Babe: Pig in the City walked so Fury Road could run.
(Honestly, this is incredible. I can’t believe I’m barely discovering it.)
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A Bucket of Blood 1959
It’s hideous…and eloquent.
Not sure if there’s a quote that better captures the essence of Corman— a man with no fear and truly believed in the power of the motion picture. A Bucket of Blood feels like the treatise of Corman, what happens when art is reduced to commodification, to clout?
RIP to the Goat, Roger Corman.
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Jacob's Ladder 1990
Incredible how Lyne is able to make the already scuzzy streets of NYC feel more fiendish, Jacob’s descent and ascent feels so much more profound- excruciating at times, but profound nonetheless. The people of 1990 were not ready for this.
War may be hell, but the military-industrial complex is is its devil.
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 2024
The manipulation of legacy and the price of progress— it’s fascinating how this franchise still manages to evolve in a direction that is both compelling and worth exploring even after half a century. Kingdom is a patient movie, maybe at times too patient, to the degree where the first half feels a bit aimless— a consequence of jumping “many generations”. Possibly it’s biggest pitfall is that the truly juicy tension is established in the final minutes of the movie leaving me…
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Mad Max 1979
The birth of madness. A movie where the shoestring budget is an asset because every crash feels like calamity (for the character and the production itself).
But also, a strange movie. The whiplash of seeing the seeds of a road warrior being planted and then cut to Max spending quality time with his family is comically jarring, but I suppose it does make for a more effective ending.
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 1999
A movie that dared to be different and one that gets better with every passing year.
The pod racing scene is still the most visceral scene in all of Star Wars with possibly the greatest sound design of the 90s.
Duel of the Fates is a better and more compelling song than the actual Star Wars theme.
The duel between Maul and Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan has more fire in its choreography than any other live action duel in the Star Wars franchise.
A very good movie. Duel of the Fates in a theater is what I imagine heaven is like.
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Twilight 2008
We would be so lucky if YA adapted movies (hell, movies in general) had even an ounce of Twilight’s style or magnetism. I’m even more fascinated how the movie is shockingly faithful to the book (which is amateurish at best) but is still able to inject so much energy into the most mundane. Is it the perfect cast? The banger soundtrack? Hardwicke’s shot selection? The terrible wigs? The skin of a killer? Alice?
I have no idea, I just know this movie rips.
(The answer is Alice. Always Alice). -