Letterboxd — Your life in film

Imagine the dark romance of Wild at Heart mixed with the body horror of Raw and you get Bones and All. Not because that would be the result of the encounter between Justine from Julia Ducournau's film and Sailor and Lula from David Lynch's film, but because the film mixes a doomed romance with a macabre subject matter. Bones and All might not be as resonant with me as the two aforementioned films, but it is still a good film…

I was convinced I had reviewed Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse earlier this year. This rewatch has made my thoughts on this film clear, though. While there's a lot to love about this film, a lot of it also does come off incredibly half-baked and not as well thought-out as many people are trying to make it come off as.

First of all, Miles Morales is still a compelling protagonist. His struggles are highly relatable and even when he makes less…

Quickie:

This rewatch of Cape Fear soured me a bit on certain aspects of this film. While I absolutely love the gray morality surrounding both Nick Nolte's Sam Bowden and Robert De Niro's Max Cady, whilst Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis are also providing excellent supporting performances and Martin Scorsese keeps a tight focused direction throughout the entire runtime. However, De Niro's performance feels a bit too hammy for me to take Max Cady as seriously as I wanted to…

My recent completion of Jim Jarmusch' filmography got me thinking that I should rewatch one of his most influential films, namely Stranger Than Paradise. It's a film that admittedly has not clicked with me fully on previous watches. This time, though, the film worked wonders for me, although I must admit that this might be because I have grown far more familiar to Jarmusch' style than I was the first times I watched this film.

The first thing you can…

Quickie:

Broken Flowers might be Jim Jarmusch' most easily accessible film, helped immensely by Bill Murray's charming, yet tragic presence. We see that the women he loved have ended up leading dissatisfying lives compared to where they were when they met Bill Murray's Don Johnston (a name that is a not so subtle allusion to Don Juan). Yet, despite the seeming unhappiness of the women's lives, we get the sense that Don himself is an incomplete man, whose own self-image…

Quickie:

Permanent Vacation is charming in its intentional meandering aimlessness, but it is also a film I find it hard to be thoroughly engaged by. Comparing this to everything else Jim Jarmusch would eventually make is similar to comparing Pablo Honey with everything else Radiohead would eventually release. Everyone has to start somewhere, and as charming as the various encounters our protagonist Allie faces, he is also a bit too unlikeable and lacking in character to be fully engaging, in…

Apparently, The Limits of Control seems to be one of the least popular and least liked films in Jim Jarmusch's filmography. While I can easily see why this film is not for everyone, a part of what others might find unappealing is kind of what I enjoy about watching this film.

From what I could read about the production of the film, Jim Jarmusch was striving towards making "an action film with no action" and a film with "much suspense…

David Fincher is back with a new film with The Killer, which I admittedly was expecting big things of, as it marks the first collaboration between David Fincher and Michael Fassbender, one of my current favorite actors. While I ultimately did not find this film great, it is still good for what it is trying to be.

First and foremost, I do like the style and atmosphere of this film. The slow-burn directing style and muted colors of Erik Messerschmidt's…

Quickie:

If there is one thing that is almost ubiquitous as a pastime for all generations, regardless of where in the world you are, it is the soothing, comforting presence of a warm cup of coffee. The daily cup(s) of coffee can lead you down a road to new friendships and acquaintances, conversations about a wide variety of topics or it can just be enjoyed in quiet, contemplative solitude. While I don't think every vignette in Coffee and Cigarettes left…

Quickie:

The Princess and the Frog might have some main characters that could be more fleshed out and a plot that is safe and sound for the most part. However, its setting in New Orleans during the Roaring Twenties creates a fun atmosphere with some dark undertones constantly looming throughout, despite both the heroes and villains being gleefully musical and upbeat with their personalities and allegiances. The voice acting, with Anika Noni Rose and Keith David being the standouts, was…