Watching
My last 10 watched from Letterboxd.
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I'm Still Here
A remarkable film. As Americans we like to think something like this could never happen here, but it already is. This film serves as a necessary and dire warning. Brave performance from Fernanda Torres, whose character Eunice says to the press, “I think it’s necessary to compensate the families, and do the most important thing, clarify and judge all crimes committed during the dictatorship. If that doesn’t happen, they will continue to be committed with impunity.” Hoping I live to see this happen in the U.S.
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Lethal Weapon
Not sure this 80s smash hit holds up very well. The action is ok but it’s really the chemistry between Glover (who was 10 years younger than I am now when he was “too old for this shit”) and Gibson that makes the movie. Gary Busey is woefully miscast as the lead henchman who dukes it out in a blurry mess of a hand-to-hand combat scene with Gibson in the climax. The plot is pretty incomprehensible, even by 80s standards. Some fun writing by Shane Black though not on the level of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or The Nice Guys. Overall kind of a disappointing rewatch.
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I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka holds a special place in my heart. My best friend Eldridge, who passed away last year, introduced me to it in high school. My friends and I must have watched it dozens of times. Even all these years later I can practically recite the whole thing. Plus it paved the way for In Living Color, in which many of the cast here would go on to star. This is a brilliant spoof of blaxploitation films in the same vein as Airplane and The Naked Gun, and arguably as funny or funnier than either of those movies. Shoutout to legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter, whose incredible work here adds so much to the humor.
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Sneakers
In hindsight, Cosmo was right.
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Waves
This movie still hits hard on my third watch several years after its release. I connected with it on so many levels — as a parent, a son, a husband. This is essentially two movies, one about a brother and the other about his sister, divided by a twist of fate. The two halves feel very different but vital to each other. The color in this film is so vibrant. The performances are exquisite and vulnerable, particularly the two young leads. I really wish this were available in 4K. This might be one of my all-time top 10 films.
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Point Blank
This movie goes harder than it needed to for a pretty standard revenge flick. The pace is dizzying, so much happens in just 91 minutes, but it takes its time with some great shots along the way. Lee Marvin is a stoic badass. No doubt this influenced a ton of great modern crime films.
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F1
F1 is like a summer blockbuster designed in a lab. Hits all the right notes, looks incredible, and delivers thrills, even if some of the beats are cliched and the character development is a bit shallow. Whatever this movie cost it is all on the screen. The racing scenes are plentiful and feel as immersive as the flying scenes in Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick. Pitt is great here, but the rest of the cast deserves credit for carving out distinct characters with very little screen time. By the end of the film you feel like part of the team, sharing the victory with them. Exhilarating.
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Running Scared
Not a great movie but it made quite an impression on 11-year-old me, who loved Crystal from SNL. I respect a movie that makes great use of Chicago locations and there’s some good ones here, culminating in a shootout at the Thompson Center (recently bought by Google). There’s also a fun chase scene that takes lots of liberties with geography, going from O’Hare to Skokie and onto the L tracks downtown in a matter of minutes. I’d love to know the logistics of how they got two cars up there. If you can suspend your disbelief that a tap dancer and a comedian can pass for Chicago cops, there’s some fun to be had here.
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Cobra
Antonio Banderas laptop meme but it’s Sylvester Stallone after typing “you’re the disease and I’m the cure” in Cobra’s script.
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Jennifer's Body
Felt like an angsty millennial teen wrote a David Lynch movie. Some fun moments and sharp dialogue but didn’t quite come together. Also will make me forever suspicious of any beautiful woman who pays me the slightest bit of attention.