Curry Barker knows how to set a scene. In two minutes, he can introduce characters and subvert norms in ways an audience immediately accepts.
This economy of story works well for his feature, “Obsession.” The tension builds and bursts at just the right moments.
Inde Navarrette is impeccable as Nikki.
*Spoilerish*: Some have misjudged this as a “be careful what you wish for” tale. But this reverses victim and offender. It isn’t a warning of the perils of love. It’s a demonstration of the violence that occurs whenever someone circumvents consent.
Obsession
Hokum
“Hokum” shows what happens when you take Adam Scott’s outie from “Severance” (a trauma-broken alcoholic) and put him down a different elevator—this time in an old Irish hotel.
Much horror today is deeply cynical, and maybe our times call for that. But Damian McCarthy’s story presents a world where the horrors are real (and perhaps ghosts & witches are also), but so are justice & restoration.
McCarthy is a master of framing, pacing, misdirection, & atmosphere. Enjoyable from beginning to end.
Hokum
Mickey 17
"Mickey 17" may not be my favorite Bong Joon Ho film, but it is a fun and insightful watch. It's a bit Daniel Dennett's teleportation problem meets predatory capitalism meets class/populist politics meets genocidal colonialism meets romantic comedy in what feels like a live-action cartoon. It makes for a somewhat messy movie that somehow works.
Robert Pattinson is always worth watching. Jung Jae-il's score provides the perfect soundtrack for the experience, and perhaps for life in these days.
“Hamnet” is a strong illustration of our need for stories to understand and feel our experiences. So well done technically. Score and sound design fill every scene with a sense of presence. Jessie Buckley has a thousand faces, each of them true.
When corruption and state-sanctioned violence lead to the erasure of people in the past and today, it’s worth paying the 2h 40m of our attention to be able to sit with them. Especially when they are portrayed by Wagner Moura (and Tânia Maria!).
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” drops the audience directly into a character’s frenzied existence. And while so many elements of her story are unique (not to mention psychotic/surreal), it feels very much like the experience of occupying life as a caregiver in an uncaring world.
Visceral directorial choices from Mary Bronstein. Rose Byrne astonishes, with very credible performances from A$AP Rocky and Conan O’Brien. An enjoyably unenjoyable film.
Damian McCarthy knows how to frame an unsettling scene. Oddity is a genre-bending film (murder mystery? psychological thriller? supernatural horror?) where slow-building tension is punctuated with a few well-executed jolts. We might begin to see where the plot is heading, but it still reveals our blind spots.
Oddity
The Invitation
If the Lewis quote “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear” were a film.
Ambition and confusion, love and betrayal, dreams turning to nightmares—this isn’t just the Hollywood story but the human story. David Lynch prompts feelings both foreign and familiar. And Naomi Watts performs these dualities so effectively. This film isn’t for everyone, but it is about everyone.
Stomach hurt watching this one. From laughing, but more from cringe-churning. Wonderfully uncomfortable. Reveals some important truths, if chaotically.
Harrowing. The true terrors are in the first half. The second half tells a story to make sense of them. If only generational demons were so simple.
The explanation is inexplicable. The result is multitonal, a partly comical fever dream dressed in visual discomfort. Yet the dread lingers past the runtime.
Every scene holds attention. But the real artists were Steve Newburn and his team creating all those miniatures.
I think I smiled my way through most of this movie. If you don’t love it, your heart may be too small.
James Gunn’s “Superman” is about what it means to be human—finite, bumbling along, but at our best when we are defending those who cannot defend themselves. And when we are loved.
That score will be playing in my head for days to come!
Superman
Past Lives
“Past Lives” is a very human story told with restraint. Celine Song resists opportunities to indulge and make these moments any less real. It might be less entertaining, but no less meaningful. Fitting for a movie about maturity.
Thoughts:
1) I want to watch more films shot on 35 mm film
2) Not a *spoiler* per se but skip reading if you’ve yet to see it:
The final scene is an emotional release not only for the character but for the viewer, and it takes both character and viewer by surprise.
Past Lives
Sicario
Rewatched “Sicario” (2015) this week, partly because Denis Villeneuve doesn’t miss. It hits different in 2025. Matt (Josh Brolin’s character) and the powers behind him justify shadowy and illegal ops because of the severity of cartel violence in the US.
Now players at DHS and ICE see themselves this way, using the same justifications about the invasion of foreign gangs to ignore due process. But the setting is off. Instead of high-stakes tunnel raids in Mexico, it’s cosplaying at Home Depot.
Black stories are being told in genre-bending films. Sinners is Jim Crow period gangster drama meets supernatural horror meets a love song to music. What a soundtrack.