STAND BY ME: B-
A dark movie about children based on a story by Stephen King and directed by competent but indistinct Rob Reiner. Re-watching it, I see all the same problems. The portraits of adult characters are especially risible. Still, it works as piece of nostalgia with equal servings of sweet and sour. Even works as NRA promotion with kids. Gun does save the day.
STAR TREK: D+
Finally watched it or tried to. I got through about 15 min while fast-forwarding and skipping. Absolutely terrible.
PREDESTINATION: A-
A fascinating Trankenstein(Tranny-Frankenstein) movie with amazing serpentine plot loops. Even more amazing is how the story makes us care for these 'characters' on the human level despite the utter perversity of the circumstances within which they are simultaneously trapped and free. To know more is to be freer, but in knowing more comes the realization that we can't escape our fate. It's like the sense one gets when rising up in the air. A sense of liberation but also the realization of the world as a structured maze.
HOOP DREAMS: A-
Works on several levels. Cinderella story of inner-city black youths from troubled families striving to prove themselves. Sobering tale of the pursuit of athletic stardom as akin to lottery. Social document of a depressed black community and its ambiguous relation to whites who, despite their separateness, cscout for black prowess in athletics. Mostly balanced with no obvious heroes or villains, but we can't help notice a kind of Unintended Injustice borne of mass delusion and profiteering. Blacks, old and young, childishly look to sports stardom as core culture, and white agents & coaches scramble to recruit blacks as cash prize. Also, there is the paradox of race relations in the US, i.e. why and how whites are both repulsed and attracted to black athletic superiority. On the one hand, black muscularity can intimidate or attack weaker whites, leading to white flight. But universal sports-obsession as the main expression of globo-Americanism means even whites in fear of black muscle will seek out black 'heroes' to represent their institutions.
FAHRENHEIT 9/11: C+
Michael Moore connects a lot of dots but also makes a lot of cheap shots. And those in the Dissident Right community know all too well that Moore, like the Neocons he despises, refused to discuss the JQ as the key to why the Iraq War happened.
CONTACT: C+
Sci-fi with a fascinating premise and above-average intelligence treatment, which isn't saying much. There are some fine moments, but Christo-Nazi-as-evil-incarnate is a Jewish dirty trick, and the movie is even more insufferable as propaganda for the Clinton Cult. A story about the search for truth should never get too close to politicians.
OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE: C+
A stupid ridiculous movie, but it always makes me laugh. I especially love the airport scene where the pair pretend to be Czech sisters looking for papa.
GENERATION WEALTH: C
Mostly Jewish BS. Yes, wealth and narcissism are out of control, but the REAL danger is not conspicuous consumption but the tribal nature of our current elites. After all, powerful elites who spend frugally can be just as dangerous as the ones who splurge on gold necklaces and yachts. Mere piggery didn't lead to Iraq War, destruction of Syria, and new 'cold war' with Russia. But, the Jewess who made this movie mostly focuses on a handful of grotesque goyim and keep featuring Donald Trump as a special embodiment of ugly capitalism. Yes, Trump is a crass boor of a sick culture spiraling into the abyss, but if he is such an exemplar of globalist greed and power, why do the elites hate him so? Isn't it because he addressed certain populist concerns during the campaign? But don't expect the hideous Jewess who made this movie to ask such questions.
FIGHT CLUB: B+
Seeing it again, yes, it's bold and brilliant. But also ugly and demented. Some say this is a fascist work, but I just see anarcho-maschismo. I admire the film-making but loathe the film.
LOVING PABLO: B+
A fun movie about how a Latin bimbo's life became enmeshed with the ups and downs of one of the most notorious globo-gangsters of the 20th century. The plotting is by the book, and the performances, though good all around, seem rather routine.
Though surely not intended as such, it could serve as an allegory of what really rules the world, America included: Gangterism. After all, even though the world-wide Deep State brought Escobar down, it employs gangsterism of its own to bring entire nations down and economically loot others. At this point, who can deny that that the US is essentially the Prize Bull of the Jewish Mafia, a bunch of outlaws with all the lawyers?
OPEN YOUR EYES: A-
The movie that inspired VANILLA SKY is immeasurably superior. It makes us wonder if the primary purpose of eyes is to look at faces. Eyes are to the face what the penis is to the vagina, the difference being both male and female have the penetrating gaze that would rather remain on the surface.
GOTTI: B-
Less good than LOVING PABLO but an entertaining movie about famed mafia boss John Gotti, the Teflon Don. Travolta isn't very convincing as a cruel heartless bastard but does a creditable enough job. Fun but forgettable. One depressing realization from watching the latest slew of gangster movies is how much the culture has become accustomed to criminality as the New Normal. Gone is the element of shock and outrage that such figures could get away with so much repugnance in a society that takes pride in the rule of law. I suppose TV shows like SOPRANOS and BREAKING BAD helped some. Week in and week out, watching sicko crooks as America's Family.
SAMSARA: B+
Follow-up to BARAKA. Pictorialism at its best, but as a collection of the most beautiful or striking images, pictorialism invariably fails to convey a deeper sense of truth.
LEAVE NO TRACE: ?
I'll have to see this again. It left no trace or impression on me memory. I think it was an arty horror like what Shyamalan did with THE VILLAGE, which I liked.
WIZARD OF LIES: B
Comparable in style and result to Barry Levinson's other biopic, PATERNO. Good work all around but no surprises. As it dwells mainly on Madoff's family problems, it ends up rather humanizing him.
WILD AT HEART: C+
Maybe one day I'll see the whole thing. Watched about first 30 min and the last 15 min. Miserable work, maybe Lynch's worst other than the dreadful DUNE.
LUCAS: C+
Corey Haim teenager movie that came out around the time of STAND BY ME. I recall Roger Ebert gushed about it to Gene Siskel's amusement. It has a blend of sweetness and sourness(also found in STAND BY ME), but ultimately, its main character is less eccentric than irritating. We are supposed to feel sorry for him, but I didn't care.
THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS: B
A mostly straightforward documentary about a most interesting case of triplets (re)discovering each other and pondering the 'dark' forces that separated them in the first place. (Maybe ANNA TO THE INFINITE POWER is less sci-fi than we think.) It could have been a great work in the hands of someone with greater curiosity and philosophical query. If the story is relevant to us(most of whom are not twins or triplets), it's the sense that the reality that we take for granted is merely the tip of the iceberg. And our freedom is that of mice in a maze.
