Quick Update/Incoming Influx of Lists

Moving further and further away from Letterboxd, please excuse the multitude of poorly formatted lists.

The Shallows First Draft

The strand that most strongly connects the disparate films of Jaume Collet-Serra, whether it be his early horror films, his consistent run with Liam Neeson, or his latest triumph The Shallows, is his emphasis on tactility. Whereas the previous films confined themselves mostly to confined locations or cities that seemed like mazes, this film goes to the expanses of the ocean.

A Bob Dylan Ranking

1. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
2. The Times They Are A'Changin'
3. Another Side of Bob Dylan
4. Bob Dylan

In Praise of the Elemental

I was briefly discussing how Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Blue Velvet have much in common, and I described how films that feel elemental, such as Sans soleil, Miami Vice, and Out 1 are often among my favorites, and a friend responded with this: "The best movies tend to be the ones whose appeals are intuitive rather than logical."

American Honey v1

A little morsel from a first conception of American Honey.

Both as blunt as its title suggests and strangely elusive, American Honey moves with all the forcefulness of the old van that the film spends so much time in. To describe it as meandering is putting it lightly—at its heart the film is rudderless and nigh-anchorless. Of course, it is difficult to determine whether Arnold thinks of this as a feature or a demerit, and just as hard for the viewer to decide at what points the movie veers into this pitfall. Wildly inconsistent, frequently enervating,

2016 EOY Preparation

EXTREMELY preliminary.
Best Actress:
Kate Lyn Sheil - Kate Plays Christine
Zhao Tao - Mountains May Depart
Agyness Deyn - Sunset Song
Blake Lively - The Shallows
Kate Beckinsdale - Love & Friendship

Best Actor: Tom Hanks - Sully
Logan Marshall-Green - The Invitation
Chris Pine - Hell or High Water
Jake Gyllenhaal - Demolition
Anton Yelchin - Green Room

Best Supporting Actor:
Mathieu Amalric - My Golden Days
Tom Bennett - Love & Friendship
Aaron Eckart - Sully
Louis Koo - SPL II
Ralph Fiennes - A Bigger Splash

Best Supporting Actress:
Lili Taieb - My Golden Days
Zoey Deutch - Everybody Wants Some!!
Chloe Sevigny - Love & Friendship
Dakota Johnson - A Bigger Splash
Kaho - Our Little Sister

O.J.: Made in America (in parts)

Part by part thoughts, many of which will likely end up in my formal review.

Part 1: It seems like the main intent of O.J.: Made in America is deflation, an exposé of the culture and society of the times even while O.J.'s rise goes higher and higher. The opening of O.J. in prison is crucial to sustain the opening, almost celebratory section that would fit into a standard sports doc, which is then crushed by the subsequent section on LA in the 1960s.

Part 2: The Rodney King and Harlins sections are among the most powerful stretches of films I've seen this year. I'm so impressed how they manage to prolong the LA sections until right before the viewer wants to get back to OJ; it's a wonderful juggling act that Edelman and co. pull off perfectly.