review
It Was Just An Accident
I did enjoy this and given the context of the director think it is a valiant work, but do have some gripes with it.
Reviews
late night reviews and rants about film and other media
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review
Sirāt
Ambitious in its bleak, oppressive portrayal of decisions gone wrong and a group of tortured souls in way over their head as the whole world around them keeps falling apart.
review · Berlinale
What Does That Nature Say to You
A gentle, artistic boyfriend postpones meeting his girlfriend's parents out of fear of rejection and clashing expectations. When it finally happens, awkward, stifled laughter and superficial conversations make place for the inevitable after a few drinks too many.
review
Juror #2
Overly borrows from 12 Angry Men and never reaches the heights or ambiguity of Anatomy of a Fall.
review
Civil War
Essentially a Last of Us-style zombie roadmovie, a genre that is already practically one layer of abstraction away from what this film explores, Civil War is a provocative film, but ultimately too shallow.
review
Monster
Monster, the newest film by one of Japan's finest contemporary directors, is, as always, another treat in the classic Kore-eda social drama style.
review · TIFF
Full River Red
Zhang Yimou has crafted a wide variety of brilliant films ranging from historical and societal dramas to wuxia action thrillers. This is not one of them. What it is, however, is a fun historical whodunnit comedy thriller with strong nationalist undertones.
review
Barbie: Not Actually Kenough
Barbie is brazenly feminist, but it is a white, liberal, gen-X type of feminism that neglects any form of intersectionality or class-analysis.
review · Berlinale
Suzume: Weathering With Your Name
Although a significant improvement over his previous release (the abysmal 2019 Weathering with You), Shinkai is reluctant to deviate from the formula that made Your Name such a success, and I felt that despite all-out nice performances, the film and its emotional payoff is particularly held back by his least memorable protagonist yet.
review
Mārama
I really wanted to like this both as an anti-colonial critique and as a 'good for her cinematic universe' revenge story but unfortunately the more I think about it the more it comes apart at the seams.