Makes Army of Shadows look like a picnic. Identical themes, but The Ascent is bleak in every way—utterly hopeless. The most anyone can hope for is that the next generation will be inspired not to repeat the same mistakes.

Shooting in black-and-white against the snow turns the frame into a diagram. The relationship between objects becomes stark. Every character is at risk of seeing the brutal calculations being made as purely mathematical. Those who resist… ascend.

Every 10 seconds, the coolest moment in cinematic history up to that point occurs. The level up between the original Mad Max trilogy and this is unfathomable. The first 30 min of this are the most epic Mad Max film ever made, and then it just keeps going.

“I should be… McFeasting in the pleasure gardens with the heroes of all time.”

Don’t think I’ve seen this since college and by golly does it hold up.

Started hanging out with a neighbor and thought it’d be cool to catch a movie together. This is the one we picked

A little bit Nathan Fielder, without any of the cynicism. I expected a good time, but I was surprised by how much it turned into a personal nostalgia trip. It brought back memories of me and my art friends sneaking around the tunnels beneath our college campus.

Got to chat with Michael Townsend after the screening. Loved this film!

I feel like this film has a surprising amount to say: it’s a parable about learning, trial and error, and the myths we tell about things we don’t understand.

Was worried that the middle part would feel slow and repetitive upon a second viewing, but no, it’s great. The scene with the rabbit footprints is a stroke of genius.

This may be the best video game adaptation in existence.