These are my most recent movie reviews. Read more on Letterboxd.
Duke of Burgundy (2014) ****
Lesbian lovers play domination games. It's a bit long for a movie that's pretty much two people and the plot doesn't really develop, but the visuals are superb and carry it to a dream-like conclusion where you aren't sure what's a game and what isn't. This is my third Peter Strickland film after Berberian Sound Studio and In Fabric, and this fits squarely between those two.
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) ****
Denzel is great in this tight and complex noir that quickly raises the stakes and keeps them high. It's also a breakout role for Don Cheadle. This should have been a big movie but I guess period noir wasn't cool in the 90s (until LA Confidential). Great to see director Carl Franklin is still doing some high profile television.
Go (1999) ****
Kind of a low budget Tarantino for teens. It's more straight-forward and less inventive than Pulp Fiction, but has the same "gets crazier as it goes" plot and the three storyline structure was fun. Crazy to think Liman would follow this with Bourne Identity.
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) ****
It's beautifully animated and intriguingly surreal, but the magic world has no rules and it's hard to know what the goals are. This is another animated film where I was thrown by the voice actors. The lead looked like David Bowie but Christian Bale voiced him like Clint Eastwood. I was also distracted by Billy Crystal, but having Jean Simmons, Blythe Danner, and L Bacall made up for it.
Claydream (2021) ***
Doc about Will Vinton's life building his Claymation empire only to lose it all to Nike. Provides a great overview of Vinton's career and it's great to see something about animation that isn't Disney. He did a lot more than singing raisins.
Rolling Thunder Revue (2019) ***
I'm not a huge Bob Dylan fan and only watched this because Scorsese directed it. It's primarily about a tour Dylan did in the seventies and there's not a lot of context explaining its significance or why it's only surfacing 40 years later, but the performances are great, Dylan is an intense performer and is well-spoken in the interviews. I can kind of start to understand the fan worship, but this is not the best introduction to Dylan and it's very long.
Devil in a Blue Dress