End of Watch

2017-11-262017-12-23 ~ Mark

End of Watch. A+, four stars. Blown away with how unexpectedly great this was, and how much I loved it. Start with something like Miami Vice, but dial back the moody cool and swap in more humor and camaraderie. Loved, loved, loved this movie.

Run All Night

2017-11-262017-12-23 ~ Mark

Run All Night. Second viewing. (The first.) Not sure why I gave it another shot. There’s not enough running! I like the looks at the various intra-gang relationships here and there.

Sicario

2017-11-212017-12-23 ~ Mark

Sicario. Second viewing. (The first.) It’s so gorgeous. I wish the soundtrack were more interesting – lots of bom bom bom military stock-issue heavy orchestra stuff. I like how they tell you in the title what it’s all about and then they distract you from it for two hours. Nicely done.

Mad Max: Fury Road

2017-11-192017-12-23 ~ Mark

Mad Max: Fury Road. Second viewing. (The first.) Felt a little drawn-out this time around. Still a visual delight and I love how they fleshed out this insane world.

Allied

2017-11-122017-12-23 ~ Mark

Allied. Oh man. I fell in love with it within a few minutes. I wish we had more movies like this. Old-fashioned glamorous romance, melodrama. Sweeping but intimate. The stakes are high because the relationships matter.

The Departed

2017-11-102017-12-23 ~ Mark

The Departed. Third, maybe fourth viewing. Somehow it’s compulsively watchable but I don’t actually like it that much? I like the Japanese original Infernal Affairs more, I think. Filed under: Martin Scorsese.

Arrival

2017-11-012017-12-23 ~ Mark

Arrival. Second viewing. (The first.) The mind-bending scifi stuff doesn’t dazzle as much, having seen it twice and read the story a few times. I like the sappiness, though, and I wish they’d play it up more. But I think if they had, I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much the first time…

Panic Room

2017-10-232017-12-16 ~ Mark

Panic Room. Nicely constrained in time and space. I like the hints for stuff that comes up in the story later on, little things that foreshadow and reward your attention. Things are often in the frame for a reason.

Seven

2017-10-232017-12-16 ~ Mark

Seven. It’s not aging very well for me. Mid-grade Fincher is still pretty darn good.

Dances with Wolves

2017-10-182017-12-30 ~ Mark

Dances-With-Wolves

Dances with Wolves. The love story is a ruin, but I really like everything else. That buffalo hunt is spectacular.

Stagecoach

2017-10-152017-12-16 ~ Mark

Stagecoach. It is every bit as good as you’ve heard. Really wish I hadn’t ignored the praise for so long. I like these movies where a loosely-tied cast of characters get thrown together. Made me think of Mad Max: Fury Road, if taken down to a crisp 90 minutes. The pacing sweeps you up. I wasn’t expecting a love story, too!

The General’s Daughter

2017-10-152017-12-16 ~ Mark

The General’s Daughter. Ugh. Just too much.

Congo

2017-10-142017-12-16 ~ Mark

Congo. Dumb old-fashioned ’90s jungle adventure. It’s not good, and not really close, but has its charms here and there. Laura Linney!

Doctor Strange

2017-10-142017-12-16 ~ Mark

Doctor Strange. It’s a nice change of pace to see a superhero who’s a bit of an asshole. Great finale. But still, it’s yet another superhero origin story… There has to be another way.

Alien

2017-10-122017-12-16 ~ Mark

Alien. Perfection. Still a five-star film. I love those Nostromo jackets!

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

2017-10-082017-12-16 ~ Mark

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. So, so corny, but it keeps it light and there’s a good adventure waterfall scene. Thesis: bad action/adventure movies are better than most other genres done badly.

Prisoners

2017-10-082017-12-16 ~ Mark

Prisoners. The older I get, torture scenes in movies are just more and more unbearable. I fear we still haven’t appreciated Hugh Jackman enough. Nerdy Terrence Howard is a treat! Gyllenhaal’s character is so weird and I love that they don’t delve into it. much He just is.

The Invitation

2017-10-012017-12-16 ~ Mark

The Invitation. Really good! Draws you in and lingers. I like how it lets the suspicion sizzle without confirming it until late in the game. Love the use of and absence of sound throughout.

Passion

2017-09-292017-12-16 ~ Mark

Passion. The ballet scene is sublime. Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune plays prominently – teased early on a billboard. More on-the-nose than I expected it to be, and I was hoping for more of a slow burn.

Wish You Were Here

2017-09-242017-12-16 ~ Mark

Wish You Were Here. I really like that Joel Edgerton. The movie is fine. Plot gets a little tooooo thick and I wonder if the timeline-chopping hurts it.