Watched with a first-timer.
It is impossible to dislike this movie. It’s practically flawless. A miracle. The scene about the Indianapolis is one of my favourite scenes in movie history.
A rare bonus for me is that one person in our audience noticed how great the 4K restoration is. This never happens. Usually I’m the only weirdo talking about how tremendously well cared for a film has been. I felt very seen.
]]>I feel bad saying this, because I’m sure he tries just as hard as the rest of us, and I’m probably not always perfect at my job either, but Paul Feig is tasteless and it really hurts his movies. (See also, A Simple Favour and its sequel, Ghostbusters, and, uh, etc.)
Like, the bones of something interesting are here, but Paul Feig lost them somewhere in an AI-suggested Spotify playlist.
He needs an especially vicious, extremely mean, very good editor to start working with him. It’s never too late! Rooting for you, Paul.
]]>I enjoyed this, but couldn’t un-see it as a remake of Back to the Future 1. And Back to the Future 2. Oh, and Back to the Future 3. The breathless hype didn’t help my expectations, which were ratcheted up to expect the most original comedy in years.
Perhaps I would enjoy this more on a second viewing, and I would happily watch it again with the right crowd. But for my taste, this was good, not great.
]]>I don’t think it’s winning Best Picture or anything, but I don’t regret spending two hours on it.
Stanley Tucci steals all his scenes, just like the first, and I’m not sure anybody in these films has aged. It’s kind of ridiculous.
]]>A good friend knew I hadn’t seen this and loaned us his DVD. That was kind of him. I would happily rewatch this many times, and it might be my favourite commentary on religion and the absurdity of life.
(I refuse to believe the Coens when they say the similarities to Job were unintentional. There’s no way.)
]]>Enchanting. Julie Andrews is a hero. Robert Wise is a genius. It’s a gobsmackingly gorgeous film, excellently choreographed and staged.
For reasons, it really hits differently in Canada in 2026.
]]>Maybe it’s because I haven’t watched a lot of movies recently (finding two hours to string together is tough sometimes), but I thought this was totally fine and very funny. Third act was a little long.
Also, the AirCruz logo is an abomination. The “ru” in Cruz — you cannot tell me this is the logo of a serious company. It’s beyond the pale. The fix is so obvious that a lawyer could fix it, pun absolutely intended. And then at the end they’re like “I made it with crayons when I was a kid!” No. Stop. Fix it. Come on.
Real bush league graphic design bull crap right there. Hard to imagine a bigger plumber problem for me.
]]>Very human.
I don’t feel I know enough about Mexican politics to judge the way the film seems to use personal relationships to express the political state of the country, but it’s impressive how Cuarón is able to find the personal story in the midst of all that. I loved how he would occasionally share a minor character’s life story in the voice over. Philosophically different from the current Hollywood approach of treating minor characters as the film equivalent of a video game NPC.
The sound design was very jarring for me.
]]>A gimmick film whose greatest sin is that the twist probably isn’t worth the drama it creates. Rachel’s worst thing was far worse to me, which is probably the entire point. Because it often feels unearned, the drama often undoes the otherwise-excellent workmanship on display. I was left impressed and entertained, but unmoved.
]]>Endlessly rewatchable.
]]>It’s a mess.
]]>I liked the first half, but this quickly became as bland as mashed potatoes. This was nominated for best picture?
]]>Comfort food.
]]>Beautiful and compelling.
]]>I liked this, but online discourse surrounding the film had hyped this up as though it were the new Parasite, which it can’t live up to by any measurement. Park Chan-Wook does some really interesting things here that I’d never seen before, but I’m not sure if his level of invention is interesting or off putting.
When the film was over, I found myself wondering if this was it. Surely there would be some other twist, I assumed. But this was a straightforward romp about a man who is willing to ensure corporate status quo continues, so much so that he and his family are willing to give up their souls to make sure that they can live a soulless existence.
The point was beaten into my head with a flower pot.
I wish that anybody in the film figured out the corporate ghouls are the problem. The whole point is, obviously, that the protagonist becomes a corporate ghoul. But it’s not executed with a level of pathos that makes me truly feel he had no other choice.
I wanted a more elegant take on this situation. I desperately wanted a midpoint twist like Parasite or Gone Girl to upend my expectations, which were admittedly far too high.
]]>Some friends shared this with us, and while it’s not for me, I respect the heck out of it. Unbelievable puppetry, effects work, and set decoration. The story, narration, and voice acting don’t work for me, but I think I would have loved this as a kid.
]]>Not for me, as in I am definitely not the target audience for this, but not bad.
]]>Loved the book and the movie is great too. Gosling is fantastic.
I think the film could benefit from 30 minutes or so extra runtime, to be honest. Parts of the film feel long, parts feel short. Easier to extend the short parts than trim the long ones, in my opinion.
There are some critical scenes the film left out of the book. Learning the language of another species is far better explained in the book. The opening sequence is very rushed in the film too. And there are several sequences in which Rocky learns about humans that are nonexistent in the film (and similarly, a lot of great scenes where Grace learns about Eridians that really ope him up as a character). These scenes are all important for character development and establishing the world. It’s a bummer they were cut (I’m sure they shot them, but had to trim them for time).
That one small criticism aside, this was pretty and delightful. Another great addition to the Competence Porn genre.
]]>One of the best films Hollywood ever made. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, my favourite Easter movie — but also just a really good movie. The chariot scene is unreal. The speed test scene in the boat is a masterclass of tension. The finale is moving, with a real emotional arc that cuts all the cheques the first act writes. And there are real character arcs throughout.
A real treasure.
]]>Like taking a warm bath in my own depression, experiencing the cinematic catharsis that will never appear in reality. I adored what this was doing. Gorgeous filmmaking, and a lovely tribute to the tragedies the Bard wrote.
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