The Monster (Bryan Bertino, 2016): 1/5
Bryan Bertino's cinematic adaptation of the phrase: "D'you get it?" (SPOILER ALERT:........................................................................................................The monster is alcoholism. Or hardships. Or cruelty in life. Something to that effect, told to us incessantly. Should NOT have been marketed as horror.)

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (Constance Marks, 2011): 2.5/5
Cute and cuddly! *cut to me later reading Kevin Clash's Wiki page and learning of the sexual allegations with a young boy* WHY MUST EVERY MAN I LOVE DISAPPOINT ME. 

White Bird in a Blizzard (Gregg Araki, 2014): 3/5 
Strives to maintain a sufficient amount of suspense while presenting a touching tale about youth. Surprisingly engaging and unpredictable. 

re-watched Training Day (Antoine Fuqua, 2001): 5/5 
Tightly paced and always entertaining with its two acts of pure excellence and corking dialogue. Not to mention one firecracker of a performance by Denzel.  

re-watched Ariel (Aki Kaurismaki, 1988): 4/5
"What's this button for?" 

Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis, 2018): 2/5 
Claire Denis's first sci-fi film: a world where no one wants to commit to being with Juliette Binoche. #moviepass 

Paddington 2 (Paul King, 2017): 2/5
Sorry I'm a heartless asshole. 

First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2018): 4.5/5
Or, The Radicalization of a Country Priest. Pitch black arthouse film with intoxicating visuals, razor sharp storytelling, and nuanced craft. Enthralling. Paul Schrader is BACK, BABY!!!!! #moviepass


Manifesto (Julian Rosefeldt, 2015): 2/5
Cate Blanchett plays 13 characters reciting dozens of artistic and political manifestos, from Marx to Dogma '95. It isn't literally watching a favorite actor read the phone book, but the spliced-together manifestos are too many, too jumbled, and too context-less to pull any kind of coherent meaning. Was likely more successful in its initial form as as multi-screen art installation. 

The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismaki, 2017): 3.5/5 
Funny and sad in equal measures. 

Deadpool 2 (David Leitch, 2018): 2/5
I have little memory of having watched this. #moviepass

1922 (Zak Hilditch, 2017): 1.5/5 
The only element that's lacking is the most important one - a sense of ratcheting tension and suspense to justify a 1h45m broody, atmospheric horror tale. See: The Witch for a movie akin to this, done right.

Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes, 2017): 1/5
I'll just stick to re-watching Safe and Carol, thanks. 

Night and Day (Hong sang-soo, 2008): 2/5
I find Hong's structure too meandering, and his flat visual style only adds to the lack of engagement. Ugh and those obnoxious zooms. 

re-watched Darwin's Nightmare (Hubert Sauper, 2004): 4/5
Fucked up and horrifying.

Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017): 3.5/5
Pleasant. Formulaic territory but makes up for it with charming leads.

re-watched L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997): 5/5
When you think about it, it's The Wizard of Oz - Bud gets a brain, Jack gets a heart, Ed gets the courage.