Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2024 Edition

Here we go again! This is the thread where I will post details and reviews of my personal movie challenge where I gather a monthly "loot" of films based on a different set of criteria, combined with updates from my podcast, The Movie Loot.

Been doing this type of challenge for a good while now, but this is the second year (at least as far as the podcast's concerned), where I'm choosing only five (5) categories per month, along with a guest, so we can talk about those in a monthly episode.

Without further ado, here are the criteria for FEBRUARY 2024:

A film from an African-American director (Black History Month): American Fiction
A film nominated for Best Picture or Best International Feature in the upcoming Oscars: Oppenheimer, Barbie
A film from Vincente Minnelli (born February 28): The Band Wagon
A film set in prehistoric times (World Anthropology Day, February 15): Iceman
A film from Tracey Deer (born February 28): Club Native

Other films seen, not for the challenge:

Pixar short films: Red's Dream, Luxo Jr., One Man Band, The Blue Umbrella, Day & Night, Boundin', The Legend of Mor'du, George and A.J., Sanjay's Super Team
Neo-noir films: Tightrope, Nightcrawler, La Haine, Body Heat, Le Cercle Rouge, Sin City
Other watches: Avengers: Infinity War, Resilience, The Fly, Robin Hood

For anybody curious, here are the threads for previous years: 2021, 2022, and 2023. Once again, I will continue with 5 films per month, which gives me some space to catch up on other "freebies" without being so strict.

I will also continue to use the thread to post new episodes of my podcast, which you can find on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and any audio/podcast platform.

Anyway, anybody is welcome to offer recommendations for any category, and anybody is welcome to join in the challenge and watch films with me. Let's loot!

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Links to the loots of past months

January 2024 • February 2024 • March 2024 • April 2024 • May 2024 • June 2024 • July 2024 • August 2024 • September 2024 • October 2024 • November 2024 • December 2024

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Just for kicks, here is a kinda comprehensive list of everything I saw during last year: a total of 195 films; a smidge less than the 200 I saw in 2022. Anyway, here it is...























Rewatches are in blue, short films in red, rewatched short films in purple.

I already started the year with a bunch of short films so I will add those reviews soon.

That's how Variety magazine described this Disney short back in 1928; a description that actually fits the short to a T. Plane Crazy follows Mickey Mouse adventures and mishaps with a plane. With the short entering the public domain in 2024, I thought it would be a fitting start to my movie-watching year.

As is usual with many animated short films, especially these very early ones, the story in Plane Crazy is quite simple. Mickey wants to be like Charles Lindbergh so he and other animals build a plane. When it crashes on the test flight, Mickey decides to build another one with some unorthodox parts. When it's done, he takes Minnie on his first flight.

All of those things offer directors Disney and Ub Iwerks ample chance to create some cool animated setpieces, especially for the time being. I thought the scene when the plane is trying to take off and its running down a road was beautifully animated, and to think it was done by hand? That just makes it more amazing.

There are a couple of scenes that you know were done just to showcase animation, "Look how much we can put in one panel". But I suppose that was common at that time. The truth is that even at 96 years, Plane Crazy manages to be an effective and funny animated short. I saw it with my two kids and they loved it, and laughed all the way through. Much like Variety said, snappy, nonsensical, and fitting.

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A "zori" is a Japanese type of sandal or flip-flop. An essential piece of clothing if you live in the tropics. That is why, when Labro (Maxter Tarkwon) loses one of his, his grandmother gives him the above ultimatum as she sends him out to clean "everywhere".

This short from Marshall Islands, follows the efforts of the kid to find his missing "zori", all while he completes his daily chore of cleaning up. In the process, he picks up different items that he considers valuable and spark his imagination. If he does well, the promise of eating some ice cream lies ahead.

This is evidently a very simple short film. The performances aren't great and the editing feels amateurish. However, despite its simplicity, there seems to be heart put into it and there's a charm to Tarkwon's performance. Directors Suzanne Chutaro and Jack Niedenthal also have a good sense of blocking and framing their shots.

There might not be much to this other than a poor kid looking for a flip-flop, but deep down, there's a lesson about putting effort into something and learning to make do with what you can find. Who knows? It might be enough for an ice cream and a proud grandmother.

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That is how Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista) describes the book "The Power and the Glory" to little girl friend Ella. But he might very well be talking about him. You see, Morton is a replicant trying to lay low in a world where his "species" has been outlawed. Seen by many as a "robot", Morton seems to be trying to reconcile what he was created to be with how he really feels about himself, and sometimes that understanding comes at the very last moment.

2048: Nowhere to Run is a prequel to Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. Set a year before the events from that film, it adds some more layers to the character of Morton. His presence on that film might've been short, but really leaves a mark. This short gives Bautista a bit more chance to broaden his acting skills, and he really delivers as far as body language and non-verbal acting goes.

Although the true show is Bautista, the direction from Luke Scott, son of Ridley, is effective. For a casual viewer, it might not do that much, but for fans of both the original Blade Runner and/or the sequel, this short really conveys the struggle of these so-called "machines" and their moral questionings.

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Did not know these BR2049 shorts existed until now...thanks for the exposure!

You're welcome! That's the purpose of this. If you check this one out, let me know what you think.

Did you ever see the "Blackout" short, though?

No, this is the only one of the BR2049 shorts I've seen. Need to check out the others.

Watched 2036 Nexus Dawn and 2048 Nowhere to Run and enjoyed both. I might watch the anime one eventually, but that art form is generally not my cup of tea.

But Watanabe directed it, though!

That's the assurance that Grace (Dorothy Bernard), a telegraph operator, gives her co-worker when they find out they'll be handling a delivery of $2,000 from the bank. But of course, danger does lurk around as a couple of tramps plan to steal the money, putting Grace in the middle of danger.

This 15-minute short film is directed by D.W. Griffith who, three years later, would go on to direct The Birth of a Nation. Even though this one might lack the technical prowess and influence of the latter, it is still memorable and most certainly easy to digest. The film is fun and thrilling, and has some neat camera movement in its last act.

Also, it was nice to see a female character that, even with limitations, has some sort of agency and strength. Even though by the end, something did happen and she does end up as the damsel-in-distress, she still holds her own through most of the run.

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I've checked out the threads for previous years and your podcast, and I'm impressed by your dedication and enthusiasm for film. It's a unique and intriguing way to approach movie watching, and I'm sure it leads to some interesting discoveries and discussions.

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Thanks for reading and listening. It is indeed a fun way to approach what I watch, and it keeps things interesting.

That is what the narrator of the story claims, as he starts to tell his story; a story about despair and hope, lies and truth, life and death, and ultimately loneliness and love. A love that he discovers in the verge of suicide, through a chance encounter with a little girl.

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is a Russian animated short film based in the short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It follows this narrator, who is determined to take his own life, until he falls into a hallucinatory dream that reveals things about life and himself that he thought had been lost forever.

But putting aside the nature of the story, I think the most interesting thing about this short film is its look. Petrov uses a technique called paint-on-glass animation, which results in some beautiful and impressive visuals. The way the animation flows is so unique that I think it's worth watching to any fan of animation.

I've never read Dostoevsky's original novel, but I know some about it. It seems that Petrov used an abridged approach to this short film, leaving out a good chunk of what the man dreams of. Still, the main principle is there, and that is to love others as you love yourself. Nothing else is needed.

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Shallow Grave follows a trio of flatmates in Edinburgh that find themselves in over their heads when their new mysterious flatmate ends up dead, leaving behind a suitcase full of money. The friends then start sinking deeper into deceit and betrayal as they try to figure out the cost of their actions, while both police and criminals start closing in on them. Is the suitcase full of money enough?

Danny Boyle's debut features Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, and Kerry Fox as the three friends. Their performances are all good, with maybe McGregor being the most fun to watch. His role as the callous and cynical Alex is perhaps the more colorful also, but he does a pretty good job. Eccleston, on the other hand, has the biggest arc as David, who goes from shy and introverted to paranoid and unhinged.

Although everything sounds dead serious, the film is a really nice mixture of dark humor with some thrills, anchored by the cast's interactions and performances. The way they balance both the horrors and the stupidity of their actions is great, while Boyle throws a couple of nice twists to the story. All through, you're never sure who's going to hold and who's going to break; all designed to keep you guessing what is the actual cost of all of this on their lives.

One trait of neo-noir that I read a while ago was that, whereas in film noir there's a mystery, in neo-noir, the main character *IS* the mystery, which I think applies to all three leads here. There is no mystery; we know what happened and how. The mystery is in how these characters will react and where things will fall for each of them in the end. Turns out that nobody knows the cost... yet.

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That's how 11-year-old Julia tries to reassure her father, Kristian (Kristoffer Joner), that everything's going to be alright. Still traumatized by the events of the disastrous tsunami that he survived three years ago in The Wave, Kristian has been unable to put back the pieces of his life. He's estranged from his family and living in seclusion in Geiranger, while his family lives in Oslo. But turns out that disasters do "follow" him as he realizes that a major quake might hit the city.

The Wave was a pleasant surprise when I saw it back in 2020. The way that the film managed to build dread and tension around this upcoming tsunami was rather good, and the family drama that was in the middle was well portrayed by the cast, especially Joner, who does a solid job transmitting both the desperation and bravery of the "unlikely hero". The Quake is not so different in how its built, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The best thing the film does is to put the focus on the characters and let us feel the consequences. Once again, Kristoffer Joner does a good job conveying the trauma and the guilt of his character, but also the determination that comes after to fix things. This is no The Rock or Stallone, but Joner makes you believe he's the person to stick to. His relationship with his family feels real, and the addition of Marit (Kathrine Thorborg Johansen), the daughter of a recently deceased colleague, is welcome.

Like with The Wave, the build up to the actual earthquake is effective. Everything that is happening keeps you on edge. My main complaint is that the film feels like it lacks a third act. There are some really thrilling and terrifying setpieces once the earthquake hits, especially as Kristian is trying to save Julia, who's on the top floor of a hotel. But once that is resolved, which felt like a middle act, the film concludes. I think that there could've been one or two more setpieces to properly round things up.

Despite that, The Quake succeeds on the strength of its cast, a competent story behind the disaster, and skilled direction. Kristian and his family are easy to root for, and the actual "disaster" moments work. But it is the family dynamics which separates this from other similar films. It's the kind of thing you want to see a bit more of, so let's see how many other disasters "follow" them.

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Encyclopedia Britannica defines the term "family" as "a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption". One of those comes by chance, the other two by choice. Some can be big, some can be little. And sometimes, families can be broken, also by chance or by choice. It's up to each family member to do their part in order for the family unit to succeed, blood or adopted, big or little, broken or not.

Lilo & Stitch presents an unconventional family unit, united by blood but broken by tragedy, in young Lilo (Daveigh Chase) and her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere). With their parents dead in a car accident, Nani struggles in taking care of Lilo, who seems to be handling the trauma by acting out at school. Things get more complicated, when they stumble upon Stitch (Chris Sanders), a seemingly aggressive alien that has escaped from its planet.

Obviously, Lilo and Stitch form an unlikely bond as they both help each other cope with their respective issues and traumas. It is through this bonding that they both learn to control their behavior while forming their "ohana" or extended family. It is in this concept of a broken little "family", united by choice, that the film really got to me. It is Stitch itself who says the above quote where he proclaims his choice and desire for this family unit to work.

As the parent in my own "broken little family", I won't deny the fact that this film affected me deeply. Almost five years ago, my wife and I made a choice to grow our family; a choice that has changed our lives completely. There have been a ton of great moments, but also a ton of not so great moments. Those struggles haven't been easy, but I like to think that our "broken little family" is "still good".

I saw this with my two kids a couple of weeks ago and the more I think of it, the more I fall in love with it. They also seemed to like it, and I've made a point of reminding them often what "ohana" means, to which they respond "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten”. They were once "left behind" and "forgotten", so I pray that reassurance of not being "left behind or forgotten" ever again gets to them, and that even if our family is "little, and broken", it is "still good".

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Was this your first time watching Lilo & Stitch?

It's such a charming movie and a big favorite of mine.

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