A nice romp for the “let women be weird little freaks” crowd. I’m obsessed with Thomasin McKenzie’s annoying voice finding a new level with an annoying Massachusetts accent.
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The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial 2023
Reminded me of those episodes of The Good Wife where they would do a military trial and the rules were slightly different.
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Leave the World Behind 2023
I liked Mr. Robot (you're looking at the president of the Season 2 Defender Club) but I assumed the upper level of Sam Esmail's talent was as a pretty solid Kubrick/Fincher impersonator. I didn't realize he had this in him. Ultimately this can't fully sustain itself but there are some pure sicko sequences in here.
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You Hurt My Feelings 2023
I cooked a skirt steak the other day that I don't think my mom liked but I was too afraid to ask after I showed her this movie lmao
Really fell in love with Tobias Menzies' performance on this rewatch. On the whole, his character is probably/definitely not a great therapist (and the film is so smart to not show us any of the actual work he does with his one success story), but he's so fantastic at having the…
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War Pony 2022
I worship Riley Keough and would give her a quart of my blood if she needed it, no questions asked. Until then, I'll have to settle for watching her (co-)directorial debut.
Solid movie. I liked that it stayed true to the lives of its indigenous characters without resorting to complete misery porn. I preferred the moments of just hanging out with these people rather than when it introduced more traditional drama, but I get the impulse to include it.
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Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé 2023
This was the first concert film I’ve ever seen in theaters (I saw The Eras Tour in person so I skipped the film 💅) and I had a blast, thanks to Beyoncé going hard and an audience that treated it like the real thing. I think there’s maybe a little too much cutting away from the music, but it’s cool to see insight into an artist who’s become so guarded over the years.
Not to pit two powerful queens against…
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May December 2023
I wasn't sure what I was going to make of this one, because Todd Haynes films tend to bounce off of me a little, with the exception of Carol (and even that one I don't love as fervently as some do). I still don't know that I'm fully on his wavelength, but much of this is so enthralling and discomfiting that I could see past some of my quibbles with Haynes' approach. That graduation dress shopping scene is a contender for scene of the year.
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Battle Royale 2000
For some reason I figured this would land in the "more iconic than good" category, and technically it is more iconic than it is good, but that doesn't make it not good. Even in the age of Hunger Games, death game anime, and idk Fortnite? this still manages to be pretty fun. It falters most of the time it tries to inject some character or pathos, but thankfully the pace stays brisk and there's never too long without a kill.
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Napoleon 2023
It's a cliche at this point, but you really can tell how this will be improved in the Obligatory Ridley Scott 3-4 Hour Director's Cut, most notably probably shaking off this theatrical cut's feeling that it's often just speedrunning through historical checkpoints without alot of story or texture in between. What should be an opulent historical epic feels more like a slideshow for history buffs (there's one scene where Napoleon goes out of his way to address each of the…
