Last year I saw DC-based artist DJ Spooky remix Birth of a Nation live at the Kennedy Center. It was a tremendously powerful repurposing of a toxic piece of work, using it to explore the history of racism in this country, and I thought about it a lot during this film for obvious reasons. I've seen a lot of folks complaining about the Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind inserts and framing devices, or about the Charlotsville…

There isn't anything actually wrong with how it was made, I suppose. I just find the character and most of the dialog to be insufferably smug, nerd-bro fare. I think I chuckled twice. Lightly. Much has been said about Deadpool being progressive, but I didn't find that to be particularly the case. I mean he's not regressive, I guess, although I did find some of his jokes to be questionable on that front. But is it really all that remarkable…

Probably the smartest film I've seen all year. And certainly one of the most beautiful.

The way information is layered and truths are revealed, not with the aim of shocking the audience with unexpected twists, but with the aim of riffing philosophically about sex and the patriarchy, is thrilling. Each character detail and perspective takes us further from a simple, but fun, heist story and closer to something emotionally profound.

And it is funny! So much funnier than I'd anticipated.…