The World to Come, A Taste of Hunger, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Beau is Afraid, Asteroid City

- The World to Come [2020] - 82
To very succinctly summarize this film, one only has to look to Portrait of a Lady on Fire and call this a lesser version of that. Where Portrait is subtle, destroyingly wonderful, and heavy, The World to Come is obvious, clear, and heavy-handed. Double-check my score after reading that, because this is a good movie and I enjoyed it a lot. The presentation is great, the performances are great, the theme is engaging… it’s all just a bit obvious. Which, if you don’t mind that, won’t disrupt you in the slightest. I don’t regret any of my time with this film, it’s just difficult not to compare it to something a little stronger.

- A Taste of Hunger [2021] - 83
This is an excellent example of a film that could actually do with being slightly longer. Usually my critique is the opposite, but A Taste of Hunger would have greatly benefitted from a little more context and a little more complexity. That said, this is a pretty great movie with some excellent performances, cinematography, production design, and editing. While I do think the entire focus of the film could have been shifted to another character for added impact, as is, the script is very strong and very engaging… It just flounders a bit on the ending.

- Raiders of the Lost Ark [1981] - 88
It has been many, many years since I’ve watched any of the Indian Jones movies. Interest in this one was reignited after a friend found a video detailing the interesting noir-style cinematography present in the series and how watching them in black-and-white accentuates that style. So, we watched this in b/w and… yeah, it absolutely looks like something from the 40’s when viewed in that way. The monochrome filter has a really interesting effect of simultaneously dating and up-dating the film in a way that doesn’t make it seem 40-years old at all… except for the blatant misogyny inherent in the script that is. That contextual blunder aside [though reflected in my rating], Raiders is a really excellent adventure film that, in my experience has never been topped and only vaguely rivaled by the Uncharted series of video games. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen this, I recommend both watching it and setting your TV to black-and-white.

- Beau is Afraid [2023] - 83
While not the weirdest movie I’ve ever watched, Beau is Afraid gets real damn close. What’s particularly interesting about this film [besides all of it] is that, despite its weirdness, despite its 3-hour runtime, and despite its genuinely upsetting/ unsettling nature, I was never bored. I never wondered how much time was left and I never wanted any part of it to end. This is an interesting observation considering that my main critique is that each individual part felt a little too long… but I think that wacky contradiction fits well within the confines of this trip. Beau is the rare “weird” film that manages to have a meaningful plot, depict it through strange and somewhat obtuse images, and construe its meaning clearly enough for the audience to understand without dissecting every frame [looking at you The Green Knight, get it together]. While there is information to be gleaned through that kind of dissection here, it isn’t necessary and I think that’s both interesting and impressive.

Beau is Afraid is a clear evolution of Ari Aster’s filmmaking and one that show’s his acclaim within the genre is rightfully earned. I’m thinking about doing a full review on this, it would just have to be… long.

- Asteroid City [2023] - 66
In fine contrast to Beau is Afraid, Wes Anderson’s new movie Asteroid City feels like a 3-hour film because it’s largely absent of any sort of plot, intrigue, or meaning. The film is absolutely stunning to look at, superbly acted, and very enjoyable to be a part of… but is one of Anderson’s weakest stories yet. In the coming weeks I’ll be taking a dive through his entire catalogue to get a sense of what I think of his work as an entire body, but what I see with Asteroid is that he simply needs a stronger editor, or that he needs to not be directing the same things he writes. With a proper story, Asteroid City’s visuals would have aided in a deeply meaningful world. With the story as written… it’s even more empty than the desert surrounding that fictitious town.