After Hours (1985) dir. Martin Scorsese

I watched this film for the first time in March of 2024 while I was on a Scorsese binge, and I immediately fell in love with it. It's hard for me to articulate exactly why I love this movie so much, since there's so much TO love about it. Throuhout the entire film, we follow Paul Hackett as his night falls apart one problem after another. I'm not usually a fan of comedy movies where the punchline is things going wrong over and over again, but Scorsese plays out the trope in a way that's captivating and enjoyable. Disaster after disaster blends into one long night of tense, fast-paced action that drags you into the TV screen, and Griffin Dunne's performance is easily able to emotionally connect the audience to his character.

The best thing (in my opinion) about this movie is the setting. After Hours is one of those films where the city itself is a character, pushing the plot forward. The way Scorsese brings a damp, dreary piece of downtown Manhattan to life is nothing short of incredible. The characters in the movie are only vessels that are used by the city itself, with everything intertwined as one living, breathing entity with one goal-- fuck up Paul Hackett's night.

Review Diary

Babygirl (2024) dir. Halina Reijn

1/18/2025

I was hesitant going into this movie. After getting ID'd and finding my seat in a completely empty theater, I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. Overall, I did enjoy myself. The movie wasn't boring or slow at all, and I felt genuinely invested in the characters and their challenges. Nicole Kidman gives an amazing performance, but I feel like that's the best thing this movie has going for it.

To address the very large mammal in the room-- I was expecting it to be freakier. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a queer man or because I was exposed to Wattpad lemons at a too-young age, but the entire d/s synamic felt kind of... tame? This is just my personal opinion, but I feel like it could've been wayyyyy freakier. Nicole Kidman telling her husband about how she's "not like other women" and has these "disgusting" thoughts made me roll my eyes a bit, but again-- my personal opinion. 5.75/10

I Saw the Devil (2010) dir. Kim Jee-Woon

1/13/2025

One of the best revenge movies I've seen so far. I Saw the Devil does an amazing job portraying the frustration and desperation of wanting to exact revenge, and I feel that the themes of the story are exemplified through the characters especially. The story follows a cop who is hunting down a serial killer who killed his wife. Throughout the movie, we watch as the cop becomes more and more obsessed with revenge, slowly destroying his life in the process. The thing that sets this film apart from the hundreds of other revenge flicks is *how* revenge is portrayed. In most other movies, the theme isn't much more than "revenge will ruin your life." In I Saw the Devil, however, it goes much further.

We watch as the main character loses the people most important to him directly because of his obsession of his wife's murderer. The more he tries to "fix" everything, the more everything breaks. It's a bottomless pit that eats him up entirely, with the only way to stop the cycle being simply walking away. The cat-and-mouse chase comes to an end at the climax of the movie, where the main character succeeds in having the murderer killed. In the last scene, he walks away from the crime, listening as the relatives of the criminal discover his body in terror. After his life is forever destroyed, even though he got what he wanted, his wife is still dead and he has nothing to show for it. 7.25/10

Don't Breathe (2016) dir. Fede Alvarez

1/8/2025

I really wanted to like this movie. I had put it off for a while since it didn't seem that interesting to me, but today I finally bit the bullet and finished it. And it was... fine, I guess. The premise revolves around a group of teenagers attempting to rob a blind veteran, but end up having to survive him instead. There are some really good action sequences, and it does a great job of building tension, especially in a way that highlights the disability of the antagonist. But that's where the praise stops, I fear.

My biggest problem with the movie is the pacing. The middle is good-- it's captivating and tense. But the beginning and end seem to drag, the end especially. The whole third act felt like it lasted forever, adding nothing to the plot and only serving to lengthen the run-time. Another thing I disliked was how the antagonist was characterised. His daughter was killed in an accident, so he kidnaps the other driver and forces her to bear his child. The reveal of the whole "this guy is actually fucked up" fell flat to me-- it didn't seem to have much bearing on the plot at all, like it was added for shock value. Now, maybe if the story decided to lean heavier into his obsession with his daughter's killer in a way that directly affects the protaganists, it would've worked better. But for me, the whole movie didn't really hold my attention or make me care about the characters in any way. 4/10

Queer (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino

1/4/25

Hooooly shit. Where to begin. First off, I want to say how refreshing it is to have a queer love story that isn't centered around homophobia. It felt like such a breath of fresh air, especially considering the era it takes place in. William and Eugene's relationship felt so real and fleshed out-- both Craig and Starkey were absolutely phenomenal in this film. I will say that it took me a while to feel out what this movie was trying to be (the first and second half feel completely different from each other, not in a bad way), but I loved where it ended up going. The third act was also a lot more artistic than I thought it would be. The scene where the two men dance (?) together after consuming the yagé felt a little jarring, but not bad.

Queer is a beautiful and heart-wrenching story that will literally make you vomit up your heart. The gnawing feeling of nothing other than longing will consume you throughout the entire film, while final scene will leave a sinking feeling in your chest. Everything about this movie is absolutely stunning, and I'm so grateful I was able to experience it in theaters. 8.75/10