Forgot how incredibly funny this is. I miss comedies. Can we make comedies a thing again?

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I’m glad I waited this long until I saw this movie. I can see that if I saw it nearly three years ago when it was released I would have been disappointed. As it is though I’m just motivated to see the second part in theaters.

It seems like this is a story that really benefits from such a long first act. I haven’t read the book, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a lot of fictional politics. Which is a very difficult thing to pull off in a movie (*cough*The Phantom Menace*cough*trade negotiations*cough*). In a book you can stop, re-read, and think about it, whereas a movie just chugs along whether you’re with it or not.

That being said, I think this movie pulled it off well, at the expense of runtime. Which only makes it necessary to split it into two films. Now that I know fully the stakes at play, and can have several days to ponder it all, I can go into Part 2 a little more confident in understanding it all.

The action here was good, and the worm scenes intense. Things felt tactile and believable (with the exception of one shot that went a little too MCU.) Incredible shot composition.

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Hard to rate when I’m still waiting for the conclusion! I think the opening scene was interesting, but then the two exposition dump scenes that followed were actually shockingly boring. Usually these movies are great at the “show, don’t tell” thing. Or at least “show while telling”. But instead we have a three minute scene of two photographs, a cassette player, and Tom Cruise moving his eyes.

There are a few other moments like that in the hours that follow (and I have my own dislikes of certain plotting decisions or editing choices), but crucially, the action is still as exciting as ever. And that’s really what we’re all here for, right? I’ve enjoyed the way the McQuarrie movies has melded the intrigue and cat-and-mouse nature of De Palma’s original film with the pure spectacle extravaganza of Brad Bird’s. It hits a really nice balance for me.

This one might be a little low on the spectacle, but it’s one of two parts. Gotta save the biggest stuff for last. I expect to read a news story about Tom Cruise falling off of a satellite or something this year.

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I need to watch this again when I’m not so tired. This captures so well that giddy feeling of new love. Or old love maybe, in this case.

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Sappy, sentimental movie for sappy, sentimental people. I consider myself lucky to fall into that category.

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Silly and fluffy but cute. Bummer that it turns into a courtroom drama for a while at the end.

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Better than the first, if only for the 👏💃🌲“CAMP ROCK”🕺🌲👏 scene.

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2008… what a strange era in history…

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"Maybe I want to be a hooligan!!"

I haven't seen a ton of Pre-Code movies, but man, when Ernst was Pre-Code, he really was Pre-Code. Surprising in a lot of ways, but also really funny. Lags a bit in the last act, which I think is a bit intentional to contrast Plunkett's boring idea of life with George and Tom's hooliganism.

I've now seen Trouble in Paradise, The Shop Around the Corner, and this out of Lubitsch's films. So far I think Trouble in Paradise is my favorite, followed by The Shop Around the Corner, then this, but they're all really great movies.

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In America we don’t believe in kings. We believe in baseball. *throws spear*

This is really just an alternate universe Psych episode. The abrupt “This Land is Your Land” singalong elicited audible gasps.

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First of all, what a time to be alive. This is my second Miyazaki film watched in theaters in its initial release. It's an awesome experience. The Wind Rises played fairly straightforward, with some surprises but mostly just a very enjoyable, masterfully crafted movie. The Boy and the Heron, while set in the same time period, couldn't be more different in pacing and tone and almost every other aspect. It's a film so unconventional that there's truly no way to know where things will turn next, and each twist and turn in Miyazaki's fabulous dreamscape delights and disgusts in ways only he can.

The first time I saw My Neighbor Totoro I had a high fever, it was late at night and I was in a foreign country. My sister and I watched it to keep my spirits up. Totoro is so dreamlike ("I thought it was a dream!" "But it wasn't a dream!" 🌱), that the next day I remember wondering which parts of that movie were real and which parts were a result of my fever. Miyazaki's worlds are so beautiful and rooted in traditions of our world, but governed by rules of another world entirely. Like a dream, they inherit characters and motifs, but then bend them in ways you'd never expect. In the end you wake up realizing that it didn't make a whole lot of sense, and yet somehow, in a more elemental way, of course it did.

I have a lot of thoughts on the specifics of this movie, but I want to avoid spoilers as much as possible, so here are some bullet points:

• So many parts reference past Miyazaki worlds and themes, which is fun as a fan.
• There were so many really laugh-out-loud funny moments, and a few seriously gruesome moments.
• There are some creatures in this that I imagine will be merchandised the heck out of and I will buy every bit of it.
• The ending I thought was a bit odd in the moment, but has grown on me a lot while thinking about it, and right now I don't feel like it's worth a mark against the film.
• We watched the dub and I have to say everyone did a fantastic job. Robert Pattinson especially deserves a lot of praise for his role. I honestly forgot it was him until the credits rolled. Florence Pugh also really knocked it out of the park. And Willem Dafoe's role is very short but the gravitas of his voice lends itself so well to the scene.

Still picking up the pieces of it but I'm coming away from this just so grateful that this man and this studio is still making movies (and apparently are in the early stages of another!). If you are on the fence, definitely see this, and see it in theaters while you still can!

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First time seeing the colorized version. I definitely still prefer the original, but it’s a curiosity worth watching if you like this movie and watch it every year.

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The Christmas Eve movie. There are bad actors out there spreading rumors that I hate Christmas movies. Here’s your proof to the contrary. 🚨🪟🎄

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Watched on Monday November 20, 2023.

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Honestly wasn’t terrible. I laughed quite a bit more than I thought I would and the chemistry between the leads is pretty good. Love the Khan family, easily stole every scene they were in. The plotting is very rough and the final act is extremely ho hum (these heroes really need to start by talking with the “bad guys” and seeing how they can help with their problems). But that’s pretty much par for the course for Marvel.

At the end of the day, I got to sit in a theater and forget about work and eat some candy. Sometimes that’s all my dodo brain needs. 🦤

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Watched on Monday November 6, 2023.

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Watched on Monday November 6, 2023.

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Watched on Wednesday October 18, 2023.

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The concept of reflexivity is well worn territory in film. On one hand, you have very explicit reflexivity like F for Fake and nostalgia like Cinema Paradiso or The Fabelmans. On the other hand is a more subtle reflexivity, like the monolith and interstellar trip of 2001 and the hidden, behind-the-scenes reflexivity of the probably hundreds of obsessive, possibly self-destructive actors/directors/screenwriters who have slaved away creating films about obsessive, definitely self-destructive characters — Fitzcarraldo, The Phantom Thread, probably every Wes Anderson film, and definitely anything Charlie Kaufman makes.

Any work of art reflects the human beings involved in its creation. This transcends film - writing, painting, interactive media and music all carry this same fingerprint. But (at the moment) film is the only way to capture that behind the scenes hidden truth.

Or… is it? By turning the camera away from the actors and towards the director, do they just become another actor? What about the sound recordist or the camera operator? This is Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, an incredibly silly film at its core about the act of observing anything, or being watched by anything, and how that changes everything or maybe nothing at all.

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The comedic timing in this is so good, the romance is very believable, and ole Jimmy is at his peak. What more could a movie need? Also love how retail workers have hated being retail workers as long as retail has existed.

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I love when Wes really leans into the fakery. This sub-hour whirlwind packs pretty much every tool he has into its limited runtime. With everything we watch there’s an element of suspension of disbelief, and what Wes does so well in his films is he essentially races to break any semblance of believable façade as fast as possible. He just takes a stop-motion yellow-and-pink sledgehammer to that concept and allows us to see that it’s fake, acknowledge it, and move on with the story and format, now with a lighter tone and more breathing room to play with. Many filmmakers work within the ever-tightening boundaries of “will people believe this effect?” or “is this too cheesy?” Wes Anderson operates at a complete inverse. The cheese is the point, and you know he’ll pick the finest aged gruyère.

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This review may contain spoilers.

Exquisite! So much fun. I would take a whole franchise (TV series?) of Gaston and Lily taking on the world, stealing from the rich, each time nearly breaking up but always getting back together in the end. Somebody make it happen!!

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- I’d let a fish lick me if it’d get me out of this wheelchair!
- Well I don’t know about all that licking.

The first ~ten shots in this movie contain some of the most impressive animation of all time. Love the colored pencil backgrounds throughout, unique for a Miyazaki film.

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This review may contain spoilers.

It’s better than the first one, I guess. I love the wide angle stuff (the VFX work on those shots is absolutely stunning). And u know I love backstory. But overall it was just kinda icky. There’s lots that is icky in this, but for example: I don’t know how I feel about Peter’s characterization in this film. He goes from “the Guardians don’t kill” to “kill them all” in like… two scenes. Not to mention the least emotional reaction to the death of a literal entire planet since Alderaan. Or just… War Pig. I don’t feel in any rush to watch this again soon.

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Watched on Thursday August 24, 2023.

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