Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023) - Movie Review

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse changed the modern animation industry to the point where, when looking at the whole thing historically, you could reasonably split the timeline into pre- and post-Spider-Verse. It represented an approach to animation where anything and everything was permitted and encouraged, leading to many others that would take cues from its eclectic and chaotic visual style (The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, Entergalactic, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, just to name a few), and for an IP with many different media iterations already, it still managed to stand as one of if not the best yet.

Nope (2022) - Movie Review

One of the more oft-repeated phrases about the nature of comedy is that it is more-or-less a matter of ‘tragedy + time’. After enough time has passed since an awful event, that is when it is possible to see the more humourous side of something that, in the moment, would’ve been too shocking to exhume such mirth from. But I’m not sure that is really the case, at least nowadays. We collectively have so much access to visual and auditory information, and have subsequently learnt to digest it at such a rate, that we have surpassed the idea that the passing of time has anything to do with the ability to make light of tragic events. I first got that impression when I heard my first joke about Michael Jackson’s death, which was on the same day it broke the news cycle; unless the bracket of time is measured in mere minutes or hours, that doesn’t appear to be accurate anymore.

Instead, I’d argue that it’s a matter of distance rather than time. Temporal distance can be a part of that, sure, but as far as turning something horrible into the kind of material that someone would willingly indulge in, it can be a cinch when there’s enough distance between the subject and the observer. If it happened to a stranger, or someone you know more by reputation than through any personal contact, making light of it is far easier to do than if, say, it happened to someone you know more personally or, more pointedly, if it happened to you.

Now, why am I bringing this up when talking about this film in particular? Am I making the same mistake that the Golden Globes made back in 2017? Well, hopefully not. Rather, I’m getting into this for two other reasons. One, because whenever I get to discussing Peele’s films, my writing turns out a lot denser than usual, so I’m just setting the tone as best I can. And two, because what truly makes this film horrifying is in how it examines that subject/observer relationship, both when it comes to our entertainment and our everyday lives.

Queen & Slim (2020) - Movie Review

I feel like I haven’t given the medium of music videos its fair due in these reviews. Yeah, I stick by my labelling of editing-and-soundtrack-reliant horror as ‘music video horror’, and I’ve covered quite a few filmmakers trying to transition from the playlists to the big screen, but I don’t want any of that to take away from the medium’s place as a genuine art form. Hell, some of the biggest heavy-hitters in cinematic history got started with music videos; names like David Fincher and Spike Jonze owe a lot of their aesthetic to where they started. I bring all this up because this film, the feature debut of Melina Matsoukas, might be one of the most successful transitions between media I’ve covered on here.

Widows (2018) - Movie Review

The phrase "honour amongst thieves" pretty much serves as the underlying mood behind most if not all heist films. Most of their main drive comes portraying thievery as a competitive sport. And with the placement in the realms of sport comes the preceding fixation on technical skills and strategy, with all the intensive choreography and smooth-as-butter timing that goes with it. There’s also an underlying aspect of revenge, or at the very least retribution, attached to a lot of them, with the heist being the means to get even with someone who doesn’t play fair.

Get Out (2017) - Movie Review

This is one of the highest-rated films of the last few years, hyped beyond all rational limits, to the point where any showing of dissent and differing opinion is met with vitriolic overreaction. Yeah, Armond White acted like an entitled douchebag in response to criticism of his own criticism, but that was in response to people losing their minds because the guy they all expected to think differently than them on what they love did exactly that. Hell, I’m actually thankful for his negative opinion because I can’t be the only one who is somewhat confronted whenever I see 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes; it makes me feel like I’m being pressured into liking something, and the reactions to White’s comments only solidify that fear.

 

You might be wondering why I’m even bothering to address any of this. Well, since it seems to be a yearly tradition that there’s at least one film that generates just plain stupid behaviour from moviegoers, I figure it was at least worth mentioning. That, and it should bring some levity to what is ultimately a very, very confronting feature.