I hit 325 films a week ago, but have been crazy busy with holidays and upcoming trip planning, so this is the first real chance I’ve had to write down any notes about the films I’ve been watching. This post is going to be a bit shorter than usual, as I’m just trying to get it up before I leave on a vacation for a while.

For this chunk of films, I saw so many great movies that I loved, it’s hard to not gush about them all. It also means I don’t have any lowlights in here, as I wanted to save the space for my raves rather than my rants. As always, you can see what I’m watching over on IMDb. And without further ado, let’s get to the reviews.

‘Lady Bird’ (2017)

So this is Greta Gerwig’s solo directing feature debut, and I’m seriously in love with it. ‘Lady Bird’ easily jumps into my top five films for the year. It’s a beautiful little indie coming-of-age story, centering on the brilliant Saoirse Ronan as a high school senior in 2002 in Sacramento, California. Gerwig draws on a lot of her life experiences for the film, which provides it with a rich texture and imbues it with a lovely dose of nostalgia for those who grew up in that similar time (myself included). The music especially - if you haven’t yet, read the letters Gerwig sent to Dave Matthews and Justin Timberlake to get permission to use their songs in the film. The film has a good balance of laugh out loud moments and heartstring tugs, which in hindsight is true to adolescence itself. Laurie Metcalf is a gem, and has a standout performance as Lady Bird’s mother - there’s definitely something recognizable in that mother-daughter relationship for most daughters (and mothers, I’m sure).

Also, I will never not find it funny when people sing ‘There are Giants in the Sky’ outside of performing ‘Into the Woods.’ Goodness, all the musical theater scenes were flashback gems for me.

‘The Mummy’ (1932)

This had far more in common with the Brendan Fraser version than I expected, which added to the fun of watching this effective creature feature for Halloween. It combines the retroactive campiness of 30’s ‘horror’ films (and I mean that in the best way possible) with the inherent mysticism of ancient Egypt. Boris Karloff is menacing in an enigmatic way - he betrays so little emotion as Ardeth Bey, and yet in the flashbacks to ancient times, you can believe in the truth of his passion for his lost love. Which is what a good creature feature does - to really make these films work, you need some sort of layered feelings for the creature, so that the ‘us versus them’ narrative takes on a more nuanced meaning. Also, Zita Johann is fantastically vampy in her role as the mummy’s target - his reincarnated love Ankh-es-en-amon.

‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

I’ve been looking forward to this film for ages now. I definitely believe that I would be in heaven if I could attend a good chunk of the big film festivals and see all these amazing films months in advance of their release (those that actually get releases, even), but until then I read all the reviews that come out of the festivals, and this film has been on my radar for months. At first glance, I was expecting a black comedy, somewhat ‘Fargo’-esque, and not just because Frances McDormand is in it. But it actually has softer edges than that, with character arcs and people that transform throughout the story. I’m not saying there’s some clear-cut moral to it, or that the characters are shining examples of good citizens - there’s not, and they aren’t. However, the film took me on a different journey than I expected, and I loved it.

Harrelson and Rockwell are juggernauts, and they play their parts to perfection - Harrelson a police chief who is a genuine good soul, even with his rough edges, and Rockwell as a crude, piece of shit seeming officer who ends up going on his own journey of discovery that transforms him into hopefully a bit better of a human being. And then there’s Frances McDormand, who is just brilliant, and full of understandable rage at her daughter’s murder - but she’s also a loyal, good-hearted person deep down who, like the others, is struggling to cope with the awful shit life has thrown at her. It’s dark, but it’s also funny, and even poignant, and was well worth the wait.

‘Still Alice’ (2014)

If you don’t like crying during movies, don’t watch this film. If you got through this film without tearing up, then you must have a heart of stone, because this hit hard. Largely due to a stunning performance by Julianne Moore - she’s incredible in this, and her Oscar was very much deserved. In attempting to share the experience of losing one’s self to Alzheimers, the film follows Alice from the very beginning, showing the world from her point of view, and the early, dizzying signs that something isn’t quite right. But at the film progresses, and the diseases does too, more and more of the filming becomes detached - viewing more of the pain and worry of her family, but less and less comes through the lens of Alice herself, which in its own way illustrates how isolating it must be to lose so much of what we use to define ourselves. The film is heartbreaking, put simply, but a story worth telling. Especially considering that we still have yet to find a treatment, or a cure, that would curtail the effects of such a scary condition.

‘Loving Vincent’ (2017)

This film is so. Pretty. It’s an interesting story, sort of a ‘what if’ exploration of a conspiracy-esque theory regarding Vincent Van Gogh’s death, and the voice acting is great, plus it has a fuzzy feeling ‘moral to the story’ kind of ending… but really, the actual star of the film is the visual film itself. The whole thing was painted by hand using oil paints, much of which mimics Van Gogh’s style, and it is mesmerizing and stunning. I want just the credits sequence on a loop on my wall to stare at - it’s both relaxing and beautiful. Most of it was shot in live action first, and then the footage turned over to the painters, and it’s really marvelous. This article has a lot more detail regarding the making of the film, and it’s fascinating. If you can catch this film in theaters, I really recommend it.

‘Bad Lucky Goat’ (2017)

So I read about this film in The Guardian - it was noted not only for the film itself, but because it’s the first feature to be fully set on this little island, Providence Island, and features the San Andres-Providencia creole language that is spoken there. It’s vibrant and charming, and a brilliant debut feature from Oliveros. The plot focuses on a brother and sister pair who wreck their parents’ truck by accidentally running over a goat - they then spend the day trying to make things right again, while also developing a bond between themselves. The film showcases the local culture of the island, exploring the people, music, and superstitions as the siblings make their way through various adventures. What’s really impressive is that neither director or actors have formal training - Oliveros shows great intuition with his guerrilla-style filming instincts, and the two young leads bring charisma and warmth to their roles. All in all, a truly charming film, and you can rent it now on Amazon Video.

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017)

So Taika Waititi is a fantastically welcome voice to the Marvel universe. His Thor is fun, wacky, a little bizarre, and pretty badass (lightning eyes much?) I absolutely loved his ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’, so expectations were pretty high going into this movie. Overall it delivers - this film definitely puts wit and fun up front and center. I think one of the things that makes the film work so well is how clear it is that the actors are having a blast with the material. Hemsworth and Hiddleston continue their repartee as brothers, taking it to a new high - their trip to Earth is a fantastic set of scenes featuring their back and forth. Also a treat is the more vocal Hulk - pairing him with Thor was a great idea, and the arena fight was a great centerpiece to the film. The new characters are great - Tessa Thompson is pretty much my hero now, and Cate Blanchett is just bloody brilliant as the villain. And Jeff Goldblum steals every scene he is in, and I want him in all the things.

Also - the new lighting process used for the Valkyrie flashback scene is STUNNING. It’s called DynamicLight, and this article talks more about it, and I just drooled a little.

A few more thoughts… My fear of drowning paired terribly with my anxiety at being in tight spaces for long periods of time while watching ‘Das Boot’… ‘Rush Hour 2’ was better than the first one… The new ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ was not as good as Lumet’s version for a variety of reasons… ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’ was everything I wanted in a holiday movie this season… and the beauty of silent movies was captured in a new way with ‘Wonderstruck’.

All Watched Films: 301 through 325

301. The Last Metro (1980)
302. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
303. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
304. The Mummy (1932)
305. A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
306. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
307. Wonderstruck (2017)
308. Loving Vincent (2017)
309. Carnage (2011)
310. Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
311. A Monster Calls (2016)
312. Bad Lucky Goat (2017)
313. Rudy (1993)
314. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
315. Crash (2004)
316. Lady Bird (2017)
317. Crazy Heart (2009)
318. Still Alice (2014)
319. Das Boot (1981)
320. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
321. Rush Hour 2 (2001)
322. Wonder (2017)
323. Boy (2010)
324. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
325. Your Name (2016)

That’s all for now - about a month left of this project, it feels like the year has gone by in a whirlwind by this point. I’m taking a vacation soon, so I may have to pad my days a bit to stay on track, but look for a new post around the 16th! And if you missed any of the previous posts, you can find them here.