Movies I started but gave up on in 2023

Conan The Barbarian. This was an influential/cult movie and I was curious, also because I watched a doc once on Milius. It was weird and compelling at first (gotta love that Wheel of Pain) but then it just got slow and the 80's retrograde/cheesy sex stuff just became too boring and ridiculous.

Chi-Raq. I love it when Spike Lee commits to a whacked-out artistic concept, but this was actually more whacked-out than I bargained for. Everybody speaks in verse, and the hyperstylized performances made the story hard to follow. I was also annoyed to discover that the poster tagline ("No Peace, No Piece") had more wit than the actual movie. I gave it 30 mins and then decided life is too short.

The Deer Hunter. 70s classic, infamous Russian roulette scene(s), wanted to see what the big deal was. Holy hell: this made me yearn for the comparably propulsive momentum of a Tarkovsky film. The Vietnam-escape scene was intense, but it was surrounded by such interminable yawn-fodder that I bailed pretty soon after.