has easily the best human story I’ve ever seen in a kaiju film. There’s a level of character development and emotional attachment that is above and beyond the standards of the genre. This helps make up for some of the films issues, I.e. certain repetitive elements and the pretty basic monster plotline. Still, that human element and the post wwii Japan setting make this film feel more substantial than you’d expect, and the film’s action sequences are very strong.

As one would expect, Miyazaki’s latest is a beautiful trip into a fantastic world. The visuals and score are absolutely astounding. Narratively I think the film sets up its emotional beats perfectly in the first half, but t doesn’t quite fully pay them off. Still, definitely worth a viewing.

The protagonist of this story, Joseph Bologne is a fascinating historical character. The film has some really great scenes, but the film as a whole never elevates past being "good-not-great". It's is at its best when delving into how women and people of color were both held back in this time, but it doesn't go far enough, and it misses the chance to make a proper connection between the rich protagonists and the poor masses who would become the backbone of the French Revolution. It's a good film, but it feels like there's story elements that were left out that could have made it great.

A really powerful, engrossing and well acted courtroom drama. The mystery element itself is very well handled, as the case is fascinating and full of human wrinkles. Thematically the film is also very rich. It really focuses on how interpretation colors our perception, and how even facts can be colored by our life experiences, along with what information we do and do not ourselves possess. A lot to think about, and really strong performances and filmmaking.

Just a real good, solid film made by a great filmmaker. The Killer isn't particularly deep, but it's interesting, well made and moves along at just the right pace. It's an interesting blend of playing some tropes straight while subverting others, and it works.

There are some fun scares to be had in the third act of The Nun 2, but it takes some time to get to that point. At the end of the day, this is an occasionally successful, but mostly disposable frightfest. Not awful, but simply there's just not much to it.

There's a lot to think about with this one. Truth be told I think I need to see it again to truly formulate my thoughts. My immediate reaction is that Martin Scorsese has created a powerful and haunting portrait of the erasure of native cultures through greed and the failures of American justice. It's understated and masterful and earns every second of its run time.

This movie is ultimately fine. It’s an interesting story that’s admittedly not told as well as it should be, but it’s saved by its performances. Paul Mescal never totally nails the American accent, but he’s still interesting to watch; and Saoirse Ronan gives just as good a performance as you’d expect, even though she’s given some lines that nobody could save. It never really gets going, but it’s certainly not awful.

Definitely better than I expected. I mean, it's still very much a blend of a soap opera and a gorefest with crazy, disturbing traps and absolutely wild plot twists. That said, the filmmaking and acting here are actually solid, and I was actually interested to see how things worked out. It's definitely insanely graphic, but there's just enough substance to make it interesting.