Fiction of 2019

[nerdietalk]

Hell yeah, a new and improved obsessive list

Comments

November to December

[nerdietalk]

Jojo Rabbit

There's probably some deeply troubling aspects but the slow shift of "kid needs to learn better" to "oh god they're child soldiers" is real good and Taika pulls off the switch from comedy to drama mostly well.

Platoon

Good movie good!

The Green Berets

hate hate hate hate hate hate john wayne can eat my shorts

Rambo: First Blood Part II

says way too much about masculinity and nationalism than I'd like

Knives Out

This movie OWNS. Amazing cast, amazing writing, amazing. It does become a movie that's also About Something, but it also still just a great murder mystery.

My only complaint is that I craved one more twist but I was satisfied with what I got.


Gosford Park

Something about it just Bugged Me and then I learned most dialogue was improvised and honestly that format just kills my enjoyment of most movies.

That said, there's a lot of great layers here and I think on a rewatch, now that I know what to expect, I'd enjoy it a lot more.

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

I'm too tired to explain why I hate it.

My Cousin Vinny

Mostly holds up, but also definitely doesn't.

Bombshell

The balancing act this movie plays is fascinating because it has to pull a careful thread of "the Fox news women don't deserve what happened to them" and "the Fox news women did some AWFUL shit." I think there's something to be had there in the morally complicated zone, but the movie finds its solution be... creating a new character to symbolize someone who bought into the propaganda and get struck with the realization that the network doesn't care about her. Margot Robbie does really good acting with that! But its also real hard to watch the real women because it doesn't feel like they'll quite go there with them. Mixed feelings all around

Kate McKinnon's character is perfect, but shout out to Liv Hewson with what little screentime they get in this. I really hope they get more parts.

Detective Dee

Played a video game called "Detective Di" recently (see below), which is inspired by either this or the historical figures Detective Dee is inspired by and I spent way too much of the early film trying to decipher if the people who made Di ripped this off. That said, both of them are ultimately doing different things and are just generally a riot of a time. Gotta love this Empress Wu renaissance!

Certified Copy

A movie about relationships and also I think it switches into a different universe half-way through the movie but its really unclear.

Under the Skin

A movie revealing what we always knew: ScarJo is an alien here to ruin our movies

Interstellar

McConaughey: We are the ghosts of our children's futures
Me, crying: he's the ghost of his kids' future...!

Phantom Thread

"Well this was kind of an interesting but weird movie that people seem to love about a romance falling apa- SHE'S DOING WHAT?!"

Moonrise Kingdom

I *should* love everything Wes Anderson goes for but it just fails for me for some reason

Carol

Harold jokes aside, this movie genuinely fucked me up with its meditation on the sacrifices lgbt people needed to make in order to survive

Melancholia

There's something profound in the movie's connection of human cruelty and the destruction of the world, but it just fails for me on every level

Tree of Life

There's something really beautiful and profound in the movie's connection of human empathy and the birth of the universe, but it kinda fails for me on every level

The Master

Joker meets scientology and its an uncomfortable mess that I couldn't look away from

Inside Llewyn Davis

I mostly watched for the star wars meme it got connected to, but its a really great film about an artist accidentally sabotaging himself at every turn