#please know if the goldfinch movie was good it would be here but alas... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

slightlymore · 5 years ago

Text

friends with benefits? part 2

Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3

You were walking fast across campus.

It was the start of a new semester and you didn’t want to be late to your first class, but you forgot to set an alarm the night before. It wasn’t typical of you to forget something like that and you considered it weird, but lately, you’ve been acting strangely in all departments of your life.

Only a few days ago you had sex in a car with the one and only, Jeong Jaehyun.

Not setting an alarm wasn’t as surprising in comparison after all.

You didn’t talk to him after that night, not because you didn’t want to but because you got busy all of a sudden and could only wave to each other from far away, as you were sprinting from a place to another. Or so you lied to yourself. Low-key, deep down, you knew you were kind of avoiding him because you were embarrassed. The corridor that you were almost running through, was still full of people trying to find their own classroom. As you saw yours, you entered hoping to find a seat.

And there he was.

Jaehyun smiled at you as you browsed the room in searching for an empty spot and you waved at him, mentally cursing, as you have been for the past days. Instead of waving back he gestured to you to come over. There was an empty seat he saved for you beside him. “Finally,” he said as you got closer. “Finally,” you replied as well sitting down. “I thought you were avoiding me” he spoke again. You looked over at him. He had puppy eyes and was frowning. He was almost adorable. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I started to work as an assistant for one of my professors and I got very busy. I wasn’t trying to avoid you” you explained. Jaehyun hummed his uncertainty. The window was behind him and the sun hit his back making him wear an ethereal circle of light around his hair. “Are you pouting?” you asked amused as you started to take out your computer. Jaehyun shook his head not looking at you. You sighed. “It’s not like you made an effort to come and talk to me” you said, certain that he was joking. "I tried” he replied. “But you were indeed very busy, and I didn’t want to bother you,” he added almost sad. You suddenly felt bad and didn’t know what to say. Your lips were slightly parted as if ready to receive a command from your brain, but nothing was coming. As you were trying to apologize, Jaehyun finally looked up and saw your expression. He looked confused for a few seconds then suddenly chuckled.

"I’m joking,” he said as he hit you lightly with his shoulder. “No worries. I was just messing around with you” he explained. His expression was, in fact, relaxed and peaceful.

You chuckled as well, relieved. Jaehyun definitely knew how to act well. For some reason, you thought that he was actually sad about not being able to talk to you. You were embarrassed about it but deep inside you wanted it to be true. “Thank you for saving a seat for me by the way” you whispered after a while since the professor already started their lecture. Jaehyun smiled while taking notes. “You’re welcome” he whispered back.

It was quite weird that he decided to sit beside you instead of his friends that were scattered around the classroom. But you were a friend of him as well, a new one, but still a friend, so you thought that it was very kind of him to act that way. You smiled and tried to concentrate on your textbook. Jaehyun was doing the same and you realized that it was the first time you were able to look at him in the face without the influence of alcohol. This time he was wearing a white T-shirt and his hair wasn’t styled. His cheeks were rosy, and his eyes slightly puffed from waking up so early. Altogether it gave off an innocent and fresh look, absolutely opposite of the vibe he was giving off during the weekend. “What?” he asked quietly. You straightened your back. “What what?” you asked back. “You’re staring” he explained as his dimples made an appearance.

You smiled too. “You look very cute today,” you said. Jaehyun thought about it for a second. “You look cute as well” he replied. You smiled even more. “Your writing is beautiful”. Jaehyun sat back and crossed his arms on his chest looking at you pleased. “Your hair looks nice,” he said. You chuckled. “I like your moles”. “Is this a war of compliments?” he asked amused. “You smell very good”. “I taste even better” you replied on a whim before realizing what you’ve just said. You could see Jaehyun’s eyes widen slightly. He didn’t expect it and you suddenly got very worried. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe he hated the experience and was just trying to be friends with you, nothing more. Maybe the friends with benefits thing was becoming friends with no special benefits besides those given by a normal friendship. You panicked. You were about to say that you were joking when he got closer to you with a fluid movement, his shoulder was against yours and his lips dangerously close to your ear. His breath tickled you as he whispered, “I can’t wait to check that on my own”. You clasped your fingers together as a shower of shivers went down your spine. Suddenly you couldn’t raise your eyes to meet his. You weren’t that brave usually, and it showed on your expression. Oh, you would have loved to shamelessly flirt with him, or to push him in his car and ride him as you did before, but alas, under the morning light and with a crystal clear mind you found yourself very shy. You gulped before opening your lips in an attempt to say something at least funny or light-hearted, if not sexy, but nothing came to mind. What could you possibly say now? Ah, yes fuck me? Oh, darling, I’m a three-course meal? I’ll taste you too? Oh, God. As he distanced himself you knew you fucked up and looked at him to see his expression. He was trying to reach something in his bag, and you couldn’t see his face but as he straightened himself you could see that he was smiling. He had his journal in his hand and with a quick flip of the pages, he took out two pieces of paper and showed you. You looked at them before taking them in your hands: two tickets to see the Goldfinch later that night. You couldn’t help yourself from sighing. “You forgot about it, didn’t you?” he asked amused. You finally looked at him in the eyes as you laid back on the chair, relieved.

Jaehyun was waiting for you in the middle of the cinema entrance hall with his hands in the pocket of his oversized hoodie. You could see him, but he didn’t see you yet and you indulged in watching him a little bit longer. His eyes, partially hidden by his brown hair, were fixed on a single spot on the pavement some meters ahead of him and you knew that he was deep in thought. You wanted to know what kind of concerns busied his mind but you weren’t at that stage of your friendship yet so it didn’t surprise you when he replied “I’m fine, how are you?” as you approached and greeted him. “I’m glad there is finally someone I can talk to about book-relating stuff,” he said as you sat down with your freshly bought popcorn and drinks. The hall was nearly empty, and you got perfect seats at the top. You were relaxed and comfortable, but you couldn’t brush off the weird, abnormal sensation of being on a date. Maybe it was the cinema, or maybe it was Jaehyun, looking like a perfect boyfriend. You looked over at him. He was probably not feeling that way as he already started munching on his snacks even if the film didn’t start yet and not giving you a single glance. A slight buzz started to warm up your chest and you wondered if every person Jaehyun hung out before ended up falling in love with him.

What if that was the reason he stopped talking to them? What if that was the reason they stopped seeing Jaehyun? It was definitely impossible to not feel hurt hanging out with someone you love but who doesn’t love you back. For some reason, your head started to hurt slightly, and you sighed pleased as the lights went off and the darkness hugged you like a warm blanket. You didn’t talk during the film but for some reason, instead of being able to concentrate on the scenes, your mind kept drifting towards aimless thoughts about Jaehyun. You put your hand on the armrest and a small part of you wanted to see Jaehyun’s fingers lightly brush yours and intertwine them together. Danger, Y/N. You shook your head and tried to follow the dialogue. It was a good movie and you were starting to get mad at yourself. Concentrate. But the image of Jaehyun, absentmindedly putting a piece of popcorn against his lips for a little while before finally eating it was too strong for you to ignore. You tried to calm yourself. You were just horny. There were no romantic feelings in all of this. Being horny was allowed. Being horny was welcomed. There was no reason for you to feel shy about it. You were friends with benefits after all. Right? You fidgeted on your seat, suddenly uncomfortable. You probably continued to move for a while because Jaehyun asked “Are you bored?” in a low voice. You turned your head facing him, slightly startled. “Oh, no, I’m not” you explained. “Are you sure?” he whispered again. “You look distracted”. “I’m sorry,” you said while mentally swearing at yourself. Jaehyun smiled. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. I was just worried that you might not enjoy yourself”.

No. You weren’t enjoying yourself. You were not having a good time. You wanted him to touch you and kiss your lips and it drove you absolutely nuts. It was so embarrassing. Lost in your thoughts you didn’t notice Jaehyun’s hand on top of yours as he gently made you loosen your grip on the armrest. You didn’t notice you were that tense. You didn’t even notice him as he got closer and brushing his lips against the lobe of your ear, he whispered: “Do you want to get out of here?” The storage room had enough space for you to move around and you prayed that no one needed to come inside as Jaehyun kissed you intensely against the door. You were inebriated by his cologne, his cold hands on your hot thighs then on your ass then under your shirt and up on your breasts and again down, quick and intense and rough and needy. His tongue played with yours in a constant game of running away and meeting again, wet and sloppy. Oh, and his voice was deep and low, and your mind was empty, absolutely quiet. His body, strong and stiff, was heavily pressed against yours before pulling away as he grabbed you up and placed you on top of a cabinet. Your legs were wrapped around his waist and you tightened them hard as he started to leave wet kisses on your exposed neck.

“Is this what you wanted?” asked Jaehyun. His feline eyes were dark and intense; they talked alongside his lips, they were telling you about deep and hidden desires, lustful promises and acute needs.

You didn’t reply and just slowly slid your palm down his body without breaking eye contact. He smirked and let out a sigh as you gently stroked him. “You were so shy in class. What happened?” he asked calmly even though his knuckles were white from effort as he held onto the cabinet’s sides. You blushed but didn’t stop. The first time it was easier, not looking at him in the face and just letting yourself go. This time you could see his hungry gaze mirroring yours and it was new for you to show this side of you to somebody. “It’s just that…” you started “…now I’m just at my limit” you continued. Jaehyun’s jaw muscles flinched and without notice, he slid his hands up your thighs, under your skirt, and took off your panties. You didn’t have time even to breathe in that he was already on his knees, his hands on your ass and his tongue inside of you. You moaned loudly and gripped his hair while trying to hold yourself up on the cabinet. His breath was hot and his fingers dug firmly into your skin. You threw your head back letting yourself go but soon enough Jaehyun got up again and taking you by your waist, he got you down on your feet before roughly turning you around. You were pressed against the metal cabinet, cold on the side of your face, palms and breasts. It didn’t make in time to cool you down as Jaehyun slowly caressed your ass and slid easily into your wet core. You whined in pleasure and bit your lower lip. It must have been way too loud so Jaehyun quickly shoved your panties into your mouth to keep quiet. “We can’t get caught now, can we babe?” you heard him as he himself tried to not let any sound escape his lips. He was rough, he was rough and intense, he was deep into you and quick, quick and violent. But you didn’t mind, oh you didn’t mind at all, it was all that you wanted, all that you needed and even more. His hands were on your waist and you knew you’ll have bruises all over from his strong fingers but you didn’t care. He then moved them to your breasts as you sustained yourself up on your elbows and then through your hair and around your neck. With a single movement, you let the panties out your mouth and with the help of your tongue you took two of his fingers into your mouth and started to suck, wetting them well. Jaehyun let out a deep and hoarse fuck and picked up the already fast pace. You couldn’t resist any longer and let yourself go, trembling hard on his ongoing cock. He shut your mouth with his hand as you came and the only thing you could do is to grip the sides of the cabinet until your knuckles became white. He then got out and you understood his intentions and obeyed as you straightened your back and looking at his face you went down on him. Jaehyun swallowed to keep a moan in and held your face and head with both hands. His veins were all throbbing, on his hands and forearms and on his lower stomach as you sucked him good. He was swearing under his breath without being able to take his eyes off you and as his breath grew too irregular you let him out finishing him off with your hand.

He came all over your breasts.

586 notes · View notes

the-domestication-of-the-dog · 5 years ago

Text

The 10th Annual L.A.O.K. Awards

Wow. Ten years of the Layokies. What a trip. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to all five of my faithful fans for your readership over the years. In my first ever Layokies post, I named it the “1st (Possibly) Annual L.A.O.K. Awards.” I had no idea how long I’d be working at the Academy, let alone living in LA, but here we are. I bragged about seeing 180 movies that year. I just checked my Letterboxd stats for this year and it turns out I watched...180 movies. However, this year I hit a new personal best for new releases: 125. While this is about half as many as some people I know, some of the first Layokies were based on a field of 60 or 70 movies, so I’ve doubled up on my old self. Funny thing is, I can still look on other year-end lists and find many films I haven’t seen, and even some I haven’t heard of, so the field of films I’ve added are probably in the middle to bottom range of the pack. But someone out there has to watch Tolkien, Gemini Man, The Goldfinch, and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, so it might as well be me.

In all honesty, my absolute favorite thing about living in Los Angeles and working at the Academy is access to watching movies and being around the general cinephile community, and even a bad couple of hours in a movie theater beats a lot else. Over Christmas break I saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Shawnee, OK’s own Cinema Center 8.

It was quite a trip going back to this theater after so many years and to think of the love of film that was fostered there. Alas, the picture was pretty muddy, and I’m almost positive they showed it in 2k. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Now, in penance for naming The King’s Speech Best Picture in my first year (lol), I give you five real good’uns for 2019:

Best Film The Farewell The King Little Women Parasite Uncut Gems

Sometimes I touch on a year being good or bad for film in general. Not sure about the whole, but I’ll call 2019 a real SEC year (aka stacked at the top and mediocre to poor the rest of the way down). While I would probably only give one title on this list must-see status (Parasite), these are all definite should-sees. The Farewell made me laugh and cry and cringe. One might even go so far as to say it “gave me all the feels.” The King gave me actual siege warfare and period-accurate haircuts. Little Women hit me with that structure, and at first I was all “hol up,” but then I was all “OK I see you.” Little Women also made me cry because I cry in movies now. (A quick aside, because while I absolutely loved Little Women, it’s not really going to come up again. If you liked the movie and haven’t read the book, please do yourself a favor and make it the next one on your list. You can’t know how great this movie is unless you know how good Beth is. Beth kind of got lost in this one, and you need to know Beth.) Parasite blew me away through its normality (who, having seen The Host, Snowpiercer, and Okja could have guessed that it wasn’t about some actual alien parasite??). And Uncut Gems was exactly as perfect as I expected it to be. And the Layokie goes to... The King

Faithful readers will know that one of my absolute favorite genres is ‘discreet conversation behind castle walls,’ and The King absolutely nailed it. It has everything: leadership position foisted on a worthy but flawed character who doesn’t want it, conversations in tents about battle tactics, love built on almost nothing but mutual respect, and most of all, Robert Pattinson doing a funny accent (it’s just a French accent, but he makes it quite funny). I would have already watched this again five times on Netflix, but I’m hoping and praying for an Oscar nomination that will never ever in a million years come in hopes that I can see it again in the theater during nominations screenings.

The Next Five Six 1917 Honey Boy The Laundromat The Lighthouse Marriage Story Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Best Actor Timothée Chalamet - The King Adam Driver - Marriage Story Paul Walter Hauser - Richard Jewell Joaquin Phoenix - Joker Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems

Another super stacked category this year. You might even say they’re *puts on sunglasses*...Stacked Actors. (<-- This is a really good joke for anyone whose favorite band from 7th-8th grade was The Foo Fighters.) These are all kind of obvious, so I’ll take a second to comment on Paul Walter Hauser and the fact that I gave out a very specific award last year titled “Refuse to Watch - Any More Clint Eastwood Movies” after trying and failing to watch The 15:17 to Paris on a plane (one of the worst pieces of filmmaking I’ve ever witnessed). Then this year Richard Jewell was getting such good buzz, and it seemed like such a good cast, and it was such a low-risk watch (on my second screen at work while doing spreadsheets), that I decided to shamefully renege on my earlier pronouncement and give it a shot. And...it was great pretty good! What is the deeal with Clint Eastwood?? He’s made some of my least favorite movies of the decade (Gran Torino, Invictus, Hereafter was a particularly awful stretch, Sully was pointless, and even parts of American Sniper, which was otherwise tolerable, were absolute cringefests). Anywho, I was very impressed by Paul Walter Hauser’s understated but perfect performance, in which he gets one good chance to blow up and yell at people--which you know I love. I hope he gets nominated, because it would be a great Oscar clip. (My ultimate dream job would be to pick the acting Oscars clips and I would be very very good at it.)

And the Layokie goes to... The Sandman (love that everyone is calling him the Sandman again)

I touched on Adam Sandler “A” in the Best Supporting Actor section of my 2018 Layokies post regarding his performance in The Meyerowitz Stories, lamenting that he hadn’t taken more dramatic roles after Punch-Drunk Love and hoping that good writer/directors would keep casting him. One more wish granted by the Safdie brothers. Adam Sandler’s talent is undeniable. He is truly one of the Great Actors of his generation. I really hope this is a respected-actor-making turn for him, but the upcoming roles on his IMDd--Hubie Halloween and Hotel Transylvania 4--don’t give much hope for the immediate future.

Honorable Mentions Taron Egerton - Rocketman (but only for the phone booth scene) Shia LaBeouf - The Peanut Butter Falcon Noah Jupe - Honey Boy Robert Pattinson - The Lighthouse Jonathan Pryce - The Two Popes

Best Actress Ana de Armas - Knives Out Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell Florence Pugh - Midsommar Saoirse Ronan - Little Women

Found out last night from my resident celebrity expert Bridgette Smith that Florence Pugh is dating Zach Braff and it absolutely crushed me.

And the Layokie goes to... Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell

Her Smell was the last 2019 film I watched before writing this post, and I was really just looking for something to pass the time. I had been wanting to see it for a long time and noticed it was on HBO, so I pressed play and planned to work on this post while I watched. I couldn’t. I was riveted. The writing, score, and sound design are incredible, but it’s all tied together by Elisabeth Moss’s performance. She’s excellent at being revolting but still has all of those qualities that made her Peggy. You can’t not like her, even though you fairly hate her.

Honorable Mentions Awkwafina - The Farewell Cynthia Erivo - Harriet Lupita Nyong’o - Us (You know I love weird voices, you know I love actors doing weird voices and faces, but this was a bit much even for me. Reflective of Us on the whole, which I thought was interesting but really missed the mark.) Charlize Theron - Bombshell

Best Director Ari Aster - Midsommar Bong Joon Ho - Parasite David Michôd - The King Benny and Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems Céline Sciamma - Portrait of a Lady on Fire

And the Layokie goes to... Benny and Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems

Wired: New directors Tired: Old directors

Boy do I not understand the love for The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I’m not totally against boring movies if there’s a good reason for it (Midsommar was actually quite boring), but these were some of the least compelling films I watched all year. On the other hand, you have these young directors coming out of prestige horror, Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, and to a lesser extent David Robert Mitchell and Trey Edwards Shults, making some of the most dynamic films out there. Reminds me of Roger Ebert talking about early Scorsese in Life Itself (which I can’t find a clip of). Then you have Benny and Josh Safdie doing Scorsese better than Scorsese with literally breathtaking shots like the one below. How they construct such amazing edits out of such disparate takes as the one in the still above is a wonder. They’ll go from five extreme close-ups in a row to a jaw-dropping shot of the inside of a jewelry store zoomed in from across the street. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on what makes them the best filmmakers working right now.

Honorable Mentions Noah Baumbach - Marriage Story Robert Eggers - The Lighthouse Claire Denis - High Life Greta Gerwig - Little Women Alejandro Landes - Monos Sam Mendes - 1917 Alex Ross Perry - Her Smell Joe Talbot - The Last Black Man in San Francisco Lulu Wang - The Farewell

Best Supporting Actress Laura Dern - Marriage Story Lena Headey - Fighting with My Family Lee Jung Eun - Parasite (The housekeeper) Meryl Streep - The Laundromat Shuzhen Zhao - The Farewell (Nai Nai)

And the Layokie goes to... Laura Dern - Marriage Story

Here’s one for the Laura Dern stan accounts: There’s no question that Noah Baumbach is a talented director of actors, but Laura Dern makes so much out of seemingly not a lot in this role. She truly embodies a wholly unique and three-dimensional character that could have extremely easily been one-note.

Honorable Mentions Lily-Rose Depp - The King Florence Pugh - Little Women Margot Robbie - Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor Timothée Chalamet - Little Women Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse Shia LaBeouf - Honey Boy Al Pacino - The Irishman Robert Pattinson - The King

And the Layokie goes to... Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse

For being all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT7uR4wNMJs

Honorable Mentions Bill Hader - It Chapter Two Tim Heidecker - Us Sam Rockwell - Richard Jewell Song Kang Ho - Parasite (the dad) Lakeith Stanfield - Uncut Gems

Best Original Screenplay The Farewell - Lulu Wang Her Smell - Alex Ross Perry Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach Parasite - Bong Joon Ho Uncut Gems - Benny and Josh Safdie

And the Layokie goes to... Parasite - Bong Joon Ho

Another genre we don’t get nearly enough of: comedies of errors. A script like this is as sophisticated as any mystery, political thriller, or...some other sophisticated type of script, like uh, I don’t know, they usually just say Chinatown or Witness. I did think it lagged a bit in the third act, but everything that came before it was so tight. Twist after turn after twist, so funny, so shocking. This is such a rare prestige crowd-pleaser that it really does harken back to Hitchcock; if a wide audience can get over watching subtitles, this has to have one of the lowest barriers for entry of any foreign film in a long time. Here’s hoping for a Best Picture Oscar nomination and a wide release. Uncut Gems played at Shawnee’s other theater (titled simply Movies 6), so it’s not that far out of the realm of possibility. But I know people in LA, even that work at the Academy, who won’t watch subtitled films, so getting people to actually go see it is another question.

Honorable Mentions Peterloo - Mike Leigh

Best Adapted Screenplay Jojo Rabbit - Taika Waititi Joker - Todd Philips & Scott Silver The King - David Michôd The Laundromat - Scott Z. Burns The Two Popes - Anthony McCarten

And the Layokie goes to... The King - Joel Edgerton and David Michôd

It wouldn’t be the Layokies without me championing one film that no one else cares about. I just really really liked The King. Timothée Chalamet is so hot right now! How did this get so overlooked?? 😭

Best Documentary Apollo 11 Honeyland It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It Maiden Mike Wallace is Here

And the Layokie goes to... Maiden

As I’m in the process of producing a documentary right now, it pains me a bit that my top two picks in this category are almost entirely archival. I thought Mike Wallace is Here was so well done, and the director did some amazing things playing with aspect ratio. But Maiden came into port first. What is wrong with people who don’t appreciate sports? This xkcd comic (who I usually appreciate) makes me so angry. Tell the women who worked their asses off for years to claw their way into this male-dominated space and literally made the world a better place that their efforts were no more than a weighted random number generator on which to build narratives! Clearly the narratives are there, but it rarely has as much to do with the result of the competition as it does the effort that it took individual human beings to get there. See also: Undefeated (currently streaming on Netflix).

Honorable Mentions Fyre They Shall Not Grow Old Satan & Adam

Best Foreign Language Film Duh Parasite

Biggest Missed Opportunity Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (How the first live action Pokemon movie should have happened)

Not Even Close to Enough Monsters Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Most Unbelievable Cosplay Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers

Absolutely Crushing the Sensitive Dad Roles Billy Crudup in After the Wedding and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Good in Everything Too obvious, but Florence Pugh - Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, Little Women Robert Pattinson - High Life, The Lighthouse, The King Adam Driver - The Dead Don’t Die, Marriage Story, The Report, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Destigmatizing Fatness Award Dolemite is My Name The Laundromat Skin Almost Hustlers but then not (Lizzo got what, 30 seconds of screentime??)

#WasteYourAudience’sTime2019 The Souvenir The Proposal

Didn’t Actually Deserve to be Driven into the Ground Dark Phoenix The Kitchen

Just Plain Liked It Triple Frontier

Most Forgettable Tie: Tolkien and High Life (not for me, but it took me a full 10 minutes to convince Becca that she watched this, and I had to describe the masturbation chamber aka fuck box in a lot of detail before she got it, and I’m still not totally convinced she remembers it)

The Something Award Motherless Brooklyn

The Nothing Award Judy

Worst Movies 1. Rambo: Last Blood 2. Between Two Ferns: The Movie 3. Abominable 4. The Lion King 5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters 6. Wine Country 7. Jumanji: The Next Level 8. Frozen II 9. The Goldfinch 10. Pet Semetary

Best Scenes

Avengers: Endgame - The hammer, the portals, all the nerdy/normie BS, what can I say call me a basic bitch but there were some genuine holy schmoly moments in this that made it a really fun movie to experience in the theater

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - When Mr. Rogers uses the puppets on Lloyd

Captain Marvel - When she went full shit on ‘em

Climax - The opening dance sequence (the only thing that made this movie worth watching)

The Farewell - Too many to choose from, but I think my favorite moment in this movie was when they were taking photos of the fiances and another couple stumbled in on them, claiming they were lost. That couple leaves and we never see them again. These are the kinds of details that make movies come alive. Absolutely brilliant.

Gemini Man - The motorcycle chase (a rare scene actually made better by the high frame rate)

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - The knife fight in the knife store

The King - The conversation between Hal and Catherine

Knock Down the House - When A.O.C. debated the incompetent proxy

The Last Black Man in San Francisco - Skateboarding into town

Little Women - The “break-up” scene between Jo and Laurie (not a spoiler)

Midsommar - The drug trip scene (not that I’ve ever done drugs but this was the most accurate drug trip scene of all time) and the Ättestupa ceremony. Also found out in the video linked above that Ari Aster pronounces it Mid-SO-mar?? I thought that was the dumb way to pronounce it but apparently I’m the dumb one. Also also, another amazing detail worth mentioning: I absolutely loved that every time they were in their community sleeping barn, there was a baby crying somewhere on the second floor that we never see. Such a perfect way to put the characters and the audience on edge and indicate that there’s something wrong here.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - While I didn’t care for this movie, the scene where Brad Pitt went to the movie ranch and when he fantasized about going to the film set were absolutely dripping with tension, which made them as just as riveting as the rest of the movie wasn’t

Parasite - When the other family comes home early

The Peanut Butter Falcon - The scene after they come out of the corn field and share one of their first genuine moments

Uncut Gems - *Sarah Palin voice* All of ‘em, any of ‘em. But seriously the finale with the Celtics game

Us - The initial home invasion and the visit to the Tylers’ home (Tim Heidecker and Elisabeth Moss)

The A.V. Club also does a best scenes list at the end of the year, and I love writing mine first and then seeing what they came up with. I’m always surprised at how many we match on. Just goes to show that a good scene is universal. I also enjoyed some of theirs that I overlooked here, including from Her Smell, Bombshell, Ad Astra (I almost included the moon chase myself and thought the baboon scene was equally compelling), and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Stupidest Scenes Every other John Wick 3 scene

Deserves Discussion The Dead Don’t Die

This movie was a lot of fun. But then it also completely sucked? Not really a Jim Jarmusch fan in the first place, but this had so many awesome elements to it: a great cast, great soundtrack, really fun and unexpected ways of breaking the 4th wall, but then it was also pointless and boring. I would love for someone to tell me why this is a good movie after all, but judging by its complete absence from the end-of-the-year discussion (or any discussion), I’m guessing no one cares enough to mount that challenge.

Best Visuals Alita: Battle Angel Aquarella A Hidden Life Honeyland Midsommar Monos

Many LOLs It Chapter Two Jojo Rabbit Parasite

Best Song Ready or Not - The Hide and Seek Song (why was this not submitted?)

youtube

Best Soundtrack Waves - Never have I already known so many songs on a film’s soundtrack; it’s almost as if Trey Edwards Shults is another white guy around my age with the same interests as me...

Worst Accents Midway

Started But Never Finished Cats Cold Case Hammarskjold Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Primal’ - Tales of Savagery The Highway Men High Flying Bird Queen and Slim Spies in Disguise

Didn’t See Ash is Purest White Atlantics The Beach Bum The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (still really want to see this one) Clemency Diane Invisible Life Luce Shadow Synonyms Transit Woman at War

Absent on Purpose Pain & Glory Ford v Ferrari I think these are the only two contenders that I’ve seen and haven’t mentioned. I actually liked both of these movies quite a bit. Just didn’t stand out for me in any one category I suppose. But then also: Booksmart Brittany Runs a Marathon Just Mercy The Mustang

Hah!

0 notes