Eyeballs in the Darkness: January’s Films
Short reviews of every movie I watched in January.
If you know me – or have read some of my previous posts – you know that I'm a big fan of all kinds of media. Movies, games, TV shows, music, you name it. Back in 2019 and 2020, I listened to one album a day for a year, and in doing so, drastically expanded my musical horizon.
At the same time, the number of movies and shows on my watchlist has been steadily increasing, now spanning 304 entries at the time of writing. (Or 303? Trakt shows both numbers interchangeably, no idea what's up with that.)
In any case, I already wanted to do a similar challenge in 2021, but with films, setting the bar at 300 in a year. However, I ultimately had to cancel that plan just a few months in due to personal reasons. This year, I want to try again – I want to clear (or at least start clearing) my watchlist.
There will be no end goal like in 2021, the plan is just to watch as many films as I can. And to keep myself somewhat accountable, I decided to, at the end of each month, publish a post with a list and short reviews of what I watched the past 30-ish days on this blog.
My hope is also that, through this series, its readers (you) will find some new media they (you) may not have been aware of before, and maybe even end up liking it.
This is the first installment of that series.
Journey to the West: As with the rest of the films in Tsai Ming-liang's Walker series, we follow a monk walking very slowly through various environments, clashing with the more rapid pace of the other people in the frame. One of my favorites of the series. When there's not much happening on screen, you start to take in the environment and notice the little things, and it's kind of a magical and mesmerizing experience.
In Front of Your Face: Another slow film with a minimal plot and a miniscule budget. But you know what? It works. Hong Sang-soo does it again. I'd only seen one other film of his before, The Woman Who Ran, but I definitely need to dive deeper into his filmography now. This film also talks about some pretty heavy themes, but approaches them in the most gentle way possible. I love it.
Bad Trip: Right, I don't really have much to say about this one. It was alright, got a couple chuckles out of me, but nothing outstanding. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
Meetings with Remarkable Men: I found out about this one through a sample in Bull of Heaven's A Lovely Pear and thought it was a documentary at first. Even though it dragged a bit at times, it was surprisingly captivating. No idea how much of the story is true, but really, who cares?
Caché: With the only other film by Michael Haneke that I'd seen before being Funny Games, I prepared myself for an extremely uncomfortable experience – and was pleasantly surprised with a decent, slow thriller. I do wish they had kept the secret of who sent the tapes alive for a bit longer, as a lot of suspense goes away once you find out.
Zorns Lemma: I really want to get more into Structural Film, and this one is often mentioned as one of the classics of the genre, so I decided to check it out. I don't think I really understand the genre just yet, but for a mostly silent film with a lot of repeating imagery it was very diverting, mostly because that imagery was beautifully shot. The coloring was a feast too.
Eyeballs in the Darkness: Albert Birney might just be one of the most creative filmmakers out there. There's so much sheer variety in this film. It's also darker and has a more tangible plot than its prequel, Tux and Fanny – the former of which Birney openly acknowledges in the booklet that comes with the Blu-ray – but that was exactly what I liked about it. I can't wait for the sequel.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives: Oh my God, I need to watch more Apichatpong Weerasethakul (or Joe, as he is sometimes called – sorry, I still think that that is extremely funny). The atmospheres he creates are unlike anything else (thinking about it, his films as a whole are too) and some of the strongest in modern cinema, along with Bi Gan's. If you like slow, atmospheric, slightly surreal films, this one is for you.
My Dinner with Andre: Two people sit down at a dinner table and have a conversation. That's the film, and it is really, really captivating. Watching it felt like I myself was sitting in a restaurant with a friend or family member and having a talk with them. The film's 110 minutes went by in no time, and I could've easily watched more of it.
Sand: Another entry in Tsai Ming-liang's Walker series – the longest one I've seen to date, I believe. This one is generally higher quality than Journey to the West, and the opening shot alone is mesmerizing, not to mention the various landscapes shown throughout. One thing to note is that, unlike the other entries, this one features no people besides the monk himself.
Walking on Water: Sure enough, another film featuring the monk on and about, this time near an apartment complex. This one is unique in that the film mainly shows and focuses on the people inside the complex as opposed to the monk. Some text at the end of the film reveals that the complex was where Ming-liang spent most of his childhood, but is now "occupied by strangers".
Poor Things: Watched this one in a cinema, babyyy! I'm glad I did too, it looked gorgeous. It was also a fever dream and had a pretty unique title card and credits sequence. I really need to watch more of Yorgos Lanthimos' filmography – I remember really liking Dogtooth as well.
Run: Your average decent modern horror flick. The concept is nothing new, but I thought it was executed well, and I liked that they casted an actual wheelchair user instead of your run-of-the-mill actor. Kiera Allen is just zooming through some of the scenes, holy moly!
On Memory: Remember how I said Albert Birney is one of the most creative filmmakers right now? Don Hertzfeld is up there with him. In just under ten minutes, he strings together various stories, anecdotes and theories about, well, memory that are at times thought-provoking and hilarious. I've watched this short four times now!
Phantom Ride: Similar in vein to many of Jonas Mekas' films, though without context or narration, this movie is pure meditation: 70 minutes of beautiful nature imagery with a mesmerizing soundtrack that, while kind of staying the same throughout the entire runtime, never gets annoying. If this is what you see when you die, then I'm ready.
Class Action Park: I suppose this one was kind of a guilty pleasure. I used to watch these kind of amusement park ride and water slide videos on YouTube pretty often, nowadays I watch documentaries about amusement parks where people straight up died due to willful negligence. Oh well, it is what it is. The documentary itself? It was okay.
My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres: The first comedy special I watched in years, and it was awesome, mostly because it felt like something different – and it really was a unique experience. Also, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and Lin-Manuel Miranda all lent their voices for this. What?!
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: Part of the set of four short films based on stories by Roald Dahl that Wes Anderson released on Netflix in 2023. I've seen all of them before, but this one was (and still is) my favorite. I actually read the story right after, and it was interesting to see how some passages were basically adapted one-to-one, while others were cut out completely. In any case, a very creative, gorgeous-looking film.
Infinity Pool: I'm honestly split on this one. The first 30-45 minutes were great, but then it felt like Brandon Cronenberg just didn't know what to do with the rest of the runtime. That being said, absolutely amazing visuals (as is to be expected from him).
And that concludes January! 19 films in 31 days – not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
I'm still trying to figure out the format of these posts, so don't be surprised if the February one ends up being different. I'm also thinking of shortening the reviews a bit more, but...
Eh, you know what? I'll just take it as it comes. Thanks for reading. Be good, support your local cinema, and see you next month!