Poor Things

Boy do I feel like an utter asshole for missing this movie.

I saw the trailer, I was intrigued, and I'm not sure if either the movie didn't make it down here or I was just busy with other stuff but the fact I'm only just now getting to it is a crying shame in my eyes. Where the hell do I start?? I'd be amazed if there was any satisfactory synopsis of this picture but best I can describe it is, if you took elements of Frankenstein and combined it with essentially the story of a woman maturing, exploring, and finding her place set amidst this steampunk late 19th century world, and add a healthy dash of bizzare. It it unashamedly out there, with dry wit, great humor, and an expansive story that you have zero clue where it's going to go. Emma Stone is our lead as Bella Baxter and I think it's safe to say this is my favorite performance of hers bar none, to explain the character would pretty much involve me spelling out all the details of the story, so all I'll say is fantastic casting. Willem DaFoe plays her parental figure affectionately called God, I love the design of the character and the scientific bluntness of his lines, he's more prominent at the start but has a strong anchor that bookends the film. Ramy Youssef as young scientist Max has the most minor role of our main cast but still stands strong despite it, acting as a love interest for Bella who is not only accepting but passionate for her. Mark Ruffalo, again might honestly be my favorite role of his, he just gets to go out there and play this utter scoundrel of a foppish socialite but may be the funniest part of the movie, his performamce is grand in every sense and never failed to make me shake my head and quote Nandor The Relentless with "Fucking guy.". Those are the prominent main players but even the supporting cast down to even individuals you see in just one scene are great, all adding to this surreal fever dream of a world that we travel. I have never ever seen a movie pummeled with opulence, sweet Christmas these outfits, these sets, the sky itself is shocking to admire! I mean the phrase, spared no expense comes to mind, and my God what a delight it must have been to be a concept artist or set designer on this film. Phenomenal. I feel the movie has so much intelligence to it, heavy portions of commentary and flat out parodying are abound of the time period, the customs, specifically the relationship between man and woman, there is zero doubt this was completely intentional. With this and Lisa Frankenstein I hope the trend continues for quirky ass, slightly dark, romantic, reanimation type cinema! It's a bonkers movie but ceaselessly entertaining. Utterly fascinating though to view this from my perspective, cause I'll be upfront I'm autistic as fuck, I've never even came within a country mile of a relationship, and frankly speaking leaning into that asexual side of things, so to be on the outside looking in and having a disconnect from the sex and the complex emotions somewhat akin to our protagonist (whoring notwithstanding), I feel I got a lot out of this movie and deepened my perspective of women in a strange sense. It's probably the most feminist coded film I've ever seen without bashing you over the head with it, it's there but it's subtle. Yet can it be enjoyed just as a movie on it's own? Oh, absolutely! Well worth the time seeing even if it might not fully be up your alley, I'm accustomed to the strange and unusual so I was there pretty much from the word go. Great damn film in my estimation, 4 stars across the board, 9/10! And next time I'll be hitting up another modern movie that grabbed my attention.

Asteroid City

Whoa man. Like I'm a bit speechless but all I'm gonna put as a disclaimer here is, if you're not a Wes Anderson fan you need to turn around now sunshine cause we got praise incoming.

Even though this is only the 3rd film I've seen directed by the guy I'm pretty set on seeing his whole filmography. Okay I'm going to attempt to review this movie and summarize the plot. So the story is more or less a fictional stage play that we follow intercut with the real world behind the scenes of it all, it's a very meta storyline and I'm kinda proud of myself cause earlier today I was thinking of the visual aesthetic and it dawned on me that the film looks like a high school stage play so brownie points for me. We meet up with an assortment of characters who travel to Asteroid City for a science award ceremony that quickly gets hijacked by a brief alien visitor which I'd say roughly happens halfway through, so we get a lot of time getting to know the characters beforehand and how exactly they are coping with that little incident after the fact. It's weird man. I mean stylistically in terms of direction, framing, and dialogue aside it's kinda hard to break down or at least for me it is because to bring out that Tim Burton quote I like, "It's too complicated, it's too deep, it's like trying to explain the Bible or something." basically there is an edge of interpretation to it. There is a clear connection between the play and the writer of the play beyond creator and creation which could very easily be part of that too, and I don't wish to color perceptions of what it may be (not yet anyway) so I'm just trying to objectively state what I saw. I really love this style of dialogue, it's so to the point to an almost bashingly blunt effect but it's just so refreshing to hear people say exactly what they think and feel even if it's to acknowledge they don't know how to feel. For a high functioning autistic individual like myself who speaks without a filter or complexity, it's a sight for sore eyes. It would take all damn day rattling off the star studded cast here from main character to brief cameo so all I'll say is they do really great jobs and help immerse yourself in this fiction. The humor was more hit than miss with me, in fact I was shaking holding in my laughter cause we got a pretty solid group of people and I ain't one to distract, so I'd say it was a definite hit for me. And as stated before in terms of direction, cinematography, framing, and editing it screams Wes Anderson and I'm a sucker for his look and aesthetic with asymmetrical framing, a rich color palette, constantly interesting camera movements, and editing as cutting as the dialogue. He even mixes bits of stop motion, puppetry, and flat out breaking the fourth wall in an extremely casual way. Say what you damn will about the guy's movies but he is entirely unique. It almost feels like sensory overload trying to unpack and critique everything presented, and I do fully understand it's a matter of taste and not everyone will like or even love it, but for me I had a great time. I was really looking forward to the movie, so far was my most anticipated film of the year, and I walked away extremely happy and excited to talk about it. It really and truly is days like this where I remember why I started this show to begin with. Final scores oh boy what to give it? Definite 4 stars, slightly stuck between an 8 and a 9 so I'll give it 8.5/10, I feel quite compelled to do an In Retrospect on it because it really is a movie deserving of at minimum two watches so that should be fun. Indy 5 next week, all I'm asking is please don't kill or even attempt to kill off Harrison, and fucking hell you know what I just realized? I haven't talked about Crystal Skull yet. Alright, more alien stuff next week!

Eraserhead

We are starting the early birthday celebrations right!

Oh man, Eraserhead, what a film! It's definitely one of those movies I've heard about through the years and yet never knew what it was about until I watched it. Wow. I won't lie, I had a great time. Difficult to talk about coherently but here goes nothing. So our movie is set in what I can only described as a bombed out, dilapidated, abandoned but dressed up neighborhood where a young man named Henry Spencer gets his girlfriend pregnant and has to look after the heavily prematuredly birthed infant. There is more to that story but I just want you to watch it. I don't know, maybe I've finally lost it but I very very much enjoyed this movie even though despite my best efforts I couldn't truly discern a lot from it. It has that experimental/student film quality where not much makes sense and it's almost deliberately strange and offputting, but I liked it! I mean I could rave about the lighting alone for like an hour, some of the best camera placement and lighting combinations I have ever seen in cinema. I have nothing but praise to give for Herbert Cardwell and Frederick Elmes, those guys knew their stuff and delivered flawless results. I also really appreciated Jack Nance in this, for a script that barely has any dialogue in it David got so much through Jack's facial features and body language, simultaneously looking super young and a total baby face but also old enough to have a midlife crisis which I kinda think has some bearance on the story. Henry is a young man but quickly discovers he is a parent, and you know having kids and taking care of kids changes an individual a lot, it's a lot to deal with, and you can tell through the direction and acting it is severely effecting him. He has a fight with his girlfriend, is stuck in an apartment with the baby, can't leave, can't sleep and when he does he has some weeeeird nightmares. I sympathize with the guy. Who knows what it's really about, I've seen snippets of interviews and David Lynch has said Eraserhead is his most spiritual film and won't elaborate further on any of it. Maybe it's the pressures of becoming a parent, maybe it's all a metaphor for the world ending, maybe it's just about a guy and his baby. There's plenty to dig into here and while the movie has spots of disturbing and bizzare moments, I was a bit surprised how much I laughed and felt quite relaxed while watching it. I did find humor not in the bewildering actions of the characters, but just simple normal things like fighting with a spouse over how much room they take in bed, or everytime Henry tries to leave the apartment the baby cries until he sits down again. The music is minimal but very pleasant I found, and we get both a dance sequence and a singing sequence so that was enjoyable. It may unnerve and confuse others, but I was immersed and wanted to see where it all went. It's no doubt going to be a film I watch again and again in the future and still get something out of. But go make of it what you will, that's half the fun of movies, and we got more Lynch coming up with The Straight Story. What do I rate it? No idea, how about...4 stars, 8/10!

In Retrospect: Mother!

You know what? I get it now.

Yeah after Mother broke my mind and left me literally senseless, on a second viewing, it makes more sense. After the bizzare yet genius ending that made me just break down in crazed laughter, and knowing all the major events and oddities of this film, when you watch it again it makes a hell of a lot more sense. When I was walking back from the theater trying to figure out what I just witnessed, I was just throwing ideas to the wind and I said, "So is this movie trying to tell me Javier Bardem is God?" and that was a stab in the dark. But that stab in the dark hit the mark. Now I'm rhyming. This movie is something else man. I do highly suggest if you decide to see this movie, after you are done, read speculation on the movie and what it means. It will all make sense when you do that. But my opinion has changed. It is a good movie with excellent suspense, Jennifer Lawrence as Insaid carries the film and I legit liked her in this movie and Javier Bardem is well, Javier Bardem so I love him, the movie is surreal, metaphorical, genuinely disturbing. And if that sounds like your kind of movie, great! If not, yeah I still get it. I'm glad I saw it again, for I am not one of those people who see a movie once alone, and certainly not a person who says, "I did not get it at all, this was the worst movie." screw that noise. If a film perplexes you multiple viewings are required. Like Blade Runner! Speaking of which, the new one hits video soon so I will no doubt talk about both when the time comes. But until then, judge for yourself and I will see you next time.