2022 Movie Log: April

2nd: Heat – Michael Mann (1995)
A perfect choice to break in our new tv and sound system! What can I say about Heat? It might be the most fun movie you can watch. The special/practical effects are jaw-dropping. The action setpieces are as good as I’ve seen in any movie. It’s astounding that this film is 27 years old and still looks better than any action movie since. Gimme all you got!
Grade: A

3rd: Apollo 10 1/2 – Richard Linklater (2022)
Delightful! For as much as I admire Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, this is the first time I felt the rotoscope animation fully lived up to the source material. As a Linklater fan, this also felt like a return to form after some good-not-great films. It’s easily my favorite since Everybody Wants Some!! 
Grade: B+

9th: The Social Network – David Fincher (2010)
Frickin’ best movie ever.
Grade: A

9th: Drive My Car – Ryusuke Hamaguchi (2021)
This is the type of film that makes a movie blog seem foolish. There is too much in Drive My Car to process in the course of a day. It’s the kind of movie that should sit with you for a week. For now, I’ll say this. It is one of the most beautifully shot films I have seen in some time. I’m glad to have finally seen it.
Grade: A-

12th: Dekalog: IV -Krzysztof Kieślowski (1988)
Without any idea of how Polish TV works, I am amused at the idea of someone in 1988 Warsaw flipping channels and deciding to see how this one unfolds.
Grade: B+

15th: Flowers of Shanghai – Hou Hsiao-Hsien (1988)
The intricacy in making something like this is just mind-blowing to me. The long, uncut takes remind me a lot of Tarkovsky. Excited to watch more of Hsiao-Hsien’s work!
Grade: A-

16th: Ambulance – Michael Bay (2022)
One of the best movie experiences I can remember in when all 9 of us at the theater were bound together in disbelief over what we were witnessing. The “We used to be friends” line is an all-timer.
Grade: B-

16th: Jumanji: The Next Level – Jake Kasdan (2018)
Woof. This was pretty bad. I liked the first film, and I like all the people involved but still…
Grade: D

17th: The Worst Person in the World -Joachim Trier (2021)
I wish I had something more profound to say about this movie, it deserves it! I think everything about it is magnificent
Grade: A

18th: Saving Private Ryan – Steven Spielberg (1998)
Feels like Spielberg weirdly doesn’t get enough credit for being a great director. Like I know he’s not the most experimental storyteller in the world, but how many people could have pulled off this movie?
Grade: A-

24th: National Treasure – Jon Turteltaub (2004)
A completely ridiculous movie that I think still holds up! Don’t get me wrong, the conspiracy and logic in this movie are both completely asinine. But I think the film does a great job positioning its action and stars so that it doesn’t matter.
Grade: B

27th: National Treasure: Book of Secrets – Jon Turteltaub (2007)
Look, I get why they made a sequel but come on.
Grade: D

Author: Samuel

Big fan of TV, movies, and books. Even bigger fan of maniacally recording my thoughts on them in the desperate and inevitably futile attempt to keep them in my memory forever. View all posts by Samuel