finally logging stuff on Letterboxd. mostly catching up on movies i probably should’ve seen years ago when i studied film
if you’re also working through your cinematic shame pile, let’s connect!
#Letterboxd #MovieClub #FilmCatchUp
#TheLoveWitch is great. Superbly realised with lots of attention to detail across the production. It has a really playful tone and a strong, powerful perspective.
Already looking forward to watching Biller’s next project. #FilmCatchUp
#OutsideIn lacks any real spark. All the performances are good and it's well assembled, but it never fully engages. The characters are a little underwritten, and it's difficult to invest in their decisions and relationships - I found it quite boring unfortunately. #FilmCatchUp
#TheDayAfter is another fascinating film from Hong Sang-soo. I am amazed how such a simple idea and approach can produce something so knotty, so myriad. Kwon Hae-hyo is fantastic in this, a depressingly flawed and pathetic portrayal of masculine power. #FilmCatchUp
#ClairesCamera is an odd film with satire so subtle it can often go unnoticed. Still, Isabelle Huppert acting alongside Kim Min-hee will always make riveting viewing, and they are both wonderful in this. #FilmCatchUp
#OnTheBeachAtNightAlone is the first Hong Sang-soo film that I have seen; and wow. It's such a fascinating film and his light but deliberate style captivated me. The writing & performances felt authentic, full of the absurdity & bristling tension that punctuate life. #FilmCatchUp
Laura Huertas Millán's quiet, contemplative #LaLibertad was very charming. #FilmCatchUp
Full of juicy dialogue & great acting; #TheWife is enjoyable. Jane Anderson’s adaption is smart. Glenn Close & Jonathan Pryce are clearly enjoying the material that they have to work with. Always wonderful to see the underused Christian Slater appear as well. #FilmCatchUp
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 'Bright Future' is a strange and inconsistent film. While the narrative, character relationships and themes of loyalty and abandonment were hugely engaging, the actual dialogue and performances were poor. #FilmCatchUp
#FunnyHaHa is a great mumblecore film. Full of uncomfortable pauses & digressions. No real narrative to speak of; characters don't change. Rather, 'Funny Ha Ha' simply wants to observe & capture how people interact - and there is something quite noble about that. #FilmCatchUp
The characters in #LaNotte are often unpenetrable, even unlikable. This is deliberate from Antonioni. In fact, everything is deliberate in La Notte. This is a masterclass of style and form - light on dialogue but visually illustrative. Pure cinema. #FilmCatchUp
Never doubted the sincerity of Paddy Considine’s #Journeyman for one moment. It's clearly a film made with an affection & understanding of the boxing world. However, it felt a little too overwrought & saccharine in places, which negatively effected the film's power. #FilmCatchUp
After watching #BobbyRobsonMoreThanAManager, I think it would be fair to say that the great man deserves a far better documentary on his work. Yet still, I could listen to those stories all day. #FilmCatchUp
M. Night Shyamalan and James McAvoy are having plenty of fun in #Split. It is utter nonsense, but enjoyable nonsense. #FilmCatchUp
Valeska Grisebach’s #Western is fantastic, and particularly urgent in todays climate. A considered & subtle look at migration and culture clashes. The nods to the western genre are cleverly used & non-professional actor Meinhard Neumann gives a terrific performance. #FilmCatchUp
Yimou Zhang’s #AWomanAGunAndANoodleShop (a remake of the Coen Brothers’ ‘Blood Simple’) is fun. I was taken by the choreography and physical performances. The camera work is bold too. It won’t be for everyone but I found it engaging. #FilmCatchUp
Carl Th. Dreyer’s #Vampyr, his follow up to ‘Joan of Arc’, is more muddled than I had imagined. I wasn't aware it had such a troubled production history. Yet still, some of the shots are really exhilarating and it has this wonderful, peculiar atmosphere. #FilmCatchUp
#CarnivalofSouls is a really enjoyable B-movie that creates a great sense of unease, largely due to really evocative direction and cinematography. I can certainly see why it has a cult following. #FilmCatchUp
#DeadRingers is a perfect example of David Cronenberg’s ability to bring to life psychological insecurities in a wonderfully cinematic way. I would love to read the book that this was adapted from. #FilmCatchUp
#EnterTheVoid is so indulgent and dull. It clocks in at around two hours and forty minutes, and it felt like most of that time was just spent staring at the back of someone’s head. #FilmCatchUp
I had held off watching #Irréversible for a very long time, but I thought I should take the plunge as a primer for his latest release. I really wish I hadn’t bothered. I found it aesthetically ugly and politically reprehensible. #FilmCatchUp
Love the concept of #VillageoftheDamned, and sometimes Carpenter’s visual flair does shine through. Yet the film is a mess. It is horribly miscast and they do nothing with the central idea, it just drifts between repetitive set pieces. #FilmCatchUp
I’ve been catching up with some of my 2017 film omissions. #120BPM was particularly affecting. The nightclub scenes (which I usually find absurd and inauthentic in most films) were done very well here, approximating the mood and euphoria with a poetic style. #FilmCatchUp
It is very much a beat for beat homage to early period noir, yet #BodyHeat is still scintillating. Beautiful John Barry score. Kathleen Turner and William Hurt are gorgeous and charismatic - that illusive film chemistry in full effect here. #FilmCatchUp
Woody Harrelson is terrific in #TheWalker; as are the stellar supporting cast (Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, Kristin Scott Thomas). Great to see Schrader operating in a more melodramatic register as well, although I didn’t feel this was his sharpest script. #FilmCatchUp
Wow, #Bamboozled is pure fire and fury. Really bold, fearless filmmaking. As a cultural product and artistic expression, it deserves to be studied in every school. #FilmCatchUp
#ChiRaq is fun, ambitious and contains some really great dialogue. It is accessible too, but if Lee and his editors could have chopped thirty from the running time, perhaps it would be more approachable. It has important messages deserving of a wide audience. #FilmCatchUp
Watched the documentary on #DePalma last night. Two things struck me; there are not many filmmakers working today whose overriding focus is style, style, style. And just like his hero Hitch, his neurosis and perversions are really plastered all over the screen. #FilmCatchUp
#Hardcore felt like it was just baiting for reactions to be honest. The sound-mix was pretty dreadful too. George C. Scott's performance is very good though, and some scenes are rather stylishly put together. A minor work from Schrader for me. #FilmCatchUp
