Miami Vice. I love this movie. The pathos was stronger this time around, the resignation. On each watch I also become a little more resentful that Foxx doesn’t have a bigger role. His relationship with Crockett has something to offer the story, but we don’t see it much. I’d be up for another 12 minutes with the two of them on screen. Filed under: Michael Mann.
Punch-Drunk Love. I put this one off for a long, long time. I started very skeptical, but it won me over. Brings out sides of Sandler I never knew were there, and gotta respect a movie that drifts so freely from convention when it feels right. My PT Anderson power rankings:
Cameraperson. Man I loved this one. A collage of footage from director Kirsten Johnson’s work on other films. It works as an experience of the lives she documents and as seeing through her own eyes, and as wrestling with the choices of what or what not to show and how or how not to tell these stories. Highly recommended.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I remember having the biggest crush on Dr. Elsa Schneider as a kid and feeling very conflicted about it. It’s a fun ride, but also felt a little frustrating sometimes when they’re playing for laughs.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I forgot how weird this movie was, is. Breakneck zany with no patience for sitting around asking questions.
Raiders of the Lost Ark. It holds up the best of the original trilogy. I feel Iike the Marion Ravenwood character still hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves – Karen Allen is great. Watching as an adult you realize that Indy is… often not very good at what he does. Still gorgeous and fun and it’ll be that way for years to come.
The Witch. Second viewing. Incredible movie, and my appreciation grows and grows the more I think and read about it.
Blue Ruin. Second viewing. I wasn’t as gobsmacked as I was the first time I watched it, but it holds up really well.
Stormy Monday. I like its stylishness, the moody, cynical, compact story. Also enjoyed Mike Figgis’ Internal Affairs.
Love & Friendship. If you like Jane Austen and/or Whit Stillman, you can’t go wrong here. Chatty, witty, gossipy. Things really pick up when Sir James Martin appears. It’s like someone tossed a confetti bomb into the room. I should watch more chamber pieces.
Inside Llewyn Davis. I liked it but I feel like I was missing a little something. It’s just not the Coen way to get super sappy. Can’t help but see this movie as the two of them trying to work out how they’d carry on without the other. I’d rank this one third out of their movies I’ve seen, behind No Country for Old Men and Fargo and way ahead of The Big Lebowski.
The Neon Demon. If divisiveness was Refn’s goal, it seems he delivered. Lots of hate and eye-rolling for this one, and I get it to a degree (especially when the director is kind of a troll). But I liked it. I appreciated Lauren Wilford’s perspective. Movies are not just the stories they’re about, but also the way they are about it. Gotta make space in the world for demented fever-dreamy impressionist movies, too.
Bone Tomahawk. It’s a western and a horror film. I shouldn’t have to sell it more than that, but I’ll add that it has a script that just blew my mind. So funny, so sharp. There’s some thematic richness, too, in how these characters (all pretty well-drawn) manage what they face together (some, uh, seriously horrific stuff – fair warning). So pleasantly surprised with this movie. I need a rewatch!
Arrival. I loved the short story collection that this movie draws from. I wish they’d played the extremes just a bit more. Maybe get even more nerdy with the science/linguistics, and even more fragmented/playful with the chronology. Can’t have everything, though. It’s about as good an adaptation as you can ask for that’d still get wide release.
Moonlight. Loved it. Broke my heart many times over. One of my 2016 favorites.
Bølgen (The Wave). With disaster films, you pretty much know what you’re getting into. This one delivers on all the beats you want – peaceful daily life with the foreboding undercurrent; the guy who has a spider-sense about what’s coming; the family drama; the series of traps and mishaps. These can only get so good, but it holds up its end of the deal. This could make a nice double-feature with Force Majeure.
Halloween. It holds up!
Sicario. As visually awesome as you’ve heard. Blunt and Brolin are great as usual, fine, sure, but Benicio Del Toro is probably in my top 5 all time?
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. As always, good company elevates everything, so live-tweeting the movie took a fun story to another level.
Chimes at Midnight. Kinda exhausting.
Mark Larson 