Image is everything.

Without a doubt one of the best long-form docs out there. Edelman's editorial choices consistently draw attention to the role images and their fabrication play in the intersection of race, class & gender. The high-level themes inform the personal motivations, which circle back and reproduce or reinforce the ideologies; instead of a talking head articulating his thesis— although some come close— it's the overlapping, often conflicting ideas and interpretations of events that expose the distribution of power. And it says nothing of its analysis that its chronicle of OJ's college football career is infinitely more compelling than any recreation could ever dream.

Not much under the hood beyond Perkins' usual preoccupations— yes, that's right, yet another movie about his dad— but this is mostly an elaborate excuse to turn humans into goop, and as such can only be fairly judged by the bag of popcorn I hoovered while watching it. Squint and perhaps there's a parody of self-serious "elevated" horror about inherited trauma, but I doubt Perkins is that self-aware.

What a gem. Linklater's patient direction shows off how on another level Black is here, a number of long takes turn his manic energy into something surprisingly human, instead of just schtick. Having not seen this in years, what really caught me off guard is just how tender the whole production is: this is a movie that genuinely loves the kids populating it. A couple standout gags are Jack Black being sincerely excited by hearing a 10 year old play 'Smoke on the Water,' guitar-shop style, and the big "?" connecting Captain Beefheart to Prog on his rock history diagram.