Absolutely timeless film, and I think one of the best things about the trilogy is that they work just as well as standalone stories. Although, this was mostly watched so we could revisit and reminisce about Paris. What a wonderful city.
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The Beta Test 2021
The social commentary and satirical parts aren’t exactly subtle, and it wanders off on some weird tangents but Jim Cummings’ performance keeps it all together. Feels like a film that has come straight out of the early 00s. Cummings is one of the best comedic actors around and really brings the best out of men on the edge trying to keep it together as their world falls apart. Like a weird mashup of American Psycho, Eternal Sunshine and Under The…
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L.A. Story 1991
The fun thing about going back to these type of films is spotting everyone that pops up. Aside from Sarah Jessica and Richard E. Grant, there’s Patrick Stewart, Iman, MC Shan (?), Paula Abdul, Chevy Chase, Terry Jones (doing his Monty Python woman voice on the phone I think), Martin Lawrence, Rick Moranis (doing a London accent for some reason) and Woody Harrleson. The film? It’s at the height of Martin’s popularity when he could get almost anything green lit.…
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The Stepfather 1987
Solid 80s thriller held together by O’Quinn who was genuinely unnerving. But, wtf is up with that nude scene of the daughter in the shower in the last act - who we were told very clearly was 16?!
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Prince: Sign o' the Times 1987
Technically we know that Prince could match anyone’s chops. But who else could hold the entire audience in the palm of their hands with such charisma and presence whilst rocking a guitar? Stevie managed it with a harmonica, which is a whole other level (Lizzo needs to lean into her flute playing for this reason alone) but it’s the funk and guitar sessions when you see the real Prince break out in any of his concert films.
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Prince and the Revolution: Purple Rain 1985
Little Richard, Jimi, Joni, James Brown, Sly, Stevie, Rick James - all in there yet this man remains incomparable. That guitar solo on Purple Rain is ethereal - there aren’t many people on God’s green earth that have had chops like that. A magical experience and the world is poorer for the absence of performers given the stage to give us performances like this.
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House of Games 1987
Feels like a theatre director making their first film given how staged most of it feels (although the noir element comes into play here quite a lot) and I would love to see a stage version of this. It’s on the nose a lot of the time but the performances lean into that and it’s a lot of fun all the way through.
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After Hours 1985
Been a long time since I’ve seen this and appreciated it much more. One of Scorsese’s most underrated films. Features a whole raft of character actors that were seen for years to come and this is Griffith Dunne’s finest hour. Real shame he didn’t get more chances to show what he could do.
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Saint Omer 2022
The subtly of Alice Diop’s film is quietly devastating, slowly seeping into the corners of your own fears and worries as a child or parent. Generational trauma lives on psychologically and genetically and can only be limited but never prevented - those young eyes new to the world are always observing, watching and trying to figure it out, although the ultimate answers never arrive for most of us in the end. Black women watching the film may have several other…
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Neptune Frost 2021
A film that makes complete sense when factored into Saul Williams’ career as a whole. Its lo-fi Afrofuturistic ideals require a big leap of imagination in places, connecting the mining of 3TG minerals for modern technology with the ongoing exploitation of Africa for capitalist gain. At the same time it immerses itself in the power of the consciousness while brilliantly weaving together African polyrhythms with black cyberpunk sonics and aesthetics. Sun Ra would definitely approve.
Not necessarily a film to…
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Alcarràs 2022
A film about how a traditional mode of exploitation is being wiped out by modern day commercial exploitation. There’s a comment early on made about the black farm workers that - if Simon had the nerve - could’ve dug into this, but instead it asks for sympathy where none is deserved. And it’s a damn shame because I’ve been looking forward to Simon’s follow up to the beautiful Summer 1993 ever since her debut left me a blubbering mess a few years back.