More than anything I appreciate the brashness of it—from Cruise probably first and foremost and from Chris McQuarrie as well- they went for it in terms of degree of difficulty and stunt and set piece ambition-- the skydiving, the motorcycle chase against traffic in the round-about, the skyscraper jumping scene and the helicopter chase… with any one of these set piece action sequences we probably couldn’t have an archiveable film if the rest of the film around it was solid—but they had all four—and they’re all spectacular The narrative is fine- but that’s not the focus at all When

It has aesthetic connective tissue with Ophuls (again The Shining) and a spirit of middle-finger cinema related to Luis Bunuel- a film of the highest artistic quality and I’m leaning towards masterpiece status (first time viewing in a decade—far too long) From Kubrick: “Highest of all I would rate Max Ophuls, who for me possessed every possible quality. He has an exceptional flair for sniffing out good subjects, and he got the most out of them. He was also a marvelous director of actors.” 265 on TSPDT all-time It’s the announcement of Kubrick as a major artist- I like

Very impressed with Leitch’s exercise in style 80’s Berlin-chic, drenched in neon in every scene—nods to Refn’s Drive Strong supporting cast but it is Charlize Theron’s show- she’s impeccable- nods to Delon in Le Samourai and Bond of course A clear and admirable dedication to an era and place—we have David Bowie, George Michael, Hasslefhof mentions, Reagan on the tv and radio—the wall coming down as a backdrop adds immediacy Love the nods to cinema—we have Tarkovsky’s Stalker playing in a theater, we have the Hitchcock Rope-like tracking (oner) shot simulations with characters or objects blocking the camera—the car

Cinematic opulence- Baz would do it all better in 2001’s Moulin Rouge!, his masterpiece, but this is more than just a flawed rough draft—it’s a gorgeous and inspired precursor The opening is a jaw-dropper—Luhrmann showing off- jump cut heavy, freeze frames, during a sort of gun-play showdown he emphasize parts of the body in close-up (eyes, feet only) like a Leone film Flourishes of primary color, expressionistic lighting- fireworks—all Luhrmann trademarks. We have the occasional intentional high-speed overacting which is effective It’s a sizeable achievement for both Claire Danes and Leo (and whoever cast them)—the initial meeting with the

It’s one of the more beautiful 16mm films (blown up to 35) I’ve seen. It has Haynes penchant and skill for gorgeous framing, lighting, and overall mise-en-scene From Patricia Highsmith’s “price of salt” as source material—the screenplay isn’t amazing- 95 on metacritic Gorgeous floating tacking shot opening Carter Burwell’s score—sounds a bit like Fargo and the scales like Philip Glass a little Haynes is a Queer Cinema giant—and this is a major achievement—he’s better when he’s telling a straight forward narrative, with a strong female lead (Julianne Moore, Blanchett here), and focusing his impact on the mise-en-scene and not

It’s a family portrait with a bittersweet tone that is in the archives largely on the basis of the two performances from Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio The rest of the ensemble is strong as well- John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Mary Streenburgen and Darlene Cates--- Juliette Lewis is just about the biggest thing in 1993—Cape Fear in 1991, Husbands and Wives in 1992 and then this and in 1994 Natural Born Killers- an amazing run DiCaprio got the Academy Award nomination and helped make a name for himself here along with This Boy’s Life in 1993—his coming out

With a second watch I’m not sure if some of the flimsier connective tissue will meld—or float apart—but either way it’s a wildly innovative, intelligent, and aspiring film While being wholly original (excited to see what Riley does next)—it has certainly has influences from everything to Gilliam (Brazil especially), Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich), to Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man!--- Alex Cox is in there as well with Repo Man It does go 20 different ways (detractors calling it “scattershot” and it does feel a little long for a 105 minute movie perhaps because of this) but its entertaining,

A slow-burn period epic (sometimes romance) with great photography and a meditative approach based in realism Great photography of the countryside, wheat fields—Van Gogh or Monet paintings—photography by Caroline Champetier—worked on Holy Motors Never shows the battles of WWI though it’s a main character in the film People don’t always talk in the scenes—and when they do—often nobody replies—it’s a formal approach along with the intermittent shots of work going on at the farm.. There’s a scene of dialogue and narrative action, and then work being done, repeat Rarely used Bressionian-like sparse score that when used- cues emotion in