Matthew’s Letterboxd Watchlist
Carol
Coming up on the Letterboxd Christmas showdown made me want to see this, and I’m delighted I did. All performances are great, the romance is really touching and well done.
12 Years a Slave
Another oscar winner I’m pleased to have seen. This is a very hard film but unlike pretty much anything else I’ve seen about the period.
Miracle on 34th Street
We’ve discussed the remake of Miracle for our 100th episode of Pop Culturally Deprived. It’s not bad, but overall it doesn’t know who the audience is – some of the film is good for children about the niceness of the season, some of it is for adults about belief and optimism. Ultimately it doesn’t satisfy either.
Feminists: What Were They Thinking?
I was a bit disappointed by this. Very much a retrospective, I think when compared to excellent documentaries like Miss Representation it feels like an opportunity for education that has been missed.
The Pink Panther
I’ve always put off seeing this film, and I can now justify having done that. The film isn’t as funny as it thinks it is, the bedroom farce elements go on forever, and ultimately it ends in a fairly weird way.
M*A*S*H
I think MASH would work better with more charismatic or sympathetic characters who genuinely try to have fun than entertain their own dark souls. It would also work better in smaller chunks with a bit more focus on different elements of the ensemble. More like a TV show I guess.
Strange Days
There’s a kernel of a good idea here, but I think it looked aged when it was released and time has not helped since.
Wind River
The film has a strong feeling of something like Insomnia, for various reasons. The performances are good, although I think there’s a problem in this having the white saviour trope. Also the flashback inserted doesn’t help the film at all.
Three Colors: Blue
A really gripping piece about someone’s journey through grief, I was with it up until the moments of deus ex machina in the middle that changed the focus of the story back to the husband.
Date Night
A film very reminiscent of Keeping Up With The Joneses and Game Night (although I think this came first). Some genuinely funny moments, I think the marketing let this film down because ultimately our leads don’t go through as much as it’s implied they will.
Ida
I can see all the acclaim for the interesting cinematography, the extended shots, the quietness of the film. But I feel a little let down because it meant nothing. The fact it was shot in a unique style tells us nothing extra about it, just that the director/DOP had a good idea.
Hurricane Bianca
I was really looking forward to this as it looked fun, but was very disappointed. It was shot in an odd fashion with the camera often too high or too low for the performer, and with the crux of the film being ‘be mean and sassy at people will mean you succeed’. I saw nothing about Bianca actually being a good teacher or friend, it was all one liners.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
I am definitely not dark or nihilistic enough for this film. The end recontextualising what has come before is good, but this is very much the Coen brothers doing their thing, just turned up to 11.
Ocean’s Eight
Overall this is a really enjoyable film. The performances are good, the heist is fun, and it’s a very stylish film. It’s just a shame there’s not real conflict or crisis that goes on.
The Greatest Showman
I had much higher expectations of this film than what I got. Poorly written characters could be overlooked in a stylish musical, but even the music wasn’t good. Having a world famous opera singer perform in a pop style is jarring to say the least, and there were many opportunities to do something with the story but they just kept it absolutely on rails.
Paris is Burning
A fascinating insight to a world I knew nothing about, there’s a huge range of people talking but the film gives them all enough space to understand the differences, the challenges, and the triumphs for each.
Truth
Yet another real life story set in a journalistic world. The film throws up a few red herrings as it goes, which means they could have been excised from the film to make it all a bit tighter. It would have had less drama, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing compared to the feeling of padding.
Detroit
This might be one of the tensest films I’ve seen. It was superbly put together, making you feel like you’re in the room with the characters, and not knowing what had happened I was rapt as the story unfolded through its climax. A strong message that is still relevant, which means it was crafted well throughout.
Lady Bird
This is one of the better coming of age stories I’ve seen. Honest almost to a fault, we got to see many aspects of every character. There is another way of telling this story putting the mother at its centre which would change what we see but also be equally gripping. I was a bit disappointed by the end, it could have finished 5 or 10 minutes earlier and been stronger for it.
Recommendation
I think Carol is the film I must recommend. It’s rare to see such a pure romance that carries real weight and consequences, whilst also being so gripping with characters who feel fleshed out and real.