Alita: Battle Angel

There’s an expression – “the uncanny valley” that I’ll admit I really don’t understand. It has something to do with objects and creatures that aren’t real but that look so real that it creates a distant, repulsive feeling in the viewer. That’s Alita, whose voice doesn’t quite match her body, whose super-human movements don’t obey the laws of physics, and whose eyes seem freakishly huge and focused. She’s a robot, for sure. But you have to wonder why her creators would treat her exactly like she's human knowing full well that she isn’t. Doesn’t that mean she doesn’t have free will if it has to be given to her?

The script and the story also contribute to this uncanny problem. If she had free will would she really choose to roller-skate competitively? There’s just something off about this. The tone, the themes, the pacing. It all feels rushed. Decisions were made to get to the action scenes as quickly as possible. And granted: they’re amazing. But they don’t really resonate emotionally because the whole thing feels like you’re watching somebody else play a video game. I can’t really define the uncanny valley. It’s hard to put your finger on it. There’s just something… off.

You Were Never Really Here

I know I saw this movie. I think I saw it. I’m not sure I remember it all. Does that mean it’s unmemorable? What I DO remember is the way the movie plays with dreams and memory. It’s kind of an "unreliable narrator" mind-fuck with fancy, stylistic editing to… I don’t know… convey confusion? Joaquin Phoenix plays Liam Neeson – a guy who rescues kidnapped girls – which he does by beating the fuck out of people in a potboiler that devolves into a sequel to The Raid. I can’t remember how it ended. Did it end?

Eighth Grade

This feels very honest. There are some pacing problems and some logic problems, but this will serve as an excellent time capsule of "Generation Tech" and the terrifyingly quick assimilation with all social media. Still, there are some teen tropes and rites of passage that technology doesn’t change and this movie handles those well, too.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Yep. Saw it again. Best movie of the year. I wish I understood the amount of innovation that went into this. The techniques that make it so surprisingly different. Whose creative decisions are these? The writers? The editors? The directors? Sony’s? It’s electrifying.

Leave No Trace

Really strong character-building and a rich father-daughter relationship here, but the plot lacks. Missing details about why these two are living in the woods and the serious lack of social workers leaves too many unanswered questions at the end. The strong performances aren’t enough to spin a satisfying yarn.

Free Solo

A heroic doc in which the hero is the camera gear. As admirable as it is for the subject, Alex Honnold, to climb El Capitan without ropes, to FILM it without getting in the guy’s way and causing him to fall to his death is what earned this doc all of its well-deserved trophies. Because, let’s face it: it’s not like it’s really suspenseful. They would have never released the movie if the guy had died, right?