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Red Rocket (2021)
Too long, but a good one overall
Mikey is a washed-up adult film actor who comes back to his hometown in Texas begging his estranged wife and mother-in-law to let him crash at their place while he tries to get a regular job. With a long gap in his resumé, he's unable to do so, leading him to dealing weed. He then meets a soon-to-be-18 donut shop cashier and gets himself convinced she's America's Next Adult Film Superstar and that she will be his ticket back to Hollywood. Mickey is a parasitic hustler trying to convince everyone around him he's top dog, often failing. The movie also takes place in 2016 during the presidential election so it's easy to read Mickey as a Donald Trump type, a deplorable boaster desperately scheming a comeback. It's sad if he stays in Texas. It's sad if he comes back to Hollywood. It's sad being poor in the United States.
My only beef with this movie is that it could've been 90 minutes long. But Sean Baker is the lo-fi dramedy top dog. It's a good one.
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Bloated and inert
Some entertaining pulpy spins here and there with beautifully stylized shots but there's really not much to it. I can't even remember the names of the characters because in my opinion they fell flat, even though the cast is world-renowned. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is a TWO AND A HALF hour movie... why!? The plot is so slim. Bad people doing bad things... very... very slowly. All for an "alcohol is bad" conclusion. Filmmakers, please! If your movie isn't Schindler's List or Titanic (where every single FRAME keeps you hooked and moving the story forward) then stay away from these bloated runtimes. It would actually be better for you. Shorter movies are less expensive, get completed faster and alienate less people.
In summary, you might want to skip this one, it ain't no mind-blowing, transformative experience.
Verdens verste menneske (2021)
Somewhere in between thick and thin
This movie will probably become a standard for many of us 90s babies. I related incredibly to Julie. I don't know anything about life, what are we supposed to do with it? What's the point of going into med school if the world is very slowly coming to an end, does anything matter? Should I now become a psychologist to assist my generational peers riddled with anxiety? Or should I reinvent myself as a photographer? I can already hear the conservative boomers complaining that we're the generation that won't stick to anything. Do we ever get a certificate once we "graduate" as adults? Is having children what defines us as grown-ups? Or is it owning a house? Will we get to fully know ourselves... EVER!? Julie beats herself up for making mistakes that are absolutely human. Her life is an episodic rhythm of uncertainty. Maybe stalling in life is a life choice itself, because stillness is convenient. But it doesn't matter. You can be free of the responsibilities of decision-making or you can choose your own path, there will be equal consequences anyway.
Renate Reinsve also should've gotten an Oscar nomination for her portrayal.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Emily was wronged
How could you Miranda? How could you do that to her? She would be the first one to arrive at 6 am and would know every single thing to do; an outstanding assistant. Yes, she was snobbish. Yes, she forgot to pick up the scarfs from Hermes. Yes, she had an eating disorder... Probably a psychological consequence of having to perform so highly at that job, but she would usually excell at it. Miranda should've been able to see the talent and determination from the beginning. She was competent, had a great taste and would've been a great fit at Runway. No disrespect to Andy. Love Andy. But this whole movie should've been an email to Emily informing her she's been promoted and that she's going to Paris.
Druk (2020)
Alcohol is a trickster of a pal
An emotionally astute movie about drinking culture and middle-aged angst. There's a sort of poetic quality to Thomas Vinterberg's direction, but Mads Mikkelsen incredible performance carries the film, a talent so present even at his most withdrawn, battered and saddened. I thought the message of the movie was muddled at first... Is alcohol good or bad? However, said message became clear to me when the movie ends and the frame freezes: "To alcohol! The cause of -and solution to- all of life's problems."
Tangerine (2015)
Loved every minute
Raw, upbeat and touching. Another example of how riveting and compelling indie movies tend to be (conventional Hollywood can only wish). A genuine portrait of working girls. The script could've benefited from having a bit more structure, and there were times where I couldn't ignore the jerky cellphone footage, but overall, the movie succeeds keeping you entertained. Sean Baker is America's finest at neo-realism.
Don't Look Up (2021)
It scared me to the core
Made me laugh a lot. But... oh boy... this IS really just basically a documentary. We're on our way to extinction and we're in denial. Climate change is our comet. Yes, Earth's climate changes through millennia. Yes, civilizations collapse all the time. So why should we be worried? Because climate change per se it's not the problem, but the ACCELERATION in which climate change is taking place. It's happening so fast it won't give us a chance to adapt and our leaders are too incompetent. Civilization have fallen and risen multiple times across history, but we won't be able to rise and restart civilization again if there's no habitat, air, water, food and all nature-related things (which is everything) we currently take for granted.
We've past the point of no return. We are too divided. 8 billion of us and it's impossible to mobilize the entirety of our species to combat this because we're too fractured. We might have a few "steady" decades left, but it's downhill from here. So focus on the now, be thankful for the ones you love... The last moments of the movie when they're having dinner and then we go into slow motion as Nicholas Britell's beautiful score plays, made me cry profusely.
Alterado (2022)
ALTERed
Even though I wasn't a fan of the filmmaker's first piece, I decided to watch another one of his shorts and ended up binging his whole filmography. "Alterado" is his most daring and profound work to date. Fieschi has come to develop a sort of "jigsaw puzzle" style, he gives us the pieces we need to understand the story, but it is our job to piece it together. The audience has to go the extra mile and interact further, whether by rewatching the movie, pausing at a certain point, and so on. I just love an artist not willing to produce disposable content!
"Alterado" is about Lauro, an anxiety-ridden man who had to create an alternate narrative, to be able to cope and digest his horrible childhood trauma. Initially unable to recognize that his big brother assaulted him when they were young, Lauro thinks he's in love with him, and he's figuring out a way to confess this "love" to his brother without the rest of their family finding out. Knowing the perpetrator is currently around another child (Lauro's nephew), he hacks into his brother's computer and gains access to gigabytes of pornography, which he can now present to the authorities so he can take his brother to jail. This revelation awakes ire in Lauro's family, they go in denial mode and turn their backs on him (common for sexual assault survivors). However, by being in touch with this alternate version of himself, Lauro gains the determination he so desperately needs, comes out on the other side alive, no longer apprehensive. Beautiful!
Mauropolis (2015)
A lot
So, this is a "musical" horror short film divided in four chapters.
1) a hooker getting ready to be "eaten" by a demon. He devours her to death. 2) The demon smokes a cigarette, desecrates a live statue by touching/abusing it until it is covered with red paint. 3 ) (This is the chapter with all the crucial information and what I loved most about the movie.) The man who plays the live statue is now living in squalor, addicted to morphine in a dinky ran down apartment grieving the loss of his friend (the hooker). (I know this cause I stopped the video and read what he wrote on the journal.) The town where they live is stuck on night time, the sun doesn't rise. The hooker and the statue became friends in hopeless times, until she met the demon that consumed her. Then, the demon comes for the man and consumes him as well. 4) The demon now walks the city looking for his next victim. The man confronts him. The demon attempts seducing him, but the man stabs him and starts eating him alive; turning into a demon himself.
Layered, right? The city as an evil character, desperation, addiction. So why do I still sort of hated this movie? Because the music is absolutely disconnected from the story! Lyrics are non-sensical, no characters singing and dancing, so not really a musical to me. Ambitious in multiple aspects, but it seems this first-time filmmaker tried to do too much all at once and it backfired.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Nostalgia to comfort your anxiety
I walked in expecting this movie to revolutionize everything in terms of action and CGI like The Matrix did back in 1999... that was dumb. Like, this is not a continuation of the trilogy, this is more like a vision that reflects on the hunger of wanting more of the same. It messes up with our expectations cause it knows we're walking in expecting it'll give us more of what we already have... and then it intentionally fails to deliver on any of those expectations. It doesn't give a sh**t. Deal with it. Neo and Trinity are older. They are wise old people filled with intellectual curiosities... why would they give us legendary, iconic action sequences when they already did? And as wise old people, they have landed on the conclusion that the only thing that matters in life is the personal connection between two souls. That's it. There is a lot of exposition, but it is very meta and self-referential in unexpected ways. It knows people will yearn for what they can't have as they dread to lose what they already do.
Polytechnique (2009)
Jesus
It was scary. I felt like I was there witnessing the hateful act being committed and it scarred me. Viscerally tasteful and direct. It just gives you the events that took place. Pure hatred.
Annihilation (2018)
Life changing
It can be very abstract or "slow" at times but this movie literally changed my outlook on life, and how life is constant change; and I specially loved the way Tessa Thompson's character chooses to go, beautifully done. If you have a nice warm hallucinogenic to accompany the evening watching this movie go for it.