party_favors

another archive for Jzl Jmz (fka jayy dodd)

[jxzzhndz]

Us (2019 dir: Jordan Peele)

Honestly, I was scared of this movie from the trailer. I have only recently started expanding my horror taste. Jordan Peele has been an easy gateway to the genre with his entries Get Out (2017) & Nope (2022). This film, however, seemed too scary for me from the trailers. However, after all these years & many spoilers later, I finally decided it was my time to watch this film.

I didn't finish it.

[jxzzhndz]

Mother Mary (2026 dir: David Lowry)

5/5 ⭐️

I knew from the marketing that this was a film that I would enjoy on face value. I knew that Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel were enough to draw me in. I knew that the premise of a vaguely sapphic fashion pop girl haunted story hit all my boxes.

And I have to say I’m surprised with how much I even still enjoyed it. I think the trailers did a good job of framing the mood and tone of the film, without spoiling how the storytelling would actually take place. nothing relied on itself too much because they all the pieces had to work together for the mood to hit.

Both Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway bring amazing, subtle yet dynamic performances, and though their material history is still evasive, we understand their relationship as deep and spiritual. Michaela Coel really especially shines with her choices and her unsettling, intimate affect. Anne Hathaway meets that raw edge with a constantly bleeding, if still evasive, heart.

Not to mention the clothes and performances all looked stellar and sounded great, but the music team was top-notch, and FKA Twigs' cameo was perfect. There are also some really brave choices with cinematography and deciding what could actually be seen or said.

Again, I’m sure I’m biased, but I really truly enjoyed this room deeply.

[julytrees]

Tina Turner captured dancing in the garden of her fomer villa ‘Anna Fleur’ within the South of France, ca. 2000.

[jxzzhndz]

Challengers (2024 dir: Luca Guadagnino)

4.3 / 5 ⭐️

Been a fan of Guadagnino since his remake of Suspiria (2018) & TV show We Are Who We Are (2020). His use of music & saturation really builds such romantically charged yet often violent stories. The structure of the film offers the ensemble rich opportunities to explore character development over almost two decades without feeling gimmicky.

Zendaya, Josh O'Connor & Mike Faist balance each other with varying levels of intensity & watching the alchemy of the trio ebb & flow with volatility. The over-memed bisexual tones were fortunately not as overwrought in the film. The film's sexuality is honestly mostly aesthetic. The only genuinely horny person is O'Connor's character, whereas Faist & Zendaya primarily want to fuck tennis.

The soundtrack is arguably the glue of film, with Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross's compositions infusing the plot points with stakes. The cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom shifts between extreme POV's to panning zooms, showing the scale of emotional distance between characters. The film is made by lovers of tennis, and even as a passing tennis fan, I found it a delight to map the non-linear story onto the beats of a match.

[jxzzhndz]

I LOVE BOOSTERS (2026 dir: Boots Riley)

I wasn’t a huge fan of Boots Riley's last acclaimed film. I did think it was a good film. I just didn’t personally enjoy it that much. All of the things that I enjoyed about that film, however, are, for me, better executed in this film.

Keke Palmer, as well as the rest of the supporting ensemble, all make this world feel extremely real and tangible. The set direction and coloring help ground the film in its absurdity without losing the audience.

What I think Boots Riley is most famous for is the third act escalation, and here. I think it brings brevity and fun to be overall direct criticisms of capitalism. Because the ensemble has created the world so tangibly, the escalation into full absurdity is pleasant and believable.

This film feels like equal parts exploitation and art house while balancing a direct message about labor and production from the displaced among us. I also believe that there are very few radical representations of interracial resistance against white supremacy and the disenfranchisement of labor, but the humor he relies on to understand that power dynamic.

Also, I think I’ve been too ambivalent about Demi Moore as an actress because she is electric in this role. She is leaning into the villain in such a pleasant yet full and textured way. Even Le’Keith Stanfield is perfectly cast as the demon who doesn’t even haunt the story.

Also, there’s such a multi-layered perspective of the feminine labor in the retail industry, from factories to stores to creators. It feels like a fantastic imagination, and its color is that way on purpose, not to undercut. It’s a possibility in the real world, but to locate the story full of hope.

[jxzzhndz]

Stop! That! Train! (2026 dir: Adam Shankman)

4.9/5⭐️

So i’ll admit this film was absolutely made for me. I grew up on Airplane / Naked Gun / Spy Hard / Austin Powers style comedies. I, also, have been watching RuPaul’s Drag Race since I was a 17 year old out gay boy in boarding school.

that being said, it is such a materially nostalgic movie. It works if you believe in that genre. not just the genre of movies of the past, but the kind of referential comedy that predated the cutaway gags of Family Guy and modern sitcoms. but in an era of cameo-laden films to just drive up marketing, this film does speak to a common and intergenerational queer culture.

The plot is extremely camp and is not complex on purpose. The power of the film comes from the jokes per second also, while many of the jokes, do you serve a queer audience it is built for a broad fan of comedy.

Standout performances include Rachel Bloom, Jujube, Latrice Royale, Evan Mulrooney & Sarah Michelle Gellar. Bits ran deep enough. Nothing felt overwrought. It’s pacing set it up for success. The utilities: musical numbers, star power, easy plot are building blocks for broad appeal. Still the entire film is drenched in the tongue-in-cheek tone of which Drag Race has be come famous.

despite early accusations of artificial intelligence, most of the film felt too cheap in a good way to be AI. there were human flourishes all over.

This is absolutely a feel good comedy that pretends the world we live in doesn’t exist. in similar ways to timeless, comedies of yore.

[jxzzhndz]

Mickey 17 (2025 dir: Bong Joon Ho)

4.9/5 ⭐️

A deeply funny, dark, & timely sci fi tale teasing the implications of life, labor, & humanity. Bong is a genius at creating renderable tropes in specific worlds where we can imagine ethics while laughing at absurdity.

Robert Pattinson commits to the eponymous Mickey who gets regenerated as needed by a religious-cult-corporation on an ark to a new planet for inhabitation. Each iteration of his temporal life provides different personality quirks though he is anchored by the love of his lives Nasha (the brilliant Naomi Ackie).

The ensemble, featuring, Steven Yuen, Uma Thurman & Mark Ruffalo all play the various kinds of sycophants that thrive in this near future horror world. The ark is a bastion of fanatics following a cartoon demagogue & his pedantic wife.

The allegories to Western arrogance, xenophobia, & mortality feels like a live action version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Miyazaki in a good way.

[jxzzhndz]

The Manchurian Candidate (2004 dir: Jonathon Demme)

4.75/5 ⭐️

I saw this movie in theaters when I was 12 & it was one of the most comforting films of my post-9/11 anxiety. This tense political drama gave credence to my pre-pubescent distrust of the American government & the growing suspicion of capitalism.

This may be the first role that made me a Meryl Streep fan. I’d already been raised on Denzel so I was familiar with his game. Liev Schreiber also shines in his role. He holds his fear & doubt so close to the chest that makes him so sympathetic from the beginning. The evolving twists are so enriching to plot each development draws you closer to the characters.

The film’s cinematography also materIalizes the paranoia of the all controlling surveillance state. The POV & Closed circuit shots reiterate how pervasive the conspiracy exists.

Each of the villains are textured & troubling portrait of how the powerful see their humanity over the humanity of others. The greatest villain being the US elites who attempt to play god with international innocents & domestic heroes alike.

Lastly shout out to Kimberly Elise for being phenomenal in this film (as usual).

[jxzzhndz]

Tenet (2020 dir: Christopher Nolan)

4.6/5⭐️

Discourse bores me. The conversations around this film were tenuous yet boring. Outside of critiques of terrible sound mixing, which are legitimate, this films refusal to define all the rules helps its prestige.

The plot was actually very simple if you concede the magic of the world. I think that too often white filmmakers attempt fantasy works based in some sort of legible reality to achieve prestige. Still this fantastic story, plot holes included, offer a deep & intriguing atmosphere.

I think David Washington gets too much critiques for being Denzel Washington son, but he truly is a decent actor. As the protagonist of the drama, he levels the idiosyncrasies of the world. while ever so often, I definitely hear his father and his voice his character betrayal feels singular to his generation. well, in some ways, I think this part could’ve been played by a variety of his peers, I do think he carried the film successfully.

I really enjoyed the secret plot twist of the woman being her own freedom. Upon re-watching I realized how early we saw her survival. I also really enjoyed Robert Pattinson as his compatriot. what made me curious was how geographically wide the movie felt without any specific location locations.

I honestly think a TV show in this world would be very interesting but I can imagine that the technology to make it real is difficult .

[jxzzhndz]

truly CAN believe it

[jxzzhndz]

The Drama (2026 dir: Kristoffer Borgli)

3.75/5 ⭐️

Honestly, coming in as a huge fan of both leads & the press tour, I still wanted to wait a while before watching this. The conceit was honestly more thoughtfully interrogated & felt & realized than the limited discourse I skimmed.

Zendaya is so dynamic as a "fuck-ass' girl who happens to be gorgeous. She really has this incredibly humanizing charm that continually makes her various characters' wild choices shock us. Her version of her character (Emma), however, was overshadowed by Jordyn Curet's portrayal of the younger version, seen primarily in limited-dialogue flashbacks. I think there is also something so logical & material about Emma's journey that gets realized & humanized without excusing larger cultures of racism & violence.

Robert Pattinson also shined as the deceptively average but emotionally vast Charlie. His depth comes with his level of new & funny ways to deescalate that often times backfire. His cumuppance was deserved & because this is a romantic (dark) comedy, they thankfully end up together.

The shots *wink* were thoughtful & didn't ever distract from the story or the characters. So many stills felt llike editorial or stage play. But also we had this POV style shot to feel the crowded, overheard, gossip-filled atmosphere of a wedding.

The music was tense & poignant. Locking into the visuals, adding to the tension. There is also so much delicate editing matched with crunch-time pacing (the week of a wedding), which keeps the walls closing in until the final frame.

[federer7]

Harlem «A boy stands on the corner of 125th Street and Frederick Boulevard a moment before he crossed on his way to church at the United House of Prayer For All People, June 1994 »

Photo: Ozier Muhammad

[prettycolors]

[kosmogrl]

don’t take my defeatism too seriously I will always begin again and again no matter what

[kosmogrl]

I might sound miserable most of the time but at my core I’m a very hopeful person

[greelin]

the horseman wouldn’t be headless if he met me. If you get what i’m saying

[greelin]

what could he have possibly meant by this

[mads-schubert]

10 weeks of poster illustrations for my weekly challenge this year. honestly 2025 is shaping up to be the most I've ever drawn consistently in my life

[jxzzhndz]

follow by beauf @gay-in-famous for original art & other transsexual paraphernalia