Somehow, Palpatine returned.
Outside of being a truly terrible line it also perfectly encapsulates the biggest problem with this whole film & the sequel trilogy as a whole. There's no thought put into an overarching narrative that makes sense. Each film exists in spite of the others. The two previous entries both establish different ideas and themes with very little connecting tissue. I'm pretty sure it's even been confirmed that there was no actual plan.
The Rise of Skywalker takes almost…
It's funny what time & distance does for us. Reflecting back it's interesting the legacy that The Last Jedi has left. It was super divisive upon release; to a vitriolic degree. The sheer extremity of the reactions from those involved was insane. How were we to know that what would follow would retroactively affect how the sequel trilogy would come to be viewed. A disappointing failure. Something I'm gonna explore a bit further soon...
However returning to The Last Jedi after…
The Bikeriders has quite the ensemble cast that all put in strong performances. It has a fairly compelling narrative with fleshed out characters and it's competently crafted. For some reason, that I can't quite put my finger on, I didn't love this. However it was an enjoyable enough viewing experience.
I'd consider myself a fairly casual fan of The Weeknd, I've listened to most of his albums and enjoyed some of his music, but I've gotten the vibe over the last few years that he very much likes the smell of his own shit. This film just confirms that. I'm not opposed to people dissecting themselves in their art but I don't get the vibe that he actually understands what he's saying about himself. It does feel like patting yourself…
When was the last time a blockbuster (MCU excluded) actually delivered?
What Villeneuve and Co have crafted here is something truly excellent. It is everything I want from a blockbuster. Massive in scale but not dumbed down or playing it safe, it's the type of film you don't see studios take risks on anymore. I genuinely adore every element of this but I'm waiting to rewatch it before I make any extravagantly sweeping statements about its quality or potential legacy.…
Hooptober: The First Endeavor: Film 2/31
Haneke's Horrific Home Invasion
Horror implied more than horror shown. Michael Haneke's Funny Games is a tremendously dread-filled tale of a cruel & unusual home invasion as well as a blistering commentary on the medium's (and society's) tendency to glorify violence. Now, I realise the hypocrisy is extremely apparent but I think it works on both fronts. There's no doubt that we've very much become desensitized to violence in film and there's a tendency to…
