Favorite Viewing of The Month?

I gave 3/5 for three first-time viewings this month.

Love Lies Bleeding: This is a pretty nice lesbian noir marred by one stupid scene towards the film's end. I like Kristen Stewart these days.

Marketa Lazarová: A Czechoslovakian film with most of the flaws of the older Eastern European movie, but still works better than it should.

Kill: Brainless Indian action film with a decent amount of blood and gore. The second half is better than the first.

The best rewatch and the best movie I watched last month was...

The Blackcoat's Daughter: Oz Perkins did a wonderful job with his debut; it's so atmospheric and moody. Kiernan Shipka is also great. 4.5/5

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I love Marketa Lazarova.

What flaws are those?

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

It's hard to put those into words. It's just the general feel of the film that unmistakably says that it was made in Eastern Europe at that time. Maybe calling that a flaw is an exaggeration, but as a kid/youth, I saw a lot of stylistically similar stuff on television. It's just a style that generally doesn't appeal to me.

At least Marketa Lazarová does some interesting things like telling the whole story in the chapter titles (I don't think the film would tell a cohesive story at all without them).

Favourite film watched in July: Latcho drom by Tony Gatlif.

My favorite movie of the month is definitely Love Lies Bleeding. Best Neo Noir since You Were Never Really Here.


The stupid scene is But yes, they could've made that a lot more clear, and it adds silliness to the movie that doesn't fit well.


Kristen Stewart gave an excellent performance. She's underrated as an actress.


Now that I think of it, she has bad luck when it comes to being in movies that are undermined by one terrible scene/element.


Twilight


Charlie's Angels


Underwater

The favorite viewing of August was Longlegs. The runner-ups were Exhuma and Maxxxine.

19. The Killing 8.5
18. 3:10 To Yuma 8.5
17. Goodbye Dragon Inn 8.5
15. The Friends of Eddie Coyle 8.5
16. Killer of Sheep 8.75
14. Francis Ha 8.75
13. Ornamental Hairpin 8.75
12. Dragon Inn 8.75
11. Stromboli 8.75
10. A Touch of Zen 9
9. Man With a Movie Camera 9.25
8. La Point Courte 9.25
7. Sanshiro Sugata 9.25
6. Stolen Kisses 9.25
5. The Runner 9.25
4. Alphaville 9.25
3. Anatomy of a Murder 9.5
2. Salt for Svanetia 9.5
1. Taipei Story 9.75

August

Top 5 First Viewings:
1. Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
2. Moonlighting (1982)
3. Sid and Nancy (1986)
4. Betrayal (1983)
5. Reversal of the Fotrune (1990)

Top 5 Performances:
1. Gary Oldman, Sid and Nancy
2. Alfred Molina, Prick Up Your Ears
3. Jeremy Irons, Moonlighting
4. Holly Hunter - The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993)
5. Holly Hunter - Miss Firecracker (1989)

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HEI guys.

My favourite first time viewings:

Blink Twice (2024)
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
Designer Pups (2015)
The Adventures of Snow White and Rose Red (2018)
Black Tuesday (1954)
The Garment Jungle (1957)
Because of Eve (1948)
The Island of Lost Girls (2022)
A Bay of Blood (1971)
The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912)

My favourite rewatches:

Midsommar (2019)
Rocketman (2019)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Triangle (2009)
Broken Arrow (1950)

Sisu (2022)

Enchanted Desna

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Strange Darling

August '24:

As Tears Go By - Wong Kar Wai's debut feature.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn - A swan song for Taiwanese cinema.
Basket Case - A bonkers low budget '80s horror I'd describe as grindhouse Cronenberg.
I Saw the TV Glow - A must-see if you grew up in the '90s and lived in the suburbs. And watched Nickelodeon.