[DE USKYLDIGE]
(2022 dir. Eskil Vogt) Date Seen: July 5 2022
TOBY'S PRIVATE WATCHLIST & THOUGHTS ON FILM.. PLEASE DON'T READ THESE
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Viewing Journal: 7/3/2022
OF CHIMNEY TOWN
(2022 dir. Yusuke Hirota) Date Seen: July 3 2022
I liked a lot about the world this was set within, the character designs, & even some aspects of the story-- but damn; Seldom have I enjoyed this specific type of 3D toon shader look applied to human characters (it's fine on inanimate surfaces, vehicles, machines, etc). To me it always looks like cheapo 3D impersonating hand-drawn 2D anime. With all the character edges rendered to look like they’ve got permanent pencil/charcoal strokes. Outside of maybe a few of the TellTale video game characters, I'm tempted to even say I hate this style. & it coupled with that choppy 12 frames a second (animating on 2s) rate made things look surprisingly crumby looking. Animation that just looks like someone hastily plastered iMovie “comic book filter" over everything.. I wish I didn’t have such a difficult time getting passed these aesthetics, because this movie has a lot of spiritual uplift to offer.
411) WYRM
(2022 dir. Christopher Winterbauer) Date Seen: July 3 2022
Did nothing for my cold dead heart. It's well made for sure and the performances are pretty good. but cutesy overload w/the pseudo-absurdist plot & dialogue.. Cloying
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Viewing Journal: 7/1/2022
(2022 dir. Angus MacLane) Date Seen: July 1 2022
Why suffer through soap dregs like Netflix's Bridgerton when you can treat yourself to period romance like this (with actual wit & a modicum of joie de vivre).
Viewing Journal: 7/2/2022
(2022 dir. Duprat/M.Cohn) Date Seen: July 2 2022
Diva egos collide in this acidic satire of celebrity & the international film industry. ALL ABOUT EVE almost looks like a cozy tea party when compared to the hilarious prima donna fussing this movie skewers. It also features what is probably Penelope Cruz’s best comedic performance to date & that’s no faint praise considering how many funny turns she’s done. After Almodovar’s PARALLEL MOTHERS last year & now this, I guess it’s safe to say we can just expect career best work from her year in & year out from now on.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Viewing Journal: 6/30 - 6/29/2022
(2022 dir. Angus MacLane) Date Seen: June 30 2022
quality space opera.
quality Spaceman Spiff opera.
I always enjoyed the video game sequence that kickstarts TOY STORY 2 & this believably felt like the event movie that game could've derived from.. Purist haters need to clam up & just be happy we got this instead of something aggravatingly generic like ABC's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
407) HATCHING
(2022 dir. Hanna Bergholm) Date Seen: June 30 2022
please give a warm welcome to this slick & thematically rich newest member of the Symbiotic Killer horror family (e.g. MONKEY SHINES, De Palma's SISTERS, BAD MILO, BRAIN DAMAGE, SPUTNIK, etc.) Did anyone else think the creature's earliest stage in this movie was oddly cute?? In a goblin-ish Smeagol way? Anyway, thing's not half as gross as the materialistic "influencer" mum & her draconian standards of perfection. I guess that's sort of the crux of the thing.
406) CYST
(2022 dir. Tyler Russell) Date Seen: June 29 2022
There's a body horror visual early on in this that's almost as gross as the nastiest part of Junji Ito's "Glyceride".
Lots of fun intentionally goofy acting and rubber monster effects going on at all times, but halfway through I sort of found myself wishing it was either funnier or scarier. Just something of lasting significance.
405) THE PASSENGER
[LA PASAJERA]
(2022 dir. F.G. Gómez / Cerezo) Date Seen: June 29 2022
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Viewing Journal: 6/27/2022
(1972 dir. Bahram Beyzai) Date Seen: June 27 2022
This is the debut of the guy that later did BASHU, THE LITTLE STRANGER! And one of the only Iranian films I've seen that takes place pre-"Islamic Revolution" (aka before they became a brutal theocracy), so it's always fascinating to get a glimpse of what life was like in the ol' Persian lands back then. Had some pacing issues but overall I mostly loved it.
#CriterionBluray #ScorseseWorldCinemaProject3
401) LUCÍA
(1968 dir. Humberto Solás) Date Seen: June 27 2022
In terms of greatest looking black & white movies ever made; this is a photographic paragon up there with ANDREI RUBLEV and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. And each segment's dramatic weight coupled with all the different aesthetic flourishes brought me to tears more than once.
#CriterionBluray #ScorseseWorldCinemaProject3
Viewing Journal: 6/26/2022
F13TH FAN FILM MIXTAPE
(2019 dir. lots of people) Date Seen: June 26 2022
I prefer this type of arbitrary highlight reel to the more straightforward fan remakes I've seen - ex. RAIDERS: THE ADAPTATION (1989), A NEW HOPE UNCUT (2009), OUR ROBOCOP REMAKE (2014), etc. (although I did like those too!). I think mostly due to the more unfocused nature of the former; It's a bit funnier & more surprising just to witness random clips from all the different home movie interpretations. Like a mini-anthology full of crazy micro shorts.
399) SOLEIL Ô [OH, SUN]
(1970 dir. Med Hundo) Date Seen: June 26 2022
this whole experiment seemed to have an air of therapeutic catharsis. Like the filmmaker was trying to exorcise a mammoth amount of anger & pain from his soul.. Deeply inspiring filmmaking & a masterclass in editing.
#CriterionBluray #ScorseseWorldCinemaProject3
398) GAPPA,
THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER
大巨獣ガッパ
(1967 dir. Haruyasu Noguchi) Date Seen: June 26 2022
Gamera has totally snogged Gappa before
Viewing Journal: 6/25/2022
(2022 dir. Chris Sivertson) Date Seen: June 25 2022
Wife and I really dug the first two acts of this, which felt like a slightly tongue-in-cheek horror take on old Hollywood weepies (or think Todd Haynes shooting a James Wan/Leigh Whannell story). Unfortunately a far-fetched & hammy 3rd act reveal poops all over everything that came before, & afterwards it was kinda difficult to wash out the stink. It almost felt like the writer was trying to shoehorn the disparate endings of SHUTTER ISLAND (2010) and THE VILLAGE (2004) into a story they're awkwardly out of place with. + those big reveals worked due to the way they synched within their own thematic continuity, & that's hardly the case with MONSTROUS.. But at least it was an intriguing & well composed ride for a stretch. & Ricci is wonderful as always 💖
Viewing Journal: 6/28/2022
(2022 dir. Panah Panahi) Date Seen: June 28 2022
hey, whad'ya know! the young Panahi is almost as good as the old one 💗. Also, why do I feel like 50% of the Iranian films I've seen take place in cars?
403) AFTER THE CURFEW
[LEWAT DJAM MALAM]
(1954 dir. Usmar Ismail) Date Seen: June 28 2022
It has to be so disappointing for Indonesian freedom fighters from this era to see what became of their country. You think the poor dude in this movie was disillusioned; just wait until the death squads 11 years later
#CriterionBluRay #ScorseseWorldCinemaProject3
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