6u532b

a delightful little adventure. charming set design, as expected, and comedic hijinks far less “cute” than normal Wes Anderson. not everything worked for me, especially pacing-wise, but it’s solid and fun.

goofy as hell and generally terrible acting, but it’s pretty fun and the sets are awesome.

Watched on Wednesday June 4, 2025.

so cute and beautiful! great chemistry between the leads! needs a bit of dialogue editing perchance!

Siff 2025 #21

Grand filmmaking and an operatic story by a late-career master. What really stood out to me was the use of sound in a movie with barely any score, and the intense motion captured on screen as the camera hardly moved.

That said, I felt the runtime and found myself a bit confused…perhaps it was the subtitling, but I needed some reminders of the characters’ names! Which son is which?!

You can see where it’s going, but that makes it all the more juicy!

Siff 2025 #20

didn’t really go anywhere, but a fun reveal?

Siff 2025 #19

Excellent satire/critique of internet stan culture, and scary to boot

Siff 2025 #18

I wanna see the full length version! The pacing here a bit off, but this is a great, human story.

Siff 2024 #17

Siff 2025 #16

a bit unrealistic and predictable, but still a captivating short

Siff 2025 #15

Siff 2025 #14

Extremely ‘90s movie, in the most pejorative way possible. Note that there’s precisely one (severely underwritten) female character, whose main character traits are “ditzy” and “wants to not work.” The amount of violence here is appropriate for a thriller, sure, but not at all proportionate to the character’s lives — I couldn’t suspend disbelief (incredulity?) at all. Somehow, the crowd I was with ended up laughing at the deaths of helpless people. Kiyoshi Kurosawa obviously is a master, but this looks like the film of a dated, sexist, old man. 

Siff 2025 #13 (#12 was the second secret film), and my least favorite by far!!

Poor timing (although maybe great timing?) that this was released after The Substance, even though they were developed separately and simultaneously. Of course, these are very different movies exploring very different themes, and Amy Huang gives us a lot of food for thought. Other obvious references are The Thing and Carrie.  

The movie has a beautiful look/feel. Im not exactly sure, but it appears to have been shot on 35mm. The aspect ratio changes at a pivotal moment, really clueing you in to the fantasy/reality that’s being created. There’s absolutely fantastic set design, most strikingly, in the final act. 

Siff 2025 #11

This isn’t groundbreaking storytelling, but it’s wonderfully human and heartfelt. We need more stories of teenage rebellion, no matter how modest! Plus, that pink sheep is maybe the best visual gag I’ve seen in a while 🐑💕💕

Siff 2025 #10

I’m declaring it now: 2025 is the year of hot men playing double roles!!!

In more seriousness, this is the kind of movie that will stick with me for a long, long time. It’s worth starting this by encouraging people who haven’t seen the film to not read too much about it — it almost needs a “Mousetrap”-esque message to not spoil its central premise. To that end, I’ll keep this review vague. 

As a gay Portlander/ex-Seattleite, I felt seen! And yes, I’ve ired Dylan O’Brien since I was a closeted teenager and he was the hot friend on Teen Wolf (and certainly didn’t mind seeing him as god made him in this movie). But this is a gut-wrenching performance with lots of depth. I’m amazed he had it in him!

The writing is especially superb. The movie has so many tonal shifts, invoking a strange emotional reaction in me that veered on ickiness. But it works! I cried, I laughed, I audibly gasped, and ultimately left the theatre with a lot to think about.

A few directing choices need special praise: there’s a very special use of split screen halfway through that’s just jaw-dropping. The delayed opening credits are a perfect stylistic choice given the movie’s central conceit. And finally, in a movie about (absent) twins, I think it was very smart to constantly depict the characters through glass or via mirrored reflection. Dare I say, Hitchcockian?

My fav of the festival so far. Siff 2025 #9

There are two parallel themes that really complement each other: a timeless, teenage story of reckoning who you’ve been with who you want to/will become, and a contemporary investigation of democratic backsliding. As I was watching, I was wondering which theme was “primary,” or if both serves the other equally. 

It’s an impressive first narrative feature! I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I could’ve, probably because my expectations didn’t match reality. I think the themes and characters, while poignant, needed a bit more development and tightening. 

Siff 2025 #8

Can’t believe more people didn’t immediately watch this about last month’s news…

You can see Andrew Haigh developing his visual and thematic style, but it’s really a work in progress. Raw, awkward, not technically advanced…but intriguing?

Genuine masterpiece. For all the silly melodramatic elements, there’s serious character building, stakes, and message here. It’s pretty incredible to see such a strong countercultural, nonconformist message in 1950s, Code-era cinema. Rock Hudson is a star, but Jane Wyman is the sun. And it’s even better with a full audience, in a theatre, in an original technicolor print!

As an absolute sucker for lgbtq high school movies (i did see Love Simon twice in theaters lol), this was right up my alley. You can really feel the lived experience in this film — it makes such a difference to have queer and trans people comprise the entire cast and production. 

Siff 2025 #7

Perfect storytelling about a “modern” relationship style, with a deeply relatable and extremely flawed protagonist. I absolutely loved seeing her struggle to accept her desires, and more importantly, what she couldn’t accept. The characters around her serve as beautiful foils. 

Very Worst Person in the World vibes, including the absolutely gorgeous urban/Nordic setting that made me want to immediately pack up and move to Helsinki.

Siff 2025 #6

Absolutely stellar first act, and less stellar afterwards. I ultimately enjoyed the broader commentary provided by the more spiritual elements of the film, but think it could have been tighter. 

The set design and cinematography in this film are impeccable! So many loooooong tracking shots, and a great hot-day vibe/color spectrum (Do the Right Thing-like in that respect only). 

Siff 2025 #5 (#4 was secret film)

The filmmaker/writer/star called this “bubblegum grindhouse”, which is just spot-on. The movie takes place across about two days in Trashtown, a nondescript but southern and Hollywood-influenced place brimming with unseemly (but somehow sympathetic?) characters. As the main character embarks on a quixotic journey to break her “curse”, we too take a ride through insane visuals, gags, and witness a deepening relationship between two sex workers. 

Not everything works, but I think it wouldn’t be half the film it is if these risks weren’t taken. Also, Big Freedia is a perfect casting choice!!

Siff 2025 #3

Tons of craft and poignant historical themes in this apocalyptic, cannabilistic action-horror. Danielle Deadwyler is especially awesome, imbuing a hardened woman with enough depth and charisma that you root for her enthusiastically. You couldn’t tell this was an independent film — it’s looks like a $20 million movie.

Siff 2025 #2

A very sweet movie about generational divide, loneliness, advocating for oneself, and hating your gay sons/friends who selfishly decide to go to Maspalomas Pride 2023....all relatable stuff!

Siff 2025 #1

The first twenty minutes are iconic, but the last hour doesn’t get the respect it deserves. There’s some great suspense back there!

so so so bananas plot-wise but WOW are those stunts incredible.

It’s hard for me to understand how this film had the cultural impact it did. Sure, the action sequences are solid and Tom Cruise is excellent….but the plot is wildly overcomplicated, and Ethan Hunt is given so little backstory that I was hardly invested in him as a character.

All that said, I’m looking forward to watching one or two more in the series — it’s so iconic, and I’m desperate to understand the hype.

Great movie to go in to blind — I’d heard it was genre-bending and a whisper of vampires, but much left me completely surprised. 

There’s so much craft, vision, and talent here! Michael B Jordan is stupid levels of good (and off-the-charts handsome to boot) — we need more handsome people playing double roles (s/o Mickey 17)!! Even better is the beautiful cinematography: the dance sequence oner is stunning, and the richness of color is a true achievement (especially in low light).

Thematically there’s a lot of big swings, but more triples than home-runs? I definitely saw the pieces, but needed 10% more to put it all together.

needed an unintelligent film to unwind and damn did this deliver. it’s brisk, ridiculous, and exciting. and obviously brad is so easy on the eyes

You can really see the hallmarks of the future zombie genre being created here. Great effects, low-budget but not too camp, and a provoking ending. Great watch in a theatre!

The second act really drags, but the start/end are fantastic. The movie is definitely ahead of its time on race, and a product of its time on gender 😕

Watched this a little less intently than it deserves, but even so it’s obviously a masterpiece. The pacing is spot, thrills unexpected, and the themes perfectly layered. The head-on shot/reverse shots are so tense!

underrated homoerotic elements imho

this movie makes me wildly jealous the people who got to experience ‘80s hairstyles

Incredible that the Hays Code forbid saying the word “pregnant”, but you can still stroke a phallic miniature of an oil derrick nbd. 

awesome movie to see on an original 35mm technicolor print — it looks beautiful. Better yet is watching this in a theatre, as there’s so much camp, melodrama, and exploration of desire that deserves to be appreciated with others.

s/o to Portland’s Hollywood Theatre for putting this on and having Director Todd Haynes there to introduce it!

I’ve been wanting to see this after missing it at SIFF 2024, and boy did it not disappoint! A bit corny at times, but so heartfelt and sincere that it didn’t bother me at all. Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo are just superb.

Theater was crying at the end lemme tell you. s/o to all my fellow movie watchers with dad problems, this one’s for you.

Basically everything about this is garbled, inconsistent, and anachronistic. But I’ll never complain when Cher from Clueless graces the screen, and s/o Rachel Zegler I’m a STAN

I love a movie set in real time, especially when there’s a countdown to “High Noon” that keeps the pace up. It’s easy to get swept up in the western tropes, and there’s a wonderful early performance by Grace Kelly.

Sometimes the film gets bogged down by its too-clear explanations of the theme. Still, this is an awesome reminder that Hollywood used to make mass-appeal films with strong political themes.

No surprise this is a Best Picture winner — not only does it perfectly mix romantic drama with comedy, it’s well acted (especially Dianne Keaton) and formally inventive. Movies like this are a great reminder that anything, even the now-lowly rom-com, can be truly great if you think big enough.

Folks in 1974 obviously were well-aware of the impending technological revolution…but you wouldn’t know that watching this dystopian, 2200s-set sci-fi film. Instead, there are absolutely fantastic contemporary themes related to hippies, the gender revolution, and ecological fears of overpopulation (which I can say as a scholar have been going on for centuries and have never been realized, fwiw). 

For all the baffling choices, bad acting, and loose threads, this film has vision. The opening is truly an all-timer. The montage in which Sean Connery quickly absorbs the Eternals’ knowledge is gorgeously shot: black backgrounds, lit faces, and renaissance paintings projected over them to give an almost psychedelic in-camera effect. 

It’s actually a bit sad this movie is most ed for Sean Connery’s queer-coated costumes. It had a lot more to give, e.g., “the gun is good; the penis is evil”

Continuing a tear through classic Billy Wilder films with this absolute gem. Impeccably acted, most especially by Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. It’s just incredible to have two titans of writing for stage and screen, Agatha Christie and Billy Wilder, come together.

Marilyn Monroe oozes charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent ;)

awesome first movie for Tony Gilroy. It’s exciting, current, and a bit pulpy. The plot feels intentionally opaque, in a sort of Christopher Nolan-esque way in that ultimately only some of the plot becomes transparent. 

George Clooney is solid here, but not excellent. It’s giving one-note. Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson, however…

Watched on Thursday March 13, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 12, 2025.

I love how the film suggests so many questions, and answers so few of them! You’re really put into the unknowing lens of these animals (which don’t occupy the same actual habitats), making their plight and adventure far more real. 

Strange animation, but it’s beautiful once you settle into it. Sometimes I wish the colors were a bit more saturated?

An engaging, entertaining, and comedic ride through a not-too-unfamiliar future. Themes are very on-brand for Bong Joon-ho (and very bloated). Double acting nominations should be on the table for Robert Pattinson.

The exploration of identity, how it’s impacted by our past, and our ability to change is explored in a wildly novel way. This is quite unsettling, as body horror often is, but is thematically complex and far more than the body horror and doubling you see in the trailer. 

Schimberg’s script is impressive — there’s so much symbolism to unpack. And Sebastian Stan is remarkable. How he wasn’t nominated for Best Actor is truly beyond me.

queer systems, gay choirs, and the outdoors!

List is provided in order of preference and is updated periodically.

• Nickel Boys
• The Brutalist
• Twinless
• North by Northwest
• A Different Man
• Red Rooms
• Witness for the Prosecution
• I'm Still Here
• Dance, Girl, Dance

In order of preference; only includes movies I watched for the first time this year.

1. Ghostlight
2. Rosemary's Baby
3. Sunset Boulevard
4. Anora
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Anatomy of a Fall
7. The Florida Project
8. Sherlock Jr.
9. The Substance
10. Femme

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

In order of preference; only includes movies I watched for the first time this year.

1. Triangle of Sadness
2. Maestro
3. The Holdovers
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey
5. Killers of the Flower Moon
6. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
7. Barbie
8. Carrie
9. Asteroid City
10. Alien

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