watch diary

latest reviews on top.

title		thoughts
	Cleo de 5 a 7 🔄 Agnes Varda (1962) 08.30	I was so so sleepy while watching this. I watched it without substitles and felt like my French comprehension was rusty. Varda is magnificient as always.
	The Incredibles 🔄 Brad Bird (2005) 07.30	Comfort movie! I love Elastigirl's voice!
	Hercules Ron Clements, John Musker (1997) 07.26	An ok movie, lots of strong characters but the plot didn't let characters or the story flesh out. Of course Danny DeVito would play Phil and I love Meg's voice.
	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 🔄 David Yates (2007) 07.10	This time round, I really noticed the ridiculousness of actors pretending to be wizards lol. Harry learns that he in fact, can lean on his friends rather than isolating himself wowwww. Imelda was the perfect embodiment of Umbridge. The actors absolutely do not look like 14 year olds.
	Pachinko Soo Hugh (2022) 07.10	A good adaptation of the book! I think going back and forth between the generations was a great way to set up parallels and themes in each episode and keeps everything tight. There was lots of crying towards the end of the season but everyone acted their butts off.
	Inside Out 2 Kelsey Mann (2024) 07.05	Watched this in Korea! I forgot what happened in the first one but it didn't matter because this movie is enjoyable as a standalone. The new characters are loveable, loved Maya Hawke and Ayo Edebri's performances. My favorite character is Embarrassment, he looks like a Moomin.
	The Favourite 🔄 Yorgos Lanthimos (2018) 07.02	Watched on the plane and had to skip some parts because there were children around me. Don't know how I feel about this movie anymore, it's just so bonkers and very much the girls are fightingggg. The entire cast is great but Olivia Coleman was so good.
	La Planète sauvage René Laloux (1973) 06.30	Pas mal, très bizarre, et interessant...les yeux de Draags étaient creepy.
	loving vincent DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman (2017) 06.29	stunning animation although the plot took me out of it sometimes.
	Une vie de chat Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol (2010) 06.26	Un superb film d'animation! Je découverte que j'aime bien les films d'animations français, ils sont très sous estimés par rapport aux autres films d'animations internationals, genre ceux de Japon. Les visuels et l'histoire de cet film étaitent très bien fait, j'adore le chat mimi.
	My Neighbor Totoro となりのトトロ 🔄 Hayao Miyazaki (1988) 06.15	Fluffy friends :) but I always thought the movie could use more Totoros.
	The Banshees of Inisherin Martin McDonagh (2022) 06.06	I knew this was about a friendship breakup but I did not expect the self-mutilation??? There weren't dramatic peaks and valleys in the story, you just watch a stupid man not respect his ex-friend's wishes to leave him alone. This film was unexpectly funny, sweet, morbid, and a good depiction of what happens when a beloved relationship ends. Everyone acted their butts off in this and I want to visit Ireland now.
	The Devils Ken Russell (1971) 06.05	This was a lot...chaotic, sexual, flamboyant, the film was at times really difficult to watch (especially anything to do with body torture) and so ridiculous at times all I could do was laugh. At the heart of this film is the tension between political power and religiousity which manages to not be buried in the spectacle of it all. I wish there were more films released these days that are wacky like this one. The performances and architecture were the highlights of the film, and make this film a good example of grounding a film in history but using elements to connect it with modern audiences.
	The Adventures of Prince Achmed Lotte Reiniger (1926) 06.04	Animation is so cool! This was mesmerizing, I kept wondering how Reiniger made this because the level of detail was incredible. The film strangely reminded me storytelling in ballet although I don't know how to elaborate on that. While the film is a captivating experience is suffers from the portrayal of black and Chinese people, where such characters weren't people with aggregious behavior who happen to be black or chinese but rather they have unacceptable behavior because they are black or chinese.
	ernest et celestine 🔄 Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner (2012) 06.02	(≧ᗜ≦)ᡣ𐭩 OUI!!! ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜ 2D animation français!!! (≧ᗜ≦)ᡣ𐭩
	havoc in heaven 大闹天宫 🔄 Wan Laiming (1961) 05.31	Nostalgia! I always loved the lush colors in this film and the use of Chinese opera music. At times the film was goofy with how the character's movements were animated or certain noise effects. One of the top portrayals of Sun Wukong in my opinion, next to the iconic live action tv show.
	treasure planet Ron Clements, John Musker (2002) 05.26	Major Atlantis vibes here with the cool technology. This film is so beautifully animated, I really wish western animation had more 2D films with complementary amounts of 3D in them! John Silver is such a good complicated villain and his growth never felt forced. What did felt forced was the romance between Doppler and Amelia - they had so much potential as independent characters but the movie shoved them to the side until the end. The film could've gone without Morph, and used more B.E.N. Confused by the species that exist in this film.
	aladdin 🔄 Ron Clements, John Musker (1992) 05.24	I put this on randomly, and wow what a interesting mix of middle eastern and south asian cultural references. I always wondered if this movie is as cherished to Desi and Arab americans as much as Mulan is to Chinese-Americans. Robin Williams is still of course the highlight of the film, and Iago reminds me of Danny DeVito. I couldn't take Jafar seriously everytime he said prin-cess. Also I realized that this was probably the most sexually suggestive Disney film out there, and it seems weird that the film based on the Orient would be this way...smells a bit like orientialism?
	hello dolly Gene Kelly (1969) 05.18	◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜ AAHH I was smiling all throughout the movie, i loved this! There was so much optimism and movement, from the hopeful search for love to the bright costumes to lush orchestration to the constant camera movement. You can tell it's a gene kelly film because of the athletic dancing while making full use of the sets with some slapstick sprinkled in. This was my first Barbra Streisand film and now I wanna watch more of her, I loooved her voice. Tonally, I also thought the film did a very good job navigating the quieter scenes amongst the ones that were delicious spectacles. The music slaps, and there were lots of silly walks.
	to kill a mockingbird Robert Mulligan (1962) 05.11	i picked this movie out because of greogory peck after seeing how handsome he was in roman holiday...he is also very handsome in this movie. however, the movie overall was ok; it felt like it was trying to make some statement about civil rights (this was released during the 60s after all) but it was less about civil rights than it was about atticus finch and his family, and praising atticus for being a nice white guy. I mean, even the Black characters were treated as secondary/background characters, and when given the chance to be more than that, it only centered on their tragedy. The structure of the film was interesting - it starts out as purely a family movie then it becomes a serious courtroom drama and when you think the film will end, it suddenly veers into a drama about children getting attacked. I wonder what was the concensus when the film was released.
	arrested development season 1 (2003) 05.10	i have a tendency to treat tv shows like podcasts...but whether i gave this my full undivided attention or not, i had a fun time watching this show! the gags are so silly and there really aren't any sore spots in this season!