Category: Legacy

Categories
Capsule Legacy

Trojan War (1997)

Major segments of this are racist and/or problematic.

BUT! I found this really funny and charming (albeit horny) teen comedy. Will Friedle has awesome comic chops. I love him as a lead. Jennifer Love-Hewitt is a smokeshow and has awesome chemistry with Friedle. I love “one epic night” type stories — it heightens and literalizes the teenage experience of everything seeming to happen at once.

(Plus romances where best friends end up falling in love is one of my favorite tropes, so I’m probably overrating this a little.)

Categories
Capsule Legacy

Back to the Future (1985)

The ultimate “blockbuster” movie for my money. Great cast, great premise, ultra-tight script where even the smallest details get a payoff down the line, a soaring score… There’s something exquisite watching all components of the movie-making process come together into a satisfying whole.

The cherry on top is that the precision and color of its contemporary details makes it feel like an inadvertent “period piece” — the movie just feels 1980s in its slang, fashion, and aesthetic.

One of my favorites.

Categories
Capsule Legacy

Ratatouille (2007)

One of Brad Bird’s and Pixar’s best films — and that’s saying something in both cases. The story of an unlikely chef with a great gift being the literal symbol of filth is mined for all its potent power, and the payoff of Anton Ego embracing the titular dish is one of my favorite moments in any movie. It has all the sense of danger and visual power to not let you forget that you’re in the perspective of a street-roaming pest. Masterpiece.

Categories
Podcast Rating Legacy Deprecated Review

Suspiria (1977) – 2020 Capsule

Note: This capsule has been superseded by a full-length review.

Visually, Suspiria is a stunner. One of the most striking uses of color I’ve ever seen, with lighting that illuminates every tinted surface of every space we see. The soundtrack is disorienting weirdness too: a ringing, whispering drone.

The script and pacing, on the other hand, have some hiccups that really pulled me out: The weird U-turn of exposition when Suzy meets the psychologist and professor is jarring, and the apocalyptic ending lasts all of 30 seconds, with the credits rolling just when I was getting into it.

Reviewed on The Goods in our first episode here

Edit: This is my first movie since I started logging and reviewing again during the pandemic. It’s also the first movie I discussed on my podcast with Brian. In other words, this is the moment I officially launched my return to film criticism, so this specific film will forever hold a special place in my heart.