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Lives up to the rest of the Paddington films, though this one has a different director. I've always appreciated the editing and cinematography in these films. They are a little bit Wes Anderson in some of their shots. I think they do a really great job of capturing the essence of the paddington books. Fidelity wise I think it is clear the people associated with these films appreciate the source material.

I especially want to call out the interplay between the editor and Olivia Colman. Colman could often get a laugh from the audience by using her skill at timing/delivery of her expressions, but that requires a good editor (and director) that can actually capture those sort of pauses correctly.

Minor thing, but I saw it at a theater that also provided subtitles (those seem to be becoming increasingly common). I think they may have also normalized the audio, except for the spoken word, which was always clear and discernible. It isn't bad to always be able to hear the words easily, but it sometimes feels slightly off when the "overpowering hero's journey" music is at a lower level than the characters conversations.

Anyway, good movie.

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It feels almost obscene to talk about this film, as part of the message seems to be that we should focus on the moment's beauty without trying to catalogue (or worse promote) it.

I mostly write with the intent to record my own thoughts for my future self. A sort of letter to the future. But I can't deny that some ape part of my brain hopes that others appreciate the things I write. Even in writing notes to myself, I can't fully shake the desire to be recognized by others.

I wish I had the strength of character/will/enlightenment/connectedness that this cleaner has. I think it may be aspirational in my case, but it hits you hard.

Good cinema.

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Watched this over 2 separate days. I was just in the mood for a Hong Kong comedy. It's fun to see the different cinematic tones and styles that other countries have.

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I thought the central character's synesthesia (had to look up the spelling) was an interesting twist. The art style was gorgeous. I also think I noticed that there were many surprisingly quiet scenes, where you are meant to hear what the character hears from their point of view. I liked that.

There is not real plot to speak of, just a group of high school students finding each other, starting a band, and revealing themselves to the people who love them.

I enjoyed the Christian setting simply because it is novel in film at this time. I enjoyed the pace of life that these characters lived and the setting they grew up in.

Humorous: Also, almost certain that a version of "Born Slippy" plays in a montage scene. I'm old, but I was kinda floored by it's inclusion as it associates so strongly with Trainspotting, heroin, et all. I guess realistically it means nothing to most people these days, but threw me a for a loop when I heard it.

Also, almost all the music sounds like new retro wave to me, which I find somewhat surprising for 17 year olds to be creating. What is old is new again.

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The ideas just seemed kind of childish. Reminded me a bit of the book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem, with the cloister of people who are living apart from mankind, protecting and gathering knowledge. Except this time it is a bunch of people who are sitting around waiting for the fall of humanity in order to rebuild, which I consider to be a bit of a cowardly position.

I think the most that I can say of this film is that it is interesting to think about what people were feeling at this time in history. And the sort of hopes they had about the future because of the past they had experienced and the present they were living.

I should re-read Anathem, that was a good book.

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I read the short story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_of_Fact,_the_Truth_of_Feeling and figured I would try to find a few movies that are similar. So I watched "Strange Days" (about being able to share memories) last week and "Eternal Sunshine" this week (about being able to delete memories).

It was alright as a story. It seemed kind of obvious that pairing up with a functioning alcoholic would probably lead to tragedy considering his own character. I could see the need for deleting memories for PTSD, but the idea that adults would choose to actually delete a memory rather than face it seems... I don't know, really weird to me. That feels like a form of self harm, a sort of mini suicide.

I did really like some of the scene transitions as he wanders through his own mind. It also did quite a good job of repeatedly catching the sense of realization that "this is a dream". That was artful.

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I actually thought this would be closer to Friday as a film. Opening "cartoon violence" scene where a guy gets thrown into a wall and is completely fine kinda threw me off (I said to my movie buddy "Is this more like 'Blazzing Saddles'?" at that point). In the end I guess it was more like "Dude, where's my car?".

Anyway, a pretty funny movie, with 3 large weaknesses:

1. Some of the side actors were, ugh... limited... in range.
2. A strong editor could have cut the movie to the same runtime and probably put 1 or 2 additional scenes into the film.
3. The pacing became a little more accelerated at the end, but it was not enough to actually give you a sense of glee as things get wild. I want a layer cake built of interlocking plots coming together, instead it just felt like a brief sprint at the end.

Still, I'm a sucker for these sort of journey based (Odysseal?) type of films. It was funny enough, the characters where both good charming people, the story was compactly told.

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Not a perfect film, but damn if it does not have some interesting ideas and just a great sense of place.

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Based on the preview, I thought this was a complete gimmick and would likely not have seen this film. I saw it as part of Cinemark's Secret Cinema series and am actually glad I did.

Context: I do not know who Robbie Williams is. The songs (this is a very light musical) playing throughout I am assuming are old hits? I am ambivalent about musicals. I generally avoid movies about celebrities.

With all that out of the way, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. It is the same story you have heard a hundred times. A talented young performer, with a great deal of grit and luck, rises to the top. In doing so they become extremely dependent on alcohol, anti-anxiety drugs, cocaine, and eventually heroin. They either burn out or have some sort of come to Jesus moment and clean their life up. The story is so well trod that it isn't even interesting.

However, 2 choices really elevate this.

1. The choice to make him a anthropomorphized chimpanzee. I mean, it is so simple it is kind of inspired. Because he is a chimpanzee he is always identifiable in a crowd (important to this film). Because he is cg he has a range of expression that are greater than that afforded to a limited-by-physics human. His close-but-not-human range somehow allows him to say and do things that would seem melodramatic (overacted?) in a human, but make sense within his rendered expressiveness.
2. The musicals were actually pretty fun. Especially one of the early boy band group (forgot their name) running through the streets of London. I'm also assuming that the dance choreography between him and a woman on a boat were entirely CG, as they seemed supernaturally skilled. You can do a lot with a film if you just make it fun to look at.

Anyway, this is getting too long for my style of review, which are mostly just notes to my future self. Just wanted to say that I was impressed by the use of computer graphics here as well as the pacing and visuals of this film. I feel confident that the team that did this could have probably elevated any story and look forward to future work.

P.S. I told my movie buddy that I think I have resolved to never look up anything about Robbie Williams, as I am content to think of him as a broad chested 6 foot tall chimpanzee who can sing.

You should start a blog. Having your own little corner of the internet is good for the soul!

Inspired by Simon Wilson. I decided to try to resurect my long discarded blog. I wrote 2 things that I think are somewhat interesting.

1. A capture template in emacs for quickly capturing urls that I think are worth noting.
2. A script that takes those captures and commits and publishes them to my blog.

Here is the capture template

* %^{Title}
:PROPERTIES:
:CREATED: %T
:ATTRIBUTION: %^{Who should I attribute this to?}
:QUOTE: %^{Quote for this entry | nil}
:END:
%?

Here is the code in my .spacemacs that adds the template

(defun dotspacemacs/user-config ()
  ;; 2025-01-06 - Trying to setup a easier way to do quick blogs
  (setq org-capture-templates
    '(("f" "Found Blog Entry" entry (file+headline "~/blog/found.org" "Found")
      (file "~/orgs/capture_templates/found.org")))))

Now I can simply type org-capture Enter f to fill in this template and have it added to ~/blog/found.org under the Found root heading.

I then had Claude help me write a small script that basically parses every entry in ~/blog/found.org and adds it as a markdown entry to my static blog. The code is as follows.

import sys
import os
from datetime import datetime
import orgparse

def create_markdown(node):
    """Convert an org node to markdown blog post content."""
    # Extract link and title from heading
    title = node.get_heading().split(']')[1].strip() if '][' in node.get_heading() else node.get_heading()
    link = node.get_heading().split(']')[0].strip() if '][' in node.get_heading() else node.get_heading()

    # Get properties
    created = node.properties.get('CREATED', '').strip('<>')
    quote = node.properties.get('QUOTE', '')
    categories = node.properties.get('CATEGORIES', '')

    # Format date for filename and frontmatter
    date_obj = datetime.strptime(created, '%Y-%m-%d %a %H:%M')
    formatted_date = date_obj.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:00')
    filename = date_obj.strftime('%Y-%m-%d') + '-' + title.lower().replace(' ', '-') + '.md'
    categories_formated = [s for s in categories.split(",") if s]

    if link and 'link' not in categories:
        categories_formated.append('link')

    categories_formated = [f'"{s}"' for s in categories_formated]

    # Create frontmatter
    md_content = (
        '{\n'
        ':layout :post\n'
        f':title  "{title}"\n'
        f':date   "{formatted_date}"\n'
        f':categories [{",".join(categories_formated)}]\n'
        '}\n\n'
    )

    # Add quote if exists
    if quote and quote != 'nil':
        md_content += f'<blockquote>{quote}</blockquote>\n\n'

    # Add main content
    md_content += node.get_body()

    return filename, md_content

def process_org_file(org_path, output_dir):
    """Process org file and create markdown files."""
    if not os.path.exists(org_path):
        print(f"Error: Input file '{org_path}' not found.")
        return False

    os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)

    try:
        root = orgparse.load(org_path)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error parsing org file: {e}")
        return False

    # Process each node that has the right depth (2 in your case, for ++)
    for node in root[1:]:  # Skip the root node
        if node.level == 2:  # Only process ++ entries
            try:
                filename, md_content = create_markdown(node)
                output_path = os.path.join(output_dir, filename)

                with open(output_path, 'w') as f:
                    f.write(md_content)

                print(f"Created: {output_path}")
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error processing entry {node.get_heading()}: {e}")
                continue

    return True

def main():
    if len(sys.argv) != 3:
        print("Usage: ./write_found_to_md.py <org_file> <output_directory>")
        sys.exit(1)

    org_path = sys.argv[1]
    output_dir = sys.argv[2]

    if process_org_file(org_path, output_dir):
        print("Conversion completed successfully.")
    else:
        print("Conversion failed.")
        sys.exit(1)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

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About an hour after getting my Covid and Flu shots, I saw this on a whim because "boosters" made me think of Sonic as I was driving by the theater. Pretty decent, enough chuckle worthy moments to keep me going. Jim Carrey was easily the best thing in this film.

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A little disappointed. I wanted something weird like https://letterboxd.com/film/bram-stokers-dracula/ . This, was not that.

I've read the book, but have never seen the original https://letterboxd.com/film/nosferatu/.

As I said, I wanted something weird, frightening, sensually disturbing, maybe even something casually violent that really shocked me. I'm not really clear on what I didn't like about this film, but it just didn't catch me at any of the easy hooks that can get me engaged in a vampire flick.

An honest effort, but just not my thing.

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I enjoyed this despite not being much of a sports movie type of person. The film captured that this is a teenager who has drive but was not "on a path". Her home environment was awful, she was not being molded from a young age by a controlling influence, she was obviously completely out of her depth in terms of navigating "the game" of being an Olympic athlete. And yet she makes it happen anyway. The movie argues that she would not be where she was were it not for her coach, who was instrumental in helping her train. However, beyond that, he also seems to have been the "keeper of the flame" of her own internal fire. At many points she likely lacked the discipline or drive to keep going on her own, but her coach consistently reignited her passion to win. A good example in film that a coach not only imparts skills, but also mindset.

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A frequent thought of mine after watching a film is "this should have been an animation." I believe this was the first film I have seen where I thought "this should have been a audio program." The pleasures of this film are conveyed principally through voice and dialog; hearing Lynn Belvedere insult the suburban household he nannies.

I think it might have been interesting to release the entire thing as an audio program (this would require a narrator in parts), and then create a film afterwards that exactly superimposes on top of that.

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I was surprised to be somewhat underwhelmed by this film. I was particularly tired that evening and wonder if maybe I wasn't cogent enough to get it?

Stream of thoughts as I watched this:

• Where are they? Madagascar? South America? Nepal?
• Where did humanity go?
• It appears that humanity only recently left, as paper things are still present.
• Why is there a giant status of a human being? Why an even bigger one for a cat? The scaffolds around construction seem like the scaffold that a man would build (as opposed to, for instance, a golden retriever), what was their purpose?
• Are the bird and the cat long lost lovers or something? The bird keeps going out of its way to help the cat? Should I be reading into this?
• Is the cat the audience and the other animals are the seven deadly sins? Let's see, the capybara is sloth, the lemur is greed, the bird is pride... wait what is the golden retriever?
• Is this the afterlife and this whole thing some sort of transition you take between life and death?
• Wait, are the animals animals in their temperaments but human in their intelligence? I guess if a orangutan can pilot a go cart maybe a cat/capybera/bird can rudder a boat? Is that human level intelligence?
• Why did the bird ascend? Was it because of their earlier empathy to the cat?
• Is this supposed to be somehow related to the story of Babel? Are we supposed to judge each other by our deeds and not our words (assuming animals can't cross species talk)?

I eventually just got a little tired of trying to make sense of it. I still enjoyed the animation and the music, but I found the actual journey a little dull.

I suppose the end message was that a solitary animal (cat) chose to form a pack with a bunch of social animals, and by doing so let go of some of their natural fear and anxiety? I'm not sure.

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I think this is one of those films that probably sounded good in concept, but lacked tension in its actual implementation. Some of the plots points seemed fairly thin as well.

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Too much of a "ending is open to interpretation" film for my taste. Still, fun throughout and even a little bit scary.

I am not much of a horror buff, but I thought it might be fun to see this Christian film 2 days after seeing https://letterboxd.com/samedhi/film/the-best-christmas-pageant-ever-2024/ . Which was preceeded by https://letterboxd.com/samedhi/film/conclave/ . It was fun to go on a bit of a Christian themed deep dive.

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I have not yet watched a Hallmark or Lifetime movie, though I intend to do so someday. I think this was a good intro to a sort of pro-christian, pro-family genre of film. I felt a sort of cognitive dissonance as I watched it, knowing that life is more complicated than the constraints that this movie allowed. It became fairly obvious fairly quickly that this is the sort of movie that would allow trouble, without allowing genuine problems to rear their ugly head. I think the closest the film may have come to a real problem was the mentioning of the erstwhile mother, who might have been something more dark (addict, prostitute, it is basically left to the imagination).

It is hard to really grade something when the majority of problems that most of humanity has are simply not present here. With that said, it is a cute movie that got me a little teary eyed at the nativity scene and what can I say about that?

It is enjoyable and pleasant to sit through. You will likely feel better walking out of the film than you felt walking into it. It has a few moral messages within it.

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Cute film, does not overstay its welcome. I feel might have been better as an animation than live action. Some of the dynamism of the situation might have been better captured by a skilled animator. Never quite made the jump to being touching for me, but I did enjoy the ending.

I do like how sometimes these Japanese films are ok with having a certain level of unexplained whimsy to them. Like not everything needs a perfectly defined and constrained universe. Internal consistency can sometimes be a bit overdone.

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The ending threw me a little, but the acting is just so spectacular. I also knew basically nothing about how a pope is selected and found the details of the process interesting.

I have worked at large companies that have a oddly similar atmosphere to the cardinal's politics. Echoes of "what is best for the church" often sound rather similar to "what is best for the company". I found it an interesting contrast.

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This is a little better than Black Adam, but is on the same scale of screw ups in terms of completely failing to capitalize on the source material. Venom is a 2 man act, with Eddie playing the straight man and the Symbiote as his counterpart. Could have had great scenes with the hippy family as they wax on what they have given up. Could have had great scenes as they go through their own "Fear and Loathing" ark in Vegas. Instead, we got this... noise.

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Pretty interesting interpersonal story within a larger political story. Casting and acting was also perfect. However, like the Dune (modern) movies, for me it is more about the set pieces and characters and settings. I thought it was pretty good at skating the edge between making you sympathetic to a life of loyalty vs. feeling that the characters are overly constrained by their sense of honor.

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Noir isn't usually my thing, but this was a genuinely good film. It was a little too much to really make sense of the clues through my first viewing, I think I might enjoy it more on a second pass when I can collect the clues.

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Enjoyable, but honestly didn't give me enough time at each beat to connect emotionally with the characters.

I did however enjoy the after the film section that let me watch more about the movie. I wish more films did those post credit things (even if it was just a QR code that I could scan and watch on my own).

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Golly there was some amazing camerawork during this film. I think the thing I enjoyed the most was matching the archetypes of these characters to people I know in my own life.

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I really like the art style and really appreciated the capture of motion in the wildlife. I think this got me teary eyed 4 or 5 times to be honest. Felt that the scenes off the island could have largely been cut, but other than that a basically perfect film.

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Still a great film.

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Enjoyable, but it just didn't quite catch me.

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I feel like it was genuine enough that I enjoyed it more than it's actual material warrants. Never heard of the creator before, though I suddenly recognized him in the closing credits as the "notice me sempai" guy. It's cool that he is doing his thing.

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This was unexpectedly good. I say this because the animation style I saw in the previews made me think "low budget cash grab". This is easily a tier above any Michael Bay directed film and acts as a solid intro to the Transformer franchise.

I'm curious what their test screenings and research department said about the previews? I had basically dismissed this film as it looked like the sort of cheap aughts animation that 2nd tier shows would get (that didn't have budget for more intensive animation). I would have skipped this entirely were it not for a friend of mine who is a real fan and wanted to see it. I'm just curious how many people are like me and might skip this based entirely on the lackluster preview?

Anywho, don't judge a book by its cover.

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Thoroughly enjoyable Poirot film. There seemed to be a lot of barbs/jabs/inuendos in this one that I don't recognize from other Poirot films. I assume those were added, but I think they actually added to the film.

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This film knew exactly what it wanted to be an executed on that. Can't say I didn't enjoy it.

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It had a lot heart, but honestly I was just a little tired of it by the end. Not "I don't like you" tired, but more "I enjoyed your company, but it is time for everyone to go home" type of tired.

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It was frustrating because I almost felt that this could have been a good film. It was really the way they dolled out information about what was going on that made it frustrating. Felt like 80% of it was just random noise with some very small reveals, and then everything is just connected at the last moment.

This might have been enjoyable if it had been one of those films where at the end you see that all the pieces were in place and you could have pieced it together except you were being misdirected.

Sadly, it was not.

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Acting was decent, I felt like it took a while getting the story rolling. Good, but just didn't connect with me.

Also, I can't help remembering that he specifically mentioned removing bad genes from the gene pool as a potential reason that we have a "dark genetic" (something like that) inclination to murder. Is... Is this movie a defense of eugenics?

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"This is nothing like Buffalo Wild Wings"

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Somehow based on the preview I was convinced that the gimmick was that she was deaf. A solidly fun monster film with a predictable but well executed plot. I saw this in a theater with some sort of "thumper" (or maybe just a really really low bass) that was actually really good for this movie. Really added a bit to the film to be able to feel the vibrations as a giant 4 ton monster careens your way. It was an interesting experience as it actually added a third (tactile) sense to the film.

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This felt like a sequence of 3 panel strips compiled into a film. With a single story threaded through the whole. I really enjoyed some of the attention to detail of some of the animation, some small moments were masterfully captured.

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The most Bruckheimer of Jerry Bruckheimer films. I mean, it ain't a thinking man's movie, but damned if I didn't have a pretty good time along its entire run length. You wouldn't watch it twice, but still a petty entertaining tent pole film.

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Cottage-core taken to the max.

Saw it in theaters today and enjoyed it more the second time than the first. It is definitely one of the more subdued Ghibli films, with quieter emotions, but it is still enjoyable.

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I don't usually watch the double features at the Stanford Theater, but I did this time. I can't say why, but I this just didn't connect with me that much.

With that said, I really liked the character of the Captain. I loved his mannerisms and I liked the squat shape of his body as he moved about. I liked how he narrated things to himself.

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80 minutes, tense, fun. I thought Stewart was almost supernaturally perceptive, and Brandon practically wanted to be caught it seemed like.

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This is one of those films that I have thought about every once in a while but never seen. Well today I finally saw it (free on youtube right now, fyi). It is a rather mediocre film with a still somewhat cute cast. There are so many interesting/fun scenes that could have occurred with this fish out of water setup. Just didn't connect on anything really.

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Rough call. It really was not for me. I could tell that this was not my thing in the first 10 minutes. But I ended up watching the whole thing due to how visually arresting the scenes were. This makes you wish there was a "This wasn't for me, but..." category for film. I strongly respect the work and mastery that must have gone into something this detailed, but it just isn't something I enjoy.

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I wish Hitchcock did more of these type of films. The story in and of itself is actually comparatively low stakes, but Hitchcock's mastery of scene, blocking, etc really get you into how terrifying the situation is on a personal level. Few directors would have the skill to take such a simple story and humanize it enough that it connect with an audience. Not his most exciting film, but sometimes it is interesting to see how much a master can draw out from even the most simple of materials.

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This is a good summer movie. A great deal of well done CG. A little action. Some social questions about whether it is the nature of all organized power structures to subdue/subsume "others". Good times.

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Messy. Too energized. You rarely get a moment to connect with any of the characters. Also, minor quibble, but the Nazi's in this film must have been prescribed Valium or something. They just stand around and stare as they are shot at! Over and over! It is hard to bill yourself as an action movie when your opponents seem to be barely conscious NPCs?

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I really enjoyed this. So many ideas. So much cool tech. It kind of made me want to watch Aeon Flux.

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That was a pretty damn good movie. I was charmed by Joan Fontaine at the beginning, there were some shots of her that really captured her beauty. Only real complaint was that it was more of a "uncover the truth" type movie than a "take agency" type of film. So many genuinely great scenes (so Hitchcock), was genuinely surprised after walking out of the theater to realize it was a 130 minute movie.

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Honestly, I enjoyed it more than you would expect. I think it started quite strong and I liked the idea a lot, but it overstayed it's runtime a little and lost the thread towards the last 1/3 of the film.

This movie definitely played towards the more comedic elements, and I think that was the right call for the cast and skill they had. But it would have been interesting to watch if Abigail was more defined as an actual 300 year old vampire, rather than sort of the caricature of one.

Tonally, I would say this one was actually orbiting around "Cabin in the Woods", another movie I quite enjoyed.

Lots of dumb scenes where people split up for seemingly no reason at all, but whatever, it is a horror film.

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Another immaculate Wes Anderson movie. I probably didn't necessarily get it, but just watching the interaction and set pieces was enough for me. I really liked the camera work where they seemed to have the ability to pane across the entire "lot" of the film, providing a sort of parallax effect as they did so.

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I saw this at the theater but walked in about 5 minutes late because the popcorn line was running slow. I am wondering if I missed certain queues at the beginning that this is basically a comedy? Until I sort of figured this out I felt that the film was tonally off.

Once I realized that it was supposed to be more funny than serious I began enjoying it a good deal more. The idea of having two romantic leads handcuffed together seems kind of lazy by modern standards, but this was 1935 and I wonder if it was one of the first to do this bit?

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The most notable thing is how bad Matthew Mcconaughey's character is. Both in terms of the writing and the acting. I really liked him in later films so this comes as a bit of a surprise.

I recently watched a few episodes of "True Detective" and had Jodie Foster on my mind. She was still a great actress even this long ago. I also like her character, just completely consumed by this one goal.

I felt it's heart was in the right place, and I guess I am behind the idea of doing science purely for the purposes of discovery... But I'm not sure this movie made a very good case for that.

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I think this is a good movie, it just isn't entirely my thing. I wish the romance between Fred & Ginger was a little more... something. Felt like two people who honestly wanted to dance more than romance. I know these movies are really more about dance numbers somewhat linked by plot, but I still kinda want more in terms of substance.

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I should preface this by saying that I play a board game called Dune: Imperium (and now Uprising). So I was primed to like this film. Truthfully I have twice failed to finish this book a long time ago as a teenager. Like the book, I am medium warm on the characters and medium on the plot.

With that said, I love the world of Dune. I like the set pieces, I like the scenery, I like the scenes as people come and go. The camerawork is fantastic. I love the ships and the buildings. I'm trying to communicate that the plot may be , but the whole film is a visual treat for the eyes.

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I think I last watched this like 25+ years ago. I think a lot of people have a vague memory of how weird this movie was, it is a core memory for a lot of childhoods.

This movie plays a bit like a fever dream. Sometimes transitions between scenes occur without there being a clear transition between one and the next. Sometimes characters seem to change without it being entirely clear what the cause was.

The buddy I saw it with fell asleep in the last battle (in the goblin town) and I have to admit that that part drags on a bit.

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The dance number at the end was pretty fun. I was especially impressed when the gents were (acrobatically) throwing the girls down the stairs.

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Watching this film, what I really found myself wishing was that the internet had been active 20 years earlier so I could read 1989 man on the street opinions on this film. I'd love to contrast what I thought of the film to what others thought of it at the time.

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The most interesting thing I can say is that, due to technical issues, I watched this through my sound system but without 5.1 sound or bass (just stereo). So basically I just had the dialog and very very light music. It's interesting to see how odd the pacing on films is when you take out the the music and parts of the audio. Like watching a sitcom without the laugh track.

Anyway, movie was fine.

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Why PG-13 violence?

Also, the editing, scene transitions, lighting, green screens, cg... Not the greatest work here guys.

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It felt kind of odd to watch everyone be competent at their job. I'm not sure what the point of the film really was, but it was interesting to watch them get wherever they were going with it. Was it a study of character, processes, society? Was it just a story, with no moral purpose at all really? Like I said, odd, but strangely intriguing.

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I was thinking it was enjoyable if not great right until the scene of him "handyman'ing" the fence. I don't know what it was about the shot of him holding the bottle of Elmer's, but it just immediately captured the humor of the movie. Just made the whole thing click for me. From that point onward everything was quite funny. It is such a good natured stupid kind of humor, like some of the better Steve Martin films but with dryer punchlines.

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Honestly, I had way to big a meal (+ dessert) while watching this film. I think I may have dozed off in the center. Still, from what I saw it was pretty good.

I think it falls in that line of being pretty funny but of limited romantic appeal. I think the real pleasure is in having a gradually sillier and sillier plot that rises to a crescendo at the end. Kinda reminds me a little of midsummer nights dream.

Also, I did like the Aunt a whole lot. She was a hoot.

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The film itself is not particularly interesting. However, I have a real soft spot for films that capture the ethos of a time or the mannerism of a people. I would love to know how accurate this one was at either of these? I was particularly struck how casual they were about sexuality whilst being much more serious about domestic violence. I also simultaneously felt very bad for the girls environment while also recognizing the mechanisms they had for dealing with it.

The whole thing seems weird, but then I start thinking that maybe I am the weird on for thinking that it is weird.

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I think I watched half of this film before. I don't quite remember why, but I just wasn't in the mood for it last time. I think my dropping it had to do with relying on the premise of souls being real being somewhat of the reason that life makes sense.

This time through I enjoyed for some reason. There were some genuinely touching moments and great scenes. I loved the flashback of the people in his life as he is playing the piano. Sitting at the piano stool with his father listening to him play.

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Solidly enjoyable if unchallenging film. SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEONK.

I was genuinely annoyed that the mechanic told our pilot that he could pull the handle to live (told as a flashback after the event in question). I kind of think it would have made better thematic sense to tell him "you need to pull this handle one second before collision in order to arm the bomb." Unbeknownst to the pilot, it is not to "set" the bomb, but instead will cause his seat to eject. Pilot thinks he is finally Kamikaziing, breaking his curse of cowardice. Mechanic can now respect the pilot, knowing that he would sacrificed (atoned) himself. Mechanic and pilot end film in outrage > anger > warm manly hug. Pilot then finds reason to live when he discovers his live in girlfriend is still alive.

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A solidly warm film. Kind of a combination of "Catcher in the Rye" meets "Dead Poet's Society".

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A little more fun than Frankenstein, but still basically pretty dull.

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I get that this is a classic, but I didn't enjoy it that much.

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The amount of plot armor and or fortuitous circumstances our protagonist gets is just absurd. I enjoyed certain aspects of the film, but I was just continuously distracted by the above.

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This film is mostly a character study. You simultaneously sympathize and shake your head as he works through life.

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I quite enjoyed it until the last act. There were enough plot holes to leave me questioning my own sanity. Masterful scenes and camera work. I did enjoy the idea of a genial and almost good natured murderer.

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Uncle Charlie is a great character. His infatuated/disillusioned niece was also masterfully done, though I wish there had been more agency for some of these characters.

Feel like this story is more about having a backdrop for these characters to interact, and less about anything in particularly happening.

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It's fun. It's funny. It's charming.

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Two things really stuck out to me in this film.

1. I was quite surprised when he re-revealed that she was pregnant. My full expectation was that he was going to somehow hide it from her in some way (drugs/hypnosis/something)? I kind of feel like a modern film might insist that the noble thing is to keep it to yourself. I can't put my finger on it but it just kind of struck me as one of those "this is a different time with a different set of mores" type things.
2. Something about his ways annoyed me. Was he a spirit healer? Why did he seem so against book learning? Who was he railing against in the medical industry? What was up with the jibs against paying farmers not to plant crops? It just felt like he had a lot of ideas, but none of them were coherent enough thoughts for me to make sense of them.
3. The scene of the 3 men playing trains upstairs was very cute. We have all been those guys.
4. The fact that people would immediately open up their most intimate details to him was a bit supernatural. I mean yes, he is charming, but seriously.

Anyway, I think the most credit I could give it was that it was a different type of film. The subject matter was actually pretty serious (unwanted pregnancy & murder), but the humor was consistent. I felt it missed opportunities to let us connect more deeply with the characters, but it was still by and large unique and pleasant to watch.

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There is a lot to recommend this film. I had a few complaints. I felt it really pulled it together with the ending.

Things I liked:

1. Loved the set pieces for Barbieland. Great design, cool aesthetic. I would love a VR world of Barbie (shouldn't be too hard as its mostly plastic and that is easier to render).
2. Robbie & Gosling are very well cast here.
3. Gosling is genuinely funny. The "himbo" is perhaps becoming a bit of a worn joke in film, but it still works.
4. It was fun, well paced, and funny.

Things I was mixed on:

1. I don't like the trope of saying something very fast to sound intelligent. It sounds like reciting from a book and I think is a lazy way of conveying a viewpoint without really letting the audience "learn" with you.
2. For such a meta film, I felt it could have been a little more introspective. At one point Barbies says something along the lines of "I don't know where Ken sleeps". She then later on apologies to Ken for having "girls night" every night, but it would have been interesting if she had really seen some of the characteristics that she disliked in others in herself.
3. All the Barbie dolls worked together, but I would have loved to watch them fight over their differences. I would have enjoyed seeing nuclear physics Barbie argue with President barbie about public policy.

I was solidly enjoying the film throughout, but I felt the ending was what actually brought it home for me. I am not 100% on this, but my personal reading was that perhaps Barbie chose to become human because she wanted to have children (the ultimate act of creation). I thought that was interesting as the film started off with little girls rejecting their baby dolls in favor of Barbie. Barbie being a sort of rejection of the maternal role, and our own Barbie perhaps interested in pursuing it? A bit of a full circle thing? I don't know. Maybe an admission that for most human beings, the act of creating more life is the most significant thing they do? That perhaps we should celebrate that in the same ways we celebrate wealth, success, power, and fame? I thought it was a great dismount for the film.

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This was not good. Strange film. It almost felt like a film made by a theater director. There were quite a few plot holes. The male lead that Sylvia falls for is kind of just an ass. The characters were not all that interesting. This is a pretty easy pass if you haven't seen it.

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I don't think there is anything particular to recommend this film. This is Grand And Hepburn as you know them from their flirty comedic days.

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This was great cinema. Every scene has detail to read into. The camerawork and framing masterful. I distinctly remember one scene of just a glass of water and a lemon (I think) that I thought "This could be a water painting".

Acting was excellent. So much was communicated through the eyes rather than spoken word.

I'd say my biggest objection was how perfectly setup the trio was. Nora, her husband Arthur, and her childhood love Hae Sung were almost too contrived. Every one of them had an emotional core that made them perfectly balanced in the group dynamics. Nora was pragmatic and loyal, to the point of almost being cruel to Arthur. Arthur was neurotic and maybe a bit cowardly, but came through in his understanding of Nora. Hae Sung was romantic to the point of what could easily have been regarded as "creepy", but his actual feelings were so pure that it was honestly hard to regard them as such.

Anyway, my friend and I spent a solid 2 hours dinner afterwards mostly discussing particulars of the film. It is that level of cinema.

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I expected little, I got little. I have only myself to blame.

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This was genuinely one of the most fun films I have ever seen. The camera work, the change in styles, the framing. Heartful at its core but with a casing of comedy (appropriate to any spider man film). A few of the plot elements are a little contrived, but this is a comic book film so whatever. This is great cinema.

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Better than the last one... I don't think much needs to be said about these films at this point.

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I think it struck pretty true to its form. I've sorta soft boycotted (with no real conviction) most of the Marvel & Star Wars stuff. Not that I think it is bad, just that I think it takes away from the possibility of making new things by putting so much energy into continuing existing things. With that said, I made an exception for this "subplot" series as I did enjoy all the characters quite a bit.

Also, the "single shot" fight scene at the end was pretty cool. Got to give them credit.

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I really enjoyed this. I think there was a bit in the way of editing to make certain scenes flow more quickly. But it still did an excellent job of giving you a sense of being in the audience.

The negatives were small:

1. I didn't like the "GOOD JOB" or whatever that many of the characters seemed to feel a need to do. I don't know why you would mar a perfectly good screenplay with small modern flourishes like that.
2. It has always been a bit of an awkward distinction between Yubaba's twin sister as portrayed when she is in the bath house (projected) and in her own house. However, in this play she says something along the lines of "I will slit your smile" or something like that... (not quite sure)... It was weird. Like, it just seemed way to violent for what is supposed to be the "good" character.
3. Not the films fault, but there was no intermission in my theater (well, like 15 seconds). I am kinda puzzled by that as I feel a 15 minute intermission would result in almost everyone picking up something from concessions? Also just gives you a chance to talk about what you have seen so far, seems like a missed opportunity.

The good:

1. It was well acted, the set pieces were amazing, the techs were doing a great job, even the "inanimate" objects were given life!
2. No-Face's dancing movement under his shroud was a great physical flourish.
3. The scene where they clean the "stink" (turns out to be a river) spirit was just great. I loved how they turned the "heave ho" cast that were pulling the garbage into the exuding garbage.
4. The scene in the train was simple but very effective use of a projector.
5. Also, the guy (I think it was 1 person) that was running the paper crane and the river spirit around was great. It was interesting because he is supposed to not be there at some level, but he dances as he moves which causes you to associate his movements with the thing he is animating.

This was great. I really wish fathom would get more plays. Really made me want to see this live!

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It was actually pretty fun but they kept bringing in a romantic interest (awkwafina) and a support group. I think it would have been better if they played aquafina as a straight man to Renfield's nightly shenanigans. It might also be nice if they actually let the support group end up supporting Renfield in his fight to break co-dependance. I'm overthinking it, but it was a pretty fun movie that got a little bogged down in some of its sidequest.

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I enjoyed this as it was more of a focused biopic of a particular deal being made than a drama (looking at you Gucci). There were some awkward parts, for instance when all the characters are sitting around the table and he says "All of use will be forgottten, but you will live forever" to MJ. Maybe it was said, maybe it wasn't, still feels like a really weird thing for a grown man to say to a young rookie.

Good acting, decent pacing, a little bit of deification (MJ)... What's not to like?

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Honestly, it was so much better than the 2000 film of the same name that I can't really complain.

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I wish they had combined this and the third movie into 1 film. That could easily be a 5 star movie. This felt a little too drawn out at this point. Still, some really great camera work. Fun action. Kind of cool world. It could have gone out better, but it still went out pretty well.

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Watched it all. Begins as interesting Jules Vern type story, but episode 23-34 (island & Africa) are awful. Last 5 episodes return you to a great story. Probably the greatest example in drop in quality I have seen to date. Strongly suggest just reading summaries for terrible middle part. You have been warned. Likely 1 to 2 stars higher if it wasn't for the middle.

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Exactly what a Fairy Tale should be. Serious themes woven into a fantastical world. Incredible animation. I really love the styling that this movie took upon itself. Every part of this film was good to exceptional.

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Teenage anime level stupid in that the whole problem could be resolved with one tiny conversation. Solidly entertaining and good natured. No "My Man Godfrey" but it works.

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Enjoyable enough. Could have been 45 minutes shorter with very little lost. Plot was mediocre, but effects and scenery were beautiful. Most enjoyed the the robot and vehicles.

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Actual "stop motion" is beautiful. Did not enjoy the songs very much and felt they were too densely packed at the beginning. Good messaging on father/child relationships and also universal forgiveness. It was enjoyable, but it just didn't provide an emotional hook for me.

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Sometimes, stupidity is the winning strategy.

Felt like a "larger than life" story pushed into the real world. Beautiful scenery. Captured the quiet despair of many of the townsfolk. Enjoyed it quite a bit.

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tldr; The rock acting like a stone for 2 hours.

This was so badly cast. You have The Rock, and incredibly charming and likable guy, and you cast him as this dour faced zero charisma mega super hero.... Like, wtf were you thinking?

I don't care about the original source material. They should have modified the character from being dour grumpy pants to being maybe something closer to The Comedian from Watchmen. Somebody who is deeply cynical and jaded, but maybe underneath it all is actually very hurt that the world isn't better? This would have allowed The Rock to act as "The Rock, but a little evil", perfectly within his range.

Oof.

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This was interesting to watch as an older adult. I think I remember seeing this last when I was maybe 21. This is a movie about looking back, and what works in the film also works for the viewer. I think it is a good film to watch every 15 years, see where you are in life relative to the protagonist. What was important to you then, what is important to you now.

tldr; Good film for self reflection, both of the character and of yourself.

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Started muted and a bit slow. Every section is slightly better than it's previous. Several genuinely funny moments. Great lines and delivery. Modern man to mensch tale.

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Almost insecurely male character. I really enjoyed the technical scenes; the displays of mastery of craft (heisting). A very "trim" film with little in the way of excess plot points, characters, etc.

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Never seen the show. Very "low energy" humor. Don't think I entirely get it but I found it fun.

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First Act: Pretty fun, but I was a little concerned. Second Act: Relief at rising action; really finding it's pace. Third Act: Got me emotionally invested enough to get teary eyed.

Great film. The central premise is something you have probably discovered and accepted at some point in your teen years, but it is made fresh again through imagination and character unwinding.