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Mulholland Drive 2001
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Watched in the Dome Cinema in Gisborne with a cocktail and that was a hoot!
Dozed off a few times in the second half which was detrimental to my sanity whenever I woke up. (“Who the hell’s Betty again?”) but what I saw was fascinating and I felt better knowing everyone looked for explained videos afterwards.
Naomi Watts’ line delivery and performance was jaw dropping when it counts, and even more so to think about after the movie. I need to watch more Lynch to get a clear picture on his style but what I saw was propulsive, thoughtful and wonderfully bizarre. Demands a second watch.
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The Brutalist 2024
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Watched in the Govett-Brewster/Len Lye Art Gallery in New Plymouth, NZ which just makes it an extraordinary package
First half was absolutely enrapturing. Bold images and delicate performances enveloping a story that flows like a dream. Every segment somehow always builds to a red-hot crescendo no matter how pedestrian the set-up (the homoeroticism around the dinner table! The hug at the train station! The library!!) and the dedication to the no-frills, formal, (brutalist?) filmmaking just showcases how good these building…
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Oppenheimer 2023
A thunderous epic on an warpath, blazing everything in its wake. This is Nolan’s The Social Network, a cross-examination of a tortured man between courtroom drama and scientific odyssey, while wielding tension like a scorching blade. The contrast between close-ups filling the IMAX screen and explosions dwarfed by the camera beholding the vast desert. The score (Görranson’s best work yet) oscillating between haunted strings and deafening synths. The crisp, fervent editing that only lingers on looks of regret and despair, lamenting this hell on earth. The climactic detonation that made me physically unease from anticipation and actual fear.
A great feat of cinema.
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Barbie 2023
“You’re not your car, or your mink. You’re not even beach.”
Metamodern absurdist comedies have never looked this good. Its core belief of how we can reconcile feminity and womanhood is presented with such unflinching faith it feels like Greta herself reaching through the screen and shaking all our shoulders. The dry humor with the occasional 4th-wall-breaking pop is delightful if uneven at times, but I truly cannot stop my grin throughout its runtime. Margot and Ryan are pure dynamite.
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