Mr. Brooks. Two things I really like here: 1) villainous Kevin Costner (cf. A Perfect World) and 2) showing the subconscious/alter ego/devil on the shoulder in William Hurt. I think the plot might have a bit too much going on, but it’s fun stuff.
The Uninvited (2009)
The Uninvited (2009). A remake of a Korean film. Elizabeth Banks and David Strathairn are just about always worth a watch, but this one can be skipped. Less than 90 minutes though! Maybe I just prefer more loose ends?
Klute
Klute. A young Jane Fonda and a young Donald Sutherland. I don’t remember ever seeing them performing young. Didn’t love the movie, but just to see and understand the early talent is cool. Good companion films: Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, All the President’s Men, Night Moves.
Night Moves
Night Moves. This was great. So much despair in sunny places. Gene Hackman has a crazy amount of charisma. (The more recent and unrelated movie called Night Moves is good, too.)
Psycho
Mulholland Falls
Mulholland Falls. If you must watch an early/mid-century L.A. crime tale, let it be Chinatown instead.
The Fly (1986)
The Fly (1986). Excellent. I hadn’t seen this in ages. I remember watching it as a kid and being kinda bored and impatient. Totally different experience as an adult. You kinda know what’s coming and it’s supported and pushed the whole way with the character development. Fun performance.
You Were Never Really Here
You Were Never Really Here. I don’t really… get it… but Phoenix is great. I’m glad he’s finding himself some oddball roles to live in.
Trust
Trust. Pretty good. And sad. But count me in for anything featuring Keener and Davis.
A Star Is Born (2018)
A Star Is Born (2018). Didn’t fall in love with it as it seems so many others did. Really loved the first hour or so. The build-ups to the musical set-pieces were perfectly manipulative – such perfect pace and timing and stakes. Ally’s career seemed a bit too easy and magical, and the snapshots of whirlwind success kinda killed the second half for me. But it’s not just her story. Good stuff.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu. The cut back and forth during the sleepwalk is so good. I like those creepy Venus fly traps and spiders. The score in my version had some Sibelius quotes – nice. Didn’t expect the tie-in with the plague, but I really like it.
Rear Window
Rear Window. Masterpiece. Saw this one at a revival screening. What a treat to see it on a big screen. Still my favorite Hitchcock.
El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
El Orfanato (The Orphanage). I really like stressful movies like this. Dread and anxiety make the best kind of horror.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a classic. Holds up well on my 10-millionth rewatch. Lots of lovely little details in music, scenery, etc.. (Previously.)
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider. So fun! I love how you see our characters growth – a bike race in familiar neighborhoods, a foot chase from some teenage thugs, waterboarding with a showerhead? We get lower stakes, and mistakes, but similar thrills. Even when the difficulty ratchets up, we see a cycle of vulnerability, fear, panic… and then determination. Our hero is not invincible, not inevitable. (Reminds me of Die Hard that way.) I like seeing the increasing influence of MMA in recent action films – more grappling, jujitsu, throws, locks, holds.
The Lodger
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog. Preeeetty good. Theater screening with live accompaniment. So much more beautiful to look at than I expected for something created 90+ years ago. Sometimes it’s hard not to laugh at old-timey-ness (in plot, acting style) of old movies (or books, for that matter), but if you can be present and give yourself over, you’ll see why they’ve stuck around. Filed under: Hitchcock.
Green Room
Green Room. Dark. Having a harder time with irredeemably bad villains (outside of your comics types). Never quite hangs together. Tensions not high enough, light moments fall just a little short.
Hereditary
Hereditary. I liked it… and it’s completely draining. Just seeps in and grinds you down like the characters. Toni Collette is a master.
Lean On Pete
Lean on Pete. Tempted to call it my favorite of the year. So many characters that seem to live on outside the frame, defying the template you might expect of them, in “this kind of movie”. I was all-in from the first few seconds.
It Follows
It Follows. Loved this movie. Good theme, good creeps, good jumps, great soundtrack.
Mark Larson 