This is as good as any Bergman.
It’s often credited as a satire of consumerism, but it’s much closer to a bleak deconstruction of many aspects of American life, what we consider essential to that life, how we build it, what we’re willing to do to protect it and how its pursuit dooms us to a prison with but one escape. Plus it has a huge amount of action, effects and filmmaking craft. So, you know. A masterpiece.
Romero is…
“What a picture.”
Difficult to put into words what this movie means to me and how I feel about it. But let’s try!
2001 was a massive inspiration to me as a child, helping evolve my burgeoning love of movies into an appreciation for cinema art. It may be my favorite film all time? It’s in the conversation. And it’s 100% responsible for an obsession with Kubrick that started at 15 and never let up.
Seeing it now, in an…
Made me giggle, and Ike is a hoot. Often aspires for broad parody gags a la Zucker, but its more languid pace works against that. Still pretty funny, and it’s hilarious to see how many scenes can be set inside improv theaters.
All right, this movie’s great. Plays so much better with a group. I take most of it back.
That said, it’s Basket Case. Straight up, unabashedly the same story. I’ve read several times about “homages to Henenlotter,” but this goes well beyond homage or tribute. It’s his story. Not necessarily a complaint! I love Basket Case! But credit where it’s due.
It also still has trouble striking a balance with the tone and pitch it’s going for—particularly in how it…
