Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard, 2018): 4/5

I accidentally typed “Good Time at the Battle Royale” lol. Devilish, engaging, and extremely well-crafted. Brad Pitt 100% would’ve played Hemsworth’s role if this were made in the 90s.

Fahrenheit 11/9 (Michael Moore, 2018): 4/5

Scattershot, yes, but I sense this was originally a documentary about Flint that got expanded after the 2016 election. Fun Fact: When Moore’s first feature Rodger & Me came out Donald Trump said “I hope you don’t make one about me.”

The American Soldier (RWF, 1970): 2/5

Imagine Alphaville, Shoot the Piano Player, and Breathless, but German, kind of surreal, and not good.

(The scene where the maid relays the entire plot of Fear Eats The Soul, before it came out, was pretty cool.)

The Farm (Hans Stjernsward, 2018): 0.5/5

Damn vegans are back at it again being annoying. 80% of this movie is just people in animal masks walking around a farm.

A Happening of Monumental Proportions (Judy Greer, 2017): 2.5/5

There's no real protagonist, the stakes are astoundingly low, and the plot is predictable at every turn. The spectacular all-star cast holds their noses and gamely dives in anyway, for the sake of Judy Greer’s directorial debut.

re-watched Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 1994): 5/5

One of my all-time favorites. Crumb epitomizes the best of what documentary film has to offer.

Terms and Conditions May Apply (Cullen Hoback, 2013): 3/5

Today this doc would just be like...a seven-minute Vox video. And it would probably have better graphics.

re-watched Pet Sematary (Mary Lambert, 1989): 3/5

Really bad. But then there's the sweet nostalgia. Zelda still freaks me out.

Bel Canto (Paul Weitz, 2018): 1/5

One of the most inert and lifeless hostage dramas ever made, with a simplistic view of Latin America and its people to boot.

Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2009): 3/5

A structurally-familiar exploit, but still entertaining thanks to great performances from both main and supporting casts.

Danton (Andrei Wajda, 1983): 3/5

Powerful performances, particularly from Wojciech Pszoniak (Robespierre), and Depardieu (Danton) is especially charismatic. The main flaws arise from uneven pacing, a claustrophobic scope, and the familiarity with the historical episode it assumes from the audience. The wonderful Google - who is this fellow in the clockwork wheelchair? Look up “crippled leader of the french revolution”...Couthon. Just so.

Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984): 1/5

Rapey, misogynistic, super long, and overwrought. (And not enough Joe Pesci!!) The phone ringing scene at the start is the most irritating piece of cinema ever.

Hurry up and fucking answer it

Mom and Dad (Brian Taylor, 2017): 3.5/5

Batshitty, harmless fun. Nic Cage is at his absolute 100% meme peak here and Selma Blair is acting her ass off trying to keep up. Excellent movie to watch with friends, and the less they know about it going in, the better.

After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985): 3/5

a Top-Tier Underrated Marty™

Lights Out (David F. Sandberg, 2016): 1.5/5

Don't bother, just watch the original (and brilliant) short film on Vimeo instead.

Paradise (Andrei Konchalovsky, 2016): 2/5

Unable to ignite an emotional fire, the story fades gradually as the limitations of its uneven parts force me to abandon the characters. This ungoverned ship got lost in explanative rumination and trivial details that could have spared the film from that annoying overlong feel.

God's Own Country (Francis Lee, 2017): 3/5

Brokeback Mountain except present-day and with a happy ending.

What Makes Sammy Run? (Delbert Mann, 1959): 3/5

Pretty solid TV adaptation of Budd Shulberg's famed 1941 novel. Sammy Glick as interpreted by an excellent Larry Blyden represents that combustible combination of Machiavellian drive with steely-eyed pitiless power.

Always for Pleasure (Criterion set) (Les Blank, 1978): 3.5/5

A document of vitality and blackness. And the way Les Blank films food is the equivalent of flipping through an outdated oddly tinted mid-century cookbook. I always walk away slightly nauseous and hungry at the same time. The Mardi Gras stuff is cool but I just want to look at the food. 

Wildling (Fritz Bohm, 2018): 3/5

A coming-of-age sorta-werewolf story with a unique bend to it, even if the narrative has familiar beats. The lead performance is convincing and Brad Dourif is great as always, as is James Le Gros: Dirty Mountain Man Cyclops. Minus half a star for not ending with a smash cut to black and Tone Loc's "Wild Thing."

Pyewacket (Adam MacDonald, 2017): 3/5

When your relationship with your mom is finally starting to get better, but you already put an unbreakable death hex on her last week. #awkward Another IFC Midnight indie low budget chilly feature.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (David Slade, 2018): 2.5/5

Tech was smooth, story was lacking. I do realize this is a test drive for wilder things to come. Is it gimmicky or is it clever? Either way it's all surface-level for me.

re-watched The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953): 5/5

Hitchcock may have mastered suspense, but Clouzot wrote poetry with it

re-watched Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964): 5/5

"You're gonna have to answer to the Coca Cola company."

My go-to film for a night of hysterical laughter.

re-watched Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966): 5/5

There needs to be more films where the main character is an animal that is not anthropomorphized.

Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018): 2.5/5

Technical merits are largely unremarkable (though solid), characters have starkly varying levels of depth, and the long-awaited conclusion lacks real punch. Mostly effective overall, but way too derivative for its own good.

re-watched Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994): 5/5

“People tell me all the time Don’t forget about me when you make it to the NBA!'. What I want to tell them is Don’t forget about me when I don’t make it.”

re-watched The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988): 5/5

The OG true crime doc - more satisfying than a six-part podcast with no ending, a Netflix mini series, or a hot mic bathroom burp. Compelling, innovative, and honest to the highest degree.

A Simple Favor (Paul Feig, 2018): 4/5 
Or, "The Sordid Adventures of Brotherfucker and Sisterkiller"

Owns a very particular brand of Mommy Vlogger Noir that grows increasingly/deliciously trashy as the narrative twists and turns. Basically Gone Girl but with two crazy white moms.

Also:
1) I think we should all try to casually sneak the phrase “Are you trying to Diabolique me???" into everyday small talk.

2) I want a sequel to this and I don’t care if there would be no decent storyline just give me Blake Lively saying baby for 120 minutes straight.

3) I have a simple favor, can Blake Lively please make out with me on a couch?

Destination Wedding (Victor Levin, 2018): 1.5/5

A tired It Happened One Night scenario that aims for Linklater but plays like bad Allen.

Lizzie (Craig Macneill, 2018): 3/5

And you thought lesbians U-Hauling on the second date was bad.

Colette (Wash Westmoreland, 2018): 3/5

The Egyptian dance sequence, where Keira Knightly goes full on lesbo-Metropolis, will cure your depression.

Roma (Alfonso Cuaron, 2018): 4.5/5

alfonso cuaron before writing roma: i guess i support men's rights

alfonso cuaron 2 pages into writing roma: men's rights to shut the fuck up! 

#moviepass

Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018): 3.5/5

An indie comedy that goes for broke for our tumultuous era, pushing absurdism to cathartic extremes. (Some observations are so brutal that they only work as comedy when exaggerated to a literally insane degree.) But it's not as if one has to admire the big picture in order to laugh, as there's plenty of cherishable micro-humor throughout. Filmmaking can admittedly be clumsy—not always in the intentional, Gondry-esque way—and the ending, both climax and denouement, fall surprisingly flat, leaving an amateurish outgoing impression. But channeling this much justifiably righteous anger into semi-accessible, oft-hilarious form is no small feat.

Elvis Presley: The Searcher (Thom Zimny, 2018): 3/5

A narrow focus on Elvis Presley’s search for emotional authenticity in the music he recorded and performed live. First half devotes some of its running time to the gospel/blues artists who influenced Elvis in formative years. Second half (from 1960 to 1977) chooses to handle the periods of mostly-mediocre programmer movies and post-Vegas performance decline with get-through-it-fast blurriness. Elvis's personal life has been done to death, so this was somewhat refreshing.

The King (Eugene Jarecki, 2017): 2.5/5

Overly ambitious and dizzyingly erratic in its expansive scope. Jarecki abandons the biographical celebrity doc for an assessment of American culture through a loose, allegorical study of Presley's legend and his significance in American mythology. He structures the film around the gimmick of staging interviews in Presley's Rolls Royce, and the arguments frequently veer into indulgent or trite introspection and leave too much room for celebrity interviews that add little beyond a redundant evocation of the emptiness and corrosiveness of fame. All in all, the whole thing forms less of a coherent thesis than a mood piece suggesting a culture in a state of dazed confusion in the Trump era.

re-watched Dangerous Minds (John N. Smith, 1995): 1/5

Two things: 1) Michelle Pfeiffer has an awful and inconsistent Southern accent here and 2) I still know all the words to "Gangsta's Paradise."

re-watched Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (RWF, 1974): 4/5

Slightly prefer this to All That Heaven Allows—in part, perhaps, because adding racism/xenophobia makes it seem a bit less inexplicable when everyone starts freaking the fuck out.

re-watched The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Bunuel, 1972): 4/5

A single pointed joke that gets funnier and funnier, abetted by a sextet of actors who refrain from any winking or nudging—Bulle Ogier in particular achieves maximum vacuity without calling attention to herself in any way, but they all embody entitlement with zero fuss. Genial drollery from start to finish.

Hook (Steven Spielberg, 1991): 1.5/5

Jack liked the NeverNeverLand parts, which reminded me in a good way of one of those silly MGM musicals on an actual huge set (like, say, The Pirate). The beginning and ending were unbelievably turgid.

Baskin (Can Evrenol, 2015): 2/5

Terrible people encounter people who are even more terrible in this forgettable Turkish horror flick.

Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018): 2.5/5

Some fun, nutty ideas almost overcome some serious moviemaking awkwardness. Like Being John Malkovich but worse.

Petulia, rw (Richard Lester, 1968): 2.5/5

Lester applies some of his tricks to a more serious story set in San Francisco in the late 60s, as youth culture unbuckles social norms for The Olds. Jerry Garcia wanders through in a hat. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Maniac (Cary Fukunaga, 2018): 1.5/5

Waste of my time and, worse, of Emma Stone’s.

Deux Hommes dans Manhattan (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1959): 3/5

A la Tarantino, this is a movie about noir movies, packed with genuine noir pleasure from someone who appreciates them. Jazz and Times Square lights shining off highly polished sedans, shit like that. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Mickey and Nicky (Elaine May, 1976): 3.5/5

My second favorite Cassavetes movie (after A Woman…), and certainly the funniest. Cassavetes and Falk are both in top form. #ByebyeFilmstruck

* First Man (Damien Chazelle, 2018): 4/5

Thrilling you-are-there flight sequences. Armstrong discovers he needs to go to the moon to get a fucking moment to himself.

Vampyr, rw (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932): 5/

I’m sure Lynch adores this movie. The POV shot from inside a coffin is one of the greatest shots in cinema. 75 minutes. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Late Spring, rw (Yasujiro Ozu, 1949): 5/5

Father encourages his daughter to marry. Warm, calm and stunningly beautiful. Setsuko Hara is incredible. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu, 1951): 4/5

Father encourages his daughter to marry. Warm, calm and stunningly beautiful. Setsuko Hara is incredible. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Equinox Flower (Yasujiro Ozu, 1958): 3/5

Father encourages his daughter to marry, just not the man she wants. Since the father is bit of a poop, it’s not as warm or calm. Also no Setsuko Hara. #ByebyeFilmstruck

The Leopard Man, rw (Jacques Tourneur, 1943): 4/5

Watched on Halloween. Town is terrorized by negative space and an avatar of woman-vs-woman competitiveness. 66 minutes.  #ByebyeFilmstruck

Apostle (Gareth Evans, 2018): 2/5

Disappointing follow-up to the director’s gonzo and fun The Raid 2. This one neither distinguishes itself from nor lives up to The Wicker Man.

The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971): 2/5

More theatrical and less provocative than I wanted it to be. In short, a Ken Russel film. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Blindspotting (Carlos Lopez Estrada, 2018): 2/5

Moderately entertaining, just not sure what the point was. Seemed as if the writer/lead actor thought it was a movie that addresses contemporary black and white relations, but I don’t believe he’s right.

L’Enfance Nue (Maurice Pialat, 1968): 3/5

A typically flinty look at a troubled kid. No plot or character arcs to distract you from your discomfort. 83 minutes. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Thunder Road (Jim Cummings, 2018): 2.5/5

A small-town cop is having a hard time holding his shit together after the death of his mother. Mildly amusing overall, with a couple of great, long, uncut freakouts.

Floating Clouds (Mikio Naruse, 1955): 3.5/5

Surprisingly tough-minded (and unsurprisingly tragic) look at Japan immediately after WWII. Interesting to contrast with Ozu’s much more optimistic work from and about this same era.

A Star is Born (Bradley Cooper, 2018): 4/5

Naturally, I wanted nothing more than to dislike this movie. But I’ll be goddamned if it didn’t work on me just the way it was supposed to. Swift and entertaining.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Coen Brothers, 2018): 3.5/5

Enjoyed all 6 segments in their own way. Best Coen Bros movie since A Serious Man (which isn’t saying much).

Blackkklansman (Spike Lee, 2018): 2/5

Starts off pretty strong and Adam Driver is terrific as always, but the racists are toothless cartoons and by the end I can’t imagine who would care.

Lady Snowblood (Toshiya Fujita, 1973): 3/5

Super-stylized revenge flick. Tarantino ripped it off mercilessly for the godawful (and apparently unoriginal) Kill Bill. #ByebyeFilmstruck

Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, 1973): 2.5/5

A method-fest, but nothing really pays off. Pacino and Hackman are both great, but they are so much better elsewhere. #ByebyeFilmstruck

The Green Ray (Eric Rohmer, 1986): 3/5

Not about a blithely self-delusional young person! Instead, she’s trying her best but is just a bit depressed and lost. #ByebyeFilmstruck

* The Grinch (Yarrow Cheney, 2018): 3/5

Sweet and adequately funny; kept Jack’s attention.

Predator, rw (John McTiernan, 1987): 2.5/5

Hated it the 80s when Arnold (always) seemed to vaguely embody Reaganism, but now it’s just an OK entertainment.

* Roma (Alfonso Cuaron, 2018): 5/5

My favorite movie since Boyhood. At first, I was crying because of the startling beauty and uniqueness of the moviemaking, then I started crying for the characters. Looks and feels unlike any other movie I’ve seen. Contains at least six shots that can stand with the finest shots in film history. I'm going to be so disappointed with you guys are both like "eh...."

Happy as Lazarro (Alice Rohrwacher, 2018): 2.5/5

Candide in Tuscany. A nice lead performance, radiating natural, foolish goodwill.

Leave No Trace (Debra Granik, 2018): 2/5

Felt zero connection to or sympathy for the narcissistic father. Considering that I am a narcissistic father, this is a problem.