Dmitri.
Striving to appreciate the dark, the light, and the sublime.
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The Substance 2024
You gotta respect a movie that follows a hockey stick trajectory - reasonable pacing escalating into a sudden, cacophonous crescendo, a nearly senseless blow-out to utilize the remaining SFX budget that leaves you feeling confused yet impressed.
Hits the right beats up to that point, indulging good ol' body horror tactics to keep you leery and unsettled. Those visceral episodes are made all the more (un)savory by the feigned cheer and hyperpop feel of the other segments. Special effects deserve their props for this one.
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Companion 2025
Not breaking any new ground on exploring the complex phenomena of agency and free will - but an entertaining flick that manages a few clever twists with its premise.
Shot decently with pleasing, non-offensive cinematography. Hard to look past some of the plot holes and hamfisted "gotcha/slay queen" writing, but it doesn't try to sell itself as a serious film, either.
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Black Cat, White Cat 1998
Whatever can't be figured out over a drink, or discussed while dancing, isn't worth it. Life is too wild to be taken seriously, and love doubly so... Forget the money, just get the band out here and the damn geese out from underfoot!
Exuberant and full of life, with a heart and a tooth of gold. Taking your hands before you can protest, it leads you away into a wild, whirling dance, laughing, smelling like brandy and summer, while horns…
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Inherent Vice 2014
A film of unusually high density and often incoherence. It can be groovy to be insane, for a while - scribble that down, underline it!
Honestly I'm a born sucker for this intersection of Thompson-approved gonzo explosion and technically masterful directing, on a maximalist trip, bender, flight of thought, whatever the hell. Does it make sense? Not easily, maybe if you'd smoked less of them jazz cigarettes you could keep up, you dirty... But then what's the point? Point is…
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