Matthew’s Letterboxd Watchlist
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
I finally caved to watching this on a family recommendation, but I ended up fairly disappointed. There’s some interesting ideas in this – the distinction between being a bodyguard or an assassin as what’s good/bad right/wrong when it’s involving bad people was interesting. But overall a pretty ordinary action thing with Samuel L Jackson and Ryan Reynolds getting to deliver their normal styles.
DC Super Hero Girls: Super Hero High
This is the movie that kicks the series off and it’s a shame I watched it last, because it’s an extraordinary introduction to them. I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed this and how well it did some of the stories it was delivering. Worth checking out.
Only Lovers Left Alive
As much as I enjoyed this it’s all based on the aesthetic and the performances of Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. There is pretty much no plot, it is all about the visual style and the characters of the vampires, which does carry it pretty well to be fair.
The Killing
I can’t believe I’ve never watched this Kubrick movie before. It’s everything I want from a noir story – bad people doing bad things but getting their comeuppance. The ending was immaculately delivered after the setup of so many characters and situations that it really did cap off what was already a pretty great film.
The Player
Here’s another film that I can’t believe I haven’t seen before. There is such cynicism about the move industry on display but at the same time it all feels very fair and on point. The style of the piece was well done, with a slightly dreamlike quality at times so you were never sure what was real, which is exactly the aspect of a movie it was calling on. Another film like the Killing where the ending helped elevate it rather than being a let down, I’m so pleased I finally watched this.
Call Me By Your Name
I was expecting this to have some aspects like Lolita that made it feel sordid, but it ended up being a truly lovely romantic story. Heartbreaking when you get to the final movements, but still with hope and pride at the journey itself. I could have lived without the peach scene, but other than that this was so well told I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet movements of the piece.
Justice League
I know I’m in the minority but I really enjoyed Justice League. The darkness of other films has gone, and in its place we get some good moments between characters I love. Victor/Cyborg is really good here, probably better than in any media before, and his friend/mentor relationship with Wonder Woman is a great addition. Ezra Miller is easily the best thing in here, but I like all of our heroes. Even Superman and Lois Lane are better than in any other DC film of the past decade. The villain’s poor, the special effects aren’t always up to snuff, and the Amazonian armour is poor, but there are things to relish for a DC fan like me.
Brigsby Bear
I had no idea what to expect from this, and even then I got something different. The story could have gone very dark or difficult, as aspects of Room do, but in the end it was much lighter and more inspirational than you might expect. Some really good, if off-kilter, performances in this, and I’m glad I watched it.
Sicario
Continuing to watch Denis Villeneuve’s back catalogue with this. The film was much darker and harder than I expected it to be. I can see the story they were telling, and I think drip feeding information as we went was the right way to go, but I feel like I might have enjoyed it more from the POV of Brolin or Del Toro.
Recommendation
Hard to choose this week between the Killing and the Player. Both classic films with endings that help make the film even better on top of what we’d had before. I loved the various characters in the Killing who were interesting yet pretty despicable in their way, and the heist was as exciting as these things should be. The Player’s way of showing the day to day of the Hollywood machine without being dull was really great, with cameos galore to make what would be exciting in another film more mundane, and the relationships between the characters meant every scene had sparks as different people came and went.