Great opening following by a clever and odd, yet dry WWII story.
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Prey 2022
I was predisposed to like this, I suppose given my affection for director Dan Trachtenberg, but it totally beat my expectations.
First and foremost, it's a good story that uses the spine (pun-intended) of the Predator formula to tell a story that feels new enough due to its setting and characters. The main character, Naru, is primarily a healer, but she also wants to make sure she can holistically provide for her family and community by also being a hunter.…
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Liza with a Z 1972
It's wild to think that contemporary songs used to be so widely popular that other artists would cover them. Like "I Gotcha" was only a few months old at this time! But I do love that it ties this to RESERVOIR DOGS and KERMIT'S SWAMP YEARS.
But everything in the whole world shuts down when you get to the CABARET part of this. Hot damn!
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Hercules in the Haunted World 1961
Bava makes everything better. And just the colors alone are worth watching this very silly movie for.
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Star 80 1983
Uncomfortable because it sticks the finger in the eye of the cycle of make violence. The possessive nature of masculinity, the need for control that comes with it, and the easiness with which bitterness and violence erupt from it.
Fosse makes us all complicit in this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone treated like an object for every scene of a movie before. It’s fucked.
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The Quatermass Xperiment 1955
Quatermass is reckless AF.
I’m a sucker for 50s science fiction, so even though this one is a bit sleepy and dry, I still enjoyed it.
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A Bay of Blood 1971
Love Bava's use of eye here. It underlines the voyeuristic nature of what would become the slasher, and makes sure the audience knows we are complicit. I was real sleepy watching this, but I am eager to revisit soon.
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977
I always forget how expansive this movie is, and it’s all the better for it. This is a global story and Spielberg captures it and assembles it wonderfully. As I get older I appreciate the craft that much more but also the inclusion of Truffaut as an actor.
There’s a restlessness that is pervasive throughout the film, teetering on the edge of malaise. Are we trying to find alien life? Or our next phase of evolution? Or just a sense of direction? How to write get to the future and what do we have to leave behind to get there?