I think, when I was a child, and I saw this movie for the first of many times, it was the first of many times I considered the apocalypse. The human caused destruction of everything holy and loving, the barren biblical wastelands caused not by four horsemen but by our own stupid hands. Powerful, anonymous people behind doors carving human beings into lines on the map, creating a post-colonial civilization, no hero can stop the coming tsunami of the deadly…
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Ball of Fire 1941
It's unbelievable the cast of character actors they assembled for all the professors. Seeing all my faves walk through scenes in unison, chewing scenery and crushing color commentary, makes me want to run through a wall. Must be what a Marvel fan felt like watching The Avengers for the first time.
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Portrait of Jennie 1948
The magic and impermanence of love and life, and why art is the only thing that can attempt to save it and still fail doing so in the end. Plays a card in the finale that I’ve only see a few movies do but I love when it happens every time.
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Titanic 1997
As a younger, stupider man, I thought the romance and grandeur of the first half as so superfluous and drawn out. But you only get great spectacle when great things fall, and the quality of this film is showing just how truly great something like a Titanic could be. The love, the passion, the heart of the first half is what makes the second half so stomach churning and soul crushing. The viewer can't believe what they are seeing and pray, while knowing the opposite, that this can't, won't, really happen. Watching Ozymandias' kingdom fall in the hands of James Cameron is unforgettable.
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F for Fake 1973
“Truth becomes fiction when the fiction becomes true”
Cao Xueqin would have loved late Orson.
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Killers of the Flower Moon 2023
I am going to write a spoiler review after I’ve let it sit for a little more time, but for now will just say…
This could be the film of the decade. The film of Martin’s career. I have hardly walked out of a film so devastated. It’s a weird comparison but it feels like Scorsese’s Magnificent Ambersons. Death and decay of an era. So many wrongs done… all for the desire of owning the American landscape no matter the “collateral damage”. Evil that claims delusion. It’s perfection. Went in with highest expectations and honestly kind of exceeded them all.
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The Human Factor 1979
In one sections of this movie, Morley's terrifying Doctor Perceval asserts that, like a Mondrian painting, we all belong in boxes. Not to bother, disturb, or disrupt any other boxes. Maurice Castle is a person who probably wants to stay in a box. He is punctual, quiet, simple. Yet love for family makes him slip in between the dividers ever so slightly, so he believes.
As someone who feels similarly to Castle, the movie grabbed me immediately. Slowly the narrative…
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Tokyo Story 1953
Seeing this at Film Forum today might come to be one of the greatest film going experiences of my life. As perfect as a film can get. Every shot, every line, every character, every note. Nothing is left to waste, everything to its full potential. The ultimate film.
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The Puppetmaster 1993
A most wonderful evening. Seeing such a beautiful and elusive film on the screen felt akin to experiencing the Colossus of Rhodes.
The movie was as good if not better than I remember. And it’s an all time fave. Getting to view it with people I love made it all the more special and discuss favorite vignettes and framings after the fact made for the greatest time. Meeting Apichatpong and getting to talk with him and hear his opening remarks…
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