Wtd

It's been a while since my last post on here but I've added a few really great editions to my collection, so thought I'd drop in for an update. Recently received my Lord of the Rings and Hobbit HDZeta Silver sets courtesy of John's Winter Sale (#8 too!). Had to add these to my mini shrine. I also recently received my UHD Club set for The Dark Knight trilogy and wow. What a stunning release. Another low number for this one (#19) Finally, I grabbed the Shawshank Redemption HDZeta (#12) set since I wasn't a huge fan of the recent OAB release but felt like I needed something for the film. All in all, a pretty good couple of weeks with some lucky low numbers joining the collection.

Preorder link is live! NEVER MIND. Only the amaray release link is up...

Last night I watched The Batman in IMAX. Very well made detective noir thriller with some really solid performances. Most people don’t need a recommendation to see what will likely end up being a top 5 grossing film this year, but definitely catch it on the big screen if you can. Tonight I watched another action-packed superhero thriller… Belfast. Ok, so maybe not. This movie is basically Branagh’s version of Roma with some very good cinematography and interesting performances. Also the best looking actors of all time playing his parents - quite the compliment.

Finally watched Nightmare Alley (both the 1947 and 2021 films). I enjoyed them both quite a bit. I think the original is slightly better, though I deeply respect and admire what Del Toro did with the modern remake - I think he made some interesting choices (some of which work better than others). The performances by Cooper and Power as Stan are phenomenal in both, though I find Power's magnetism and charisma special in his portrayal. Overall, I'd say both are definitely worth watching. --- I'll be watching The Batman in IMAX in a few hours and I'm super excited!

They picked good art. Let's go!

Are we gatekeeping cardboard here?

Let's goooo!

SAG Awards results: https://variety.com/2022/film/news/sag-awards-winners-takeaways-1235191283/ CODA did very well and Power of the Dog came away empty handed. Will Smith and Ariana Debose look like strong favorites for their categories. Maybe a CODA best picture win is coming…

Taxi Driver is probably one of the 25 best movies ever made. This isn't particularly close (as much as I love De Palma and Scarface).

I watched Austin FC beat FC Cincinnati 5-0 in the cold rain for the season opener. Then I watched the Kenneth Branagh version of Murder on the Orient Express (I watched Death on the Nile a few nights ago). While they aren't as good as the 70's versions, I do find them charming and fairly entertaining. Orient > Nile for me, mostly because of the cast - but I think Branagh's Poirot is well rendered in both.

She’s not a Gucci. The five characters on the cover are. And yes, her role is smaller than those on the cover.

Same. Waiting to see what it looks like to decide whether I want to switch.

Art is disappointing (particularly the fact that the FS and steelbook have identical art), but alas it’s Manta and Dune so there’s no way I’m not getting it. I am interested to see if this trend of including trinkets continues and if it does so at the expense of one of the slips in an OC going forward. On the one hand, for some movies (the kinds I’d want an OC for anyways), a trinket is nice for the shelf presence. On the other hand, we’re losing an entire slip for it which is a bummer. Curious to see what they do with upcoming releases.

Mostly I think I'm just tired of Sorkin doing the same thing over and over again. I don't want to spoil it, but there's one choice in this film that was genuinely shocking and tone deaf. Also, I just find him to be a good (great) writer who needs to have his impulses tempered by a different director because otherwise he overindulges and kind of spins off into his own self-indulgent microverse.

Not bad at all. I’m pleasantly surprised the academy recognized Hamaguchi, only reason I didn’t have him in my picks was because I didn’t think the academy would do it. Very deserving film and filmmaker. Onto the results (all predicted winners were nominated): Best Picture 8/10 - Drive my Car and Nightmare Alley instead of Macbeth and Boom. Somewhat surprised Macbeth wasn’t recognized but GDT getting recognized by the academy shouldn’t really shock anyone I guess. Best Director 4/5 - Hamaguchi instead of Villeneuve. A bit surprising but makes sense in a post-Parasite world. Best Actor 5/5 - nailed it. Best Actress 3/5 - Cruz and Chastain instead of Haim and Gaga. Disappointed in this set of nominees. Mostly because the Tammy Faye movie was bad and Haim truly deserved a nomination for her work. I haven’t seen Parallel Mothers yet but I don’t doubt Cruz is deserving, her work with Almodóvar is usually exceptional. Best Supporting Actor 3/5 - Simmons and Plemons instead of Cooper and Leto. Makes sense though I think Being the Ricardos is incredibly overrated. Best Supporting Actress 3/5 - Dench and Dunst instead of Balfe and Blanchett. Makes sense to me though I think Dunst’s performance in Power of the Dog is pretty weak overall. All in all, I did okay with predictions and I’m still 100% live on winner guesses so that’s something. This year more than most I went against what I thought would happen and picked what I wanted to happen (especially in the acting categories) and it burned me a bit.

Nominees will be officially announced tomorrow morning (pacific time) so get those predictions in while you still can!

I bet if I counted top 3 of each year, Villeneuve would appear on my list more than any other director but ironically he doesn’t appear at all on mine. I don’t think he’s made a single bad movie and almost all of his films are at least 4/5. He just ran into tough competition most years and you can only pick one.

The run from 73 through 84 is unbelievable. They’re all 4.5/5 or better films. The crazy part is you could’ve picked any number of others and still hit on absolute classics (Chinatown, All the Presidents Men, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, etc.) Golden Age indeed.

Yup I absolutely loved it. One of my favorites of last year (I guess two years ago now) for sure. The only thing I knew about it was that it had set a Sundance distribution deal record with Hulu. It’s definitely my most rewatched movie from that year (I think I’ve seen it 4 times). Milioti in particular was a revelation to me. I had never seen her in anything and she was so incredibly charming and likable, completely holding her own with Samberg.

Great list, some absolute classics on there.