I have been meaning to make this post for three months, but I stand by the premise. If at all possible, go watch these three movies on a big screen with a big speaker and some overly-salty junk food. I promise you, it's how they should be watched.
Black Panther
You thought the three-month comment was a joke, huh? Nope, I've been meaning to write about the awe-inspiring Black Panther movie since I watched it. So much has been written about it now, much of it really beautifully complex, and all of it by people smarter than me, so go read all those thinkpieces about Killmonger and T'Chaka and Wakanda's places in narrative and morality. Gosh, this was a stunning movie: the sumptuousness of the colors and the soundtrack, the compelling characters, the way it navigated through real-world consequences and history without feeling a need to blame or console the characters or the audience for being complicit. A truly masterful work.
Tomb Raider
I'm a huge fan of the popcorn-chomping joyride that is the 2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie. I don't feel any particular loyalty to it, though I do think it does a better job having, oh I don't know, fun with itself. This is, like most recent reboots, a bit more serious. It is a helluva adrenaline rush, though, for all its attempts to be critical and dour. Wave after wave of adventure, it just keeps going and going and you're as exhausted as she is by the time the climax hits. It must have been so taxing and so much fun to shoot. From the bike chase through my favorite city in the world (London) to the race for her life from both hitmen and the elements, make sure you have coffee so you can keep up with Lara.
Annihilation
Quite frankly, I did not expect to be so completely captivated and mindfucked by this movie. But, oh, I absolutely was. By the time the climax came, my mind was already so overwhelmed and full of new concepts and sights that I couldn't quite process it. I've made a note to read the book but I hear, as always, the book is so different. I love me some suspense-horror that makes you see things in a completely new light, especially when the horror is half psychological and all metaphorical, so I think I'll have enough room to enjoy both sides of the story. This film made my heart stutter over the beauty in terrifying things (the way they chose to represent what happens to decaying human bodies in the other realm is, honestly, a stroke of artistic genius). The scene that sticks with me most is literally the voice of human pain in the mouth of nature's sickness, and it is followed by a soft, delicate statement of human resolution through embracing vulnerability with the opposite pattern: nature's beauty growing out of a human's pain. The visual metaphors had my head spinning.
Comments
Post a Comment