Oh wow, forgot to actually update this thread with what I've been watching for the last week or so of July.
Crawl: Ah, nothing quite like the simple yet deeply satisfying pleasures of a well-executed creature feature! What this lacks in originality and depth, it more than makes up for with a lean script that finds a lot of variety for our heroes to survive both the fury of a hurricane and the appetite of some rather hungry alligators, barrelling along at a speedy clip that seldom feels rushed with how laser-focused it is as a result of the limited cast and location. Both Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper work rather well with the material, both for the physicality that's required (and there is plenty of that go around for a cast of dozens!) and the way they're able to deliver the drama of a slightly estranged daughter-father duo. They don't have award-winning material, but it does plenty of work to give you plenty of reasons why to root for their survival as well as any attempt to patch their relationship up should they make it through to the end. Alexandre Aja has frequently suffered with regards to character drama, which does point to the strength of the script from Michael and Shawn Rasmussen as the key decider. What Aja has seldom needed little help with, however, shines through very frequently here, as his slick direction helps to keep tension, well, high throughout, and given the various scenarios he gets to play around with, he does a rather commendable job of keeping things interesting for something that largely takes place in a flooded basement. And though it's hardly the most brutally violent film of his career, the bloody violence here is strong enough to let one know that the gators mean business without being too overwhelmingly gruesome, with wounds telling the story more often than not. There are certainly some great hero moments throughout for our heroes to triumph over the many obstacles Mother Nature puts in their way, and while it is a bit cheap in terms of how its deployed, no one ever complained much about finding out whether or not the dog will make it to the end, especially with the fun the film has here with that expectation. Really, my complaints are limited more at some of the lengths it went to in order to set up all the pieces for the extended climax, feeling like an artificial way to bolster the body count more than an entirely organic solution of how to get our heroes right where they need to be, but they're minor on the face of how well everything else turned out. And despite the low budget, it uses it well for the various CG effects required for the weather and the gators, as they're of the proper level of conviction without having to break the bank on something more elaborate. That winds up summing up the film quite well, I think: it lives within its means, and the result is something that's not unexpected, but wholly welcome all the same. Sometimes, all you really need is a girl, a man, a dog and a gator or two to have a most satisfying time out at the cinema.
Midsommar: Worst date movie ever! I'll try to write up more on this in the morning, but despite some shagginess that can be attributed to the larger cast of principal players than what we saw on Hereditary, Ari Aster manages to dazzle yet again with a brutal look at the collapse of a relationship in the midst of a rather solid folk horror film. Strong performances all around, and like Hereditary, it's a veritable bounty of indelible horror imagery that will stick with you long after the credits.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: I never did write up more)
Lira's Forest: "Serene" is about as fitting a word as you can get with this short, a mediation on death and the comfort that some may have of returning to nature in one form or another. The fantasy approach here carries with it a sense of calm that's hard to fake, even as it risks looking a little silly at times. But it's that kind of earnestness that makes it even easier to appreciate its aims, resulting in a very effective and memorable look at the path that lies ahead in the afterlife.
Madame Tutli-Putli: Stupidly gorgeous stop-motion animated film that spares no detail and even comes up with a rather striking bit of compositing with having human eyes combine with the puppets to great effect. Dialogue won't save you here as there is none and the story opts for a far more symbolic approach that has you figure out just how our heroine turns out, but with as expressive as the animation gets and the willingness for the plot to take very, very sudden shifts into other genres, there's plenty to chew on even as answers aren't immediately known. Quite the evocative train ride, and one that is far more intriguing to watch than it would certainly be to experience!
Number, Please?: You can actually pinpoint the second when Harold Lloyd's heart rips in half! An otherwise fun two-reeler that packs in a few extended gags with great payoffs gets a surprisingly downbeat ending for the era. While not bleak by any stretch, Lloyd finishing last against all odds makes for quite an outlier and it is certainly notable if only for that. But with some inspired photography, shockingly good-humored racial representation for 1920 (including an absolutely killer "multiple people in a long overcoat" gag) and the aforementioned quality of the gags, there's a lot to recommend here beyond that curiosity.
The Muppet Movie (rewatch): Happy 40th birthday (yes, I know it was actually last month) to one of the silliest yet deeply heartfelt stories that also involve groundbreaking puppetry technology and an army of celebrity cameos! Come for the Muppets, stay for the great songs, wonderfully touching messaging and Mel Brooks turning into a Nazi frog.
Inglourious Basterds: Honestly, I could watch Nazis being murdered en masse in a movie with just half the panache Tarantino puts into this film, so getting the full dose had me grinning ear to ear throughout. Certainly, the extended sequences of tension are some of the best things Tarantino has ever directed and the small character moments throughout do a lot to put some intrigue into the proceedings, but this genre combo that's been concocted definitely goes for gratifying entertainment more often than not, both with its eagerness to upend your expectations at every turn as well as its shimmering love of all things cinema proudly displayed in every frame, eventually in a rather literal way at that. It's not hard to see why this wound up getting a release during a summer holiday season, as it would be hard to imagine a crowd-pleaser such as this coming out at any other point. Top-notch Tarantino, to be real damn certain.
The Book of Eli (rewatch): My dad was feeling down in the dumps, so we watched this together on Netflix. I had actually seen this back during its theatrical run, so being able to see it again and retaining a lot of it after nine years was an unexpected but welcome surprise. The script doesn't go nearly as far as one would like in the characterization department, leading to a second and third act that's in too much of a rush to get through the plot details in order to focus on an admittedly clever twist that doesn't feel quite like the destination that Gary Whitta may have thought it was going to be, but the Hughes Brothers certainly put in the work to bring out the best of this post-apocalyptic world, a kind of amalgamation of Mad Max-inspired craziness and the evocative hellscapes of Eastern European sci-fi features. There really aren't that many films that look like this one does in Hollywood, which goes a long way even before the well-staged action sequences come into play, with Denzel Washington proving to be quite the convincing combatant to go with his confident and commanding dramatic chops. Gary Oldman also wisely tones down what could have been an otherwise hammy role for him to a satisfying degree, giving him the right amount of intelligent menace to convince one of why the bruisers of his faction report to him and not beat him into a pulp. It doesn't avoid every weird thing about post-apocalyptic films in Hollywood, including the inevitable grooming gap between the female characters and, well, everyone else, but it's a solid and atmospheric take that sticks apart from the pack all the same. Not the best the genre has to offer, but for something that's just heavy enough without being full-blow depressing or completely batshit, this does the trick.
At the Drive-in: What could have been a broader documentary about the state of drive-in theaters in recent years wisely chose to focus far more into the close-knit community that came together at just a single theater in Pennsylvania, and the result is certainly the kind of warm, comforting look at a different kind of family unit dedicated to bringing joy into the lives of patrons for little more than just having such a deeply rooted passion for the art of film projecting. And though it may not have been entirely not without some thought in its mind of being a not-so-sneaky advertisement for any and all folks who hadn't known about the existence of the Mahoning Drive-in already, I have no problem that it certainly gives me something to look forward to if I ever find myself in Pennsylvania ever again.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Honestly, this film is easily one of the best of the year solely on the back of the scenes that Leonardo DiCaprio shares with Julia Butters as they ruminate on their profession. But combine that with a beautifully reconstructed Hollywood circa-1969, terrific performances all around and deeply respectful tone towards its subject matter that also is willing to play things rather askew for a far more impactful emotional payoff by the time it finishes, and it's hard not to find something to absolutely love about this.
VHS Massacre: Cult Film and the Decline of Physical Media: I am fairly certain that this mainly a front to promote both the radio show that the filmmakers run and the movie that one of them made, because I'll be damned if I could figure out what else this was actually about. It does wisely keep to a short length and boasts a couple of fun interviewees like Joe Bob Briggs and an especially cantankerous Lloyd Kaufman, but it doesn't so much throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks, so much as it loads all of that into a shotgun and fires it upon said wall in the hopes of there being any wall remaining, resulting in a documentary that is unsure that it should be covering as many tangents as this winds up going down, but does anyway with little purpose or educational value. The subjects wind up feeling immensely undernourished to the point of being pure vapor, making the self-promotion all the more shameless as a result. One really wishes that the filmmakers could have channeled their abundant enthusiasm for their passions into something with any kind of focus whatsoever, since there's none to be had at all by the time this finishes.
A Day's Pleasure: You've been hit by, you've been struck by a Chaplin two-reeler! The Michael Jackson reference is not accidental, as a certain dance move surely came from this one during its fun finale, as the Tramp quite literally dodges traffic cops while trapped in tar. Before then, though, there's definitely a sense that the gags they did come up with could have stood be shorter than they wound up being, as the attempts to start up a jalopy and many of the ferry shenanigans overstay their welcome as you wait for their inevitable conclusion. Curious of all, having the Tramp in a fairly well-off situation seems a bit at-odds with the endearing power of his persona, with his antics coming off more like punching down as he's accosting and even assaulting fellow passengers that gives those scenes a bit of a mean-spirited vibe that I can't imagine was at all intentional. Still, Chaplin is in good form here as a physical performer and we do get some solid technical innovations with the ferry setting, including a simple yet effective way of capturing wavy motion on board a boat, so the particulars are quite solid. As I understand it, this was shot just before he did The Kid, so there is at least some explanation as to why this didn't have the normal amount of polish as his other shorts, but for what it is, there's certainly enough in here to recommend a watch, even with its flaws hard to ignore.
Back to the Future (rewatch): My brother and I took my dad out to see this in a theater. Honestly, hearing Alan Silvestri's score in its proper setting is worth the price of admission by itself, with the lean, funny and exciting film it goes with as a nice bonus.
