Watching
My last 10 watched from Letterboxd.
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Hamnet
At one point in Hamnet, Emily Watson’s character articulates something that I’ve thought about every day since losing my daughter. “What is given may be taken away at any time. We must never let our guard down. Never take for granted that our children’s hearts beat, that they draw breath, that they walk and speak, smile, argue, play. Never forget for a moment that they may be gone.” This movie was engineered to destroy me. The whole time I’m thinking, okay but what the fuck does this have to do with Shakespeare? And then it hit me and the fucking Max Richter kicks in and I’m left sitting in a puddle of my own tears as the credits roll. Damn.
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Red Dawn
I loved the premise of this movie, growing up at the height of the Cold War. As far-fetched as the idea of a bunch of teens fighting a rebellion against communist invaders in the middle of Bumblefuck, Colorado seemed, who could have imagined we’d eventually be invaded by our own government? Watching this now, with that in mind, this movie is really dumb. The characters are so thin that you feel almost nothing when they die. The ending yadda yadda yaddas the entire war but urges us to remember these kids who fought for our country. This movie really is a second amendment nut’s wet dream. But where are those people now?
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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Didn’t love the Jimmy stuff from the end of the last movie, so all the Jimmy stuff at the start of this was pretty off-putting. But I loved the Kelson/Samson scenes and when the two finally intersect I was fully on board. Wild imagery, great needle drops (including maybe one of the best?) and solid direction by Nia DaCosta. Some clever shots but nothing as gimmicky as part 1. The ending left me a lot more optimistic for a third entry than the last one.
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Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
A delightful doc about one of the funniest to ever do it, who inspired countless others to follow in his footsteps. It was a gut punch seeing Rob Reiner and David Lynch pop up, both talking lovingly about Mel. As much as this sheds a light on his career, the most touching thing was to see how much he loved his late wife, Anne Bancroft, and his best friend, Carl Reiner.
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Bodies at Rest
This thing really drags for only being 90ish minutes. Competently made by Renny Harlin, of all people. It’s like Die Hard in a morgue but the hero is a nerdy widowed coroner who prevails with the help of science and Checkov’s wedding ring.
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The Choral
Mostly enjoyed this in all its earnestness but it felt kind of slight and the ending was not particularly satisfying. I can’t imagine how numerous towns like this had to sacrifice their youth for the sake of war.
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I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not
There’s no denying Chase’s early body of work is as prolific and indelible as any comedian of the last 50 years, but as this doc painfully illustrates, his narcissism, complete lack of self-awareness and a steady stream of coke and alcohol completely derailed a promising career. As others have pointed out, what’s most telling about this doc is the people who weren’t interviewed.
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The Shadow's Edge
Wasn’t expecting Jackie Chan, now in his 70s, to feature so prominently in this, but he’s here doing Jackie Chan shit. The direction and editing don’t do him any favors, with tight close-ups and quick cuts diminishing the action somewhat. There’s a fair amount of good action though and Macau is a pretty interesting setting. The movie is brought down by a ton of added melodrama around the aging villain and his Gen Z orphan gang, and the daughter of Jackie’s old partner, now also a cop, who Jackie has been secretly keeping an eye on since his partner was killed. The credits seem to hint at a sequel, though I’m not sure how much longer Jackie can keep banging these out.
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Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Apparently I logged this before but watching it again I didn’t remember anything about it. And a lot of memorable shit happens in this movie. It’s pretty bleak! The ending is just wild. This is probably the most serious I’ve seen Song Kang-ho, who normally injects his roles with humor. Here he’s just a man on a mission up until the very end.
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The Rip
This movie is a complete slog until it gets going. The first 40 minutes or so make Den of Thieves look like Citizen Kane. When it finally starts cooking, it’s mostly a mindless, glossy exercise, stacked with talent, like nearly every other high-profile Netflix original. But it’s hard to deny this cast elevates even the worst dreck to “watchable.” This could have been a tight 90 minutes if there wasn’t so much repetitive dialogue and exposition. Also, how are you gonna cast Scott Adkins and not have him kick all sorts of ass? Completely missed opportunity.