Imagine Evangelion but good.
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Asteroid City 2023
Chalk this up as another masterpiece I need to write more about at a later date. I’m pretty much speechless. Those who love Asteroid City are right, this is a film that takes two viewings to fully appreciate. Anderson dissects his own style via overindulgence, and the result is a deeply sad, often hilarious, and always moving work. In a world where every horror movie is starting to be about grief, Asteroid City proves that the comedy genre is best suited for such avenues.
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The French Dispatch 2021
Imagine thinking Wes Anderson of all people is emotionless, lol. Every criticism of this reads like it was written by a toddler. Wish I could put into words what this made me feel, maybe one day. Probably soon! Is it a lonely life? Sometimes, only sometimes.
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Triumph of the Will 1935
As a historical document, Triumph of the Will is a chilling window into the pomposity and grandiosity that defined Nazi Germany. The framing of Nazi helms behind burning torches, screaming crowds saluting Adolf Hitler as he drives by in his motorcade, and impassioned speeches being shouted into microphones makes for an uncomfortable time capsule of this period of history. The complete lack of any antisemitic language or discussion of “the Master Race” makes you realize just how intentional all of…
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HyperNormalisation 2016
Curtis’ documentary about how world governments and other figures of the ever-illusive “elite” craft oversimplified solutions for complex problems is, ironically, maybe a little too oversimplified for its own good, even at the colossal runtime of nearly three-hours. There’s an overwhelming sensation of preaching to the choir here, and I’m not sure if HyperNormalisation will sway anyone who doesn’t already subscribe to a lot of the trains of thought Adam Curtis rolls out here, but as someone who does, this…
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9/11 Simulation in Roblox Environment 2017
I’m open to what Ferraro thinks he’s doing here, distilling something like 9/11 down to its base icons and regurgitating it into a post-ironic bizarre piece of hyperreality. The main issue here is that it is just…so fucking lame. Using meme culture to convey stuff like this is always a double-edged sword. In 2017, I’m sure this was at least somewhat interesting. In 2024, Roblox and fidget spinners are just not really a thing at all, or rather they aren’t…
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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 2023
Opening with Jason Momoa slamming action figures together as a baby giggles and claps their hands tells me that Wan is, at least somewhat, aware of what kind of movie he was making with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. As a reluctant defender of the first film, enjoying Wan’s Shakespeare-by-way-of-capeshit royalist dramatics, I admit that I was kinda looking forward to watching this. What a fool I am.
The lack of coherence here is, frankly, astounding. Mind you, the first…
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What's Opera, Doc? 1957
“What’d you expect from an opera? A happy ending?”
Looney Tunes transfused with Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen…Chuck Jones was a genius. Simple parody is one thing, but the man reframes Elmer Fudd’s hunting of Bugs Bunny as an operatic struggle for the ages. I suppose I see it: the never ending back and forth conflicts, the clever twists, I guess Looney Tunes has been closer to opera than I ever realized this whole time.
Not only is this hilarious,…
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Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade 1999
Oshii’s script loses me completely whenever it delves into interdepartmental police drama that I find wholly uninteresting, but there’s still plenty here that made it a worthwhile watch. The psychology of the main character is fascinating, and it made me wish that this was something a little more abstract about the dehumanization inherent to fascist systems. I was really compelled by the sophisticated human drama at the core of this. Alas, a plot must develop, and it’s all the worse for it. Absolutely gut-wrenching ending, though. Impressive how they were able to bring it back home for the last ten minutes.
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The Wizard of Oz 1939
That’s it? Listen, I wish I could say I feel like I’ve just aged out of this, but I love some fun and whimsy. This movie just does very little for me. It looks very pretty, and that’s about where any praise I have for it ends. I don’t think any of the songs are very good and I don’t really find it all that charming. Since songs and charm are all this really has going for it, even according to people who love this one, I guess that means this is a big nothing to me! Sorry!
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Dune: Part Two 2024
“Fear the moment.” or “I will love you as long as I breathe.”
How the fuck is it even better the second time?
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Dune: Part Two 2024
Words escape me. I need to lie down and cry, I’ll write later. I’ll leave it at this for now: the best theater experience since John Wick 4 (which is a high fucking benchmark, if you know me) and maybe the greatest blockbuster of the 21st century. The inevitable fan-edit that combines this and Part One into a 5-hour movie is maybe the greatest film ever made.