sproost

All songs and performances are great, making the duo’s stardom highly believable. The chemistry between the leads is fantastic, often improvisatory feeling like a 70s movie. But as a wrenching substance abuse saga, this has almost no equal. Cooper’s acting is simply some of the best i’ve ever seen, i have a hard time even calling it acting. It’s so chilling and heartbreaking. The embarrassment, thirst for booze, desperation, it’s physically felt. Cooper delivers synesthesia of the highest order

10 _2%

Mr. Brooks (2007) - Rated 11 Oct 2026

Despite an inconspicuous beginning, this movie doesn’t just fly off the rails, but there was anthrax on board that spills into the fields, poisoning the produce and killing the farmers leading to countrywide crop failure and a heavily destabilized region hosting armed confrontations for decades. Watching Mr Brooks is a true hardship, it’s like watching random scenes out of 12 seasons of various tv shows glued into one arduous sitting.

60 _43%

Animals (2026) - Rated 10 Oct 2026

A bland film, but after doing my music-deletion-trick (very necessary bc the music made it feel like crappy tv) i had some fun with it. Not picking the ripe fruits off the cinematic tree, but more as an inspiration for banter and a bunch of hatespeech concerning the wife character, who's so comically awful, really so confidently stupid all the time that i wonder we're getting a certain insight in Affleck's daily irritations. Bland as it is, the movie felt pleasingly frustrated which i do admire

75 _78%

The Shards (2026) - Rated 09 Oct 2026

While i feel the populace is running out of interest for spoiled rich kids, maybe the Maga royal family has something to do with it, i'm still enjoying it; especially in the hands of Murphy, whose art direction and nihilist style i tend to massively enjoy. Modern-historic settings are nailed to perfection, amazing soundtracks, beautiful people, fluency in film language but it's not a very cerebral matter. In short: camp, i suppose, but the high artistic quality kind. Wes Bentley again very good

70 _65%

Tender Mercies (1983) - Rated 08 Oct 2026

Pleasurable, extremely low-key country vignette with a convincing Th'Olde (Duvall). I think it could have been remembered more if the ending hadn't sizzled out so much. I was wondering if it needed better songs, but then realized it's perfectly fitting that they're pretty average. Charming, for sure, and it rings true

70 _65%

Papillon (1973) - Rated 08 Oct 2026

A true epic, a sweeping one even, slightly brought down by some questionably silly scenes that remind me of some of the faults of 70s cinema, which i usually describe as monkey-behavior. But it's not too bad. I thought Hoffman was a bit annoying with his jellypot glasses but McQueen was excellent. Some of the music was also undisputably great. Would probably rewatch if i came across it on tv in 5+ years.

55 _33%

Last Seen (2026) - Rated 07 Oct 2026

Apple's prestige tv esthetic looks bland to me, uninteresting, glazy and flat. Barely any shadows at all. It instantly turns me off on a spiritual level. It would help a lot to install the Killing Of The Chinese Bookie-filter to their productions. Last Seen is competent enough to finish but it's too predictable to be spun out for 6h, i was really ready for it too end especially after having guessed the entire plot after an hour, as i expect many did. And much more than a plot it did not deliver

60 _43%

Late Fame (2025) - Rated 07 Oct 2026

Not terrible at all, but having recently seen Un Poeta, that directionally touches on the same themes, this doesn't get close to being as memorable. Upside is there's a lot of opportunity to scoff at pretentious little shits that think they're the vanguard of some sort of revolution that has been in the works for half a century but never materializes because it's based on nonsense luxury beliefs held by privileged kids

75 _78%

East of Eden (2026) - Rated 06 Oct 2026

Superb miniseries, but Zoe Kazan has not understood the book, yet had the arrogance to change it. The need to pathologize evil through a trendy therapeutic lens flattens Cathy and breaks the thematic paradigm of the story that argues that, despite all born with darkness, we possess the free will to choose good over evil, “timshel”. By retconning Cathy’s cruelty as armor built from trauma and societal oppression (evil men!), Cathy becomes the ideological, narrative cliche that is en vogue. (-5)