We’re about halfway through the year and I wanted to take a beat to look back on the incredible movies that have already rolled out. And for reference, unabashedly sharing my Letterbox here. When Letterbox came out, I instantly became more addicted to it than any other form of social media and to be honest, I think it’s the only healthy social media in existence. For movies, about movies, that’s it. And I seriously need help tracking everything I watch so for me, there is no equal.
Anyways, what’s been good so far?
No surprise here. The first forty minutes are entrancing, a vibrant, fully realized world that honestly I could’ve lived in for the whole film (before vampires and insanity breaks out). Delroy Lindo’s monologue in the car ride (and his improvised song) stunned me. It was a fun and bold “musical” and a complex look at appropriation and American history but above all, brilliant characters who were allowed to shine.
Clean, mean, superbly well-written and concisely crafted spy thriller. I don’t even know what else to say about it. One of the more unique portrayals of marriage I’ve seen in a long time.
It’s not a perfect movie but Danny Boyle, as always, takes some huge swings (both story-wise and stylistically) and I will always love him for that. Raph Fiennes delivers, above and beyond. His performance, like the film overall, is surprisingly more tender and philosophical than adrenalized or terrifying. It’s a movie about damage and family and human nature and while it doesn’t work on all fronts, it will stay with me.
Gareth Evans is one of a kind, no one executes action on such a scale of brutality, thrill, and feeling. I dare say he’s the Sam Peckinpah of our day. And Havoc just allows him to flex his muscles on an even bigger scale with a murderer’s row of actors. Turn off brain and let your jaw drop.
Okay, I admit it. My selection is skewing a little masculine over the top here. But this was just a really fun movie! It was the Animatrix to the original series. They took all that was fun and pure about the original film and experimented with the scope and style in totally new ways. That’s really hard to do, and it was a blast to watch. Also seems like very shrewd franchise planning in the lead-up to the next film’s theatrical release (a lot of backstory work is done here for the next one). I’ll always have a soft spot for my fave alien hunter.
A real fun classic comedy in a vein we rarely get to see made anymore. Excellent showcase for Lawrence Lamont and Keke Palmer and SZA. Here’s to more like ‘em.
Okay yeah, I’m apparently in my violent movie era (never left it, to be honest) but this movie belongs in a category all its own. Less a “war film” and more a documentation of war itself as a visceral experience. Not a narrative about characters, instead a recreation of memory. The deeper you dig into how this movie came together, the more incredible it becomes as a realized feat of filmmaking. I had the incredible fortune to see it at the American Legion Hall in Hollywood with a theater full of veterans, with many of the living members of the SEALs the film portrays in attendance — in addition to the directors and cast. The charge in the air, the respect for what it accomplished, the catharsis - I will never forget the experience. I applaud the film not just on a technical level but it’s true aim to stay neutral, flying in the face of a genre that can rarely achieve neutrality or truth.
Alright that’s all I got for now. Looking forward to what the rest of the year brings (Sovereign, Eddington, She Rides Shotgun, Weapons, and so many more)!