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Normal is Still Boring
The large family of a man dying of cancer prepare for his birthday in 2024's Totem. Writer/director Lila Aviles endeavours to capture life perched on the edge of terrible change but the finished film fears intimacy with its audience leading to something academic and cute ( Read more... ) -
Folly of Millions
Well, it turns out 2024's Joker: Folie a Deux is a good movie. Fuck me for trusting the vast majority of critics and audiences. I mean, it's not a perfect film but its near total rejection by audiences and critics is kind of baffling now that I've seen it. If it weren't for the fact that Quentin Tarantino and John Waters both praised the film, I ( Read more... ) -
Taking It On the Plane
Improvements in communication technology mean you can make a pretty good tech suspense thriller on a pretty low budget. Netflix's 2024 film Carry-On (no relation to the long running British comedy franchise) is mostly just Taron Egerton talking to Jason Bateman on the phone. But it's one of the most intelligently constructed films to have ( Read more... ) -
The Many Snacks of Christmas
I had plans for to-day but I think I'm mostly just going to eat snacks. I got a bunch of Christmas snacks and candy from students and teachers yesterday at a Christmas party for the junior high school's ESS or English club. It also happened to be my last day at the school and my last chance to see the third year students at school. I knew I was ( Read more... ) -
Super Again
We have a new Superman trailer. At first I wasn't enthusiast. Shots of Superman bloodied in the snow and flashbacks to the Kent farmstead with golden sunlight behind silhouetted figures seemed like a retread of Zack Snyder. The titles announce it's directed by James Gunn and note that he's the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. I ( Read more... ) -
Medicine for Ghosts
Two women trying to make careers for themselves in the women's section of a castle find themselves confronting a demon in 2024's Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain (劇場版モノノ怪 唐傘). This is basically a feature length episode of the Mononoke television series from 2007, which in turn was a spin-off of another series, none of which I knew when I ( Read more... ) -
That Dog can Run
A little girl is critically ill and only one brave canine can save her in 1995's Balto. The last traditionally animated film from Amblin Entertainment, I remember my friends and I turning our noses up at it at the time of its release as just another Disney imitator but now I see it's an excellent artefact of an all but lost art in America ( Read more... ) -
Even Rich People can be Losers
Sharon Stone falls for a cheesy voyeur in the sleazy 1993 thriller Sliver. But when I saw the screenplay was by Joe Eszterhas I knew what I was in for and was quite prepared to enjoy his distinctive brand of greasy imitation Hitchcock ( Read more... )
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