Movie Diary

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

 







a) Conclave
I was really impressed by Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front and particularly Volker Bertelmann's Oscar-winning score, and I'm pleased that they've both followed it up with something possibly even better. The twist at the end, I don't know, it's fine, I guess, it makes the right people mad, But I mostly enjoyed the journey to get there and the great performances, particularly Tucci and Lithgow and Rossellini. 

b) Emilia Perez
There's a lot going on in this movie, I like that it leans hard into these very big tonal shifts between whimsical musical passages and some very earnest drama. But I think a lot of the criticisms it's gotten have been valid, especially after reading about the development of the movie and how the director's original idea was just a cartel boss transitioning to escape arrest, not because they actually wanted to transition. And there's a whole stretch of the movie that is basically Mrs. Doubtfire. 

c) Juror #2
There was a lot of handwringing that Clint Eastwood's latest movie wasn't released in theaters, maybe partly because ol' Clint wouldn't know how to play the movie on a streaming service, but a movie like this would need actually star power to justify wide release. And I don't say that as a slight to Nicholas Hoult, who I love (more when he's playing an evil weirdo than in leading man mode) but isn't really at that level of fame. Really I thought the whole cast was great, although the movie can't help but lose some momentum after the really enjoyable J.K. Simmons section of the movie ends, and by the time the whole thing wrapped up the story just felt overly contrived and not as elegantly put together as it thought it was. 

I love Wallace & Gromit so much, it blows my mind to realize that the classic this is sort of a sequel to, The Wrong Trousers, is over 30 years old now. I didn't think there'd be another Wallace & Gromit movie after Peter Sallis died, and I'm glad I was wrong, Ben Whitehead does a perfect job with the voice, I never thought about it being a different actor as I watched it. I wish my dad was alive to watch it with him, he loved Wallace & Gromit too. 

It's funny that neither of my kids has ever played a Sonic game, but they've watched every movie and multiple TV shows in the franchise. This was a fun excuse to take the kids to the theater over winter break, I didn't really think Jim Carrey was that good in the first two but he had a lot of fun with the dual roles in this one. 

My family has watched Moana more than maybe any other movie over the last decade, so it was exciting to go see the sequel together even if it was just okay and never really shook off its obvious origins as a TV series. It made so much money that maybe they'll get Lin-Manuel Miranda back for a third movie, though, I'd give it a shot. 

g) Nightbitch
I wanted to love this just on the strength of the title, and Marielle's other movies were very good, but I don't know, this fell very flat. I hate when movies feel too obviously adapted from a novel and there's a bunch of interior monologue voiceover and daydream/fantasy sequence stuff that's much easier to make compelling on paper than on film. 

h) Speak No Evil
I've been told the Danish original version is much better and had a different, dark ending, but I dunno, I wanted to see the American remake with the mini "Halt And Catch Fire" cast reunion. A handful of really good tense moments and strong performances but a lot of clumsy over-the-top stuff too. 

i) Don't Move
A moderately good thriller with a couple strong sequences and one memorably gorey death scene, but too reliant on the gimmicky concept in a way that made me imagine a version with more charismatic actors or a little self-aware humor. 

j) Cunk On Life
Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk is such a brilliant comedic creation, the way she delivers the most ridiculous lines always gets me. I kind of wish this broken up into a series instead of a movie, because it doesn't really depart from the series format in any meaningful way, but either way I enjoyed it a lot. 

I wasn't the biggest Fury Road fan but I'll admit it was much better than I gave it credit for at the time. Furiosa does not have the juice, though, people overrated out of franchise loyalty like a bunch of Marvel fanboys. 

l) Twisters
My wife and I usually stay home and drink and watch a movie on new year's eve, and Twisters was what we decided to ring in 2025 with, even though I've never really watched the first Twister, I've just seen bits of it on cable. Moderately fun, I guess. I'm pro-Glen Powell and she's ambivalent, but Twisters didn't really give him an opportunity to be funny like in Hit Man and Anyone But You, very generic role. 

m) Luther: Never Too Much
I really loved this doc, a great tribute to Luther Vandross's incredible talent and his unique journey from backing singer to solo star, the interviews with friends and collaborators really brought his story to life and gave some interesting insight into his life. I also loved the studio footage of Vandross and Bowie in the Young American sessions, I had no idea video like that existed. Colin Firth's apparently got a production company that's moved heavily into music documentaries, respect to him for helping this get made. 

n) Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary
My dad loved Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, so I grew up on a lot of the music that's been jokingly retroactively categorized as 'yacht rock,' and this doc does a good job of engaging with the silliness of that phenomenon while also paying respect to what these guys did as musicians, putting it in context, and letting guys like Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross comment on this weird wrinkle in their legacies. 

o) Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley
"Singer Presents... Elvis," the TV special that had such a transformative effect on Elvis Presley's career that it's now almost universally known as 'The '68 Comeback Special,' is pretty well-trodden ground now. But this doc is worth watching because of the great interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Conan O'Brien, Priscilla Presley, and the late Robbie Robertson.

p) Norman's Rare Guitars Documentary
Another recent doc with interviews from Robbie Robertson from before he passed, nice to see him pop up in these things. The story of a legendary L.A. guitar store is not incredibly gripping stuff and they kind of prop up the movie with a parade of celebrities, almost as many guitar-playing actors as actual rock stars, but it's amiable and entertaining and I loved when they reached back and explained the early evolution of the store. 

q) Music By John Williams
I take film scoring for granted sometimes, I mean it's kind of by design that you can just get swept up in how it serves the story and the atmosphere even when you're not actively paying attention to it. So this movie gave me a greater appreciation for it as an artform, and just how massive Williams's place in the profession is, like every five minutes they're telling another story about an iconic piece of music that's just tattooed on your brain for life. I especially loved the stories about Jaws and just how many leitmotifs he's made for the Star Wars universe. 

r) The Honorable Shyne
An okay documentary, my favorite stuff was the beginning, getting into how Shyne got signed and that whole late '90s New York scene when guys could inspire a bidding war just off freestyling in front of the right people, such an incredible time in hip hop. 

6:00 AM

Monthly Report: December 2024 Albums

Monday, January 13, 2025


 






















1. White Denim - 12
December used to be a big album release month thanks to the Christmas retail boost to CD sales, but now it's really started to become a ghost town of deluxe editions and live albums and stuff like that, I feel like it's a good opportunity for me to take more time to check out artists I haven't listened to before. And I'm really glad I checked out the Austin band White Denim's latest album. The opening track "Light On" is partly in the 5/4 time signature and the lead singer recorded a Little Feat cover a couple years ago, so immediately I was like oh, these guys are right up my alley, some psychedelic southern rock with really creative arrangements. I've started to check out some of their earlier stuff but so far 12 is what I've enjoyed the most. I posted my top 50 albums of 2024 already before I really listened to any December releases, otherwise this would've been on it. 

2. Lauren Mayberry - Vicious Creature
I've never really paid much attention to the Scottish band Chvrches but have enjoyed the occasional single from them. Frontwoman Lauren Mayberry apparently just did a solo album as a creative outlet outside Chvrches and the band is staying together, but I like Vicious Creature, it's pretty good. Hitmaker types like Matthew Koma and Greg Kurstin worked on some tracks, but it's not too different from the Chvrches stuff I've heard, maybe a little quieter and more singer-songwriter at times. 

3. BossMan Dlow - Dlow Curry
BossMan Dlow has a formula that he doesn't deviate from too much -- you can see it right in the tracklist of this album, which includes the titles "Dlow Curry," "Dlow Flintstone," and "Dlow Gucci." It's a strong formula, though, and there's some nice variation in the beats, I love the horn loop on "Like Dat." This stuff might get old if he's still doing the exact same thing in a year or two, but for now it's still hitting. 

4. Mario - Glad You Came
I included this in my Baltimore Banner list of the best Baltimore albums of 2024, I've always been a big fan of Mario's voice and it's cool that he finally got a songwriter of James Fauntleroy's caliber in his corner to make an album that really holds together with a unified aesthetic. Fauntleroy has a penchant for cheesy bedroom wordplay that makes me roll my eyes sometimes, but it's R&B, it is what it is. "Love Ain't Perfect" is one of my favorite tracks. 

5. Day Gone - At The Movies
Robbie Liberati, one half of the Baltimore duo Day Gone, worked as an engineer on one of my records once and he's a talented guy, I like their stuff. I didn't realize Day Gone had released a few records since the last one I heard, I need to catch up. But At The Movies is really beautiful and atmospheric, kind of eases into the songs with vocals in between these eerily beautiful instrumental passages. 

6. Redman - Muddy Waters Too
I kind of roll my eyes when aging rappers do "sequels" to one of their best early albums. But Redman is so consistent, most of this album sounds like it could've been made at almost any point in his career. It's 81 minutes long and a little meandering at times, but his ear for beats and his goofball charisma have held up really well. There's a pretty stupid narrative track involving Barack Obama and Donald Trump but it's buried in the back half of the album so it doesn't really spoil the vibe too much. 

7. Snoop Dogg - Missionary
I have to admit, Snoop and Dr. Dre reuniting for a Doggystyle sequel called Missionary is clever as hell, I love that. Most of the stuff Dre has produced in recent years has felt really sterile and charmless to me, I particularly disliked that recent Marsha Ambrosius album that people raved about. Missionary sounds good, though, maybe it's all the co-producers or maybe it really is that old Death Row era chemistry. 

8. Rosé - Rosie
I have pretty mixed feelings about K-pop, and sometimes the English-language stuff more explicitly aimed at the U.S. market has such an unpleasant uncanny valley quality to it, like "that's what you think we like, that's what you think American pop sounds like?" is what I think when I hear some of this stuff. I really liked Rosé from Blackpink's 2021 debut solo single "On the Ground," though, and while I'm kind of on the fence about "APT." with Bruno Mars, her first album is really just stacked with enjoyable songs from some of U.S. pop's best producers and songwriters. Rosé's voice has really grown on me, too, though, it reminds me a little of early Demi Lovato. "Drinks Or Coffee" is probably my favorite song so far. 

9. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Queer (Original Score)
I love that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have become not just extremely prolific film score composers but also an extremely versatile team that tailors their work to each project. I thought maybe since Queer is a period piece they might go heavy on acoustic instruments like the great Mank score, but Queer is a little more of a hybrid where there's a lot strings but also some more noisy digital Nine Inch Nails-ish stuff. It always feels funny to listen to soundtrack albums months before I'll get around to watching the movie, but it sounds good without the cinematic context. 

10. Zach Bryan - 24 (Live)
A concert with a really amped up crowd can be amazing, but sometimes I get weary of audiences that sing a long with every word at the top of their lungs, almost drowning out the singer onstage. Maybe it's a quirk of the mixing on Zach Bryan's second live album, but the audience is so loud it irritates me a little. Still, I like hearing how his band pulls this material off onstage, and I'm glad they captured good live recordings of Bryan doing his collaborations with Kacey Musgraves and Maggie Rogers. 

The Worst Album of the Month: Fat Joe - The World Changed On Me
Fat Joe's always proudly said the n-word, something that's gotten more and more negative attention in recent years, so I happily added fuel to the fire a couple weeks ago when I tweeted the ridiculous shit Chris Rock says on Joe's new album. For about 20 years Fat Joe made better albums than most people gave him credit for, but he really just sounds hoarse and depleted now, probably should've retired when he said he was going to a few years ago, or at least switched up from these stale Cool & Dre beats. 

6:00 AM