August '24 Wrap Up!
Trapped in a concert! Trapped on the Romulus! A new television! This one is long! Sorry!
Hey hey! Sorry this is a few days late. It was a three day weekend and I was in a cabin with some friends lounging by the pool. Also, my partner and I got a new television after the LEDs in our old one started to go. Let me tell you…purchase of the year so far. We went from 55” LED to 65” QLED1 and I’m having the time of my life watching it.
Anyway, as always—a version of these reviews can be found on my Letterboxd. There will be some spoilers for films that released this month. I’ll make sure to call them out beforehand though.
Let’s get into it!
Pulp Fiction (1994)
So I’ve seen Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction before, but I was like 14 and had a fever sooooo I it didn’t quite hit and I don’t fully think one can understand/understand the brilliance of Travolta’s “I’m on heroine” performance in Jackrabbit Slim’s if you’re 14. So here I am, at 30, watching Pulp Fiction and it was brilliant. I get it. I get why it was like THE movie of 1994. It’s funny and infinitely quotable and the darkest part of that movie has been repeated almost ad nauseum in my house2 all month.
I will say though, the one scene that fully chafes is the scene that Tarantino is in. Which is how I feel about most of his cameos. I’m usually like, “This was fine without you and I don’t feel like you are necessarily bringing anything that an actor couldn’t do better.” He finds his footing later discussing bed sheets with Harvey Keitel, but prior to that the “yelling” at Jules and Vincent, plus the multiple uses of the N-word just feel forced and like an excuse to be…on the screen yelling and saying the N-word.
But otherwise, “It’s not a motorcycle baby, it’s a chopper. Hop on.”
4.5⭐ Watched 8/1
Trap (2024)
I had a blast in this movie. Say what you will about Shyamalan but he always delivers something interesting and it never looks bad. Truly, find one “lazy” or bad shot in a Shyamalan movie and I’ll give you $5, full stop. I haven’t seen his full ouvre or anything and wouldn’t call myself an uber fan, but I’ve tapped in to a few. I think it’s crazy how much people have shat on this movie. Like we’re going to complain about the dearth of original story telling and inventive filmmaking, then get a self-funded, original story with Josh Hartnett directed by one of the most visual stunning commercial filmmakers…and then complain about it???
“People talked weird.”
“This doesn’t make sense. Why would you try and catch a serial killer in a concert? That’s not realistic.”
What do ya’ll want?! It was fun! You got a (another) split diopter shot in 2024!!!
I went into the theater thinking I was going to have a good time and might be a little “huh sure,” on the ending or parts of the narrative execution. And that’s exactly what happened! It was worth it!!! Josh Hartnett is a revelation and I fully agree with the below post. His performance feels completely outside of himself and his star power—which also speaks to Shyamalan’s consistent ability to get unique and engaging performances out of his stars, especially the children.
I think Trap is special in the way that it ruminates on fatherhood and obsession. I found myself grinning through much of the interactions with Cooper and his daughter, Riley. I especially liked at the end where he’s trying to reconcile how he can feel nothing, and has no way of understanding emotions, but that when his children are involved the emotion is almost overwhelming.
Does this movie need to be seen in theaters? No. I think it would be totally fine and effective to stream. But I did think it was fun! Felt bizarre to see the amount of vitriol flung at in, considering that Shyamalan obviously had a nugget that he wanted to draw out and expand upon. Say what you will about his movies, but there is always a larger rumination, usually on religion, and idea that he is trying to convey through bizarre narratives/happenings. We should be so lucky.
3.5⭐ Watched 8/2
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
We should be so lucky especially considering that the antithesis to Trap, or any creative film with something to say for that matter, is Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed the first two Deadpools. They felt fun and like there was a genuine earnestness to them, which is saying something considering it’s a superhero IP3.
Both of the previous movies deal with self-acceptance, but more importantly, and handled more deftly in my opinion, the acceptance of love from others. Shawn Levy does away with all of that in Deadpool & Wolverine. Instead, characters stand around while Ryan Reynold’s does his (waning in popularity) bit and then they move on to talking again like he wasn’t even there. A lot of the time it doesn’t even feel like they turned toward him while he talked. So what ends up happening is you have some static moments while Reynolds rattles off his jokes and then the other characters lurch back into movement and then shortly after you can expect a fight scene.
I am just starting to cool on Reynolds’ bit, mainly because it just feels like market saturation at this point. This is all to say that since I don’t absolutely hate him, I did laugh at a fair amount of Deadpool and Wolverine. But chuckling doesn’t make up for uninspiring cinematography and an endless use of side scroll fight choreography that truly feels two dimensional.
And I think that’s the perfect way to describe Deadpool & Wolverine—two dimensional. The movie is fine, it makes you laugh, but it is completely devoid of any meaning. Any enjoyment is ultimately flat because it’s a huge post-irony nostalgia “hey-look-hugh-jackman’s-shirt-blew-off-while-“Like A Virgin”- is blasting” play that is an endless bit. Which I liked! I thought that was funny! But at the end of a movie that was all that, that all this movie was, we have to get real.
I don’t really feel like getting into the “state of movies” based of Deadpool & Wolverine, because that feels reductive and a little insulting to some of the absolute bangers that have come out this year AND are commercial successes45, but Deadpool & Wolverine really goes nowhere. They don’t even have enough thrust for an actual plot—so really it’s all an excuse to make jokes about how this is recycled material and how Deadpool is now an official Disney property and he can’t do cocaine and then the movie ends and no one is the better or the worse for it in any way. No stakes, no losses.
2⭐ Watched 8/3
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
I cannot remember the last time I saw chemistry like this on screen6. It’s truly palpable. It cannot be denied that this movie is being carried on the backs of Jolie and Pitt. Because when you break it down…the plot sorta falls apart when you think about it. Like who are all these people? And they fend them off in the hardware store…but then what? Do they start their own firm? But none of this matters, not at all.
The most recent comparison I can think of for this is Linklater’s Hit Man and Glen Powell and Adriana Arjona, for all the chemistry the do have, look like a birthday candle next to the absolute firestorm of Jolie and Pitt. This isn’t even mentioning all the paparazzi/gossip following Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s production.
But damn, you know Jennifer Anniston was pulling her hair out during this, but also she dodged a bullet with Pitt.
3⭐ Watched 8/5
Alien: Romulus (2024)
SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD
This was terrifying in the best way. I had an absolute blast and Nate and I are talking about possibly seeing it again. It cannot be understated that for an $80M budget, this movie looks insane. Every set piece felt really fresh, and the special (and practical) effects were top notch. Seriously, one of the best looking movies of the year.
There has been some discourse around the inclusion of a version of (deceased) Ian Holm’s character from Alien, specifically using AI to deepfake his likeness and voice onto a different actor. I don’t have any super strong opinions about that, especially since it was approved by his family and it felt in line with the Alien lineage. However, I will say that the moment he is introduced is when the movie started to fray for me. The first half, we were both like, “Holy shit. This is about to be a MOMENT in my moviegoing life,” but the inclusion of Holm’s Rook and his subsequent info dumps to “tie the whole narrative together” really showed the studio execs hand and the constant oppressive fear of “What if we can’t recreate these stories indefinitely.”
This notion is frustrating. Period. But all the more frustrating in the Alien universe because you absolutely can just operate in the clutches of Weyland-Yutani’s brand of indentured servitude capitalism and have that be it7. Weyland-Yutani can be evil and the Xenomorphs can be unstoppable. It doesn’t need to be made clear to us that this is in between Alien and Aliens. Just let Fede Alvarez cook!
I know some people were really down on the “easter eggs” in this movie. Ultimately, I think that’s sorta expected at this point in IP, but I do think it could have been done a little better at a few points in this movie.
The biggest, most egregious, for me was when the android, Andy (David Jonsson), references iconic Sigourney scene by saying, “Get away from her you bitch” to a Xenomorph. Now, I will admit that I reacted immediately with some glee and a slight clap, but within a second I found myself incredibly annoyed and manipulated.
That scene is iconic. But it also the pivotal moment of the final action set piece in Aliens. In my mind it also plays more into the “motherhood” themes / female vs. woman themes8 of the Alien franchise. Having Andy say it during a random moment with a Xenomorph just felt pandering
It just didn’t need to be said and was, ultimately, jarring, taking me out of the moment. Instead of focusing on what was going on the Romulus, I had brief thoughts about the lineage of IP and fan service. This train of thought led to annoyance.
There’s another scene where Alien3 is replicated with Cailee Spaeny.
Just doesn’t hit quite the same. But where the “Get away from her you bitch,” was flagrant and manipulative, this is fine.
I don’t really hold any of that against Alvarez. He is a noted Alien superfan so to be able to direct Romulus was a dream. It’s just some of the moments feel less like his and more like a studio trying to keep the story going or sell limited edition Reeboks.
However, I do think Alvarez expertly toed the line of studio requirements so that he could get an absolutely buck wild fuck ass crazy last 20 minutes into Romulus. I have never seen anything like that. And I don’t think I will ever again. Absolutely marvelous.
I did love Rain (Spaeny) screaming “DIE MOTHERFUCKER” as it9 was sucked out into space. Now the “Die Motherfucker” was sorta overpowered by the score, which was phenomenal, but I couldn’t help but wish that had been the “every one pause and hear this” moment instead of “Get away from her you bitch,” because “Die motherfucker!!!” had SO much more going for it in the moment. It’s iconic in my mind, but could have been truly iconic.
Also shoutout cinematographer Galo Olivares, you’re incredible. Shoutout Benjamin Wallfisch, your score is one of the top of the year. The way you mixed overpowering orchestral mixes with dread inducing synths at some points was incredible. SHOUT OUT DAVID JONSSON BREAK OUT PERFORMANCE OF Romulus. I LOVED YOU ON INDUSTRY!!!!
4⭐ Watched 8/16
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Not good ya’ll. Not good. Honestly, if this movie was just made and didn’t have “Sicario” attached, I would have been a lot more gentle in my viewing. But, if you’re gonna take the name, then you better meet the standards set…or at least come close. I knew this movie was going to be bad when I saw trailers for it back in 2018 and Benicio del Toro was gunning a man down in the street. Before he executes him in broad daylight, he turns his gun to the side and fires by pointing his finger and moving it back and forth against the trigger. Sorry, nah.
Day of the Soldado is completely lacking in any of the nuance in Villenueve’s gripping thriller set on the El Paso/Juarez border in 2015. Instead of Emily Blunt coming to the grim realization that she isn’t built to “run with wolves,” we get Josh Brolin’s Matt and del Toro’s Alejandro waging an off-the-books all out war on the gangs that run the coyote10 trade across the border. But there’s no balance to it. No Blunt on the inside disgusted by what she’s seeing, touching the darkness but having to remove herself, no Daniel Kaluuya watching on in horror as his partner gets deeper in with the CIA, and definitely no cop dad trying to provide for his family who is ruthlessly gunned down in the desert, his kid waking up alone to a father that’s never coming home.
This web of characters in Sicario make it a fully-fledged narrative about the horrors of the drug war and the toll that it takes on both sides. Matt and Alejandro don’t even come out as antiheroes, instead they leave you with a queasy feeling in your stomach, and the awareness that the US has been lying to us.
I’m not convinced that Day of the Soldado even had any idea of what it actually was, at any point. The movie starts with ICE catching people crossing the border into the US and detaining them. One man separates from the group and when pursued he drops to his knees and starts praying in Arabic. Then when ICE gets close enough, he blows himself up. WHAT? Then we cut to a grocery store where four Middle Eastern men walk in and start praying and then…blow themselves up. So already, I’m confused as to how this relates to the boarder and gangs? Basically, the way that it gets tied together is that the gangs maintain control of illegal border crossings and terrorists from Yemen have figured out that it’s easier to get a ship from Yemen TO MEXICO and then cross into the US that way. Literally, what are we talking about?
Obviously, the United States uses this as an excuse to wage war on Mexican soil against the gangs, who you never truly meet? It just felt ramshackle and bizarre. Cherry on top is later you find out that the 4 suicide bombers in the grocery store were from New Jersey??? Like that’s just dropped in there.
TLDR; It was bad. Nothing close to Villenueve’s Sicario. Lacked any sort of message or nuance or dread. Would have made a “fine” action movie without the Sicario name attached, but even then…what the hell are we doing? Also, focusing your movie on the illegal immigrant narrative instead of drugs in 2018 is dicey and this movie was not equipped to handle the nuances of that. Not at all.
2⭐ Watched 8/18
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Angelina Jolie’s blue contacts were an INSANE choice for this movie.
More so than that, was the math of this movie. Retired thief, Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) is called in to steal 50 cars in one night to save his (bad car thief) brother, Kip. Basically, the gang gets back together! Woo! But to be honest, they are only getting paid $200k. So here it is:
- $200k in 2000 is approximately $365k in 2024. So $365k for 50 cars is $7.3k a car divided by the 10 people in Memphis/Kip crew...my dudes that's $730 a car. This is a $36.5k job for everyone involved.
And look, I get it. You want to save Kip. But no one in the gang is ever like, “For Kiiiiiip!” They are all like “cha-ching! Crazy money baby!” The movie ends with Calitri, the mob boss that is after Kip, getting blown away by Memphis…and then there’s no repercussions or anything for the amount of damage caused to the city. Happy ending!
Don’t get me wrong, I was cracking up doing the monkey math during this movie, and Cage is giving his usual entertaining performance. And Jolie is barely in it, but just all eyes on her when she is in it with her bizarre white girl dreads/twists. It just seems...like a lot of risk could have ultimately been mitigated by taking Calitri out at the beginning!
2⭐ Watched 8/19
Challengers (2024)
Hosted a Challengers watch party at my house for like 10 people who hadn’t seen it. Let me just say, I love my new TV. I LOVE my new tv. It was amazing watching this at home with a bunch of people who had never seen it. This movie still rips. This soundtrack still slaps. And I never really had a brat summer because I was still in Challengers summer.
5⭐ Watched 8/22
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
This movie was A RIDE. Nate and I decided to watch it because we started watching the Netflix series (Ripley) with Andrew Scott playing Tom Ripley and it is dark. Like Ripley is a monster from the get-go and deeply unsettling. That being said the show is beautiful.
Anyway, we watched the 1999 movie and it’s like a 180 from the series but you still get to watch Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley descend into monstrosity. I also didn’t really know anything about this movie so the bath tub scene hit and I was like, “This is not an undertone?? This is not homoerotic subtext???” and then blam the movie is like “Nope! It’s not!” and I found myself feeling elated. This movie was so fun, Damon is giving the performance of a lifetime. Jude Law is so pretty it’s blinding but you also can’t take your eyes off of him.
And then Philip Seymour Hoffman has maybe 10 minutes of screentime but has every memorable quote and one of the best introductions, maybe ever? It cannot be denied the effect that he has on this movie, made all the more insane that Damon and Law are basically effervescent and you have Ms. Goop herself, Gwyneth Paltrow, coming off of an Oscar win. Yet the person you leave the theater absolutely loving, even though he’s a shitbag, is Hoffman’s Freddie. Brilliant.
This isn’t the happiest movie of all time, but it’s fun ride and I will definitely be watching it again. Feels insane that it got made at all to be honest.
4.5⭐ Watched 8/24
Slingshot (2024)
Okay, so this was my boyfriend and I’s first “Screen Unseen.” Which is basically a program that AMC runs once a month where you buy your ticket but you don’t know what movie you are going to see. The movie is always one that hasn’t been released yet. Nate and I looked at some previous Screen Unseens and we could have seen The Bikeriders11 or Sing Sing. So it really looks like it’s an opportunity to have a decently full theater at 7pm on a Monday night for a smaller film that might not get that wide of a release. So in principle, Nate and I like Screen Unseen and we’ll be doing it again this month.
But in terms of Slingshot. Woof. Not great. The movie is about three men in space making their way to Saturn’s moon, Titan. To make it with the fuel they have, they have to; 1. go into cryosleep for months at a time with a few days in between sessions and; 2. slingshot around Jupiter to make it to Titan. Why are they going to Titan you ask? Good question. It was answered in a presentation that a character gives on Earth where she explains that due to environmental degradation in the year 2032 we need to go to Titan to harvest methane. Yup, harvest methane. At this point my liberal studies ass is thinking that a 2+ year mission to slingshot around Jupiter, land on Titan, harvest methane12, and come back seems…inefficient. Just doesn’t seem like the juice is worth the squeeze, but what do I know? I never went to NASA.
Anyway, as the movie goes on two crew members, Casey Affleck’s John and Tomer Capone’s Nash, start to lose their grip on reality. John is seeing a past lover roaming the ship and Nash is convinced that the ship is compromised and that they are going to die. The only one who seems to maintain his cool (and by far my favorite part of the movie) was Captain Franks, played by Laurence Fishburne (my man). Basically, time goes on, cryosleep continues to fuck every member of the crew up, there’s a few twists, etc etc, the movie ends.
Excluding the plot, the problem is that Affleck plays this so flat. And not like, “Oh he has a dry personality but it’s funny.” No, it literally seemed like he did not want to be here and did not care about this paycheck. He has one or two moments that landed and his character shown through, but ultimately his descent into madness just dragged on and took forever and then the double ending of the movie just felt sort of whatever. I did love the woman in the theater who just went, “Oh. Okay.” when the credits rolled. Bless you.
If you’re looking for a space movie where someone deteriorates under bizarre circumstances, I recommend Moon (2009). Sam Rockwell does so much more and delivers a solo hopeful and heartbreaking performance.
2⭐ Watched 8/26
Rear Window (1954)
CAN I GET A HELL YEAH? I bought tickets for this months ago because it was back in theaters for the 70th anniversary. I LOVE Rear Window. So much. It’s one of those movies that I remember exactly where I was physically and in life the first time I saw it.
It was in film class my senior year of high school and my audible gasp the first time Grace Kelly came on screen was a touch point I reflected deeply on later in life when I was coming to terms with my sexuality. While Hitchcock’s set presence with women is contentious, it cannot be denied that he is in the top five, if not the top, of directors that know how to shoot women. Grace Kelly’s Lisa Fremont is shot in a way that feels so female. First, it’s a focus on her face, and then the camera zooms out as she glides around the room to show Edith Head’s expert costume design.
I’m actually going to give you the image and the video. It’s just one of the most perfect introductions in the history of film. It’s timeless and her beauty and style will never be denied. It’s just crazy. I can’t imagine what the theater must have been like in 1954.
Anyway, I love this movie. It’s all in one set, the diegetic sound of a New York neighborhood is constant and the story is so simple. Bed-ridden man thinks he sees a murder from his window. Done. It takes Hitchcock to make this absolutely beautiful. I still cannot begin to conceive how they shot all of this on a massive film camera. Some of the crane shots showing the apartment complex are insane.
Also this movie gets absolutely funnier every time I watch it. I truly think Hitchcock is a comic genius and you just need a little more life experience to get what he’s putting out there.
4.5⭐ Watched 8/28
# of movies: 11
Avg. rating: 3.36
% Watched in theater: 45%
% of rewatches: 27%
% of birth scenes that went absolutely buckwild crazy: 9%
Best Score: Alien: Romulus
Best Soundtrack: Pulp Fiction
I literally do not know the difference but I can see it.
“Nah man, I’m pretty fuckin’ far from okay.”
Also back in my May post, I shat on David Leitch. I want to say that after watching Deadpool & Wolverine and then watching YouTube videos comparing the fight choreography / direction of Deadpool 2 to Deadpool & Wolverine and I want to offer my heartfelt apology to you. D&W choreography sucked.
Looking at you Romulus, Challengers, and Dune Part Two
I also understand “commercial success” doesn’t necessarily stand up to the billion and change that Deadpool made but for what these movies were made for and what the expectations were—yes, they were commercial successes economically and culturally
Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara get close in Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but that chemistry is darker and more lived in. Pitt and Jolie ooze sex in their chemistry.
Part of this is because Ridley Scott is SO good at building out these massive sprawling narratives. But it should be noted that Romulus could have stood on it’s own—no problem. The same way that Predator has really never felt the need to give a massive back story on the Predator. Plus, look at the success of 2021 Prey.
Xenomorph vs Sigourney, who comes into a motherhood role in Aliens, with her protecting of Newt.
I’m being intentionally vague here
Coyotes are the name given to the men that smuggle people from Mexico into the United States
I would have lost my shit in the theater as SOON as I heard Jodie Comer’s mouse voice. We saw The Bikeriders regardless, but it would have been fun to be surprised by it.
How??? How do you harvest methane??