Cocaine Bear (Elizabeth Banks, 2023): 0.5/5
Narcos meets Jackass. If this movie had been released on April 1st I might have understood the joke. So sad that it's Ray Liotta's final movie.
The 3 worst movie tropes/tendencies:
1. let’s throw everything at you to try to make you cry- no
matter how undeserved it is.
2. the “let’s incorporate social media into this movie”
3. clear product placement
This movie nails all three and is a complete hack-y, sitcom-y
mess.
Curious stuff is going on with form in this film, with everything looking intentionally stage bound, down to "puppeteers" in black clothing placing props and moving sets around, even positioning the characters at certain points. While that was a cool wrinkle, I never got terribly invested in this Japanese melodrama about a merchant in love with a courtesan, the two of whom eventually perform the act of the title.
Not a whole lot to say that isn't obvious: a striking
condemnation of religion and patriarchy (and, more interestingly, their
intersection) that conveys its points directly and bluntly, but with
thoughtfulness and compassion for its subjects.
My critical opinion is that Emmanuelle Beart deserves better
than these two dumbass men. Not a great film, but I still found myself engaged
by it, its clever subversion of the love triangle dynamic and its low key
charm.
A 4-hour French film praised to high heaven by most critics. A
middle-aged painter has not painted in a decade after abandoning a portrait of
his lover. Now a new woman has reinvigorated his artistic inclination, but the
relationship between artist and model soon turns complex. I would have loved
this film in my early 20's. But now I'm very tired of the artist depicted as a
tortured genius that must be catered to, and have developed an almost reflexive
repulsion for obfuscation, and boy, this plays all the notes.
Adapting the sinister true story of a young seminarian peasant
who beheaded a child in Cantal, France, during the first years of the 20th
century, BRUNO REIDAL sticks to the point of view of the murderer in an attempt
to unravel the mystery behind this elusive and troubled personality, both a
mistreated young boy, apparently discreet and puny, and a repressed monster.
Now I know the reason why there is a specific word for the back
of the neck in French.
A vital piece of documentary history, both as an early example
of the power of capturing acts of police brutality on video, and as an
important stepping stone in the development of a key director's signature
aesthetic.
Je t'aime moi non plus (Serge Gainsbourg, 1976): 1/5
This movie in a nutshell:
1. Jane Birkin dresses as a boy. She meets a gay man Joe
Dallesandro who's with his boyfriend and they hook up.
2. Gerard Depardieu has a cameo and he shows up randomly from
time to time and he's riding a white horse for no reason.
Total garbage.
A science fiction film of sorts, since it postulates a universe
in which Isabelle Huppert is treated not like a goddess walking among us, but
as a mousy milquetoast physics teacher who is despised by her inner-city high
school students. Nonsensical, pointless, and the tone is too light to be
serious but not funny enough to be comic.
At its worst, it's a slight film about a culture that its
filmmakers are pretty clearly not a part of. At its best, it's yet another
Dardenne film, full of handheld camera work, "natural" performances
and a trademarked abrupt ending. So, yeah, I guess I liked it.
Chris loves his repetitive hooks.
Chris LOVES his repetitive hooks.
Most of this was pretty standard Rock material that was fairly funny. I laughed several times, although I’ve seen better sets. As for the Will Smith stuff, I was expecting far worse. Nothing particularly hilarious, but I guess he should get to vent about it once.
Neptune Frost (Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman, 2021): 3/5
Fascinating and densely layered dreamscape sci-fi musical from
Rwanda that's equal parts perplexing and intoxicating. Powered by a pounding, churning electronic soundtrack -
there's a lot going on, probably some points I missed, but the whole thing
pulses with a dream logic that feels right, and a sense of potentiality that's
striking and vital.
One of those films that mimics the pain and tedium of passing
time with such grim verisimilitude that watching becomes painful and tedious.
Total film festival filler.
A Bread Factory: Part One (Patrick Wang, 2018): 3/5
Altman meets Parks and Rec. Sincere and warm, its low budget aesthetic charms probably more for those who have worked in community theaters.
A Bread Factory: Part Two (Patrick Wang, 2018): 2/5
Why did Wang feel the need to tack on an additional two hours? Contains instances of interesting flair (such as spontaneous tap dancing and jokey musical numbers) that are stretched out far too long or revisited with little purpose. Without the impending approval of the competing arts space that drives the first part, A Bread Factory loses what little steam it had.
All Light, Everywhere (Theo Anthony, 2021): 3/5
A look at the present and historic role of imaging/perception as
an incredibly influential, and violent, force in science, military/policing,
and documentary filmmaking itself. One part Adam Curtis-esque cine-essay about
filming and seeing. One part structural experiment in the vein of
Koyaanisqatsi. And best of all - one part accidental character study of two of
the most familiar yet strikingly, uniquely evil conservative capitalists and
the companies that make them (or at least they hope will make them) rich. The
film occasionally falters under the weight of its ambition, its all
encompassing societal and philosophical scope causing the film to feel
disjointed. But as an argument against taking the filmed process at face value,
and rethinking the ways in which we source information from content, it's an
effective doc that can teach you something as well.
The Green Years (Paulo Rocha, 1963): 3/5
My first Paulo Rocha film, a debut that has all the qualities of
the cinematic golden age it was made in. The finale shouldn’t be as shocking as
it is but we’ve been gaslit by so many films about the redemptive power of love
and aggrieved masculinity, it is. Truth doesn’t age.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021): 2/5
Emotionally bland, uninteresting characters with trivial
problems and some shoddy dialogue. Hamaguchi tries hard to be Rohmer but fails
miserably.
This is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection (Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, 2019): 3.5/5
A tale of the clash between the old and the new, modernity
versus tradition, told in the measured pace of a tone poem. The cinematography
here is exceptional, and the experience created is mesmerizing, almost hypnotic
at times, absorbing you into its rhythms in a manner akin to slow cinema. And
all of this is held together by a quietly resilient performance from Mary Twala
as a woman beset by the ravages of time and plagued by immeasurable grief.
Agree with so much here, especially your thoughts on Young Ahmed (which seems to be underrated) and Neptune Frost. As you predicted, I indeed loved La Belle Noiseuse in my 20s (mostly because of how sexy I thought it was), but I'm afraid to rewatch it, especially in light of my reaction to subsequent Rivette movies.
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