#* dialogue : jackie molina .

[thoroughfvre]

closed starter for @fallenstcr based on song 24 on my spotify wrapped . . . !

" you're not even willing to look at your part . . . you just jump in the car and head down to the bar until you're blurry . "

[marredbyoverlength]

Roundup - October and November 2017

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Visually and aurally stunning, so much so that it would be a solid film no matter what. There’s a lot to love here: excellent performances from Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and Ana de Armas, an excellent subplot about AI girlfriends, and even a surprisingly emotional ending. But the story is undercut by crowding, which becomes extra apparent in the third act when almost every major plot development happens within 5 minutes of each other. With more even pacing, this could be an all-time great. 8/10.

The Foreigner (2017) Dir. Martin Campbell. This movie was marketed as a Jackie Chan action flick, but really it’s a Pierce Brosnan political thriller about the remnants of the Irish separatist movement in which Jackie Chan sometimes beats the hell out of private security guards. It works pretty well, but I can’t help but wonder if this should have been two different movies. 7/10.

It (2017) Dir. Andy Muschietti. Solid, straight-up horror movie, despite some tonal inconsistencies. But, as is so often the problem with Stephen King film adaptations, there’s just not that much substance here. 6/10.

The Snowman (2017) Dir. Thomas Alfredson. The Snowman is not a finished movie: by the director’s own admission, they didn’t have enough time to shoot almost 15% of the script. It shows. Simply put, the pieces don’t all fit together, and the Big Reveal at the end would have been weak even if the buildup were properly done. But it did at least keep my attention. 5/10.

Geostorm (2017) Dir. Dean Devlin. One of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. Geostorm features Gerard Butler doing an American accent (which he is always terrible at), a big clock that says “Countdown to Geostorm,” a ton of handguns on the International Space Station, the most predictable Ed Harris heel turn of all time, and countless other incredibly dumb things, including the most hilarious bad dialogue line since Winter’s Tale’s “miracles are down by 50%!” The best kind of awful dreck. 2/10, but you should watch it anyway.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Dir. Taika Waititi. Easily the best of the Marvel movies, and it’s no wonder why: the Marvel bosses pretty much kept clear of it, and Waititi had the wisdom to lean into the inherent silliness of Thor and the Asgard mythos. Tremendously funny throughout, and in a way that didn’t detract from Thor’s remarkably compelling character arc. Worth seeing just for Jeff Goldblum’s portrayal of a deranged bread-and-circuses space emperor. 8/10.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Dir. Kenneth Branagh. A friend of mine described this as a film about how we get justice when the justice system fails us. I think that’s giving the movie too much credit, but it is significantly smarter than the awful Imagine Dragons song in the trailer would lead you to believe. Overall, it’s a pretty good version of itself—but there’s not a high ceiling for that. 6/10.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos. When I left the theater, a staff member asked whether I like the movie. I told him I didn’t know. Then he asked what it was about. I told him I didn’t know. That is my review. 5/10.

Justice League (2017) Dir. Zack Snyder (and Joss Whedon, unbilled). Another movie where the production problems really show, especially with these two directors. Whedon and Snyder both have the same problem: they are incapable of writing distinct characters. Every Snyder character is a cynical, loathsome edgelord; every Whedon character is an unserious geek-chic quipster. The styles do not blend well. Still, this is one of the better DC movies, as it doesn’t openly express its contempt for its audience and for heroism in general. 4/10.

The Florida Project (2017) Dir. Sean Baker. I have a hard time reviewing this one. It’s well-made movie with a good heart, but it relies entirely on how much you like young children. I do not like them one bit (save for my nephew. Hi Brady!). The only character I wanted to see was a beaten-down property manager of a low-income extended-stay hotel (an excellent Willem Defoe), who did get a lot of screen time, but not quite enough that I wasn’t glad when the movie ended. 5/10, probably 7-8/10 if you like kiddos.

Coco (2017) Dir. Lee Unkrich, Co-dir. Adrian Molina. Fun, but terribly predictable, and like most of the recent Pixar flicks, it’s almost completely unchallenging. But it gets a long way on spectacular animation, great original music, and bittersweet themes of family, memory, and legacy. Good movie to bring your kids to. 7/10.

Lady Bird (2017) Dir. Greta Gerwig. Strong debut for Gerwig, with impressive performances from Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as a daughter and mother with a strained but ultimately loving relationship. Tracy Letts is also great as the soft-spoken father of the family. The movie blends comedy and drama earnestly, and it’s clear that Gerwig has a good eye for filmmaking, especially with respect to editing. But the movie is held back by a busy script where lots of threads get dropped. 8/10.

Insomnia (1997) Dir. Erik Skjoldbjaerg. Good-looking and well-acted movie, but it’s impossible to root for any of the very awful main characters. Our Hero kills a dog and sexually assaults a receptionist. Without a strong story or character to latch onto, it’s hard to keep watching. 5/10.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982/2007) Dir. Ridley Scott. An oppressive, moody atmosphere and soundtrack make this boring movie watchable. This version is often considered the definitive version by Blade Runner enthusiasts, but even it has serious problems in editing. It’s hard to piece a movie together 25 years later from an incomplete source. 5/10.

[if-only-angels-could-prevail]

my perhaps foolishly optimistic prediction is that feud won’t go off the rails like other ryan murphy shows because: he actually has to stick to the story that already happened and he’s dealing with real people! so he does not have the ability to write himself into a completely absurd scenario and then resolve it with a lazy conceit! so that’s great!

the dialogue is still sometimes extremely bad though. he tends to use a lot of words to say very little.

god i just wish he worked with someone less hammy than him who could tell him to cool it once in a while bc he has these great ideas and awesome visual sense and style.

and the cast includes susan sarandon, jessica lange, alfred molina, stanley tucci, jackie hoffman, catherine zeta-jones, jessica lange so like? bye

(cut to me in a month saying “feud is the worst show of all time and ryan murphy is the hack queen”)

[thoroughfvre]

" right . . . " delivery reveals jackie's doubt despite attempting to toe the line between neutral and curious . the last thing she needed was to derail this before she got what she was looking for . " do you think that other people view you as a serial heartbreaker ? or do they realize that he's just a past lover that's been scorned ? " ⸻ " not to be presumptuous but you don't seem to care about saving face . "

"and is that a direct quote from his twitter ?" femme questions with a laugh, head shaking slightly. "it wasn't even like that. he makes me sound like i'm some serial heartbreaker. i'm not nearly as vain as i look."

[thoroughfvre]

" we never should have kissed . . . that's where we went wrong . and now we can't take it back . "