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The $100,000 Chipmunk: An Autopsy of Diamond Smuggling at Sixforks
Was reminded of this by a friend and so I decided to kick off my four day weekend with it. I originally saw this film at Sixforks Theater in Raleigh, NC when I was seven years old. Sixforks was less than a year old at the time and with six screens represented the encroachment of…
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Leftist Roots, Right-Wing Boots: The Political Tug-of-War of Skinflint
In 1979 the urban cowboy/countrypolitan scene is at the peak of its cultural power. Hee Haw is so fucking big that it gets a spinoff. No shit, there was a Hee Haw spinoff. Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Glen Campbell are global stars. The country music culture scene is essentially at war with itself. Outlaw…
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Crisis as Condition: FAILED STATE and the Pfizer billboard at the end of the world
Within the first three minutes or so of FAILED STATE the subject, a charismatic, impoverished New York City messenger named Dale, walks past a massive street level billboard. It’s bursting with color, bright hues of blue and purple and reads “Science Will Win.” Beneath the bold statement sits a company name, Pfizer. This happens nearly…
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Night Eyes, Day Dreams: How Andrew Stevens Turned His Mother into the Eternal Softcore Muse
One of my most anticipated films of the year! While I may have spent quite a bit of time recently exploring hardcore cinema my deepest love remains the softcore erotic thrillers and dramas of the 1980s and 1990s. Craven capitalist exercises that existed because of the combination of the rise of the video rental market,…
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The Conjuring Last Rites’ Hidden Heart: Palatable Conservatism In Mainstream Film
Something’s that’s often difficult for the self-identified progressive or liberal to accept is when they connect with art that is fundamentally conservative in its moral framework and worldview. It generally doesn’t happen with film that outwardly promotes itself as conservative because it either takes a sneeringly didactic approach to distilling its world view (SOUND OF…
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Loud Dad, Ugly World: Zach Cregger’s Hollow Misanthropy in Weapons
An untempered sludge replete with right-wing conspiratorial imagery, dumped into a script that positions itself as offering commentary. Josh Brolin’s LOUD DAD™️ is particularly obnoxious because he seems to be right about most things. The film paints him with a sympathetic beyond simply his child being missing. Gay Asian Elementary School principal never drew a…
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Tori Welles’ The Chameleon: Shape-Shifting Desire and the Ache of Identity
Who are we when desire starts? When desire fades?Beneath what we want is what and who we need. I recently watched Paul Thomas’s Out For Blood as part of the annual 100 Horror Movies in 92 Days Challenge. When I did my sensory reaction to Tori Welles was nothing short of overwhelming. The tone of…
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Hyapatia Lee’s The Landlady: Gothic Desire and Dread
To folks who regularly follow my Letterboxd for any kind of meaningful media perspectives; sorry, I’m prone to getting caught in a rut. The current rut? Hyapatia Lee films directed by Paul Thomas. Both originally were “theater kids” in college and worked in musical theater before moving to the adult film industry their instincts together,…
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Flickering Lights: The Generation X Quest for Romance in Career Opportunities
Surprised I somehow made it to 45 without having seen this considering that films written or directed by John Hughes are seminal texts for Generation X but here I am. This feels like a forerunner to films of the 90s about young men adrift. I can see in its bones Billy Madison’s lethargy and dreaminess.…
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Kayden Kross’ DRIVE is a Liminal Odyssey of Desire and Dread
My god, I loved this. It’s hard to quantify how much I love this but I’ll definitely say this is one of my favorite “new to me” watches of the year. For those close to me with some knowledge of my tastes my two nearest reference points for films this reminded me of are Animal…