10th: Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham (2018)
Watched at the Music Box. Part of the Chicago Critics Film Festival. It was sold out which was a new experience for me watching a movie. I thought this film was so well done. The crowd, in particular, was really loud because so many scenes elicited visceral reactions. My greatest takeaway from the film was just how far the stakes in individual scenes can take a movie. Every scene left you on the edge of your seat because they all had huge emotional stakes for the main character. It also really helps to establish the tone throughout, a combination of hilarious and cringe-worthy scenes and deeply heartfelt emotional weight. I think my favorite moment was at the very very end of the film where the main character goes on a date and the guy asks if she believes in god. It’s a hilarious moment, but we’re not laughing at these characters exactly. We’re laughing because we’ve all been on a first date in middle school and asked ridiculous shit like that.
Grade: A
Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham (2018)
11th: Sweetie – Jane Campion (1989)
Watched at home alone. It’s such an incredibly layered film. It’s amazing to me that this was her first feature. Aside from the structure and plot of the movie, the photography is almost always gorgeous. I particularly loved in the beginning as Kay narrates about her fear of trees, the camera follows her on the sidewalk but moves behind the trees. It feels like all of these details are interwoven. I’m positive it’s a movie that I could watch and keep picking up new information every time. This is a limited comparison, but it reminded me of Mike Leigh’s emotional sensibilities combined with Terrence Malick’s visual filmmaking.
Grade: A
Sweetie – Jane Campion (1989)
12th: Rififi – Jules Dassin (1955)
Watched at home alone after seeing it come up in an episode of The Americans. Really cool movie. It makes me wonder how many later robbery/heist movies are essentially trying to re-frame this. This coolest part is the heist itself, where there’s no dialogue for an extended period of time. I thought what especially makes the whole film work is the setup at the beginning. All of the information we learn before the heist it really put on hold until the 3rd act. It ties everything up after the actual robbery.
Rififi – Jules Dassin (1955)
12th: My Dinner with Andre – Louis Malle (1981)
Watched at home during the day. It’s stunning. The entire movie is just a real-time (maybe even extended) dinner between two people, and it is unbelievably captivating. Obviously, it’s the dialogue that carries this movie. I have no idea really how it does it. It’s just endlessly fascinating to listen to. The only real structural manoeuver I could make out is how Wally’s attitude changes over the course of the conversation. He starts out as someone who doesn’t even want to have this dinner, the becomes a tepid reactor for all of Andre’s points. Finally, he turns the conversation and starts inserting his own viewpoint, which in many ways is the embodiment of the philosophy Andre has been preaching.
Grade: A
My Dinner with Andre – Louis Malle (1981)
12th: Last Flag Flying – Richard Linklater (2017)
Watched at home at night. I was really moved by it. For whatever reason, it exceeded all of my expectations going into it. The parts of the movie I found most interesting were the humanistic, character-driven parts. Steve Carrell’s character was so heartbreaking. I even loved the interplay between Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishbourne’s characters as surrogate Angel and Devil stand-ins. I think the movie works because of how enjoyable it is spending time with the characters even in the face of personal tragedy. The movie makes you hang on to see if Doc can have any peace after all of this. I’m pretty neutral on the arguments the film makes on war. I could understand if people thought it was preachy. I did not.
Grade: B+
Last Flag Flying – Richard Linklater (2017)
13th: Glengarry Glen Ross – David Mamet (1992)
Watched at home alone. My first encounter with David Mamet. It is really quite something. I loved it. The dialogue and the performances especially are so fun to watch. I think the writing is great. It’s the dynamic that keeps the film moving, and while a lot of it is styilistic flourish, it allows the film to hide the key bits of information in plain sight.
Grade: B+ / A-
Glengarry Glen Ross – David Mamet (1992)
13th: Other People – Chris Kelly (2016)
Watched at home alone. I did not mean to watch a super sad movie about a mom dying on mother’s day. It just worked out that way. I really like a lot of the movie. I thought the callbacks to “Drops of Jupiter” were great. The film also does a really good job at setting up each family member’s relationship with David without explicitly stating it. I think the most powerful example is the distance between him and his sisters, which ends up being his mom’s greatest concern at the climax of the movie. My only critique is that it’s a slow burn. The first act, in particular, feels long.
Grade: B / B+
Other People – Chris Kelly (2016)
14th: Singles – Cameron Crowe (1992)
Watched at home at night. It’s a pretty entertaining watch. I can’t lie, I really dig the soundtrack. I also really enjoyed the cameos in it, especially Eddie Vedder. I also thought that Bridgett Fonda was so good despite playing a really pretty dumb part. My main issue with it is that I think it has too much of the cheesiness of most romantic comedies. It’s bending over backward to be cool and to almost comment on a generation of young people. I hate that.
Grade: C
Singles – Cameron Crowe (1992)
19th: Antichrist – Lars Von Trier (2009)
Watched at Wills’s with Wills and Tommy. I think this film surely has merit. I don’t think that Von Trier is just a thoughtless provocateur. However, I don’t really want to think about this film anymore. I certainly don’t imagine I’ll ever watch it again. It was an experience for sure though.
Antichrist – Lars Von Trier (2009)
20th: Fahrenheit 451 – Ramin Bahrani (2018)
Watched at home with Bryce. I thought it was alright. Not the most flashy or compelling film. But it was short. I thought the story was pretty effectively streamlined. There was one main tension the movie followed without getting into other distractions from the book. I agree that a lot of the dystopia aspects don’t hold up to much scrutiny. The social media aspect seemed like a failed attempt to modernize the story.
Grade: C / C+
Fahrenheit 451 – Ramin Bahrani (2018)
25th / 26th: Hoop Dreams – Steve James & Simon Schumann (1994)
Watched at home. It starts a bit slow but unfolds into something incredible. It’s honestly one of the most human films I’ve ever seen. By that pretentious terminology, I mean it really captures life over the span of four years. Each scene feels so real, and yet seems to act as a microcosm for so many things. Which is amazing, because, in reality, those are just moments captured in a documentary. In many ways, I thought the minor characters were the most compelling part. It’s unbelievable to me that William’s brother, Arthur’s dad, or the St. Joseph’s coach were all real people. You couldn’t have written fictional characters better than them. This is definitely a movie I’ll revisit. I think you could watch it ten times with a focus on a different issue and have plenty to work with.
Grade: A
26th: Creepers (aka Phenomena) – Dario Argento (1996)
Watched at Music Box with Maureen and Frank. A truly insane movie. It is a ridiculous premise with ridiculous dialogue that looks amazing. Would definitely watch again.
27th: Almost Famous – Cameron Crowe (2000)
Watched at home at night. I wanted to revisit this one after watching Singles. I think this one is so, so good. It’s set up on a premise that is insanely fun to watch. But what really makes it great is the way it unfolds. It is, of course, very sentimental. I could see a scenario in which this movie, or any other Cameron Crowe movie, is derailed by it. But here it works! There are so many setups that are buried in the fun of being on a rock and roll tour that when Crowe starts paying them off it’s really moving and surprising. I expected the premise of the movie and the soundtrack to hold up. I really wasn’t expecting the script to be as air-tight as it was. I love it. I think it’s almost perfect.
Grade: A
Almost Famous – Cameron Crowe (2000)
Sam Writes Shit 
One thought on “Movie Log – May”