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True Detective: Night Country: Part 6 (2024)
A Disney ending
Every loose end is tied up in a bow. Every character is at peace with themself and each other, for the most part. The indigenous women archetypes got retribution against the mostly white male archetypes. The polluting mine gets shut down. Danvers believes in the afterlife. Navarro lives and receives her indigenous name from the afterlife. She also gazes into some interstellar portal a la the show's writers' adolescent take on Rust's notion of time being a flat circle...they even had to say the line which made my skeleton jump out of my body, I cringed so hard.
It was truly a cluster of half baked narratives mixed with shallow notions of justice like a Young Adult fiction novel.
It was all a bit too twee...and not because Issa Lopez is a woman. Imagine someone like Idk, Lynne Ramsey were steering this season. This season felt more like if Zach Braff tried to do true detective or something...
Anyway. Sorry. Bummer!
On to the next thing!
True Detective: Night Country: Part 4 (2024)
Rule of thumb
The amount of non-diagetic songs used in this episode was far too many and felt like cheap tricks. For instance, the scene with the sister walking out into the sea, silence would have had a much more profound effect, right? Rather than some emotional pop song jerking us around into feeling. Idk finding the directing falling short in that respect.
Tone and philosophy are what made Nic Pizzolato's true detective stand out. But the philosophical conflict of S4 seems to be little more than if there's life after death or not. What Rust Cole says in one sentence feels diametrically more weighted than all of the writing of this season so far.
Other episodes have been better but this one felt particularly shallow in writing and directing just as things need to be ramping up to set up for the season's climax.
Netemo sametemo (2018)
Spoiler: What this film is really about
This film is really the love story about Ryohei and Maya.
They should have been together and I like to imagine they end up together after the films over - cos baby, they got real chemistry.
Jajaaan.
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
Cute but not cool.
Looking at creators Nemac and Yost's repertoire, it's pretty clear how the new Bebop turned out the way it did. Unfortunately, they were not able to achieve the most important quality that Watanabe had that made the anime ooze coolness - noir. Every episode of the live action is redundantly formulaic in pace, tone and plot and the dialogue was all really shallow. It's colorful, silly and fast, but that's all. Also, structurally the original anime had every episode exist on its own, serving up distinct episodes that explore aspects of different genres. These are the major faults of the live action IMO.
When it comes to the casting, I personally don't think Cho fits, either. His voice doesn't have the same deep coolness as Japanese voice acted Spike, which is really the only Spike. As an actor, Cho's demeanor is naturally trustworthy, sweet and optimistic. Spike should have a dark apathy coupled with his underlying compassion. I don't find that Cho naturally carries those qualities. Everyone else was pretty well fit though.
Ultimately I couldn't watch the whole thing.
Midsommar (2019)
Jodorowski & Tarkovsky imagery meets Wicker Man / teen break up movie
With themes like toxic emotional dependency, grief, and fear of not belonging as the centerpiece to the film, Midsommar dives straight into an ocean of psychedelic metaphysical cultism and ends up at an unexpected glorious cathartic ending.
It's a wild ride.
Not for the faint of heart.
Avatar (2009)
UNAMERICAN
This movie is a wonderful indictment of extractive capitalism at the heart of the U.S. corporate/military industrial complex and its conjured defeat. Perhaps at the core of the film is not a love story but a warning that if we don't corral unfettered extraction of resources, then Earth really will become a resourceless wasteland with trigger happy extractive imperialists attempting to live out the same history on another planet.
This happy ending is all the more saddening, given the state of the world 11 years now after the film was made.
Have a nice day!
We Are Who We Are (2020)
A strong push forward for Guadagnino's artistic journey and for Queer Cinema.
I think that this show is a litmus test to where our society is right now when it comes to accepting the spaces in between binaried definitions of identity. Whether definitions of "identity" revolve around what constitutes gender, family, friendship, romance, politics, or individual moralism, We Are Who We Are exercises the audience to shed themselves of the need to define anyone's existence by society's standards and definitions.
I think many viewers will find this show alienating for this reason. From the egregious adolescent kinetic chaos of Fraser in the first episode, to Kait's journey through her gender identity, to Fraser and Kait's relationship status, nothing is definable and that state of existence is these characters preference. It's not the definable romance between two gay men like Call Me By Your Name was. In We Are Who We Are, all lines are blurred and because of that, I believe this production holds a realism that CMBYN lacks. Lots of people hate Fraser, but you're supposed to hate him in Ep. 1, but by Ep.8 you want nothing but for him to love and be loved.
Cinematically, the realism is heightened in this show with the use of Italian Neorealism infused with a contemporary gaze. The cinematography is gorgeous. The pacing is poetic. The style is both kinetic and dreamy in a way that teenage-hood really felt.
All in all, this show is a real push forward for Guadagnino's artistic journey and a real push forward for queer cinema in expanding audiences' understanding of gender and representation of gender fluid people on screen. Bravo Luca & co.!
We Are Who We Are: Right Here Right Now VIII and Last (2020)
Teenage Kineticism, Italo Neorealism-infused, and Poetically Tragic and Beautiful.
Without using the themes of fluid gender identity as a crutch or being too on the nose about it, Guadagnino and co. end on a really beautiful open air note. Kate's gender is not solidified one way or the other, as one might have guessed the show was leading us. Kate and Fraser's relationship is finally boldly and romantically acted upon for the profound unity and self-realization they've afforded to each other. Yet, their bond still rests as unidentifiable when the show ends. It's not about whether or not they are a couple now, but about their connection and ability to see each other for who they are, and the romantic gesture is symbolic of their acknowledgment of that.
From a cinematic perspective, there's a lot of Italian Neorealism infused with contemporary style and gaze. The freeze frames and such are playful like adolescence itself. Stylistically, this show pops with teenage kinetic energy with dramatic content that most people, teenage or adult, will not be able to wrap their heads around.
As a non-binary person myself, I really think that the writers of this show and the directing have captured gender fluidity in a realistic way. I believe that with the contemporary semantics surrounding gender and sexuality these days, and specifically the understandings of non-binary gendered existence, We Are Who We Are felt like the first production to capture the experience in it's poetic realism and tragedy. I think because of this, this show will be misunderstood by many people.
I've been quite perplexed as to why this show hasn't been receiving rave reviews the same way Call Me By Your Name had, and I believe it is because gender fluidity is still not understood or accepted by the majority of people in the same way that cisgendered homosexuality is. Consequently, this show might even alienate many viewers. But yeah, I also get that these characters are also a lot harder to identify with for other reasons other than their gender.
All in all, this show was another push forward for Guadagnino's artistic journey and for the trajectory of queer cinema. Bravo!! Hope there might be a season 2.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi (2020)
How Star Wars was always supposed to be.
The third point in the trifecta between Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone.
This episode directly reflects Yojimbo and the epic standoffs in spaghetti westerns like the good the bad and the ugly. In this episode both worlds are in parallel.
What fun and style!!!
First Reformed (2017)
Faith and capitalism do not mix
But they coexist, and in too many cases, faith turns a blind eye to the deep inequities and suffering of unfettered corporate neoliberalism. A system so far reaching that it's as omnipresent as "God" himself. A reach that know no bounds, not even from our churches, especially the megachurches as shown in the film.
Capitalism is itself a doctrine. A doctrine thats framework of draining resources from the masses of working people and from our planet itself, so that the few rich can have more, cannot be questioned. A doctrine that is quite literally the opposite of Jesus' teachings according to the Bible. But our entire economic system, and consequently our society and culture, exists within this framework. And from this discordant moral paradox attached to our society, we have the minister in First Reformed.
It was a harrowing film. Frightening. Practically a horror. Despite it being a film based around faith, the ending is the only part of the film that presents any semblance of divinity acting out and giving meaning or hope to the characters. Many hated the ending, but I thought it was quite brilliant, and I was quite relieved.
While We're Young (2014)
This movie is HILARIOUS.
Noah Baumbach and this cast nail it here. Every scene shows in detail the idiosyncrasies of millennial culture vs. gen x-ers', both embarrassing & hilarious in it's accuracies. I simultaneously feel like I've been found out as a city dwelling millennial while laughing at how simple cultures of young & coming-on middle aged people feel compelled to act out their day-to-day lives.
I suppose this one isn't for everyone, but if you live in any of the major cities in the US, you will find this HILARIOUS.
From alternative warehouse turned apartment living to documentaries on working class America made by pseudo-intellectual upperclass white men, this film shows how hilariously simple we all are in thinking how unique and progressive our journeys in life are, all the while keeping the heartfelt storyline that Baumbach has always been doing so well.
Vinyl: Yesterday Once More (2016)
bummer...this show is racist and sexist af.
Here's the thing that I found to be a great aspect of Boardwalk-- Terrence Winter had a way of making these unlikeable horrible people fascinating to watch, and what's more is that he would make the people who are affected by their egregious existences complex characters which made the world of the show more objective in our viewing of a specific time where people do and say awful things. Always being observed at a distance and not being glorified.
The thing is, so far, Vinyl doesn't give antidote to the racist and sexist bullsh*t that these characters do. In fact, it's just glorifying all of it.
For example, that scene when Scott Levitt's character wants to recall the name of the black man in that one movie, so he asks the young black assistant girl as if she should know. It could have gotten away as observation of the times and mindset of white America in the 70's, but instead ends on a really horrible f*cking shrug joke like, "What?? shouldn't she know though?? I mean she's black! And I'm just like a silly white guyyyy!" --That my friends was an example of the creators of the show accidentally promoting white supremacy by shrugging off a solid point in the form of a joke. A joke that wasn't intended to be critiqued by the viewer, but to be laughed at. Get real.
Here's something I fear of seeing, that Richie is going to become Lester Grime's "White savior" and raise his new "outsider" Hip Hop music scene into the spotlight thereby saving himself and help the poor black community. Um, Yeah f*ck you if that's what happens. All of you heard it here first, if it does.
Then, moving on to the sexism. Yeah, duh there's gonna be sexist bits in a series about rock n' roll, but Olivia Wilde's character is sooo shallowly written. There's no depth like there was with Margaret Shroeder. No antidote. She's THE lead woman of the show and all she needs is a flirtatious conversation and then to be choked and dominated by a stranger to be f*cked in a bathroom and spend the rest of her young adult life with this guy. None of these flashbacks give her any real depth. It's pretty lame that the writing is like this. Maybe it was the directing though. Who knows where it went wrong.
If ep 3 is the same, then this whole series is a flop.
***Fart sound*** Sorry guys
The Skeleton Twins (2014)
Unfortunately, forced and self-aware.
There was potential in the themes and statements that this film wanted to touch on, pedophile-victim relationships, suicide, monogamy, family relations, but I think that the "thematic bag" of this film was filled a little too high for these filmmakers to be able to have a profound statement about any of them. Visualize setting up all of the pins and knocking down none of them...
Or maybe it was that the director and the editors directed and cut the film in such a forced way to make the film dip into far too many "indie" tropes, like the bonding over a duet of a song. Yikes. I cringed. The flashbacks of them as children seemed like superficial indie tropes too. Maggie as a child swimming in a pool had nothing to do with her scuba diving or suicidal thoughts of drowning herself, so why were they in the movie?? Was it to connect visceral images of childhood to these suicidal protagonists to further our empathy for them? Seemed like a desperate and shallow move or something, I dunno. I also, felt that the soundtrack and the way it was used was just so typically, "indieeeeee".
Or the problem could have been in the writing! The halloween scene where the twins are drinking beers reminiscing about their childhood just drags on. The content of their conversation alienated me because there was literally nothing to relate to in what they were talking. It was all about these random people from their childhood and these random stories about those people that had nothing to do with the plot at all. It may come off as realism to some, but I just found it to be shallow writing :(
The acting was surprisingly moving from these two, though. I wanted to like the film because of Kristen and Bill, but I just don't think the writing or direction held up their end. Definitely a few laughs to be had but nothing side splitting.
This is why I had to give the film a 5 out of 10.