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Silhouetters
Into bass music, depressing films and weird, conceptual art.
Twit: @Silhouetters69
Insta: epicxdjamesxd
https://letterboxd.com/Silhouetters/
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Doctor Who: Ascension of the Cybermen (2020)
Excellent set up for The Timeless Children
Better first part of a finale than:
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
Series 6
Series 7
Series 8
and
Series 11
Doctor Who: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror (2020)
One of the best looking stories of Doctor Who so far.
Night of Terror is pure fun; great creature designs, great dialogue, great story overall. Another successful historical episode, hopefully this will become the staple of Chibnall's era and we'll get to see more and more of the fam through history (maybe we'll finally get a story with no aliens, too!).
Martyrs (2008)
The thing that haunts me the most isn't necessarily the film..
This film speaks so much to ideas of bodily autonomy and mortality in modern times (as of 2009) and I feel like even though it's incredibly well known (just like A Serbian Film), so many people simply aren't willing to engage with it aside from its surface. And it's maybe the biggest shame in the French horror scene we've had.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Perfection as image and sound.
A dark comedy, a tale of love not to be, an exploration of cinema and theatre, a deconstruction of superheroes and their films and a modern masterpiece of technological filmmaking.
Birdman has been my favourite film ever since I first watched it in 2014, and it hasn't faltered in any way since then.
This is a film that so elegantly dissects theme and intent from the superhero genre, theatre productions, Raymond Carver and his work, modern art and the reason why we struggle and how we strive past it. This is a film that breaks the confines of the screen and shows you what you've been thinking about for a long time.
This is a film that confronts the nature of us and reflects something unsettling and ugly, but still believes in hope, love and colour in life. There is a potency to the thematics at play in the film, a true journey of exploration across so much more than criticising superheroes. The film uses this lens to draw you in, a promise of deconstruction, a promise of catharsis, and what is then given to you is something else, something much more profound and meaningful.
In terms of ecological storytelling, the film utilises its runtime down to a mathematic precision, sifting through ever scene to get the most out of the characters, actors, metaphors and aesthetic. A blindingly triumphant function is at the heart of the film, where so many other films miss their target with connection and intent through poor overall function, Birdman soars above, revealing a collection of images and sounds that stick with you for years, and of which have stayed culturally, subtextually, filmicly and politically relevant. This is a film that understands that it needs to exist, it needs to be talked about, it needs to be addressed.
There is a simple joy to decoding the subtext and metaphor of the film; finding what it means to you and then finding what it means for others. Although surface level, that simple joy is encouraged by the film, by essentially packing every frame with as much relevant meaning and philosophy as it can. This might seem heavy handed to some, but to me, and I think to art, it is working at a level far beyond what you could refer to as 'pretentious,' or 'basic.' To me, this film transcends this kind of bad faith idealism, instead opting to help you experience the rawness of film, the elevated nature of theme and how it can be applied to any time.
Birdman is a film that haunts me, I see it everywhere, it manifests in people, places, art and nature. There is something so very finite about the film, something so very true and real to us. I see it as an absolute achievement of art and the work of human nature, and the best thing about that is that the film already comments on that and suggests how and where we should evolve with next.
Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling (2019)
Rocko says Trans rights
Trans acceptance in wider media is always a good thing, but when it's a goofy slapstick cartoon for Nickelodeon audiences, it's even more impressive and wonderful to see.
I've never properly watched Rocko's Modern Life, they didn't show it much on UK Nickelodeon when I was a kid, so I didn't get much of a chance. My largest exposure to it was YouTube list videos about "10 Hidden Adult Jokes In Kids Shows", that sought of thing.
I could tell through these snippets of scenes that Rocko was a fairly clever clever show, but I never imagined it to be this impactful with a very serious matter in its hands.
The special does have its problems in the form of some of the commentary on our modern life being rather surface- level and uninformed, but I had to keep reminding myself that even though this is a Netflix special, it is still for that Nickelodeon audience that watched 20 years ago, and the current ones, too.
This is probably why the trans issue towards the last 2/3 of the runtime caught me off guard, as the trio of main characters accept Rachel for who she is now without any demeaning jokes or scoffing at the thought (Heffer does crack a joke about her name a little while after, but is scolded and doesn't again).
All in all I enjoyed this special much more than I anticipated and felt satisfied with the legacy of Rocko and where it's gone.
I can only hope Enter the Florpus can do the same.
Get Out (2017)
Good for a horror movie post 2000's
Get Out is a decent horror movie, better than average, but not without its set backs.
It absolutely didn't deserve an oscar, let alone for screenplay, but it's not the worst choice in the world at the end of the day.
For a debut film this is pretty admirable and could mean a lot for horror movies, black people and the general film industry, but aside from the politics of the film, it really is just an ok horror.
The VVitch and It Follows are much, much better horror films; deserving of much more praise, but because THIS horror film has a discussion about race it gets millions of dollars and awards and praise. Is this a bad thing?
Not really. It's better than giving an award to something like another shat out Blumhouse/James Wan sequel with no talent or effort put into it.
Basically, the best thing about the film is the actors and their performances, especially Daniel Kaluuya, who is as excellent as always.
The worst thing about the film would probably have to be the "horror" elements since it's incredibly one- note and unoriginal in this department. Not saying it's bad, but it doesn't do anything the horror genre hasn't seen a bunch of times already.
It's good, not great. (But still kinda cool a horror film won an oscar since the last was in 2000 with The Sixth Sense.)
Rick and Morty (2013)
Great show... until 2017
Rick and Morty was very witty, funny and original for the first two series. It was genuinely refreshing at the time, and still holds up decently (not a perfect show, probably a 7 or 8 out of 10).
Unfortunately series 3 ruins all the goodwill from the first two.
Not only has the writing become much, much worse in terms of characters, story ideas and jokes, but the show seems to find itself way funnier than it actually is, pushing self- made memes in the viewer's faces as if to say "look at us! we're so funny! look how funny we can be!!!!"
Except it's not funny.
The first episode is genuinely very good and easily the best from series 3; mainly because it feels like a series 1 episode.
"Pickle Rick" is an abomination of a television episode that should have got through the pre- and the finale is painful to watch as it tries to desperately recapture the glory of the series 1 and 2 final episodes.
Just embarrassing. Only watch series 1 and 2 if you want a consistently funny show with a few detours into the more depressing side of life.
And if you just want a 10/10 depressing cartoon then watch Bojack Horseman.
Coco (2017)
Average Pixar movie.
Nothing new, nothing special.
The animation's very polished but even that is average at this point in hollywood.
Music is a very standard Disney composition copy and pasted throughout the movie.
Not a bad movie; just nothing you haven't seen a billion times before.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Pretty much what I expected, and that's fine.
So this one was dumb, silly, goofy, contrived and in some cases pretty flawed... and yet that's what a Star Wars movie is.
Star Wars is not a perfect franchise by any means at all; I haven' given any of the movies above a 7 so far. They're dumb, silly fun in space.
This one's better than the last two (Rogue One and The Force Awakens), but it's not quite as good as Empire Strikes Back.
So what?
It was fun, shot very well, had tonnes of character, lovely callbacks and memorable moments. That's all I want from a Star Wars movie, and also what I was expecting.
Pretty much all of the backlash is made up of nostalgia- blinded 20 year old fans who hold the original trilogy up on the highest pedestal they can erect.
Sure, the original three were groundbreaking at the time and shaped Hollywood for the better and worst, but none of them are masterpieces, or even come close; they're just dumb fun with an added dash or mysticism and classic Hollywood romanticism.
Nothing more, nothing less.
TLJ was just as fun, but also as dumb, AND THATS OK.
7/10
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
An absolute masterpiece
Surpasses the original in just about every way; some of the best cinematography and framing in any film and career- defining performances from every main actor..
Give into the peer pressure and watch this film, give it as much love as you can, because it will lose to the standard Hollywood trash otherwise, and that'd be the worst crime of the millennium.
Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins have made the step from great storytellers to master storytellers with this single film.