The Happiest Girl in the World is a simple, linear film taking place in one day and mostly one location. Despite its humility, I was on its comic and dramatic wavelength for most of its runtime, and got a pretty big kick out of it.
Author: Dan Stalcup
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Snow Day (2000)
(Note 12/2022: I just want to say that the following review soft-pedals my affection for this movie. I will write something more effusive someday.)
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The Godfather (1972)
I fear that I will never again be able to watch The Godfather with fresh eyes or a sense of wonder.
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Let the Summer Never Come Again (2017)
This is the hardest time I’ve had slapping a rating on a movie in a long time, for the simple reason that I love its ambition and capital-V Vision, but can’t stand what it’s doing with those things.
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The Departed (2006)
The Departed is simultaneously ridiculous and exciting — a potent combination for a watchable movie, but not necessarily a great one.
Valerie Taylor is an Australian marine conservationist, and her story is a pretty compelling one. First a competitive spearfisher, then a Hollywood consultant (including on Jaws!), then a public advocate for shark protection, she is the subject of TONS of archival footage of swimming and interacting with sharks, and now’s our chance to enjoy it all.
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Bye Bye Africa (1999)
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s debut film is a peculiar hybrid of drama and documentary. Haroun, playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself, returns from France to his homeland Chad upon hearing of his mother’s passing. While there, he bemoans a crumbling local cinema and ponders creating a film to capture the spirit of his home nation.
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Encanto (2021)
Chalk at least some of my affection to low expectations and hater spite.
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Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Scene 1: Three scoundrels wait at a train station at the end of the world.
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Jean-Pierre’s Mouth (1996)
Mercifully short and non-exploitative, Lucile Hadžihalilović‘s debut is claustrophobic and tense and well-crafted. The film’s sense of dread never boils over into outright terror, but it’s nonetheless a fairly haunting little piece.