#Watching BADLANDS

Droning voice over and copious shots of fields. It *must* be Terence Malick.
A great piece of Americana with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as the most kickback killers with denim and sideburns.
Violent but never exploitative, a crime drama that absorbs.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/badlands/

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #movies #movie #film #films #cinema #cinemastodon #Nowwatching

Only 3 films this week, but what a great week this has been! I'm so happy that Emma Seligman/Rachel Sennott and Molly Gordon/Nick Lieberman have movies that are people are excited about, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next! (…and well, Emma Seligman expressed interest in making a horror movie at some point, and given how anxiety inducing Shiva Baby was, I can't wait!)

#LetterboxdFriday
#LastFourWatched
#Film
#Movies
#Cinemastadon
#filmastodon

Rather late for this edition as it’s actually Saturday. But with the Cinémathèque reopening & the start of L’Étrange Festival things have been busy !

So for the last week we’ve had:
• 11 feature films (“Vengeance”, “Blastfighter”, “Manpower”, “Desperate Journey”, “El Sur” (💛), “On the Line”, “Mad Fate”, “Veerana”, “The Food of the Gods”, “Jericho Ridge”, “Massacre pour une orgie”, “Le Glandeur”),
• 1 short (“Tria”).

#cinema #LetterboxdFriday #Cinemastodon #Film #Movies #EtrangeFestival

#Watching #3000 MILES TO GRACELAND

Starts off well enough, but then devolves into crime movie clichés and empty violence.
What begins as an excellent piece of pulp fiction gets lost without much of a story. You like Costner and Russell in their respective roles, but scenes go by without much happening...then there's a killing just to wake you up.
The sideburns are sharper than most of the #movie.
But if you like Elvis song covers and the long awaited onscreen duo of Ice-T and David Arquette you don't have to drive 3000 miles.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/3000-miles-to-graceland/

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10 movies watched in the last week.

230 movies in 2023 (337 pace)
39 #CriterionChallenge watched

#LetterboxdFriday
#LastFourWatched
#Film
#Movies
#Cinemastadon

#LetterboxdFriday!

For transparency (and we need to be truthful online) I photoshopped this screen shot of my #lastfourwatched together to remove a film I hadn't watched, just made a note on.

#Letterboxd #Cinemastedon #FilmMastodon #TheFirstPower #HDTGM #TheLittleMermaid #NightmareInWax #Manhunter

#Watching BETTER WATCH OUT

Wonderfully sinister Christmas #horror that's a lot meaner than I initially believed based on the trailer.
Starring the annoying white rapper from The Visit and his sister from The Visit playing his crush.
Awkward, but at least he's not rapping.
Bucks formula for most of its runtime, an antidote to the usual dreck shoved down your throat during the holidays. You keep expecting it to soften, but it remains satisfying and sinister.
Short running time keeps everything fresh and crispy.
If you like Christmas but hate Christmas #movies, put on your favorite ugly sweater and see this with none of your family.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/better-watch-out/

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #film #cinema #cinemastodon #films #movie #horrorCommunity #NowWatching

#Watching SUNSET BOULEVARD

Norma Desmond is a crazy b...
Billy Wilder's satire holds up remarkably well. Still feels like a kick to your shins. Wonderfully over the top acting that never feels like Too Much.
Deserving of every nomination it got. Great #movie Make sure you're ready for your close up and see this again.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/sunset-boulevard/

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #movies #film #films #noir #cinema #cinemastodon

#Watching I AM LEGEND

Take on of the greatest #horror novels in existence and neuter it into a Will Smith movie. CGI monsters provide whatever the opposite of scares is and the ending is worthy of an afterschool special.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/i-am-legend/

#letterboxd #letterboxdfriday #HorrorFam #film #films #cinema #cinemastodon

#Watching OPERATION FORTUNE

Guy Ritchie's Asteroid City.

Feels like the first draft of every Ritchie #movie ever made, but it's still entertaining on its own terms thanks to a wonderful comic performance by Josh Hartnett.
Derivative from the first frame to the last, but you're not looking for originality when you watch a Guy Ritchie movie.
Jason Statham cutting and pasting every performance he's ever given.
Aubrey Plaza not even bothering with a character and the movie is better for it.
If you've seen any Ritchie movie, you've already seen this.
Cary Elwes, along with MI:7 stars in #movies in unnecessarily long title.

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #film #films #cinema #cinemastodon #filmmastodon #nowwatching

A week with some new (to me) movies and some rewatches for #LetterboxdFriday

• New Gods: Yang Jiang – Zhao Ji, (2022),
• Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, 1993),
• Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) – 🔁),
• True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2011 – 🔁).

happy #LetterboxdFriday y’all

#LastFourWatched

#LetterboxdFriday

#Watching THE INNOCENTS (2021)

Nordic birth control.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/the-innocents-2021/

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #horror #movie #movies #horrorMovies #cinema #cinemastodon #film #films #horrorFam #horrorFamily

#Watching ALL EYES

Normally my eyes glaze over when I hear the word "podcast", but it's been a late week at work and All Eyes was only 80 minutes.
But it felt longer.
It's about a disgraced podcaster (zzzz) that goes to get one story to save his career or something.
The performers are engaging enough that it keeps you hoping for something, anything to happen onscreen that makes it worth your time even though the production design is barely a step up from public tv. Not that interesting visually, and the meager effects fail during a key moment.
One of those #movies that's not as bad as you think it's going to be even though it's nowhere near good.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/all-eyes/

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #movie #cinema #cinemastodon #Film #films #nowwatching

#Watching INDIGNATION

One of those "literary" movies that probably read better on the page than translated on the screen. Everything feels so static, and every motivation and reveal telegraphed.
The actors are doing their worldly best, but it feels like a conversation you're forced to watch involving people you're friends of friends with on Facebook.
You won't hate the movie, and that's the highest praise it will get.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/indignation-2016/

#Letterboxd #LetterboxdFriday #movie #movies #cinema #cinemastodon #film #films #nowwatching

#Watching PARASITE

As an Asian person I can definitively say that all Asian Birthday parties end up like this.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/parasite-2019/

#letterboxd #letterboxdfriday #movie #movies #film #films #cinema #cinemastodon #nowwatching #filmmastodon #moviemastodon

#Watching SAFE

Todd Haynes' paranoid drama is one of the scariest non-horror #movies I've ever seen.
Early Julianne Moore performance is still one of her best ever.
What are you willing to give up to keep you "safe"? You be surprised at the lengths some will go.
Peter Friedman shines as an open faced cult leader. A lot of what he preaches makes sense...until it doesn't. Insidious to the nth.
Scariest scene- A bunch of white people dancing. So unsettling.
One of the best movies of the 90s.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/safe/

#LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd #movie #film #films #cinema #cinemastodon #nowwatching

Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on #LetterboxdFriday

#ThePremonition #BlueBeetle #DC #GodzillaKingoftheMonsters #Godzilla #KnifeofIce #UmbertoLenzi #lastfourwatched #Letterboxd #Cinemastedon #FilmMastodon

#Watching THE WHALE

A24's other prestige Oscar magnet has awards acting in nearly every scene. Most of it connects, when it doesn't it feels like A Serious Afterschool Special about accepting others or whatever.
Waited on this after awards season just to see it fresher without the hyperbole.
Darren Aronofsky at an 11 for most of its runtime. Subtlety goes out the rainy window.
Compelling for most if its runtime, despite the single location. Every music cue tells you exactly how to feel.

https://letterboxd.com/noeljpenaflor/film/the-whale-2022/

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