I have never seen the 1996 Emma, which I understand is viewed as the definitive Emma. (I mean the Hollywood film, not the British TV movie of the same year, which I’ve also never seen.) And I have never read the book. But still, I’m going to tell you what I thought about this version …
Le Mans (1971, Lee H. Katzin, John Sturges)
Imagine a Frederick Wiseman-esque fly-on-the-wall documentary about the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans (albeit much shorter than Wiseman would make) with Steve McQueen parachuted in along with the tiniest sketches of a plot involving him and the wife of a race car driver who died in an accident with McQueen’s character the year before …
GOAT: Who is the Greatest Economist of all Time and Why Does it Matter? (2023) by Tyler Cowen
This is a “generative book” by the economist and blogger Tyler Cowen. I am not capable of evaluating it as a new idea as I did not make use of the GPT-4 chatbot or the other AI tools. I have not had particularly great experiences using ChatGPT and I didn’t quite see the point. (Clearly …
A Haunting in Venice (2023, Kenneth Branagh)
This is a Halloween-themed Agatha Christie adaptation. Apparently the original novel actually has it in the title. My understanding is, like Branagh’s other Christie adaptations, this one is loosely based on the source material. (Perhaps more so than the other two.)
Vjeran Tomic: The Spider-Man of Paris (2023, Jamie Roberts)
This is a super processy documentary about a rather incredible burglar and the time he stole 5 famous paintings from the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.
Hell House LLC (2015, Stephen Cognetti)
This is an okay found footage horror film that has some decent scares but also has a lot wrong with it. Once you start thinking about it, as usual, things start to fall apart.
The Devil on Trial (2023, Chris Holt)
This is an entirely too credulous documentary about a 1981 murder where the perpetrator claimed to be possessed. The story is the basis for one of the Conjuring films (among others), films I have yet to see. SPOILERS
The Devil Conspiracy (2022, Nathan Frankowski)
This is a dull self-serious religious horror movie that recycles a bunch of religious thriller/horror movie cliches to pair it with the art equivalent of Jurassic Park. It is cast with a whole bunch of actors who look like more famous actors. But it is shot on location (somewhat) and, in part due to its …
Guling jie shaonian sharen shijian (1991, Edward Yang)
This Taiwanese film is considered by some to be one of the greatest films of all time. It’s been on some Top 100 lists and I believe it even topped one one-off list not long after it came out. It wouldn’t remotely make my Top 100 list but I think I understand why it’s made …
Toy Story 3 (2010, Lee UnKrich)
It’s been forever since I have seen the previous movies. I think I watched the original film sometime in the late ’90s, because of its positive reviews. I have relatively few memories of it. The second film I watched some time in the aughts, at a time when I was certainly unwilling to appreciate it. …
The U.S. and the Holocaust (2022)
This new Ken Burns miniseries feels unfortunately timely. With the richest man in the world tweeting anti-Semitic memes fairly frequently, it feels timely. With the state founded in part to atone for this genocide currently engaged in a form of apartheid itself, it feels timely. With some Americans openly embracing Nazism, it feels timely. And …
Ceremony (2023) by Joe Policastro Trio
I enjoy this band’s music, in part, I guess, because I’ve seen them live. (They are playing in Toronto again this week, if you’re interested.) I recognize they’re not doing anything particularly inventive or innovative but I do really enjoy them.
Zendegi va digar hich [And Life Goes On aka Life, and Nothing More] (1992, Abbas Kiarostami)
Right before I watched this, I learned it was part of an unofficial trilogy. Part 2, to be precise. So I thought I shouldn’t watch it first. But then I read that Kiarostami rejected the idea of a trilogy and I thought “Okay, great, this is one of those film critic trilogies so I don’t …
Busanhaeng [Train to Busan] (2016, Sang-ho Yeon)
This is a Korean zombie film whose claim to fame is that it takes place primarily on a train. This is the first combination of the train film with the zombie film that I’m aware of. So that part’s fresh.
Cousin (2023) by Wilco
I have struggled a lot with post-Sky Blue Sky Wilco. Struggled is perhaps too strong a word but I’ve definitely felt a little underwhelmed. You could argue that every Wilco album between their debut and their 2009 self-titled was a big departure from the previous record. (Excepting Mermaid Avenue of course.) But it’s felt to …
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic (2012) by David Quammen
Like so many other people, once the events of March 2020 happened I decided I had to read this book. Somehow, it took me three and a half years to get there.
Tampopo (1985, Jûzô Itami)
This wild movie is apparently the first ever “ramen Western,” a subgenre I had never heard of before. It’s hard to come up with words to describe this film.
Appointment with Death (1988, Michael Winner)
This is a bit of a weird Christie as it’s shot on location and has a partially famous cast but the audio seems like it might have been added in post. (Or maybe it was just the streaming service.)
The Super Models (2023)
I know Cindy Crawford, because how could I not, but also because I was 14 when Fair Game came out. Naomi Campbell I was aware of, but at least in part because of an assault she committed in Toronto when I was in my teens. Linda Evangelista I feel like I only became aware of …
Inside Out (2015, Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen)
I assume I added this to my list because of all the positive reviews. (So many positive reviews that it’s way at the top of the list.) I make that assumption because, unlike so many animated kids’ movies these days, this one really isn’t trying to be both a comedy adults can appreciate and a …
The Out-Laws (2023, Tyler Spindel)
This is a reasonably funny comedy with a fatal casting flaw that keeps it from being anywhere near as good as it could be.
Fast X (2023, Louis Leterrier)
Some of you are probably mad at me for watching this without having seen F9 but it turns out I watched The Fate of the Furious without having seen F7. Given the quality of these films, I’m not super worried.
Kes (1969, Ken Loach)
This is the movie that made Loach’s career. It is often on lists of the greatest British films ever made. It’s set in a very specific place and time and is populated by people with extremely thick Yorkshire accents. There seems to be this idea that this is a family film, or a film kids …
American Animals (2018, Bart Layton)
Perhaps my most common complaint about documentaries is that, stylistically, most of them are more or less the same. One thing I get frustrated about when it comes to films “based on a true story” is how readily they deviate from the true story for narrative purposes. This ambitious, entertaining film tries to be both …
Renfield (2023, Chris McKay)
I really like the premise of this film. It’s one of those ideas that feels like it should have been a movie already.
Dead Space (1991, Fred Gallo)
This is a super low-budget Alien rip off that sometimes owes more to some of the ’80s films inspired by Alien than it does to the original film, though other times it is transparently ripping off Alien. But the budget is so low that it’s not always clear it’s actually ripping it off, because they …
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023, David F. Sandberg)
Whatever goodwill was engendered in me from the first Shazam! has been utterly sapped by this stupid sequel, which just leans into every 21st century comic book film cliché. It feels like a bad Thor sequel if Thor was a teenager instead of a drunk who is pining for his ex.
Shazam! (2019, David F. Sandberg)
Imagine: a light and lighthearted and (shock! horror!) entertaining, low-stakes D.C. movie. Turns out, it’s possible.
Riley Goes to Brazil Day 15: Home Saturday September 9, 2023
Before we left, we went on a brief grocery run to try to find cachaça. The selection was not great and the only reasonably sized store near us, so we decided to try the airport.
Riley Goes to Brazil Day 14: Rio Friday September 8, 2023
After two nights of sleeping okay – one of which I actually did mostly sleep – I did not sleep much at all. I spent a rather long time trying to structure a bed and half’s worth of pillows to prevent myself from coughing and I have no idea how late I was up doing …