Bible Verses I pride myself on being able to say something both useful and positive about a film, a discipline a wise man taught as a practice for the more useful challenge with souls we meet. The dynamics overlap in narratives that each carry. I found it a bit difficult this time around, because my… Continue reading The White Cockatoo (1935)
Category: New Comments
Comments made since the IMBD era, for here
Alibi Mark (1937)
Signs of Trauma, Film as Meal Wow, what a strange film. My interest in these comments is in the qualities of introspection: where the viewer is placed in the narrative and how different layers of that stance are manipulated. The CCC, as duly described in this film, was a sort of civilian army designed to… Continue reading Alibi Mark (1937)
Bullet Train (2022)
Stations I admit to thinking the Deadpool experiments are offensive. They have introspection of the kind I study, but it is one-dimensional and the humour doesn’t justify the sacrifice of self-aware sophistication. But this folds in the best parts of ‘Pulp Fiction’, and I find it superior in many ways. I find Tarantino’s literal quotes… Continue reading Bullet Train (2022)
Trents Last Case (1952)
Hidden This should be a superb movie in the mystery tradition. It has a truly complex plot that has several reveals, and a suitably Holmes-like detective. The problem is that we see the detective working things out like a Poirot would. But we learn absolutely nothing until the end. So I cannot recommend it on… Continue reading Trents Last Case (1952)
Jurassic World Dominion
Ancient Chase DNA What I find curious is how franchises become more ordinary over time. This is far from an original observation in terms of world construction and story. It makes sense to reuse these, because that defines the franchise. So we get the same basic world, same bad guys and situations (here amplified a… Continue reading Jurassic World Dominion
The Man Without a Map (1968)
Life as Navigation Everyone has an anchor when they enter a film. With a little exposure to world cinema, that anchor for each film is rooted in the tradition you select from that culture. This is a personal choice, made long before you encounter the film. Quite possibly, no national cinematic tradition offers a starker… Continue reading The Man Without a Map (1968)
Mifune The Last Samurai (2015)
Cut Vision is the strangest thing. If we see too much of something we believe it less. Stories are like this; the things that are left out can carry the agency more powerfully, and often the missing is referenced by the obvious. I like filmmakers that understand this. Scorsese is all about the lead actor.… Continue reading Mifune The Last Samurai (2015)
Goldstone (2016)
Less Lessons The shape of this is ordinary. The forces at work are familiar: big company, coopted locals, indigenous victims. It happens to be well crafted, so is better in quality than most. But it has two features that endear it, at least to me. It has the desolate outback of Western Australia. This is… Continue reading Goldstone (2016)
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
The Game I’ve enjoyed the series in spite of itself. When it started, it had three things going for it: a general stylishness, some original fight choreography, and a novel world’s cosmology. The first two have since been bested, including films with Keanu. We still have the cosmology, the world. That’s what you build your… Continue reading The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Une dernière fois (2020)
Dry This is a very promising idea. Take a 69 year old actress who was a star from the golden age of porn, someone who has maintained over the years a position of dignity in self-governed sexual expression. Posit the situation that this woman is for some reason alone, without sex for some time, and… Continue reading Une dernière fois (2020)