Was saving it for a scavenger hunt

I'm a little late, my week 1 pick!

liked it, saw the vision but wasn't fully on board with the execution.

boxd.it/vuNPW

Week 2

Harakiri (1962)

boxd.it/vvsuK$Q4zTwqDI4tnnPjIj

Classic

WEEK 2: The Godfather Saga

Kinda a spliced version that still works very well despite re-ordering the movies chronologically and adding some cool cut scenes.
Seeing Vito coming-up and Michael rising-up are tales that never age, wit' both coming up in terms with their power hungry, corrupted archetypes. Overall glued together like that makes the rollercoaster even more lively from the unforgettable, bloody Baptism scene to "It was you, Fredo" poignant moment.
Loved how in episode four (part two) the lightning became more gloomy despite being set in Florida/Cuba whenever the scene revolved around Mike. Forgot Dominic Chianese was in the cast lmao, and Don Fanucci's actor was in the classic comedy "Amici Miei" as well.
Overall I found the two stories pretty much par but I can hold The Godfather Two higher because the many ambiguities behind his plot.
Few issues with the series overall: the female cast is paper thin, except for maybe Connie in part four? I wish Hyman Roth and Moe Green presence was more prominent despite that cut scene where young Vito set him in.
Overall it made me thirsty for a last episode after the events of Godfather II where Tommy and Mikey were pitted against each other, with maybe Connie trynna leechin' like a snake from Michael finances even more aggressively like it was previewed before. Pity it never materialized and what we got was a shadow of what could have been...

Week 2: The Last Detail (1973)

thought this was solid, Nicholson is owning the screen but Randy Quaid is really good in this too. just a nice time really, I see where The Holdover's inspiration came from.

Week 2

Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996, born in 1998)

man, don’t know how I missed this one growing up. this was some dark s*** lmao the soundtrack was elite and the animation was insane. going to try and knock out remaining disney renaissance films I haven’t watched.

sidenote: I love when animated movies had a r&b cut in the credits, they always hit different lol

Fire

Yes. The Holdovers is a riff of Hal Ashby flicks

Rear Window

Week 2: Wings of Desire (1987)

really enjoyed Perfect Days and was unfamiliar with Wenders' work so I wanted to give this a shot. philosophical film about two angels who observe humanity. from a filmmaking perspective it was really impressive. the cinematography especially created this ethereal omnipresence that made it a really unique and beautiful film. was light on story tho and frankly the long scenes of dialogue were a bit too much for me towards the middle but the ending was well done and the acting was excellent throughout. definitely a film you gotta be in the right mood to enjoy tho

7.5/10

Week 2:

First time watching, I went in blind. This movie gets off to a quick start with them getting their case early on and it keeps the momentum going with a tight script. Even the slower moments like them keeping watch on a target was entertaining enough. The whole movie is basically them tailing their target.

The story of the real case the movie is based on and the making of the movie are just as interesting as the movie tbh. Their guerilla style of filmmaking made it look like a documentary and the infamous chase scene lives up to the hype. They’re wild for filming that in real traffic

EDIT: I just realized the second paragraph contradicts my “going in blind” claim lol. I promise I didn’t look it up till after. Didn’t even know it was based on a real case till the where are they now credits

I LOVE THIS MOVIE

The East Berlin club scene does special things to me

Coming to criterion collection in August!
criterion.com/films/30974-real-life

Week 1: Cure (1997), dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa

I'd heard a lot about this movie beforehand, nothing about the plot, just that it was authentically creepy in a truly disturbing way, and that it was excellent. Well, yep. I haven't had a film leave me chilled the way this has in a long time, visuals, ideas, things that you want to shake off after you've seen them. I love the sincere amount of mystery in this thing, there's so much that's unsaid, unexplained, left to sit in your mind and disturb you long after the credits roll.

Kurosawa's direction is impeccable, I'm not a long-take fetishist but the way he uses them here is perfect, early on you're aware that anything could happen in this movie, and the lingering static shots feel threatening, always hinting that things could get very dark at any point. The performances were fantastic across the board, I was stunned to realise after watching that the lead actor was also the lead in Perfect Days, what range! The sound design was authentically dream-like, there's this quality to the film that feels unmoored from reality, the score rarely calls attention to the disturbing visuals, instead there's a recurring contrast where the most horrible scenes are presented objectively, without comment, stirring up a deeply sick, wrong feeling in the pit of your stomach.

There were some aspects that I wasn't as interested in, some aspects of the plot weren't as compelling to me as the overall mood of the thing, but this is a fantastic horror film that really leaves an impact on you, feeling more like an unexplainable nightmare than any horror I've ever seen, I'd recommend it to anybody.

4/5

The picks for week 2 have been

Real Life, Wings of Desire, and The Last Detail been added to my watch list

everybody in here watching HEATTTTT

Yeah this sxn of scavenger hunt already fuego

Kino is alive

Week 2: The Passenger, 1975

very well shot, beautiful locations

Week 2 - Truck Turner (1974)

steezy 70s blaxploitation flick. Highly entertaining, humor's great too. Full of top tier performances, but Nichelle Nichols steals the show. If u like older action & buddy cop films, def check it out.

boxd.it/vAwtw

Isaac Hayes really is de mon, super talented :datass:

can’t wait to cook for week 3 - forgot to include my letterboxd in my week 2 post but I will for week 3

Week 3