The Starlight Journal

Remember how I said nearly every movie I watched, I loved? Yeah, this is that exception. We adore Emma Watson here at The Starlight Journal. I think Sofia Coppola is a very talented director and has made some great, important films. This is not one of them. I had been curious about this movie for years, always hearing it was a defining performance for Emma Watson, truly breaking into more adult work after being defined by the Harry Potter franchise for a decade. She is great here, I can’t deny that. She brings an energy and humor to this movie that is greatly needed and appreciated. Besides that, um, well the soundtrack is good, the 3rd act was fine, but yeah this movie just kind of sucks. I couldn’t get over how repetitive this movie was. Every robbery scene played out in the exact same way. Besides from Emma, the performances range from mildly annoying to downright awful. The characters all sucked, I hated every one of them, and quite frankly I couldn’t wait for their “scheme” to get blown up so I could see them all fail. Plus, for the love of god, turn the exposure down on these shots, the cinematography was just way too bright. I really wanted to love this movie, it has so much in here that could’ve really made it a movie to go back to really encapsulate what the early 2010s were like, but nah, every time I think about this movie, I like it less. It just does not work.

And now, something completely different. Oh hell yeah.

You know, for 9 years I thought I was in the very small minority on Fury Road. I liked it, but something must’ve been wrong the day I saw it, cause I just never considered it to be as great as people hyped it up to be. Like it was a good action movie, but Best Picture nom? 2015 Andrew wasn’t convinced. Now I must’ve been half asleep or on crack or something back then, because holy hell was I wrong. This movie is insanely good. Like, so insane that I don’t know how George Miller keeps making movies like this good. Once you reach the half hour point, the movie slams on the gas and never lets up. Every few years I have a movie where my opinion drastically changes upon revisit. This is one of those cases. What a lovely day!

Glen Powell just has it. That’s become very apparent in the last year. I’ll admit, I was a bit surprised when I saw the dick from Top Gun: Maverick began to be the talk of the industry, and captivated the hearts of romcom lovers opposite Sydney Sweeney with Anyone But You. But yeah, no, I’m sold now. The dude is just has that magic. He’s charming, he’s funny, he’s a damn good actor, and this is the best movie he’s ever been in, and none of it would have worked without his fantastic performance.

After months of only really loving 2 new releases this year, this changed things. This movie is just the best. Tense, sexy, thoughtful, funny, Hit Man, like Glen himself, has it all. Glen Powell & Adria Arjona have such excellent chemistry I thought my laptop was steaming up at points. I have been in love with Adria since Andor, and ohhhhh yeah this film just shot that to the moon. Some of these scenes between the two rival Challengers in just how hot they got. I love that movies are sexy again in 2024, let’s keep it that way. But again, this is Glen Powell’s movie. He acted his ass off, co-wrote the screenplay, and blended in to each persona so well it felt like a different actor playing each role. He’s easily on the shortlist of my favorite performances of the year so far, and yeah, this might be my favorite Richard Linklater movie???

I just think this movie is awesome and you should boot up Netflix and watch it right now.

And here’s another example of someone I think has it all. If you’ve been to this blog before, you know that I think Rachel Sennott is a generational talent. No stranger to making me bust a gut laughing and entrancing me in her performances, this had been on my radar for a year after last year’s festival season. Arguably the best display of Rachel’s dramatic chops, I was left in awe and in pain from how this story unfolded. PTSD is portrayed in such a real, uncomfortable way that as the past events are slowly revealed throughout the movie, you can’t help but feel extreme anger and sadness with how things happened and how they were perceived. There’s a courtroom scene in here that rivaled Anatomy of a Fall in terms of the visceral emotional reactions it elicited from me, which is astounding work from a 1st-time director. A story of trauma, of healing, and of reconciliation, this thoroughly lived up to my expectations, and I highly recommend seeking this one out if you’re a fan of Rachel’s work like myself.

Look, unlike those whose literal job it is to be an expert in box-office trends, I was not surprised to see Furiosa underperform. It was a prequel to a near-decade old film that didn’t exactly dominate the box-office when it came out. It was a critical darling, but again, that was nine years ago, from a franchise that had its biggest heyday 40 years ago. Like a lot of “hey remember the 80s” franchise movies that flop, every single time box-office “experts” are shocked and scream “how did this happen??!!” when it’s plainly obvious that they are not the audience anymore. It sucks that an event movie like Furiosa didn’t find its audience on the big-screen, and potentially tanks future Mad Max films, but I understand it. With that said, just because I understand it, doesn’t mean I like it. This deserved to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

I simply don’t know how George Miller keeps doing it. I don’t think it’s as good as Fury Road, but it’s just as epic and grand in scale as that film was. As a dive into Furiosa’s past, it allowed for Miller to enhance much of the lore from Fury Road, and in my mind, exceeded that movie in that regard. I had a better grasp of these characters, these locations, this world. Masterful job there. It also surpasses Fury Road in its antagonist. Holy hell is Chris Hemsworth good here. You can just tell he’s having the time of his life playing the absolute scum of the Earth, and it is great to watch. Strangely though, being a Furiosa prequel, I feel like Anya-Taylor Joy didn’t get as many opportunities to truly steal the show like Charlize Theron had in Fury Road with the character. She’s great as always, but I can’t help but feel like we were deprived of something more. That said, if you missed this in theaters, stream this as soon as you can. It’s damn good, and I really hope this flopping financially doesn’t deter studios from letting George Miller continue to cook like he keeps doing time and time again.

In prep for Inside Out 2, we did a double feature and did a much-needed rewatch of the original. Yes, it’s one of my favorite Pixar films and one of my favorite films of all time, but I’m going to take this entry to tell a little story, and highlight the differences in how a healthy environment can make all the differences when making memories watching movies together. Prepare yourself, I’m going to get a little personal here.

9 years ago, I saw Inside Out 3 times in the theater. The 1st viewing was on a date with an ex partner of mine. I loved the movie, but something I was never able to shake in my brain until my most recent watch of the movie was them looking over at me during *that* scene with Bing Bong, noticing I was crying, and making fun of me for it. “Are you really crying during a cartoon?” Said like Pixar’s trademark isn’t making grown men cry. I’ve always been open about when movies make me cry, I’ve never felt shame for it, it’s a natural emotion, and it’s the beauty of movies that elicit these emotions from you. Sadly, looking back on this with a clearer perspective, this was something that unfortunately happened a lot, the need to bring me down for certain things like this, and as a result, feeling like I couldn’t be my true self around them. Be it hiding passions, restricting emotion, back then I didn’t know it because I was excited to be in a relationship, but it was not a healthy environment at all. To some, an interaction like this wouldn’t even be a blip on their radar, but this was a moment where I realized in my brain that would not allow myself to be around people where I wasn’t comfortable being my true self.

Fast forward to the present day, and I show my current partner this movie for the 1st time. She had never seen this movie before, but she had known how it meant a lot to me due to prior conversations, and she was aware of the bad memory I just shared with you all. The difference here just felt so nice. The joy of sharing something you love with someone, which is always even better when they love it as well (which they did!), on top of embracing and being comfortable enough to *gasp* show emotion around each other, which was very apparent when I looked over and realized we were both shedding tears at certain moments. I don’t mean to write this in a “oh look at me I have a good thing in my life” kind of way, I’m not trying to show off, I just want to be open with you on the differences viewings and memories can have depending on who you share them with. One thing is for certain, is I hope you have a movie you can share with someone, and they realize its importance to you, and embrace it with you together. It’s a wonderful feeling.

And yes, “take her to the moon for me” did still make cry like a baby.

Feels good to get a smash hit Pixar film once again. The pandemic really did a lot of damage to the studio, with most of their releases sent straight to Disney+, and those that weren’t essentially flopping at the box-office. Much talk has gone towards Pixar gravitating towards sequel as opposed to their original IPs, but it’s hard to deny when a win is a win, and Inside Out 2 is the biggest win Pixar has had in at least five years. Their 1st billion dollar release since 2019 and Disney in general’s 1st animated film to cross that milestone since that same year, this has been the movie of the summer. Since I adore the original, I was happy that this ended up being a very good follow-up, and the more I think about this movie, the more I love it and want to see it again.

All of the new emotions were a hit with me. Envy was my personal standout (because Ayo Edebiri, duh), but Maya Hawke was a revelation as Anxiety. The panic attack scene during the film’s climax was one of the most well done, effective portrayals of anxiety I have seen in an animated film. It is on par with how scary and tense the panic attacks in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish felt. Having Riley be more of her own character in the sequel rather than a vessel for all the emotions inside her was something else I loved, especially with the film revolving around her going through puberty, and the various changes that come with that. Cannot tell you how many scenes in this film are so deeply relatable. Not sure if it is quite in the top tier of Pixar’s best after one viewing, but I am dying to see it again, and I am just glad that my favorite studio is winning again.

This movie felt like Goodfellas on motorcycles, and I mean that in the best way possible. If you can’t tell by my description, this movie was awesome. With such a great cast, this was Tom Hardy’s movie. He took over each scene, commanded your attention at every turn, and put forth one of the best performances I have seen from him. My Goodfellas joke aside, This felt like the closest someone has come to a classic Scorsese crime film without actually being made by Martin Scorsese. Hoping this one becomes an underrated favorite over time.