Red Fingernails Christie is more special to me than she should be because she represents a tradition I miss. When you read one of her novels, you enter into tryst with an invisible woman who teases you with a false world that you welcome. Is there a more pure distillation of romance? As you both… Continue reading Death on the Nile (2022)
Category: New Comments
Comments made since the IMBD era, for here
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
Meme Film School I am a filmsfolding guy. That is where films understand they are films and engage the viewer on multiple levels. Devoted some of my life to thinking about them and appreciating the meta-art. I should like this. It is essentially a story about a young filmmaker who goes on a road trip… Continue reading The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
Willy’s Wonderland (2021)
Mechanical I am interested in the projects that successful artists design for themselves. It often shows that they are less interesting than they appear. Actors in particular depend on surrounding artists that remain invisible. Cage’s work is all over the place, but this is pretty bad. I believe it was made because he wanted it… Continue reading Willy’s Wonderland (2021)
Monster Hunter (2020)
Lovers Back when I was doing this full time, I maintained a database of films where the filmmaker and actor (usually an actress) were lovers. It often imparts a situated intimacy, because you nearly literally see a soul through a lover’s eyes. Is there anything as erotic in fiction? I’m thinking of a Judy Garland… Continue reading Monster Hunter (2020)
Wandavision (2021)
Humans vs Robots I work in military AI. As in ordinary domains where AI is applied, we have two camps. One is smitten with the future of what AI can do, and foresee a day where nearly everything we do as humans can be done better by machines. Innovation to these folks is in finding… Continue reading Wandavision (2021)
Uncharted (2022)
The Search for Women Villains I came to this to have something to watch with my 9 and 10 year olds, and for that it was a rousing success. As I’m not familiar with the source material, I can judge it purely on the films and stunts that came before. It seems to register well… Continue reading Uncharted (2022)
Turning Red (2022)
Transitions When narrative transitions occur, they sometimes follow the world and seem smooth, or they try and engineer the future and are jagged. I think this is the latter. Superficially, this film extends the Disney effort to cover all ethnicities with princess characters. It makes business sense to have a modern Chinese girl, and let… Continue reading Turning Red (2022)
Christopher Robin (2018)
Stuck in the Box The story is conventional Disney, and in the trend of expanding the reach of established properties, with as little actual drama as possible. Three things are notable to me. This was shot on video, with a deliberate nod to cheap TeeVee productions from decades ago. Every visual choice was designed to… Continue reading Christopher Robin (2018)
Blown Away (2019)
Someone Else’s Bubble I don’t know who originated the formula. I’ve seen it on “Legomasters”. You start with 8 teams, here 8 glass artists. You give them an assignment, material and some time. Then their creation is judged, someone eliminated until there is a winner. With Lego it works. The competitors are pairs — friends… Continue reading Blown Away (2019)
David Bull: The Great Wave (2015)
A Hello Now that I am free from posting on IMDB, I can watch films and study alternative film sources that matter. Movies emerged from a context. I understand that context in the West well enough for my purposes. The narrative devices I study are inherited from literary traditions, but I need to spend more… Continue reading David Bull: The Great Wave (2015)