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Happy Pride Month!

This was a very great, well paced look at how LGBTQ+ moments and relationships throughout film history. The interviews all brought great perspective and unique stories, and I loved a lot of what it addressed. I noted a few pieces of media they did miss (things like Midnight Cowboy or Kenneth Anger shorts, two pieces my straight ass found on whims) but it wasn’t so interested in telling you a detailed history in landmarks and firsts in gay film history as it was showing the evolution of approach and how, as “being gay” reached a more mainstream, so did those relationships in film. If you’re looking for a timeline of landmarks, look elsewhere. What they have here though, is not bad! I really enjoyed my time, but I can’t help but wonder what more they’d skim over if they made this modern day. It definitely wouldn’t be the same movie, and that certainly would be a loss.

“It’s all a dream.”

What a fucking series. Only something like this could be so compelling & interesting, tell the stories it tells, explores all it does. From the first episode, I was hooked, and that doesn’t drop for the rest of the runtime. Such beautiful voice acting and music, it’s a pure journey through both the eyes and ears. Every character had such fantastic arcs, along with noticeable changes in dynamics, a masterclass in comedy, and a brilliant use of metaphor to describe meaning in life. Everything was handled with such expertise, it’s incredible. It goes from impressive, to hilarious, to terrifying, to downright beautiful, between each and every episode, even within each own 25 minute runtime. While Spike is my favorite character (I love how much cool he oozes, even to a fault of incompetence), I think Faye’s story really got to me, and was really beautiful where it led. That episode Speak Like a Child, is probably my favorite episode, as it all just blends so well, but to be honest, there are no bad ones. That episode speaks to the beast part of the series: it’s a futuristic sci-fi about the past, your past, the world’s past, it all, and how to get on with it, and how to conclude your past. And what an ending too. Jesus fuck. Go watch it all. NOW. PLEASE. It’s one of my favorite shows ever now, great for my first anime. It’s all just so beautiful.

I love the fact that Hitler saw this. Twice. 

A really very funny satire of Hitler in the midst of the war. A lot of jokes really hit, however I’m afraid it didn’t hit juggle the drama and comedy very well or very equally, although I love the speech at the end. Chaplin was fantastic, but, again, didn’t really work for the serious side of the film completely. Still a good one, with not everything working perfectly, but if it all locked in, this would’ve been a real classic.

If Dinner in America was all about middle-aged incels.

This was a nice, if not just quaint and simple. Very quick in its pacing (a problem a lot of older movies have), and while I didn’t care for a number of the plotlines, it had a good heart to it. I feel there would be no harm in adding a couple minutes or even trimming what they have, the current product falls a little flat by being way too quick and slow at the same time in the aunt plotline I don’t really care too much about. Still, a pretty funny, simple movie with a lot of good & semi-relatable heartfelt moments!

Sponsored by Twitter. SO sponsored by Twitter they call everything Twitter for no reason.

Kinda sick of films with a writer/director/star and with tons of self gratification and satisfaction, but with no self-reflection to match. A lot of women throwing themselves at a mf called Carl Casper. A real deep misunderstanding of social media (which was fairly new at the time so kind of understandable). That father/son dynamic could’ve been sweet if it was acted well by the kid or better written (whole movie was a pretty standard writing job). Shit ton of music, idk if it fit the vibe everywhere. But those last 30 minutes, man. They really worked, and made sense why a lot of people praise it the whole movie coming off the last chunk. Just wished the rest of the product matched the quality there because they feel like two separate movies, and not in a good way.

This one was great! It had something good to say about how you see your loved ones in certain things, how to live among a place where everything feels repetitive and like it’s all crashing down, and being there for those around you as well as yourself. It had a lot to say and nailed it all…but I think the balance for comedy and drama didn’t totally work for me? Certain bits and scenes, sure, and the juxtaposition it attempted worked as well, but sometimes it’d overcorrect almost a little too hard for the sake of keeping its morals intact. Still was a good watch, probably a tearjerker if you’ve experienced this unfortunately pretty universal situation, while being uniquely its own thing

One of the weirder films I’ve ever seen. I thought it was trying to say something a bit more meaningful but that ending shot any chance of that existing in my head. It was very strange, but very compelling, with a great soundtrack and incredible visuals. Quite nothing like it, for both good and bad reasons. I’m still rating it high because of how much it gets right inside its own self. Very “entry level art film” in how it uses its nudity however, like this is NOT pg no matter how much it says it is.

This is so sad, can we get 50 likes.

It was fine, definitely not the savior people say it is and felt way shorter than it was. I liked the parallels it attempted with the first avengers, but less characters feel important than that other movie’s weirder choices did. Team is very slapped together, along with the theme, any character or heart, or any good setup for the future. Soundtrack was great tho, and it still was a fun ride.

I thought this was alright, but I’m afraid this has the issue many other movies I’ve watched this year have. A ton of interesting thoughts on good ideas, but doesn’t really bring them to a comfortable conclusion. It’s also strange that it kinda says that the shitty way Jim Carrey acted is fine if it made the movie better. I enjoy the journey he went with Andy on “together,” but at some points it can go too far, and for how mediocre I consider Man on The Moon, idk if it was fully worth it. Interesting enough documentary though, I didn’t mind it.

I liked the themes of the frustration of being unable to strike creativity in your art (especially when art is your job), and I really loved the scene at the end and what it was going for. The lead was great at most moments (acted the hell out of her role), but I think a slower build into being more and more frustrated instead of an off-the-bat 0 to 100 (and her disrespect of other people’s art) would’ve been better for the climax. Music matching that frustration (more of a heavier rock?) could’ve done wonders too, but the music they still went with was good too, just didn’t match the tone entirely in my opinion. I think the whole package wasn’t bad, but when you’re playing for the big leagues, every aspect has to bat like it. Everyone who worked on this should be proud of what they’ve done, I’m just one Stinky Steve with my own opinions, so take everything here lightly or as an opportunity to grow!

It feels like everyone except the soccer player and zealot (which were hilarious btw) were really hard to hear, idk if it was the mix or the actors or my ears or what. I also wish the editing was more abrupt to match the ending twist better, but I did like the idea they were going with it and was seeded throughout well.

Good idea and I appreciate where it went with it! I really enjoy the theme but I think more concise imagery would’ve done wonders in making the dialogue not come off as heavy handed near the end. I still think it was directed, shot, and acted well though, the entire crew should be happy with what they’ve done here

This review may contain spoilers.

This one had a great sense of horror and atmosphere! The build up to the reveal of Tess was very appreciated, and her design was impeccable. Many parts of this felt very professional, and I loved the realistically slow death at the end. I don’t know about the stuff with his brother, I don’t think it added anything good to the story for me, even if it was supposed to be for characterization to make you sympathize with the main guy. There’s a lot of promise here, I hope this director does more horror in his future!

This one’s just a lot of fun. Doesn’t take itself too seriously, gives vibes of 2000’s high school movies with all the both good and bad baggage that comes with that. I thought the soundtrack was unique and worked well, and that production design had NO right to be as good as it was. I could tell the everyone working on this had a great time, and that’s great to see

“Next time is next time. Now is now.”

This is quite a beautiful film. From the man at the forefront, to the music, to the visuals, it’s just incredibly impressive and uniquely wonderful. There aren’t any bad characters in this movie, just unfortunate circumstances, which really leans into the Hirayama’s optimism but resistance to change.

This really did a lot when it comes to the particular circumstance I watched this movie under. This is (most likely) my last film I see before I return home, going from a city I’ve slowly fallen in love with, to a hometown I can only wish to forget due to poor memories. In trying to enjoy my last moments here, I’ve become Hirayama in a certain way, continuing with my ever-dwindling personal routine while trying to enjoy those little moments I can while I have the time to. (and in a sunny springtime no less!) But change is moving. There will be more sunny moments in the future, so I cannot fear it. I’ll be watching a lot of movies during the summer, but in between, I’ll be taking these moments. Those little bits will be perfect for even just a little while when everything else seems like it isn’t.

HOLY. SHIT. For this movie to have so much standing in the way of its original result and for it to champion out the other side even greater, it’s a miracle it’s even here, much less as good as it is! It’s weird seeing how good Dan has gotten as a filmmaker (I jumped from the beginning of his filmography to the end), but yeah, he and the rest of his actors have really stepped up. This is a movie that feels like it really couldn’t have worked in any way other than how it was made. It feels like everything he’s been leading up to, not only with this franchise, but Dan and Joel’s ability as a whole. It’s beautifully shot, even more so than it’s already gorgeous prior film. I didn’t expect the religious imagery to return but it really fucking worked for what they had to add. The music fit even more and just killed it. The themes and concepts stuck a beautiful landing relating Dan’s character and his personal life, while being just a great watch. Now THATS how you do a thriller-hitman-epic in this style. GO WATCH THIS MOVIE. IT NEEDS MORE EYES BECAUSE IT IS GREAT. I want to watch it again once more before I give it a full ten, but I expect to! I’ll also watch the rest of his profile so I know what he’s been cooking through the years. Just a masterclass in indie filmmaking. Thank you Dan!

I really enjoyed the cinematography and music choices in this movie, they were top-notch and shocked me over the fact it was improvised. It feels like a lot of great things came together perfectly for this movie. And yet… well, while I’ve always enjoyed the improvised feature indie YouTube films from other contemporaries, I haven’t seen a straight-up hit man thriller yet, namely because I feel like the style isn’t fully suited for the genre. While some slower scenes definitely worked, when the plot attempted to ramp up, the acting and approach to stakes petered out. It’s pretty good though, and ABSOLUTELY an impressive first feature, and I will be watching the sequel.

“I’m sorry women.” -Roderick Heffley

I think the idea of Dead Poets Society with an all-female cast and a period piece in a time when women had uber-expectations is honestly a great concept and could have ended up better than that other movie, high praise from someone who has Dead Poets as his favorite. I fear this movie deeply dropped the ball however. The students barely talk about their other interests, a lot of their plot lines revolve around the men that they are with or not with (which felt demeaning). I honestly don’t think it even ed the Bechdel test??? Julia Roberts’ character felt massively controlling instead of  a liberating nature as she should have felt, and the plot line of her falling in love with a pedo was… a choice. Art is never related to anything or means anything to the story or characters until it tries to convince you it does, it’s nothing like poetry was in Dead Poets Society. 

This movie really would’ve benefitted by just being what was on the tin: a film about characters wanting more and being more than what society wanted, but that kinda fell by the wayside by the end. Instead it wanted to weave a bunch of stories related to things I fear I just didn’t care about just so it could come off as a Gilmore Girls knockoff. Guess I can’t be positive about movies for long.

Oops, I LOLed it again!

Obviously that was some sort of commentary.

I’m glad this movie wasn’t as dark in its approach as it seemed. It started to feel like a kind of comedy a much younger me would’ve found from much older movies, when in reality it’s a smart barrage of comedy theory all coming together with proper set up and payoffs. Along with that, the setting, lighting, and tone made a strange mish-mash of a very compelling idea and execution. Every character was uniquely charming, with fascinating camera angles keeping it looking interesting. I feel like it was quite smart in its undertones and said a theme I was slightly unsure of, I think a second watch keeping track of its intricacies would be in order, and I’d be happy to have it!

P.S. This one has actually been in my watchlist since before I got this app, so I’m glad I got around to seeing it. (That’s why the date was so long ago on my list but so soon when it was on my watchlist.)

Idk how to feel about this one folks. There are some parts that had me ROLLING and cracking up, and yet there were some that just left me blank-faced or some other negative emotion, which it definitely invoked a lot of. Sometimes it feels like I just black out with how fast shit escalates to a point of complete clusterfuck that somehow successfully masquerades as having a coherent plot, enough for the lot of you to think this means something deeper than it does. It doesn’t. It’s just a viscerally loud comedy, one not completely up my alley.

It falls right off my rating scale that it falls right back up at the top, but then it keeps falling and falling like a momentum puzzle in Portal that I’m just going to call this a 5/10 before the fabric of our reality ceases to exist.

This feels like it was made for guys who overthink about everything but themselves.

Quite a weird case for me. Haven’t watched a movie until this one that really kills it when it comes to cinematography and overall structure, however the characters throughout are just very poor. I genuinely hated Alvy; the fact he was as much as a chode as he was but still got everything handed to him and all the women throwing themselves at him feels like some crazy self-fellatio on Woody Allen’s part. Despite the movie being named after her, Annie Hall didn’t really do much except be a blip in Alvy’s life. There were only a few moments where their relationship was endearing enough for me to care, but they were crazy predictable. Even fewer moments rose a chuckle from me. Most of it felt like me watching a snot-nosed Woody Allen act out something that actually happened to him and he’s butthurt about it.

Eh. Fine. I guess I was more enamored with the fact that Seth Rogan had a romcom than watching it for myself. A story about Charlize Theron running for president and Seth Rogan really wanting to be her “first gentleman” after she was his babysitter years ago somehow works for what they were going for. Unfortunately, their relationship somehow ends up half baked even though the core chemistry/moments are there. Feels like it jumps the gun in some key moments, I dunno. It was funny I think, I lost count of the “five laugh test,” it either barely ed or barely didn’t. They really toned down Seth Rogan’s character, surprisingly not too annoying and he only did “the laugh” once. It had maybe a little too much political humor that didn’t land for me, and the ending was a little formulaic. Despite my bitching, it was still kind of sweet. I watched this while waiting for Spider-Man 2 to , and I guess this movie had a better story. Worse gameplay, though.

“Nallmyhahminyhah” - the noise I made after finishing this.

There’s so so much that works really really well. I like the concept and the cinematography, and the “prest-o change-o” and bedroom sequences were very well done and scared me shitless and back. A lot reminded me of analog horror (not only my favorite form of horror, but one of my favorite things EVER) but I fear it sometimes took the worst parts of analog horror, like the stringy storytelling structure or odd pacing. Not bad, just odd. Although, there is just as much good as there is things that just didn’t pan out too well. I would’ve cut the whole end sequence, though I do like the eeriness they decided on to end it as well. Idk how long Kevin survived as he did, and that chunk of text near the end cleared NOTHING up. For just as many shots that had me going “oh, that’s cool/a good idea,” there were just as many with “I don’t know what I’m looking at.”

While this is my “kind” of horror and it fulfilled a bit of what I was satiated for, the rest of this package left me either confused of its existence or wanting more. I’m afraid it won’t stick with me as it was attempting to. What I realized afterwards is that: while I manipulated my environment as much as humanly possible for this movie to hit…It still wasn’t enough. I damn near have to be fully developed in a sensory deprivation room to truly feel everything. Corely, the horror in here is inhumane in nature, moreso than any analog horror I’ve seen. While that is some high praise, my rejection of it is  also a portion of my personal process, and so because of those limits, it’ll be a lower one for sure. The film itself was probably a five out of ten, but the way it made me feel was also a 5, so maybe add those together for a ten if you want? Something like that?

Hey, my last watch as an 18-year old! What a great year of movies I’ve watched, I have plenty more ready to review in my 19th. Yippee!

While I liked this movies’ ideas, themes, and (most of) its presentation, I found the rest to be lackluster and a bit iffy. Not only were almost all plot twists deeply predictable, most of the messages delivered about masculinity were heavy handed and really obvious. It seems to think that simplicity is a proper substitute for surrealism with things like the script and the locations, but it really doesn’t translate all too well everywhere. While its humor was good (and well suited for Jessie Eisenberg), I would’ve liked a continuous spiral down to something much more unexpected and weirder. I’d love to check out this director’s other works, but I think this one needed some better legs to stand on. The ending was good though!

I could see how this won best picture, however it isn’t ENTIRELY my thing.

I thought this was a pretty smart piece that was funny at moments in a great dark comedy way, however it isn’t a great character piece (although I loved Igor’s character so so much). I really hate the fact that all of the top Letterboxd reviews are like, “omg isn’t Ivan such a twink??? lol!” I can’t stand it genuinely, just focus on how much of a shitass he is and also maybe the actual leads of the fuckin movie? I understand why people didn’t though because I didn’t really care for Ani’s character (all the yelling she did in the middle was well acted but annoyed me after awhile) until the end, where her true nature shown through and was very moving. I thought the music was just okay, the overall movie felt very…vapid, even when that’s not what they were entirely going for. Again, I did enjoy it, a lot of it in fact, it just completely didn’t work for me.

Hell Yeah!

I thought I was going to be exhausted after watching a 3 hour movie earlier today, but this movie picked up all that slack and then some. I love the two leads and how they play off each other, they’re absolutely adorable. The way Simon softens up to Patty is realistic and yet also at a nice pace. I love how goofy all the side characters are and the whole vibe of this movie. The way it builds every other character makes you really agree that yeah, really, fuck ‘em all…but them. The editing sometimes reminded me a lot of Scott Pilgrim without being derivative and definitely its own unique thing. It’s goofy, it’s weird, it’s cute, and absolutely punk as fuck.

The film allured me to get lost in its hullabaloo, but thankfully my roommates were there to snap me out of this movies’ sinful ways. 

I think this movie said way way too much but also still way way too little on the things that truly mattered. In all of its work to be a stellar fit for the eyes and a great celebration of cinema itself (especially that first scene, holy FUCK that had GREAT flow), it has just as many flat characters and obvious & bloated scenes just jerking off itself and the film industry as a whole. The performances were stellar, and the story was… well, it was great if it decided what exactly it wanted to say. The pieces to a great movie, a movie worth 3 hours of my time to, worth an 8 or even a 9 are there… the movie is just uninterested in putting those pieces together in favor of being something bigger than it is.

Apparently I did a suicide movie double viewing tonight! Whoops!

I really enjoyed this one. By making suicide the focal point and not just another plot point it adds weight and strength to the overall narrative. I think both characters have reasonable and justified reasons to both go for it and not. They also have reasons to add the funny moments their banter add. I relate with Val’s feelings a lot, but I think the “panicked excitement” he went through was just what he needed to keep him realistic, the same could’ve been said for Kevin if he wasn’t so goddamn impotent. I think it could’ve been aided by a bit more style, it seemed it was going for a milder tone but that’s still no clear excuse, also Kevin’s drunk acting I think needed a couple more touches. I also think they could’ve talked about gun control a bit less, I agree with what they’re saying but like turn it off the day you’re dying, y’know? But overall, I liked what I saw here, but just a little more focus would’ve elevated it.

This review may contain spoilers.

I guess my favorite Wes Anderson movie (other than Fantastic Mr. Fox), but that was never really a high bar to jump.

I really enjoyed the comedy in this movie, and it wasn’t shot like a portrait the whole movie and had some compelling variation. I loved the family dynamics and a lot of it really worked for me. Some parts really didn’t. Suicide is such a hard thing to handle in a story like this, to make sure it’s done tastefully but also realizing that the shock of the event itself has to be the climax, or else it doesn’t work (Little Miss Sunshine sort of had this same issue). In a vacuum, the scene is very well done, but it made that last third feel tacked-on and like it’s running out of steam. I also loved Danny Glover’s character but I don’t think he was handled well? Kind of the butt of Royal’s racist tendencies and then thinks it’s alright if Royal goes, “I Sowwy 🥺👉👈.” (Not really sure Wes is beating the racist allegations with this one folks.) I do appreciate the themes of second chances and true family and acceptance, it’s just all the other stuff that muddled it up for me.

I can fix her.

A logical leap off of everything from Hatchetfield, I’m glad Bryce Charles got a starring role because she absolutely killed it! Loved seeing the puppets, they were quite charming. I liked all of the songs, however all but a handful of notable standouts blended together in style and tone. Tone, notably, was a little frazzled and all over the place but it knew what it wanted to be and it did it well, so whatever

Has a bad case of “typecast-itis,” however it could’ve really aided by letting the characters breathe and be something more than what they ended up being. Most of the dropout actors are more classically trained in improv and stage performance that a full length movie feels…off. I think with the kinks worked out a bit more and time for their dropout boner to air out, the comedy would’ve had more room to play with the characters and the story wouldn’t have felt one note. I like the idea and many of the moments, but I fear the bulk of this feels barebones in execution with a bit of a cris-cross message at the end. Still liked it I guess.

#CIFF49

This was one of the more unique films I’ve seen at CIFF this week, but for both good and mediocre reasons. I thought the vibe and message of “one good or bad day or moment does not make a good or bad life” was fantastic, though it was fairly subtextual and didn’t ruminate as much as it needed to or should have. I think a grittier, less “perfect Hollywood” vibe would’ve really allowed it to get its fill on matching a tone with themes, but the lighting was fucking majestic so can’t complain too much. The humor was kind of far-and-between but was always welcomed with open arms by me and the rest of the audience, and always hit really well. The ending especially hopefully sets up for more of an action-comedy in this director’s future! I had a good time here, it could’ve been aided by a bit more personality but I see the potential here. Can’t wait to see it again and see what’s next! 

(Oh yeah, all that White Castle product placement. Listen, I love white castle as much as the next white trash insomniac, but maaaaybe one or two less mentions from the corporate overlords would’ve been less overt.)

#CIFF49

I was looking forward to this one all week, and thankfully it did not disappoint. I’ve always been fascinated with the old Pizza Hut architecture phenomena, and I’m so glad a documentary like this exists, showing the parallels of current small businesses running out of old Pizza Huts and the founding of Pizza Hut, and even the American Dream and way of life. I loved hearing each story, basically being documentaries inside of one documentary, and it was a very interesting way to view something from this angle, not to mention how well shot and edited this was. It really nailed what it wanted to be. It just made me happy to watch.

#CIFF49

I liked it! This was a very casual, sometimes simplistic watch with a very clear divide between serious and comedy, which was well balanced. I think the kid actors were great, and Katheryn Newton getting fun work is always appreciated. The story was both predictable and unpredictable at points, however the last fifth or so of the movie lowkey dragged for me. (when Owen Teague was gone. Not my boy!) Overall, it was a pretty great, funny movie, with a good “modern summer” aesthetic.

LOL/10.

#CIFF49

DAMN I wanted to like this movie. In some ways, I did, but in a lot, I didn’t. I really enjoy the homages to Night of The Living Dead, the style it was going for, and the desperity that was touched on with NoTLD as well. The music was great, but all the licensed music was out of nowhere and mostly just inopportune and strange. The rest of this movie was just confused of its own identity. Does it want to be Pontypool but with a podcast? Does it want to be a love story between the lead and two-decades-and-a-haircut-removed-from-being-Mel-Gibson? Does it want to be a mournful zombie thriller of three siblings putting their zombified parents out of their misery? It ended up being a jack of all trades master of none, and I prefer a movie that does one thing poorly or well than trying a bunch of things and fumbling the ball on each.

#CIFF49

There’s nothing overly well done with the editing or the look of it, but since my film classes are currently looking at documentary as a type of filmmaking, it was fun to chew on. The story was fairly interesting, I don’t know if they had to talk about the process of making the photos THAT intensely, just the part on experimental sport photography would’ve sufficed. I enjoyed it, didn’t bore me, but definitely not the best out of the block I saw

#CIFF49

Very well done! The pacing was smart and flashy, the song choices were edgy and fun, and the performances kicked a LOT of ass. I felt the ENTIRE theater tense up throughout this 14-minute runtime, just because it showed something so strong and realistic about handling your PTSD in sexual assault. The editing especially carried by being tasteful and yet also being really compelling and good looking, and it handled the subject matter with respectable brevity. It doesn’t treat it as less or as more than it is, it knows what it wants to do and just fucking crushes it. The fake court room scene was particularly impressive with its costuming, cinematography, and depiction of victims being afraid to step up.  Overall, I really want to see this one again, it was just a well done piece in its finest, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting this director’s next work!

#CIFF49

I loved when it let the characters breathe and be with one another, especially the scene with him and just mother, that was great. The cinematography was enjoyable, particularly for the opening credits. I wish the end wasn’t as abrupt as it was, it could’ve used a bit more time in the oven and more of a flesh-out with a few more minutes. Overall, I’m excited to see what this director has next!

#CIFF49

Pretty good water stunts and production value, the kids’ performances are okay, and the last scene… well in my opinion I don’t really know if it was needed? I guess for the goal of ptsd it was but overall it just felt clunky and forced and out of nowhere. Good for themes, bad for pacing. It is a good debut however, the vision and production is there!

#CIFF49

Gorgeous animation and choices with the visuals, I enjoyed the music, and that story was kinda depressingly sad. Honestly, I wish it was longer!

I like how much the movie says Hudsucker. It makes me want to say Hudsucker even if Hudsucker is a word with no meaning other than the name, Hudsucker.

It was pretty alright, but I’d be remised if I didn’t it that I was pretty zoned out through half of it, however I did catch a good number of the jokes so I don’t think my enjoyment was soured. I really like the tone and setting, I like the accent Jennifer Jason Leigh was doing for the whole movie, every actor really killed their roles. The corporation jokes really worked for me, it was just that the whole movie could’ve been a bit more (like Tim Robbin’s character could’ve had a bit more about him) and the ending was a little too ex machina for me. Still, the movie was aiming to be very straightforward, so very straightforward it was.

Honestly, I really loved this movie, or really wanted to love this movie, I can’t tell the difference anymore. 

The setup of the story and the way it was delivered was great, I think there are many parts of this that I’ll think back on for years to come, for example the title. Are we our own worst person in our world? Is someone else the worst person? Everyone in the story seems inclined to think they are the worst. But who truly is when we’re all just trying to find our way? It’s a great message…! But MAN those last 45 minutes just DRAG, the pace elsewhere was way more compelling and I lowkey wished chapters 11 and 12 just didn’t happen and it skipped straight to the epilogue. Oh well. Too much shit-talking! One beautiful thing about this movie is how engrossing it is. I was completely sucked in even just 7 minutes in and it only left that in the last third. It’s cinematography and character study is SO engrossing I found myself wrapped in its world even in its trailer and in reviews that use its footage. Idk if I’m seeing it again, but hey, I wouldn’t hate a second rewatch in the slightest!

This review may contain spoilers.

WOW that put me through the RINGER

Never in my life have I watched a horror-comedy with such a perfect balance between horror and comedy. It gives so much away at the beginning, that by the time you’re catching up, you missed half the things that make the end of the movie hit as hard as they do. It’s really compelling, how the human brain will toss ideas around until they become jokes of themselves, comical but really, at their core, not really funny at all. I loved every performance and the little nuances they all did, and how the soundtrack was very echoing and haunting to match the gorgeous setting. I absolutely adore the last 15 minutes, they seem so obvious and yet so well portrayed, no notes on its execution. Mayhaps the MOST reasonable crashout. Really great, can’t wait to watch it again.

So my editing class watched this recently, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share what I truly enjoy about this movie past me just staring at the screen slack-jawed.

I think I should preface this by talking about how it fits in with my other favorite movies, as EEAAO is my third favorite, honestly by a very wide margin. Dead Poets, in my interpretation, is about living to chase ions and love others, a feeling I personally resonate with the most. Synecdoche, which ittedly dominates my brain when I’m depressed, is about how life leads to death, no matter how you live it, that’s all it ends up being, the side my realist side grabs to. EEAAO really works to be saying, “life just is.” Because it is. If you zoom out and focus how tiny we are in a universe inside of strands and strands of multiverses, it gets daunting and dizzying, much like the perfect compiled and edited scene of Evelyn splitting between every single dimension. However, when ends come to means, that’s not what life is about. It’s about what you have, what makes you happy, and who you care about. 
This isn’t about THE universes, the multiverses, and what it all means. It’s about YOUR universe,  all those little things that make you who you are. What you chose to get you to where you are, they give you your identity.

Now that I’m done philosophically waxing, time to get a little more critical (and by that, I mean gushing). I love the pace and action in this movie, having fight stop in the middle to have someone do something weird to make a jump, it’s such a brilliant way to have comedy and drama work in tandem, I love it. The cinematography is great, and I’m glad they use what I were expecting to be one-off joke worlds to great affect, like having the hot dog fingers one connect to Deirdre and the kung-fu pinky coming back later as Chekhov’s gun (pinky?) is a good idea.

But easily what the film does best is its emotional moments, obviously. Each member of the Wang family represent a way to live life, but my heart and soul goes to Waymond. Key-Huy Quan plays him crazy well as just a joyful guy who loves being alive and being with his family, but knows when he unfortunately isn’t wanted. He reminds me a lot of how I try to live life actually, so I’m glad a character like that is represented so well!

While I think some plot points are a little iffy, the movie says exactly what it wants to and it says it CRAZY well while being hella goofy and fun. Due to just blatant rule confusion, the first half is honestly a 9/10, however the last half is easily an 11/10, so yeah. 10/10!

I hope this will remain my longest review on here. I’m currently hoping can get a YouTube review channel up for longer reviews soon, but of course school comes first for me. I still have a lot of ideas on how to do the concept justice, so stay tuned! Thanks.

How can one Dax Flame get so many girls?

The boy is back after his twelve features with one more, and luckily, it’s a sequel to my favorite from last year! Does it live up to the first one? Well, not exactly, but I don’t know if it could or even if it was shooting to do that. I love all the new characters, they all mesh with our old favorites in great ways (especially Deb as Marissa, she was hilarious). I like the new house, although I wish there was a piano in there so Dom can serenade us once again. I wish there’s a bit more focus too; in The Text, their goal from cleaning up the party pivots once the titular text is discovered, and it builds naturally. This just feels like many opposite directions spreading outward. They are fantastic directions, but just too little development on almost every front, but it still let the goofy characters be goofy, and in the end, that’s all that matters. Overall, I hope this opens the door for more Joel sequels, because I really enjoyed this one!

How have I not reviewed this yet??? I’ve watched this movie sooooo much since it released, I’ll try and sum up my feelings on it now.

This may be my favorite movie musical! It lives and breathes every inch of Johnathan Larson’s musicals from his entire discog, and I really glad it does, there are some bangers that weren’t a part of the original stage production of tick, tick…BOOM! I guess we’re starting with the music. With every absolute hit like Sunday or Why, there is also songs like No More and (eugh) Play Game, however those may be the only stinkers in the package (and each have their charm). Every songs feels its place, even the bad ones, but that doesn’t mean that they are forgivable.

Now I do want to talk about the acting. Andrew Garfield is just incredible; he lives and breathes Jonathan Larson, he’s just fascinating to watch and his singing voice is great. Robin de Jesus sounded good when he got room to breathe. Honestly, the only one I didn’t jive with was Vanessa Hudgens, who the marketing tried to make seem was with Jonathan romantically? It was weird, she was barely in the movie, and her singing performance got STOMPED by Alexandra Shipp in Come to Your Senses, I nearly wish it wasn’t a duet because of her. Shipp was lowkey also the acting standout too, I wish 2-minute-screentime-VHudge would move out of her goddamn way.

I think it did well with seeding Louder Than Words throughout, and the impact that AIDs on those around John even before finishing Rent. His feeling of crashing in on him and the stress but his overall love for the art and his own talent keeping him going is great to see represented as someone who wants to kinda go on a similar path. (The way they represent emotion and inspiration is so beautiful as well) When his character seemed to have his heads to deep in the clouds, it was still great to see him decide the best. A fantastic musical, so glad I came back to it after deciding my similar future as an artist, it added a lot of charge to my love of it. It’s great, beautiful, I love seeing it every now and then.

Pretty alright! A comedy that is in the same vain as Airplane! Or Blazing Saddles, which was a weird era of Comedy that was an evolution of Monty Python, constantly repeating catchphrases and having the most lowbrow screwball comedy while still having a through line plot that is fairly compelling. The difference here is that this is a mostly South African indie production, so the reliance of a mainstream script is gone, and it definitely shows. When it started I thought the bottle was going to represent something deeper, something a bit more theological and profound. What the movie ended up being didn’t disappoint me (I watched it with my dad and I know exactly what to expect with the movies he picks out), but by the end I could definitely see myself being like “oh, really? Well, I guess that’s how that line wraps up.” Could’ve used a few more rewrites, but I still think it’s very funny and I’ll probably watch the sequel too!

This year, instead of setting a monetary value on how many films I should watch, I decided I’d check off films from my watchlist and add them here, ranked by my enjoyment and how much they lived up to my personal hype! I’ll also be adding notes for when I added them to my watchlist (roughly) and when I watched them.

1. Parasite

   On my watchlist from Oct. 2022, watched Feb. 2025

2. Dinner in America

   Watchlist Nov. 2024, Watched Apr. 2025

3. Perfect Days

   Watchlist Mar. 2024, Watched May 2025

4. All My Friends Hate Me

   Watchlist Mar. 2025, watched Mar. 2025

5. 12 Angry Men

   Watchlist in Jun. 2023, watched Feb. 2025

6. Past Lives

   Watchlist on September 2024, watched Feb. 2025

7. Shiva Baby

   Watchlist Feb. 2024, watched Jan. 2025

8. Delicatessen

   Watchlist Apr. 2022, Watched Apr. 2025

9. The Celluloid Closet

   Watchlist Jan. 2025, Watched Jun. 2025

10. The Worst Person in the World

    Watchlist Aug. 2023, watched Mar. 2025

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films that comfort me in either a strange or definite way.

1. The Muppet Movie
2. Gremlins
3. Good Burger
4. Dead Poets Society

   Everything up to the last 30 minutes I guess

5. The Text
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
7. The Social Network
8. The Sandlot
9. American Splendor
10. Perfect Days

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In my first semester of college, I took a class where we watched a movie every week. Here is my personal ranking of every film we watched, with a note on order of when we watched it

1. American Splendor

   Week Eleven

2. The Graduate

   Week Two

3. Singin' in the Rain

   Week Four

4. Do the Right Thing

   Week Fourteen

5. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

   Week Nine

6. Run Lola Run

   Week Eight

7. Citizen Kane

   Week Fifteen

8. The King's Speech

   Week Seven

9. Strangers on a Train

   Week One

10. Raging Bull

    Week Ten

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Now that Cleveland International Film Festival is over, I thought I’d rank all the entries I see, along with the time I personally watched them in the notes. I also didn’t see as many as I wanted to, as I was filming stuff around this time as well.

MOVIES THAT AREN’T ON LETTERBOXD BUT I WATCHED DURING CIFF ANYWAYS:

The Cardinal & The Computer - 3/10

A good idea, would’ve done wonders as a feature and if it explored both of the philosophies it talked about. The acting felt stilted and the ending sort of felt like a copout and a gross underdevelopment.

Elvira - 6/10

It was very quant and compelling, but emotionally whiplash from a lot of the other short films I saw this block. Doesn’t shoot for too much but I still had fun with it.

1. BITE

   3/31

2. Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts.

   4/3

3. Wild Animal

   3/31

4. Down To The Felt

   4/3

5. Griffin in Summer

   4/2

6. The Remaining Sundays

   3/31

7. JUMPMAN

   3/31

8. Hatch

   3/31

9. Didn't Die

   4/1

Now that Joel Haver has completed his ambitious 12 films in 12 months project this is my personal ranking of all 12, with the notes explaining their order of release. These are all great, worth a watch, are DEFINITELY subject to change, and were ABSOLUTELY hard to rank.

1. The Text

   3/12

2. Coming Home

   12/12

3. It Just Takes Time

   5/12

4. Hello My Beautiful Creatures

   4/12

5. The Diarrhea Brothers Save the Day

   7/12

6. The 9th Movie

   9/12

7. Love, Celeste

   8/12

8. A Little Film About Friendship

   10/12

9. The Hero's Journey aka My Life aka The Caleb Johnston Story (I'm Caleb)

   1/12

10. Hiccups

    6/12

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Subject to change, my opinion, the films that made me fall in love with movies, blah blah blah.

• Dead Poets Society
• Synecdoche, New York
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Anomalisa
• Hundreds of Beavers
• The Social Network
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Pretend That You Love Me
• Oldboy
• La La Land

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies I watched for a semester-long film class in my senior year of high school. In order of “History” and when we watched them.

• Cinderella Man
• Unbroken
• Bridge of Spies
• A League of Their Own
• Mississippi Burning
• We Were Soldiers
• All the President's Men
• Argo
• Red Dawn
• Dark Waters

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Christmas (or I guess now “Christmas-Adjacent as well”) movies I saw during the 2024 holiday season

• Die Hard
• Jingle All the Way
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• The Polar Express
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Klaus
• Red One
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Gremlins
• Santa Claus: The Movie

Horror/Horror-adjacent movies I watched during the 2024 halloween season

• The Thing
• Tales from the Hood
• C.H.U.D.
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Idle Hands
• Saw
• Halloween II

Christmas movies I watched over the 2023 holiday season (and yes, Psych the movie and Fellowship count. They both take place around or on Christmas).

• A Christmas Story
• Klaus
• It's a Wonderful Life
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Home Alone
• Psych: The Movie