Be generous and let them be sad.

André Is An Idiot — 3.5/5

My interest in watching this is exactly matched to my cynicism in watching this. It reeks of San Francisco-based advertising, of which I am of course familiar. André Is A Type Of Guy that feels very familiar to me. And that familiarity is warm and somewhat nostalgic though that part of my life isn't even in the past. (What's a word for a nostalgia that just applies to a wistful version of your present existence?) But also that familiarity is kind of annoying! In the just being reminded of the types of people that I both like and dislike. Imagining working alongside André who is no doubt creative but also probably unnecessarily argumentative and immovable. (I can imagine gently encouraging him to "Just answer the fucking brief.") And then the desire for the movie to be an ad, as if that is necessary to give his life meaning. But also, advertising people dealing with problems with the best tools they have available, a dying man's only path towards building a tower of meaning around his life, to wrap his feeble arms around divine purpose. Though this movie scratches the cynic inside me, that scratch reveals the disappointed idealist who sees himself in André. His death — spoiler: he dies — affected me greatly. My life could be wrapped up little differently, with a few ads and a few good friends (and would that be so bad?). As with 'Dying for Sex,' the movie helps me to see the beauty in dying, in saying goodbye, and though I do not wish it, I hope to, as he did, accept it as generosity, with graciousness. Someday, I will be honored and allowed to grieve for the people I love, and they to grieve for me. "And that is beautiful, or close enough."

But I am always dreaming, even when I'm awake.

The Last Unicorn — 3/5

It contains an awkwardness that comes off as genuine. It has that Miyazaki dream logic to it, in that it doesn't really make sense as a clear logical story, more approaching poetry. So much strangeness, a darkness that appears throughout, matched against a beautiful backdrop. It's weird; it's compelling. You're never quite sure what you're watching, or where it will go.

If my wife has a bag of gold, do I care if the bag be old?

Kiss Me Kate — 2/5

I think, like a lot of these types of movies, it's a collection of highlights on top of a thin backdrop that creates an excuse to sing and dance. Unfortunately, that backdrop is 'The Taming of the Shrew' which is one of my least favorite pieces of storytelling. And now here it is, in musical form! Yay! There's a good number, and another interesting number, and a fun dance but, beyond that, it's hard to watch for how borderline evil he is, and how weak-willed she is. And then to see them together at the end? Heart-breaking.  

—

In case those links die someday —

Brush Up Your Shakespeare 
Always True To You In My Fashion
Why Can't You Behave 

I just dropped her picture in the group chat.

They Will Kill You — 2/5

Zazie Beetz will star in hundreds of hours of middling entertainment before they figure out what to do with her.  She's great! She's a very physical actress! This movie is a great big nothing! Though it's a type of movie I'm very attracted to, and keep watching, though I can't quite name that many successful movies in the genre. "Fight or Flight" (bad), "Ready or Not" (fine), "Bullet Train" (fine). "Bad Times at the El Royale" (bad). What do you call these movies? Highly stylized and highly art directed action-comedies with bright colors and colorful personalities. Is this just the downstream of my love for 'The Running Man'? Are they just "video game movies"? Your job: get from point A to point B, and kill all these Street Fighter-ass people along the way. It all sounds fun, and so I keep looking to them for the ultimate expression of passive entertainment, fun fight scenes, fun deaths, but they all just end up being boring because they're based in cool character names rather than interesting characters. If it is indeed all just downstream from 'The Running Man', then I'd like to remind executives that that movie is more than its superficials. 

 

I'm so sorry, that will never happen again.

The Moment — 3/5

I think it's interesting!! Charli XCX embodies herself believably. But also, much like 'brat,' it feels like she's creating a body of work that is just a built-in defense mechanism. You can't call me an asshole, I've already called myself one. You can't tell me I'm over-hyped, I'm telling you I'm over-hyped — and I'm anxious about it!! There are times when the movie veers towards comedy — which is the right instinct!! — but too often it gets caught up in that anxiety-as-comedy trend of the past few years which, I repeat, is not funny, it's just anxious. The A24 of it all. But I come back to "did you just make this for yourself?" It feels true, except it's a performance. Are you being for real or are you just saying shit? It's "the thing but subverting the thing" all over again. Ultimately, I think Charli made a bold choice, but what worked about the album — making music for yourself, that also works for others — does not work as well in a movie. It can't just be a movie about you. It has to be about something larger than you.