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The Chess Players 1977
I play a lot of chess even though I'm not very good at it. On top of being fun and frustrating, it's a game of depth, full of metaphor. Even the names of the pieces suggest meaning. In The Chess Players, the king is put in check in the very first scene, standing in for the imperiled nawab of Awadh just before the British move to take over his principality. Many rich games play out here, filmed beautifully, feints and…
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Aferim! 2015
At first glance this is a simple historical drama, but it works on a meta level that makes it more charming. Of course (based on interviews with the director I've seen) the film does its best to shine light on the historical conditions of the Roma people in medieval Europe, enslaved and oppressed in ways few other groups have ever been. However it is a Radu Jude film, so the characters are constantly spouting off obscenities, dirty jokes, and deep-cut…
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Dune: Part Two 2024
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
The through-line that unites every adaptation of Dune thus far is how hard Dune is to adapt. How many books have a documentary about their failed adaptation that was scrapped? How many books were adapted by David Lynch of all people? How many books' David Lynch adaptation was an infamous flop that changed the trajectory of the filmmaker's career forever?
I bring all of this history up because adapting Dune really is a tall task. The story is conceptually rich,…
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Megalopolis 2024
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
I think the fact that this movie left me not knowing what to think is its greatest achievement. As a movie-watcher, a reader, a Youtube video-clicker, I sometimes feel like I've seen it all when it comes to media. But this movie defied that and I felt like it was reprogramming my brain as I watched it. Not necessarily in a good way.
The more you try to think about the themes of this movie the harder they are to…
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