The Rescue (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin): 3.5/5

More emotionally rewarding than Free Solo. Sure, there are political motivations for the expensive rescue effort, but to see the extent of people and resources in action is remarkable. True heroes here.

House of Gucci (Ridley Scott, 2021): 1/5

The ghost of George Michael should sue for the inclusion of his music in this dull debacle.

rewatched The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993): 3/5

Ada's wholehearted surrender to Baines still troubles me. Campion really does present Baines' sexual blackmail as a genuine expression of pure love, which comes perilously close to "I beat you because I care." And the film just doesn't complicate that enough for my taste.

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Cohen, 2021): 3/5

The concerted minimalism… the high contrast digital black & white photography, the quasi-modernist production design and modest costumes, the relaxed almost conversational approach to the performances… all aggressively fine. It remains very much the kind of film you cue up on your classroom’s TV to try and get students to eat their literary vegetables. I hope Joel had fun though.

Haxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922): 3/5

Despite its alternate title/subtitle (Witchcraft Through the Ages), I'd always assumed this to be a silent horror movie a la Vampyr and Nosferatu, not a documentary that for a while seems to function more as an academic treatise. First 15 minutes are so expository, in fact, and rely so heavily on paintings and illustrations (complete with an actual pointer entering the frame now and then to flag a specific element) that I began mentally preparing my standard "this should have been a book" complaint, which I'd never expected might apply to a film made nearly a century ago. Thankfully, Christensen soon shifts into dramatic mode, albeit mostly by way of producing what amounts to a proto-Crucible—one that ultimately blames women's pesky uteri for the needless slaughter of countless innocents.

Nightmare Alley (Guillermo del Toro, 2021): 1/5

I remain almost completely allergic to the very pretty and profoundly boring work of Guillermo del Toro.

Compliance (Craig Zobel, 2012): 1/5

Absolutely the worst experience I've ever had watching a movie in recent memory like I... had to pause several times and felt like ripping my hair out this was so.... and during one of those pauses I read the Wikipedia page of the actual incidents including the major one this is based on which just made the rest of the experience that much worse. Jesus fucking christ. (I still love Ann Dowd all the same.)

True Stories (David Byrne, 1986): 3.5/5

David Byrne is such a beautiful, weird man. An examination/celebration of Texas and Americana that also feels like a precursor to everything that aired on Adult Swim in the 2010s. It would make a terrific small town sesquicentennial double feature with Waiting for Guffman.

The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988): 4/5

If I'm totally honest with myself, I have to admit that this film drags quite a bit in the middle; it's basically just the drive, the tunnel, the disappearance, the rehearsal, and then the final Faustian bargain, which collectively is maybe half the total running time. If I'm even more honest with myself, though, I have to admit that I don't much care.

Jackass Forever (Jeff Tremaine, 2022): 2.5/5

A thought-provoking film about friendship. Extra half star for Chris Pontius as Buffalo Bill in their Silence of the Lambs prank.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (Stephen Chiodo, 1988): 2/5

Not very keen on this sort of readymade cult item, but murderous aliens that happen to look like clowns to us wasn't necessarily a bad idea. Applying the funhouse motif to literally everything—their spaceship is a circus tent; their cocoons resemble cotton candy; eggs as popcorn kernels—made it all the more fun.

I, the Worst of All (Maria Luisa Bemberg, 1990): 3/5

i love gay nuns & chiaroscuro

Euphoria Seasons 1 & 2 (Sam Levinson): 4/5

Trashy, soapy HS teen drama and yet...I can't stop watching. I was deeply closeted until I was 20 or 21 and thus did not partake in any sexy sexual activities during my HS years. ("I'm on yearbook! I don't have time for drinking or partying!") Nice to see kids these days being so open and accepting during what is arguably the lamest, worst time in your life.

NEW OBSESSION ALERT: Hunter Schafer. And Zendaya is fantastic. They're really going places.