Well worth dragging my hungover ass to the cinema for this. Was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did or for it to be as funny as it was - highly recommend!

Watched: at GFT
With: Jonno

I liked this quite a bit, and two things about it particularly worked - one is Angelina Jolie's performance, which just feels very well considered and played; I must admit to have forgotten how good an actress she can be. She's great in this. Secondly is the way the film argues for the power of the human voice - live in the room, not recorded. Larrain conveys this very powerfully and movingly, which I think is some kind of magic trick, since there is clearly nothing live or in-the-room about the medium of cinema.

Gorgeous WWII era drama set in a remote Italian mountain village, far from the war. Beautifully observed characters, especially the focus on the children and young people - there are so many little details of behaviour and connection, friction and frustration that ring true. While the setting is stunning and transportive, the oppressive reality of this village's small-minded patriarchal culture is impossible to miss. Wonderful filmmaking, seek it out in a cinema.

A Christmas classic that is so weird, and packed with such unique randomness! I was really impressed at the effects/puppeteering on this rewatch - I guess the physicality of it makes it feel quite special now.
Also - pretty sure the main street with the cinema at the end of it is the same set from Back to the Future?

This is a stunning documentary, initially seeming freeform in structure, like the jazz that runs through it, but revealing a precision and intricacy across its 150 minutes, in which every quote, every piece of archive, adds up to a comprehensive, eye-opening, enraging and impassioned cry of justified rebellion.
Watched in 2 parts with a number of weeks' gap inbetween, but works best in one sitting, to take it all in as intended.

Difficult to sum up a simple response to this - I've tried to write these thoughts quite a few times in the days since watching. It's brilliant: an amazing creative response to patriarchal abuse and ongoing trauma - and also a thoughtful reflection on the hurtful and healing potential of community. Most stunning of all though, is the lead performance by Susan Chardy - capturing all of the above and more, often in a single look. It has to be the acting debut of the year.