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Showing posts from 2019

Review: Uncut Gems

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Let's bet on this. Howard (Adam Sandler) is a shifty New York jeweler who spend a lot of time placing bets, sometimes with money he doesn't have. When he gets his hands on a rare Opal that catches the eye of Kevin Garnett (playing a version of himself) he makes the biggest gamble of his life. This movie gave me so much anxiety. Howard makes so many awful choices and everyone is constantly yelling that it's just ~a lot~ to deal with in a two hour film. At one point about half way through the film, I thought to myself "Someone should probably just kill him now, because it's never going to stop." We get a bit of respite at one point, then when Howard makes another bet I could hear several people in the theater shifting in their seats again. I think we were all in physical pain. If you don't mind being on the edge of your seat for a long period of time, Uncut Gems is a solid second effort from the Safdie brothers, and a stronger outing than the...

Best Shots of the Decade: 2018

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This month, I wanted to start sharing "Decade" posts celebrating the 2010's. It's extra fitting that this year is the 10 anniversary of Rambling Film. I decided to split up each year, with 10 gifs from 10 different films.  Here are some shots that stood out to me.  Onward to 2018! Spider-man: Into The Spiderverse (2018) Avengers: Infinity War Black Panther Annhilation BlackKklansman Crazy Rich Asians Blindspotting Wildlife The Favourite Leave No Trace And we're done for now! Best shots of 2019 will have to wait until all the films I love come out on DVD so I can find the most beautiful scenes easier.  

Review: Bombshell

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It's not my job to protect you. Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) is fired from the network and in turn sues her former boss Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) for sexual harassment. At the same time, anchor Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) grapples with speaking up herself after just getting out of a dust up during Human Dumpster Fire's campaign trail. Then we have Kayla (Margot Robbie) another Fox employee who wants to be put on air but isn't aware of the cost.. The very first trailer for this film was so polarizing but it came with so many questions. How is it possible to make a story like this where the heart of it is a network that spreads so much hate? How can we be asked to show empathy to someone such as Megyn Kelly, who is still out there saying harmful things? The answer to that is ignore most of it. The awkward thing about Bombshell is that structurally, it's a very good movie. It's engaging, the acting is wonderful and the pacing is ne...

2020 Blind Spot Series + 2019 Recap

On a personal level, 2019 has been a struggle, but Blind Spot wise, it was mostly wonderful. My favorite film I saw this year is hands down The Godfather. I went full stan on that. I bought the whole set on blu ray and I watched part one and two several times each. Then I read the book because I wanted to get in the characters' heads more. Cinema Paradiso was also a beautiful film with an ending I don't think I'll ever forget. The worst film I saw was The Godfather Part 3. Andy Garcia was not only rude to John Mulaney at a Lakers game but he's fucking terrible in that movie.  So what does Blind Spot 2020 look like? Take a look below, let me know if you've seen any of these. I'm getting a bit ambitious again. I couldn't decide which Judy Garland and Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire to go with so I'm going to attempt to watch 14 films this year instead of the normal 12. I've done trilogies as one pick before so hopefully this won't be too much handle. ...

Best Shots of the Decade: 2017

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This month, I wanted to start sharing "Decade" posts celebrating the 2010's. It's extra fitting that this year is the 10 anniversary of Rambling Film. I decided to split up each year, with 10 gifs from 10 different films. Here are some shots that stood out to me.   Onward to 2017! Previous posts The Last Jedi (2017) Thor: Ragnarok Columbus War for the Planet of the Apes Raw Ingrid Goes West Get Out Lady Bird It Logan Mudbound Wonder Woman Blade Runner 2049  Yes, you just scrolled past more than 10 gifs. 2017 was a lot harder to narrow down than all the other years, so I went a little overboard.

Thursday Movie Picks - TV Edition: Rivalries

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It's our final Thursday Movie Pick of 2019! This week Wanderer wants us to talk about rivalries in TV series. That's easy enough, there are plenty of those.This post is kind of bitter. 1) True Blood Eric and Bill had a bit of a rivalry over Sookie. Of course, Eric's fine ass was the right choice. I look back at the first four seasons of this show foundly 2) The Walking Dead Back before TWD turned into a zombie infested dumpster fire, Shane and Rick had an amazing rivalry. The episode where Rick is forced to kill him - Better Angels - is one of the strongest episodes of the series and was beautifully shot. Not to mention it contains the creepiest ending in the entire series to date.  3) The Office Dwight and Jim had a rivalry for the ages. To be honest, I'm team Dwight. Fuck Jim. He was boring, and Krasinski is only hot with a beard so he didn't even have that going for him.

Review: The Two Popes

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German jokes don't have to be funny. Told between 2005 and 2013, this film follows Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) and the eventual Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) as they dicuss their faith and differences. Truth be told, had this not been on my radar as a possible Oscar contender for Jonathan Pryce in the Best Actor category, I probably would've skipped this. I don't know much about, nor do I care about the Catholic Church and how they function. But, this ended up being a lot lighter than I imagined. It's subtly very funny. There's plenty of moments that got a chuckle out of me and Hopkins and Pryce play off each other very well. I didn't know anything about how a new Pope was chosen so I found the discussions between the two and the set up fairly interesting. They also have one of the best uses of an ABBA song I've seen in a while. Pryce is really good. Yet another actor giving a better performance that Joaquin Phoenix in his garbage movi...

Review: Pain and Glory

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The heroin takes you.. One of director Salvador Mallo's (Antonio Banderas) movies is being given a re-release in Madrid 30 years later. He had a falling out with one of his actors, Alberto Crespo ( Asier Etxeandia) but he attempts to make amends with him. Salvador is very sickly, suffering from many different illnesses and when he meets up with Alberto he takes up heroin to cope. He then reflects on everything that brought him to this point. Banderas is getting a ton of Oscar buzz for this performance, which was the main selling point for me. And he's very good. All the actors here are, but overall I just did not like this. Mallo's life stories are wildly uneven. Some of his early scenes as a child are interesting, then we'd go back to reality and his new found love of drugs and the film would just stop right in its tracks. The best part by far is when an ex-boyfriend visits him and I thought to myself "I'd like to see this explored more" th...

Best Shots of the Decade: 2016

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This month, I wanted to start sharing "Decade" posts celebrating the 2010's. It's extra fitting that this year is the 10 anniversary of Rambling Film. I decided to split up each year, with 10 gifs from 10 different films.  Here are some shots that stood out to me.  Onward to 2016! Previous posts:  2010   2011  2012   2013   2014   2015 Moonlight  La La Land Captain America: Civil War Green Room Arrival Loving The Handmaiden Midnight Special Jackie Hell or High Water The Neon Demon Okay, there are a few other shots from The Handmaiden I'd choose first but all of them would get me slapped with a content advisory on Blogger.

2019 Blind Spot Series: Scenes From a Marriage

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What I knew going in: That it was originally aired as a mini series, then edited into a film. We meet Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) giving an interview regarding their marriage for a magazine. Unfortunately, that marriage will eventually end, and we see all the ups and downs along the way. The DVD I got from Netflix gave me the option of watching the mini series version, or the movie cut. Since Blind Spots are supposed to be about film, I chose the later. It's nearly three hours and split into 6 acts. I was shocked at how quickly time went by. This has to be one of the best paced longer films I've ever watched. Marianne and Johan felt like a very real couple and we see them almost go through just about every emotion imaginable throughout their divorce. The actors are captivating, especially Ullman. I felt on her side throughout the film. It's certainly not a "fair" look at their divorce.  Ingmar Bergman has been a popular fixture t...

Review: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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All the power lives in you now. The First Order, led by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is still wreaking havoc on the galaxy. When everyone gets word that  Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) lives, it's a race between Ren and Rey, (Daisy Ridley) Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) to find him. But the Emperor wants Rey for a very specific reason and Kylo isn't exactly eager to oblige him. I'll keep my review free of major spoilers. Speaking of spoilers, I read them before seeing this. The entire plot leaked months ago on reddit and I can never control myself, so I knew going in I was going to have an issue with the ending, but I assumed I'd have fun along the way. I'm shocked by how much I actively disliked this movie and that pains me to say as a Star Wars fan. I've never disliked anything from the main trilogy before. I didn't care for Solo , but that film doesn't matter in the scheme of things. This one does. For a film that ...

Best Shots of the Decade: 2015

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This month, I wanted to start sharing "Decade" posts celebrating the 2010's. It's extra fitting that this year is the 10 anniversary of Rambling Film. I decided to split up each year, with 10 gifs from 10 different films.  Here are some shots that stood out to me.   to 2015! Previous posts: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014   Mad Max: Fury Road Sicario Carol Star Wars: The Force Awakens Crimson Peak Brooklyn Avengers: Age of Ultron Ex Machina The Martian It Follows Note: I must have been in a red/orange/yellow phase this year.