Watching
My last 10 watched from Letterboxd.
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Eyes Wide Shut
This movie hits different as a married man. Not at all what I remembered it to be when it first came out. This felt like Fincher’s The Game but with a lot more naked women. If there’s a lesson here it’s that you don’t take a taxi to an orgy.
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Police Story
The sheer amount of broken glass in this movie is impressive. A pretty solid sampling of Jackie’s signature blend of action and comedy with some dangerously over-the-top stunt work. The plot is pretty thin and there’s lots of Three’s Company-style innuendo misunderstandings in between the action beats. I have no doubt Jackie was a John Ritter fan and/or vice versa. When this is clicking it’s an absolute joy.
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Texasville
Is this the original lega-sequel? This takes place 33 years after The Last Picture Show and gets nearly the whole cast back together, for better or worse. Tonally it takes a sharp turn into slapstick and feels like a made-for-TV movie. They pretty much sideline Sonny, who was the heart of the original, in favor of setting up a will-they-or-won’t-they reunion between Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd. Still, it’s fun revisiting these characters later in life. The town is still horny as ever.
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The Last Picture Show
This feels so ahead of its time. It should've been called The Horniest Little Town in Texas or something. Lots of great characters in this really just longing for companionship in the middle of nowhere. Young Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd! Though Timothy Bottoms kind of steals the show. Great movie.
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Blue Moon
"No one ever loved me that much." Ethan Hawke is doing some of his best work here as Lorenz Hart, in full Dorf on Golf mode. His character is simultaneously amusing, endearing and exhausting. Margaret Qualley is radiant, as usual, as the young object of Hart's unrequited affection. I only wish she was in more scenes.
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Realizing I stayed in Chicago almost my entire life to avoid this exact situation.
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Are We Good?
If you're not a Maron-head you might not love this doc, which is largely about Marc dealing with the grief of losing his partner, director Lynn Shelton. This is not a comprehensive biography by any means. Maron has a vulnerability unlike any comic and I think that's why he feels so relatable. Here he's extremely honest about his feelings and working through them through his stand-up.
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GoodFellas
First time seeing this since marrying an Italian woman and now everything makes sense.
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The Roses
Was this written by AI? It's ostensibly a comedy, with a cast of people who are usually funny. If I lost three of my fingers in a horrible accident I'd still be able to count how many times I chuckled watching this movie on one hand. Deeply unfunny.
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After the Hunt
I generally enjoy Luca's work but this was a miss for me. Everyone in this is painfully unsympathetic. Julia Roberts is particularly good at it — Oscar-worthy, even. Not sure what I was supposed to take away from this as I didn't go to Yale. This film asks and answers the question: what if Wonder Boys was not funny and painfully long?