The Apple Dumpling Gang - It's cute! Some genuine laughs, a couple of surprisingly cool stunts sequences, but, like pretty much all live-action Disney from the era, it is hobbled by kids who are both too cutesy by half and not great actors.
Stalker - Far too well-crafted and gorgeous to be boring, but it is a bit ponderous (I hit my 'Yeah, I get it' point with about 20-25 minutes left). I do love the ambiguity of just how much (if any?) power the Zone has. How much of what occurs is just the characters cracking under the potential of what might happen? All of it? None of it?
The Front Page - Cynical journalism and corrupt politicians? Take out the transatlantic accents and it's basically the state of modern media.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple - Two biggest things I loved: the fact that it expects you to have seen the previous movies so it doesn't explain shit and that final major needle drop. Rest of the movie bangs, too, but those two things were tailor-made for me.
Play Dirty - Not without its moments (it is a Shane Black flick after all), but it is definitely one of his weaker efforts. Looks like crap, and the plot gets significantly less interesting when it switches from a revenge tale to a heist.
Blade Runner 2049 - Just as gorgeous as the original, with, what was for me, a more compelling narrative. I do think it gets a little messy in the last act and Gosling doesn't have quite the same magnetic presence as Ford did, but those are pretty minor quibbles in the grand scheme. Denis is the man.
Before Midnight - A shatteringly realistic follow-up to the romantic fantasies of Sunrise and Sunset. Yes, Celine is a more resentful and unhappy person, but that completely makes sense with where she would naturally end up if she and Jesse got together. She was this beautiful free spirit who feels trapped by her family. It's a wonderful performance from Delpy, and the best Hawke has been in these films.
Winchester '73 - Just a great motion picture. I saw this once like 25 years ago, and it was even better than I remembered. Wild that this was the first collaboration between Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann. Pretty much nailed the dynamic right out of the box.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - I thought I'd seen this before, but I guess it was only a couple of sketches. This is minute for minute one of the funniest films ever made. 100% hit rate for me.
Clearcut - Powerhouse performance from Graham Greene. RIP, King.
Hard Boiled - Man, I forgot how comically evil the villains get at the end of this. Secret lair, bombs in hospitals, straight up execution of hostages. Insane. Almost justifies the wanton destruction by the cops. Incredible stuff.
Tiptoes - This is so goddamn fascinating. In a movie where Gary Oldman plays a little person by walking on his knees (which is both impressive and distracting) nearly every other decision is just as baffling. The tone is all over the place, the script is laughably on the nose, its heart is the right place, but it's so condescending, and it is so self-serious it feels like a parody. I have to see the Director's Cut.
An American in Paris - I love how this looks, and the extended dance sequences is are terrific, but I don't find any of the songs that memorable. Also, Gene Kelly basically bullies a lady so much she breaks up with her perfectly nice and charming fiancé she seems to really love. Also, his rich patron is an absolute simp over him.
