Literature
Still reading George RR Martin's "A Storm of Swords". It is long.
Films
Uncut Gems
Directed by: Josh and Benny Safdie
8.5/10
This highly Jewish and aggressively New York film attempted to give me a panic attack and managed to exceeded the massive hype and expectations I had going in. The soundtrack is kinetic and moves along with your heartbeat while also never being too imposing and it also folds in these incredible cosmic almost gospel sounds to juxtapose with the uncomfortably petty, gritty, and stressful human behaviour on screen. Serious Sandler knocks it out of the park again with a performance that is loud and viscerally raw as well as desperate and spiritually open. This film made me feel nausea, anxiety, and claustrophobic and though I usually use subtitles when I can't understand a dialect or accent, I think it kind of added to my experience that I never really got the full gist of all of the New York yelling. I think it added to my anxiety to be put in a place where I am not always sure what is happening other than aggression, threat, and paranoia. Taken as a film on the self-destructive nature of addiction, I think this film does a really good job at not falling in to the tropes of the addict who we are supposed to pity, but instead just takes you in to the perspective of his reality. Finally, that ending. Jesus Christ. Like a shot in the face. I left this film kind of in a trance, not totally aware of my emotion but intimately engaged with the experience this film gave me. Incidentally, I also adore the movie poster for how it evokes an isolating and desperate feeling just with Sandler and a hazy black background. It could've been a sharp black, but instead it is just dark somehow. I love it.
Lost Soul
Directed by: David Gregory
7/10
This documentary starts off a lot like "Jodorowsky's Dune" in that it gives you insight in to an eccentric man's incredible creative vision that tragically never came to fruition, but over time it evolves in to unexpectedly entertaining madness. The craziest thing is that unlike Jodorowsky's "Dune", Stanley's film did get made and even though basically everything he had envisioned over 4 years got tossed out the window, it actually ends up being even more unhinged and insane than one could've predicted. Every 10 minutes after a certain point, Marlin Brando is shown doing something so un-tethered to this reality, it would be unbelievable except there are several people vouching for it and footage of it. I was so blown away by the buck-wild chaos unearthed in this documentary, I didn't shut up about it for days and it stayed in my imagination long after the film stopped. it must be madness being an actor. Absolute madness.
Iron Sky
Directed by: Timo Vuorensola
2/10
I wanted to enjoy this as a shitwatch, but it is honestly just too unfocused and not very funny. It is outrageous and gets some laugh's just out of the spectacle alone of moon nazis, but not much else. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the beer I drank while I watched it. Boobs too. Lots of boobs so that was cool. I almost can't believe I didn't like it. It has UFOs, nazis, space, political commentary, chaotic madness...but something very essential is missing and I can't tell exactly what it is. It feels kind of like Team America, but less jokes and slower paced. There is something missing for sure, and my husband reports that the second one is basically unwatchable.
Thunder Road
Directed by: Jim Cummings
10/10
This understated gem blew me away and very likely has my favorite opening shot of all time. I get the impression that this film is not just Jim Cumming's "baby" but came to him after his own experience with grief and rock bottom. I actually wrote a whole big thing here originally, but when I tried to save the draft I learned that I wasn't on wifi and had no data left so it dissapeared. F. I have since lost my will to write it all up again even if I could remember what I said, so just take the rating as it is. "Thunder Road" is incredibly emotional, transparent, and feels like reading a memoir. It is also frequently hilarious and constantly endearing.
Horse Girl
Directed by: Jeff Baena
7/10
Alison Brie absolutely carries this film. Her performance is unforgiving and emotionally raw yet she never falls back in to cliche or depending on tears. Her instability is evident in her calmer scenes just as much as it is in the heightened climaxes, but the way it speaks out is done differently and really well. I love that the isolation and damaging nature of her loneliness is never outright said, never shown with trite imagery or heavy-handed symbols, and she never speaks to it at all, yet it still has a heavy presence throughout the film. Speaking as someone who has been touched by paranoia and delusions (though not nearly to the extent portrayed in the film, thankfully) I think Brie's choice to be generally withholding unless her words are tumbling out uncontrollably is accurate and impactful, as is the reaction of her friends/boyfriend. As a film about mental illness and loneliness I think it examines relationships and trauma very well and in interesting ways I haven't seen in other films, such as the scenes and background of Sarah's relationship with her friend living with a brain injury. In some ways, I even enjoyed the more bold scenes in this film featuring unhinged schizophrenic hallucinations and tense psychological action, but I can't justify the ending. While it could be said it is representative of Sarah's reality, and this is probably the intention, it felt kind of weak and directionless and had neither the satisfaction of a resolution nor the introspection of an open-ended interpretation. I get the impression they were just not sure how to end this. Still a good film though.
Underwater
Directed by: William Eubank
5/10
The only thing that keeps this film from being awesome is laziness, but unfortunately in a monster movie horror/thriller it's easy for directors to believe that they can coast on the same tropes, empty characters, and monster designs. The actual underwater sequences were pretty cool and tense, but the pale slendermen monsters were nothing new and not particularly interesting. Ocean Daddy Cuthulu was awesome, but he didn't really do anything so his threat didn't really feel compelling. The framework of this film has promise- the very obviously Cuthulu monster could've caused madness, hallucination, or focused on surfacing to wreck havoc on the world instead of just 5 people on the base. The majority of the deaths were bland and uninteresting or extremely cliche, such as the dude who encourages protagonist to let go and let him die. I would've loved to have seen some legitimate shell shock from screaming girl as she dragged her dead boyfriend across the ocean floor and talked to God, but instead the much easier and less interesting route was taken. I suppose that's the real issue from this film- on paper it sounded like an awesome movie and even if it were bad, at least a fun one. But the reality is that at least 75% of the film is just the team of barely developed characters going from base to base and needing to move on to the next base. The dialogue is awful but again this wouldn't matter if the film was fun or interesting, but it wasn't. Even if the monsters had been just real underwater fish or bigger versions of sharks or something, that would have been more compelling than generic creepy looking slenderman dude. Kristen Stewart really put her all in to her performance in this film, but it couldn't be saved. TJ Miller is annoying, captain man has dead daughter, screaming girl screams, likable guy should've died but didn't, black guy dies first, Kristen Stewart is edgy and withdrawn and the best of them for sure. For a moment in one of the bases it looked like Kristen Stewart was going to build some kind of bitchin suit or weapon, but actually it was just the same thing but yellow. It really seemed like at every opportunity to make the film either fun or interesting, the film just took the safe option instead. That being said, the 30 minutes under water and the claustrophobic bit was legitimately tense and I love Big Daddy Cuthulu even if he didn't do anything.
Shoplifters
Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda
8.5/10
This is a really special film. Despite the frequently cramped and messy surroundings of the film, somehow it all works together with the lighting and performances to create this cozy and intimate atmosphere that last through the entire film. A setting that in most films would evoke claustrophobia or stress achieves the opposite thing in 'Shoplifters"- the tiny hid away home that holds this family, and every shot in and around it, is serenely filmed and I would happily display it as art in my home. All of this lends itself really well to this story which focuses on the natural love and intimacy in a family that "chose" one another. The twist of the film hurt and I struggled to accept it, but this is only further testament to the genuine love and affection the script and actors inspire. I felt like I knew these people as family by the end, and I felt sympathy for every single one of them. The moral ambiguity revealed in the final act was brilliantly done as well. It never felt like the audience was trying to be convinced to love or hate a certain person or decision, instead it just leaves you with the emotional aftermath because that had always been its focus. This movie was such a warmhearted and beautiful film to watch and I can't wait to watch it again.
Shazam
Directed by: David Sandberg
6/10
This movie wasn't created for me, but I did have some fun with it. I definitely enjoyed it more than any other cape film (excluding Nolan's Batman series) and I respect it for being unappologetically silly and having superpowers straight up just come from wizards. I found a lot of the performances kind of cringy, but at the same time most were children and even those that weren't were mostly under an obligation to behave like them so there isn't really any way around it. I felt this way about the comedy too, which is typical of cape films. Everyone is trying too hard at jokes that don't land for me but I feel like not laughing at them is mean somehow because it is a family film so I have to forgive it. I think this movie will be really meaningful to a lot of kids in foster care and I love that it had some representation for children with disabilities. If it weren't for the absurdity of the wizard cave and the talking caterpillar, I probably would not have liked this film much at all, but I can't deny the appeal of that level of commitment to old school fantasy. So shit, ok Shazam, you won me there.
The Two Popes
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
7/10
I have to admit, I probably should've done some rudimentary research on the Catholic church before watching this. It isn't that I believed that the history and politics of Catholic church is boring, but after watching this movie I can definitely say I have a lot more investment and interest in its influence going forward. Just this alone should speak volumes for "The Two Popes" as I was raised atheist and have a much stronger interest in eastern and African religions. I suppose my bias comes from the fact that I believed I was raised in a world steeped with Catholicism, when it was actually just steeped in the boring Albertan/Mormon brand of Christianity. But anyways, all that set aside, I love how this film managed to succeed at being what is essentially feels like a documentary with a dozen dramatised scenes of popes talking to one another. I can't quite believe how much it held my interest and then in the end, I was even more surprised to have a couple tears in my eyes. Not only is it interesting from a political and theistic point of view, but I ended up invested in the adorable scenes of the two popes watching football together. It's incredible that the church was able to make such a radical change. The performances were good too. Anthony Hopkins talking about God is great and I would've happily watched more of it.
Mazes and Monsters
Directed by: Steven Stern
4/10
This was intended as a shit-watch, and it mostly still was. However, it's so weird to admit but I actually genuinely cared for and was invested in these characters and their plight. Even if it was so obviously Satanic-panic propaganda and the conclusion is absurdly unaware of how fucked up it is (definitely not pushing the intended "lesson learned!" idea), the adventure is legitimately compelling and interesting to watch. Is it cringy? Yes. There are so many scenes which felt like one of those films your teachers show you to educate you on the danger of sex and drugs. But honestly, I think it kind of fails at turning it's audience off of Dungeons and Dragons. There is no way you watch that and think "oh boy. That game sure is fucked up" instead of "oh boy. Tom Hanks definately has a severe mental illness". There is just no way. There even appeared to be some sort of secret progressive subtext of this film because even if it was kind of clumsy in the context of the plot and action, there are at least a dozen times when characters reveal the damage their boomer parents and society do to them by limiting their creative potential and affection for their friendships and hobbies. All this considered though, it totally was still a shit-watch. Tons of the dialogue is still unintentionally hilarious and the raw memetic power behind Tom Hanks staring up at the World Trade Center and uttering "the towers."was incredible. So I mean, I guess the film is a 4/10, but the experience was easily an 8.5/10. This film is so much fun to watch with friends and beers. Would recommend.
The Invisable Man
Directed by: Leigh Wannell
9/10
This has got to be one of the most tense films I've seen in theatres in years! I can also honestly say that I appreciated the few jump scares in this film. There was not one single jump scare that felt manipulative or had an annoyingly loud trigger noise. Every jump scare, which were few and well earned after plenty of build-up, always included something visually tense or shocking as well as sound, and the sound was organic and situational (ie: glass breaking, car alarms) and not that awful horror movie sound many use with jump scares. Moss's performance is brilliant and powerful to watch and the social commentary behind her experience and the public's treatment of her is not ham-fisted like it certainly could have gotten away with. The soundtrack is incredible and foreboding and lends itself very well to that incredible Oceanside house where the film begins and ends. The action and violence was brutal and always held it's own to the sci-fi premise of the film- even scenes in which the invisible man interacted with things felt tense, frightening, and dangerous, never unintentionally funny or awkward. I also love the director's choice to suggest more than prove that the Invisible Man may be somewhere watching or studying Celia. The camera lingering ever so slightly on a couch, the corner of a room, or even just a window all contributed to the compelling and eery feeling of paranoia. The whole experience was very rich with horror and I felt genuinely frightened and paranoid throughout the night.
Video Games
Steamworld Dig 2
Developed by: Image and Form
7.5/10
I really enjoy playing these games. They are short and not challenging in the slightest, but the satisfying loop of exploration and upgrading is all I need and expect of this series anyways. The style is unique and really cool and it's honestly just really satisfying digging for gems and occassionally doing puzzle platforming dungeons (which are quite good. Lots of lovely ah-ha moments). I also enjoyed the new upgrades, setting, and enemies this sequel provided to the series. Something about this series just scratches a really particular itch for me and I look forward to more of it in the third game.
Still reading George RR Martin's "A Storm of Swords". It is long.
Films
Directed by: Josh and Benny Safdie
8.5/10
This highly Jewish and aggressively New York film attempted to give me a panic attack and managed to exceeded the massive hype and expectations I had going in. The soundtrack is kinetic and moves along with your heartbeat while also never being too imposing and it also folds in these incredible cosmic almost gospel sounds to juxtapose with the uncomfortably petty, gritty, and stressful human behaviour on screen. Serious Sandler knocks it out of the park again with a performance that is loud and viscerally raw as well as desperate and spiritually open. This film made me feel nausea, anxiety, and claustrophobic and though I usually use subtitles when I can't understand a dialect or accent, I think it kind of added to my experience that I never really got the full gist of all of the New York yelling. I think it added to my anxiety to be put in a place where I am not always sure what is happening other than aggression, threat, and paranoia. Taken as a film on the self-destructive nature of addiction, I think this film does a really good job at not falling in to the tropes of the addict who we are supposed to pity, but instead just takes you in to the perspective of his reality. Finally, that ending. Jesus Christ. Like a shot in the face. I left this film kind of in a trance, not totally aware of my emotion but intimately engaged with the experience this film gave me. Incidentally, I also adore the movie poster for how it evokes an isolating and desperate feeling just with Sandler and a hazy black background. It could've been a sharp black, but instead it is just dark somehow. I love it.
Directed by: David Gregory
7/10
This documentary starts off a lot like "Jodorowsky's Dune" in that it gives you insight in to an eccentric man's incredible creative vision that tragically never came to fruition, but over time it evolves in to unexpectedly entertaining madness. The craziest thing is that unlike Jodorowsky's "Dune", Stanley's film did get made and even though basically everything he had envisioned over 4 years got tossed out the window, it actually ends up being even more unhinged and insane than one could've predicted. Every 10 minutes after a certain point, Marlin Brando is shown doing something so un-tethered to this reality, it would be unbelievable except there are several people vouching for it and footage of it. I was so blown away by the buck-wild chaos unearthed in this documentary, I didn't shut up about it for days and it stayed in my imagination long after the film stopped. it must be madness being an actor. Absolute madness.
Directed by: Timo Vuorensola
2/10
I wanted to enjoy this as a shitwatch, but it is honestly just too unfocused and not very funny. It is outrageous and gets some laugh's just out of the spectacle alone of moon nazis, but not much else. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the beer I drank while I watched it. Boobs too. Lots of boobs so that was cool. I almost can't believe I didn't like it. It has UFOs, nazis, space, political commentary, chaotic madness...but something very essential is missing and I can't tell exactly what it is. It feels kind of like Team America, but less jokes and slower paced. There is something missing for sure, and my husband reports that the second one is basically unwatchable.
Thunder RoadDirected by: Jim Cummings
10/10
This understated gem blew me away and very likely has my favorite opening shot of all time. I get the impression that this film is not just Jim Cumming's "baby" but came to him after his own experience with grief and rock bottom. I actually wrote a whole big thing here originally, but when I tried to save the draft I learned that I wasn't on wifi and had no data left so it dissapeared. F. I have since lost my will to write it all up again even if I could remember what I said, so just take the rating as it is. "Thunder Road" is incredibly emotional, transparent, and feels like reading a memoir. It is also frequently hilarious and constantly endearing.
Horse Girl
Directed by: Jeff Baena
7/10
Alison Brie absolutely carries this film. Her performance is unforgiving and emotionally raw yet she never falls back in to cliche or depending on tears. Her instability is evident in her calmer scenes just as much as it is in the heightened climaxes, but the way it speaks out is done differently and really well. I love that the isolation and damaging nature of her loneliness is never outright said, never shown with trite imagery or heavy-handed symbols, and she never speaks to it at all, yet it still has a heavy presence throughout the film. Speaking as someone who has been touched by paranoia and delusions (though not nearly to the extent portrayed in the film, thankfully) I think Brie's choice to be generally withholding unless her words are tumbling out uncontrollably is accurate and impactful, as is the reaction of her friends/boyfriend. As a film about mental illness and loneliness I think it examines relationships and trauma very well and in interesting ways I haven't seen in other films, such as the scenes and background of Sarah's relationship with her friend living with a brain injury. In some ways, I even enjoyed the more bold scenes in this film featuring unhinged schizophrenic hallucinations and tense psychological action, but I can't justify the ending. While it could be said it is representative of Sarah's reality, and this is probably the intention, it felt kind of weak and directionless and had neither the satisfaction of a resolution nor the introspection of an open-ended interpretation. I get the impression they were just not sure how to end this. Still a good film though.
Directed by: William Eubank
5/10
The only thing that keeps this film from being awesome is laziness, but unfortunately in a monster movie horror/thriller it's easy for directors to believe that they can coast on the same tropes, empty characters, and monster designs. The actual underwater sequences were pretty cool and tense, but the pale slendermen monsters were nothing new and not particularly interesting. Ocean Daddy Cuthulu was awesome, but he didn't really do anything so his threat didn't really feel compelling. The framework of this film has promise- the very obviously Cuthulu monster could've caused madness, hallucination, or focused on surfacing to wreck havoc on the world instead of just 5 people on the base. The majority of the deaths were bland and uninteresting or extremely cliche, such as the dude who encourages protagonist to let go and let him die. I would've loved to have seen some legitimate shell shock from screaming girl as she dragged her dead boyfriend across the ocean floor and talked to God, but instead the much easier and less interesting route was taken. I suppose that's the real issue from this film- on paper it sounded like an awesome movie and even if it were bad, at least a fun one. But the reality is that at least 75% of the film is just the team of barely developed characters going from base to base and needing to move on to the next base. The dialogue is awful but again this wouldn't matter if the film was fun or interesting, but it wasn't. Even if the monsters had been just real underwater fish or bigger versions of sharks or something, that would have been more compelling than generic creepy looking slenderman dude. Kristen Stewart really put her all in to her performance in this film, but it couldn't be saved. TJ Miller is annoying, captain man has dead daughter, screaming girl screams, likable guy should've died but didn't, black guy dies first, Kristen Stewart is edgy and withdrawn and the best of them for sure. For a moment in one of the bases it looked like Kristen Stewart was going to build some kind of bitchin suit or weapon, but actually it was just the same thing but yellow. It really seemed like at every opportunity to make the film either fun or interesting, the film just took the safe option instead. That being said, the 30 minutes under water and the claustrophobic bit was legitimately tense and I love Big Daddy Cuthulu even if he didn't do anything.
Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda
8.5/10
This is a really special film. Despite the frequently cramped and messy surroundings of the film, somehow it all works together with the lighting and performances to create this cozy and intimate atmosphere that last through the entire film. A setting that in most films would evoke claustrophobia or stress achieves the opposite thing in 'Shoplifters"- the tiny hid away home that holds this family, and every shot in and around it, is serenely filmed and I would happily display it as art in my home. All of this lends itself really well to this story which focuses on the natural love and intimacy in a family that "chose" one another. The twist of the film hurt and I struggled to accept it, but this is only further testament to the genuine love and affection the script and actors inspire. I felt like I knew these people as family by the end, and I felt sympathy for every single one of them. The moral ambiguity revealed in the final act was brilliantly done as well. It never felt like the audience was trying to be convinced to love or hate a certain person or decision, instead it just leaves you with the emotional aftermath because that had always been its focus. This movie was such a warmhearted and beautiful film to watch and I can't wait to watch it again.
Directed by: David Sandberg
6/10
This movie wasn't created for me, but I did have some fun with it. I definitely enjoyed it more than any other cape film (excluding Nolan's Batman series) and I respect it for being unappologetically silly and having superpowers straight up just come from wizards. I found a lot of the performances kind of cringy, but at the same time most were children and even those that weren't were mostly under an obligation to behave like them so there isn't really any way around it. I felt this way about the comedy too, which is typical of cape films. Everyone is trying too hard at jokes that don't land for me but I feel like not laughing at them is mean somehow because it is a family film so I have to forgive it. I think this movie will be really meaningful to a lot of kids in foster care and I love that it had some representation for children with disabilities. If it weren't for the absurdity of the wizard cave and the talking caterpillar, I probably would not have liked this film much at all, but I can't deny the appeal of that level of commitment to old school fantasy. So shit, ok Shazam, you won me there.
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
7/10
I have to admit, I probably should've done some rudimentary research on the Catholic church before watching this. It isn't that I believed that the history and politics of Catholic church is boring, but after watching this movie I can definitely say I have a lot more investment and interest in its influence going forward. Just this alone should speak volumes for "The Two Popes" as I was raised atheist and have a much stronger interest in eastern and African religions. I suppose my bias comes from the fact that I believed I was raised in a world steeped with Catholicism, when it was actually just steeped in the boring Albertan/Mormon brand of Christianity. But anyways, all that set aside, I love how this film managed to succeed at being what is essentially feels like a documentary with a dozen dramatised scenes of popes talking to one another. I can't quite believe how much it held my interest and then in the end, I was even more surprised to have a couple tears in my eyes. Not only is it interesting from a political and theistic point of view, but I ended up invested in the adorable scenes of the two popes watching football together. It's incredible that the church was able to make such a radical change. The performances were good too. Anthony Hopkins talking about God is great and I would've happily watched more of it.
Directed by: Steven Stern
4/10
This was intended as a shit-watch, and it mostly still was. However, it's so weird to admit but I actually genuinely cared for and was invested in these characters and their plight. Even if it was so obviously Satanic-panic propaganda and the conclusion is absurdly unaware of how fucked up it is (definitely not pushing the intended "lesson learned!" idea), the adventure is legitimately compelling and interesting to watch. Is it cringy? Yes. There are so many scenes which felt like one of those films your teachers show you to educate you on the danger of sex and drugs. But honestly, I think it kind of fails at turning it's audience off of Dungeons and Dragons. There is no way you watch that and think "oh boy. That game sure is fucked up" instead of "oh boy. Tom Hanks definately has a severe mental illness". There is just no way. There even appeared to be some sort of secret progressive subtext of this film because even if it was kind of clumsy in the context of the plot and action, there are at least a dozen times when characters reveal the damage their boomer parents and society do to them by limiting their creative potential and affection for their friendships and hobbies. All this considered though, it totally was still a shit-watch. Tons of the dialogue is still unintentionally hilarious and the raw memetic power behind Tom Hanks staring up at the World Trade Center and uttering "the towers."was incredible. So I mean, I guess the film is a 4/10, but the experience was easily an 8.5/10. This film is so much fun to watch with friends and beers. Would recommend.
Directed by: Leigh Wannell
9/10
This has got to be one of the most tense films I've seen in theatres in years! I can also honestly say that I appreciated the few jump scares in this film. There was not one single jump scare that felt manipulative or had an annoyingly loud trigger noise. Every jump scare, which were few and well earned after plenty of build-up, always included something visually tense or shocking as well as sound, and the sound was organic and situational (ie: glass breaking, car alarms) and not that awful horror movie sound many use with jump scares. Moss's performance is brilliant and powerful to watch and the social commentary behind her experience and the public's treatment of her is not ham-fisted like it certainly could have gotten away with. The soundtrack is incredible and foreboding and lends itself very well to that incredible Oceanside house where the film begins and ends. The action and violence was brutal and always held it's own to the sci-fi premise of the film- even scenes in which the invisible man interacted with things felt tense, frightening, and dangerous, never unintentionally funny or awkward. I also love the director's choice to suggest more than prove that the Invisible Man may be somewhere watching or studying Celia. The camera lingering ever so slightly on a couch, the corner of a room, or even just a window all contributed to the compelling and eery feeling of paranoia. The whole experience was very rich with horror and I felt genuinely frightened and paranoid throughout the night.
Video Games
Developed by: Image and Form
7.5/10
I really enjoy playing these games. They are short and not challenging in the slightest, but the satisfying loop of exploration and upgrading is all I need and expect of this series anyways. The style is unique and really cool and it's honestly just really satisfying digging for gems and occassionally doing puzzle platforming dungeons (which are quite good. Lots of lovely ah-ha moments). I also enjoyed the new upgrades, setting, and enemies this sequel provided to the series. Something about this series just scratches a really particular itch for me and I look forward to more of it in the third game.
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