Keith Moser (he/him)

I need to start watching everything Benesch does. LATE SHIFT is a gripping 90 mins following her as a nurse just trying to complete her rounds in an understaffed hospital. The camerawork is tense & several scenes made me want to scream. Very sweet final shot followed by depressing credit text 4.5*

Finally sat down & watched Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, which my 5yo was watching nonstop for months. The songs & choreography have no business being so catchy. Bamm, My Year, Someday, Fired Up—all bangers. But a lot of the dialogue is exactly what I'd expect from a DCOM with Bucky a laughably bad villain 3*

GOOD BOY takes vibe-based horror & puts it in a dog's POV. Indy deserves all the praise he's gotten (such an extraordinary performance!), but the script leaves a lot to be desired. At only 72 mins, there wasn't much plot—humans are mostly faceless & there's little background given to anything 2.5*

THE HISTORY OF SOUND takes queer-film icons Mescal & O'Connor & pairs them up as Brokeback Musicians who meet before WWI, reconnect over a folk-music gathering trip & separate into their "normal" lives. The second half drags after O'Connor goes away but Cooper impresses in a small epilogue role 3.5*

ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU tells a broad story of Israeli occupation in Palestine over 70+ yrs & three generations. While the film seemed to drag at first, once it passed the midpoint, it became gripping & heartbreaking (especially when you realize nothing has changed & things have only gotten worse) 4*

Seems three different directors, a huge rewrite & firing your star may have been bad news for SCREAM 7. It's hard to care about Ghostface's kills when his victims are barely characters. Great to have Campbell back but the twins were wasted, the teens were hard to watch & this was the worst reveal 2*

Reminiscent of The Florida Project (h/t writer/producer/editor Baker) LEFT-HANDED GIRL follows a precocious 5yo (an excellent Ye) with a "Devil Hand," her older sister becoming a betel nut beauty, her mother opening a noodle stand & her grandmother funneling people out of Taiwan. Loved the ending 4*

The leads of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME (Del Toro, Threapleton & Cera) are all fantastic, as is the always-great production design, but the story is bloated and ridiculous. Why have a cast this stacked if some of the stars are stuck with two lines? Maybe it'll improve on rewatch, but who has the time? 3*

RED RIVER tells a story of cattle herding the only way Hawks can—huge spectacles featuring hundreds of cows & a stampede that certainly couldn't have gotten the AHA disclaimer if filmed today. Wayne slowly becomes a jerk while Clift compares guns w/ a young cowboy & Brennan does what he does best 4*

Finished the #DLMOscarChallenge earlier today with 19 days to spare! cc: @dougbensonland.bsky.social

My ranking of all 50 nominees: letterboxd.com/agrajag/list...

With the pulsating rave score, I should've known SIRAT wouldn't have an expected story path. I literally screamed "WTF?!" at the midpoint shock & yet even that didn't prepare me for the explosive final act to come. Some nice scenes about found family, but confusing motivations 3* #ODR 50/50 125/125

Can't believe how deep the school indoctrination goes in MR NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN & how many things reminded me of the current state of the US. Pavel is such a courageous teacher, capturing the propaganda spewed at his students. I hope he stays safe & doesn't become a Navalny 3.5* #ODR 49/50 123/125

YouTube video by Attitude Magazine A Friend of Dorothy - full Oscar nominated short film starring Miriam Margolyes and Stephen Fry

A FRIEND OF DOROTHY is a lovely short with stellar acting from Margolyes & Nwachukwu (Lloyd is too much of a grandson caricature w/ too many bad line readings for me). Loved watching Dorothy & JJ bond over a shared love of theatre, even if the story was pretty by the numbers 3.5* #ODR 48/50 122/125

Like the first film, NE ZHA 2 nails all the animated fight scenes—some truly epic action here that probably looked great in 3D. However, the story & mythology behind it are even worse this time around, introducing so many new characters that I couldn't be bothered to care who was good or bad. 3*

It took a while to get into CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, but I was locked in after the elections. Sara's struggles to bring prosperity to her village shouldn't surprise me, but the extent sure did. Amazing how a motorcycle ride could almost bring tears (first of joy, then of anger) 4* #ODR 47/50 121/125

O'Brien gives two great performances in TWINLESS & his chemistry with Sweeney is electric. Loved Sweeney's direction (from that split screen party scene to all the mirror shots) & his writing (the early reveal to us but slow roll to the character). Loved Franciosi in her supporting role 4.5*

MICKEY 17 wasn't as bad as I'd heard! An odd follow-up to Parasite, sure, but a fun sci-fi romp reminiscent of Murderbot. Pattinson gets to be all sorts of weird with every re-print (his voice as 17 reminded me of Buscemi) & Ackie plays off him well. Loved Ruffalo & Collette as the bad guys. 4*

I knew what VOICE OF HIND RAJAB was about but I was still unprepared for such horror. Hearing Hind's voice alongside the re-enactment of the Red Crescent's absurd attempts to save her was heartbreaking. And to think this is just one of countless atrocities still happening FP🇵🇸 4.5* #ODR 46/50 120/125

LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN is a French-Belgian anime evocative of Ghibli at times. Amelie is a precocious toddler who begins the film thinking she's God. Her relationship w/ nanny Nishio-san is adorable & nearly made me cry. Some gorgeous animation & a lovely score 4* #ODR 45/50 119/125

NO OTHER CHOICE has some brilliant transitions & gorgeous looking overlay shots—Park truly is a masterful director. However, the writing doesn't quite match the film's look. Overlong at times & slightly absurd at others, I didn't believe most of what happened & thought the pacing was often off 3.5*

Scored a free ticket to GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE, knowing only it was Verbinski's latest & anti-AI. Rockwell is completely unhinged here, surrounded by an eclectic mix of side characters. Lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but the story dragged in the final act when things really went crazy 4*

Eva Victor's debut SORRY, BABY takes some unexpected turns as it explores several years in the life of a graduate student after a tragic, unnamed event (which is deftly "shown" via time-lapse). At times both hilarious & heartbreaking, it builds to a wonderful ending. John Carroll Lynch was great 4*

At nearly 3 hrs KOKUHO dragged at times (and yet strangely felt like it missed some major scenes between the two leads). The kabuki numbers were transcendent—Yoshizawa & Yokohama (& also Watanabe) did amazing work. This really made me appreciate a new art form. Amazing makeup 3.5* #ODR 44/50 118/125

Apologies to Ford, but MY DARLING CLEMENTINE has to fight Tombstone as best film about the Earps & the OK Corral, and this just ain't my huckleberry. Fonda & Brennan both do well, but Mature is a far cry from the legendary Kilmer. A lot of the film looks gorgeous (if dark), but it wasn't for me 2.5*

A haunting follow-up to Mariupol, 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA uses drones & footage straight out of a FPS videogame to show the counter-offensive struggles in one small forest in Ukraine. Each time the omniscient narrator updated us on an interviewed soldier was a gut punch. A brutal look at war 4*

Cagney plays against type in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, a biopic about George M Cohan who wrote a few songs I know (and based on one montage, a lot more I've never heard of). I liked him as Cohan, but his singing wasn't for me & his dancing reminded me of Groucho Marx. Overlong & too much blackface 2.5*

BUTCHER'S STAIN tells a simple story of bigotry in the workplace as one Arab Israeli is adored by his coworkers until everyone assumes the worst when a hostage poster is found torn down. The film is well-shot, but I'm not sure I understand why the custody subplot was present. 3.5* #ODR 43/50 117/125

I really hope Disney orders a full season of THE MUPPET SHOW—this renewal pilot captures all the hilarity of the original with some great guest stars (Carpenter is fun, as are Rogen and Rudolph in smaller bit parts). Plus, who knew Rizzo could rock Blinding Lights so well?! Don't stop them now! 4.5*

Who would have guessed that Evangelicals getting into politics could cause such chaos? APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS focuses on Malafaia, the televangelist puppetmaster behind the rise and fall of Brazil's Bolsonaro. Frightening to see so many parallels with what is happening in America... 3.5*

Rewatched SINNERS & I still have issues with all the cross-cutting and that overlong final fight, but I'll be excited for Maisler to win the first Best Casting Oscar. Göransson should get his third too for his fantastic score. I respect Coolger's ambition in mixing genres & creating such beauty 4.5*