#i miss the mid budget comedy/action movie/genre movie. i miss her so much

[welcometogrouchland]

Had to leave the tag once I stopped getting GIFs and started getting ATJ thirst posts (no shade, just not my area of interest) but anyway. Fall guy good movie I think

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: First Love

Takashi Miike has always had a penchant for bending, subverting, and outright breaking traditional genre conventions. Audition, for instance, begins as a lighthearted romcom before abruptly veering into the territory of straight-up torture porn; the various tragedies and indignities suffered by the eponymous family in The Happiness of the Katakuris, meanwhile, are conveyed via absurdly elaborate musical numbers. In his latest effort—First Love, an unapologetically pulpy neo-noir that hearkens back to the yakuza thrillers of his early career—the prolific filmmaker immediately asserts his authorial voice, intercutting a Rocky-style training montage with a brutal gangland murder; the moment the thud of our hero’s fists pummeling a heavy bag seamlessly transitioned into the wet smack of a severed head bouncing across concrete, I knew that I was in for one hell of a roller coaster ride.

[MAJOR SPOILERS below the break; please proceed with caution!]

The catalyst of the gleefully convoluted plot is Kase, a mid-level mobster whose ambition vastly exceeds his competence. Convinced that his organization will soon collapse under the strain of its leadership’s constant bickering, he conspires with an equally inept corrupt cop to steal a shipment of meth from one of his underlings and blame it on a rival Chinese crew, raking in a huge profit while both sides are preoccupied with slaughtering each other. Unfortunately, he neglects to factor two key players into his ill-advised caper: Monica, the drug-addicted prostitute locked in his subordinate’s apartment; and Leo, a washed-up boxer with an inoperable brain tumor and absolutely nothing to lose. The unforeseen interference of these unwitting interlopers quickly causes his carefully-laid plans to unravel into a blood-soaked comedy of errors—and as the body count rises, his sanity plummets.

Although the premise is undeniably derivative—Masa Nakamura’s screenplay owes an enormous debt to Fargo, True Romance, and Baby Driver—Miike’s direction is so confident, committed, and elegant that it’s difficult to truly care; he has, after all, helmed over one hundred features (many of which, I’m sad to say, have never been released in the U.S.), and if he’s learned one lesson from all of that experience, it’s how to slap a fresh coat of paint on a familiar story. But even without his bold visual flourishes (including a car chase rendered entirely in neon-drenched animation—a prime example of how to creatively circumvent a limited budget), the base material is still surprisingly solid. Leo, in particular, is a thoroughly captivating protagonist: abandoned as an infant, he drifts through life without passion or purpose, becoming a boxer simply because he has an innate talent for the sport. Despite his impressive skill in the ring, his performance is conspicuously lacking in enthusiasm (indeed, the opening sequence ends with his trainer berating him for refusing to celebrate a recent victory); his terminal condition merely exacerbates his preexisting nihilistic attitude. Encountering Monica and discovering her traumatic past, however, completely alters his bitter worldview, providing his broken soul with the vital piece it’s been missing: a cause worth fighting for—if he’s just going to die in a few months anyway, he might as well dedicate his little remaining time to protecting an innocent victim from further torment.

And then the big third act twist arrives, threatening to totally derail every bit of Leo’s character development: the doctor that delivered his fatal diagnosis was mistaken, and he is, in fact, perfectly healthy. Literally five seconds later, the villains generously offer to allow him to walk away from the conflict unscathed—if he surrenders the girl. Still reeling from the revelation that he actually has a future beyond a premature demise, he very nearly succumbs to the temptation to accept... but ultimately, he can’t bring himself to desert his new friend. “When I thought I was dying, I could do anything,” he declares, renewed conviction burning in his veins. “And I still can!” It’s a sentiment pregnant with deeper significance that elevates First Love’s otherwise minimalistic narrative. Yes, there’s a certain guilty pleasure to be found in watching a rogues’ gallery of morally-bankrupt crooks, assassins, and scoundrels meet their grisly, gory ends (see also: Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces), but the implicit call to action in that statement—its desperate plea for humanity, compassion, and common decency in the face of apathy, complacency, and pessimism—lends the movie some much-needed heart.

[abitterlifethroughcinema]

The Wrap, Part II: Return of the Curse of the Creature’s Ghost!

Film Reviews from the 51st Annual Sitges Fantasy/Horror Film Festival

by

Lucas A Cavazos

It would be of utmost denial to oneself to not take part in the occasional puff of marijuana and/or odd glass or two of red wine whilst shuffling about Sitges during this type of festival. I tell you, in this gayest of cities (and yes, I mean that in both senses of the word), nothing says loving like soaking up sun and guts while having the right side of your brain open. To quote Henry Miller…”The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” 

And it is in that vein, I present to you the latest film starring Nicolas Cage, Mandy ###-1/2…Could it be that Nicolas Cage might actually have something interesting to offer now that he’s well past 50 and ready to go beyond simple nut job roles and wannabe-buff, action hits and flops? Last year, this festival premiered the currently in-run and VOD film called Mom and Dad with Selma Blair, and if that was a thing of fun and delight, which is was, this film is much more darkly mirrored and rife with psychedelic imagery, and it must be discussed. To note, it does contain ye olde, ubiquitous screaming-whilst-having-a-psychotic-fit Cage scene, doubt ye not! Set in turn of the decade 80s, Red (Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) have removed themselves from the majority of society and live a life of slight isolation, that is until one day, Mandy is abducted by some occult-like sect with grave intentions. Linus Roach (Priest) plays Jeremiah Sands, a man who can call forth demons and demonic creatures, and when psychedelia meets rancour, flames go up and and as they do, someone in them, as well. This is where the film turns into a contemplative narrative tale on revenge and turmoil, highlighted by a tinge of hallucinogens and wasp venom, and I cannot begin to tell you how eerily creepy it is to see Linus Roach after so many years in a role like this that sends chills down your spine in ways that create sheer panic and disgust. Watching Cage take revenge is a joy and wonder, and it should be noted that the film won two of the Sitges 51st Official Selection Awards for Best Director, which went to Panos Cosmatos and Best Actress going to Andrea Riseborough, who also comes up a bit later down below. A piece of rogue psychedelic modern art on celluloid if ever there was one, tinges of Wes Craven, Heavy Metal cartoon imagery and sleep paralysis demons make this Nic Cage vehicle one of the best things he has done in simply years.

Making my way over to The Retiro in the heart of bustling Sitges to screen the noir-like film The Dark ###, I realised that I was late and upon arrival, I was quickly ushered upstairs and had to make do with a single chair propped up next to an upstairs balustrade. The Dark is an eerie piece that preys on the power of the unknown to scare the viewer into wanting to know more about its strange characters…and then the film reveals those secrets in flashback. Despite its title, there is very little in relation to darkness other than the tone of the film and its narrative of teen spirit gone horribly awry. In a former entry, I spoke of how a screened premiere entitled Zoo had encroached upon fresh zombie territory, and until recently as just over a decade ago, zombie cinema was a mostly contained affair, and reserved to a select grouping of films annually. That all changed with the mid-noughties and this latest entry into its subject matter baits us with unexplained tidbits, starting when a one Josef Hofer (Karl Markovics), described as armed and dangerous, makes his way to a rather haunting locale, where death finds him in the form of Mina, perma-resident of this cursed abode in Devil’s Den, a forestal area with a history of hauntings and Mina is that person/monster haunting those very woods. But then she discovers Alex, a blind and also-scarred teen who had been Hofer’s captive, and together the two make off for a disturbing adventure, which borders on heartfelt while also sadistic. If anything, this piece certainly toys with emotions and good cinema ought to do just that.

The Sitges Fantasy/Horror Film Fest is divided into many distinct sections, such as the main Official Selections, Noves Visions,which promotes newer filmmakers and diverse subject matter, Melies Feature and Short Film sections, Asian Focus, Animated Fare, The Orbita promoting mixed big budget and indie fare, Fanastic Discovery Features promoting obscure (and often deeper) cinema, the B and Z-grade fare of the Midnight X-Treme selections, as well as, the Critics Jury Selection. All of that to say that there is nary a specific genre within the fantasy film/horror movie genres that is NOT touched on by this film festival. Winner of the Orbita Award for Best Picture went to the US studio outfit entitled American Animals ###-1/2 and what an astounding effort it provides its audience into a peek at the rather modern mindset of the ageing millennial. Telling a 2004 real-life story by British director Bart Layton, he of the haunting 2012 film The Imposter, this 2018 effort documents how four white youths from good, hardworking families failed to fully realise a masterminded effort to steal one of, if not, the world’s most valuable book. The multi-volume Audubon Society’s Birds of America, not to mention Darwin’s first edition copy of On the Origin of Species were just two of the books to be included in a heist that Transylvania University students Spencer Reinhard and Warren Lipka (played to perfection by Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters) foolishly decided to rob from the special collections library department. To say that the subject matter is mid-level at best might be a tad harsh but only just so; that said, the way Layton maps out the mental state of these middle-to-upper middle class boys should give all of us a hint as to where these boys, and millions like them, are coming from. The plan of a heist is bred with the idea that their spoiled lives have hindered their true creative identities, and so to tell the story, the director secured interviews with the actual perpetrators and spliced that with top grade talent re-enacting the actual events. The film cannot be heralded as a thing of wonder, as it truly details the dumbest snafu of a heist ever on American soil. But what it succeeds in showing is that insecurity, lack of identity, and seeds of doubt are rife amongst today’s young adults, and if we are not fomenting stronger individuals as siblings, educators, parents, et al…we will continue to create these spoiled races of highly non-autonomous individuals. Give them some tough love, for goodness sake. Worthy of a view for any parent or educator.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…Lars Von Trier, he of the Dogme 95 cinema movement and so many odd, jarring and sometimes good celluloid pieces…see Celebration and this film as examples please…he of the “understanding Hitler, I’m a Nazi” joke he pulled a few years back at Cannes, which then had him banned for half a decade, premiered his latest work last week at Sitges. It a doozy of a film that garnered some decent attention and a European and Spanish distributor, for sure. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen Matt Dillon on the big screen, and the brief time with Uma Thurman at the film’s beginning is a dark scene of beauty…and then not. Here’s the thing, as always we are dealing with the tortured mindset of a Scandinavian director who seethes out his demons onto celluloid, but that alone does not make it exceptional art, although I truly believe he thinks it is. In turn, I truly believe that von Trier is quite likely a mitigated sociopath. That said, while there is a bit of reverential awe to his masterful ways of movie manipulation, it is his use of dark comedy that sets this film apart from other recent fare he has brought us. Matt Dillon plays the titular character and while amusing at first, he soon grows languidly repetitive and chauvinistic, and while there are scenes of comedic brilliance, such as an OCD-related clean up job that leads to an incident with a policeman or the bang-down job he does trying to dispose of bodies in a freezer, it is impossible for this student and teacher of history to not associate the fact that we are watching a man, a DANISH man no less (do your research as to why I emphasise that, chirren) play out his darker inner recesses for our viewing interest, but it surely makes me aware that we are also likely dealing with his pathos. That’s what really makes The House That Jack Built ###-1/2 really scary.

Lastly this entry, Nancy ###-1/2 brings up the actress Andrea Riseborough again, and I would like to note that often at awards season and ceremonies, actors get rewarded for an individual work, which often plays testament to all the other work they’ve done in their field that year. As Riseborough won Best Actress at this year’s Sitges Fantasy/Horror Film Fest, I believe this piece was much more deserved than the aforementioned Mandy for that award. I also find it compelling that she as an actress chose to make two, back-to-back films about tortured women with their names as the movie titles. Nancy is a quasi-failed career woman tending to her mum who suffers from some neural disorder and who is unintentionally suffocating her daughter with complaints and stress…but when mum dies suddenly, what is Nancy to do but discover that she was likely abducted years earlier and soon begins to associate herself with a long lost child case never resolved that might fit her theory about herself, however strained it is. What ensues is a emotional tour de force involving the parents of the long missing child, played to award-level precision by J. Cameron Smith as Ellen and Steve Buscemi as her hubby Leo. When Nancy sets up an appointment to meet with them, they take a shining to her at once and while awaiting DNA results, take her in to stay with them, including with her cat to which Leo is allergic. As scenes go by, even though this might be more in order in an indie film fest rather than here at Sitges, you also understand that the fantastical elements lie in the mind of the titular woman, as well as, in director Christina Chloe’s softly brutal touch. A film meant for those who understand healing and suspension of (dis)belief, Nancy gives Andrea Riseborough a chance at becoming a celebrated actress to emulate.

[gretagerwigarchive]

Greta Gerwig & Joe Swanberg: The Penny-Pinching Future of Indie Cinema

By Steve Dollar  |  March 2, 2009 

source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/03/greta-gerwig-joe-swanberg-the-penny-pinching-futur.html

There’s low-budget guerrilla filmmaking and then there’s low-budget guerrilla filmmaking. Greta Gerwig, the 25-year-old star of indie-cinema micro-faves such as Hannah Takes the Stairs, Nights and Weekends and Baghead, recalls an inspiring moment during a visit home to her native California. Making an overnight stop at a motel in Santa Barbara, she flipped through the TV channels until she was stopped cold by something on the local public-access station. There, she discovered a very curious action flick called The Pharaoh Project.

“It was beyond amazing,” Gerwig says, her cadence by turns hesitant and headlong, as she recalls the insane saga about an elite squad of legendary warriors (Genghis Khan! Alexander the Great!) reincarnated to wreak havoc on the modern world. Really, it was like the director and his beefiest bouncer buddies were trying to create a Steven Seagal sci-fi/action epic on a PBR budget. “The most official-looking car they could get their hands on was a cream-colored Toyota 4Runner, but they played it like it was an FBI armored vehicle.

     Gerwig, a Barnard-schooled playwright, screenwriter and director, has won glowing reviews for her comedic acting skills, mostly channeled into fetchingly flaky characters as romantically befuddled as befuddling. But even if the Los Angeles Times calls her “an ingénue for the text-message set,” and even if she’s about to start shooting John C. Reilly in her next feature, she still shares a nothing-fancy Williamsburg pad with a roommate. Make fun of The Pharaoh Project all you want. Gerwig won’t. “I just kept watching because there was so much there to admire,” she says. “It isn’t that far removed from the kind of movies I’ve made. The ‘let’s just go do it’ attitude. We’re interested in different things. I’m interested in the million tiny deaths that occur in everyday human interactions, and they’re interested in sweet-ass roundhouse kicks. But the motivation to make something is similar.”

Along with her friend and sometime collaborator Joe Swanberg, 27, Gerwig is one of the most prolific characters in a new wave of young filmmakers lighting up the indie landscape. The past few years have seen the arrival of a slew of talented, original directors who have thrived despite—and sometimes because of—miniscule budgets and improvised means: The list includes the Duplass brothers (Baghead), Aaron Katz (Dance Party, USA; Quiet City), Todd Rohal (The Guatemalan Handshake), Ron Bronstein (Frownland), Mary Bronstein (Yeast), Craig Zobel (Great World of Sound), Ry Russo-Young (Orphans, You Won’t Miss Me), Frank V. Ross (Hohokam, Present Company), Kentucker Audley (Team Picture), Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories) and Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation).

Early on, Bujalski’s sound mixer, Eric Masunaga jokingly referred to one of the films as “mumblecore,” and the label stuck for a while. It was catchy, and spoke to the indie-rock flavor of efforts like Swanberg’s LOL, in which urban post-grads stumble in and out of relationships, bands and poorly furnished apartments, endlessly discussing feelings they can’t always articulate. The use of consumer-grade handheld digital-video cameras, spontaneous dialogue and casts comprised mostly of other budding directors are also common tendencies, although by no means exclusively so. Katz gives his actors scripts. Bronstein, who co-starred with his wife Mary in the Swanberg-shot Web series Butterknife, works in 16mm. So does Zobel. Not everyone digs Final Cut software. In other words, these filmmakers are hardly clones—but they have more in common with one another than they do with everyone else.

This movement, as such, has branched out as Swanberg and his peers have begun to mature after years of film festivals such as Austin’s annual SXSW, which became a flourishing seedbed for the movement around 2005.

“The technology changed in the mid-to-late ’90s,” Swanberg says, giving his socio-cultural analysis as he takes a chair next to Gerwig in a photographer’s studio near the Manhattan Port Authority. It’s a brittle winter evening after a day of hiking around bleak locales in upstate New York, where the pair posed as Depression-era vagabonds—even as all-too-real panhandlers proliferate on the streets outside. “The resolution got better, and the Internet allowed social networking to happen like it hadn’t before. The threat of the actors strike in 2001 that paved the way for a lot of reality TV to hit the mainstream made a huge impact on the way mass audiences perceived handheld video. Because they got used to watching it, all in one year, with Survivor and every other show that came along shot in a run-and-gun style on a small camera.”

It wasn’t long before young filmmakers hit the festival circuit with their own low-budget projects, though, as Swanberg notes, “A bunch of celebrities had to make movies on [digital video] to legitimize it. Ethan Hawke had to make one, and Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming made The Anniversary Party, and everyone said it was cool, and even then it took a lot longer.”

Swanberg began shooting so-called “webisodes” in 2005 with Young American Bodies, a series for the erotically minded Nerve.com, which reflected the diaristic—OK, blog-like—intimacy of his features. “This whole idea of exposing very personal inner thoughts to a general public whether they wanted it or not seemed really crazy five years ago,” he says. “But it was around the same time that these smaller movies started to do something similar: I’ll tell my story and my friend’s story. If it plays festivals and people see it, great, and if it doesn’t, it still exists. I made my first two movies for less than 3,000 bucks.”

That vow of insularity can’t stick forever, though. Swanberg’s new film, Alexander the Last premieres March 14 at SXSW and, on the same day, becomes available by demand on IFC, as part of its Festival Direct series. The idea, Swanberg explains, is to make the film broadly accessible while it’s still playing festivals, and not wait for interest to fade. “The way people are watching stuff is changing,” he says. “If I don’t start putting these movies out very quickly they will start backing up on each other. Theatrical distribution doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Benten Films, a DVD outfit run by two film critics—Andrew Grant of FilmBrain.com and Aaron Hillis of GreenCine.com—has done an impressive job of packaging and promoting work by Swanberg and fellow indie upstarts like Audley, Rohal and Katz. But it’s not easy. “There aren’t enough distributors to go around,” Hillis says. “If you’re an independent filmmaker there are not a lot of options out there. There’s no more middle class. It’s just a matter of time before it becomes either The Dark Knight or mumblecore, with nothing in between.”

If that’s the case, Swanberg’s work doesn’t suffer from a smaller screen. Alexander—a slender (72 minutes) but quietly observant drama that says as much with silence as with its improvised dialogue—is lucky to have an irresistible center of gravity in Jess Weixler (Teeth), a rising star whose face is a delicate map of feeling. About nothing if not process, the film charts the keenly attenuated emotional swings of Alex, a young actress drawn to her handsome co-star Jamie (Barlow Jacobs) while her rock-musician husband is on the road. To further complicate matters, she has introduced the fresh-from-Kentucky Jamie to her older sister Hellen (Amy Seimetz), who actually engages in the fling Alex and Jamie pretend to have onstage. The milieu may not be too far away from the tempest-in-a-beer-can angst of The Real World, but the spirit is much closer to the bedroom intimacies of the French New Wave. Yet, even if Swanberg’s actors are at home with casual nudity and candid couplings, their journeys of self-discovery are not linked to a larger political or philosophical agenda. They prefer singing their own songs and tinkering on thriftshop keyboards to dropping postmodern allusions to art and cinema. Their point is not to be clever, but to be honest. The film also broadens Swanberg’s professional circle. Jane Adams (Happiness) takes a small but key role, and Brooklyn filmmaker Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale), for whom Swanberg has been working as a cameraman and assistant director, helped produce when another project failed to jell. Likewise, the Duplass brothers, whose ambitions skew more mainstream, have cast John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill for their next comedy. And Reilly also takes the lead in Gerwig and collaborator Alison Bagnall’s Funny Bunny.

“There’s an audience now, and I’m wanting things I didn’t want before,” Swanberg says. “I want to shoot in other cities now, and I want to shoot in HD. I want to rent apartments, and I want sailboats and all these other elements. But before, I was content with a few people in a room.”

Gerwig—who spent the past year racking up performances in neo-grindhouse genre flicks like Ti West’s House of the Devil and a non-mumblecore indie in which Iggy Pop plays her dad—has a good laugh about her efforts to go Hollywood. “I’ve made a bunch of audition tapes,” she says. “I start cracking up because I can’t get through the scenes. Some of them, I have to cry and say things in Southern accents.” She drifts into her best Scarlett O’Hara: “Johnny did not kill that bay-buh! I killed it! Because I hated it!” Nonetheless, the actress confesses, sure, “I’d love to be the girl in the dinosaur movie.” Well, OK, maybe a movie with little plastic dinosaurs.

Gerwig says she was astonished to learn that the guys who made Cloverfield are fans. “The woman who casts Gossip Girl loves Aaron Katz. What!? But maybe I’m not supposed to say that. The number of people who are around watching you out of the corner of their eye is amazing.”

Swanberg—whose output has increased since he brought on Anish Savjani (Wendy and Lucy) as a producer—won’t likely be taking on any Cloverfield sequels, even with his handheld-video skills. If his films don’t make money, he’ll still shoot. “It’s a compulsion for me,” says Swanberg, who also finds time to continue acting in his friends’ movies, shooting Web projects and helping his wife, Kris Williams, with both her filmmaking and burgeoning gourmet-ice-cream business. “It’s not like I started doing it because I was good at it. Nor is it that I continue to do it because I’m good at it. I do it because I can’t help it, and I don’t know what else to do. I already know there will be a period when I will make 10 of them that nobody sees or likes or writes about. But the reason why I will continue through that period that nobody cares is not because they will care again but because I can’t help it. It’s selfish. I’m making these things for me.”

[callmehawkeye]

Watched in 2018

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (Season 1): I didn’t expect to adore this as much as I did. Everyone knocked their roles out of the park. Crushes for dayyyyys.

The Keepers (2017): A serial documentary about the unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik and the most-likely possible connection of systematic abuse at the Catholic school she taught at.

Mindhunter (Season 1): Dramatization of the FBI in the late ‘70s as the Behavioral Science Unit developed their profiling and understanding of serial killers.

Roots (1977): I remember watching a bit of this mini-series in middle school and needing a signed permission slip. But that’s the extent of it. Happy I finally got a chance to watch it all the way through.

All the Money in the World (2017): Gorgeous film, noteworthy performances. I’m happy to give my money to a filmmaker who made a decision not many would try. I respect Scott a whole lot more now.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (Season 1): The show’s budget is bananas and I love everything about it. SCIENCE RULES.

Proud Mary (2018): I found the trailer to be rather misleading in that I didn’t exactly get what I paid for. The genre was definitely more drama than action and Taraji was great, although I wished she had more screen time instead of the focus being on tired plot points and themes.

Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2018): More witchy cartoons, please. This was delightful.

Bill Nye Saves the World (Season 1): BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL!

Bill Nye Saves the World (Season 2.1): I can’t believe how good this is. It’s so open-minded and clever and validating.

The Watcher in the Woods (2017): The remake certainly isn’t as good as the original; it strips away too much of the mystery. But please cast Anjelica Huston in more projects, please please please. She’s still so captivating. 

Luke Cage (Season 1): I feel like Mahershala Ali is what mostly held my attention......... And then.........

Lowriders (2016): I had an opinion about this, I’m sure. But I don’t remember this movie at all now.

Human Planet (Mini-Series): BBC docuseries about how people adjust to their natural environments.

 Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special (2014): Maria’s slow return to standup by performing in her parents’ living room.

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003): In-depth documentary of Los Angeles’ place in film history.

Maria Bamford: Old Baby (2017): Maria’s latest standup special that begins in front of the mirror, progresses to a small backyard crowd, and evolves to a full theater set.

Black Panther (2018): WAKANDA FOREVER!!! This better get some recognition come awards season for the visuals.

Chris Rock: Tamborine (2018): Some of his jokes fall flat, but he’s still engaging and it’s good to see Rock on stage again.

Queer Eye (Season 1): I have done nothing good enough in my life to deserve the wholesome goodness of this show.

Annihilation (2018): It’s not perfect, but not deserving of the backlash it got from its own studio. This was a perfect, immersive sci-fi thriller on par for me as the likes of Alien.

The Killing of America (1981): The brutal, graphic documenting of America’s violence problem in a condensed timeframe starting with the JFK assassination and ending on the murder of John Lennon.

A Wrinkle in Time (2018): There are many intricacies from the novel that I disagree with being excluded from this film adaptation. HOWEVER. It made me feel all the same feelings I did from when I first read the book as a child. I ADORED it.

Pacific Rim Uprising (2018): Okay. Buckle in. I have a lot of feelings to the point where I’m updating my film list of the year immediately afterwards and not waiting to stack up a good amount of viewings to justify an update. It was horrible. Third time in my life I ever walked out of a theater. Second time I’ve ever asked for a refund from a movie theater in my life. I don’t know why I’m so righteously disappointed. I didn’t expect it to have Guillermo’s direction nor heart; but it so thoroughly missed the mark I can already say in mid-March that it’s my biggest disappointment of the year. It was void of any charm the original had, took its faults that I recognized and viewed and magnified it by a trillion. It felt like an unfinished television pilot. DIAF.

Ready Player One (2018): Spielberg tried his best to make a better version of the novel, but it just felt soulless.

A Quiet Place (2018): One of the better horror movies I’ve seen in some time. I’m so proud of John Krasinski.

Love, Simon (2018): This was such a solid romantic comedy, I can’t even find a way to summarize it.

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Season 2): The best original series Netflix has. Don’t @ me.

The Family I Had (2017): The true recounting of a mother whose 13 year old son killed his 3 year old sister.

Genie: Secret of the Wild Child (1997): Documentary of the alias-named child Genie who was isolated and uncared for, for 13 years by her parents.

Rampage (2018): Delightfully stupid, but made me realize I can never go to an IMAX screening again because it was just like having someone shriek in my ear for two hours.

Isle of Dogs (2018): So beautiful, sweet, and heart-warming. 

Welcome to Leith (2015): Unenlightened hypocrisy at its finest -- white supremacists try to make a small town their sanctuary only to be aghast no one wants them there.

The Avengers: Infinity War (2018): In typical Marvel Avengers films fashion (this is a comment excluding the standalone character films -- not Civil War, please, they stole Captain’s movie from him), it’s over-bloated and the good sum of its parts does not a good movie make.

The Americans (Season 1): I’ve forgotten to add this.

The Americans (Season 2): I marathoned everything.

The Americans (Season 3): To make it to the season 6 premiere in time.

The Americans (Season 4): It was great.

The Americans (Season 5): And then season 6 happened.

John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous: The most relatable standup I’ve ever seen and now quote daily.

Billy Nye Saves the World (Season 3): BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL!

Evil Genius (2018): Docu-series about the murder of Brian Wells, also known as the collar bomb case.

Deadpool 2 (2018): It’s not better than the first one, but it was a breath of fresh air in the superhero fatigue I’m in.

Born in China (2017): Nature documentary focusing on some of China’s most famous animals, narrated by my boo John Krasinski.

Death Becomes Her (1992): Ridiculous and good camp.

The Girl Can’t Help It (1956): A fairly good fluff film about the entertainment industry with a solid fucking soundtrack.

Bell, Book, and Candle (1958): My aesthetic.

Near Dark (1987): A refreshingly different vampire movie with Bill Paxton shining in the center of it all.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 4): I wish this entire show was just Titus.

Chef’s Table (Season 1): Glorious, glorious food and the methods of the people who make it.

Chef’s Table (Season 2): I can’t get enough of this series. But it just makes me sad none of these restaurants are down the street from me.

Chef’s Table (Season 3): This season includes Jeong Kwan. And I would die for her.

Arrested Development (Season 5): Sigh. I guess this is fine.

Ocean’s 8 (2018): Not my favorite heist movie. Not gay enough. Still a decent sit.

The Staircase (2018): The docu-series returned this year with new episodes. It’s a very back and forth issue for me.

Queer Eye (Season 2): This is the only show that matters anymore.

The Incredibles 2 (2018): Not a bad sequel. Very entertaining and I laughed a lot. Not a lot of the usual Pixar emotion, however.

Carmen Esposito: Rape Jokes (2018): I haven’t had a cathartic laugh this good since Tig Notaro’s Live.

Chef’s Table (Season 4): I’m crying because it’s all so beautiful.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018): I cried throughout this entire, lovely, tender-hearted documentary about a perfect man.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018): I left in the last 20 minutes to get an alcoholic beverage and didn’t return because fuck it, I was so damn bored.

A Star is Born (1976): Eh, at least we got Evergreen out of this.

Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017): This revitalized my respect for the woman.

Breathless (1960): I can see how this was so influential. Very romantic and wonderful outfits.

Tag (2018): I laughed so hard, and I haven’t enjoy a straight-up recently released comedy in so long.

Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960): Can’t lie, at the 40 minute mark, I couldn’t believe there was another full hour of this slog left and turned it off.

Nailed It (Season 1): Comedic genius.

Nailed It (Season 2): Let Nicole Byers host everything.

Black Sunday (1960): May I present to you, my new favorite movie. It has everything I need.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974): Wow. Wow wow wow. Why did they remake this movie? This version was perfect and so, so superior in every way. I think I cried at one point?

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922): A documentary with excellent reenactments that made me think, “How’d this get past the Hays’ Code?!!?” before realizing it was an import.

Whitney (2018): Documentary about the woman herself with the people who were there with her through it all. I’m shocked by some of the things people admitted to on-camera and that they got Bobby to say anything at all. Denial runs deep. It was excellent to see her live shows on the big screen.

The Vietnam War (2017): An 18-hour documentary series that follows every year and major milestone of the war. Very bipartisan, honest, and I learned a lot.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018): Legitimately entertaining and a great refresh from Infinity War (which I hated).

The Witches (1966): Joan Fontaine is in the midst of a small-town conspiracy when she moves in as the new school teacher. Spoiler! The answer is the occult.

Jim Jefferies: This is Me Now (2018): Not bad, but didn’t encourage me to find another of his specials. It’s fine.

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018): Challenge the form more!! This was so inspiring.

Growing Up Wild (2016): Disneynature division really needs new footage. Daveed Diggs was at least a great narration choice.

Sorry to Bother You (2018): Not at all what I was expecting -- although I did expect to like it and that was indeed met. I want to tell you nothing. Go in blind.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018): How do these movies continue to be the best thing Sandler is attached to in near a decade?? They honestly retain the level of quality film to film. I love it all.

Iliza Shlesinger: Elder Millennial (2018): I cried I laughed so hard.

Paint Your Wagon (1969): Clint Eastwood singing!! Polyamorous cowboys!!

Mission: Impossible -- Fallout (2018): I want more action movies like this. The stunts and fights were just so beautiful. I can’t express how great this movie is and how well it works in the genre. I wish there were more like this.

Eighth Grade (2018): One of the more honest teenage-centric films about being a teenager in recent memory. So cathartic. So proud of Bo Burnham.

Grace and Frankie (Season 1): I literally love everyone more in this entire cast.

Grace and Frankie (Season 2): Powering through because I’m still waiting for my shows to come back and I’m watching it between episode breaks from Black Mirror to lighten my mood.

Dark Tourist (Season 1): It’s horrifying in about 40% of the cases for me; but god does it make me want to travel again.

The Meg (2018): Do you want to see Jason Statham fight a fuckign shark?! Of course you do. This was genuinely a fun film to watch.

BlacKkKlansman (2018): Spike Lee’s best in years. Beautiful filmmaking.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018): I loved this so goddamn much. This is what a good romantic comedy looks like. More like this, please, Hollywood. Romcoms can be good, respected, and worthy of praise if the effort is there!!

Black Mirror (Series 1): Well, shit. The first episode was overhyped to me but overall, I’m not disappointed in waiting so long to finally start this.

Black Mirror (Series 2): This show is fucking addictive.

Grace and Frankie (Season 3): This show is so pure and funny.

Black Mirror (Series 3): Contains my favorite episode I’ve ever watched of anything ever. 

Black Mirror (Series 4): Give. Me. Mooooore!!!

Sylvia Plath: Inside The Bell Jar (2018): A short documentary about Plath’s life surrounding her writing of her famous book.

Destination Wedding (2018): Two of my favorite people act out what is quite possibly what would be designed to be my life were it suddenly a romantic comedy. Love is stupid! I’m a cynic and happy in my cynicism! ...BUUUUT.

Searching (2018): This is like a very well-done, well-acted, well-budgeted ID channel original movie. I had a great time watching it.

Grace and Frankie (Season 4): I hope I have as much game as Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin do when I’m their age.

Black Narcissus (1947): Absolutely beautiful technicolor and impending dread. But then BOOM! 1940s blackface.

Night of the Eagle (1962): Delightfully bizarre.

Slice (2018): Modern B movie. I loved the concept more than the execution: I loved the ensemble so much, but they somehow didn’t have enough of any of them in it.

Leave Her to Heaven (1945): The Original Amazing Amy!

A Simple Favor (2018): I am so excited about how unexpectedly fun, entertaining, and even compelling this film was.

Sharp Objects (Mini-Series): A tough, but addicting sit. I watched the entire series in one go.

Strong Enough to Break (2006): The behind the scenes documentary of Hanson being put on hold by their record company for a three-year span which lead to frustrations and the eventual formation of their independent company.

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018): This movie wasn’t bad. But I feel like I’ve seen and read better takes on this type of story/stories before.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972): Harold, they’re lesbians. 

RBG (2018): An awe-inspiring individual receiving the documentary she deserves.

White Zombie (1932): Bela Lugosi puts a voodoo curse on Madge Bellamy. 

Castle Rock (Season 1): I sincerely hope this is a sign of the times that the success of IT is going to bring about more and more Stephen King-inspired media.

The Haunting of Hill House (Season 1): Please please PLEASE don’t do a second season. This was so cathartic and splendid on its own.

The Mummy (1932): I grew up with the Brendan Fraser one, but this was just delightful.

The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell (Season 1): Quite possibly my favorite tv watch of the year.

Love, Gilda (2018): Documentary taking a look at the life of Gilda Radner with lots of lovely, private home videos. My favorites were of her and Gene together.

The Exorcist (1973): Yes. My first time watching it from beginning to end and in full. It’s an entertaining sit for the acting and practical effects!

Hush (2016): I already ranted about this on my Twitter, but god this was patronizing and horribly cast. It had such potential so it was vastly disappointing. 

Dog Soldiers (2002): This is the perfect example of how if I’m told the ending, I just don’t find any enjoyment in watching it. Sigh.

Ghost Stories (2017): And this is the perfect example that if you overdo the slow burn, I’m going to pull up the film’s Wikipedia summary and spoil myself so I don’t have to sit through it anymore.

Fahrenheit 451 (2018): It’s too bad this wasn’t good. Lost a lot of its nuance. 

Halloween (2018): THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANT OUT OF A HORROR MOVIE/SEQUEL. I LOVED EVERYTHING. I LOVED EVERYONE. I LOVE YOU SO DAMN MUCH, JAMIE LEE CURTIS.

Like Father (2018): The only good part was the acting in the scene between Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer at the waterfall. The rest was just an obvious 1990s script dusted off. Complete with minority stereotypes that have nothing better to do with their lives than to help the poor, messy white girl.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018): I always get so, super excited when I find a good romantic comedy. This is wholesome, relies on clichés but makes them its own, has wonderful characters played by great actors, and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Solo (2018): Forgettable.

Suspiria (2018): It had a rocky start, but I believe this very well could make my end of the year list. I adored 94% of it.

Corrina, Corrina (1994): They should have leaned into the romance more.

Bonjour Tristesse (1958): GOD Jean Seberg was GORGEOUS. 

Jane the Virgin (Season 1): I finally got spoiled by something pretty big, so I gave up not searching the tags for this show and putting these out of sequence -- I love this show. It’s right up there for me with Parks and Recreation, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. There is no character I dislike unless specifically, unequivocally written for me to. It’s so engaging and charming and hits all of my requisites to be loyal to a show ‘til the end.

Jane the Virgin (Season 2): Team Michael and trying to catch up before the final season premieres.

Nailed It! Holiday! (2018): God I’m crying with laughter. Nicole Byer should be so much more famous.

Jane the Virgin (Season 3): Almost caught up and loving it!

On the Basis of Sex (2018): My favorite movie to see on Christmas. Well acted. Well paced. Loved RBG’s cameo at the end. I think it was a great depiction.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018): It was fun in the moment, but the more I sit with it, the less I remember of this movie -- much like the songs as soon as the next scene happened. It’s such a tall order to follow up Mary Poppins. Emily Blunt is dipped in gold as usual, but it’s sort of a middle tier installment in the new line of Disney remakes/reboots. Great dancing and spectacle. But just okay overall.

Creed II (2018): Now if you’re just gonna do the same thing over and over with new generations, this is how you do it. 

Widows (2018): My last movie of the year. Such great performances. I wish there was more to see with the female cast -- this would have been great as a limited series (such as the one it’s based on).

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