you hurt my feelings
this was the first in a run of summer movie season theatergoing experiences i had. thankfully, it was a sign of things to come. lovely picture with funny neurotic performances and a true attempt at film emulation that mostly reminded me of how bad "the banshees of inisherin" looked. there's a point where a long take conversation scene begins, and we see some pretty egregious camera shake in the beginning of the static shot. that was awesome.
the flash
saw for free at a preview screening. i went with my buddy alec. pretty cool experience. did not like this major motion picture.
asteroid city
freight train, freight train, going so fast. how many times do we hear about cinematic storytelling described with words like "wheel," "mechanics," "engine," etc. etc. how wonderful, then, to see a film about the breakdown of these machines: the first inciting moment, an unknown gadget sputtering relentlessly, as the mechanic watches in confusion. when an almost parodic climax shows a flurry of visually "cathartic" moments all smashed together (à la marc webb's famous screenwriting lecture), the drama is inert. i was impressed when jason schwartzman physically walks out of the play in this moment. the beatific truth isn't illustrated when the chekhov's gun is fired -- in this case, all of the brainiacs' inventions. it's in the gaps of the story, where incommunicable desperation and love reverberates through these shells of performance and production. in the innermost "asteroid city" sequences, the dolly movements are a little shaky, a manufactured control loss that plays in contrast to the broadcast television production's firmly managed camera. a broken ramp that is prominently displayed at the beginning remains unused at the end.
no hard feelings
another mid-budget "feelings" movie! was incredibly impressed by this one. saw with my buddy noelle. we both enjoyed it, probably more than we thought we would. and again, the performances are lovely. it was so entertaining seeing how weird jennifer lawrence can go in this one. and andrew barth feldman is fantastic. again, very impressive film emulation here, with particular care to how digital sensors can treat sunlight. beautiful halation work.