November 2017 Viewing Log

  1. The Void (17, B): N/A – 11/1/17
  2. Meet Me in St. Louis (44, B+):  Garland emerges the gem of an ensemble, the shining sun of a star vehicle, and the co-director of the film. – 11/6/17
    1. Colorful, warm, romantic, and with great reservoirs of feeling. Little dated, but a lovely, lovely experience
  3. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (17, C): Cool vicious/funny tone bro. It’d be nice if anything, like, actually happened? – 11/8/17 (review)
  4. Nocturama (17, B+): Elliptical with narrative, opaque with characters, slick in production, unflinching with violence. Hypnotic. – 11/9/17
  5. Drag Me To Hell (09, B): Useless leads barely hinder this tautly made story, especially when the scares are this good. – 11/9/17
  6. Michael Clayton (07, B): Stays slick, ambitious, and captivating, even when it stumbles with key elements. Tilda!!! – 11/10/17
  7. The Villainess (17, B): Somehow grows even more narratively bonkers, vividly in service of its protagonist, with a firm grasp on her convoluted story. – 11/12/17
  8. Wonderstruck (17, B+): Astounding number of gambits, for cinema and for Haynes specifically. Brilliant when everything clicks. – 11/13/17
    1. I agree it’s his least good film, but the rest are perfect, and this beats a lot of what 2017 has offered. Well made, majestic, and emotionally sweeping.
  9. Now, Voyager (42, A-): Full-blooded romance that gives full view to its heroine’s psychology and loves. Conviction gives creaks flourishing heart. – 11/14/17
  10. Murder, My Sweet (44, B+):  Dialogue sizzles, plot hums, cuts buzz. Powell a fine avatar. Great by Chandler, outdone by other ‘44 noirs. – 11/15/17
  11. Beach Rats (17, B): Dickinson captivatingly holds the film together, even as the script peters in last third. Stunningly shot. – 11/16/17
    1. I’m not sure how to describe the mood from watching the lead in Beach Rats get his head shaved but I just feel bad about it
  12. Lady Bird (17, B+):  Love without romance, full but something’s missing. We’re almost there, right? Or did we miss it? – 11/18/17
    1. So authentically teenaged in its emotions, yet Gerwig sees everyone with maturity. Hits you with melancholy and warmth with such ease
  13. Atomic Blonde (17, B+): Easily one of the best made films of the year. And one of the most endlessly watchable. And so much fucking fun. – 11/18/17
  14. Whose Streets? (17, A-): Vital and alive, bursting with history in motion. Only grows on repeat viewing. How is this not sweeping? – 11/21/17
  15. Daphne (17, C+): Imagine Julia in a low, quotidian, still-messy key. Beecham’s fine, but there’s barely a film for her character to exist in. – 11/21/17
  16. Heal the Living (17, A- (now a B/B+)): Loosely structured, with formal panache and emotional sensitivity. Images and colors unlike anything this film year has produced. Not big, but full. – 11/22/17
  17. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (17, B- (now a C/C-)): Emblem of every “I admire the ambition but the execution is wonky” film I’ve seen this year. – 11/22/17
    1. Ferocious morals keep getting dragged down by a weird soundtrack, inconsistent cast. Tonal jumps don’t always work, but it’s got real conviction
  18. Murder on the Orient Express (17, C):As plush, (over)elegant, stuffy, and bloodless as ads make it look. Cast underutilized. – 11/22/17
  19. Hermia y Helena (17, B-): Featherlight and easy to watch, length makes it just airy. Hopscotch structure occasionally iffy. – 11/23/17
  20. Strong Island (17, B): Meditative, almost novelistic rumination, on a brother’s murder, a city’s failure, a family’s fallout. – 11/24/17
  21. Patti Cake$ (17, A-): You’ve seen this kind of story, but not *this* story, these characters, this community. Fresh as hell. – 11/25/17
  22. Crown Heights (17, C+/B-):  There’s an angrier indictment to be found here but this is still a potent, personal, and well-told story. – 11/25/17
  23. The Florida Project (17, B): Colorful layout, emotional claims go far, but strained in places. End brings it together. – 11/27/17
  24. The Birds (63, B): N/A – 11/30/17
  25. Mudbound (17, B-): Fleeter and less full in some parts than I expected, but an ambitious and mighty experience throughout. – 11/31/17

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