The message of the substance is more important for a 12 year old girl than the other films you mentioned imo.
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That makes total sense for a movie that appears to be currently in (checks Box Office Mojo) zero theaters.
It seems considerably more annoying to try to watch the films this year. It definitely doesnât help that the independent theater around here closed. I donât think Iâve even had a chance to see 3/10 of the Best Picture nominees in the theater.
The Gorge
Watched this on my Apple Vision last night and whatever else it is, it is very good looking. What else is it? Typical Rom-Zom monster movie made eminently watchable by Anna Taylor-Joy as a bit of a manic pixie dream sniper. Ending is a bit weak but at least it doesnât linger. Would watch again.
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It barely existed in any theaters generally for some stupid reason. Glad I pounced when it came to mine for one week. It deserved a BP nom.
I imagine youâre out of luck on streaming The Brutalist from a service before March too. Or I imagine even renting it for a reasonable price? At least Anora can be watched for $6 now.
September 5 will be available on Paramount within the week. Unfortunately itâs the most generic whatever film in the 2025 Eyebooger Classic slate.
Wasnât expecting this sequel
Needs more Anna Kendrick.
The Accountant was alright, but boy does a sequel sound uninteresting.
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Must have a GREAT script
This is long but I highly recommend. Itâs analysis of what is wrong with film right now.
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The Invitation (2015)
A mystery thriller firing on all cylinders. Great cast. Endless tension on a straight shot up and up until the finale. Great ending.
Highly recommend.
Another not to read about before.
Grade: A
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Yeah Patrick Willems is great
The plot for The Invitation (2022) is completely different and also one you want to go into blind.
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The Guilty (2018)
7/10
The original Dutch show. Itâs a one room show with an phone. The protagonist is a 911 operator who has to hunt a kidnaper. Very well donât executed. Show donât tell doesnât really apply to this as the only thing happening is the guy talking. But itâs done subtly, no long exposition.
The long vacant stares, the ratcheting drama, then the twistâŚ
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Flow
Went in knowing about the no dialogue and the fact that it had a bit of an upset win at the Golden Globes. Was hooked instantly. There was a perfect balance of anthropomorphizing each animal just enough to move the plot along, but no further. Itâs a truly moving film. The animation and especially the sound are of a quality usually reserved for films with much bigger budgets.
Iâm glad this is getting some recognition, but especially in a seemingly weak year, I honestly think this deserved a Best Picture nomination.
9/10
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Basically the only thing I disliked about the film was the unrealistic extent to which the animals adapted to being able to steer a boat. I did think it broke up how natural the whole thing felt otherwise.
Iâm rooting for this to win Best Animated Feature even though I may have enjoyed The Wild Robot slightly more (basically I just see Flow as the greater achievement of the two), but really Iâm glad itâs gotten as much traction as it has. An independent experimental foreign animated film like this has already won by getting even the level of recognition itâs gotten.
I watched Ali now. FWIW, not liking boxing shouldnât deter you; the movie has a couple of notable boxing scenes (I really liked the first one just for its cinematic qualities), but as a whole itâs primarily about Ali as a civil rights figure and a public figure facing down discrimination from the U.S. government.
That said, I donât have a super high endorsement of it. I think it was decent, but no more, and âdecent, but no moreâ puts it at the bottom of my Mann rankings despite not regretting putting in the time with it. I admit that part of my issue here might have been that I went in with the wrong mindset, where I was judging it more specifically as a Mann film than just letting it be whatever it would be. It didnât necessarily explore Aliâs interiority in the same way that Mann tends to approach his other protagonists, and it ended up being a more straightforward biopic. I still might try again with it sometime just because I know that Mann movies reward rewatch more than most directorsâ films do.
Weirdly, the biggest compliment I have for the movie is Jon Voightâs performance. He absolutely crushed it as Howard Cosell; itâs easy to see how he drew an Oscar nomination. I watched the making-of doc on the Blu-ray after watching the movie, and it was also odd to see Voight (now a notable fringe right-winger) in 2001 talking about how sad he had been about the death of the Kennedys and MLK and how angry he was at how Ali had been treated. It all read as pretty sincere to the moment that it was filmed, and itâs like he just lost his mind since that time.
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A lot of todayâs right wingers really liked Kennedy and were devastated when he was assassinated. We live in very very different times.
I know that Kennedy was broadly popular in a way that suggested much more than just Democratic support, but it does appear that Voight was fully left of the American center at one time. Per Wiki:
In his early life, Voightâs political views aligned with American liberal views, and he supported President John F. Kennedy, describing his assassination as traumatizing to people at that time.[34] He also worked along side Jane Fonda, Tina Sinatra, and Cicely Tyson for the George McGovern campaign, assisting with voter registration efforts in the inner city areas of Los Angeles.[35] Voight actively protested against the Vietnam War.[36] In the 1970s, he made public appearances alongside Jane Fonda and Leonard Bernstein in support of the leftist Popular Unity group in Chile.[37]
In a July 28, 2008, op-ed in The Washington Times, Voight wrote that he regretted his youthful anti-war activism, and claimed that the peace movement of that time was driven by âMarxist propagandaâ. He also claimed that the radicals in the peace movement were responsible for the communists coming to power in Vietnam and Cambodia and for failing to stop the subsequent slaughter of 1.5 million people in the Killing Fields.[36]
Just because he can remember some lines doesnât mean he knows anythingâŚ
Jon Voight talk always reminds me of this Vic Berger treasure
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