Movie Notes

Adaptation (2002)
Watched: 1/21/22. How Much I Recommend It: 90%
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman was hired to adapt a book into a movie. He completely ignored the assignment and wrote a movie about himself. It was so good they made the movie anyway.

Being John Malkovich (1999)
Watched: 1/14/22. How Much I Recommend It: 95%
There’s a portal that lets people become actor John Malkovich. If that sounds interesting to you, watch this movie. If it sounds stupid to you, you’re probably right, but watch it anyway.

Nightcrawler (2014)
Watched: 8/13/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 70%
Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is a sociopath cameraman. He makes a series of terrible decisions, leading to some interesting outcomes.

Prisoners (2013)
Watched: 7/19/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 75%
A well put-together high-drama thriller, but some of its effectiveness comes from over-exploiting basic human emotions like the love of a parent for their children.

Rear Window (1954)
Watched: 4/20/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 70%
Rear Window has some of the greatest filmography and set design of all time, but there’s not much mystery to the mystery.

Your Name (君の名は) (2016)
Watched: 2/26/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 80%
The world-class visuals and genuine human emotion carry the serviceable plot and overworked symbolism.

Oldboy (2003)
Watched: 1/22/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 70%
A stylish, shocking, and overly contrived Korean revenge flick.

Trainspotting (1996)
Watched: 1/15/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 70%
Aggressively Scottish heroin addicts get into some shenanigans. Inconsistent tone and pacing.

Before Sunrise (1995)
Watched: 1/7/2021. How Much I Recommend It: 80%
A short romance – sweet and deceptively simple.

Coherence (2013)
Watched: 12/2/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
The story of the a very strange dinner party. Apparently the actors didn’t know the plot or genre of the movie while they were filming. I’d recommend watching it in the same way: without knowing anything about it.

TENET (2020)
Watched: 11/27/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 65%
Christopher Nolan’s newest movie is engaging and interesting. But it’s unforgivable to have so much cliched writing and nonsensical characterization in such an over-produced boondoggle of a movie.

Baby Driver (2017)
Watched: 11/20/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 70%
If “heist musical” sounds interesting to you, this one is worth a watch. Brilliantly choreographed and edited, but eventually crosses the line between highly-stylized and ridiculous.

American Psycho (2000)
Watched: 10/23/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 55%
A well-filmed but bizarrely acted and edited movie that ultimately doesn’t say very much about anything.

Casablanca (1942)
Watched: 10/16/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 95%
It’s always satisfying when a “classic” film lives up to its reputation.

The Pianist (2003)
Watched: 10/4/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 90%
The title character, a Polish Jew, survives the Holocaust not by heroism but by luck; any one person is powerless against the senseless cruelty of human institutions.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Watched: 9/17/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
I might have been the last person on Earth who hadn’t seen this movie – glad I got around to it eventually. A nice enough plot, but the dialogue is what shines.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Watched: 8/13/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
There have been a lot of World War II movies, but none quite like this one. The tense moments in particular are executed beautifully. Christopher Waltz’s character is a highlight.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Watched: 7/27/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 80%
The story of a robbery gone wrong, filmed on such a low budget that you never really see much of the actual robbery. Seeing Tarantino work under constraints is a highlight.

Misery (1990)
Watched: 7/25/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
It’s nice to see a movie that doesn’t try to do too much. It’s even better that the actors and concept are so good that it doesn’t have to.

Palm Springs (2020)
Watched: 7/24/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 75%
Groundhog Day with more sci-fi and Andy Samberg, and with less cohesiveness and romantic chemistry.

The Social Network (2010)
Watched: 7/10/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 90%
When this movie was released, Facebook was much less evil than it is today; the liberties taken to make Mark Zuckerberg look like a jerk have aged beautifully. I’ve never noticed the sound design of a movie until this one. Everything is just so neatly done.

Hamilton (2020)
Watched: 7/4/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 90%
I can’t say anything about Hamilton that hasn’t already been said, other than that when I watched the show on Broadway, it was my favorite work of art I had ever seen. In the live version, you can always see the entire stage. In comparison, the movie version is over-produced, with a few too many close-ups and cuts.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Watched: 7/2/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
The first movie I’ve ever seen that perfectly captures the feeling of reading a comic book. The plot, while basic, is serviceable and occasionally surprising. But the main attractions are the intricate technicolor animation and the accompanying soundtrack of contemporary music woven into orchestral themes.

V for Vendetta (2005)
Watched: 6/21/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 70%
Phantom of the Opera meets 1984. Solid as an action/thriller movie, less so as a political movie. It’s satisfying to watch someone blow up the system, but it’s a lot easier to destroy than it is to build.

Marriage Story (2019)
Watched: 6/9/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 90%
Slow burn of a movie. The pacing pays off in the few scenes where the emotion peaks, driven by great acting from the leads. Hit me hard even as an unmarried guy – if you relate to the story, I can’t imagine how intense it would be.

Seven Psychopaths (2012)
Watched: 5/29/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 90%.
It’s enormously goofy and maybe a bit too self-referential, but there are so many fun ideas, cool characters, and awesome moments. Plus I love Colin Farrell.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Watched: 5/22/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 65%
Seemed like a waste of a Tarantino movie. It’s a fine action film, but there are enough action movies out there. Tarantino is great at characters and dialogue, which are less important in Kill Bill than in his other films. I’m guessing that if you knew more about the samurai genre and the references he’s making, you would like it more than I did.

Upstream Color (2013)
Watched: 5/15/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 50%.
A stylistically interesting but ultimately pointless movie. Seems like it’s trying to fool viewers into thinking there’s some “deeper” meaning by being intentionally vague.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
Watched: 4/25/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
Absolute classics. There are so many things to love, from the music to the beautiful scenery to the characters. I only wish that Frodo’s heroism came through more clearly.

Lost in Translation (2003)
Watched: 4/17/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 90%
Nothing much happens, but it’s beautiful. “Let’s never come here again, ’cause it would never be as much fun.”

American Beauty (1999)
Watched: 4/10/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 85%
Parts of this film have obviously not aged well. But the central theme of the absurdity of modern American life is still relevant and well-done.

Waking Life (2001)
Watched: 4/3/2020. How Much I Recommend It: 95%
Have you ever woken up from a dream with some brilliant thought that you couldn’t quite hold on to? This movie is that feeling. Beautiful art style. Philosophical, without being too preachy or self-indulgent.