BABYLON (2022)
The first half of this movie is so good; there’s no other way to put it. There are several lengthy scenes that feel like brilliant short films, going through a full story arc, raising the tension with every passing minute, building the drama up to a climactic crescendo that has you smiling at the screen, admiring the magic of cinema.
I think this film is going to be one I find myself revisiting often, and enjoying more with every viewing. It’s such an easy three hours. It’s a joy to experience, even in its lulls in the second half, as the movie business that has giveth to these characters begins to taketh away.
Previously Reviewed on January 8, 2023
LA LA LAND (2016)
I think it’s time for me to seriously consider calling this my favorite movie of all time. It checks all of the boxes for me — the aspiring artists, the setting, the romance, the comedy, the musical elements, the bittersweet ending, and other boxes I’d probably need a therapist to help point out for me. I just love it so much, everything about it.
Previously Reviewed on August 28, 2022
SALTBURN (2023)
Oliver mentions at the end of the film that people who don’t come from upper-class society have to work for everything they get, shining a spotlight on the class dynamics at play in this story. However, this “work” that he puts in downright undercuts that message. This isn’t somebody down on his luck. This isn’t a sympathetic lower-class citizen trying to do what he can to make ends meet. This is a full-blown psychopath doing psychotic things left, right, and center — getting more unhinged by the minute.
All of the above made for an incredibly entertaining two hours or so, however — not to mention the cinematography was so gorgeous I felt the need to pause the film to just admire the shots on screen for a moment or two longer. So, if nothing else, this film certainly kept me watching with rapt attention the whole way through.
MEAN GIRLS (2024)
If this was marketed as a musical, I would have seen it sooner. I went in expecting a mildly entertaining couple hours with a bunch of attractive people on screen being silly. I got all that, plus some good songs. I call that a successful trip to the cinema.
ALL OR NOTHING: MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (2018)
I watched all 480-ish minutes of this on my first day off since Jim Harbaugh agreed to become the new head coach of my Los Angeles Chargers.
Who’s got it better than us? Nobody!
ZONE OF INTEREST (2023)
One second you’re watching a beautiful family have dinner together or watching a couple laugh together in their beds, then the workaholic patriarch has to step away to ensure all is right with the concentration camps he’s overseeing.
One second you’re listening to birds chirping and kids playing in the garden, then you hear victims of the holocaust screaming from eerily close by, followed by gunshots that bring that screaming to an end.
One second you’re watching a father share a serene moment at a glorious flowing river with his children, then the ashes and bones of incinerated bodies flood the water he’s wading in, forcing him and his family out in a panic.
I can do this all day — I’m not kidding. This film rhythmically lulls you into a sense of comfort with its protagonist family and then bashes you over the head with a reminder of what it is you’re actually watching.
TED LASSO: Season 3 (2023)
By no means am I saying that this final season saw the show fall off a cliff in quality, but when you finish the last episode and let the whole season sit with you for a little while as you collect your thoughts on it, you realize just how big of a misfire it was.
The thing about shows like this, though, is that by the time you reach season three, you’re in for the ride with these characters, even if that ride is rather mediocre. There’s no world where somebody watches the first two phenomenal seasons of this show and then stops watching halfway through this middling final season — those people don’t exist. I can complain about how this season didn’t even sniff the heights of the first two, but all complaints aside, I love these characters and enjoyed spending a little more time with them before their run came to a somewhat premature end.
AMY (2015)
These filmmakers put together a gorgeous timeline tracing the tragic life of one of our generation’s otherworldly talents. Through home videos and interviews, we’re taken down the grim path that saw Amy spiral uncontrollably toward her seemingly inevitable demise.
SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY (2016)
As a film score lover, I thoroughly enjoyed this 90-minute documentary whose only goal was to get a bunch of composers together to gush about each other and to gush about this perpetually under-appreciated part of the filmmaking process. This was simply an unadulterated love letter to the art form.
SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984)
This movie really had me in the first third, when we were almost entirely with Samantha. I didn’t notice just how much it was losing me until we reached the climax and I realized I really didn’t care about any of it anymore.
Apropos of nothing, it was during this screening that I learned Netflix has commercials placed throughout a movie’s runtime now. I sat through six commercial breaks while watching this. What a sick world we live in.
Actually, come to think about it, the above statement isn’t apropos of nothing: I can’t imagine getting interrupted by six commercials within ninety minutes is beneficial for the retention of engagement for your film. I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie because it had commercials in its runtime — I’m just saying the commercials certainly didn’t help.
THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985)
I’ve long been fascinated by Ally Sheedy’s character, Allison. The character is interesting and there’s great depth in the performance. She’s strange, certainly, but she’s also an empath, quietly weighed down by the emotions of those around her. There’s pain in her eyes, tears sometimes developing for no good reason whatsoever. The actress brought so much more to the role than the script she was given to work with.
SHOWRUNNERS: THE ART OF RUNNING A TV SHOW (2014)
“It seems to not matter how often you can conquer a writing problem; the next time there’s a writing problem, that becomes the one that will kill you.” Pain.
I don’t remember how many times I watched this before I went to film school. This was one of a few documentaries I chose as my comfort watches as I was learning about what the film and television industry actually looked like.
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (2017)
It’s not often that I watch a movie nearly 100-minutes long and feel it could’ve used another hour or so added to it. The songs in this are powerful, good enough to keep the movie afloat as that extra time is used to flesh out the characters and their relationships. You can’t flesh out all of them in that time, but this movie desperately needs at least a few of them to be given some depth. The already-great songs would have hit even harder if that time had been taken.
LES MISERABLES (2012)
I don’t care if the vocal performances aren’t of the caliber of Broadway. I don’t care if the filmmaking suffers because the songs need to be filmed live (and the whole film is song after song, opening to close). The story being told here is beautiful, and I will gladly suspend my disbelief so that I can enjoy it being told.
Previously Reviewed on May 17, 2020
DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS (2023)
I’ve written and deleted three separate reviews of this film. They were all critical of the storytelling, but they all came to the same conclusion: Sometimes, all a movie needs to be is an entertaining way to kill ninety minutes.
ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)
Some movies really benefit from having a director’s cut — this is certainly one of them. The “Bootleg Cut” adds about forty minutes to the runtime, and honestly, it just felt right. You don’t hit play on this film to follow a rip-roaring plot. You hit play on this film to hang out with William, Penny, and the band. That extra time with them is quality time.
Previously Reviewed on April 15, 2023
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007)
If this macabre musical adaptation was helmed by a dozen directors, you’d get a dozen different interpretations, all of which would’ve been inferior to the one we got by this specific director, who got this astounding cast to join him to tell this story for the silver screen. It’s a bloody good fit.