Jake Gittes

Woman in the Dunes (1964) - 8/10. First 90 minutes better than the last 60, with the central relationship more interesting and the narrative still focused on tension rather than resignation, although the way the story ruthlessly snaps shut in the final moments still gives me chills days later. Might love it more on revisit when I know from the start where it's going. Allegory fundamentally pretty perfect, some stunning imagery and music. *Only Angels Have Wings (1939) - 10/10. Fourth complete viewing, not counting all those times I made myself bawl by just watching the first 40 minutes (ending on the piano scene) and that time I spent weeks making Russian subtitles for it, which meant going through every dialogue scene multiple times. "Things are happening awful fast around here," is the key line, and you could say certain things happen too fast, but on the upside there's not a flagging second in the whole two hours and this is such a fully realized, immersive and immediate world it's still exhilarating to be in even when you know every moment by heart. Possibly the best screenplay ever written. *McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) - 8/10. One of those films I feel like I should love more than I do, and this time I warmed up more to its loose-limbed approach (some miraculous moments in the interplay among the supporting cast), on the other hand its genre subversion and anti-capitalist messaging are still overdetermined for my taste (though not "wrong", ofc) and, as in Don't Look Now, it's kind of a shame Julie Christie becomes increasingly sidelined in the second half after making such a great impression in the first. The cinematography may be the most beautiful I've ever seen. *Avalon (1990) - 9/10. A slight downgrade from the perfect 10, one of those cases where you're so awestruck by what a film is doing on first viewing that you quickly stop noticing the seams, which stand out more on revisit. Some overly cute scenes and dialogue that forcefully underlines things instead of just letting them breathe, but still a mostly phenomenal film about Time consuming lives with all their dreams, histories, joys and miseries. One of the most neglected American movies of the past 30 years. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) - 6/10. Inexcusably long, structureless grab-bag of mostly pointlessly manufactured conflicts and overmilked jokes that range from pretty funny to DOA, juuuuuuuust barely saved by its sincerity (there are times when it connects, which is more than can be said for e.g. the craven synthetic bullshit of Yesterday), the occasional well-done comic and/or musical moment (esp. the climactic number) and Stevens and McAdams' performances.

Well that's the best order these last three films could have been ranked in and I didn't actually expect it to happen, so well done.

NO MORE CANNED POSTS (by aa)

The mod establishment can't handle the people's vote I mean for real, though? Whose humorless ass did this?

I predict that a franchise movie will win

All downhill from here.

WITNESS

Shame about the Coens too.

"6 top 15 placements" grow the hell up people.

It's still a universe-introducing fantasy/adventure epic with a large cast rather than a long, quiet and moody sci-fi neo-noir whose effect depends partly on familiarity with a 35-year-old movie. It should be able to perform closer to Fury Road and Tron Legacy unless for whatever reason it just completely fails to connect.

Nope, if they didn't off-handedly mention him clearly nobody here has ever heard of him.

But if Hayes Code is so important there remains the question of what to do with 1) pre-1934 films and 2) non-American films, for which the Code wasn't relevant.

Maybe I'm too rationalist or literal-minded or whatever but I don't get the supposed profundity of Rashomon. It's dudes sitting around moping endlessly over the revelation that (shocker!) people are liars (no it's not about "subjective interpretations" or whatever, the stories told are so radically different it's literally impossible for them to be differing biased views of the same agreed-upon core event) before being rescued from their despair by baby ex machina. Also, it rains, so we all know it's serious.

I am going in super rage mode with Pulp coming in this low

Saw Sholay last year. It was... long.

Don't let yourself get attached to any movie you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you see Heat ranking below #1 on the all-time list, BOT.

Why should we give a fuck about what IMDb users think?

RIP. CJohn will see Tenet on the big screen and then immediately kill theaters worldwide. A fitting end

Problem is they can still be seen even by people who aren't looking for them. But point taken. (And, sure, word on the movie's quality before it's opened is more crucial here than with a big franchise tentpole too.)

Feel like any unconventional release strategy would be more productively used by conventional tentpoles, namely franchise movies and remakes that don't rely on any original plotting and wouldn't really be damaged by spoilers.