Art I Consumed in August 2020

Books

The Albertine Workout
by Anne Carson
7.5/10
I do not really remember how to talk about or write about poetry. To be honest, I barely remember how to read it. The last time I was really engaged in poetry was likely on my trip through Scotland because I was reading Robert Burns and then did a poetry tour in Edinburgh.
This poem made me chuckle frequently and I'd honestly give it a 9 or 10 except I left wanting more, and it was very brief. Again, this may just be a side effect of my not remembering how to read, write, or talk about poetry. I wanted more and it ended so quickly. I read much of it twice.
I love that the base poem is interesting and funny and somehow gives a really full picture of what must have been thousands of hours of work and research, all in about 50 passages/lines. The appendix was also very interesting and left me with a lot more to think on. I was surprised by the melancholy I felt. I don't know much about Proust. I still don't know much about Proust, but I liked this poem that was kind of like "Lolita", though I mean no offence to either Carson or Proust in saying that.

The Game

by: Neil Strauss

6/10

I just about quit this one twice around the half-way mark. I barely liked Neil Strauss at the end of it all, and I pretty much hate everyone else in it with an occasional exception to Tom Cruise and Courtney Love who play surprising (and not really believable) parts in this deep dive in to "Seduction culture". 

I'm writing a whole thing about this later, so for now I will only justify my rating. 

This book is actually, at times, a really good piece of journalism. Strauss initially gets in to "The Game" for personal reasons, but he is motivated to stick with it and meet Pick Up Artists around the world for the sake of his journalism career. In that way I feel for him. I, too, had to suffer through this for the sake of writing about it. "The Game" is a legitimately good deep dive and I can't deny that at least the first third of it is an interesting (if not unintentionally hilarious) education on the bizarre underground culture and various techniques/terminologies/beliefs of pick-up-artistry. 

The next 2/3rds of the book are not really journalism so much as they are biographical accounts of Neil Strauss's experience in the community. The last 20 pages or so involve personal development. I was actually shocked to be a bit emotionally moved by Strauss's discovery that "to win the game is to get out of it". 

Ugh. I already dread having to think about this shit any more than I already have. 

I did it, and I could pass a vocab test on the outrageous vocabulary.

Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent

By Liz Howard

6/10

I definitely forget how to read poetry. 

I appreciated the themes of colonialism and even some of the lost, foggy, ethereal nature of the prose. The rhythm of most of the poems was also interesting and even when it kind of just felt like a dreamy jumble of half-meaningful words, I pretty much always could get a sense of the feeling I imagine intended by the author. However, whether this is an actual criticism or just an effect of my being rusty in the kind of meditative practice of reading poetry, I simply didn't get much from this one. 

One thing I always struggled with when reading poetry was accepting that the feeling or the taste of the words or even just the experience of being lost is the point sometimes, and I'm just too rigid to jive with that.

Autobiography of Red
by: Anne Carson
8/10
A good friend of mine tells me that poems, by their very nature, are made of longing. He tells me this after I've half-jokingly asked why all of this poetry he recommends me is so explicitly horny, but now that he has revealed this understanding on the DNA of poetry, I can't help but think he has to be right. Particularly in the case of "Autobiography of Red", and maybe even just in her body of work in general, I can see a lot of longing and desire.
Once again I felt like this ended too soon and I was left wanting more, but at the same time I don't know what else could be shown to me that would support that same intimate conclusion that "Red" ends with.
So much of this story about a crooked little monster and his growing desires to be seen and loved resonated with me and reminded me of those sad, lonely, confusing stretches of childhood nobody wants to talk about or acknowledge. There is something which tells us that we must romanticise all of our childhoods, and not just the freedom and awe of it, but by doing so I think we gloss over some of the most profound experiences of our lives. Profundity isn't only found in moments of great happening or beauty. Sometimes the profound occurs when we are laying there in the dark, awake and afraid for reasons not understood but felt deeply. Just being present in our longing and desire, to explore our isolation and to photograph our perspective within it is profound.
I loved a lot of this poem. Following Geryon through his life, witnessing vivid common moments with his family and friends, I found all of this very sweet and moving even when these moments were not particularly emotional. While it is explicitly very horny, I felt a lot of nostalgia and sympathy for what Geryon was going through. I remember what it felt like to exist both with and outside of that desire, to feel invisible but be comfortable with it, to understand relationships only by stumbling through them. I also really appreciated the tenderness in his relationship with his mother, even if he outgrows it.
Maybe most of all, I love the line "Her voice drew a circle around all the years he had spent in this room".

Movies/TV

E.T the Extra Terrestrial
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
10/10
The last time I saw this film, I was probably around 9 or 10 years old. I distinctly remembered sick E.T and I think that's why I never touched it again. Let's get this straight- this is a phenomenal landmark in film-making and it absolutely blew me away, but the E.T should also be killed with fire. The physical effects and design of the E.T is already pretty upsetting- it is so saggy, its neck can stretch at will, it hobbles around seemingly nonthreatening but also there is something deeply uncanny about the whole thing, and it is disproportionate and wrinkly and the big eyes and the see-through chest beating heart oh my god fuck kill it. However, I'd argue it is the phenomenal sound design of the thing that really makes it nightmarish and unforgivably horrifying. The sounds that the E.T makes vary from asthmatic screaming to newborn infant being held over a hot flame screaming, and then there are strange guttural rattling noises and of course the alien voice. I actually love the commitment to making this thing bizarre and aesthetically cohesive with the misty, isolated, messy environment of the film. All of the practical effects are still very good- the spaceship in particular. Even the things that haven't aged so well, such as the bike flying, still capture the thrill and magic of the moment with the soundtrack and genuine performances alone!
Honestly, this is lightning in a bottle in terms of child performances. All three of the siblings are great and fearlessly vulnerable, and I think it is credit to the writing and directing that they all have distinctly different levels of cognition, compelling emotion, perspectives, and approaches to the E.T. A lot of times, siblings are mainly just used as conflicts or as side kicks in adventure films but it was rewarding to watch a film really do something with each one of them. The youngest sister is endearing, kind, and brings out the tenderness in the E.T as well as their mother (who is, in my opinion, one of the most wholesome, lifelike, and sympathetic movie moms.). Elliot is our protagonist and we see how his isolation, angst, and curiosity effect his interactions and love for E.T. Finally, the oldest brother is at first seen as merely conflict but it takes no time at all for the film to establish him as a genuinely caring brother and we see him go through a genuine crisis of stress and trying to intellectually grapple with their responsibilities throughout this. While his siblings are more curious and innocent than anything, the oldest brother is constantly stressing over trying to understand the E.T and how to keep this secret and his siblings safe. As much as this is a family adventure film, I think it is also a really beautiful portrayal of the various stages of childhood innocence where Drew Barrymore is the blank slate, Elliot fighting for independence, and the oldest brother burdened under ethical responsibility. Spielberg manages to tie in childhood innocence, vulnerability, curiosity, and agency all under what is ultimately an examination of childhood frustration and fear as well.
This is just a wonderful film. It is authentically tender and traumatising, balances spooky and wholesome elements really well, and has an unforgettable soundtrack. There are some shots in this film that are iconic in ways I honestly don't think any other film has been since.
Finally, I have to say, "penis breath" is a hysterical insult and the mom's reaction to her son saying this is so delightfully natural, honest, and funny in itself. God bless this movie mom. So kind, tender, and carrying so much on her plate but always pulling through with grace and love. That bedtime story scene damn near brings me to tears, it's so sweet and beautiful.

Karate Kid
Directed by: John G Avildson
9/10
Karate Kid is an exceptionally cozy film. Watching this movie on a hot summer's night is satisfying and fulfilling in a way few other film experiences can be.Something about the effortlessly cool performance of Ralph Machio, the warmth and idyllic environment of economically booming and aesthetic California in the 80s, the great use of lighting and soundtrack that is never too loud or in charge, and the soft emotional vibe of the whole thing adds up to a nostalgic film experience no matter when you were born or when your most comforting coming-of-age times were. One thing in particular I think this coming-of-age film does better than others is its choice to honour the independence of youth and what empowerment means to young people vs what it means to adults. In a way this is kind of "Rocky" for kids, and I haven't seen enough of "Rocky" to say much more about this claim, but I can see where that comparison comes from.
I don't have too much else to say, it's just a great film. It's just one of those things that will always feel like settling down on the porch after a long day.
One thing I realised on this viewing that will forever taint all future viewings is this, though: Daniel utilises the DENNIS system just about to a tee, and it works perfectly. I'm so sorry to tell you this. We don't need to #cancelKarateKid (not for this, anyway. A case could be made for the casual racism of Mr. Miyagi but that's a whole other can of worms). We don't need to stop having girl crushes on Ralph Machio, he is just a dude who appears to have some sort of implicit knowledge on the DENNIS system.

The Usual Suspects
Directed by: Bryan Singer
5/10
Oof. This hasn't aged well.
It hasn't aged poorly due to offensive jokes or anything like that. In fact, it was interesting to see a film so openly hate cops and call them "porkchops". If anything ages this film, its that 15 cops could be fired over a simple drug scandal. 15 cops would literally have to do a 9/11 to get fired today.
No, the reason this has aged poorly is because of many factors that make the twist super obvious from a 2020 perspective and because, possibly due to its influence, it feels like something we have seen a hundred times already but done infinitely better. Also, at this point we have had decades to determine that one should never trust Kevin Spacey, so there's that. Honestly, and this hurts me to say because I looked back on this very fondly until re-watching it, it's kind of just a bad movie. It hedges all of its bets on Spacey (who is still great. His "fake crying" is done well and he is good regardless of the rest of the film) and of course, on the fake-out twist and "real" twist ending. The cast of characters aren't interesting, there is no compelling drama at all, it isn't interesting visually and is only interesting conceptually if the twist hits you right near the end. The action is fine for 1995 but was nothing special.
Spoiler alert here, for those of you who care.
Here is my breakdown of why the twist may "work" but is too obvious:
1. Nobody else is given any screen time, and they are constantly cutting back to Spacey. If even 2 more guys had been given more attention, it could have feasibly been someone else.
2. Even at the fake-out twist, you have to know it's a fake twist because there is still tension around who is being drawn in the hospital room. They show a short scene of this right after the fake-out twist, leaving us with the impression that this must be meaningful, and thus the image wont be of him.
3. While its neat to have Spacey make up all those details with stuff in the room, it is mostly unnecessary and means nothing. I guess this doesn't effect the twist, but it's framed like it was all part of some brilliant plan...and its not.
4. If there were even one or two more witnesses with different stories and viewpoints, it wouldn't so obviously be Spacey all along.
5. This all boils down to the fact that there are no other characters given any character development at all, and the movie obviously isn't going to end with Spacey being nothing, so you gotta assume its him all along
6. He does that same thing that he does in "Se7en" where he keeps saying vaguely evil or philosophical stuff like "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people he didn't exist". Again, a pretty dead give-away that Spacey is at the very least not who he says he is, and being that the big mystery involves a dude with a mysterious identity, you have to assume it's Spacey.
The influence of this film cannot be denied, but boy howdy is has aged like milk. It was mostly just boring and obvious and isn't one of Spacey's best performances either.

Planet of the Apes
Directed by: Arthur Jacobs
7/10
I was shocked by how much I liked this thematically rich piece of classic sci-fi. I actually had basically no interest at all in the Planet of the Apes series until I fell down a secretly complex rabbit hole involving the study of primates, linguistics, intelligence, and sign language. Although I have huge hype for the Tim Burton film, I was sceptical about the OG series (which includes 5 films! Holy shit) because old sci-fi films can be too silly to be compelling for me, but often not silly enough to be a fun shit watch either.
Luckily I found "Planet of the Apes" to fall in to neither of these pitfalls. The makeup, while initially hilarious, eventually grew on me and I grew immersed enough in to the story that I stopped seeing how stiff and weird the simians looked. The stark and dramatic landscape are used to great effect and I found it complimented the thematic tensions of the film well too. Charleton Heston, who I previously had no real opinion of, achieves a compelling performance that manages to portray an arc from emotional callous to a raw and unforgettable climax, while never breaking his cool.
Themes of colonisation are there but take a back seat to the rhetoric on rejection of science, evolution, inconvenient ideas, challenges to the status quo, and that which exposes the fragility of the Simian's Christian world view and moral superiority. Though it got a little ham-fisted at times, particularly during monkey court, I found it to be a generally well rounded meditation on impermanence and the multiple factors that go in to both human nature and societies clinging to egoistic superiorities which validate their ideas of legacy and put forth comforting notions that we are important, that us and our effects matter more than time and progress. There's even a critical spin on American imperialism and consumerism, which is always good to see.
Overall I enjoyed this ambitious production more than I expected to and I appreciate that even if the entire plot may mostly take place over just a couple hours, it takes the time to get away from conflict and action to ruminate on these themes and ideas and make this a more unique cinematic experience. I also think it is interesting that only verbal speech is privileged as "intelligent communication". Funny how that is, isn't it. The deaf and mute still communicate, obviously, but intelligence and the deciding factors of what/who is and isn't intelligent will always be decided and studied under our own biased measures for it.
You may think to yourself, oh, but Megan, what about sign language?! ASL is obviously recognised as valid intelligent communication, why else would we try and teach gorillas how to sign? Why don't you go out and ask the deaf community how much scientific funding is given to the linguistic properties of ASL, or how much advocacy and funding is put towards making ASL a more accepted and accessible communication? Oh. Is that right? Science and the government is only interested in ASL if we are trying to teach it to apes, instead of studying their own completely valid modes of communication? Huh. Funny how that is.

Joker
Directed by: Todd Phillips
9/10
Oh boy, re-watching this in 2020 was an unsettling experience. If they only knew where police brutality, "anti-rich" sentiments, and riots would be in just a few short months. It was kind of un-nerving to think that this was the last "big film", and will probably stay that way for the foreseeable future. It feels like a lifetime ago that I was scrambling to get a night off to go out and see "Joker" in theatres. I remember leaving the theatre that night and feeling truly "shook" in a way a film hadn't left me in years. It was cathartic, in a way, and I don't mean that in a memetic "S O C I E T Y" sense, though this film does obviously have incredible memetic power. "Joker" is easily my favourite cape film.
First off, I have to address the issue with this film validating hysteria about the mentally ill and violence. This film absolutely supports the dangerous belief that the mentally ill are violent, insane, and a threat to society. I acknowledge this and I understand why it is harmful, but I have to admit that I can forgive this film, in just this case, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, this is explicitly a film about a villain. Does it use this villain to humanise poverty, mental illness, and to shed light on the barriers which prevent people from living under capitalism? Yes. I don't believe the film is explicitly sympathetic to or in favour of the villain though. Using him as a sympathetic lens to various issues and showing a sympathetic origin story is different from glorifying his violence. That being said, I did cringe again at "White Room" playing during the riots and the way he is carried out of the car after the crash. I think it is artistically great, but indeed a harmful message. So this film is about a villain, and a well known one, and thus I think anything which he may or may not perpetrate has to kind of be given a pass because we know that this guy is going to be violent and evil regardless of what brings him there.
Is the film still perpetrating harmful beliefs? Yes. I guess I just feel like you can't expect a film with an origin story of a violent villain to not have some problematic aspects.
This reminds me of another film with a pretty harmful message. "On Chesil Beach" features an asexual woman, however it is revealed that she was "made asexual" by being raped. This is a bad thing to say, especially as explicitly as this film chooses to say it. I gave this film a pass too. Whether or not I endorse this view and the influence films like this and "Joker" will have is a more complicated thing than the simple question of "How did I feel about this movie?" and maybe I should just file this whole thing away for another piece altogether.
Maybe I'm just a bad person and it boils down to "well I liked the movie so I don't want to boycott it for being problematic". This is probably the case, so I'm going to move on now.
Yeah so I love "Joker". I love the revisionism done to the Batman story. I love the idea that Bruce Wayne lost his parents to the movement and when he grows up, he will ultimately be going after this social movement every bit as if not more than he goes after the actual Joker. At what point can you extricate the joker from his movement? At what point do you extricate men like Arthur from (fuck, I'm gonna have to use the word, god dammit) society? I like these questions.
If a viscerally compelling and dedicated performance is given enough attention, there is a good chance I will love the film. I am heavily biased in this way. I can sometimes be blinded by my awe for a single performance even if the surrounding film is of lesser quality. I don't think this is the case with "Joker" though. The soundtrack is spectacular and adaptive, the lead performance is demanding and yet so much more vulnerable than any other rendition of the character has ever been, the pacing is interesting and the cinematography thrilling. It is all great. I'm not sorry for having the popular opinion here in saying that this may be a masterpiece of cinema.
The way this film addresses and recognises systemic poverty is incredibly important, too. I wish that the media hadn't labelled this as an "incel film" or even a film about mental illness so much as it is about poverty and systemic inequality. Honestly, that is the focus which ties everything together and will stay relevant. Those are the bits that are haunting to see now.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Directed by: Ted Post
9/10

Full disclosure, I accidentally was the highest I've ever been in my life when I watched this. I can safely say it was one of, if not the, most cinematic home-theatre experience of my life.
While my love for it could be biased by the weed, the maddening scope and ambition of this sequel cannot be overstated. I am being completely genuine when I say this may be the world's best sequel. Not only does it check off all of the boxes for being a good sequel (it expands on the pre-existing world, explores it in a new way, enhances pre-existing character growth), but it does something I truly have not seen in any other film before, never-mind just the second film in a 5-film franchise.
Ok sit down for this.
Major spoiler alert here, please skip if you have any interest at all in these bat-shit crazy films.
Ok, here it goes.
This movie dead-ass ends with the underground mutated humans nuking the entire planet and this is *after* both lead characters from both films are unceremoniously shot in the head. The last 3 minutes of the film are the nuke being released, the Earth blowing up, and a narrator explaining that Earth and all it's inhabitants have been completely destroyed.
U WOT M8TE!?
How in the god damn are there 3 more films to follow this!?
Ok, so that is insane. That is the single ballsiest movie I've ever seen a film franchise take in the middle of the franchise. The three of us just saw in awe, gobsmacked, after watching the whole cinematic universe be blown up.
But listen, that isn't even the tip of the iceberg here. This film also builds on everything the first film set up politically and socially as well. New political perspectives are explored which address the military industrial complex, cold war politics, and mutually assured destruction. You wouldn't believe how influential this film is. Not only does Fallout 3 completely rip off the people worshipping the bomb as a religion thing, but the original Superman film we watched last month also has a near identical climactic shot. Hell, even Harry Potter could be said to have ripped off the mind games/magic torture shit going on here. Honestly it is just wild from beginning to end. This has got to have been one of the most expensive sequels ever made, too, considering it was made in 1970. The underground New York sets were incredible and when meshed with the mutant cult and their church service involving the nuclear bomb, oh my god. Oh my GOD.
Sci-fi will never be this good again. We will never have sets and costumes this fearlessly weird and risks like the ones taken in this film would never, ever, ever happen in film franchises now. Hell, franchises don't even *end* with this level of unapologetic certainty. There is no way we are seeing Charleton Heston ever again, and that is fucking WILD.
I was not optimistic about the old school Planet of the Apes movies. I was wrong. These are quickly becoming my favourite sci-fi movies and I am legitimately so excited to see how they can possibly expand on this world in the next 3 films. Will they be prequels???

Tickled
Directed by: David Ferrier
9/10
First off, this is spoiler-free. It would be absolutely criminal to do a spoilery thing about this without speaking up first.
This is the third time I have watched "Tickled" and it still had me squirming and left me feeling deeply unsettled. It's such a perfect balancing act done which has you uncomfortably laughing and curious one minute, shocked and upset the next minute, and honestly afraid and overwhelmed soon after. This documentary is structured and paced so well, you almost can't tell how far down the rabbit hole you are falling until you're at the end and you realise that they're still out there...their threatening presence forever looming over us. They have gotten away with it. They will always get away with it.
It never bills itself as an "eat the rich" kind of documentary, but I can't think of a better example of a documentary that leads one to these conclusions with absolutely no bias or motive. The only reason this person gets away with what they are doing is because of money, sociopathic and evil desires, and a frightening defence system. This also doesn't appear, on first glance, to be journalism any different than any other documentary would feature. However, you soon learn that Ferrier and his partner are two of the most ballsy, bravest men I've ever seen in journalism with the exception of the All Gas No Brakes guy on youtube. Seriously, they're incredible. The scene that is more or less "tell my wife I love her" before Ferrier goes in and approaches the one person will give me chills forever.
After finishing this, my husband lets us know that there is actually a 20 minute sequel to this documentary featuring the subject of this whole tickling underworld and their reaction to the film. This person straight up went to the film viewings at Sundance and such and threatened David Ferrier and his partner to their face with the audience still there. We learn about the legal actions he took against other people in the film. We see what it definitely a man with a gun to his head off camera saying that he lied to David Ferrier. It is truly chilling. As it wraps up, we learn that despite the person "dying of a heart-attack" in 2017, as recently as two years ago these fucking tickle cells are still cropping up all over the place and their videos still being shared online.
It's a scary world we live in. Who'd have thought a documentary about competitive tickling could unveil such a raw evil?

500 Days of Summer
Directed by: Marc Webb
9/10
What I love most about this film is its genuine optimism. Even though the narrator explicitly tells you that this isn't a love story, of course you don't believe it. You're with Tom. You're with Tom all the way. On one hand, this is what makes the film such a poignant story of maturity, self-development, vulnerability, and maturity. It is a really great portrait of healthy and positive masculinity, and how these things will evolve with life experience.
On the other hand, taking this perspective is a risk. I loved this movie as a teen, but I know that I always felt kind of exhausted and angry about Summer. I was with Tom, and it was easy to look over all of the film's intentions to drive home the idea that Tom's perspective is not necessarily accurate or fair. Summer tells him many times, quite explicitly, that she doesn't want anything serious. The narrator and other characters try and communicate to Tom that you can believe in love and fate all you want, but the hard reality is that these things go both ways. You may not be the love of their life and this will always hurt.
Despite the anguish Tom goes through, this is an optimistic film. In those 500 days Tom learns a lot about himself, his ideas, and despite the heartache- he gains confidence. Watching him go through the journey of elation, depression, and finally that crucial turning point in to self-development and motivation is absolutely cathartic.
I love so much about this film. It gets a lot of love and attention for its creative framing, editing, and use of it's soundtrack. These are all wonderful things. The lead performances are both pretty good too, but again for me the real strength of this film is in its intimacy and honesty. The film is honest with Tom whether he is being idealistic or problematic. The film is honest with Summer whether she is joyful or distant. The dialogue in this film takes care to expose both what each person is thinking and feeling, but also which internal insecurities or discomfort with the situation may also be present. A lesser film would manage to balance all of these tenants of great dialogue by having tons of it, but "500 Days of Summer" has surprisingly little dialogue considering this. A lot of the film takes a backseat to this with humour, musical scenes, and images brought to life with Tom's internal monologue.
I love this incredibly romantic and comforting concept that Summer introduces Tom to that you really can just "know" when it comes to love. She meets someone and gets married because she suddenly knew everything she was never sure of with anyone else, or with herself, before. I like this a lot. Once, many years ago, a friend asked me how I knew my husband was "the one" after we got engaged. She asked me this question with a lot of vulnerability and tenderness, so I didn't just want to tell her something cliche. At the same time though, I don't know that I could ever put in to words how I knew that he was "the one", or even that I believe in "the one". All I could tell her was that I feel comfortable with him in a way I never feel with anyone else. I stand by those words, and I think thats part of what Summer is saying in that scene.

Reggie Yates: Outside Man (Season 1 & 2)
Directed by: Reggie Yates
8/10
Reggie Yates is becoming one of my favourite documentary series hosts. He has kind of a Louis Theroux vibe in terms of his genuine empathetic approach, but he certainly carries his own distinct charm as well. Apparently Reggie is a successful actor and voice actor in England, but from a look at his IMDB it is clear that documentary film-making is where his heart is. People trust Reggie even if he is a feminine black man in a Russian Nationalist march. People open up to Reggie even if he sounds rich and pompous. Reggie is just a genuinely engaging man and his approach is always very respectful not just to the subjects on film, but to the potentially upsetting environment as well.
Season 1 focuses on South Africa and Russia. The subjects of each episode vary depending on the issues faced in South Africa and Russia, but the thematic ties between all 6 episodes all come down to Reggie's interest in marginalised groups, oppression, cultural perspectives, and how even practices which may seem bizarre (such as teenage Russian model factories) always have economic motivations behind them. No matter what, the rich are profiting off of groups fighting with each other and while Reggie may touch on this at times, he takes care never to be "preachy" or even ask too many leery questions. He is there to listen, understand, and give people a platform to inform the world on what they're doing and what their life is like, and I respect that focus.
Season 2 has a tighter thematic focus, that being on modern day masculinity and LGBTQ issues, and as a result these episodes are often more emotionally engaging. I felt that his episode on male body dysmorphia and fitness addiction was particularly eye-opening and effecting, and the men's rights activism episode is a strong finisher. My only qualm with season 2 is that his episode on addiction was surprisingly really naive. He still approached the topic with a lot of empathy and great journalistic intentions, but his personal perspective of "I just don't get why people take the risk" sticks for most of the episode until he finally equates it with trauma. I guess my complaint there is that it felt like baby's first addiction piece where as the rest of his episodes appear to come from a more educated and curious perspective even from the get-go.


Midnight Gospel
Directed by: Duncan Trussel & Pendleton Ward
7/10
This project screams "Duncan Trussel" through every creative orifice, speaking both to his unique strengths and oversights. It was interesting to watch some of the episodes which featured conversations I'd already heard before on his podcast. I really hope a second season of this is done, despite the finality of the last episode, just because I'd love to see more of these wonderfully edited conversations. Part of the appeal of a conversational podcast is the natural ease with which conversations flow. Sometimes, every minute of the hour or two spent interviewing a guest is engaging, emotional, and eye-opening. However, most times there is a decent amount of filler which while enjoyable, isn't exactly succinct.
Editing these conversations about death, Buddhism, loneliness, and (of course) drugs in to these 25 minute long bits allows for these ideas to be more digestible in a single sitting. While my husband and I enjoyed watching these episodes together, only on long car trips do we listen to conversational-type podcasts together. Having the backdrop of frequently bizarre, constantly entertaining, and occasionally inspired animation is a really good touch too.
The episodes definitely varied in quality for much the same reason that Duncan can. Some episodes featured guests for just about the whole duration and the conversation blended in spectacularly with the silent dramas and adventures in animation. In some episodes, the animation is creatively brilliant and could be genuinely funny. Two episodes in particular brought tears to our eyes and left us with our own engaging conversations on death and humility for hours afterwards, not the least of which his conversation with his dying mother. However, there were also episodes that were more story-based, which was never super interesting or funny, or featured animation ideas which didn't land as well as the others. Pretty much all of the guests were incredible, as usual, but they didn't all get equal representation and thematically it seems like the animation and conversations didn't always compliment each other super well.
All this being said, if you love Duncan Trussel and his strange, joyful, soothing ideas and pursuits, you will like "The Midnight Gospel".

Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Directed by: Don Taylor
8/10
Once again, the next film in the POTA franchise takes a completely different direction with a radically different political agenda and ends with this outrageous suspense and a feeling of both excitement and dread. At this point, I know to just go in expecting these films to go above and beyond my expectations. While I think the second one is still my favourite and I did miss the "adventure film" vibe that this addition to the series abandons, "Escape" is still a phenomenal leap forward. I still can't fully believe this is the case, but I absolutely LOVE original POTA lore. Every time we uncover a new piece of history, both for cinematic-America and for the Apes, I am blown away by how consistent and intellectually engaging it is.
If the first two films were concerned with the big themes, this one narrows its focus a bit. This one explores gender roles and gender politics with a shockingly nuanced and self-aware perspective, considering this film came out in 1971. It was interesting to see the United States be portrayed with all of this political wisdom and concern in consulting science, philosophy, and ethics throughout the film when considering how to deal with these fucking ape people that crash landed on the planet in space suits. I'll never forget our laughter when the president of the USA straight up says "(No, don't shoot them) in a democracy we do not shoot citizens for a crime that has not been proven". This is how we knew we were watching extreme science fiction.
Another big change in "Escape" which I see carrying forward in the following films in the series, is that the protagonists are no longer human. The marriage between Cornelious and Zira is honestly really sweet and endearing, and their respective character arcs in deciding how to approach the situation at hand while still honouring their responsibilities to their future people and each other was fascinating and effecting throughout, even when the film got a little silly with the 70's and an ape fashion show.
The climax of this film involves a literal representation of the "do we or do we not kill baby Hitler" debate and even explores the history of slavery as an allegory for the conflict the arrival of the apes has brought to the USA. It's really, really good. Even the dissection of time travel is interesting and surprisingly not campy here- instead of trying to explain the physics behind it, they focus on the philosophy behind man trying to understand time and time travel at all. The discussion draws you away from the realm of explanation and understanding and towards themes which follow through with the plot and character development, that being of man's desire to have agency over his future and the ethics behind this.
Wow holy shit. I still can't believe the 1970's POTA series is my favourite sci-fi series now. Honest to God, I'll take some of these over even the strongest Star Wars film. Yeah, it's wild. They are that good.

Titanic
Directed by: James Cameron
10/10
Much like "Grave of the Fireflies", I had to take some space with this one before I could write about it. Unlike "Grave of the Fireflies", I had no idea this would be traumatising. Sad, yes, but not traumatising. I knew Jack drowned, of course. However, I assumed the disaster part of this film was 20 minutes at most and that his drowning would be glib, sappy, and basically nothing like what the last 1.5 hours of the film were (never mind his horrifying frozen corpse). I settled down to watch this assuming it would be a sweeping romance. Some of it was, but that isn't what would keep me awake all night and give me chest pains even in to the following day.
A friend of mine told me that "Titanic" is almost two totally separate films- one cozy romance and one terrifying nightmare. This is completely accurate and in my experience, the romance is less the focus than common knowledge would lead anyone to believe. All my life I thought this was a sappy film for girls to watch after a hard break-up or something, but it's actually pure fucking cinema.
That being said, the romance is great. It is charming, believable, and most of all it is playful. Before shit starts to hit the fan, every moment (sans a super vanilla sex scene) that Jack and Rose spend together involves them being playful, goofy, adventurous, and features laughter more than anything. Even in brief moments of seriousness there is thrill, and we never get scenes typical of romantic dramas where scenes are bogged down by heavy dialogue. You could possibly watch them with zero dialogue and still get the point of their relationship. It is youthful and idealistic but it makes sense because they are on a boat completely isolated from the real world. It's just wonderful and all of these character building and romantic moments enhance the climax and trauma of the second half of the film.
The second half is of course the Titanic sinking. This is obvious. I knew this would happen. I was not under some delusion that this wouldn't happen. However, I was completely blindsided by how gruelling, tense, and traumatising it was to watch nothing but people fight for their lives in hopeless chaos for 90 minutes. It occurred to me much later on that the real Titanic sunk in just shy of 2 hours, so basically all of the action in this film happens in real time. I have wished to forget this awful knowledge, but have had no luck. The number of direct on-screen deaths has to be at least 300, several dozen of which are personal and unique, and none of which are quick or easy. Not one person dies in peace. Nearly everyone dies and it is always after horrifying stress, desperation, brutal realisation of doom, and hopelessness. Every single actor, extras included, portray fear that will stick with me forever. The escalation from organised tension to chaotic panic is brilliantly paced and yet you never feel like there is some defining moment which really amps up the action. Scenes of the second and third class passengers being oppressed by the crew to stand back on a sinking ship while the rich are ferried off on half-filled rescue boats is gut wrenching and I have genuinely never seen such talented extras in my entire life. The tension is near unbearable as Rose and Jack fight there way up to deck avoiding close calls that are consistently interesting and action packed. Many characters are caught up in the confusion and do not know they are doomed yet, so with dramatic irony we witness the band setting up to play on deck to "soothe the passengers", until the fateful last moments when they realise its all over. "It's been a pleasure playing with you gentlemen" hits so much harder than you can anticipate, knowing that line outside of context. Children are tossed on to rescue boats as they scream for their parents. People are shot and killed in the chaos to keep second and third class passengers below deck while the water is rising around their feet. All of this is hard to watch.
What was harder to watch was the real climax when even the rich lose hope. No longer is there any method or order, now people are just indiscriminately falling to their deaths, being crushed, screaming, desperately clinging to a sinking ship. Rose leaps from the rescue boat to the sinking Titanic and is greeted by a distraught Jack who doesn't have the time to be angry or upset, doesn't have the time to process that this means they are both going to die, just frantically kissing her and scrambling her up the sloping deck. In a prophetic moment that I seemed to have felt deep in my appendix going back through years of trauma and my greatest fears, Jack says "this is it!" while the second half of the ship is pulled under water. White hot genuine fear grips me as they are pulled under water and she loses him, but of course he comes back up.
Initially people are crying and calling for loved ones, swimming for their lives. Then there is a dark, morbid quiet as everyone has either drowned or is freezing to death in a life jacket. We know how it ends. Rose drops his frozen corpse in to the depths. The end.
I don't know what else to say. This epic drama stole me from reality and plunged me in to a trauma state I haven't felt in years. So many great moments come to mind which bring me chills. So many instances of foreshadowing that hit you like a ton of bricks. More than anything, even more than the awe-inspiring cinematography, action scenes, and score, the strength of this film comes from the little portholes of the human experience in tragedy it gives you, then never comes back to again. You end up thinking to yourself "did people cry out their last words?", "what must it have been like to drown with the cold metal deck above you?", "how could the few people in the lifeboats watch that thing sink. Did they feel that guilt for the rest of their lives?", "What is it like to face doom slowly and then all at once, with no opportunity to call out or make amends?".
Honestly, even though it just about killed me, it was so spectacularly moving, exciting, and engrossing, I wanted to watch it all over again pretty much right away. I wont do this for quite a while, for the sake of my mental health, but the desire was there.
Easily one of the greatest cinematic experiences of the year, if not my life. I will never forgive the patriarchy for having me believe my whole life that this is a fluffy chick flick.


Dirty Dancing
Directed by: Emile Ardolino
6.5/10
I chose to watch this movie because it was the furthest thing from traumatic that I could think of. It did not disappoint in that regard. I left feeling no different than I went going in and it was generally nice to look at and has a groovy satisfying soundtrack. It's not really anything else special though. The points it attempts to make on class are kind of weak, the performances are good but not great, and at least half of it just exists as pretty or nostalgic social or visual backdrops.
You can't deny that the dancing performances are entertaining and I'm not gonna sit here and say that Patrick Swayze isn't a joy to mine female eyes, but this film gets lumped in with a lot of other classic movies and I don't know that it necessarily deserves the praise.  Maybe I'm just having a hard time looking past the fact that most of the conflict in this film could be solved with Swayze's character communicating even just reasonably well. Maybe I'm having a hard time looking past the fact that Swayze is a grown ass man sleeping with a 17 year old girl and his feelings are hurt that she isn't showing him off to her dad, as if that's reasonable.
Yeah, shit. It was an aesthetically pleasing piece of fluffy wish fulfilment in which I could watch it, think to myself "ah, summer love. To be rich and spend 3 weeks at a resort, to be swept off your feet by Patrick Swayze, for everything to work out wonderfully", and then the film ends and a couple songs stick in my head.
I saw a live production of this on stage once and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more. The drama of this movie is pretty weak, but the dancing is praise-worthy for sure.

Nobody Knows I'm Here
Directed by: Gaspar Antillo
5.5/10
There was a lot of potential in this foreign drama. Many great elements work together to create this consistent and atmosphere of stagnation, longing, and resentful feelings. One thing I really admired was the dedication to having the camera be constantly following Memo, nearly always a few feet away and at his back. I think this really adds to the idea the Memo is hiding, barely holding back his emotions, and makes the whole thing feel as oppressive as it is intimate. Having a mostly mute protagonist is a bold and effective choice for the story the director appears to be telling. The cinematography, framing, and shot composition are all very good and apparently this film is the director's first, so I will definitely be keeping an eye out in the future. The thing is, there is a great movie in here, it just wasn't executed well. It is artfully brilliant, the performances were good, and I left this one with a warm and kind of haunting feeling that has really stuck with me. Finally, I think this is the first movie I've seen this year where the small-scale set design really impressed me. The home in this movie is really interesting and looks "lived-in" while still being unique and representative of the characters who live in it.
However, despite all of its promise and interesting choices, and despite it being beautiful and engaging to look at (especially with the incredible Chilean landscape), "Nobody Knows I'm Here" largely misses its mark to be an empathetic and moving portrait, and also fails to really utilise the themes it merely hints at such as childhood stardom and prejudice against overweight people. The story isn't particularly strong and drags quite a bit, a lot of the character motivation isn't clear, and Memo remains mostly an enigma which is honestly a detriment to the film even if I bet the writers didn't think it would be. We very quickly understand Memo's emotions, but a lot of his choices and even reactions to some events don't really line up. The film ends with so little conclusion and it's disappointing to see that Memo doesn't really grow or change, he just finally says his piece.
Really a let down. It's not that I expected much, but again it just had so much promise and obvious love put in to it. I just wish it were a tighter screenplay I guess.

Conquest for the Planet of the Apes
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
8.5/10
This movie has some themes on Fascism, which should probably be clear by the poster alone. Of all of the films in the original series, I think this one was the most thematically interesting to me. This is partly becomes themes of workers rights, police brutality, riots, and revolution are relevant today, and also because I found the relationship between these themes, the apes, and a new African American protagonist to be captivating. I love any media which hones in on the idea that minorities should work together against their shared oppressor (Insert plea for everyone to watch "Sorry to Bother You" here). I appreciate that while some of the slavery stuff was a little heavy handed, the issue of reconditioning and how revolutions are realistically hindered was approached with a lot of re-enforcing imagery and action and thus naturally evolves with the screenplay.
One of this film's biggest claims is that rioting is not only the most appropriate way to fight oppression, by taking back control and flipping it on those who were previously abusing it, but also that while it may fail initially, to give up and wait things out is just another form of reconditioning. Something interesting happens at the peak of the riot and after a spectacularly tense and moving revolutionary speech. The apes are all poised to kill their owner and a very quick and kind of jarring switch in tone happens, as well as a sudden cut away from the action. After going full revolutionary, Ceasar demands his troops to hold back and show mercy. They do manage to tie this in to the narrative fairly well and it ends up fitting naturally in to the lore and final film, but I can't help but wonder if initially the director wanted the apes to kill the secretary. It seems like outside pressures such as the studio, or possibly even public perception (1972 being a pretty politically charged time) didn't favour such blatant revolutionary violence. That being said, there are still knife fights and both sides have a lot of casualties. These films do not shy away from violence and this one is no exception. Still, an interesting thought.
In addition to the riveting action and thematic elements, the introduction as Ceasar as a new protagonist was excellent. He is definitely the strongest protagonist in the series and I can see why he ends up being carried forward and re-imagined in the newer films. Ceasar is endlessly clever, given a full and complex arc through his understanding of human/ape relations, and is a sympathetic revolutionary figure as well. It's impressive how well the actor behind all that make-up can portray a completely unique character (he also played Cornelius in the other films) with basically body language, eyes, and speech alone. Though he looks almost identical to his father, the way he speaks and reacts to his world couldn't be more different.
This movie reveals to the audience how the apes rose up and ends, as is consistent with of all movies in this franchise, on a note which hits like a brick while also opening up endless curiosities as to how this will progress in the next film. I honestly cant think of a single other series that wasn't based on books which managed to put out 5 films in 5 years all tied together so well and constantly building up and up and up to this height. It's really incredible.
Finally, it is always entertaining to see how the 70's predicted the future. 1991 lookin' pretty based with its fancy future cigarettes and cool neato slavery, but it also is unintentionally pretty correct about the effect of systemic racism on a divided society. God. I love these films so much.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
8/10
Holy shit I can't fucking believe this movie addresses the complex issue of using "the N-word" flippantly, and they do this by creating their unique and situationally brilliant "N-word". I am blown away by this, its fucking nuts. The balls these guys had not only to address this hot topic, which I can only imagine was even hotter in '73, and do so respectfully and eloquently by using allegory consistent in their own world and lore is phenomenal. Let me explain;
It all started with Ceasar, a chimpanzee who learned how to say "no" to his oppressors. This word, "no", was used by humans to oppress the apes and keep them from engaging in their own culture, language, and any other part of their nature as they were used as slaves. This word was used to put them down, but Ceasar has learned how to speak and his first word shall be the very one historically used to oppress his people. They take back this word and after the uprising, they allow humans to live amongst them in peace but humans are forbidden from saying "no" to an ape. An ape may say "the n-word", but a human cannot say that word as the implicit power behind the word is still there and will always be there since the apes had historically been conditioned to bow to it. Say what you will, you have to admit this is bold. These movies don't fuck around. They have ideas and they go for them.
So this final film in the series shows us how the underground nuclear pact was made and elaborates on the origin of the tension we saw between the chimps and gorillas in the earlier films. I adore the dedication this series has to have every film explore new ground. If the first film is the set-up, the second film a reveal that there is more to this than just apes conquering the Earth after humans fucked it up, the third an examination of the time travelling antecedents to the conflicts between man and apes, the fourth being on the action which had them conquer the planet, and the fifth being a meditation on the inevitable conflicts which could have created the conditions of the first film (but in the end, they change history).
I liked the dialogue between Caesar and MacDonald where they appear self-aware of the trope of the series, trying to work out a way that they can end this now eternal struggle between man and ape. I had honestly expected for this series to end with a complete circle, and I would've been happy with just that, but I am even more thrilled to see that it ends with this sentiment that we can change our destinies of conflict- if we can only open ourselves to the mistakes of the past and learn how to recognise privilege, oppression, and choose compassion over constant struggle to get on top, we can change things. I think this is a wonderful and hopeful message, especially today. The ongoing discussion and meditation on questions such as "Can we change our natures?" and "Are we doomed to constantly recreate the past?" was really engrossing and the way they manage to keep these questions afloat while still weaving every thematic beat, conflict, and backstories of the previous films all together is really impressive. The Cain and Able type story between the gorillas and chimps was compelling too and further proves my point that Ceasar is the best protagonist of the series. His motivations and emotional investments are absolutely captivating.
Considering all this, I am kind of sad to finish the original series. While I am excited for the entertainment value of the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes and the modern trilogy, I think there will always be a special place in my heart for these action packed and intellectually dedicated films from way back.
All 5 of these films have better political discourse than "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and I'm not sorry for saying this. It is indisputable fact.

Enemy
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
7.5/10 and then 8/10
I gave this film two ratings because I liked it a lot at first, even having only the most surface level understanding of what was going on and pretty much no understanding on the metaphors and deeper meanings going on. Afterwards, both Kyle and I admitted that we liked it a lot but have no idea what the spiders mean. After watching a couple video essays, this movie became a lot more interesting to me, where it was at first just an intriguing thriller with a unique look and feel.
I will take no credit for understanding any of the metaphors and spider stuff though, so I wont discuss it here as it would literally just be regurgitating what more intelligent people have said.
Instead, I will talk about what I appreciated and understood of this heavily foreboding, suffocating, and daunting movie independently of what I learned later. Instead, I will praise this film for capturing the real shitty-ness of Toronto, hilariously without any special effects or even adjusting the outdoor colour palate. I respect that this film and the director appear to have faith in its audience to sit with an unsettling image, feeling, or idea before there is any movement towards building complexity, intensity, or intrigue. This is particularly well done because though it is absolutely a slow burn, it feels like it consistently gives you more and more questions, getting increasingly complex until it's powerful climax. It never feels as if it is "taking a break" because it uses imagery and the versatile talent of Jake Gyllenhaal so well. Incredibly, Gyllenhaal manages to play two completely different characters who react to each other in this film. Whether or not they are actually two people, or just a non-linear examination one one man's arc, is up for interpretation.
Finally, despite the apparently natural and unedited footage of Toronto's smoggy landscape, the sickly yellow colour scheme and lighting of this movie is almost unbelievably effective at making you feel depressive and suffocating. Honestly, this film could be completely devoid of a script and even actors, and there'd still be something significant there to stick with you. I can only imagine this is an amateur film-maker's wet dream because even I was floored by this realisation, being merely a dumb uneducated consumer of this medium.

The Truman Show
Directed by: Andrew Niccol
10/10
When people ask me what my favourite films are, this is the one that most easily comes to mind and makes the list. I don't think it has ever been my number 1, but like "Pleasantville" it's one of those films that I could almost immediately recognise as "great".
It's a simple and universally relatable story of agency, love, and growing awareness of the world we accepted growing up. "The Truman Show" unfolds in to endless philosophical ideas and conflicts that are explored only enough to pique your curiosity and engagement, but never so much that there isn't space left for the viewer to interpret and explore. I believe that "The Truman Show" accomplishes this sort of philosophical playground for its viewers (IRL, not the viewers in the film. That's a whole other can of beans) not only through an incredibly tight and thoughtful structural set-up, but also through immediately and consistently pulling you in, expanding the scope of what to consider both on a large scale of the production and from the personal dilemma of Truman. All within the first 5 minutes the viewer is given some pertinent, emotional, and thoughtful points to consider and be curious about:
1. A TV show has owned a human being and filmed his entire life for 30+ years and he has absolutely no clue about this. He has no clue that all of his friends and family value a pay-cheque over him and his human rights.
2. This show has a very large and emotionally dependant fanbase with complex parasocial relationships to Truman
3. An equally large audience of people question the ethics of this and thus the cast and crew are left to translate to the world that there is nothing which "isn't real" about this. It isn't reality TV. It is something else entirely, and you are left to decide what that is
4. "The Truman Show" is run like a TV show, not a documentary. Artificial conflicts are written in, advertisement is essential, and Truman is manipulated in to a life which suits his audience.
5. The audience seems only vaguely aware of this, but can't help loving Truman all the same. They appear to love him more than they love "the show"
"The Truman Show" is only 90 minutes long but it accomplishes so much. At least every 5 minutes, especially in the first two acts, more and more layers of the production and deceit present in Truman's life are revealed. So many concepts are brought to our attention and are given only contextual explanation, which is part of what makes this whole thing ageless and brilliant to me. I have probably seen this film a dozen times, each time convinced that it is most relevant to the current struggle in my life, and I have left with something new to daydream about and consider. My husband pointed out the hundreds of dome cameras that can be seen on set virtually everywhere you look, if you know what to look for. I remember one viewing in particular when I realised that Truman's entire life is propaganda. From the moment he is born, propaganda is used to keep him just out of reach of the truth. Don't go in that building, it is unsafe. You'd have no reason to go there and do that, would you? Consume this product, make this choice, marry this woman, don't think about that- enjoy a beer with your best friend instead. Oh, and my personal favourite, "lets give a child lasting PTSD to keep him from the water". People watch "The Truman Show" in-universe because they believe they are watching an unedited documentary on someone's life, but really this couldn't be further from the truth. Truman hasn't really had a choice in anything since the day he was born. Truman lives his whole life like a hamster- occasionally he escapes, but he is always put back in to a bigger better cage. Eventually, they hope he will be content in it.
Who among us hasn't felt what Truman does? Listless, stuck, haunted by the "what if"s. Who among us hasn't ever felt deja-vu and realised that something out there isn't what it seems. Who among us hasn't renounced the religion, traditions, and expectations of our childhood in enlightening times of gaining agency over our adult lives? Has anyone on Earth watched this film and not wondered how Truman can go on in the world after the life he has lead? "The Truman Show" is endlessly relatable and features Jim Carrey at his best in this regard ("The Cable Guy" is actually Jim Carrey at his best in terms of raw brahmic power, but I digress. My husband and I joke that Nicholas Cage and Jim Carrey are basically the same, but Jim is still weighed down by the human experience of self-consciousness and ego). The incredibly paces rising action, conflict, and crisis lines up with Jim's performance and the widening scope of ethics so well, it's hard to believe how tight and perfect the screenplay is considering how much it has to accomplish.
All of this adds up to an incredibly moving and immersive story with one of my favourite climaxes of any film ever. When the boat hits that sky wall and the director/God speaks directly to him, followed by Truman's perfect response and bow, I get emotional every time. "The Truman Show" is a movie about hope in the simplest and most under-stated of ways. This film isn't about a hope for a better world or even a more accomplished life, it is a film about hope for personal agency in a world which serves only to profit off of him. This is the hope we all need and deserve, in these times and all times.

Planet of the Apes
Directed by: Tim Burton
5.5/10
I have so many questions.
Why Mark Wahlberg, the least Burton protagonist there could be? Why do I feel like this whole thing is an elaborate fetish? Why is every conflict, action, and love triangle so contrived and unconvincing? Most of all, why is the production value so outstandingly high and imaginative? Why do I kind of love this piece of shit? Is it Paul Giamatti? Why is Tim Roth so dedicated to this role?
My expectations were not high. It was clear pretty much immediately that this addition to the franchise would be a sharp turn in to blockbuster-y spectacle and wastes no time in abandoning anything which makes the series intellectually interesting. Sometimes for up to 10 minutes at a time, this movie would be getting its shit together, but then suddenly it would have a tantrum (or should I say, "ape out" HAHAHAHAHA) and Helena Bonham Carter monkey would just start screaming and throwing down. See, this is the thing. Previously, these movies were about apes and they even featured the apes, but they were never really behaving like apes. They were not literal examinations of ape behaviour. Tim Burton, for some reason, has these ape characters screaming and screeching more than they talk. It's...annoying, to say the least. Then, after aping out, these characters just go on as if nothing had happened, as if it wasn't super jarring and off-putting for all involved.
This was honestly hysterical though. I was never bored and pretty much constantly entertained. Not only is every bit of the production astounding, from the intense costume design and make-up to the elaborate set pieces, but I have to admit I got a kick out of the outrageous fun this movie has with itself. There are ape barbers, ape drug dealers, super fucking weird ape brothel sex scenes, and an excessive amount of apes flying through the air in fights. This film has a much larger cast of memorable characters than the OG series, more due to outlandish shit than anything else mind you, but I gotta give credit where credit is due. Mark Wahlberg is unintentionally hilarious and I still haven't stopped laughing at Paul Giamatti's orangutan.
Lastly, the more you think about Ape-raham Lincoln, the dumber it gets. So, apes evolved exactly as humans did in to America?! Was there an ape civil war?! An ape WWI and WWII? Was there an ape 9/11?! There are ape police and an ape fire department?! APE FOUNDING FATHERS!? This film ends with Wahlberg just getting arrested or something?! Ha ok. Sure. Fine.

Stand by Me
Directed by: Rob Reiner
8/10
This film is kind of like Good Will Hunting, but with kids. It may also be the pinnacle of "cozy movies that are not really happy yet you leave with warm fuzzies".
"Stand by Me" features three good child performances and one great one. River Pheonix, incredibly even at such a young age, has a truly arresting presence on screen. Keifer Sutherland is also great as the frightening commanding leader of the teenage gang and I distinctly remember watching this as a child with my dad having nightmares of Keifer later that night. Something about the psychopathic look in his eyes just gets you.
Part of this film's lasting effect over so many generations now has to be the deft balancing act it performs between a vulnerable and emotionally affecting examination on masculinity and adolescence, while still appropriately falling back on the natural ease of childhood humour and adventure. There are many scenes in this film that depict breakdowns of the heartbreaking realities these boys grow up in or the stress of an approaching transition in their life. Every element of this film strives to be tender and open-hearted, even in action scenes and the violent climax. Think of scenes like Will with the deer. That scene doesn't exist to say anything or prove any point, it exists just for you to be in a moment with Will where he is at peace. In contrast, there are scenes of emotional intensity and danger, such as the train bridge, but even these scenes end abruptly and the kids carry on with relative ease. This is how it is in childhood, especially in our memories of it. Things always happened, but there is no memory of brooding or reflection like we do as we grow up.
"Stand by Me" depicts the ways prolonged trauma is viewed and processed as a child, and retrospectively how we remember and process our childhoods through this same vaguely sad, vulnerable, and sentimental lens. It is interesting to note that all four of the kids cry at some point in the film and are genuinely supported, each given their time and space to grieve and process their lives. Through these boys and their stories we are introduced to themes of toxic masculinity, the effects of stoic and emotionally detached fathers, the social ripples of war and veterans returning with mental illness, and issues of systemic prejudice. Throughout the film we see the boys use the phrase "don't be a pussy!" and at first it seems like something that is just part of their regular vocabulary, as it certainly is from their perspective, but I think that Stephen King and Rob Reiner are encouraging us to hold this patriarchal ideal up against all of the emotional vulnerability and support these young boys have for each other. One moment they may be harassing each other about being "pussies", but the next moment we are encouraged to compare that to the genuine love and support of the mature and collected leader of their group, Chris.
It's funny that I remembered this film as something so comforting when it is really an achingly sad story with a conclusion that basically says "We never do regain the intimacy between friends we have when we are 12. Eventually we all grow up in to the emotionally distant men our fathers were". Just as Will looks back on this childhood memory with fondness and tenderness, even when so much of it is harrowing and involves digging up the traumas of his past, so to do I completely forget the actual point of this film because my spiritual body wants to remember the comforting nostalgia of adolescence.

Cats
Directed by: Tom Hooper
1.5/10
God used COVID to punish us for this.
Not only is it ugly and awkward and weirdly sexual and generally low quality, but "Cats" also fails on every other level too. It is a terrible musical, a terrible animated film, and a terrible Broadway adaptation. "Cats" features a lot of obviously talented dance performances and one or two talented voices, and a slew of absolute garbage produced by likely very talented special effects artists that were doing 90 hour work weeks to produce this film in just 4 months. Apparently, they were given 6 months to make the trailer and just 4 months for the rest of the film. That is all you need to know about "Cats", but I'm going to tell you a little more anyways.
Here are some more things you should know about "Cats" so you don't have to suffer through it like we did. It is mostly boring and occasionally viscerally upsetting to look at, even more occasionally unintentionally hilarious.
1. It's not just cats. There are also humans playing rats and cockroaches. The cockroaches are very very upsetting to look at.
2. The sense of scale is perhaps the most unnerving thing about this production. The issue with people playing cats is that they are inevitably going to move mostly upright, so the film had to make the difficult decision to make everything to scale to the height of a cat as they would normally stand, even if humans are portraying them standing on two legs. I can't give you an adequate description of how wierd this makes everything. Some objects like beds and couches are outrageously large, but then other things like steps and windows will be disproportionately small. Objects have to accommodate both human shape and cat sized, and these things do not work. Sometimes there will be 20 or 30 cat people on a set and just the image alone of tiny humans in a regular sized human world is enough to frighten anyone out of seeing this film. Just trust me. You can't imagine how nightmarish this is.
In Broadway's "The Lion King", people are also portraying cats. However, their costumes involve mechanisms which give them artificial legs in front of them so they appear stooped like a cat. It can be done. But it cannot be done by just putting dancers in green suits and airbrushing fur on them. Even in the Broadway "Cats" we see people portraying cats, but there are no props or backgrounds to this extent so they are free to mostly move standing upright and it isn't weird or awkward.
3. Every song starts with someone either saying "who are you?" or "who's that?". The song will then commence which all follow the same rhythm and rhyme structure, something like "Why I am the classy cat and bah bah bah bah (something which rhymes with cat)" and so on. The sameness of every song is the worst I've ever seen in a musical. Granted, a lot of musicals suffer from same-ness in their music, but nothing so bad as this. There are two songs: a slow sad song about a cat introducing themselves or referring to another, or a playful clunky song about a cat introducing themselves or referring to another. Many of the accompanying scenes also suffer from same-ness. Cats are either dancing in a home setting or being weirdly erotic in a bar setting.
4. A lot of the male cats wear coats. This is because when they take their coats off, they look very very naked and it is very very uncomfortable. The female cats basically always look naked and this is scary too, but it is more shocking when the coats come off.
5. One cat is a sorcerer and its never elaborated on or explained. He can just poof cats from one place to another and everyone is fine with it.
6. The climax mostly happens off screen. This is definitely a kindergarten grade movie mistake. Its honestly so embarrassing.
7. The cats hiss, purr, and meow, in addition to speaking English. Yep.
The only reason this is getting a 1.5/10 instead of a hard 1 or zero is because the first synth song was so outrageously hilarious I can't help but give it some credit. It is just a list of cats which all sort of rhyme with "Jellicle". Political cats and fanatical cats and fantastical cats and proverbial cats and semantical cats and magical cats and fashionable cats and romantical cats and so on for about 3 minutes.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Directed by: Luc Besson
7/10
This film may have my favourite establishing scene/sequence of all time. David Bowie's "Space Odity" set to all of those aliens meeting and the subsequent formation of the city is spectacular and uniquely optimistic. I love that the conflict of this film is never "humans vs aliens" but is instead "greedy vs sustainable living" and "corporate capitalism vs exploited cultural minorities". The staggering variety of alien species, habitats, practices, and technologies is always given spotlight and while there are weak points to this film (plot, romance plot, dialogue, some performances) the strong bits all drive home a real love for the source material and bold creativity, which is why we keep coming back to it. I've seen this film 4 times now and it blows my mind every time. I forget what happened pretty much immediately afterwards, but it is a rare and uncontested delight each time to explore the world "Valerian" shows us. Everything fits together with cohesion but never at the risk of creating a melting pot. Everything is distinct yet works with other elements in perfect harmony and I cant think of any other world building quite like it.
There are some reveals in this film that are so outrageously colourful and bold, you can't help but catch yourself in awe. Among others there is the alien fashion show thing with the big hat, the red light district with shape-shifting Rihanna and pimp Ethan Hawke, the interstellar fishing, and of course the titular multiplier mcguffin.
I'm not going to sit here and apologise for the super weak writing or generic as hell plot. I love this film for the privilege to be caught in the creative blast zone and everything else is only there so that it can technically classify as a movie. Maybe this isn't a good movie, but it is a good time. Visually and conceptually, there's just nothing else like it.

Videogames

Donkey Kong Country

Developed by: Rare

9/10

This game has *soul*. I think the obvious artistic strengths of this game come from the sound design and soundtrack, both very memorable and uniquely atmospheric. It's the little touches like DK's haunting intimidation sounds which are done randomly in times of rest, or the simple yet effective snap snap sounds of those fucking mini alligators. It doesn't seem right that they should be the enemy that got me the most. But anyways, yes, the sound design is distinctly impressive and I have to imagine it really stood out for it's time too because while I am not super well versed in games from this era, I know that they existed in my periphery and nothing stuck like DK Country did. 

I first played this on my Gameboy and I have huge nostalgia for playing it in the car late at night as my mom would drive us home from the babysitters house, or early in the morning before school again in the car as my dad drove us across the city to our elementary school. To me, at the time, it was a game that was challenging but more than anything was just interesting to explore and satisfying to master. The tension, atmosphere, and devastation of iconic levels such as "Minecart Madness" and that fucking slippery rope ice level still held up to this day. 

Finally, I gotta talk about the water levels. I don't understand why they are good in this game. In all respects, it should've been clunky and awkward and bullshit like all other water levels of this sort in platforming games. Yet, something intrinsic to the DK Country soul keeps it from sinking to those depths. The water levels always feel kind of magical and the soundtrack for those in particular inspire awe. The secrets, while incredibly hidden but never bullshit in all levels, feel especially fun in these levels. Getting that badass Marlin to ride on is so satisfying, though my favourite is and will always be the speedy ostrich. 

Honestly, I wanna play it again already. What an absolute gem of a "retro game" this is!

Lethal League

Developed by: Team Reptile

7.5/10

The funky fresh beats in this game will follow you to the grave. After just a single match you'll find yourself re-invigorated as if from the fountain of youth, somehow intrinsically cooler and hipper and more "with it" than you had been going in. Your street cred has tripled. You go out and buy spray paint. You crush the controller with a grip so intense, you can actually hear those little joycons squeak and squeal for life.
Lethal League is fucking dope.
It is just the coolest game ever made.
The art style, slappin' soundtrack, addictive game-play, and overall energy of the game is unforgettable and at this point rivals even "Super Smash Bros" for me. While there is a high skill cap where players are playing mind games with one another in the confusing not-quite-rock-paper-scissors parry/grab/hit cycle at the full energy stage, it can just as easily be picked up and learned very quickly. While the game can be unforgivably brutal at times where you feel like you've barely stood up before being decapitated by a ball going at lightning speed, getting that hit or stealing the ball at just the right time is a dopamine high like no other. The game "hits" a lot better than other fighting games I've experienced. Smacking that ball really does feel like a "smack" in part due to incredible sound design, but also because of the way time briefly stops and the color change shocks the senses.
The character designs are awesome too- over the last month and a half my main has switched between an edgy scarecrow, a Gothic punk bitch with an android arm and spray paint ability, a robot cop, and fucking Doombox who is just as awesome as he sounds.
While I prefer it to Smash in many ways, it's also just not as tight and I can't ignore the fact that you can't customise your experience the way you should be able to. You should be able to turn the totally bullshit and not even fun "specials" off. Handicaps should exist. But Lethal League is so dedicated to being streamlined and quick, it has to sacrifice these things.
Still, aint nothin like a funky beat!

Super Metroid
Developed by: Nintendo
N/A
I love metrovania games and it seemed like a great idea to try out one of the classics.
However, I've run in to the same issue I had with "Cave Story". The thing with retro gaming, in my experience, is that if you aren't going in with nostalgia and if you don't have any experience with retro games in the first place, it is hard to adapt.
Ultimately I quit because the movement was so slow and felt like moving through molasses, the combat was also uninteresting and slow, navigation and movement uninteresting and slow, and the visual effects and soundtrack (while atmospheric and very cool) just couldn't stand up to the stuff I've grown spoiled on. Why play "Super Metroid" when I could play a game like it but improved in basically every way, complex in ways old games just couldn't be in combat, visuals, and world design, and with sharper and better movement controls. Platforming was a pain, combat was a pain, basically everything was painful.
I absolutely see its influence and I appreciate it's unique and compelling world and soundtrack, but I can't convince myself to sit through something that bores me like this just so I can say I did.

Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
Developed by: Dim Bulb Games
6/10
Initially, I really liked this game. As an interactive story, it is wonderful. The visuals all capture that irresistible nostalgia of old-timey adventure novels, the bluegrass/folk soundtrack suited the atmosphere and narration perfectly, and all of the voice acting was phenomenal. I also really appreciated the unique aesthetic brought to the protagonist's exploration of America- its use of minimalist watercolour and spectacular lighting effects was great and the dynamic nature the ever changing soundtrack made it all an immersive joy to explore. It was fun picking up the hundreds of stories throughout America and the main characters you follow and exchange stories with are all uniquely endearing.
The issue with this game that really bogs it down, oddly enough, is it's dedication to being a "game" every bit as it is an interactive story.
Basically all of the gaming elements are poorly executed and drag you down from the enjoyable experience of exploration and storytelling. Money is hard to come by but oddly essential, the road and rail systems are kind of useless if you don't have money (and it is super weird that they choose to have only some roads have cars, and cars only going on direction), river crossings are annoying and few and far between, and yet walking becomes too slow when everything starts to get further and further apart. While I really enjoyed this game at first, it became a drag to finish. It is also a really poor choice to have a player collect 200 hundred stories and have no means of re-reading them. I forgot at least half of the stories as I played through the game because of this odd roadblock. This refusal to let the player revisit any of these stories or even catalogue them appropriately is awful for two reasons"
1. These stories are absolutely the focus and the strongest point of the game. My forgetting the plot and point of half of the stories when it could've just been a simple part of the menu that tracks your collection is a huge missed opportunity
2. Remembering whether a story is happy, sad, hopeful, and involving one of many elements is essential to game-play. When someone asks me for a "harrowing adventure story" and I am not able to remember which stories included this based just on their title, and I also have no means of re-reading or summarising any of these 200+ stories, I end up just guessing. This takes away from any feeling of a cohesive experience for the player and I ended up re-using the same handful of stories over and over again, which sucked.
This game had some potential, but it really squandered it with a couple of obvious mistakes. Real bummer.

Hand of Fate 2
Developed by: Defiant Development
7/10
This tabletop RPG with live combat is super fun and addictive, but it didn't blow my mind or anything. I really enjoyed the narration style and the mechanics which force you to work through problems in multiple different ways, such that you can never really rely on just your favourite play style. I like that the combat was kept simple but exciting and its impressive how much content is fit in to this game that on first glance doesn't appear like much. The campaign mode has at least 30 different mini-campaigns, all which add or utilise a different element and conflict. The endless mode is pretty fun too, and it feels great to earn new cards and encounters to incorporate in to it. It's just a great idea to let players design the campaign they want to take part in, both from a strategic level and just from a standpoint about allowing fun. Really I aint got anything negative to say about this game. Good clean fun.