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The French Lieutenant's Woman 1981
This is so atmospheric and gorgeous, and the meta conceit of the premise is so fascinating, that I wish I liked this more.
It's one of those movies that falls victim to having a bifurcated narrative where one half doesn't get enough time, in this case the modern filmmaking half, which ends up feeling like window-dressing for a somewhat above-average costume drama, rather than the adept deconstruction of costume dramas that the first act provides.
The bigger problem, for me,…
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Below Her Mouth 2016
This is a Bad Lesbian Movie through and through but it gets more credit than most do because it's clearly trying its best.
The actors aren't very good, the script is wooden, and the thankless boyfriend/husband character is ever worse and more rote here than usual.
All that said, this movie is also cute, very neon, gives its characters halfway-plausible backstories that increased my interest in their relationship, and most importantly, the sex scenes here are shot with an eye…
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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2003
Nostalgia held this up for the first half or so, and then all the misogyny, subpar CGI, and general limpness in place of climactic energy kind of hit me.
12-year-old me loved this movie for a reason, and a lot of that stuff I loved about it is still there. Unfortunately, there's just also a lot of...other stuff.
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Mamma Mia! 2008
This is my third time watching Mamma Mia.
It gets more confusing every time.
And also, thankfully, more amazing.
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Love My Life 2006
An oddly paced, pretty charming little queer film.
The initial premise is bonkers, and all the many little subplots seem potentially fraught with drama before calming down and getting worked out quickly and calmly. This is a fascinating structure for a movie, even though it leads to stops and starts and keeps the film from ever putting much wind in its sails.
Unfortunately, the last act slips into conventional story territory, but good acting and a beautiful ending win the…
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Personal Shopper 2016
What a profound depiction of grief. Haunting and chilling in the manifestations of the spirit world—the manifestations of mourning. Kristen Stewart delivers, yet again, a brilliant performance (with a killer wardrobe—God, I wish that were my wardrobe).
I love how Assayas embraces digital mediums (as he did in Clouds of Sils Maria). Texting forms an integral part of the story, and it's used in such an authentic way, a way that renders its effects only more chilling. The tension is…
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Dirty Computer 2018
A vibrant, passionate, beautifully gay film that makes the other Blade Runner/dystopian future sci-fi stuff we're experiencing now look like nothing at all.
A feature-length version covering the entire album would be a clear 5/5, but after listening to Dirty Computer this feels kind of like a highlights reel at times. There's stuff it skims over, particularly towards the end, that would have been satisfying to see onscreen.
What a fucking highlights reel, though. What's onscreen is never less than stunning.
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The Curse of the Cat People 1944
Hot take: this is a perfect sequel because it's nothing like the original film, and not indebted to it at all, while at the same time being a totally plausible progression of events. It stands on its own, while also cementing itself as the second half of a wild double-feature.
The real reason I loved this film, and found it a surprisingly difficult experience at times, is much more personal. This is a dreamlike movie about an imaginative, lonely child…
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