An almost perfect Western. Told in near real time (and screened to match the time in the film, nice touch!) and full of all the elements you’d expect. Bonus points for decent female characters, a banging theme tune and Lee Van Cleef
A lovely fresh take on vampires. Doesn’t stick too closely to standard rules and makes up some nice new stuff. The vampire family all rooting for the young one to get her fangs and start killing is rather lovely
Gloriously silly fun. Part animation, part people running about dressed as beavers, rabbits and horses, all completely bonkers slapstick fun.
Took a punt on this one: don’t always enjoy the child-and-unconventional-parent subgenre but this was a lovely watch. Steers clear of heavy social commentary, leaning towards road movies and lovers on the run classic tropes instead. Thoroughly enjoyable.
This could have been very dark - it’s essentially about an abusive relationship - but it was loud and weird enough that it mostly avoided it. There was a bit of a lull somewhere in the middle but it was great fun
Vaguely gonzo documentary about a guy’s obsession with the missing vhs collection of an East Village video store. I spent a while being irritated by the style but it got better and better as it went on. And definitely appealed to the nerdy collector in me
Fun 30s froth. A hard up artist wins the jackpot but loses his ticket. Hijinks ensue. Lots of very familiar slapstick scenarios, locking each other in rooms, mistaken identity and so on, but this is old so a lot of this was much newer at the time.
I’m a sucker for this sort of film. Filmed in taxis in 90s Peru, this is a stream of little snippets of drivers lives - their families, opinions, cars and dreams. The takeaway is clearly that 90s Lima was Not Much Fun. Loved the guy whose car was literally falling to pieces
I enjoyed this a lot. Part way through I was worried that the story was a bit simple and it was missing a lot of the warmth of other Kore-eda. But then it shifted gear. Much like his previous, this is so much more than the sum of its parts. An absolute must watch director.
An absolute joy. This didn’t do anything very unexpected but it was just a pleasure to watch. A film that’s largely about children falling out with their parents and dealing with loss shouldn’t be this fun! But it is.