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Bottoms 2023
Baffled by the amount of significance fans and detractors alike are able to jam into the most innocuous shit; I didn't detect a shred of sincerity here, so how successfully this does or doesn't work as a coming-of-age story seems totally inconsequential. If anything I'd argue it's not really as transgressive as it thinks it is (although I can't say I recall the last time I watched a woman being kicked in the face by a man get played off…
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Love at First Sight 2023
Tangible chemistry marred by a heavily affected quirkiness, as if those involved inexplicably felt there should more to these things than "romance" and "comedy." Enjoyable, but not quite at the level of Set It Up, apparently the New Standard for Netflix romcoms, and perhaps even the genre at large.
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School of Rock 2003
What a gem. Linklater's patient and even humble direction shows off how on another level Black is here, a number of long takes turn his manic energy into something surprisingly human, instead of just schtick. Having not seen this in years, what really caught me off guard is just how tender the whole production is: this is a movie that genuinely loves the kids populating it. A couple standout gags are Jack Black being sincerely excited by hearing a 10 year old play 'Smoke on the Water,' guitar-shop style, and the big "?" connecting Captain Beefheart to Prog on his rock history diagram.
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Signs 2002
It would be fun to irritate the Shyamalam defenders and dismiss this as "elevated Pure-flix," simple Christian propaganda, but the gorgeous craft and Spielberg worship (lol) ground this firmly in Hollywood thrills and humanism. As much as I appreciate the existential anguish here, "Fear & Trembling & Aliens," what really gets this across the line for me is seeing Shyamalam himself grapple with his role as a creator, someone who plays God with character and audience alike for ends even he seems…
