December
Books
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
A compelling argument for direct action against the engines of the state and corporate powers destroying the planet.
The Red
Decent very military action sci-fi, but the deeper ideas explored are chilling. The thought that god is a rogue marketing AI is great.
Last Ones Left Alive
A nice zombie book—someone else described it as The Road x 28 Days Later and that’s pretty accurate.p
Movies
Margin Call
Jeremy Irons is always excellent.
The Square
If Claes Bang ends-up being James Bond I will laugh and laugh, but hopefully someone named Bussy Bhole gets to fight him for a condom.
Beasts of No Nation
Dang.
Troll
It’s no Trollhunter.
Sweetie
Well, that was bizarre.
Good Morning
Isamu steals the show, and what a show it was!
Breathless
Jean Seberg could sell me a newspaper.
Before Sunset
I still think Ethan Hawke’s character is the worst.
Tokyo Drifter
The strangest Fast & Furious movie.
The Importance of Being Earnest
At no point do I believe these men are straight.
Turning Red
Move over Degrassi.
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Completing my rewatch.
A Christmas Tale
The Ten Commandments is a bizarre xmas movie.
Die Hard
“I was in junior high, dickhead”
The Night Before
Nathan Fielder Red Bull driver.
Avatar: The Way of Water
This was so, so long. I think the word got out about how excruciatingly long it is because people were still coming in to watch it after the first 40 minutes. I can’t believe James Cameron made a train heist boring. The water stuff was cool, but I hated Spider. I would happily watch this in 2D to avoid the goofy goggles. Jermaine Clement hopefully got paid for this but he was wasted and had the worst American accent for no reason.
The Eternal Daughter
Glacial pacing knocked me out on try one, and I rewatched the second half in the morning. I think this may have worked better for me with and actress I like or more knowledge of Hogg films. This was a weird place to start watching this director.
Tár
If I were a major movie critic I would find it irresistible to say something like “Tár’d and feather’d” and audibly chuckle from my windowed office. Honestly, a great film.
Banshees of Inisherin
Lol. Island boys.
White Noise
Utterly bizarre… like a Sorkin scripted soliloquy on top of a surrealist delight. Every movie should end like this.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Quick to the action, with little build-up. I can see why this influenced many directors, and how it shaped things like X and Cabin in the Woods. Great gore-filled scare.
Wakanda Forever
Way too long but, it was fun to see all the sea battles and weird Namor shit.
Hilarious. I want a cheeseburger so bad now.
It’s Hard Being a Man
Mostly watched this because I wanted to see what post-war Japanese comedy was about. The over-the-top Tora san could’ve been an anime guy for how big his performance was.
Beast
A lion revenge film where the lion is the protagonist. Anti-poachers need cooler names. I’m still surprised they never ended-up in the lookout tower.