Viewing Journal: 12/31/2021

755) THE LOST DAUGHTER

(2021 dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal) Date Seen: December 31 2021

754) OXYGÈNE

(2021 dir. Alexandre Aja) Date Seen: December 31 2021

This wasn’t the full on claustrophobic nightmare I thought it would be due mostly to the main character’s ability to temporarily detach from her situation via navigating computer panels (with info, digital memories, whatnot). An expository plot device that I think helps distinguish OXYGÈNE from other entries in the Trapped in a Confined Space thriller subgenre. Alexandre Aja wasn’t as visually inventive as I thought he’d be shooting within the single setting limitations. There were times during this movie where I found myself wishing things moved more briskly but thankfully Melanie Laurent’s dynamic performance helps distract from some of the repetitive minimalism. YMMV clearly, but I'd say it’s a thoughtful enough genre exercise.

753) PLAYGROUND [UN MONDE]

(2022 dir. Laura Wandel) Date Seen: December 31 2021

752) THE BIRDS II: LAND'S END

(1994 dir. Rick Rosenthal as Alan Smithee) Date Seen: December 31 2021

BIRDEMIC: SHOCK & TERROR (2010) might be a more technically inept film than this, but at least BIRDEMIC is funny.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. My eyes just got pecked out by crows.. A mean black bird out there. Really went for the eyes"

Viewing Journal: 12/30/2021

751) ADRIENNE

(2021 dir. Andy Ostroy) Date Seen: December 30 2021

750) 

NO.7 CHERRY LANE 繼園臺七號

(2021 dir. Yonfan) Date Seen: December 30 2021

This had a lot of beautiful background design work (both 2D & 3D composites) + nice atmospheric lighting. but goddamn, It doesn't have the prettiest character animations. That very stripped down cel shading look that almost looks like real 2D when the figures & frame are still. The narrative is also very derivative of Wong Kar-wai.

749) DETENTION 返校

(2021 dir. John Hsu) Date Seen: December 30 2021

A spooky, atmospheric, & even a little heartbreaking adaptation of the video game.. also reminded me that I need to find out who owns the movie rights to Clock Tower. I think it'd make great & tonally similar companion viewing with this.. Someone needs to get on that asap.

Viewing Journal: 12/29/2021

748) PASSING

(2021 dir. Rebecca Hall) Date Seen: December 29 2021

747) SIX-STRING SAMURAI

(1998 dir. Lance Mungia) Date Seen: December 29 2021

A visually inspired brilliantly bonkers folly. I wish I had adequate words to describe the charm of this trippy little indie. It felt like watching Jim Jarmusch dig into A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS to try & uproot YOJIMBO’s samurai core but on the way out he got stuck halfway between both. I don’t know if the filmmakers were intentionally trying to dethrone STRAIGHT TO HELL (1987) for title of “Greatest Stoner Spaghetti Western of All Time”, but.. Mission Accomplished.

746) REMEMBER THE NIGHT

(1940 dir. Mitchell Leisen) Date Seen: December 29 2021

Viewing Journal: 12/28/2021

745) SWAN SONG

(2021 dir. Benjamin Cleary) Date Seen: December 28 2021

if you want to spark a deep philosophical conversation with your loved ones; show them a double feature of this and MY ZOE.

744) A WRITER’S ODYSSEY 

                   刺杀小说家

(2021 dir. Lu Yang) Date Seen: December 28 2021

This movie packs a very intense optical wallop. If you'll remember in AQUAMAN 2018 there's this sprightly technical marvel of a fight scene (w/Black Manta) that spills out all over Sicily's terracotta rooftops; A WRITER’S ODYSSEY is like if that sequence's energy were spread out for the length of an entire film. & as is the case with a lot of great Chinese fantasy, the eye candy is just there to grab your attention while the deeper subtext works over your imagination.

743) 7 DAYS

(2021 dir. Roshan Sethi) Date Seen: December 28 2021

Viewing Journal: 12/27/2021

742) THE KING'S MAN

(2021 dir. Matthew Vaughn) Date Seen: December 27 2021

Like a monkey hurling poo, Matthew Vaughn continues flinging an unending supply of graceless fight scenes onto our movie screens. & keeping in the tradition of his previous instalment (the admittedly worse THE GOLDEN CIRCLE) all these sequences somehow feature the same amount of gimmicky high frame speed ramping; In other words, the aforementioned poo monkey has gotten his paws on the remote control & he keeps fucking with the slow-mo. It looks cool sometimes but too much can be distracting & even kill the momentum of the action. I can’t remember a single moment or composition that isn’t derivative of someone else’s movie. (Most of the color palette looks lifted from the WW1 sequences in WONDER WOMAN). And shockingly little to no charm in the banter department this time, although the actors at least look good while saying their lines.

This action

+ this shot

= this shot

[Not crying theft.. just though it was a cool visual nod that actually worked]

Vaughn’s movies have started to feel so repetitive that during this newest there was a moment where I almost began to think he was attempting some sort of postmodern goof; Like making fun of the way Hollywood regurgitates action styles over & over. But I snapped out of that delusion pretty quick. He’s just not that type of filmmaker.. I like my bang with a lot more whiz, you Limey chodes! Please get it together.

741) FIN

(2021 dir. Eli Roth) Date Seen: December 27 2021

Viewing Journal: 12/26/2021

740) ENCANTO

(2021 dir. J.Bush, Byron H, CC.Smith) Date Seen: December 26 2021

Sadly, Lin-Manuel cut this song from the final release↑

Viewing Journal: 12/25/2021

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

silly thing i photoshopped.. I tagged vincent on twitter lol

739) 

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

(2021 dir. Joel Coen) Date Seen: December 25 2021

For years I’d read about the Coen brothers wanting to do something set within the world of “Orson Welles’ Macbeth” but I’d always assumed/misunderstood that they meant a film about young Welles putting together the 1936 stage version of Voodoo Macbeth @ Harlem Federal Theatre; Not the 1948 film (also by Welles). This new version of Shakespeare’s Scottish play demarcates Joel Coen’s first solo directorial effort & it's really its own thing. If it has anything in common with Welles' 1948 adaptation it’s that they're both in black & white. But if I’m being completely honest, this new one was a little too self-conscious for my taste. & unlike Orson Welles’, the production & staging here had a tendency to veer into kitsch + I also had a hard time believing most of the core relationships. Nonetheless, I did love all the prophetic vision scenes & parts featuring the witch lady/ladies. They were like horror inspired takes on the surrealist parts of MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001).

738) HOLIDAY AFFAIR

(1949 dir. Don Hartman) Date Seen: December 25 2021

737) THE WAR IN SPACE

(1977 dir. Jun Fukuda) Date Seen: December 25 2021

Viewing Journal: 12/24/2021

736) BEING THE RICARDOS

(2021 dir. Aaron Sorkin) Date Seen: December 24 2021

Sorkin's working title for this was "Lucy Has Some 'Splaining to Do".

735) PARALLEL MOTHERS

(2021 dir. Pedro Almodovar) Date Seen: December 24 2021

734) THE HOLLY AND THE IVY

(1952 dir. George More O’Ferrall) Date Seen: December 24 2021