“What if Infernal Affairs, but geese?”

HONK.

Billy Mitchell's got that bumper sticker.

64. Beau is Afraid
A comprehensively baffling 3 hour anxiety nightmare by Ari Aster (Midsommar) and starring a typically committed Joachim Phoenix as Beau - a severely troubled and cripplingly anxious middle aged man living in fear of...pretty much everything. He has to go and visit his mum, but everything that can go wrong does - in the worst possible way. The whole film is the classic heroes journey template if the hero was to make all the wrong decisions, have the worst luck imaginable, learn nothing and have every single thing he thinks and does misunderstood by everyone he comes into contact with. Like your classic heroes journey stories (The Odyssey, Lord of the Rings, Apocalypse Now etc) it's bloated and overlong - but I think even that may be intentional. At times horrific, disturbing, cringe inducing, darkly funny and completely incomprehensible it's a pretty challenging watch. If you try and make it make any real kind of narrative sense, you'll probably hate it - because it makes very little sense - but it's a lot easier to 'enjoy' if you just let it happen to you and appreciate the absurdity. 7

My Neighbour Totoro

Very little happens in this but its charm trumps that. The animation of the kids, particularly the elder girl is adorable and superbly observed - I felt a pang of nostalgia back to being a kid myself. Beautiful beguiling piece of work.

Barbie. watched with the mrs. She got bored just over half way through. I was grateful.

What a weird turd of a film. Hyped to heaven and absolutely shit.

Dear of dear

51. Anatomy of a Fall - 30 Nov
Palm D'Or winning courtroom family drama where the wife of a man found dead is under suspicion of murder. Neither tense nor gripping as I expected it to be, but rather there was plenty on family dynamics and relationships.
[7]

No funnily enough, I think the pacing was fine. Just lacked impact for me.

Fair enough, thanks. Will add it to the list.

79. Whisper of the Heart
Another charming Ghibli effort, this one from the mid-90s and is a story about first love between two high schoolers. It's an absolute joy and never ceases to be impressive how well the various talent at Ghibli consistently capture family and friend dynamics in a variety of settings from the everyday to the fantastical. This is one the former end of the spectrum but the raw emotion of young love and first relationships is palpable throughout, supported by well realised characters and the ever present beautiful design. Thoroughly enjoying catching up on the catalogue and shall be disappointed when it's over but I suspect this is one I'll be revisiting. [8]

80. Napoleon
Well this was a weird film. In that I didn't expect it to be weird but it very much was, for me at least. I don't know much of the detailed history of Napoleon's life or what he was supposedly like so can't speak to the accuracy of any of it but the film is very much centred on his relationship with Josephine (his lover, wife, empress, ex). Phoenix portrays Napoleon as an odd character to say the least - awkward, clumsy, childish and a host of other descriptors that make it difficult to see how he gains the power and, more importantly, respect that is shown in the film. There's hints of his superior tactical nouse but almost played down. The details of his fractious relationship with Josephine also seem to take precedence over seemingly important moments in his life - exploring their unhealthy dynamics whilst the catastrophic Russian invasion and exile is reduced to a few short scenes.
The battles dotted throughout vary in scale but are as impressive as you'd expect from Scott, despite a few very ropey CGI moments, and are some of the strongest moments of the film, both in terms of the look and because Napoleon isn't acting like a total dork. Overall it felt like a highlights package, moving too quickly and whilst there's a huge amount to cover in his life other biopics manage it much better. It's full of odd choices (even down to random cameos popping up) and feels like the wrong focus to me but perhaps partly my own expectations are a factor there. I probably won't revisit the 4 hour cut that's supposedly dropping on Apple TV at some point. [5]

Yes and the various interpretations of the song throughout were great actually.

It was mentioned above but Angel Heart is a really difficult watch at the nest of times. Buckle up

The Kill Room
What if an art dealer laundered money for a hitman and it turned out he was actually a brilliant artist? Uma Therman chews the scenery so hard in this that she matches up to Samuel L Jackson’s comedy beard. It’s funny, it’s trashy, and I enjoyed it.

Anyone who eye rolls at Die Hard ever can go in the bin. Such a relentlessly ridiculous movie. I'm stingy with 10s for films for reasons I've never understood but it's close.

Saltburn This is getting knocks but I think the knockers don't get it. Geoghan is superb in this jet black psycho comedy. Dark isn't saying anywhere near enough.

I'm constantly impressed by Barry Keoghan, not only his acting ability but his choice of roles. He doesn't seem to have done anything purely for the paycheck yet, all solid films.