jcbsmth

jcbsmth

Favorite films

  • Bāhubali: The Beginning
  • Bāhubali 2: The Conclusion

Recent activity

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  • Black Bag

  • Mickey 17

  • 13 Going on 30

  • Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

Recent reviews

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  • Black Bag

    Black Bag

    A lesser director might have been averse to leaving the phrase “an endless, abrasive experience” teed up for a critic, but Soderbergh is the still the king of the tight 90.

    Loved the throwback score.

  • Mickey 17

    Mickey 17

    What makes this feel particularly toothless (veneers aside) is that it imagines the Trump figure as an Earth fleeing two-time electoral loser with a diminishing mandate, rather than, you know, the opposite. The release was delayed, so it was always going to be a roll of the dice, I guess. 

    I sort of loved the intermittent use of Bladerunner-theatrical-cut-style voice over, as clunky as it was. Excellent critter design, as always.

Popular reviews

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  • The Villainess

    The Villainess

    Opening few minutes make the Oldboy hallway scene look downright tasteful. The carotid artery budget on this thing must have been nuts.

  • Pokémon Detective Pikachu

    Pokémon Detective Pikachu

    ★★★★

    As with Bertrand Russell's Paradox, ("does the set of all sets that don't contain themselves contain itself?"), it can be a fun diversion to consider whether a system can be critiqued from within itself. Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019), a film based on a video game spinoff from the multi-tentacled Pokémon game/media/playing card conglomerate, places us in the ostensibly utopic Ryme City, the dream society of ailing social planner and UHNWI Howard Clifford. Clifford Enterprises runs the city and wields a…