A love song dedicated

to self-hate. 

What good's a finger if your arm is falling off?

Maggie – 1.5/5
Here is the story of a man playing with his camera. I wonder if 'Tree of Life' yet has reached the same cultural priesthood as Led Zeppelin: first to market & way too easy to rip off. You've learned how to strike all of the same chords, and yet you've reduced it of all meaning. As the camera glides over the windowsill, a morning's light knocking gently to be let in, a thought enters instead: 'Hey, there's dust on the window. Huh huh. Cool.' Such emotional posturing! My god. Man, this director sucks. I've got a boner for Old Man Arnold, but he's at his best when he's allowed to be some fraction of himself. Sad Unspeaking Arnold shows that there's just some inherent Movie Star God inside him, but any time he's asked to speak, they didn't bother to change the script to match who he inherently is. Man, this director sucks. I guess the story makes for a half-interesting 80's-era parable for AIDS?

I've finally lost track

of whether I've written some of these posts, or if I've stolen them from somewhere else.

A light approach

to morality.

Oh,

the places you'll don't. 

Oh my God! I know what you’re going to do,

and when you get there, I’ll be there, too!

Primordial human

stuff.

The disappointment

of being a good person.

Yeah, okay, so you're going to space.

But shit, bitch, you don't got to rub it in my face.
I'm going places, too.
I'm just not telling you.

We’re like healers or something.

Magic Mike XXL - 4/5 
Pretty early on, it gives up on having a story in favor of just having fun. And man, what a great decision that was. It’s a road trip movie with long and weird detours that don’t really matter. A series of short stories revolving around the theme of male strippers doing rando shit ‘cuz they buds. ’Nashville’-esque. And fuck yeah, Joe Manganiello. That dude deserves to be elevated to The Rock-levels of entertaindom.

Girl, like vagina and everything.

Tangerine - 4/5 
It’s everything I like and dislike about the lower cultures – quick to fuck, quick to not give a fuck, quick to anger, quick to turn on you, but also quick to loyalty, quick to forgiveness, quick to being fucking hilarious. Every day is a new day. Every day spans the emotional spectrum.

One by one, we will take you.

Evil Dead (remake) - 1/5 
Terrible. Just a cabin drama with an old name. No character, no charm, no fun. I wish there *were* callbacks. Jesus. But hey, I like the idea of detox as demonic possession. I mean, it’s not really doing that but… has it been done? Is there a movie that does that? Hello? Anyone? That general set-up does leave everyone dour as fuck, but I’m sure a skilled person is capable of overcoming.

You friended up.

The Duff - 3/5 
‘Easy A’-lite, with a mix of ‘Angus’. Lead dude’s a charmer, Mae Whitman is both a perfect choice and also not doing it complete justice. But fun, guys.

When I was small, I only knew small things.

Room - 4/5 
It’s got these great scenes of conflicting feelings. The escape is full of hope and unsurety. The look on the kid’s face when he’s outside for the first time is a better sense of wonder than most Disney movies, mixed with bewilderment. "That terror and wonder in which all lives begin."* The little dude is happy when he should be sad and she’s sad when she should be happy. Everything's on the wrong side of a wall. It earns all its emotional beats, but it perhaps forces a too pat conclusion.

*James Baldwin

People are afraid of all the wrong things.

A Walk Amongst the Tombstones - 2/5 
Generic and rote, but fine in that.