Dec 26, 2017

So what lol

 

Dec 27, 2017

After initial viewing today, I'm really struggling with Phantom Thread. I found it to be fascinatingly elusive, but I found myself at a distance throughout. As one would expect from PTA, it's all sumptuously crafted and impeccably performed, with newcomer Krieps as the standout. However, though I was taken by the shifting power dynamics in the core relationship, it felt more conceptual to me than genuinely felt.

 

Jan 6, 2018

There are still some movies I'm catching up on, but if I had a critic's ballot for 2017 like @Papa Andy, mine would look something like this...(along with some brief words gushing about Twin Peaks)

Best Film
1. Personal Shopper
2. A Ghost Story
3. Song to Song
4. Columbus
5. Call Me By Your Name
6. The Square
7. Good Time
8. On the Beach At Night Alone
9. Marjorie Prime
10. Lady Bird

Honorable Mention: Graduation, Faces Place, By The Time It Gets Dark, Nocturama, The Phantom Thread, The Salesman, The Florida Project, The Work, The Untamed, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

Full List: https://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2017-ranked/

Key Films Not Seen: Dawson City: Frozen Time; BPM (Beats Per Minute); Star Wars: The Last Jedi; The Big Sick; Princess Cyd; Coco; Beach Rats; It; Human Surge

Best Actor
1. Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
2. Robert Pattinson, Good Time
3. Claes b---, The Square
4. Daniel Day Lewis, Phantom Thread
5. Adam Sandler, The Meyerowitz Stories

Best Actress
1. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
2. Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper
3. Kim Min-hee, On the Beach At Night Alone
4. Rooney Mara, Song to Song
5. Margot Robbie, I Tonya

Best Supporting Actor
1. Armie Hammer, Call me By Your Name
2. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name
3. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
4. Jason Mitchell, Mudbound
5. Tim Robbins, Marjorie Prime

Best Supporting Actress
1. Geena Davis, Marjorie Prime
2. Lois Smith, Marjorie Prime
3. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
4. Hong Chau, Downsizing
5. Michelle Pfeiffer, Mother!

Best Director
1. Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper
2. Terrence Malick, Song to Song

Best Score
1. Good Time
2. A Ghost Story

Best Screenplay
1. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
2. James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name

Best Cinematography
1. Emmanuel Lubezki, Song to Song
2. Sean Price Williams, Good Time

Most Anticipated of 2018
The Irishman (Martin Scorsese) (If it comes out early)
Annette (Leos Carax)
High Life (Claire Denis)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Coen Brothers)
Radegund (Terrence Malick)
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)
Beach Bum (Harmony Korine)
Ad Astra (James Gray)
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan (Xavier Dolan)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)

Favorite Moving Image Work of Narrative Fiction: Twin Peaks: The Return

Perhaps scarred from Hollywood’s glut of reboots and sequels, I kept my expectations low for Twin Peaks: The Return, concerned that the revival could turn out to be an exercise in nostalgia or a pastiche of the superficially “quirky” elements that fans grew to love. However, in just the first episodes, those concerns proved entirely unwarranted. From its deliberate pacing and its flights of surrealism to its tendency to indulge in narrative asides tangential to the plot, it was distinctly Lynch and unlike anything else on TV. With its longform format, Twin Peaks: Return represented both a career summation, featuring both familiar faces and motifs from prior works, as well as an evolution, a broader canvas at once messier and more sprawling than that of his features. For over 3 months, Twin Peaks: The Return, from week to week and even from moment to moment, alternated between the terrifying (e.g. The monster in the glass box), the heartbreaking (Hawk’s phone call with Margaret), the absurdly comic (Dougie!), the bewildering (Audrey’s entire plotline) and the purely awe-inspiring (Episode 8). It quite simply occupied my headspace more than other movie or TV show in 2017, and I’m sure I'll continue to revisit and uncover new layers long after all of the year-end awards and lists have been disseminated.

@Vahn @Dew @FilmAndWhisky @Pinhead @Charlie Work @Swizz @King V

 

Jan 11, 2018

Saw Molly's game and wanna give a big f u to Sorkin for making me re-live the Canucks game 7 loss. Barely remember what happened afterwards. James Joyce was referenced or something.

Also watched Menashe the other day. Almost criminally under seen. Very moving. Should be on more 2017 lists

 

Jan 11, 2018

The Human Surge is very next level. Can't get it out of my head, easily one of the most accomplished and ambitious debuts I've ever seen. Eduardo is next up.

 

Jan 12, 2018

I wrote an explanation of Mother! breaking it down scene by scene for those who are lost on it, confused (not sure why it confuses people), or think its overly blatant or simple-minded.

Yes, once the allegory is understood there's little to take from it. But like Animal Farm or other great allegories, is the creativity of the metaphors that are worth sinking into.

http://bit.ly/2CW3kEN

 

Jan 19, 2018

oops forgot to post my 2017 list

Top Films:
1. Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch)
2. On the Beach at Night Alone (Hong Sang-soo)
3. Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson)
4. Song to Song (Terrence Malick)
5. Good Time (Safdie Brothers)
6. The Day After (Hong Sang-soo)
7. Voyage of Time (Terrence Malick)
8. The Human Surge (Eduardo Williams)
9. Split (M. Night Shyamalan)
10. Hermia & Helena (Matías Piñeiro)
11. Dark Night (Tim Sutton)
12. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Paul W.S. Anderson)
13. Person to Person (Dustin Guy Defa)
14. The Florida Project (Sean Baker)
15. I Love You, Daddy (Louis C.K.)
16. The Lost City of Z (James Gray)

Best Director: David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return
Runner up: Hong Sang-soo, On the Beach at Night Alone & The Day After

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Runner up: Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks: The Return

Best Actress: Kim Min-hee, On the Beach at Night Alone & The Day After
Runner up: Rooney Mara, Song to Song

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Song to Song
Runner up: Paul Thomas Anderson (?), Phantom Thread

Best Score: Johnny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
Runner up: OPN, Good Time

Best Screenplay: David Lynch & Mark Frost, Twin Peaks: The Return
Runner up: Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Need to see:
Claire's Camera, The Post, Detroit, mother!, On Body and Soul, Call Me By Your Name, Our Time Will Come, Marjorie Prime, Princess Cyd, The Square.

https://www.razvahn.com/film2017/

 

Jan 19, 2018

I Love You Daddy was so obnoxious, though. Not a good film - and this is coming from a big Louis fan

 

Jan 19, 2018

great film

super accomplished aesthetic, it looks unlike anything that would be made today and still has enough personality to stand apart from the old hollywood films its paying homage too.

sure its obnoxious, but that was def intentional from how I see it and its social commentary is rare and much needed in today's climate

 

Jan 19, 2018

okay I couldn’t disagree more but I just saw Phantom Thread so let’s talk about that instead

 

Jan 20, 2018

Initial thoughts?

 

Jan 20, 2018

beautiful film. I really got lost in it - I thought that the general atmosphere was as intoxicating as anything PTA has ever done (save The Master), and the three leads absolutely killed it. Some scenes had me on edge for what seemed like almost no reason at all. It leaves you with a lot to chew on, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it again - not a thought I had after Inherent Vice.

Also, I can't post this without mentioning that this is almost certainly Jonny Greenwood's best work yet

what were your thoughts? am I remembering correctly that you weren't really into it?

 

Jan 20, 2018

I dug it but I can't say I found the viewing experience to be as entrancing as most people did, despite the meticulous craftsmanship on display. For me, the ending is the strongest part, when it upends expectations and goes to a place really interesting and unique. I actually wanted to see that dynamic explored a bit further, but the film takes it as the endpoint, lending it a more elusive final note. One aspect I struggled with was buying into their relationship prior to that point. It's not that I couldn't believe in their toxic relationship, as there are plenty of those in real life and in fiction. It's more that while I could get what Reynolds got from her as his muse/lover/employee (alternating as it suited him, without regards for her), I struggled more with what she got from him. I could see how she was drawn to her centerpiece role in his lavish, self-contained world, but this is something I understood more than felt and, as such, had trouble with the extreme lengths she goes to since I didn't quite feel the passion or intensity driving them. Similarly, when the film cuts away when they enter the bedroom, I almost wanted to see it cause I had trouble even imagining these two characters in passionate embrace.

With all of that said, it's a movie in my top 15 or so for the year and I do look forward to revisiting it now that I know what to expect. It did take a little time for The Master to fully click with me, though that resonated more strongly with me walking out of the theater, even if I wasn't entirely sure of what to make of it at the time.

 

Jan 20, 2018

I take it the film section is gone? If this is the new film part of the website, consider me in.

 

Jan 20, 2018

hmmm, I'm now more interested in Molly's Game. I watched Game 7 in Vegas.

 

Jan 20, 2018

I was in complete euphoria. Going into school the next day was like walking into a funeral.

Was gonna wait until I finished all the 2017 films on my HD but I keep adding to it so

1.) The Return
2.) Song to Song
3.) Voyage of Time
4.) On the Beach at Night Alone
5.) Good Time
6.) Nocturama
7.) A Ghost Story
8.) All These Sleepless Nights
9.) Cal Me By Your Name
10.) Personal Shopper
11.) Split
12.) Blade Runner 2049
13.) Big Little Lies
14.) Transformers: The Last Knight
15.) Kaili Blues

Full list here. My most watched until this point, might be a result of that but I can't think of another year with as many standout films as this one.

Best Actor

James McAvoy, Split.

Best Actress

Rooney Mara, A Ghost Story

Cinematography

Paul Atkins, Voyage of Time

Composer

Daniel Lopatin, Good Time

 

Jan 20, 2018

Its in my top 3 PTA right from the jump. I cant wait to see it again, might go soon since its playing everywhere now.

Was very surprised by DDL’s performance tbh, it could very well be his best work.

 

Jan 21, 2018

My list of 2017:

1. Personal Shopper
2. A Ghost Story
3. Phantom Thread
4. Mother!
5. Dunkirk
6. Blade Runner 2049
7. Logan
8. Voyage of Time
9. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
10. The Meyerwitz Stories
11. Okja
12.The Big Sick
13. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
14. War for the Planet of the Apes
15. It
16. Baby Driver
17. The Lost City of Z
18. Logan Lucky
19. The Florida Project
20. The Lego Batman Movie
21. Lady Bird
22. Get Out
23. The Shape of Water
24. The Beguiled
25. It Comes At NIght

Others I liked; Thor Ragnarok, Wonder Woman, The Disaster Artist, John Wick 2, I Tonya.

Still haven't seen The Post, Three Billboards, or Coco.
Man, this was a h--- of a year for film.

 

Jan 23, 2018

A f---ing devastating meditation on evil, its strictly human expression through violent acts and art, the absurdity of those acts, and the catharsis of that art. It explores the Faustian temptation drawing us into the darkest passages of the human heart where wild fascination and inescapable trauma blur. Sean Byrne can truly convey raw, visceral horror because he can honestly convey pure tenderness and affection with the same hand. Interpreting this as pitch black comedy, as some have, misinterprets the blank absurdity of extreme violence accurately depicted here. The Devil's Candy is a sweltering baptism by fire.

Watch this s---. @Pinhead

 

Jan 23, 2018

watch Australia Day it's a great film and was shot in my country.