The halls of the macabre grotesque are decked with plate glass views of the machinations of hell as you continue on to the pathos of heaven. Some can only stomach this film as a statement against eugenics, though it’s not exactly that. It’s more a warning against meddling with those who are best left alone […]
Read more "Freaks (1932)"When America goes to war in the modern era, the primary objectives are dubious at best. Amidst the popularity contest of a democracy, the story of brave soldiers dying in a foreign land to keep the populace safe is the basic presumed pretext for government and media unity regardless of political allegiance. Of course it’s […]
Read more "Apocalypse Now (1979)"You could call this lost gem of a classic film sentimental, but then what’s wrong with sentiment? You could call it naïve but when you recall the best times of your life they probably contained a fair amount of naiveté. It projects a world of morality, common decency and an infectious optimism in “defiance” of […]
Read more "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939)"Through a combination of luck, some talent, and an atypical level (for him) of applied artistic brilliance, the bozo who helped bring you the Resident Evil films and Mortal Kombat (1995) was also responsible, once upon a time, for a forgotten cult classic that ranks among some of the absolute best horrors not only of […]
Read more "Event Horizon (1997)"Moviegoers and critics have probably praised this as highly entertaining, thrilling, captivating, and maybe even “scary.” To some degree they’re probably right, but it’s also in large parts hacky bullshit, with a propensity to reduce the complexities of life to happy horseshit. If you’re confused, I’ll simplify to keep the word count down: happy horseshit noun. comforting illusions […]
Read more "It (2017)"If you were an honest critic who valued his time, you’d give this thing a rating of absolute zero. That’s negative four hundred and fifty nine and two third degrees Fahrenheit, and a fitting scale of measure for how bad it is because it’s the worst film of all time. No, really. It’s the absolute […]
Read more "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017)"We sometimes grow up from our fancies. From one view, Villa Amalia suggests a type of modern existence to be one big fancy, the one full of short term thrills put on repeat for a lifetime: fake relationships and meaningless careers that bring the money and the pain but no spiritual gain. From another, it’s […]
Read more "Villa Amalia (2009)"Hai Satan, it’s me, Lars. I got some issues with heartbrake and depression, can you fix me up some Jungian/Neitzschean remedies pls? Gonna do a quick mashup for the cinema/video people. K, bye. The attempt is good enough, and it’s a wild trip into the recesses of cult psychology, with poor old Freud trying to […]
Read more "Antichrist (2009)"As made by seminal giallo maestro Dario Argento, Suspiria will perhaps best be remembered for its unnerving, heart-stoppingly gruesome opening sequences, including one of the most logistically stunning set pieces in film history. But throughout, it’s a cinematic marvel of thematic aural and visual entanglement, defined de facto by the neon reds, blues and greens […]
Read more "Suspiria (1977)"If Star Trek is for prepubescent geeks in mom’s living room, and Star Wars is for the easily swayed teenage and adult-stuck-in-adolescence variety, then Videodrome is for nerds of a more refined kind, those who love the psychology and philosophy of mind and its allure to the beyond where true transcendence lay. Max Renn wants […]
Read more "Videodrome (1983)"
Future Consciousness 