Covid Cinema Antidote

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Stewball
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Covid Cinema Antidote

Post by Stewball »

Looking at the top ten on Criticker, it appears that dystopia has now brought the majority of film down to the pop culture level, even "superhero" movies--and quality has been brought down with it, to the point that most of us apparently can't be caught gazing at navels that aren't infected or malignant. I mean, using the word epic to describe "Godzilla vs. Kong" (I almost wretched typing it), reveals the film industry's need for life support--it's barely breathing.

But being the sharp-eyed critic that I am, and forced optimist, I want to recognize the occasional flare up of genuine quality on an absolute scale, and guardedly ask others to do the same. To wit:

"One Night in Miami" (9.5/10) Witty, entertaining, superb performances, and oh yeah, politically incorrect historical Truth behind the legends. Check out the quotes on its IMDb page.

"The Catcher was a spy" (9/10) The, for me, new story of the major league catcher, Moe Berg, who not only turned spy during WWII (excellent cover), but was preparing to assassinate the nuclear physicist, Werner Heisenberg...if he determined it was necessary. The one negative, Berg never married, so following modern Hollywood protocol, he is presented as "bi-", even though his biographer said he wasn't.

"Mank" (8/10) More truth and history couched in a great dialogue showpiece. But in the pop world, that and $5 gets you a small bag of popcorn.

There you have it. Even with masks and social distancing, we can still be touched.

PrestoBix
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Re: Covid Cinema Antidote

Post by PrestoBix »

Yeah, I made the mistake of watching more contemporary movies than ever in 2020, and though I logged over 200 films from the year, I barely reached the number of logs of really good films that I would watching just ~50 or so films in the mid-2010's, and so far 2021 is positively abysmal from the 50 I've seen.

The best thing I can say about Godzilla v Kong is that at least it's better than the Godzilla film that directly preceded it.

Anyway, I really liked Sound of Metal, Quo Vadis, Aida?, The Father, Minari, Bad Trip, Mangrove, First Cow, and Driveways.

And it was a fairly decent year for documentaries with: Collective, Dick Johnson is Dead, Feels Good Man, All In: The Fight for Democracy, and City Hall.

One Night in Miami was solid, but a notch below these films for me. I think it spelled out it's messaging a bit too plainly for my taste, but I definitely liked how they draw distinctions in black thought as opposed to treating it as a monolith like media always does. I really liked the bit about the Bob Dylan song and the embarrassment of being outdone in racial awareness by a white guy leading to the creation of the song.

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