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stillsostrangeI should just start logging movies like I do novels. I'll have to go back and see if I can figure out what number I'm on.
# 40: Youth Without Youth
Coppola's return to directing after 10 years. I've seen reviews calling this boring and incomprehensible. To that I would happily respond with a boot to the face to aid comprehension. This movie is fabulous. And fabulist. And fantastic, in both senses. It reminds me a lot of The Fountain, but I like this more. (Yes, for reasons having much to do with Tim Roth, I freely admit.)
However, the movie I like most is the movie this isn't. I love the meaning of life and reincarnation and consciousness and the origin of language as much as the next girl, but I really wanted this to be the story of Dominic the mage playing cat and mouse with the Nazis and turning hot Gestapo girls. I joked at the beginning that the moral was don't stick your dick in Gestapo, but then I totally fell for Alexandra Pirici's fabulously-dressed not-so-secret agent--if you're trying to fool anyone, maybe swastika garters are a bad idea--which I didn't with the real romantic interest. Bad girls continue to always be more interesting.
The movie this is is wonderful too, don't get me wrong. Except in one regard--the female characters, both Fräulein Swastika-Strumfbänder and Reincarnated True-love, have no agency of their own. FSS follows orders, falls in love and breaks them, and then dies. She doesn't even get a name. The True-love is a vessel for knowledge, a reward, and eventually a source for plot-related heartbreak. Can I articulate how much I despise both of those stereotypes? I don't think I can, but I bet you can guess. Here's a clue, writers and directors--you can have a story focus on a male character and not have the women around him be plot coupons. If you can't, I suggest you focus on an ascetic in a cave and not have any women around at all. Or maybe just go to your room and think about what you've done.
However, I want to be struck by lightning and start speaking Egyptian (r n km.t) right now! Having Tim Roth as my avatar would be fine too.
I think Pirici's character just crawled into my brain with all her luggage and cute hats, actually. Why do I keep having these ideas for historicals, damn it? (The answer is, of course, the fabulous costumes.) WWII spy-mages would be way too much fun.
I've also noticed a crazy amount of repeating imagery and themes in the past few movies I've watched--The Hulk, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Red Dwarf, and now this. Either I need to medicate, or the universe is trying to cram story into my brain with a cricket bat.
# 40: Youth Without Youth
Coppola's return to directing after 10 years. I've seen reviews calling this boring and incomprehensible. To that I would happily respond with a boot to the face to aid comprehension. This movie is fabulous. And fabulist. And fantastic, in both senses. It reminds me a lot of The Fountain, but I like this more. (Yes, for reasons having much to do with Tim Roth, I freely admit.)
However, the movie I like most is the movie this isn't. I love the meaning of life and reincarnation and consciousness and the origin of language as much as the next girl, but I really wanted this to be the story of Dominic the mage playing cat and mouse with the Nazis and turning hot Gestapo girls. I joked at the beginning that the moral was don't stick your dick in Gestapo, but then I totally fell for Alexandra Pirici's fabulously-dressed not-so-secret agent--if you're trying to fool anyone, maybe swastika garters are a bad idea--which I didn't with the real romantic interest. Bad girls continue to always be more interesting.
The movie this is is wonderful too, don't get me wrong. Except in one regard--the female characters, both Fräulein Swastika-Strumfbänder and Reincarnated True-love, have no agency of their own. FSS follows orders, falls in love and breaks them, and then dies. She doesn't even get a name. The True-love is a vessel for knowledge, a reward, and eventually a source for plot-related heartbreak. Can I articulate how much I despise both of those stereotypes? I don't think I can, but I bet you can guess. Here's a clue, writers and directors--you can have a story focus on a male character and not have the women around him be plot coupons. If you can't, I suggest you focus on an ascetic in a cave and not have any women around at all. Or maybe just go to your room and think about what you've done.
However, I want to be struck by lightning and start speaking Egyptian (r n km.t) right now! Having Tim Roth as my avatar would be fine too.
I think Pirici's character just crawled into my brain with all her luggage and cute hats, actually. Why do I keep having these ideas for historicals, damn it? (The answer is, of course, the fabulous costumes.) WWII spy-mages would be way too much fun.
I've also noticed a crazy amount of repeating imagery and themes in the past few movies I've watched--The Hulk, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Red Dwarf, and now this. Either I need to medicate, or the universe is trying to cram story into my brain with a cricket bat.
