Glenn Heath Jr.

Top 5 of the decade imo.

www.criterion.com/films/34073-...

A ★½ review of The Substance (2024) If you've seen (and appreciated) David Cronenberg's films or David Lynch's films or hell, even a Jennifer Lynch film, how can you think this is in any way novel or exciting or good? Despite Demi Moore...

THE SUBSTANCE (2024, Coralie Fargeat)
letterboxd.com/matchcuts/fi...

A ★★★½ review of Anora (2024) Very good, if not the great masterpiece most would claim it to be. Kind of at its worst when trying to be UNCUT GEMS LITE in the middle section, but by the end it had me. The final scene is one for th...

ANORA (2024, Sean Baker) letterboxd.com/matchcuts/fi...

2024 U.S. Premiere.

Still playing catch up but here's my fav films of 2024. letterboxd.com/matchcuts/li...

Fair enough. Thanks for taking this project on! Really cool to remember some of those films I'd forgotten about.

I gotta say you did LAST MAN STANDING dirty. That's a top 10 entry for me.

Watching BOARDWALK EMPIRE for the first time (it's awesome!). But the opening credits are so bad. Like what is going on here? Rock score, weird time lapse, Buscemi's plastic face, painfully obvious imagery. www.youtube.com/watch?v=erxq...

HEART OF STONE, a movie I watched in 20 min increments over the course of a week while drinking a few beers each night.

This is how base jumpers vibe.

JADE (Theatrical Cut) (1995, Friedkin): Obviously clunky and uneven, but it's got this undercurrent of pent up rage that is very much a Friedkin staple. The car chase that barrels through about 4 different SF communities becomes emblematic of the whole thing. Striking, brutal, and reckless.

/RULES OF ENGAGEMENT/ (2000, Friedkin): Spartan, prescient pre-9/11 oddity that feels like simpler times even though it's deeply problematic and occasionally jingoistic. This makes for a fascinating prequel to THE HUNTED, as both deal with the blowback of disgraced American lethal weapons.

The "Westwood One." Is that a theater or a newspaper?

/BLUE CHIPS/ (1994, Friedkin): I was a complete basketball head at 13 and this movie became something of an obsession for me. 30 years later it doesn't entirely hold up, but there are plenty of virtues here. Nolte oscillates between barbarian and sweetheart. Young Shaq is pure cinema. Don't cheat.

It's incredible just how bad he is at this job.

/TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA/ (1985, Friedkin): It's been a long time, and holy shit this is bleak. Maybe some of the worst police work ever put to film. Absolutely brazen in all respects, a high wire act that eventually becomes a free fall. A better car chase you will not find.

Words to live and die by.

Not sure if Scout is over here yet, but he wrote up a banger summation on Friedkin. https://www.rogerebert.com/tributes/he-did-it-all-william-friedkin-1935-2023

/12 ANGRY MEN/ (1997, Friedkin): There was a time when HBO's original movies were the most important programming on the channel. This might be the best of the bunch. Titans of classic Hollywood, bruisers of new Hollywood, & ciphers of independent cinema all clashing with titanic force. Mesmerizing.

/THE HUNTED/ (2003, Friedkin): I've seen this upwards of 10 times over the years, and I'm always struck by its focused propulsive nature. TLJ and Benicio share maybe 10 lines of dialogue, so their complicated relationship unfolds through pursuit, glances, and ultimately blades. Feels like Wellman.

/THE DARK KNIGHT RISES/ (2012, Nolan): I really hated this upon release, but 11 years later it feels like quite a strange achievement. Each character experiences moments of rage, urgency, doubt, & ultimately completion. I kept thinking of Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK. Hardy is extraordinary.

TULSA KING S.1: Garrett Hedlund is one charming mofo.

One of the great unsung film directors of the past 30 years.

Our Body Review: A Deeply Felt, Poetic Hospital Visit Claire Simon cites Frederick Wiseman’s Hospital (1970) and Near Death (1989) as key inspirations for her latest film, and for much of its 168-minute runtime Our Body does function, à la Wiseman, as...

My first piece for The Film Stage, a review of Claire Simon's brilliant documentary, OUR BODY. https://thefilmstage.com/our-body-review-a-deeply-felt-poetic-hospital-visit/

Simon is one of the best to ever do it.

OPPENHEIMER (2023, Nolan): Movies that try this hard really bug me. Formidable perf. from Murphy, and some of the supporting turns are magnetically vindictive(Alden, DeHaan), but overall this is a technical exercise in collective whining, and I'm a father of two so i get enough of that at home.

Happy bday to the great Raul Ruiz, a major figure who’s expansive, elusive filmography is inexcusably underrepresented on home video. Much work is needed on this front! (pictured: City of Pirates)

Yes!

TOO LATE THE HERO (1970, Aldrich): Nothing really beats Aldrich in the 70s. Just a brutal, cynical portrait of cowardice and betrayal at all levels of the military hierarchy.

THE CHANNEL (2023, Kaufman): This brilliantly reflective and wise final scene comes out of nowhere in a film structured around harrowing gunfights and split second decisions.