2024 film diary ⤴

Promising Young Woman (2020)

Director: Emerald Fennell
Writer: Emerald Fennell
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnhan

this story is a trap. you know it's a trap, but then you don't. you forget. or you fail to realize who is setting the trap for whom. and the end is inevitable, except it's not, it can't be, but it is. you feel the horror and the victory of it.

well. you know I'd watch Carey Mulligan in anything, and she always delivers.

Saltburn (2023)

Director: Emerald Fennell
Writer: Emerald Fennell
Stars: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi

candy movie. maybe one of those sweet, hard candies with a sour centre.

I do love rich people throwing parties. I anticipated more thrills, more horror, but this is not a roller-coaster. this is erosion. this is rot. this is a hollowing out. and maybe the fruit was always rotten inside, but nevertheless, all that remains in the end is its shiny skin.

Nicholas Barber wrote that "if you see it as a lurid pulp fantasy rather than a penetrating satire, then Saltburn is deliriously enjoyable," which sums up almost precisely how I felt.

Paris Blues (1961)

Director: Martin Ritt
Writers: Jack Sher, Irene Kamp, Walter Bernstein, based upon a novel by Harold Flender
Stars: Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Diahann Carroll, Joanne Woodward

I enjoyed this film very much and I am frustrated by how it wastes its potential. some of this is down to studio meddling (can't have an interracial romanance, no sir) and some is the responsibility of the screenwriters, but ah well. it nevertheless looks and sounds gorgeous. the dialogue is frequently sharp, clever, and suprising. it's good; more people should see it.

(but!! imagine the version where Paul Newman and Diahann Carroll are paired up and tell me you don't feel sad we were robbed of that.)

Good Grief (2023)

Director: Dan Levy
Writer: Dan Levy
Stars: Dan Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel

not what I thought this would be! a smart and surprising script, quite tender. another example of me seeking out stories about grief...

Crashing (2016 TV series)

TV night with E

Creator: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Stars: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jonathan Bailey

put interesting and varied characters in strange and increasingly convoluted situations!

What's Up Doc (1972)

movie night with E

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Writers: Buck Henry, David Newman, Robert Benton, story by Peter Bogdanovich
Stars: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn

a screwball comedy, remember them? wonderfully funny.

The Fly (1986)

movie night with E

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg, from the story by George Langelaan
Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis

SO GOOD. I LOVE IT MORE EVERY TIME I SEE IT. DEEPLY LAYERED AND MEANINGFUL. HORRIFYING. BE AFRAID!

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

movie night with G

Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: Nora Ephron
Stars: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby

had to show him my favourite movie.

it remains my favourite movie.

North & South (2004 TV miniseries)

Director: Brian Percival
Writers: Sandy Welch, novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
Stars: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage

I swoon, I sigh.

“Look back. Look back at me.”

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

movie night with E

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki, novel by Diana Wynne Jones
Stars: Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura

I'm fond of the English dub, but E and I watched with subtitles. wonderful film.

Mean Girls (2024)

movie night with book club

Director: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr.
Writer: Tina Fey
Stars: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp

hot mess. hot!! but a mess. whenever Reneé, Auliʻi, or Jaquel are singing, the film is good. Reneé delivering the definitive version of "World Burn." retains most of the stage musical's problems, including poor pacing and character development. I...do not think they did Angourie any favours here. sorry, girl.

um. this is bad. but a fun bad. we're lucky to have it.

Camelot (1982)

movie night with G

Director: Marty Callner
Writer: Alan Jay Lerner
Stars: Richard Harris, Meg Bussert, Richard Muenz

gotta show him why I love this musical and yes I did cry at the end.

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writers: Kenneth Branagh, play by William Shakespeare
Stars: Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone

speechless. no words. what? wHAt? WHAT?? making a film means making a series of decisions. almost every single choice here is a strong, wrong choice. I'm baffled.

the single best moment is the approximately 90 seconds when Adrian Lester is singing/dancing to "I've Got a Crush on You." it's like, for a fleeing moment, I glimpsed a truly romantic musical comedy. and then this film went back to doing whatever it's doing. don't get me wrong, there are other fun moments (anytime Nathan Lane is on screen), the stage-y set design is charming, and Branagh is doing his typically Shakespearean acting (Branagh in Shakespeare is like the Kuleshov effect; if the production is good or great, he's great, if it's bad, he's bad), but...hmm.

in the end, I'm happy it takes a big swing. it's the opposite kind of hot mess from Mean Girls (see above), which makes a lot of good choices but ultimately ends up lackluster and mediocre—this film transcends mediocrity by virtue of its sheer chaoticness, never quite reaching either "good" or "so bad it's good" but some secret third thing.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Director: Joe Wright
Writers: Deborah Moggach, novel by Jane Austen
Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen

I think I like the story of P&P, but maybe I don't like the novel. because I've enjoyed the adaptations that stray further from the book (this, and my first exposure, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries) and I've never been able to finish the book. hmm.

this is a wonderful film.

Poor Things (2023)

movie night with N

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Tony McNamara, novel by Alasdair Gray
Stars: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo

I'm a little terrified to say anything about this one, but I liked it. certainly it is ripe for interpretation. and visually stunning! if nothing else, can we agree that more films should be so daring and fantastical in their visuals?

The Witch: A New-England Folktale (2015)

movie night with E

Director: Robert Eggers
Writer: Robert Eggers
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson

file under: not my thing but very well done.

The Oranges (2011)

Director: Julian Farino
Writers: Ian Helfer, Jay Reiss
Stars: Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester

you should know this upfront: I was scrolling, looking for something to watch, when I stumbled upon this vaguely familiar title and saw it had an IMDB score of 5.8/10, which made it an instant yes from me. I was in that kind of mood, you know? and honestly, I had a blast.

yes, this is a blasphemous waste of a superb cast (you've got Catherine Keener, Allison Janney, and Oliver Platt and this is what you give them??). but it manages to deliver something unexpected, funny, with glints of honest feeling. Even mediocre movies have their target audience, and in this case, it's me: I'm the target.

anyway, things worked out for Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, so...

Hansard (2019)

national theatre at home

Directors: Simon Godwin, Robin Lough
Writer: Simon Woods
Stars: Alex Jennings, Lindsay Duncan

Lindsay Duncan is another one of those actors who I would watch in anything. I think she is outstanding.

I love a two-hander, I love banter on stage, and in those aspects, Hansard handily delivers. it's a sparring match between husband and wife, conservative and liberal, in which the political becomes, right at the end, incredibly personal.

listen. it's no Yerma, but nevertheless—a pretty satisfying night at the theatre.