[94]
Up from 84. Fifth or sixth viewing, first time trying to scrutinize the three shorts separately -- don't have much to add from my individual capsules of each segment, and I'd probably just end up echoing my earlier sentiments anyway. I will add that while the three components are strong enough to elicit various, moving reactions on their own, the amassed strength when strung together is almost frightening; the way in which Hertzfeldt combines simple animation with optical effects,…
[99]
Astonishing, really, how Teshigahara makes something as banal as sand the sole catalyst of such anxiety and desperation; WOMAN IN THE DUNES is a meditative parable about the The Second Law of Thermodynamics i.e. Entropy w.r.t. Life, the inevitable nature of tiny, little inconveniences to slowly occupy space within our existence, exacerbating if ignored wherein they threaten to enshroud us completely. A grain of sand is harmless on its own, but left to accumulate can present an insurmountable obstacle;…
[32]
Insurmountably cringe-worthy script lacing together a rather sardonic take on “gamer/nerd culture” and a sloppy form of self-derived dystopian helplessness : the portrayal of these stereotypes is, to put it lightly, laughable at best, and downright offensive at its worst. As if the core romance between two avatars -- viz. mere projections of ideas of “people” that have never met -- wasn’t flimsy enough, the hammering home of The Creator’s shuttered autism/Asperger’s syndrome misinterpreted as someone that The World…
[70]
Timid and unassuming, something that’s glazed in mundane details and stresses small instances as a f retort to the absence of high-drama -- getting flustered and shouting at your navigator when lost on the road e.g. becomes a necessary point of strenuous, sexual and prohibited tension, though none of it being directly alluded to in and of the moment. Plays like Hong doing Rohmer, but in his own semi-japing, deconstructive kind of way, garnishing with outwardly humorous juxtapositions --…
[84]
Second viewing, no score change. This is the final post and then I’m done babbling about this movie (for a while, anyway).
Heavy spoilers ahead.
Second look confirmed that MOTHER! was every bit as good as my initial reaction signified, and it will surely wind up at the top of my “best of 2017” films. Saw it with my wife, who sometimes likes “different” stuff and as the movie ended, she turned to me and said, ”that might be…
[84]
No idea how many times I’ve seen this -- over a dozen, easily, though it’s been a few years since the last time. Down from 91, which was a roundabout score I slapped on this when I carried my lingering ratings over from IMDb to Letterboxd. Have since removed my previous blurb which wasn’t so much an actual critique as it was a fawn-piece derived entirely from anamnesis, although I would like to reiterate that there does seem to…
