One Sentence Media Reviews
should have called it "a chomp to remember".
if you're looking for a classic kids movie to nostalgify your life a bit, this'll do the trick - but don't go into it thinking it's a whole lot more than that.
this is a reactionary movie even above and beyond the normal cop movie tropes, from the way it queer-codes the villain to the overall "good strong men don't need to follow the rules" vibe - so why do I like it so much?
marginal.
a young woman leaves home to become a wealthy, arrogant man's third concubine; a visual masterpiece, each scene more stunning and tragic; is it a metaphor?
a three part meditation on individual hope and yearning amidst the atomizing churn of "progress"; part three is in English so the dialogue is a little off, but it's all rather heartbreaking nonetheless
installment one of a mini review series about china's collective trauma throughout the 20th century:
a gorgeous, sweeping epic about artistic and queer identity set against forty years of inconceivable change, featuring one of the most harrowing scenes I've ever seen in any film -- but it really did be like that for a billion people, and understanding this shared history is integral to understanding chinese culture and politics today
a challenging read (is it possible?); a real struggle of a ride (Kesey wrote a second masterpiece?); you'll laugh and maybe cry but by the time you get through, iffn you make it through, you'll never forget the journey (is the great American novel still relevant at all?).
if you can get past this being a dudely movie about dude stuff, you'll find a unique, interesting and realistic story treating with intuition and the price it exacts on the intuiter.
a very special honorary osmr from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/1308207510566834178?s=21
"The only thing hand in my pocket about the Alanis Morissette song Hand In My Pocket is that none of the things that happen in it are actually hand in my pocket"
a delightful easy going feel good romp about a young orphan girl in the great depression; notable themes include gender ambiguity and an atypical relationship (a healthy friendship between a mid thirties dude and a 9 year old girl).
Fully half of this impeccably researched book is footnotes; as a deep dive into the terrible changes wrought by the Koch brothers it's essential reading, altho unless you are into dense political history and analysis you won't get through it.
Besides having a star studded cast acting their hearts out in really dramatic, goofy, fun scenes, this movie is also just special for telling a really strange story and breaking out of the Hollywood mold.
ContraPoints, a sort of combo political philosophy and nerdy art project consisting of video discourses on various topics by creator Natalie Wynn, was, is, and continues to be one of the most brilliant things on the internet.