Stephen Cagle

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Punch-Drunk Love

August 29, 2023
Letterboxd

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

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Strangers on a Train

August 24, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Shadow of a Doubt

August 24, 2023
Letterboxd

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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City of Golden Shadow (Otherland, #1)

Tad Williams
August 21, 2023
City of Golden Shadow (Otherland, #1) cover

This is an 800 page book that only gets really moving in the last few chapters. I feel that the series may be great, but I am hesitant to proceed on something that has had such a slow payout.

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Every Girl Should Be Married

August 10, 2023
Letterboxd

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

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People Will Talk

August 10, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Barbie

August 9, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Sylvia Scarlett

August 3, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Holiday

August 3, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Past Lives

July 5, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

June 15, 2023
Letterboxd

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

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

June 6, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Fast X

June 3, 2023
Letterboxd

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

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Pyramids (Discworld, #7)

Terry Pratchett
May 9, 2023
Pyramids (Discworld, #7) cover

Enjoyed it. Though it is a bit more of the "funny and almost cartoonish" than the somewhat more biting later novels in this series. A few works by TP have been animated into cartoons, and this would probably be one of the better ones for that treatment.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

May 6, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Spirited Away: Live on Stage

May 3, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Renfield

April 18, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Air

April 16, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

April 13, 2023
Letterboxd

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

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John Wick: Chapter 4

April 10, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

January 21, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

January 9, 2023
Letterboxd

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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Love Crazy

December 31, 2022
Letterboxd

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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Avatar: The Way of Water

December 28, 2022
Letterboxd

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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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

December 25, 2022
Letterboxd

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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