A phenomenally fun, stylish adventure with great Jack Black lead. The gags are a bit too repetitive, but the world building is amazing
Category: Legacy
Mumblecore patient zero, prototyping all the charm of the subgenre (a rich emotional texture conveyed through subtext of meandering, often improvised dialogue), all its off-putting traits (not much of a plot; characters of dubious likeability; threadbare production values), and its blunt naturalism. Honestly, it feels so pure and original in its vision of older-millennial young adulthood ennui in a way that plenty later in the genre feel phoned in. Aesthetically uncompromising and anchored by Kate Dollenmayer’s excellent performance, Funny Ha Ha kicked mumblecore off right.
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The Apartment (1960)
I adore Shirley MacLaine, so much of the writing, and the production. Sad holiday vibes are some of the best on film. I really felt a bit of a stumble in the dark middle act twist, which is dramatically intriguing but narratively a momentum-killer for the screwball pace the film had built. So I’m just a bit ambivalent, but still enraptured. On a rewatch maybe this is a Masterpiece candidate.
Epitomizes the strengths and weaknesses of Swanberg’s approach. Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt are excellent, and extract so much character and emotional heft from a lightweight plot. But if you care about story as anything beyond metaphor, you will be so frustrated about every thread, but especially the big hole they’re digging. “When are they going to get to the fireworks factory!?”
Check out that cast though: Brie Larson! Anna Kendrick! Orlando Bloom! Sam Rockwell! Holy shit!
On a whim last night, I watched Drinking Buddies (2013), based solely on the cast: Jake Johnson (one of my favorite current comic actors), Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston. I dug it way more than I expected — it’s about two friends with romantic chemistry who work together at a brewery. It’s unquestionably a product of the mumblecore movement: naturalism is the name of the game, and I’d venture a guess large bits of dialogue improvised. The key for these kinds of movies is cast chemistry, and it’s terrifically here. I found myself relating to all four main characters at various points. (I also thought it depicted the craft brewing scene, and how it fosters casual alcoholism, perfectly.)
The outcome is something special. It doesn’t hit the beats at the cadence you expect. With lots of dialogue and flirting, there’s this huge unpredictable cauldron of tension and romantic possibility.
And the movie is very well-shot and -edited, to boot.
If I must complain about something, the ending is a bit of a fizzle, too kind and gentle for what I felt it was building towards (Kendrick’s character, in particular, seems unrealistically wholesome if we take her confessions at face value).
Best-ever sense of flight and space and size, paired with a fairly serious story and touching dragon-boy bonding. Brilliant score. Transcends some of the dumb YA side characters/points. One of my favorite animated movies ever.
Beautiful Girls is a movie I probably would have loved if not for the wart on its ass.
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D.O.A. (1949)
Reviewed and rated on the podcast
Pixar as the thoughtful and emotional epicenter of animation is back, at least for a film. This is one I really need to see again to rate where it lands in the Pixar pantheon, but I can say for sure I really liked it in spite of its Pete Docter quirks (which don’t seem to bother anyone else, so whatever).
