Movies Make Me NOT Want to Be Dead

11.18.18 (SHORT FILM SUNDAY!)

Double King (2017) dir. Felix Colgrave

A king steals crowns from various other rulers.

Yeah that’s right I’m talking about short films on sundays because short films are how filmmakers get started so we gotta give them some love. This short is one of the most unique animated films from 2017 (honestly the only animated movies from 2017 that I loved were short films). Felix Colgrave’s character and production design is so stylistically out there and you can tell that he had a lot of fun just designing this movie. He even did the music himself, which is also fantastic and you should listen to the full tracks which are also on his Youtube channel. I’ve watched this short film more times than I can count and I never get tired of it. Felix Colgrave in my opinion is one of the most exciting filmmakers working in animation right now. Watch it now it’s on Youtube and it’s only 10 minutes so you have no excuse.

(IMDB says this is rated “TV-MA”, I’m guessing this is cuz it has like blood and tiddies)

11.17.18

Swiss Army Man (2016) dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.

Are you interested in gay romance between a man and a magical undead corpse with magic farts? If you’re not then you’re boring and I don’t want to talk to you. This movie is obviously unapologetically weird in it’s concept, but it sort of feels like the writers/directors took it as a challenge to make a geniunely moving film out of such a bizarre concept. When I first saw this movie I got the feeling that this film would inspire young filmmakers, making them realize that you can pretty much make a good movie about anything if you know what you’re doing. The aspects of this movie that on the surface seem immature also creatively work themselves into the themes of this movie. It’s not just weird for weirdness sake. I didn’t think farts would ever make me emotional but here we are thanks Daniels I hope you two keep making weird movies.

(Rated R for language and sexual material) Content Advisory

11.16.18

Let the Right One In (2008) dir. Tomas Alfredson

Eli is 12 years old. She’s been 12 for over 200 years and she just moved in next door.

A lot of people consider this to be the best vampire movie ever. I haven’t seen a lot of vampire movies so I’m not gonna pretend to be in any position to agree with that, but out of the ones that I’ve seen this is definitely my favorite. It’s slow paced while still managing to feel engaging and intense, the performances are great especially for children (this film spent a year in the audition process to find them). It’s a dark and unique love story/character study between a child who wants to be a monster and a child who wishes they weren’t. It’s practically a classic by now (it’s 10 years old I think that’s enough time to call something a classic) It’s scary and intense and wonderfully atmospheric and beautiful so fuckin check it out if you haven’t yet.

(Rated R for some bloody violence including disturbing images, brief nudity and language) Content Advisory

11.15.18

Burn After Reading (2008) dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Since a new Coen brothers movie is coming out I thought I’d post about one of their more underappreciated movies. Out of all of their movies I’ve seen, this is one that is the most darkly comedic up there with Fargo. I love the performances in this movie, especially Brad Pitt, who sadly doesn’t get interesting roles like this one very much, because when he gets a role that calls for it, he is a geniunely great actor. If you like dark comedies and anything else by the Coen brothers (although if you like the Coen brothers than you might have already seen this), then check this damng movie out.

(Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence) Content Advisory

11.14.18

Under the Skin (2013) dir. Jonathan Glazer

A seductive alien prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.

An alien protagonist calls for alien storytelling, and boy does this film feel fuckin’ alien. This film is unsetteling, disturbing, surreal, and I love it. The imagery and cinematography is wild and beautiful. I’m not a big fan of Scarlett Johannson and I don’t think she has much emotional range in terms of facial expressions, but her lack of expression works to this movie’s benefit (since she’s playing an alien). Most of all, this film would not be nearly as disturbingly effective if it weren’t for Mica Levi’s phenomenal score, which is one of my favorite movie scores and one of the best, creepiest scores for a horror movie. Not only does her music feel appropiately alien, but the over the course of the film, the score changes in tone in congruence with the main character’s growth when she begins to realize things about herself and the world. Some might find this movie boring and pretentious, but most should at least agree that it’s one of the more interestingly presented sci-horror movies in recent years. I love it and it’s great and it’s real fucked up and I love it. Watch it if you’re into that.

(Rated R for graphic nudity, sexual content, some violence and language) Content Advisory

11.13.18

Colossal (2016) dir. Nacho Vigalando

A woman discovers that severe catastrophic events are somehow connected to the mental breakdown from which she’s suffering.

This movie is pretty original and an unexpectedly uses it’s strange concept to tell a story about abusive relationships and toxic personalities stemming from insecurity. I was not expecting this movie to get as real as it did, since judging from the trailer it seemd like it would be a kinda fun but mostly forgettable goofy comedy but it is so much more than that. The story takes a lot of turns very early on in the movie so I would recommend not looking up too much about this movie if you wanna get the intended effect. Some may find it difficult to watch if you’re someone who has dealt with abusive people in the past, but this isn’t a movie that goes overboard with it’s dark content and it doesn’t have a negative or depressing message. Watch it it’s good.

(Rated R for Language) Content Advisory

11.12.18

Anomalisa (2015) dir. Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman

A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.

If you want an animated movie for adults that isn’t full of crude frat boy humor, but one that tells a relatively serious adult story in a subtle way that could’ve only been done visually in animation, then um maybe watch this movie cuz it’s really great. The characters may seem uncanny to some, but the first time I saw this movie there was a good 10-20 minute chunk where I seriously forgot I was looking at puppets. The animation, while realistic, never attempts to hide the fact that it’s animation, and the fact that this film is stop-motion is cleverly used as a visual metaphor at several points. There are a lot of great details in both the animation and voice acting, and the story has a lot to say about how some people deal with loneliness and isolation, and the dangers of idealizing people as a means to fuel your own happiness. It may not be for everyone but if you want to watch an animated movie that stands out from others than watch this one cuz um it’s really good and I like it a lot.

(Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language) Content Advisory