Dec 13, 2018

Guys read this

https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/ellen-cleghorne-saturday-night-lives-race-problem.html

 

Dec 14, 2018

The House That Jack Built is out. Hope it's not terrible.

 

Dec 14, 2018

I just bought tickets to see it tomorrow with an introduction from Matt Dillon. Also hope it's not terrible!

 

Dec 14, 2018

Any plans on seeing The Favourite? Nice to see Yorgos Lanthimos' getting some good reviews. Pretty sure I've liked each subsequent film less than the one prior for him.

 

Dec 15, 2018

This Von Trier controversy really gets me going. Do these so called writers watch movies? Over and over these f----- up, detestable films come out to cause outrage before the next one takes its place. The clear lack of perspective or awareness on a field they get paid to cover really blows me away. It gets compared to American Psycho and people are reacting to it in the same fashion. All they're doing is giving more money and attention to the film. This guy made Antichrist! Hello!?!?

Like, these are movies. They're fake. You don't have to get upset about them.

 

Dec 15, 2018

I liked it a lot! I think it's a clear step-up after Sacred Deer. Razor sharp and very funny with a trio of great performances...it really worked for me. While it doesn't have the same deliberately stilted acting style of his previous films, it remains distinctly absurdist with its wry, anachronistic dialogue and gestures. Tremendous use of the c-word as well.

 

Dec 15, 2018

Slant posted its always interesting top 25 of the year...

1. First Reformed
2. Burning
3. The Other Side of the Wind
4. Let the Sunshine In
5. Zama
6. Bisbee '17
7. 24 Frames
8. If Beale Street Could Talk
9. Monrovia, Indiana
10. The House That Jack Built
11. Western
12. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
13. Paddington 2
14. BlacKkKlansman
15. Support the Girls
16. The Green Fog
17. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
18. The Day After
19. Golden Exits
20. Roma
21. Shoah: Four Sisters
22. Prototype
23. Happy as Lazzaro
24. The Favourite
25. Dead Souls

https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-25-best-films-of-2018

Also a friendly reminder that Roma is out on Netflix as of yesterday. Happy as Lazzaro was released on Netflix a couple weeks ago.

 

Dec 15, 2018

Golden Exits is such god d--- trash. Surprised The Rider isn't on there.

 

Dec 15, 2018

Lol I'm pretty much with you on Golden Exits. Was surprised to see that on there.

Looks like The Rider cracked their extended list at #35. I still have to check it out myself.

 

Dec 15, 2018

It feels wrong, but I must concede that I really liked the new Von Trier.

 

Dec 22, 2018

I watched it with two teenagers and a 30 year old soccer mom. There was a few "that's f----- up" moments, but it's nothing even they haven't seen before.

This much outrage for a comedy lol, I'm not even mad anymore.

 

Dec 31, 2018

I know there isn't as much activity here, but since it's the last day of the year, here's my list of favorite movie stuff of 2018.

Best Film
1. First Reformed
2. Zama
3. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
4. Shoplifters
5. The House That Jack Built
6. The Favourite
7. Burning
8. Leave No Trace
9. Happy as Lazzaro
10. Eighth Grade

Honorable Mention: Western, The Rider, Ismael’s Ghosts, The Day After, Support the Girls, Roma, Where is Kyra?, You Were Never Really Here, Sorry to Bother You, Shirkers

Full List: https://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2018-ranked/

Key Films Not Seen: The Mule, Vice, Minding the Gap, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Old Man and the Gun, Bisbee 17, 24 Frames, Paddington 2, Green Book

Best Actor
1. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
2. Matt Dillon, The House That Jack Built
3. Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
4. Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
5. Lakeith Stanfield, Sorry to Bother You

Best Actress
1. Olivia Colman/Emma Stone/Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
2. Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace
3. Regina Hall, Support the Girls
4. Michelle Pfeiffer, Where is Kyra?
5. Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline

Best Supporting Actor
1. Steven Yeun, Burning
2. Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther
3. Bill Heck, Ballad of Buster Scruggs
4. Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
5. Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Supporting Actress
1. Sakura Ando, Shoplifters
2. Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
3. Rachel McAdams, Game Night
4. Jong-seo Jun, Burning
5. Shayna McHale, Support the Girls

Best Director
1. Paul Schrader, First Reformed
2. Lucretia Martel, Zama

Best Score
1. Annihilation, Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow
2. You Were Never Really Here, Jonny Greenwood

Best Screenplay
1. Paul Schrader, First Reformed
2. Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite

Best Cinematography
1. Zama
2. Burning

Favorite Scenes
Magical Mystery Tour, First Reformed
Dance at Sunset, Burning
Daniel’s Monologue, If Beale Street Could Talk
The Ambush, Zama
Car conversation, Widows

Most Anticipated of 2019
The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
Radegund (Terrence Malick)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
Ad Astra (James Gray)
Uncut Gems (Safdie Brothers)
Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
The Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmusch)
Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven)
Nighthawk (Kleber Mendonca Filho)
The Truth (Hirokazu Koreeda)

 

Jan 10, 2019

This looks excellent. Another film that reminds me of Teshigahara's The Face of Another as well.

 

Jan 12, 2019

I caught this at NYFF in the fall...it's very good! It's a multilayered thriller that cleverly employs its genre elements and its cineliteracy to seamlessly weave its thematic concerns into it's out-of-time conceit. However, if I'm being honest, Petzold's previous film, Phoenix, probably hit me harder on an emotional level, where Transit worked for me more conceptually.

 

Jan 16, 2019

I'm sure this one will be on many "best of 2019" lists. I saw it at NYFF and it will probably end up on mine. The trailer is cool, but perhaps doesn't quite capture how strange and brutal the film actually is.

 

Jan 22, 2019

Melissa McCarthy and Lady Gaga with Best Actress noms. We've come a long way from Machete Kills and I'm now convinced I fell into a different dimension sometime early last year.

 

Jan 22, 2019

Widows WEB-DL dropped. Probably watch that tonight or tomorrow.

 

Jan 22, 2019

I was really happy Paul Schrader got his first Oscar nomination (Never realized the writer of Taxi Driver/Raging Bull didn't have one), but the Ethan Hawke snub is one of the worst in recent memory.

Also cool that Buster Scruggs got nominated in Original Song. Other than that, I don't have much comment. I haven't seen Green Book, Vice or Bohemian Rhapsody and don't really plan on rectifying that anytime soon.

 

Jan 22, 2019

I'm happy for a lot of individuals, but year after year these awards are the same thing. They feel so illegitimate for people who actually watch movies before the fall, nothing matters until then. The one blockbuster gimmick for best picture that they've been doing since Inception is equally see through.

It won't win anyway, but the thought of Bryan Singer or Rami's names taking home Oscar's might be the biggest slap in the face these shows have ever given to its audience.

I've known about Singer for years with nothing but my computer. Rami's going to say he wasn't aware? Okay bud.

 

Jan 23, 2019

Widows was mids.

I never pay the Oscars any mind. Feels good tbh.