We're the Millers

2013, US, directed by Rawson M. Thurber

American Animals

2018, UK/US, directed by Bart Layton

Isle of Dogs

2018, US, directed by Wes Anderson

About Time

2013, UK, directed by Richard Curtis

Ocean's 8

2018, US, directed by Gary Ross

Malcolm

1986, Australia, directed by Nadia Tass

Very light, and interesting mostly as a time capsule these days, including of Melbourne's trams of the era, though the performances are generally quite pleasing (even if Colin Friels's character would likely be handled differently in 2018), and the set pieces mostly well-paced.

Quai des brumes

1938, France, directed by Marcel Carné (aka Port of Shadows)

A film I hadn't seen since college, and it blew me away to see it again now -- the intensity of feeling, the gorgeous photography, the use of sets with a judicious addition of location shooting, Gabin at his pre-war peak, the quite extraordinary support from Simon, Morgan, Brasseur, Le Vigan, and perhaps most of all the willingness to allow scenes to build and build (several of the sequences are exceptionally extended, quite rare in modern cinema except in something like Tarantino's deliberately affected approach). 

Baisers volés

1968, France, directed by François Truffaut (aka Stolen Kisses)

I blow hot and cold on Truffaut, but this, the third of the Antoine Doinel films, is generally very charming, and has a genuine feel for the time and place -- offscreen, it's clear that something is going on socially despite the occasional preciousness of the characters and their interactions, which is of course no accident given that it was filmed in the early months of 1968 and released after the events of May.

Hotel Transylvania

2012, US, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

27A

1974, Australia, directed by Esben Storm

The story of an alcoholic detained under mental health provisions, this is a genuinely gritty affair, with Robert McDarra in the lead; he died the following year, which is perhaps why he looks authentically ill here, while Bill Hunter plays the primary orderly (needless to say, he's not a pleasant fellow). Several sequences are very hard to take -- there's an authenticity to the physical altercations that's quite unsettling and also an occasional Titticut Follies vibe. The whole thing looks quasi-documentary, too, as though the print was blown up from 16mm.