I've turned over a new leaf. More positivity and optimism instead of negativity and pessimism. Glass half full, etc. And I think I was only able to do so by beginning to have sex with women instead of men. And I mean women - they've all been 35+. Weird stuff, but that's life.
Here are my ten favorite movies of this century thus far. I'll probably give just a few lines for each - don't want to write too much.
Toy Story 3 (2010): One of the few movies of any genre that has ever made me cry as an adult, and tbh I doubt I cried on first watching it as a preteen. Such a great script. Thank God all of those involved weren't afraid to get dark, when so many kids' movies released afterward (those I've seen anyway) never dare do so, succumbing to this new Victorian era we're mired in, artistically or otherwise.
Inland Empire (2006): David Lynch's weirdest movie, which says a lot obviously. He didn't really work with a script or any sort of cohesive narrative - just took the motif "a woman in trouble" and ran with it, from LA to Poland to everywhere in between. I stopped taking the Oscars seriously after first watching this years ago and seeing that Laura Dern didn't even receive a nomination for her all-time great performance. If you end up watching this, don't try to make sense of any sort of narrative. Just sit back and take in its atmosphere, preferably the one displayed by the recent Criterion remaster.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019): Takes its time, and goes to show that Quentin might be our greatest living filmmaker. So much fun, like all but one or two of his movies. He, PTA, and Bret Easton Ellis know LA and what it entails better than any other living artists today.
Elle (2016): Paul Verhoeven tried to get this made in America, but could neither secure the requisite funding nor get any of our A-list actresses on board. And I get it - it's about a woman playing a cat and mouse game with her rapist/home intruder. But still, just goes to show that none of our big names have the icy warmth that Isabelle Huppert, probably the greatest living actress, so easily exudes. Of course French financiers and actresses alike were quick to get their hands on this, and thank God. Would've been whittled down to mediocrity in the modern American environment.
OJ: Made in America (2016): I'll admit it: I find O.J. Simpson endearing. Magnetic. Always have, and don't care to apologize for this. Anyway, such a great doc. A huge event too - most everyone I knew was keeping up with as it aired that summer.
Michael Clayton (2007): Tony Gilroy is an underrated writer/director, at least when it comes to the general public. How many outside of the bubble really know this guy's name? Or even those under like 40 within the bubble? Anyway, excellent thriller. Good to great performances from everyone involved.
Licorice Pizza (2021): Two first-time actors, both giving really good performances. There's just something about a good movie (or book, like Bret Easton Ellis' The Shards) that meanders through the LA of old that will probably always hit me, even though I have no formal connection to it whatsoever. Pure pleasure watching this.
No Country for Old Men (2007): Maybe the best neo-noir yet. Just an all-time great performance from Antonio Banderas. And you know, I've never really been a fan of Cormac's, weirdly enough. Just haven't taken to his style. But I think even the biggest diehard of his would admit the Coens really elevated his material.
Mulholland Drive (2001): Probably Lynch's masterpiece. Equally playful and terrifying, and Naomi Watts gives one of the most cathartic performances I've ever seen. Yet another great movie unafraid of getting down into the impending doom running throughout LA at all times.
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Such a fun movie. So, so fun. And what a shame that so many of the Empire (Boomers and up basically, or just those who formally adulate our institutions. Think Obama and Anderson Cooper rather than Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones. Not at all a critique of the latter two btw, both smart people who understand the modern entertainment environment) critics took this so seriously, claiming that it disrespected the tragedies of those who suffered through the Holocaust. Quentin knows that you simply cannot make a great movie - fiction - that aims to treat either them or that war with respect. Might as well get as absurd as possible.
Could've said much more about each, and I get that I've said very little about basically all of them, but whatever. What are your ten favorites from this century?
Here are my ten favorite movies of this century thus far. I'll probably give just a few lines for each - don't want to write too much.
Toy Story 3 (2010): One of the few movies of any genre that has ever made me cry as an adult, and tbh I doubt I cried on first watching it as a preteen. Such a great script. Thank God all of those involved weren't afraid to get dark, when so many kids' movies released afterward (those I've seen anyway) never dare do so, succumbing to this new Victorian era we're mired in, artistically or otherwise.
Inland Empire (2006): David Lynch's weirdest movie, which says a lot obviously. He didn't really work with a script or any sort of cohesive narrative - just took the motif "a woman in trouble" and ran with it, from LA to Poland to everywhere in between. I stopped taking the Oscars seriously after first watching this years ago and seeing that Laura Dern didn't even receive a nomination for her all-time great performance. If you end up watching this, don't try to make sense of any sort of narrative. Just sit back and take in its atmosphere, preferably the one displayed by the recent Criterion remaster.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019): Takes its time, and goes to show that Quentin might be our greatest living filmmaker. So much fun, like all but one or two of his movies. He, PTA, and Bret Easton Ellis know LA and what it entails better than any other living artists today.
Elle (2016): Paul Verhoeven tried to get this made in America, but could neither secure the requisite funding nor get any of our A-list actresses on board. And I get it - it's about a woman playing a cat and mouse game with her rapist/home intruder. But still, just goes to show that none of our big names have the icy warmth that Isabelle Huppert, probably the greatest living actress, so easily exudes. Of course French financiers and actresses alike were quick to get their hands on this, and thank God. Would've been whittled down to mediocrity in the modern American environment.
OJ: Made in America (2016): I'll admit it: I find O.J. Simpson endearing. Magnetic. Always have, and don't care to apologize for this. Anyway, such a great doc. A huge event too - most everyone I knew was keeping up with as it aired that summer.
Michael Clayton (2007): Tony Gilroy is an underrated writer/director, at least when it comes to the general public. How many outside of the bubble really know this guy's name? Or even those under like 40 within the bubble? Anyway, excellent thriller. Good to great performances from everyone involved.
Licorice Pizza (2021): Two first-time actors, both giving really good performances. There's just something about a good movie (or book, like Bret Easton Ellis' The Shards) that meanders through the LA of old that will probably always hit me, even though I have no formal connection to it whatsoever. Pure pleasure watching this.
No Country for Old Men (2007): Maybe the best neo-noir yet. Just an all-time great performance from Antonio Banderas. And you know, I've never really been a fan of Cormac's, weirdly enough. Just haven't taken to his style. But I think even the biggest diehard of his would admit the Coens really elevated his material.
Mulholland Drive (2001): Probably Lynch's masterpiece. Equally playful and terrifying, and Naomi Watts gives one of the most cathartic performances I've ever seen. Yet another great movie unafraid of getting down into the impending doom running throughout LA at all times.
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Such a fun movie. So, so fun. And what a shame that so many of the Empire (Boomers and up basically, or just those who formally adulate our institutions. Think Obama and Anderson Cooper rather than Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones. Not at all a critique of the latter two btw, both smart people who understand the modern entertainment environment) critics took this so seriously, claiming that it disrespected the tragedies of those who suffered through the Holocaust. Quentin knows that you simply cannot make a great movie - fiction - that aims to treat either them or that war with respect. Might as well get as absurd as possible.
Could've said much more about each, and I get that I've said very little about basically all of them, but whatever. What are your ten favorites from this century?
