#it is one of my favorite Nicolas sparks movies

[gucciwins]

safe haven is the perfect fourth of july film

[paddockletters]

Just for you | nicola zalewski

request: yes | I really wanted one with Nicola Zalewski, where he's really whipped with y/n :) summary: Nicola is completely whipped for you, and neither you nor he has even noticed until a friend points out these details about him pairing: nicola zalewski x reader —im so excited— warnings: none words count: 1.0 k author's note: kinda short but i hope you like it! —because I didn't like it that much— also just to let you know again, english is not my first language neither polish so pardon me if there are mistakes —feel free to tell me—

From the moment you and Nicola first crossed paths, there was something undeniable between you two. That connection, that spark—it felt different, almost like it was meant to be. As you started getting to know each other, those casual dates quickly turned into something more, and it didn’t take long before you found yourself falling deeply in love with him. The way he treated you, the way he looked at you, how he spoke—it all made falling for him feel like the most natural thing in the world.

Nicola wasn’t just your boyfriend; he was your best friend, too. You two would go on dates, sometimes just the two of you, other times with friends or even his teammates tagging along. His friends soon caught on to how smitten he was, always talking about you and how devoted he seemed. They could see what you already knew—he was all in, and it showed.

Nicola had a habit of surprising you, especially on those days when he finished work before you. He’d pick you up, and as soon as you got in the car, there he’d be—holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers, his smile lighting up the whole car. Sometimes, you’d get home to find your favorite meal waiting on the kitchen counter, or he’d whisk you away to your favorite restaurant. No matter how the evening started, it always ended the same: the two of you curled up in bed, talking about your days or watching a movie, content just being in each other’s arms.

He loved hearing you talk about your work. Your passion was contagious, and he found it soothing—your voice, your smile, your excitement. It was his favorite part of his day. And when things got tough for him, especially after a tough game, he loved how you were there to comfort him. You always knew what to say, how to hold him, and in those moments, he’d bury his face in your neck, breathing in the familiar scent of the perfume he had bought you on your second anniversary.

Every time he scored a goal, it was for you. It didn’t matter if you were in the stands or watching from home—he always made sure to send you a sign, that little gesture the two of you came up with before you even started dating.

That Saturday, he scored again. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, he didn’t bother with his teammates’ celebrations—he had only one thing in mind. He sprinted towards the stands, pointed directly at you, and traced the initial of your name in the air. Your cheeks flushed, and as everyone around you turned to look, you couldn’t help but smile. From then on, every goal was yours.

One night, while out with friends, the conversation turned to stories about all the things Nicola did for you.

It was true—on that trip you’d planned together, being the adventurous one, you had suggested skydiving. He wasn’t as keen, but he agreed because it made you happy.

Nicola turned to you, raising an eyebrow, nodding. "I wouldn’t call it 'whipped,' though," he added, laughing.

"Definitely whipped," Lorenzo teased, and Nicola playfully punched him in the arm.

You joined in the laughter, surprised but also touched that he shared the story with them. You hadn’t realized how much he did just to make you smile.

Later that night, when you were back home, cuddled up in bed, you couldn’t shake what had happened earlier.

“Baby, you don’t need to worry,” he whispered, his arm pulling you closer. “I do it because I love you, because I care about you.”

Your heart swelled at his words. “I’m so lucky to have you,” you murmured, feeling his warmth beside you, knowing that in him, you had found more than just love—you had found home.

[dollfacediary]

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┊ ◟﹫ Name : You can call me what you want (pet names,etc.) , but Nene is fine as a normal name

┊﹒𐐪 Age : is not relevant, but i am still a minor

┊ꜝꜝ﹒Pronouns : she/her would be prefered

┊ ⨳゛Sexuality : i honestly don't know, so far I like everybody (no one in particular has in fact sparked my interest till now:(((

┊ ◟ヾ Likes : books, animated tv shows, fashion, makeup, kpop, (broadway) musicals, sanrio, bows, shoujo girls, horror movies, Hannibal<3, Miu Miu, Dior, Chanel Runway shows, the 60s, dolls, pretty porcelain sets, my friends, baby pink, baby clothes bcs they are so cute and tiny, music

┊﹒𐐪 Dislikes : many foods, rude people, bad manners

┊ ◟﹫ Extra : everyone can chat with me, but be nice

┊`~° Nationality: German

┊ ◟ヾExtra : wonyoungism girlie, currently learning japanese,korean,english and more, i will mostly post tips and use tumbler as an online diary

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╰─ - ̗̀✎ My Favorite...

୨୧┇Color: pink, dark red, black, white, pastells

୨୧┇Anime/TV: NANA, AoT, Horimiya || Kaos, Arcane, Derry Girls, Scream, Good Omens, Hannibal, Marie Antoinette(2006),

୨୧┇Game: Animal Crossing

୨୧┇Animal: Jellyfish, bunnies, snakes, cats, sharks, racoons, fawn

୨୧┇Actor: Zendaya, Hugh Jackman, Tom Hiddelston, David Tennant, Reneé Rapp, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Dancy, Nicola Coughlan

୨୧┇K-Pop group: Le Sserafim, (G)I-Dle, Illit, Ive, Stray Kids

୨୧┇Bias: Moka, Wonyoung, Rei, Yuqi, Yunjin, Chuu (Loona)

୨୧┇Character(TV): Viktor,Silco,Mel (Arcane), Saiki K, Mocha (Sanrio), Barbie, Hachi

୨୧┇Music: Marina and the Diamonds, PinkPantheress, Queen, Artemas, ABBA, Ayesha Erotica, Sabrina Carpenter, David Bowie, Lana Del Rey, Isabel LaRosa, Mitski (feel free to recommend me smth !!)

୨୧┇Aesthetic: currently a mix between coquette, morute and pink pilates princess:)))

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me :3 - me

Mutuals<3- mutuals

Your entries~ - your thoughts and experiences

Nonnie !! - Asks

[thislivsnjutare]

The Sun is Also a Star is a classic boy-meets-girl story, but with a twist—a brief, whirlwind romance that takes place over the course of a single day. It’s the kind of tale that romantic souls long for, where a single glance sparks something electric, and a few intimate questions lead to the feeling that you’ve known each other for a lifetime. Throw in a few minutes of gazing into each other’s eyes, and it feels like enough for love to bloom, despite the ticking clock.

Can two people who share just one monumental day truly be destined for forever? It sounds like something that only happens in the movies—or, in this case, a novel—but Nicola Yoon explores that very question, and along the way, she gives readers a glimpse into the improbable yet beautiful possibility of it. The story is not just about love, though; it dives into deeper, more sensitive topics like immigration, deportation, and the difficult sacrifices families make, sometimes at the expense of their dreams.

What I particularly enjoyed about this book were the side stories of the people surrounding the main characters. These glimpses into the lives of others show how our actions—or even our inactions—can ripple through the lives of those around us, often in ways we don’t even realize. It adds a layer of interconnectedness that feels profound, reminding us how small moments can have lasting impacts.

My only real struggle with the story was trying to fit everything that happened into a single day. It felt almost too perfect, like time was stretched just a little to allow everything to fall neatly into place. But maybe that’s the point—perhaps love, like time, bends when it needs to.

And the ending? That might just be my favorite part. It’s hopeful and brimming with possibilities, leaving you with the sense that maybe, just maybe, love can defy the odds and the limits of time.

[drunktuesdays]

I love the original family man film even though it makes me so so sad so when I’d seen you and annakovsky had done a dustjim version I was so excited. And it was beyond all of my expectations. It’s such a devastating premise because of all the sweetness and tenderness and love it contains right along a line of heartbreak and loneliness and regret. It is so bittersweet at the end too, because they can start again, there’s still the spark and the promise of happiness, but 1/2

re: Auld Lang Syne

anon, this was such a nice message to receive. i'm so so so so glad you liked it. the family man is one of my favorite movies too, even though the way they set nicolas cage's glimpse life up actually makes me bonko crazy. i just really really love thinking about fork in the road stories and how, if you make one different decision, things just split off.

@annakovsky and i watched the family man together over slack on december 11th, and actively started chatficcing this story while the movie was still going, which is insane. we wrote most of it in an insane fever--we were both sending about 1K blocks every day. the thread on slack looks like this

then i think around christmas, our friend @no-birdstofly linked us to this post about it's a wonderful life, which we both lost our minds about. particularly the line "that George's existence didn't stop [Mary] from having a happier life, but saved her from having a sadder one."

baby that's juicy!!! that's a juicy thing to say!! it fed the fever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway i think--and i'm speaking for kovsky accidentally here, but i think she'd agree--it IS a bittersweet story, because dustin's life is even sadder than our own real universe--he's alone, he doesn't enjoy wrestling anymore, he doesn't understand why he's depressed or even that he IS depressed. and the glimpse is a world in where, not only is he not alone, but he's an important part of this family. he doesn't just live in that house with jim and violet, they depend on him, they're affected by his behaviors. that's really scary! and it's really scary for him to realize--oh i like that. oh that's what's been missing. that's what sucks about his life! as a born-and-bred acts of service bitch, i find that kind of story fucking intoxicating. u are part of a web and your actions affect the health of the whole ecosystem!!!!

but on a lighter note, one thing i like thinking about is how the jim in the real universe is about to have the most insane experience of his life. he's gonna go from his quiet lonely life to having an incredibly devoted boyfriend. dustin's about to intently romance the shit out of him, and borderline try to uhaul. jim's going to try to fight it and protect his little heart from being broken again but i'll tell you for free. he cannot stand up against the tsunami that's about to hit him. That Boy Will Never Lack for Coffee Again.

[paisley-print]

Near The Water’s Edge:   Chapter Three

After fleeing your abusive husband, you find yourself in the small coastal town of July, North Carolina. Soon you meet Frankie Morales, Air Force Veteran and single dad. As the two of you grow closer, you begin to let go of your past and learn to love again. That is until a strange man shows up in town, and you ’re forced to choose between your safety or the safety of the people that you love.

Inspired by the novel “Safe Haven” written by Nicolas Sparks. 

Series Master List

Frankie Morales x Female Reader Rating: 18+ / Heavy adult themes eventual smut. Trigger Warnings: Domestic Abuse, Alludes to Non-Con, alcohol, Mentions of death, PTSD, anxiety.  Word Count: 2329

Note: A heavy chapter. Please read the warnings. Skip down page past Italics to avoid the flashback and skip to the main timeline.

Tag List:@qytyy @winter-fox-queen​​​ @sherala007​​​@inkededucatednnerdy @quica-quica-quica​​​ @hnt-escape​​​ @giizhkens-cedar​​​@heythere-mel​​​ @toomanystoriessolittletime​

Chapter Three

“Y/n….. Y/n”

“I’m in here!” You called, peaking at your reflection through the glass of the microwave and dabbing at a blotch of red lipstick that was out of place. You heard him set his satchel down on the kitchen table and turned around with a smile. “I didn’t hear you come through the door.” 

“I came through the garage,” he said, then moved forward to place a lingering kiss on your lips.

“How was work?” You asked. 

He sighed and loosened his tie “busy, but the day went fast knowing I was coming home to my beautiful wife.”

You smiled and looped your arms around his neck, the fabric of your dress riding up a little. “I missed you too.”

“Oh, come on, I know you had way too much fun without me today,” he cooed, leaning down to kiss you again. This time his hands wandered lower and squeezed your ass. 

You swallowed back bile that was rising in your throat; and pulled away gently. “I did some laundry and vacuumed. Mostly I just waited for you to get back. I even picked out a movie for us to watch. I think you’ll like it.” 

“Yeah? What’s it about?”

“It’s that war movie you mentioned the other night, on Netflix. The one with Orlando Bloom.”

He smiled and gave your ass a light smack. “Yeah I think that will be fun. It’s better than the romantic comedy shit you choose half the time.”

With that, he disappeared into the bedroom to perform his nightly ritual. First it was the tie, then the suit jacket, next the top button of the shirt, and finally the cuff links. Once this was done, he would reach into the liquor cabinet for the whiskey and pour what would be the first glass of many to follow. 

You made your way over to the table, took up his satchel, then carried it through the house to the front door so you could hang it on the coat rack - where he expected it to be the next morning. Then you walked over to the Christmas tree and flicked the lights on, it lit up the living room beautifully. Christmas had always been your favorite holiday, but in recent years it just made you sad. Another few days, and all of this crap would be packed up in the attic again.

He was sitting at the table when you came back into the kitchen; you stole a glance at his belt. Thankfully, his gun was in the safe for the night. 

“Smells good,” he said, swirling the brown liquid around in his glass before taking a sip. “What is that? Garlic Chicken Pasta?”

“Yep. It’s almost done. I just gotta throw the pasta in real fast. Maybe another fifteen minutes or s-”

“I thought you said you were going to make soup tonight?”

You felt your heart racing. “I was, but then you mentioned how you wanted pasta tonight and soup on Friday, since you were going to the bar to watch the game and you didn’t want to reheat pasta.”

You turned to stir the water in the pot and tried to make yourself seem more busy than you were, that way you didn’t have to talk to him. All the while you could feel his eyes staring at you as he sat silently sipping his whiskey. Something was wrong, you could feel it. You searched your memory for all the potential missteps you may have taken today so it could be corrected. You could fix it before it bubbled out of control - a gasp escaped your lips as the lid of the pot boiled over. You reached for the lid, wondering when you had put it back on the pot. 

A voice broke the silence behind you, “I noticed the stuff in the bathroom.” 

Your grip on the wooden spoon turned your knuckles pale. 

He continued, “have you been taking the injections like the doctor said?”

You weren’t; you had been emptying the vials and filling them with water whenever David was in the shower. “Yes, you watch me take them,” you told him sweetly. “The doctor mentioned it could take a few months to build up enough hormones to-”

He slammed his glass down on the table. Not enough to break it, but enough to  to startle you. You tried your best to focus on the pasta as his footsteps grew closer. Soon his hot breath was sliding over the skin on your neck. He wrapped his arms around you from behind and sighed.

The weight of his body settled onto your shoulders, and for a moment you felt guilty. You never quite knew how he was able to do it. Make you question yourself like this. He prayed upon your capacity for empathy, and it always worked. You didn’t want a baby with him…. but you felt bad that you denied him one. None of it made sense. 

“Do you think it’s me? I’m the reason we can’t get pregnant?” he asked, voice sincere.

You put down the spoon then turned and looked at him again, hand coming up to rest on his cheek. “Not at all, honey.” 

His own hand shot up to grab a hold of your wrist, grip bruising. “Then who’s fault is it?”

You smiled through the pain, though your eyes filled with tears. “Maybe the doctor’s. You told me yourself that they were only in the business of making money.” 

His other hand came up and hit you across the face. Immediately searing pain shot through your cheek and into your eye. You stumbled forward, teetering unsteadily on your high heels. David used this opportunity to take you by the throat and slam you up against the refrigerator. Your head knocked against the stainless steel handle. Cereal boxes on top of the fridge fell over and spilled their contents all over the floor. David didn’t notice, his attention was focused entirely on you. 

“We’ve been to three of them. Clearly it’s not something they are doing. So if it’s not me, and it’s not the doctor’s then whose fault is it?”

You hesitated only for a moment. David took this as yet another act of defiance and landed a punch in your rib cage. He was punishing you by showing exactly where he wouldn’t hit you if you were pregnant. Since you weren’t carrying his child, you could endure his corrections. It knocked the wind out of you. You struggled for air as David waited patiently for your response. 

“Me. It’s... It’s m-my fault,” you finally choked out.

This answer seemed to satisfy him. He let go, then calmly went over to the cabinet, plucked the bottle of whiskey from its shelf and brought it with him to the table. “Since you are clearly incapable of doing it yourself, I will take over the job of giving you the injections.”

It hurt to breathe. Every breath you took felt like someone was twisting a dagger into your lungs. Your hands were shaking and your eyes watered as you reached under the sink to take out the dustpan and broom. You didn’t cry though, You forced yourself not to.

-

The rest of the meal passed in silence, you pushing around salad and pretending to eat while David scrolled on his cellphone. As long as you didn’t lift your arms too high and took shallow breaths- the pain was bearable. After the meal had ended, David took the alcohol with him into the living room. 

Once you were done cleaning up, you told David that you were going to take a shower. He was too invested in the news program to care. The moment the door was shut, and the water was running, you broke down. Sobs hid by the sound of running water. 

Steam fogged up the mirror and clouded the ceiling. Vanity light bulbs suddenly appeared blinding. You used one hand to peel off your shirt as carefully as possible, knowing there would be a bruise. It looked much worse than you had expected, dark broken capillaries reaching out from the center like tails of a serpent. 

Breath hitched in your throat as you lifted your hand up to feel it. It didn’t feel broken, thank god, but it probably was fractured. As soon as you stepped into the stream of water,  bullets tore through your sensitive skin. You couldn’t reach up to turn the water off so you squeezed yourself into the corner, naked body pressing up against the freezing damp tiles.

All you ever did was love him and he repaid you in marks and insults. You had tried to be a good wife, and he saw none of it. He was not the man you married six years ago - or at least not the man you thought you were marrying. For a long time you tried to rationalize his behavior, saying that being a detective in the homicide unit was a necessary but dark job. He was a hero. So you endured his bad days because you thought you could be a beacon of light for him, but with every hit and beating the light flickered out…. and you felt as though you would be trapped in the dark with him forever. 

You couldn’t even think of bringing an innocent child into this hell. 

You kept yourself as close to the corner of the shower as possible, leaning your head into the rushing water and trying to wash your hair with only one hand. It proved to be a much harder task than it looked. Soap kept getting into your eyes and your neck ached with the strain of moving it in such an odd way.

By the time you were finished washing the remaining drops of conditioner out of your hair. David was there, waiting on the bed when you opened the door. He swayed a little as he sat and motioned you over with his finger.

“Come here, hon,” he slurred.

You did as you were told. David pulled you closer, taking the towel you had wrapped around yourself and pulling it off of you. You shivered in the cold air as you stood bare for him. He set it down on the bed, then took something in his hands, gently pressing it to your side. 

You gasped, alarmed at its sting - only to realize it was an ice pack. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking up at you with big round eyes. He sighed and rested his head on your shoulder. “I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have hit you. I  know you want a baby just as much as I do. I’m just getting worried, we’ve been trying for years…”

You hoped that the alcohol was enough to kill him in his sleep tonight. You fantasized about it, hearing him choke on his own vomit as he lay beside you. Hearing him thrash and spit and sutter and gurgle and die on his own vomit like an animal. You wouldn’t move a muscle, you would just listen and smile in the darkness of your bedroom. Your hand came up to rest on the back of his head, because you knew that’s what he wanted. “It’s okay.”

A wave of nausea flooded your system as his lips pressed a lingering kiss to the base of your neck, his finger trailing up your side and coming to brush against your breast. At least you were safe from sex tonight. David wouldn’t touch you below the waist when you were on your period - it repulsed him. 

“Do you still love me?” He asked, pulling back to look at you, eyes bloodshot and nose red from the liquor.

“Yes,” you lied, “of course I love you.”

-

The early morning sun cast long shadows across the parking lot of the marina. Seagulls called from every direction, catching the wind and hovering on the air stream. Looking almost frozen as they teetered in the air - until they dived down, striking at the water to catch their prey. 

As you passed the main shop, you drew a slow breath, lungs filling with the smell of salt water. 

It was a beautiful morning and a busy one for the marina. The parking lot was packed with families getting their things in order to set out on the water. You thought it odd that Frankie would be allowed off today, of all days. You noticed that there were a few more cars than normal as you unlatched the gate to Frankie’s driveway and shut it behind you. To say that you were nervous was an understatement.

You lay awake last night, over-analyzing everything. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself, but mostly you didn’t want to embarrass Frankie. He had been the one to bring you along, and you were a direct reflection of him. If you failed today, then he might not speak to you again. He had been your only friend you made while in town, and you didn’t want to risk losing that. You had to be perfect, look perfect, act perfect. 

Christ, this was all starting to be too much….. 

‘It’s just a beach day with friends. Stop overthinking it,’ you told yourself, trying to dispel the panic attack that threatened to come on as you ascended the stairs. A hand lingered on the bell as you looked through the frosted glass window and saw figures moving...and male voices. 

You couldn’t do it, you wanted to so badly, but you just couldn’t. You started down the stairs back towards the gate, already working on the apology you would tell Frankie when you saw him again. You hoped he wouldn’t be mad. As soon as your sandals hit the broken shells of the driveway, you heard someone call out from behind you. 

“Summer?” It was Frankie, standing on the landing, front door ajar. “Are you alright?”

You thought quickly, “Oh uh yeah, sorry. I just forgot to close the gate.”

Frankie glanced at the gate, then back to you. “Don’t bother, we’re going to head out soon, anyway. Come inside for a second, my friends are here, they wanna meet you.”

You took a deep breath and nodded, smiling perhaps a little too forcefully.

Frankie let you step inside first before closing the door behind him. His house was nice and a lot more put together than you had expected. There were curtains next to the sliding glass door, nautical paintings leading up the steps, and live plants hanging in the windows. You wondered if he decorated himself or if he had help from Katie. 

‘Katie’ you thought, looking around. There wasn’t a picture in sight that gave a hint as to who she had been to him... she was a ghost. 

His friends were standing in the kitchen, laughing at a joke one of them told. They looked older, around Frankie’s age. Three women were sitting at the table chatting idly.

The blonde man was playing a little game with Lucy, lowering his beer bottle just enough for her to reach it, then snatching it away at the last moment. “Hey Fish!” he called “what have you been teaching your daughter? She’s trying to steal my beer!” 

The little girl giggled. 

“Knowing the weak shit you drink, I don’t really see the problem,” Frankie shot back.

This made everyone turn and look, taking notice of your presence in the room. 

“Miss Summer!” Lucy squealed, running up and crashing into you for a hug. 

“Hi” you smiled, placing a hand atop her head. 

“Are you gonna build sand castles with me today?”

“Of course.” 

“Lulu,” Frankie cut in, “where are your shoes?”

“Ummm on my bed.”

“Well, go put them on your feet, silly. We’re about to leave.”

Then, just like that, the girl was off in a blur of pink tulle. He introduced the woman at the table first, since they were closer “this is Amber, Yvonne, and Taylor.”

They all gave you a friendly smile, and Yvonne pointed out how much she liked your sundress. This made you feel a little more at ease.

Next Frankie introduced the men “Santiago, Will and Ben.”

Will was the first to speak “hey catfish’s girlfriend is real! Who knew? Pope, you owe me twenty bucks.”

Ben laughed and looked at you “you know, there’s still time to run, we’ll distract him for you.”

The words stung. What had Frankie told them? It must have been a joke... or was it a warning? You laughed lightly with the rest and moved your hair to the side, feeling as though the room had grown about ten degrees hotter. ‘If he touches me, I’ll leave…. but he knows where I live…’ 

Frankie, who was looking quite ‘sunburned’ again, adjusted his baseball cap nervously.

You knew you had to say something… “Fish?” 

“Yeah,” Ben responded, “short for Catfish…. Oh, he hasn’t told you the story yet?”

The three men looked absolutely giddy with this revelation. They were about to launch into the tale when Lucy reappeared.

“Alright,” Frankie said, jumping on the pause in the conversation. “Let’s go, I don’t want to sit in traffic all day.” He turned to you, reaching in his pocket and handing you his key “can you do me a favor? Can you start the car and get Lucy in her car seat? I’m going to help them load stuff in the truck.”

“Sure,” you responded, thankful for the chance to leave the house. 

“Thanks,” he said, then turned to address his daughter. “Lulu, go with Miss Summer while Daddy packs the car-”

“I wanna help!” Lucy exclaimed.

“It’s too heavy for you, baby,” Frankie said gently. “Next year you can help, I promise.”

Lucy looked like she was about to protest, so you cut in. “Lucy, we have to plan our sand castle village. I think we should make it look like the one in Frozen, but I haven’t seen the movie yet, so you have to help me.”

The little girl gasped and started towards you, you held out a hand for her to take.  The two of you walked out the door as she explained the plot. “So Anna and Elsa are sisters and they live in Arendelle…..”

As soon as you were gone, Frankie walked into the kitchen to pull the men aside. “Hey, tone it down a little, just for today.”

Ben laughed “oh come on Fish! We were just joking-”

“Look, I know that but Summer might not.”

Santiago had noticed it too. It was the way you marked the entry points when you first came in. It reminded him of that trip, a room hidden behind the wardrobe. Noticing that as a potential entry point had saved all of their lives that day. “Catfish is right, knock it off.”

Ben placed his empty beer on the counter next to the sink. “Jeez Pope you too? What are you, his mother now?”

Santiago was quick with his response “you both seem to forget the goldmine of stories we have on you.”

Will narrowed his eyes “you wouldn’t-”

 “Like that zip tie flagpole incident,” Santiago said, raising his voice. 

All three girls at the table looked up. That seemed to shut Will and Ben up for good. Satisfied by this, Santi continued, stepping forward and speaking to the men directly. “Seriously, Fry likes her, don’t scare the girl away.”

The boys could be a little brash at times, but they knew when to turn it off, especially when it came to Lucy’s well being. She was regarded as somewhat of a fifth member, dubbed ‘Fry’ after her father’s nickname. 

-

Frankie was hit by a wave of cold air as he entered the car. You were still busy chatting with Lucy from the passenger seat. “So Hans is the snowman?” 

“No, Hans is the prince, Olaf is the snowman,” Lucy informed you.

“Ohhh Olaf is the snowman.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty funny,” the little girl laughed, her brown curls bouncing as she did. 

“I bet” you smiled and looked at Frankie, who was pulling on his seat belt. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know, you looked upset before,” you pointed out.

Frankie shook his head “nope, all good. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m excited. Can’t remember the last time I went to the beach.”

He placed a hand behind your headrest, preparing to shift the car into gear, when he remembered something. He kept his voice low, not wanting Lucy to pick up on what he was saying. “They were joking before, about the girlfriend thing. I never said anything like that.”

The spark of trepidation in his eyes told you he was telling the truth, “That’s okay, I believe you.”

​​

[letterboxd]

Poker Face.

Tiffany Haddish tells Gemma Gracewood about taking a holiday from comedy in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter, her hotel comfort viewing, and why Oscar Isaac thinks of her as Jesus.

“When I say yes to a movie, that’s a hundred to two hundred people that get to work and I want them to be happy about working.” —Tiffany Haddish

Comedians taking on dramatic roles is not an innovation in cinema, but it’s which comedian, in which role, that makes a casting choice a talking point. Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Mo’Nique in Precious. Peter Sellers in Being There. Robin Williams in everything.

In The Card Counter, Paul Schrader’s meditative slow-burn on American shame, part of the tension as a viewer lies in what we already appreciate about Tiffany Haddish as a performer. She is an unbridled crack-up, a live wire on screen and off, a former foster kid committed to busting unsustainable Hollywood beauty myths by wearing the same dress throughout an awards season. Her physical comedy is electric, even when it’s a simple raise of an eyebrow.

The wildest thing about La Linda—a gamblers’ agent working the mid-level casino circuit, who spies, in Oscar Isaac’s William (Bill) Tell, a potential new thoroughbred for her stable of card counters—is the way her drinks order changes from hotel bar to hotel bar. “I came in there with my comedy ways and it sucked,” Haddish laughs, disarmingly honest about her leap from the hi-jinks her fans know her for, to her dramatic role in Schrader's new film. “Paul was hard on me at first,” she recalls. “He had to reel me in, make adjustments, strip all this stuff off, all my tools, leave me with these instruments I barely ever use.”

Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish in a scene from ‘The Card Counter’.

There’s an enduring myth that drama is tougher to pull off than comedy, something Haddish’s friend Morris Chestnut corrected her on a few years back. “He’s like, ‘No, what you do, that’s hard work. You are actually overworking yourself, doing these comedies.’ And I’m like, ‘He don’t know what he’s talking about.’ Then I actually did a drama. And I was like, ‘Oh, that was so easy. Oh, that was beautiful.’ It’s way easier. It’s way easier.”

What La Linda doesn’t know, but any casual observer of Schrader’s work will, is that Isaac’s Bill has a past, and that his methodical attempts to keep his guilt in check through a supremely minimal lifestyle, perhaps even to allow himself a spark of pleasure—redemption, even—are about to come unwound.

Before that, though, there’s time for La Linda, Bill and Cirk (Tye Sheridan)—the son of one of Bill’s former, shall we say, colleagues—to become an odd little chosen-family unit as they travel the circuit. Bill and La Linda cook up a nice heat while killing time in cocktail lounges, and her casual business charisma is a charming offset to the deeper themes at play. Writing fresh from a Venice Film Festival viewing, Rahul notes “you keep expecting Haddish to break out of the understated style and that tension works.” Andy agrees: “Her simple outlook on life and lack of existentialism offer a nice contrast to Tell’s brooding sorrow. Plus, La Linda is just a great character name.”

Haddish understood the pull between Bill and La Linda, and La Linda’s desire to probe into his mysterious monotony, in a very specific way: “As a standup comedian, I work with a lot of men that—they’re very talented, they’re doing big things when they’re on stage—but then when they come off the stage you’re like, ‘Who are you? Why are you so dark? Who hurt you? What’s going on?’ I can relate to that in so many ways.”

Still, of all the dramatic writer-directors to work with in America, why Schrader? What was it about his specific brand of lonely-white-man stories that appealed? “Cat People. It’s my jam,” declares Haddish, of Schrader’s 1982 erotic horror reimagining of the 1942 classic (and one of his few films with a female lead, played by Natassja Kinski). “I love that movie. It had some weird, twisted shit in it.” She has been campaigning Schrader to mount a sequel, so that she can have a crack at playing a sexy, predatory jungle cat. “I try to bring it up to him all the time. And he’s like, ‘Tiffany, we’re not doing it. No.’”

Natassja Kinski in Paul Schrader’s 1982 remake of ‘Cat People’.

Haddish imagines that Cat People would certainly be on La Linda’s list of hotel-room comfort watches, along with Shaft and Goodfellas. Haddish, on the other hand, prefers to kick back with series television when she is on the road. “I watch old sitcoms like Martin or, like, The Facts of Life. I love a good cartoon, especially the throwback ones on Boomerang. I really like the old school, like ThunderCats. That’s a good wind down for me.”

Filming days are long, making the minutes can be stressful, and Covid safety protocols add layers of complexity to the job. There are performers who are cast not only for what they bring to their roles, but also for the energy they bring to set. Haddish has an undeniable magnetism, so it is unsurprising to read her co-star Isaac, in The Card Counter’s production notes, describe her as being “like Jesus”, in that people would drop everything and follow her. She enjoys this comparison, revealing that she has always wanted to be an AD, the crew member with, traditionally, the greatest people skills. “I always wanted to be assistant director just so I can be like, ‘All right, picture’s up, guys.’ And just so I can know everybody and be cool with everybody.”

But as a performer with clout, what is her intention when she—Tiffany Haddish, famous actress™—walks onto a soundstage? Haddish’s answer is a generous primer on how to be a good sort on set (or, indeed, in any working environment). “When I say yes to a movie, that’s a hundred to two hundred people that get to work and I want them to be happy about working,” she explains. “I’m going to work with them again in something else, and I want to have a pleasant experience with the crew. The DP, the gaffers, all these people, we all work together as a unit, so I think it’s super important.”

Paul Schrader, Oscar Isaac and crew on the set of ‘The Card Counter’.

Certain crew members, she admits, “are imperative to making me look good”, but more than that, her approach is grounded in her own physical and emotional safety in an often volatile and unpredictable creative environment. “I see how some actors won’t talk to any crew members at all, and I feel like that’s not okay because these people are busting their ass to make you look great, and they are part of telling this story too. They might not be hanging off the side of the building like you are, but they are making sure that the camera’s operating correctly, so you don’t have to shoot it five hundred times.

“These people keep me alive. They keep me going and they can tell when I’m in a bad space. They’re like, ‘Here’s a Snickers.’ If I’m working with an actor who might be treating me not the best, they’re coming over, they’re giving encouraging words, ‘You’re going to be okay.’ We’re a team. I even talk to the editor. They’re like, ‘Picture’s up, sound’s rolling, and speed.’ And I’d be like [staring down the camera lens], ‘What’s up editor? Hey, it’s your girl Tiffany Haddish. Just a little note: I’m thinking about you. Now, if you could just make sure this lazy eye is this way… I know you’re in that room by yourself, but look out for your girl.” Sometimes, Haddish will even throw a bone to the studio executives. “I know they’re watching the dailies,” she laughs.

Her investment in the welfare of her film families is paying off in unexpected turns such as The Card Counter, with more to come. Up next, a trio of unusual comedies: Jerrod Carmichael’s existential buddy farce On the Count of Three, which was picked up by Annapurna out of Sundance this year; Cory Finley’s surrealistic sci-fi romp Landscape with Invisible Hand; and the intriguing Nicolas Cage vehicle, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Related content

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Life Detained: Jack Moulton’s interview with Kevin Macdonald, director of The Mauritanian

Josh’s list of Neo-Noir films

Follow Gemma on Letterboxd

‘The Card Counter’ is in US cinemas now.

[scorsoneamelia]

okay tons of asks that you have to answer. what’s your favorite demi lovato song? what’s your favorite color? what’s your favorite hairstyle of Amelia’s? what are songs that you associate Amelink with? favorite cereal? favorite movie? and what are good things that happened this week? I love you

hiii love!!!

1. lionheart!!! it will always mean so much to me

2. a light purple or a baby blue!

3. fave amelia hairstyle… i feel like anyone who knows me knows the answer to this! pp amelia hair, more specifically s4! her longgggg brown hair i need it back :(

5. ‘I GUESS IM IN LOVE’ by clinton kane, ‘favourite colour’ by carly rae jepsen, and ‘haunted’ by the legend ms taylor swift

6. oatmeal crisp

7. ‘safe haven’ by nicolas sparks

8. good things that happened this week… i’ve been thinking about this question for 5 mins lol. i carved pumpkins with one of my best friends yesterday and had a halloween night and i finally went back to school!!

i love you.

[things2mustdo]

When I ask myself what films in recent years have been my favorites, I find that the answers all seem to have a few things in common.  One, the movie must tell a compelling story; two, it must rise above its genre to make a larger statement about life or some universal idea; and three, it must be technically well made.  All great art—including film—can serve as a vehicle for the presentation of ideas, and the promotion of a certain virtue.  Although the mainstream American film industry has become more and more a sad repository of feminist cant and lowest-common-denominator commercial pandering, the foreign film world has undergone something of a renaissance in the past fifteen years.

The best films of France, Germany, Spain, and the UK are edgier, more intelligent, and more masculine than anything found in the US.  It was not always so.  But the work of great European directors like Jacques Audiard, Gaspar Noe, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Shane Meadows leaves little room for doubt that the true cutting-edge work is being done in Europe.  (Argentina deserves honorable mention here as having an excellent film industry).  The mainstream, corporate-driven US film industry has effectively smothered independent voices under an avalanche of political correctness, girl-power horseshit, chick-flickism, and mind-numbing CGI escapist dreck.

Movies that deal with masculine themes in a compelling way are not easy to come by these days.  Honest explorations of masculine virtues are repressed, marginalized, or trivialized.  One needs to scour the globe to cherry-pick the best here and there, and in some cases you have to go back decades in time.  Luckily, the availability of Netflix and other subscription services has made this task much easier than it used to be.  Access to the best cinema of Europe, South America, and Asia can be a great way for us to catch as glimpse at a foreign culture, as well as reflect on serious ideas.

I want to offer my recommendations on some films that I believe are an important part of the modern masculine experience, in all its wide variety and expression.  Out of the scores of possible choices, I decided to pick the handful of films that are perhaps not as well known to readers.  My opinions will not be shared by all.  I encourage readers to draw up their own lists of films dealing with masculine themes, and hope they will reflect on the reasons behind their choices.  Below are mine, in no particular order.  In italics is a brief plot synopsis, followed by my own comments.

1. Straw Dogs (1971).

A mild-mannered American academic (Dustin Hoffman) living in rural Cornwall with his beautiful wife becomes the target of harassment by the local toughs.  Things escalate to a sexual assault on his wife, and eventually to a brutal and protracted fight to the death when a local man takes refuge on their property.

Dustin Hoffman reaches his breaking point in “Straw Dogs”

This is a classic example of the type of movie that could never be made today.  Arguably Sam Peckinpah’s most daring film, it contains a controversial rape scene that seems to leave open the question whether Hoffman’s wife (played by Susan George) was a victim or a willing participant.  Faced with his wife’s betrayal, and continuing harassment from local miscreants, Hoffman’s character finds himself completely isolated and must learn to stand his ground and fight.

A chance incident later in the film sets the stage for a blood-soaked confrontation which is as inevitable as it is necessary. Peckinpah presents a compelling case for the cathartic power of violence, and the achievement of masculine identity through man-on-man combat.  It is a theme I find myself strongly drawn to. Controversial, powerful, and unforgettable, Peckinpah proves himself an unapologetic and strident advocate of old-school martial virtue.  We would do well to listen.  His voice is sorely missed today.  (Note:  avoid the pathetic recent remake of this movie).  Honorable mention:  Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974).

2. Sorcerer (1977).

A group of international renegades find themselves down and out in Nicaragua, and volunteer for a job transporting unstable dynamite across the country to quell an oil rig fire.

Due to inept marketing when this movie was first released, it never achieved the credit it so fully deserved.  A motley group of international riff-raff (including the always appealing Roy Scheider) seeks redemption through a harrowing trial.  But will they get it?  Is it even desirable to escape one’s dark past?  The answers are complex, and director William Friedkin refuses to supply easy ones.  The characters in this film are doomed, and they know it, but they still hold true to their own code.  Which is itself honorable.  Consequences must be paid for everything we do in life, and often the price comes in a way never expect.  Dark, brooding, and humming with a pulse-pounding electronic score by Tangerine Dream, this film has deservedly become a cult classic.  The ending is a shocker you’ll never see coming.

Roy Scheider undertakes the most perilous journey of his life in William Friedkin’s 1977 masterpiece “Sorcerer”

3.  The Lives of Others (2006).

A coldly efficient Stasi (East German security service) officer (Ulrich Muhe) is enlisted by a Communist party hack in a surveillance program against a supposed subversive writer and his girlfriend.  But monitoring the writer’s life awakens sparks of nascent humanity in the Stasi man, and he eventually must decide whether to follow orders and destroy the writer, or to sacrifice himself to save him.

This German masterpiece was made with great fidelity to the look and feel of 1980s East Germany, and the results are evident in every frame.  It belongs on any list of the greatest films ever made.  The masculine virtue here is of a different type than viewers may be used to:  it is a quiet, understated heroism, the type of heroism that probably happens every day but is hardly noticed.  There is no bragging here, no chest-beating, no big-mouthed bravado.  (In short, none of the wooden-headed caricatures that pass for masculinity in the US).  The ethic here is about love and self-sacrifice, the noblest and greatest virtues of all.

The ethos of self-sacrifice is now considered old-fashioned and almost a punch-line, but historically it was valued very highly.  It features in nearly all the old literary epics and dramas of Europe and Asia.  Actor Ulrich Muhe pulls off a minor miracle of characterization here with his portrayal of a Stasi man named Weisler, whose special wiretapping assignment against a playwright transforms him from heartless automaton into awe-inspiring hero.  The movie made me wonder just how many quiet, unassuming men there must be out there, whose toil, heroism, and sacrifice has never been, and never will be, acknowledged.  The ending is transcendently beautiful, and moving beyond words.

4.  Homicide  (1991).

A police detective (Joe Mantegna) is assigned to investigate a murder case.  The case awakens in him stirrings of his long-suppressed ethnic identity.  Unfortunately, he will eventually be forced to choose between conflicting loyalties.  And the consequences will be devastating.

No modern American director has probed the meaning of masculine identity more than David Mamet, and all of his films are meditations on themes related to illusion, reality, masculinity, and struggle.  Homicide, a nearly unknown gem from the early 1990s, is perhaps his profoundest.  Mamet knows that a man must make choices in his life, and for those choices, consequences must be paid.  And very often, we find ourselves derailed by the mental edifices we construct for ourselves.  The Mantegna character is led through a complex and increasingly ambiguous chain of events, only to find that at the heart of one mystery lies an even more inscrutable one.  Beware the things you seek.  You may not like what you find.

Joe Mantegna deals with the fatal consequences of his decisions in David Mamet’s “Homicide”

5.  A Prophet (2009).

An Algerian Arab is incarcerated in a French jail, and is drawn into the savage world of Corsican gangsters.  Forced to kill or be killed, he is drawn into a pitiless world that recognizes only cunning and brutality.  He finds himself straddling two realities:  the world of his own nationality, and that of the Corsicans.  And to survive and emerge triumphant, he must learn to play all sides against each other.

This film must be counted among the greatest crime dramas ever made.  You simply can’t take your eyes off the screen.  The lesson here is that a man must learn to survive on his wits, and do whatever is necessary to stay alive.  The Corsican boss whom Al Djebena (Tahar Rahim) works for is just about the most malevolent presence in recent screen memory.  Part of France’s continuing internal dialogue about its immigrant population, A Prophet is not to be missed.

Tahar Rahim learns a thing or two about Corsica in “A Prophet”

6.  The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005).

An intense young man (Romain Duris) works for his father as a real estate shark in urban Paris.  His “job” consists of intimidating deadbeat immigrant tenants, vandalizing apartments, and forcibly collecting loans.  He also plays the piano.  Eventually, he is forced to decide which life he wants:  the path laid out by his shady father, or the idealistic path of his own choosing.  He’s seeking redemption, but will he find it?  And at what cost?

Again, we have here the themes of redemption and moral choice.  Romain Duris has a screen presence and intensity that rivals anything done by Pacino in his prime, and some of the scenes here are fantastic.  (His seduction of his friend’s wife, Aure Atika, is one of many great scenes).  All men will be confronted and tested by crises and situations beyond their control.  How they respond to those situations will define who they are as men.  Duris’s character proves that redemption can be achieved, if wanted badly enough.

Romain Duris embodying screen intensity

7.  Red Belt (2008).

Martial arts instructor Mike Terry is forced, against his principles, to consider entering a prize bout.  He is abandoned and betrayed by his wife and friends, and must confront his challenges alone with only his code and his pride.

Another great meditation on masculine virtue and individualism by David Mamet.  In his own unique dialogue style, Mamet showcases his belief that, in the end, all men stand alone.  At the moment of truth, it is you, and only you, who will be staring into the abyss.  Our trials by fire will not come in the time and at the place of our own choosing.  But when they do come, a man must be prepared to hold his ground and fight his corner.  Watch for Brazilian actress Alice Braga in a supporting role here.  We hope to see more of her on American screens in the future.

8.  Fear X  (2003).

A repressed security guard (John Turturro) is searching for answers to who killed his wife.  His strange behavior and ticking time-bomb manner begin to alarm friends and co-workers.  One day he finds some information that may be a lead to solving the mystery.  This discovery sets him on the path to realization. Or does it?

I am a big fan of the films of Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher trilogy, and Valhalla Rising), and this one is perhaps his most penetrating examination of a wounded psyche.  It failed commercially when it first appeared, as many viewers were put off by his artistic flourishes and opaque ending.  For me, this film is the deepest study of grief and repressed rage ever committed to film.  All men will be confronted by tragedy, grief, and inexplicable loss during their lives.  How we handle it will define who we are.  The greatness of this film is that it explores Turturro’s claustrophobic, neurotic world in a deeply personal way, and at the same time suggests that he may actually be on to something.  This film covers the same philosophical ground as Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, in that it hints at the ultimate ambiguity of all things.

John Turturro confronts the unrelenting darkness of his own psyche in “Fear X”

If you are a Netflix subscriber and watch movies frequently, as I do, you may find it useful to keep a notebook near your television and jot down the titles of movies you see, and a few notes about what you liked or didn’t like.  You’d be surprised how much you can learn from movies.  There are just so many good and bad ones out there that having some system for keeping track of them will be time well spent.

[jmsa1287]

The 10 Best Films of the 2010s

my 2019 pick has already changed since this published lol oh well! 

Compiling a list and picking just 10 films to represent the 2010s is extremely difficult if not nearly impossible — it's hard enough picking a handful of movies for lists that sum up a single year. Films change as the years pass; something you adored in 2011 may not hold up on a re-watch in 2019. Maybe that's because so much has changed in the world this decade, or you've experienced a personal philosophical shift, or a film is tied to a certain experience and emotion that has since soured. And, of course, the opposite can happen. A film you didn't respond to five years ago may have become a new favorite.

This list is a bit of a cheat — or a break — from the typical best films of the decade lists you may have seen online. It will have 10 films representing the best film from each year this decade (2010 through 2019). Though easier, making this list was still difficult mostly because there were so many brilliant and exciting films that were omitted (masterpieces like "Tree of Life" and "Gravity," for instance). Below, find the films that did make the cut and a brief blurb as to why they belong in the cinema hall of fame.

2010: "Black Swan," directed by Darren Aronofsky

Obsession and perfection are two ideas that were constantly explored this decade, thanks to the rise of social media. (There was even a horror movie released on Netflix this year called "The Perfection," starring Allison Williams.) In Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," a young ballet dancer named Nina Sayers (played by an outstanding Natalie Portman, who won the Best Actress Oscar for the role), slowly detaches from reality as she prepares for the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." The film's sound design is unlike any other film this decade. With each bone crack, nail clip, and flesh wound, Aronofsky makes "Black Swan" a social psycho drama melded with body horror, which also features a wild Winona Ryder performance.

2011: "Drive," directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Nicolas Winding Refn's movies aren't for everyone but his neo-noir hyper-violent "Drive" is an undeniable classic and game-changer. Starring Ryan Gosling as an unnamed stunt driver and for-hire getaway driver, "Drive" sparked a sea change in cinema, spawning an aesthetic that featured synth-pop bangers (glittery songs by Chromatics and a pulsating score from Cliff Martinez) and neon lighting. "Drive" tells an age-old story in a new and fresh way that audiences hadn't seen before, going beyond its ultra-cool style, to show a classic L.A. noir tale of betrayal and heartache. NWR also uses Gosling in the best way; boiled down to a few emotions, putting the handsome Hollywood hunk in a twisted role you'd never expect. Oh and Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks show up!

2012: "Spring Breakers," directed by Harmony Korine

"Spring Breakers" might be the best prank this decade. An arthouse film disguised as a sexy college romp, Harmony Korine's film features young college students — played here by Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson — desperate to venture from their Christian college and indulge their wild side during spring break in St. Petersburg, Fla. There, they meet Alien (James Franco), a local rapper and drug dealer who Korine uses to show the dark side of unbridled partying, sex and excessive drinking. Intense dubstep, closeups of fleshy bodies doused in alcohol and an iconic rendition of Britney Spears' "Everytime," "Spring Breakers" has gone on to become a twisted cautionary tale and also put the indie distributor A24 on the map.

2013: "Her," directed by Spike Jonez

If "Black Mirror" shows us the evils of technology, Spike Jonez's melancholic love story "Her" is the other side of the coin. It's a warm and strange film where Joaquin Phoenix delivers a breathtaking performance. As does Scarlett Johansson, who voices Samantha, an A.I. a la Siri but begins to form a romantic relationship with Phoenix's sad-sack Theodore. "Her" is more than a movie about technology; it's an emotional film about change, loss and what it means to be alive that is tucked inside a fully realized not-too-distant future L.A. with a brilliant aesthetic.

2014: "The Wind Rises," directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki has made some of the most successful and culturally significant films since the 80s, including "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro." But his so-called last film "The Wind Rises" is an impeccable emotional epic based in realism that is a gut punch to the soul. It's a devastatingly beautiful movie that is half dreamlike and half haunting. It is undoubtedly the most moving film on this list.

2015: "It Follows," directed by David Robert Mitchell

If Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive" started a new wave of cinema, David Robert Mitchell's retro throwback "It Follows" is the epitome of it. With a vibrating score from video game composer Disasterpeace, DRM's film winks at slasher films of the 80s, most notably "Nightmare on Elm Street," but dials the aesthetic up to an 11; it's got nothing on "Stranger Things." In this brooding film, a young woman named Jamie (a wonderful Maika Monroe) is cursed after she has sex with her boyfriend, who ties her to a chair and warns her he's passed "it" on to her. "It" is a sinister force that inches itself closer and closer to Jamie in an attempt to kill her. Many saw "It Follows" an allegory to HIV/AIDs or STIs and a commentary of female characters in 80s horror films. It's the film's open-endedness and reinvention of tropes embedded into American cinema that make "It Follows" one of the most thrilling and fascinating films of the decade.

2016: "La La Land," directed by Damien Chazelle

"La La Land" may forever be tied to one of the Academy Awards' biggest blunders in the institution's history, but Damien Chazelle's love letter to the Hollywood Musical is an impressive feat of filmmaking. A romantic saga with musical numbers that don't shy away from its influences (the MGM musical and the Technicolor delights of yesteryear), "La La Land" is an earnest if not corny film. But its Chazelle's impeccable craftsmanship that makes his movie soar while it tells a modern love story about when two figuring out if their passions are more important to them than a future together.

2017: "The Lost City of Z," directed by James Gray

James Gray's mind-blowing epic "The Lost City of Z" will go down as this decade's most under-appreciated film. Like many of the movies on this list, it is a film about obsession, perfection and family trauma. Based on a true story, "Lost City" follows British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) over several years on his plight to find an alleged hidden city deep in the Amazon jungles. There's a World War I sequence and Tom Holland shows up as Percy's son, who is eager to follow in his father's footsteps and head to South America with him. It's devastating and moving in that Gray way even though it is his first movie not set in New York. "Lost City" perfectly melds the personal with human history, resulting in a film that is technically impressive and emotionally shocking.

2018: "Hereditary," directed by Ari Aster

Somewhere in the late 2010s, the term "elevated horror" became part of Film Twitter's lexicon. It's used to described artful films that are grown from horror tropes, most notably "The Witch," "Get Out" and Ari Aster's masterpiece "Hereditary." And though it is definitely a scary movie, labeling it an "elevated horror" film or a horror film, in general, doesn't feel quite right. It's a family drama about trauma that is demented in the same kind of tone of an Edward Albee play. It's more visceral than the late playwright's work, to be sure, and at the center of "Hereditary" is a career-defining performance from Toni Collette. She plays Annie, a grieving mother who is haunted by deep loss and grapples with keeping her sanity and her family together. Aster's film explores family relations and how tragedy can infiltrate the cracks in relationships unlike any other movie this decade.

2019: "Parasite," directed by Bong Joon-ho

"Parasite" is the summation of Bong Joon-ho's work. The Korean filmmaker has long made movies about marginalized folks navigating their way through certain systems. Unlike some of his movies, "Parasite" is rooted in reality; there's no giant elephant-pig or mutated sea creature here. The evil lurking in "Parasite" is privilege and capitalism and if that's not the biggest theme of the late 2010s I'm not quite sure what is. The film is a genre-shifting story told by an expert, who has made a few near-perfect films ("Memories of Murder," "Mother"). When "Parasite" begins to unfold and show its cards, you know you're in the hands of a master and that it won't go off the rails. Here, Joon-ho successfully tells his story with effortless dynamic filmmaking and ease that is completely hypotonic and engaging while being unnervingly gripping and universal.

[cinemavariety]

Cinema Variety’s Top 25 Favorite Films of the Decade

This past decade has been a monumental ten years for the state of cinema. To think that there were actually still video rental stores all around the country, to almost becoming nonexistent, is statement enough to show how vastly audiences have changed the way they consume media. Through much thought and careful deliberation, the following 25 films are my personal favorites of the decade and are what I think best represent all that indie, international and arthouse cinema had to offer over the past ten years. Honorable Mentions: Shame Green Room A Ghost Story The Lost City of Z Knight of Cups 20th Century Women Jackie Blade Runner 2049 The Lighthouse Ingrid Goes West A Hidden Life

#25 - Suspiria (2018) Dir. Luca Guadagnino

“It’s only hours afterward that Guadagnino’s film will cohere for you and yield its buried treasures: the bonds of secret sorority, the strength of a line of dancers moving like a single organism, the present rippling with the muscle memory of the past. It’s so good, it’s scary.”

#24 - Call Me By Your Name (2017) Dir. Luca Guadagnino

“The final beats of Guadagnino’s adaptation galvanize two hours of simmering uncertainty into a gut-wrenchingly wistful portrait of two people trying to find themselves before it’s too late.”

#23 - American Honey (2016) Dir. Andrea Arnold

“Part dreamy millennial picaresque, part distorted tapestry of Americana and part exquisitely illustrated iTunes musical, “Honey” daringly commits only to the loosest of narratives across its luxurious 162-minute running time. Yet it’s constantly, engrossingly active, spinning and sparking and exploding in cycles like a Fourth of July Catherine wheel.”

#22 - Post Tenebras Lux (2013) Dir. Carlos Reygadas

“Some metaphors score and some miss, but this is leap-of-faith cinema: the rewards entail some risks.”

#21 - The Revenant (2015) Dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu

“Pushing both brutal realism and extravagant visual poetry to the edges of what one customarily finds in mainstream American filmmaking, director/co-writer Alejandro G. Inarritu, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and a vast team of visual effects wizards have created a sensationally vivid and visceral portrait of human endurance under very nearly intolerable conditions.”

#20 - Her (2013) Dir. Spike Jonze

“What begins like an arrested adolescent dream soon blossoms into Jonze’s richest and most emotionally mature work to date, burrowing deep into the give and take of relationships, the dawning of middle-aged ennui, and that eternal dilemma shared by both man and machine: the struggle to know one’s own true self.”

#19 - Annihilation (2018) Dir. Alex Garland

“A shimmering example of what Hollywood sci-fi can achieve when the aim is high, Annihilation is a gripping, mystifying adventure and proof that a transportive experience is more rewarding than a story with clean-cut resolutions.”

#18 - The Neon Demon (2016) Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

“Spectacular, gross and delicious (so unsavory it’s almost sweet), the film is more proof of Refn’s mastery of his trash aesthetic and more fun than anything this indulgent and empty-headed has any right to be.”

#17 - Waves (2019) DIr. Trey Edward Shults

“Propelled by color, energy, electronic music and a quartet of career-making performances, here is that rare sort of cinematic achievement that innovates at every turn, while teaching audiences how to make intuitive sense of the way it pushes the medium.”

#16 - Mother! (2017) Dir. Darren Aronofsky

“Mother! is something truly magnificent, the kind of visceral trash-arthouse experience that comes along very rarely, means as much or as little as you decide it does, and spits you out into the daylight dazzled, queasy, delirious, and knock-kneed as a newborn calf.”

#15 - Melancholia (2011) Dir. Lars Von Trier

“The vision is as hateful as it is hate-filled, but the fusion of form and content is so perfect that it borders on the sublime. Melancholia is a remarkable mood piece with visuals to die for (excuse the pun), and a performance from Dunst that runs the color spectrum of emotions.”

#14 - Song to Song (2017) Dir. Terrence Malick

“Any number of sequences find feelings both externalized and hidden intermingling within the same shot, continuing in a subsequent image that carries the impression, the feeling, without replicating the exact tenor of what has just been seen. They exist simultaneously as certain backstories and what motivations they may inspire delicately unfold. Malick has found a way to translate how a familiar song has the ability to transport you back to a particular time and conjure a specific set of emotions. Whatever he’s been exploring over the past few years pays off here.”

#13 - If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Dir. Barry Jenkins

“What Jenkins gets most right—what astonishes me the most about this film—is Baldwin’s vast affection for the broad varieties of black life. It’s one of the signature lessons of Baldwin’s work that blackness contains multitudes. In some ways Beale feels less like a movie than a well-staged, meticulously shot play; a period piece that floats beyond its specific time and place and into the realm of allegory.”

#12 - Samsara (2012) Dir. Ron Fricke

“Simply put, Samsara tells the story of our world, but onscreen, it is so much more than that. A darker and more ambitious meditation on impermanence, Samsara relies on blunt force and unforgettable imagery, overcoming the hazy logic of Fricke's editing to earn your awe.”

#11 - It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) Dir. Don Hertzfeldt

“A highly original and utterly enthralling film that touches on staggeringly expansive themes - more typically expected in the work of master auteur and persistent award-winner Terrence Malick, than from animations. An existential flipbook and a heartbreaking black joke: stickmen have never looked so alive.”

#10 - Upstream Color (2013) Dir. Shane Carruth

“You may not be able to figure it out, but that's part of the point of this sensually-directed, sensory-laden experiential (and experimental) piece of art that washes over you like a sonorous bath of beguiling visuals, ambient sounds and corporeal textures.”

#9 - Hereditary (2018) Dir. Ari Aster

“It’s a supremely effective gauntlet of supernatural horror that’s also, at blackened heart, a grueling domestic drama about how trauma, resentment, and guilt can seep into the roots of a family tree, rotting it from the inside out.”

#8 - Spring Breakers (2013) Dir. Harmony Korine

“Spring Breakers seems to be holding a funhouse mirror up to the face of youth-driven pop culture, leaving us uncertain whether to laugh, recoil in horror, or marvel at its strange beauty. Full credit to Korine, who sustains this act of creative vandalism right through to the finish. Spring Breakers unfolds as a fever dream of teenage kicks, a high-concept heist movie with mescal in the fuel tank.”

#7 - The Master (2012) Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

“Two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time, and the tremendous portrayals by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman of two entirely antithetical men. Written, directed, acted, shot, edited and scored with a bracing vibrancy that restores your faith in film as an art form, The Master is nirvana for movie lovers. Anderson mixes sounds and images into a dark, dazzling music that is all his own.”

#6 - Interstellar (2014) Dir. Christopher Nolan

“It’s a bold, beautiful cosmic adventure story with a touch of the surreal and the dreamlike, and yet it always feels grounded in its own deadly serious reality. An exhilarating slalom through the wormholes of Christopher Nolan’s vast imagination that is at once a science-geek fever dream and a formidable consideration of what makes us human.”

#5 - The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) Dir. Derek Cianfrance

“A brilliant, towering picture, The Place Beyond The Pines is a cinematic accomplishment of extraordinary grace and insight. The movie succeeds both as a high-stakes crime thriller as well as a far quieter and empathetic study of angry, solitary men proves that Cianfrance has a penchant for bold storytelling and an eye for performances to carry it through.”

#4 - Black Swan (2010) Dir. Darren Aronofsky

“A full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd. It centers on a performance by Natalie Portman that is nothing short of heroic. This is, no doubt about it, a tour de force, a work that fully lives up to its director's ambitions.”

#3 - Drive (2011) Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

“From the beginning, it's clear this is not a standard-order action film. It takes its characters as seriously as its chases, shootouts, and fights. Drive dynamically merges a terrific film noir plot with a cool retro look. It's an unapologetically commercial picture that defies all the current trends in mainstream action filmmaking.”

#2 - Blue Valentine (2010) Dir. Derek Cianfrance

“Cianfrance and his actors, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, have not made a cold or schematic film. They aim instead for raw emotional experience, one that's full of insight into the ways a relationship can go astray, but mostly feels like a slow-motion punch to the gut.”

#1 - The Tree of Life (2011) Dir. Terrence Malick

"The Tree of Life is a film of vast ambition and deep humility, attempting no less than to encompass all of existence and view it through the prism of a few infinitesimal lives. I wrote earlier about the many ways this film evoked my own memories of such time and place. About wide lawns. About a town that somehow, in memory, is always seen with a wide-angle lens. About houses that are never locked. About mothers looking out windows to check on their children. About the summer heat and ennui of church services, and the unpredictable theater of the dinner table, and the troubling sounds of an argument between parents, half-heard through an open window.”

[itsok2bunstable-blog]

This has got to be the worst year of my life. The stress felt like I could be buried in it. Every day the work piled higher and higher, until eventually it felt like Mount Everest was standing on my chest, making it hard to grasp even the smallest breathe of air.  

“This just isn’t going to work out anymore”

I woke from my daydream to stare at the all too familiar face in front of me. The storm gray eyes I fell in love with six months ago, when I first laid eyes on the man in front of me, now all they did was make me feel sick. Like I was about to lose the walking tacos I had for lunch right here right now.

“But why?”

All I wanted was an explanation. Sure, lately we have both been so busy with our intense schedules that seeing each other became difficult. Not to mention the undeniable difference that’s been going on between us since he started working with that new girl who transferred into our school a month ago. I could have seen this coming if I paid attention to the obvious signs. That, however, does not mean that this felt any better. In fact, currently my heart felt like it was slowly being pulled out of my chest, so slow that I could feel every tear from an artery, every movement of the clenched fist around my pumping heart, squeezing it so tightly that I just wished it would stop pumping blood through my weak body.

“It’s not you...”

The over used words of every ending relationship rang through my ears like a siren, never ending and only getting louder. The words Jessie said sounded muffled, like he was talking under water. I caught some things, like how he’s been seeing that new girl and falling for her with every time they met. The world around me seemed to spin all except for the boy in front of me, I realized in this moment that he was not a man, but a boy posing as a man.

“Ariel, please don’t put this on yourself. We just didn’t work out, friends?”

From there I only remember bits and pieces, I remember saying okay. I remember walking to my house and briefly waving at the few people I passed by. I somehow manger to keep the building tears at bay until I reached my small apartment. As soon as I unlocked the door, my knees buckled sending me crashing to the floor, the sobs shook my chest as they came out. This is what they call an ugly cry. Soon enough I was coughing with every breathe. All the promises of forever, all the I love you’s, the talks about our future together, all meant absolutely nothing now. All of it was one gigantic lie. It felt like someone placed a fifty-pound weight on my chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. Almost being the keyword, I could still manage small gasps of air, just enough to keep me alive. All I could feel as pain, insane pain.

           After two hours of nonstop crying I finally settled from an outrageous sob to a soft tear cry, and was able to call my best friend, the only other person that knew about her panic attacks other than the boy she just waisted six months on. Cody rushed over, of course with my most favorite comfort items, including a blue fuzzy blanket from his house, a cheesy chick flick and curly fries from Arby’s with Arby’s sauce. I couldn’t help but close my heavy eyes as he ran his fingers through my thick black hair.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me yet punk, we haven’t even gotten to the overly dramatic breakup”

I let a small chuckle from my lips, there’s a possibility he’s watched way too many of these movies with me. I pluck a fry from the container before submerging it into the sauce and throwing it into my mouth where I relished in the sweet and spicy combination before saying my first words all night.

“Thank you for coming”

My voice sounded so weak and hoarse that I cringed, barely recognizing my own voice. Even after years of this, I still felt so embarrassed allowing anyone to see me this weak.

“Hey, it’s kind of my job considering I am your best friend”

I offered a weak smile in his direction. Our moms were best friends since high school, they somehow managed to get pregnant at the same time. We were raised together, even though he is two days younger than me, since someone just had to take their sweet ole time to come out. We were raised together, family vacations, family dinners, tons of sleepovers, any huge event basically was spent together. Through the years we developed a close knit of friends, his football friends and my lacrosse friends meshed well and once we got to high school it wasn’t just us, parties, hanging out, we were typically always in group of six with our closest friends. Still, we always managed to make time for just us, even if it was just helping my mom make dinner before Friday Family Night. However, when we were 15 my world came crashing around me. My loving mother, who had been fighting leukemia for three years suddenly took a turn for the worst and lost her long battle. At her funeral I had my first ever panic attack, people who I never met were approaching me and telling me how much I looked like her, how sorry they were, that at least I got 1 years to be her daughter and remember the lessons she taught me. It all became too much to handle and before I knew what was happening, I was shaking, feeling ice cold, my world was spinning, and it became so difficult to breathe. Cody, who hadn’t left my side all day immediately picked up on his and carried me outside, where I cried on is shoulder for a solid 45 minutes while he held me and didn’t say a single thing, he just let me cry it out. That was the first of many, very quickly out tradition became Arby’s fries and a movie, sometimes three however many it took to make me feel better.

“Where’s your mind at chicken?”

The nickname I haven’t been able to shake since we were 13 when I refused to jump off a cliff into the local river makes me roll my eyes.

“Well unlike you I’m watching the movie.”

Small white lies to keep him from knowing how often I think of my mom usually work and keep me from having to explain these things, in truth though he knows without asking, it’s like this unspoken truth between us because I know he thinks of her as well. Before I can even register what is happening a pillow is hitting my face. As a child I always ought a pillow fight would be soft and not hurt, because pillows are soft and tender and there’s no way they could hurt. Man was I false, my face stung from the zipper of the cushion hitting my cheek and I’m sure my face insanely turned red after the impact. My moth dropped, forming an O as I mincingly shot the death glare at Cody. I grabbed the closest pillow too me and swung it with all my might in his direction. His eyes widened and he flinched before I even made contact, he held out his hands in the hopes to deflect the object now flying at him. The pillow made contact in the most epic pillow swing ever seen on this planet. As I wound up for hit number two, because let’s face it who ends a pillow fight at just when hit he yelped,

“Mercy! Mercy!”

I couldn’t help but giggle at his big baby eyes, starring up at me begging me to end this pillow torture.

“I hit harder than you youngin”

He narrowed his baby blue eyes at me and wined.

“Only by two days”

This got me to giggle because he sounded exactly like he did when we were eight, that same little voice that cried to mom anytime we got into a fight or he scraped a knee riding his bike.

“Oh, hush up. Look it’s the breakup”

We watched as Savanna broke up with John through a letter after not talking to him in months, we watched as he threw all the letters into a fire pit and his best friend approached him. That’s when we learn that she was engaged to another man and planning on getting married to him.

“Well that was shitty.”

I most definitely agreed but at the same time he chose to reenlist after 9/11 without even really discussing the option with her. I could only imagine how it felt knowing he might never come home, especially after 9/11.

“I mean she definitely could have done it better, but he did reenlist”

As we continued to argue about the Nicolas Sparks movie, I couldn’t help but think about Jessie. Fr the past few weeks anytime I tried to reach out he was always too busy to hang out yet was able to make time for this new girl.

“He was probably with her every time.”

My own voice made me jump as I realize I said this personal inside thought out loud, meaning Cody most definitely heard it. Since Cody got here while I was an absolute mess I wasn’t able to tell him at happened. Once I got calmed down enough, he knows not to ask because nine times out of ten it sets another attack off just thinking about the trigger.

“What?”

I turned so my body was facing him and as the tears slowly fell down my cheeks, leaving wet trails behind their path, I told him the story. With Cody I don’t typically hold anything back, he’s always been my safe space, my go to for rants and I know anything I do say is between me and him.

“I’m going to kill him”

Was his only response after I finished, I gave him a soft smile after wiping the last of my tears away.

“As sweet as the offer is, we both know he would probably pummel you.”

His hard expression turns soft before he sighs and rubs his face with his hand.

“Your right on that, but he deserves something after the pain es caused you. I am not okay with that; you’ve been through enough already. Stuff he knows about, yet he continued to do this.”

Instead of responding to this, I crawl into his lap and burry my face into the nape of his neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist. The best thing about Cody, is he’s been in my life for so long now that this doesn’t feel awkward, the hugs don’t have meaning behind them other then offering a safe place for me in my weak moments. We stayed in this position, with me silently crying his shoulder until the movie ended. When the credit scene rolled, I jumped up from his lap, wiped my tears, and told him I had an idea.

Walking into Jessie and the psychology blonde having sex is not exactly what I was expecting when we got to Jessie’s house. When Cody pulled up and I noticed that the door was wide open, somehow, I didn’t see the beetle parked next to Jessie’s 2004 light blue Mustang. I walked through the kitchen, not hearing a single sound until I reached the living room. Where the blonde was on her knees, with Jessie’s back facing me. My mouth dropped as I witnessed him pull her hair something, he had done to me a million times. Cody touched my arm making me jump in place before awkwardly clearing his throat. The girl screamed and grabbed a t shirt in attempt to cover herself. Jessie however turned around completely unfazed and turned around with a cocky smile.

“Oh hey, you should have called”

My eyes were still focused on the girl desperately trying to cover herself, as if I didn’t just get a full show of everything, she has to offer a few minutes ago.

“I tried. Three times”

My voice comes out so steady and clean it shocks even me.

“Oh sorry, I’ve been a bit occupied”

Jessie scratched the back of is head, trying to seem guilty but enjoying this moment all too much.

“Put some pants on jackass.”

Cody’s voice wakes me from my zone, and I can feel his thumb moving up and down on the small of my back a slight comfort in this crazy moment. Him being here makes all this a bit easier to handle, because I know if it was just me, I would have lost my stuff the minute I walked into this room. I watch as Jessie grabs his shorts from the ground and slides them on effortlessly, as if his is ex-girlfriend of not even a day walking in on him having sex with another girl happens often.

“Come get our shit”

Without another word, I pivot on my heel and walk back through the kitchen and out to Cody’s Nissan Altima. I popped the trunk and start throwing Jessie’s things onto the street. Before I reach the fourth box Cody came from behind me and grabbed my hands. Jessie was behind me desperately trying to gather the things that have fallen out from the boxes.

“Let me do it.”

I sheepishly manage to nod my head and step back as Cody unloads the last two boxes. As this all unfolded Infront of me my mind went completely blank. My head tilted back, and I saw the stars of the night sky. Suddenly the toll that today has taken on me takes full effect and the exhaustion takes over. He didn’t even wait a day; we broke up a total of six hours ago and she was already over here. He same girl he broke up with me for.

“Come on.”

Cody’s touch startles me from my thoughts, and when I look back down from the sky, I realize it’s just me and him alone in the empty street. Cody’s soft hand guides me to the passenger side of the car, where he opens the door and allows me to slide in. My whole body feels numb, every limb of my body feels heavy. My head rolls back onto the seat cushion as Cody starts the car. I can feel my eyelids getting heavier with every blink I take and before I know it, they become too heavy to even open. The last thought that crosses my mind before sleep finally takes over is,

He’s been sleeping with her this whole time.

[filmaficionerdo]

Best Films of 2018

Best Films of 2018

2018 was not the year for prestige pictures by a long shot.  Film this year was at its best when it came to superhero movies, and as much as I prefer those over most any other entertainment, that shouldn’t be the case, and that’s not what got me into film in the first place.  As happy as I am to see my favorite comic book characters come to life, I got into film because of daring, bold, and outspoken artists who didn’t need a franchise to speak their minds.  Too many mid-range films went to Netflix or other streaming services and they’re mostly of poor quality with a few exceptions.  I miss the days when film studios took risks, but now they only look for the largest IP with the largest net-profits.  It’s sad.  I love Marvel movies more than anyone I know but they shouldn’t be the only reason I look forward to going to the theater.  But this year also sparked a personal change for me because I moved away from the movie mecca of Hollywood to mid-Michigan, where there aren’t any arthouse theaters nearby during peak awards season so I missed more films than I would’ve liked (even though it’s been the most emotionally rewarding experience I’ve ever had) so I hope that helps explain why this list is so late.  I’ve been catching up on independent films via online rentals as soon as I can and still have many left unseen.  So maybe I missed something during 2018, but I can’t help but be letdown by the lack of inspiration I look to when I try to experience the medium I’m most passionate about.  With that being said, I was still able to conjure a list of my favorite 25 films of the year.  So, here goes:

25. Halloween

This was way better than I would’ve expected, especially coming from the guys who brought us Your Highness.  Director David Gordon Green and writer Danny (Eastbound & Down) McBride delivered the first worthy Halloween sequel that’s ever existed.  Their updated and timely subversion elevated this homage-y sequel while adding more fun than this franchise has ever seen.  John Carpenter’s contribution and the opening credits sequence hit hard with me.

24. Ready Player One

Haters be damned, I really enjoyed this movie.  Of course, I never read the book so that discredits me somewhat but what I got was a rousing Spielbergian experience that we haven’t witnessed since Minority Report.  If you hate this movie, but you loved Hook, there’s something fundamentally wrong with what you think a Spielberg movie is supposed to be about.  Ready Player One was a toybox of fun ideas and intellectual properties sewn together for a generation hung up on video games and nostalgia.  It’s definitely not his best but I love seeing a veteran director who still has the ability to dust off his old toys and make pretend.  The Shining sequence was an absolute standout of appreciation and love for another director’s craft.  

23. Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley’s debut was strong and weird as hell.  This felt like Spike Lee meets David Cronenberg.  It’s funny, nuanced, and insightful.  Riley’s new voice was energetic and angry in the best way.  I saw this later in the year than I wanted to, but I have a feeling that repeat viewings will enhance this films relevance and my appreciation.

22. You Were Never Really Here 

Lynne Ramsay is one of the best and most unpredictable working directors today.  I always look forward to her work, but this semi-Taxi Driver remake was remarkably accessible for her and more powerful than it had any right to be.  If you haven’t seen it, seek it out.  It’s a crisp 88 minutes long and it’s riveting as well as heartbreaking.  There was a uniqueness to the short runtime, violence, and poignant urgency that she handled with deftness.  Joauquin Phoenix was remarkable, brute, and subtle all at once.

21. Ant-Man & The Wasp

Go ahead and agree that this wasn’t the strongest Marvel output in a while, but just like the previous Ant-Man, it’s a palette cleanser from a previous Avengers film.  Ant-Man & The Wasp is maybe the most child friendly film they’ve ever released and it was still enjoyable as hell.  It’s not important.  It’s simple fun.  And I love that Marvel still knows how to craft something that doesn’t want or need to reach for the fences.  Sometimes an inside the field hit is just what we need.  Ant-Man & The Wasp is a damn good bunt.

20. The Incredibles 2

Now that I hang out with a toddler on the reg, watching this movie never gets boring.  I’d know, because she’s watched it with me five times.  Incredibles 2 was long overdue and it’s maybe not quite so worthy of such a long wait considering the original was my favorite film of 2004, but its sequel was still full of exceptional animation.  That sequence with Jack Jack and the raccoon still fills me with joy.

19. A Star is Born

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut was surprisingly strong.  Filming everything in close-ups was an intimate and innovative way to express a rising star’s personal journey to stardom.  Even though we can all agree that the first half of the film is vastly superior to the tear-turkey-jerky second half, it’s still an important film and a worthy update of a timeless classic.  The music, performances, cinematography, and sound are all exceptional.   

18. BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee felt reborn with BlacKkKlansman.  Do The Right Thing will always be one of the all time greatest films; no question.  BlacKkKlansman might be his best since.  John David Washington just established himself as a commanding lead, and Adam Driver further cemented himself as a phenomenal actor.  The poetic-ness combined with the satirical edginess made this one significantly heartbreaking watch while being entertaining and iconic all at the same time.

17. The Death of Stalin

I saw The Death of Stalin early in 2018 and it never left me.  Writer/Director Armando Iannucci is a certifiable genius and the controversial nature of a film like this was one of the most refreshing voices of the year.  This is one of the darkest political satires I’ve ever seen but it’s so goddamn funny.  Laughing at something so atrocious and maddening is one of the only ways we, as a society, can heal from dark times in history.  I fully believe it takes the power away from the people who committed such heinous crimes.  It takes time and a brilliant voice, but it holds a mirror to the ridiculousness we’re currently subjected to, and hopefully with time, we can make fun of our situation too.

16. Leave No Trace

Debra Granik finally followed up her outstanding Winter’s Bone debut and she did not suffer from the sophomore slump that so many other filmmakers have.  Leave No Trace is the saddest love letter to veterans that I’ve ever seen even though it’s beautiful and full of hope.  Granik definitely should’ve gotten a Best Director nomination this year for her delicate and heartfelt look at a father struggling with PTSD while living with his daughter in the woods, away from society.  Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie are stunning.  This film stayed with me for weeks after I watched it.  It’s a small but hugely important film.

15. Annihilation

Alex Garland previously made his directorial debut with Ex Machina after an incredible script writing filmography.  He’s established himself as one of the smartest and most important voices in science fiction cinema after Annihilation.  This is a heady sci fi film that scared the shit out of me.  I felt uneasy the second the group of women walked into The Shimmer.  Garland adapted the book it’s based on after only reading the book once, but he created something so frighteningly ethereal that it’ll be talked about for years.  The score for this was off the charts good.  Going from an acoustic instrumental to something electronic was what struck me the most as a stroke of genius.

14. Shoplifters

For a film I saw so recently, very few films this year have had such an emotional impact on me.  Shoplifters is a small “family” film from Korean director Hirokazu Kore-eda, but it packs a punch that I wasn’t expecting.  All I knew was that critics loved it and it was up for a Best Foreign Language Oscar.  It’s a powerhouse of social status and what it means to be a family that defies language and cultural relevance.  

13. First Man

First Man hit me hard on a personal level.  I’d sort of written off Damien Chazelle as a director after La La Land underwhelmed me so much, but this film reinvigorated my appreciation in him because the filmmaking here was profoundly beautiful.  The acting is impeccable.  The cinematography was breathtaking.  Seeing this in IMAX (as my last film in LA) was a jaw-dropping cry-fest.  I left the theater shook.  I doubt this film will shake as many as it did me, especially if you missed it in IMAX, but this was the theater experience of the year.  At least recognize that Justin Hurwitz’s musical score was the most overlooked snub at this years Academy Awards.

12. Suspiria

This was another film I’d sorely missed in theaters, but when I finally got a chance to witness it I was blown away.  Luca Guadaninio’s follow-up to my favorite film of last year, Call Me By Your Name, was a worthy successor.  This was less a horror film, and more of an art-house homage to Dario Argento’s original 70s classic.  It’s still a haunting film, but in a beautifully macabre way.  Thom Yorke’s score is absolutely outstanding, as well as the subversively drab look, completely deviating from the originals color saturated visual palette.  It’s a film that has to be watched more than once.  Even though it’s 2.5 hours long, I was completely transfixed the entire time.  It’ll depend on your mood or taste, but if you enjoy artistic, visual, and auditory enhanced horror, Suspiria is among the best. 

11. Mandy

Throw up the horns.  Mandy is here.  Pasmos Cosmatos cerebral horror film is full of the best revenge porn I’ve ever seen.  Nicolas Cage is unhinged (as he should be) in his best performance in ages.  He’s the Cage we’ve been dreaming of since the 90s.  The first half of this film belongs to Andrea Riseborough and underrated character actor Linus Roache, but the second half is all Rage Cage in full gory glory.  Mandy is a film unlike anything you’ve ever seen, but yet somehow it’s still completely accessible.  The title cards for each chapter are something straight out of a Heavy Metal comic book, and the hauntingly beautiful score by the late-genius Jóhann Jóhannsson is simply gorgeous.  Mandy is a film meant to be laughed at and with.  It’s a fever-dream of ideas that work brilliantly as a whole.  It’s a hard one to recommend but if you know, you know.  

10. Eighth Grade

Bo Burnham just burst onto the directorial scene with this film about the awkwardness of being a thirteen year old girl.  Not something you’d expect from a male standup comedian in times like these, especially when it’s handled so delicately and with so much heart, but it feels so important to young kids who’ve been thrown into subjectivity amongst their peers within the digital age.  Eighth Grade can, at times, make you so uncomfortable, and at other times it’ll completely tear your heart out and make you want to hug your dad.  I know, because I saw it in the theater with my dad.  He was like, you’re still the eighth grade girl you’ve always been.  Thanks, dad.  

9. Aquaman

I know there isn’t a ton of hate for this film, but there isn’t a ton of high praise for it either.  Aquaman was exactly the film James Wan set out to make.  It’s one of the most comic book-y films since Age of Ultron except it’s dumb as hell, and for that, I absolutely LOVED it.  This was a throwback comic book film ripped from the pages that was corny as hell and never took itself too seriously.  Aquaman is a damn hard character to adapt so it’s unbelievable that he got this big of a budget that included over-the-top actors like Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren.  Patrick Wilson chews the scenery as Ocean Master and I don’t give a damn what people think of Black Manta; he’s completely awesome.  You could’ve easily cut this film down, but I was happy to live in its oceanic cheesball world for hours.  Aquaman was the comic book movie of the year that was as ridiculous as it was awesome.  I laughed so hard at how stupid it could be, but I couldn’t help but be entertained by how insane it was.

8. Mission: Impossible Fallout

I don’t know how these films keep getting better, but they do.  This was THE action film of 2018.  As much as I love Fast & Furious 5-7, Mission: Impossible 4-6 has been the best run of a long running action franchise ever.  Fallout brought one of the best villains yet in a story that barely makes sense, but I couldn’t care less.  This film was big in that edge-of-your-seat way that rarely comes along.  Thrilling doesn’t begin to describe it.  The IMAX presentation was fantastic.  I live for movies like this.  It harkens back to 80s and 90s action films but presents itself for a whole new era of practical effects extravaganza.  It’s the best action film since Mad Max: Fury Road.

7. Black Panther

There are a lot of people questioning this film’s entry as a Best Picture Nominee, but it absolutely deserves all of the recognition it’s getting.  Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is both culturally and politically significant as it is cinematically.  This film is a culmination of what Marvel has been growing to.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t simply about story progression, it’s about cultural progression.  These films represent societal beacons of the times we live in through decades old comic book prisms.  The lore and spirit of the comics are still present, as well as relevant, and the socio-political themes have been injected into them effortlessly.  

A character like Black Panther can be a leader of change within his own cinematic universe.  Marvel’s created something that transcends blockbuster cinema.  Black Panther is now an icon of cultural appreciation that can inspire real change in the real world.  He’s an optimistic embodiment of what we should strive to achieve as a society.  We should share with the world our hope for change.  Comic Book’s have never been so relevant.  Black Panther has never been so important.

6. Roma

Director Alfonso Cuarón’s intimate portrayal of life as a housemaid was one of the most vibrantly affecting films I’ve ever seen.  Every single shot wasn’t just a landscape; it was a mural.  I’ve never seen direction take this angle and provide so much while saying so little.  Some people might’ve felt emotionally disconnected from his style but Cuarón’s masterful direction captivated me like very few films this year had.  There are multiple layers to his visual representation that effect more of what’s seen than what’s said.  It’s not an easy watch and perhaps that’s part of why it was released by Netflix.  Unfortunately, I had to watch this at home instead of in theaters, but I still felt the impact of the themes and presentation.  It’s one of the few Best Picture nominees that truly belong in the category that’ll stand the test of time.  

5. Paddington 2

This was one of the earliest releases of 2018 and it never escaped my mind throughout the year.  Paddington 2 advances upon the original’s tone to encapsulate something that is pure joy.  Paul King directed the bejeezus out of this movie.  I felt like I was watching Wes Anderson meets Harry Potter.  I saw Paddington 2 in theaters with just one mother and daughter couple and it never felt weird.  The only thing that’s weird is that more people haven’t seen this film.  I had a smile from ear to ear the entire time.  This movie is magic.  Like the Harry Potter films, all of the best British actors are present, and Hugh Grand and Brendon Gleeson give their best performances in years, if not ever.  Hugh Grant should’ve been nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  If you haven’t seen this hidden gem yet, do your soul a favor and seek it out immediately.

4. The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos is on a roll.  This nutty Greek director began his career with the insane film, Dogtooth, and hasn’t let up since.  But he’s also learned and built from his previous work.  What started as something of a cultish followed career has expanded into prestigious and innovative filmmaking.  I’d nearly missed this film in theaters until I drove across the state to see this with my parents in Ann Arbor, and although it might be one of the worst movies to see with your parental units, we all could agree that this was a uniquely hilarious and thought-provoking experience.  At first, I wasn’t sure what to think because I was too busy trying to avoid talking to my mom and dad about Emma Stone jerking somebody off, but The Favourite stayed with me for weeks and I loved dissecting all of its themes and nuances.  The Favourite is both entertaining and timely.  It’s another one of the films this year that absolutely belong with (and should’ve won) the Best Picture nominations.

3. Widows

Steve McQueen’s Widows was vastly underseen and underrated.  Here’s a director who usually only does vague, cerebral drama, but working with Gillian Flynn as a screenwriter adapting Lynda LaPlante’s 1983 novel about wives finishing the heist their husbands failed to complete before their untimely deaths, is about as pulpy and as timely as you can get.  There are a lot of stories woven into Widows epic crime saga and some critics have faulted the film’s narrative for it, but look at Heat; one of the most prolific crime sagas of all time, which has more subplots than you could imagine, yet it’s still widely regarded as one of the best films ever made.  Widows is the best film of its kind since Heat in 1995.  It still carries the acting heavyweights and still compelled me more than nearly any other film in 2018.

2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Into the Spider-Verse is one of the few films in 2018 that has the power to influence cinema for the future.  Not only is it extraordinarily entertaining, but it’s also innovative in terms of style and theme.  No other film in 2018 was this inventive and groundbreaking.  I was definitely excited to see this as a lifelong Spider-Man fan, but based on Sony’s mishandling of the character for years, it had me extremely cautious.  Thanks to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s impeccable screenplay, I got more than the Spider-Man I’ve always wanted to see.  This is a Spider-Man for a new generation.  He’s not my Spider-Man, he never was.  This film is for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE.  The cell-shaded animation and soundtrack elevated this film into bonafide classic territory.  I couldn’t even comprehend it after I first saw it, because I wasn’t ready for something so new.  Months after I watched this film, I could not stop thinking about it.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is so nerdy for the fans and so accessible to the newcomers.  It feels like I’m living in an alternate universe where good movies in 2018 DO exist.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

The *Snap* heard ‘round the World...

Marvel has a good history of taking formulas from other genres and using them as a framing device for their superhero films; political thrillers, space operas, video games, heist films are all borrowed ideas that helped them keep the superhero genre from feeling stale. Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel’s fantasy epic. This is the Lord of the Rings of the MCU. The result is legendary. The Russo Bros. looked at their massive roster of heroes, who audiences have come to deeply care for over ten years, and came up with a way to tell one cohesive world-ending story centered around one villain; the mad titan, Thanos. They looked at Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and they saw how well those were balanced, and they applied it to a superhero film. It’s unbelievably well executed. The big reason Infinity War works so cosmically well is Josh Brolin’s portrayal of Thanos. We couldn’t get behind another world-ending event in these movies unless we believed and understood the villain that was behind it all.  Brolin gave Thanos both menace and pathos.  From the moment the movie starts, the stakes feel real. None of the characters are safe because we believe Thanos is capable of anything from the very beginning.  There aren’t many epics where we spend this much time with the villain.  Thankfully, Marvel knows we already care about the heroes, so after building up a ten year rapport between audiences and protagonists it was finally time to focus on the Big Cheese who’s behind all the conflict. This movie is so comic book/fantasy it’s ridiculous.  I loved every second of it and could not wipe the smile off my face nor the tears from my eyes.  I felt like my ten year old self, alone and engrossed in the most epic comic book I’ve ever read.  I was shaken when I left the theater. I turned around and watched it again just 30 minutes after my first viewing, and I couldn’t believe how captivated I was the second time, third time, forth viewing, fifth, sixth, and so on...  Nothing could’ve prepared me for this film and I’m so thankful it exists.

[youeverdreaming]

Ok what other movies or universes are you into? Bond? Bourne? Fast and Furious? DC and if so which versions? Star Trek? Star Wars? Hunger Games? Maze Runner? Divergent? DISNEY? Also are you into like certain writers or directors? Like Inception, I love pretty much all Christopher Nolan films, Ridley Scott too, and JJ Abrams... what else? Oof I just watched one of the newer Nicolas Sparks (the Choice) and bawled so much!! But usually I'm more into Sci fi,action, adventure and superhero stuff!

Okay so! Yes to: Bourne (!!!), Star Trek (the new movies - I’ve only seen a few episodes of the original series), Star Wars (🙌🏻), Hunger Games, and Disney from your list. I’m also a big Doctor Who fan (but I’m like a season and a half behind I think?). And X-Men! But Marvel and Star Wars are for sure my biggest non-musical entertainment interests!

JJ Abrams is a FAVE. I’m also nostalgically attached to Kurtzman/Horowitz/Orci (can’t remember their first names, but they often produce shows together/are attached to the same projects, such as Lost, Once Upon a Time, etc., and they’re responsible for The Proposal, one of my all-time favorite chick flicks! They can be kinda chaotic in that their shows often go through a period of sucking but when they do a good job they give me big heart eyes 😅). I think my all-time favorite directors are the Russo Brothers though! (Also I would say that I pay more attention to who is acting in a movie than who directed it unless it was directed by a favorite of mine)

I’m the same way with usually being into sci-fi and action! There’s quite a list of other, more chick-flick/less action movies that I love (I’m a hopeless romantic!) but I can’t list all them here 😂😂

This got long, but for fun, the shows I’m currently watching that are still running include: The Resident, A Million Little Things, Manifest, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (and Agents of SHIELD, but they’re in a big break right now and I only just finished the latest season this month). I can also be found watching New Girl, The Office, Friends, Parks and Recreation, and I just started Arrested Development (didn’t even know it was a Russo project at the time, but now I have to watch it 😅).

EDIT: re: DC, I’ve only ever seen Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman. The first had potential but wasn’t great, and the second I would compare to the first Captain America movie - I loved it, but it wasn’t like...amazing in my opinion. Like 10/10 would watch again and enjoy but....it fell flat in some parts imo! (I’ve also seen the first few seasons of Gotham and really liked it but it fell by the wayside and I haven’t picked it back up yet.)

[sweetprettygeek]

Ten Tunes For the Soul - Favorite Songs Meme!

List 10 songs you currently love and tag 10 followers to do the same! Tagged by @dogbearinggifts (who writes amazing Coco fanfiction; go check them out!)

Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (Franz Liszt, Claudio Arrau): Gorgeous piano piece. I first found it after reading the manga Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning, where it serves as a plot device. The title translates, more or less, as “The Blessing of God to those in solitude”. I love that idea; that even when you’re alone, there is still a spark of something divine within you, filling you up and protecting you. This song is great for relaxation or inspiration during a creative session. The music just flows through you and builds to an awe-inspiring climax.

Don’t Stop Belivin’ (Journey): A classic! This song is my ultimate karaoke jam. Whenever it comes on at work or on the radio, I have to sing along. And when I say “sing”, what I mean is “BELT IT OUT!” I can’t help myself; it’s just so upbeat and infectious and fun! And those air-guitar moments are to die for.

How Does a Moment Last Forever (Nicolas Dorian): A beautiful cover of the song from Disney’s 2017 adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Nicolas’s voice is like audible hot chocolate: warm, smooth, rich, and comforting. The affectionate lyrics encompass so many different kinds of love: familial, romantic, platonic, etc. Not gonna lie, I love the idea of Sirius Black singing this song to Harry Potter.

Iris (Goo Goo Dolls): This song really spoke to me in my high school days, and I still feel a deep connection to it. The contradiction of being scared to open up and let people see the real you, but also forever searching for someone who will understand and accept you—I really relate to that. And just...this verse: And you can’t fight the tears that ain’t coming / Or the moment of truth in your lies / When everything feels like the movies / Yeah, you bleed just to know you’re alive.

I Will Be There (Thomas Borchert, Brandi Burkhardt): One of the greatest romance themes ever written. Ever since I first heard it at the English premiere of Frank Wildhorn’s adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, it’s never failed to send shivers up my spine. The orchestration is so sweeping and grand, and the lyrics are a pledge of two lovers who will always find a way back to each other, no matter how circumstances conspire to separate them. This is the ultimate OTP song (especially for Imector).

Little Wonders (Rob Thomas): I first heard this song in Meet the Robinsons. I was so inspired by the message of overcoming obstacles, appreciating the world around you, and finding the “little wonders” in your life. When we read Tuesdays With Morrie in my junior-year English class, we were asked to pick a song we would like to be played at our “living funeral”. This was the song I chose. It reminds me of the life I want to live and be remembered for: full of love and gratitude and little precious moments.

Nagisa: Saka no Shita no Wakare Warm Piano Arrange (Jun Maeda): Another exquisite piano piece. This one comes from Clannad ~After Story~, one of my top three favorite animes. This song features prominantly in the final episode, and I have so many emotions tied to that moment. There’s something so gentle and euphoric about the music: like a precious first love that you will never forget—a bond that is strong enough to transcend time itself.

Once Upon a Dream (Mary Costa, Bill Shirley): As a child, Sleeping Beauty was my favorite Disney movie. In particular, I loved the scene where the two leads meet. The whole dancing sequence with Aurora and Phillip in front of the lake is so breathtaking and beautiful and romantic, and Mary Costa’s voice is to die for. This song fills me with childhood nostalgia and brings out my inner princess!

Remember Me (Reunion) (Anthony Gonzalez, Ana Ofelia Murguía): Confession time: Coco was the first time I openly sobbed in a movie theater. I was doing okay, a few tears here and there, but then this song did me in. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s before she died, but even when her memories had faded, I could still feel the strong love radiating from within her. People die and memories fade away, but I don’t believe that a legacy of love can ever really disappear. As someone who treasures their family ties and is fascinated by geneological work, I’m so excited that Coco and its wonderful music has ignited that spark in other people, and has them sharing their family stories and wanting to learn where they come from.

Zenzenzense (Radwimps): Last but not least, a song from Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name). What really impresses me about Radwimps is that they sing both the Japanese and English versions of their songs in the film, which gives the dub a really authentic feel. The Japanese version is the one I heard first and the one I love most. The music is really vibrant and passionate: it really captures the feeling of a young and heartfelt love, and the sensation of searching for that one person you’ve never met, but are meant to find and be with.

Tagging: @xaandiir @chubyuuri @beealexageek @theadamantdaughter @honxrable @moonlessdusk @my-justanamelessnobody @asti26 @ltfoxgirl @fandomblitch

[sonic-cinema]

There are still several movies from the first, real summer movie season we’ve had in two years that I have yet to see. That said, it will be tough for any of them to crack my favorites of the summer. That this collage doesn’t include “The Sparks Brothers,” “Jakob’s Wife,” “499,” “Jungle Cruise,” “Summertime,” “No Ordinary Man,” “Summer of 85,” “In the Heights” and “Luca” is a credit to all of the films pictured here, and how good they are. Some were festival watches that got released (“Summer of Soul,” “Nine Days” and “Akilla’s Escape,” which has Saul Williams in one of my favorite performances of the year). Some were indies that made a deep impression (like David Lowery’s “The Green Knight,” Michael Samoski’s “Pig,” with Nicolas Cage in my very favorite performance of the year, and “Bastards Road,” one of the most impactful documentaries of 2021). And some were the studio films I enjoyed the most (James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad,” John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place Part II” and Craig Gillespie’s “Cruella,” with a delicious performance by Emma Stone). Even with these highlights, I feel like there’s a ways to go before moviewatching truly feels back to normal. We’ll see how it looks in the Fall. #2021movies #summermovies #summerofsoulmovie #pigmovie2021 #ninedaysmovie #akillasescape #thegreenknight #bastardsroad #cruella #thesuicidesquad #aquietplace2 @bastardsroadmovie #filmcriticlife #movies #cinema #films https://www.instagram.com/p/CTR8VUGAcFl/?utm_medium=tumblr