charlie groll.

Movie Journal

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
★★★★★

Dec 11, 2024
Movie poster for My Neighbor Totoro
Can’t believe I hadn’t seen this yet… pure whimsy.

A Real Pain (2024)
★★★★ ½

Dec 07, 2024
Movie poster for A Real Pain
Damn, I hope Kieran wins something for this one.
Jesse was no slouch, either, as I think what really made the story and the characters come alive was their raw relatability/identifiability.

MaXXXine (2024)
★★ ½

Dec 02, 2024
Movie poster for MaXXXine
Constantly found myself waiting for the character development to mean something and being pretty disappointed. Great aesthetics and fun editing, but the story just didn’t land enough.

Just Friends (2005)
★★

Dec 01, 2024
Movie poster for Just Friends
15 year old me thought this was pretty dang funny.

Elf (2003)
★★★★ ½

Nov 28, 2024
Movie poster for Elf
Watched on Thursday November 28, 2024.

As Above, So Below (2014)
★★★ ½

Nov 23, 2024
Movie poster for As Above, So Below
What a fun ride. 
Not what I was expecting, great effects, decent acting. 
Dan Brown, eat your heart out.

Smile 2 (2024)
★★★

Nov 20, 2024
Movie poster for Smile 2
Suddenly find myself wanting some Voss™️ water. 
Slightly better than the first one because it leaned into the ridiculousness, which let me forgive a lot of what was trying to be a horror movie and didn’t land. I wanna ding it for not knowing what was really real, but… does it matter?

Anora (2024)
★★★★ ½

Nov 16, 2024
Movie poster for Anora
Definitely got the “funnier Uncut Gems” vibe. Loved the story and the acting and the excellent direction and pretty much everything. The ending really tied it all together for me, to be honest.

The Fall (2006)
★★★★ ½

Oct 26, 2024
Movie poster for The Fall
Gorgeous love letter to the power of storytelling. So glad I got to see the rerelease in a theatre.

Your Monster (2024)
★★★ ½

Oct 21, 2024
Movie poster for Your Monster
Hilarious, not kitschy, and genuinely poignant. This was quite the romp that never crossed the line of cliché for me. I loved the mostly novel approach to storytelling and was impressed at how well it was executed, especially in the acting by our lead.