D&D Stuff

March 2, 2009

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Night Moves, 1975 - ★★★★
September 14, 2024
“I didn’t solve anything. Just fell in on top of me.”That’s about right. It’s a nihilistic LA neo-noir; despair is baked into the landscape, layered here and there with corruption. Noir is at its best when the flaws of the protagonists drive the plots. Gene Hackman’s Harry Moseby is correct in his grim self-assessment: he’s […]
Joy Ride, 2023 - ★★★
September 13, 2024
The funny bits were awfully funny and not entirely predictable. I also liked the character work; it's the little stuff like not shining a spotlight on Lolo and Kat deciding they were OK with each other, just showing it with the acting. On the other hand, the tonal shift into the third act kind of […]
The Palm Beach Story, 1942 - ★★★★
September 10, 2024
You just keep moving at whatever insane pace is necessary in the moment, and if that requires a precious five minutes spent on a gun club rampaging through a train, I’m all for it. The women are determined and full of whim, and the men are perfect straight men. The ending? Everything else has bowed […]
The Farewell, 2019 - ★★★½
September 8, 2024
Touching and cute. Really assured, too; Lulu Wang gets a lot of milage out of simple setups. It's always worth noting where Awkwafina's Billi is in the frame, and whose body language she's in sync with. It still wasn't great for me, for reasons I'm having trouble capturing in words. I liked the way Wang […]
Santa sangre, 1989 - ★★★★
September 8, 2024
Not what I expected from a director commentary: this is journalist Alan Jones interviewing Jodorowsky with the film as a backdrop. The interview is generally connected to what’s happening on screen — in all its surreal glory — but occasionally Jodorowsky rambles.He’s also not always interested in talking about his decisions. At one point he […]