Watcha Watchin? (Movies, TV etc.)

Not sure, but now the idea of George Costanza getting really worked up and doing Come Up and Get Me is killing me.

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I still think Night of the Hunter is a little uneven, but this scene, namely the bit with the candle, is fucking incredible. Genuinely made me gasp the first time I watched it.

Also what’s really stuck with me is how it treats religion. Both their villain and savior of the movie are fervently religious and totally driven by their faith, but despite ostensibly having the same beliefs, they’ve interpreted them so differently that they land completely opposite morally. That kind of rings true IRL I’ve found; for every decent religious person, there’s also those who use it as a way to justify their own phobias and biases. Considering the conservative time and climate it was made in (the heyday of the Catholic League) it’s a really unique and piercing take on religion and belief.

Black Narcissus is another recent watch with interesting religious themes actually. It’s really grown on me since I watched it the first time, those matte paintings are insane.

Also have to give it points for having the crazy murderous nun be played by an all-time baddie. 10/10 would let Sister Ruth push me off a cliff.

local theatre (as in one that shows plays and whatnot) shows films every once in a blue moon. over the next week, they’re showing 2001 AND Stop Making Sense.

David Byrne Dancing GIF

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Very nice! Going to be able to attend?

I went to 2001 tonight actually. I’ve already seen it in the cinema before, and it fucking slaps, it really does need to be seen on the big screen for the full effect. I have the 4K disc but there’s no substitute for the real thing.

ended up being kinda awkward tho: I ran into a girl I went out with briefly a few months ago at the screening, and it just was agonizingly awkward. I swear to god, the vibe was identical to that Nardwuar interview with Lil Uzi after he mentions Guns Garcia.

it really does need to be seen on the big screen for the full effect

Yep, I’d never actually seen it all the way through in one go until the 50th anniversary ultra-wide cut in a cinema, classic art deco place projecting on film too.
Easily overtook Gravity on Imax as my top movie experience ever.

My wife and I started watching Deadloch, a murder mystery with some comedy mixed in. The show is set in Tasmania while the main characters are opposing detectives from Sydney and Darwin. It’s a good show that is satisfying my cravings for more media from Antipodeans.

We’re four episodes in and definitely enjoying it. We found it on Amazon Prime.

currently stuck at home with a bout of tonsillitis, and I’m definitely going back into one of my Adam Curtis phases again. His latest series for the BBC, Traumazone, was phenomenal but it was so dense I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. Will likely go back and watch it again over the next few days.

Funnily enough, I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen anything on film; I was born in '99, so right around the time film projectors were getting phased out. They do show film in a few boutique theaters in Dublin, but that’s about it.

People forget this, but 2001 was made specifically for Cinerama screens, which were these massive curved behemoths. In other words, to get the full effect, 2001 is meant to be seen on the biggest screen possible, which is a lot harder to do with a smaller screen, not to mention a TV. I can honestly say it’s only ever hit me 100% on the big screen; on a TV the Stargate sequence is cool, but on a massive theatre screen it’s genuinely overwhelming and almost uncomfortably intense. I considered dropping acid before the first time I saw it in theatres and I’m glad I didn’t because I’m pretty sure it would have scarred me for life.

Also, fun fact: Barry Lyndon was partially shot (almost everything in the first half hour iirc) near where I live, and a few months ago, they screened it, preceded by a talk with some locals who were crew on the film.

Also, I could be wrong, but I think this famous photo of Kubrick was shot here.

letterboxd reviews are 99% trash, but this is a wonderful, insightful review of my favorite movie.

https://letterboxd.com/laurenwilf/film/licorice-pizza/

this was only ok, but still one of the better horror films in recent memory. heavily reminiscent of older slashers, but could also see it becoming a bit of a cult classic in it’s own right; it has just the right amount of camp without making a show of it. a lot of people who make intentionally campy throwbacks like this mistake self-awareness/being meta for intelligent writing (let’s call it the Rick and Morty effect) and Thanksgiving does an admirable job of avoiding that. restraint is not something I associate with Eli Roth, but everything here is surprisingly measured, even the social commentary stops just short of being cringe, albeit barely.

that said I also get the feeling the praise for this one is due in part to the quality (or lack thereof) of horror films that are getting theatrical releases nowadays; the only one in recent memory that I really enjoyed was Beau is Afraid and even then I think calling that just a horror movie is a bit of a stretch.

https://x.com/zuza_real/status/1726747956752023772?s=46&t=S8vZH5ct-0lyYsvO1zbcHg

God no, we already have so many fucking clubs, we may as well be a college at this point. Here’s everything I’ve given a 4 or over on Letterboxd tho, descending from highest rated, in case anyone is stuck for something to watch.

@phreakbrain classics
Magnolia 1999
Licorice Pizza 2021
The Wind Rises 2013
My Neighbor Totoro 1988
GoodFellas 1990
Toy Story 2 1999
Boogie Nights 1997
Mulholland Drive 2001
No Country for Old Men 2007
The Iron Giant 1999
The King of Comedy 1982
The Social Network 2010
Rear Window 1954
JFK 1991
Snatch 2000
The Matrix 1999
The French Connection 1971
Bowling for Columbine 2002
The Thin Blue Line 1988
HyperNormalisation 2016
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion 1997
Exit Through the Gift Shop 2010
Toy Story 1995
Monsters, Inc. 2001
The Big Lebowski 1998
The Shining 1980
Django Unchained 2012
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 2003
Pulp Fiction 1994
Aliens 1986
Synecdoche, New York 2008
Back to the Future 1985
La Haine 1995
The Conversation 1974
It’s a Wonderful Life 1946
Casino Royale 2006
Die Hard 1988
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
Home Alone 1990
Singin’ in the Rain 1952
A Goofy Movie 1995
The Nice Guys 2016
Oppenheimer 2023
In the Bedroom 2001
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
Phantom Thread 2017
The Dark Knight 2008
Kiki’s Delivery Service 1989
Ponyo 2008
Castle in the Sky 1986
Sorry to Bother You 2018
BlacKkKlansman 2018
The Color of Money 1986
Silence 2016
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2018
The Grand Budapest Hotel 2014
Avatar: The Way of Water 2022
Touch of Evil 1958
Z 1969
Cache 2005
TÃR 2022
The Fabelmans 2022
Suspiria 1977
Children of Men 2006
F for Fake 1973
WALL·E 2008
John Wick 2014
John Wick: Chapter 4 2023
The Wild Bunch 1969
Bambi 1942
I Am Cuba 1964
Schindler’s List 1993
Stop Making Sense 1984
Spider-Man 2002
Clerks 1994
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst 2015
Inglourious Basterds 2009
Jackie Brown 1997
School of Rock 2003
Star Wars 1977
Knives Out 2019
Manhunter 1986
Phish: Bittersweet Motel 2000
Classic Albums: Steely Dan - Aja 1999
Reservoir Dogs 1992
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2006
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
Lilo & Stitch 2002
Frozen 2013
Shrek 2001
Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone 2022
The Worst Person in the World 2021
Blow Out 1981
Casino 1995
Killers of the Flower Moon 2023
The Hangover 2009
The Empire Strikes Back 1980
A Hard Day’s Night 1964
Skyfall 2012
The Royal Tenenbaums 2001
Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1998
The Goonies 1985
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 2007
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 1992
Mean Streets 1973
The Killer 1989


Saw this in theater last night. It was really charming and lovely.

Just got out of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. Straight up one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. Awful pacing, razor thin characters, so little insight even into what made Napoleon great or interesting as either a figure, leader or tactician and it was just all around dull.

The only part that really stuck out is the Battle of Austerlitz, the clear centrepiece, but even that falters from the complete lack of context or stakes, which is a recurring issue; this is a weird movie that simultaneously has too much and too little faith in the audience’s intelligence and knowledge.

When it comes to Napoleon’s personal life and relationships, the treatment of it is just so broad and obvious, with lots of very obvious exposition and narration, but when it comes to the history, you’re given almost no background with regards to the geopolitics at play; at one point, he loses Russia as an ally, but you’re given literally zero context into why that happens.

There’s apparently going to be a 4-hour cut of this in a few months. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes; Scott’s reworkings have a history of soaking up acclaim, but if it merely doubles down on the theatrical cut’s worst elements instead of filling in the gaps, it’ll probably be agonizing.

looks like it isn’t getting a theatrical release over here. bummer, alexander payne is a treasure.

Honestly don’t know why I didn’t make a Letterboxd account before, it’s really interesting being able to look at your own tastes from a bird’s eye view. I’m surprised there isn’t really any drop-off in the average decade-to-decade; the average remains fairly consistent.

Speaking of, here’s my highest rated movies from each decade (1950s onward) on there.

1950’s: Rear Window
1960’s: 2001 A Space Odyssey
1970’s: The Conversation
1980: My Neighbor Totoro
1990’s: Goodfellas
2000’s: Mulholland Drive
2010’s: The Wind Rises
2020’s (so far): Licorice Pizza

Mulholland drive is one of my personal favorites. Peep the profile pic. I would love to pick David Lynch’s brain

tw : mentions of suicide