Diary of a Spectator: Movie Reviews
  • Home
  • About

Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” Defines Apocalyptic Anxiety for Post-Trump America in a COVID-Era World. No Nuance Needed.

12/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
DON'T LOOK UP (L to R) JENNIFER LAWRENCE as KATE DIBIASKY, LEONARDO DICAPRIO as DR. RANDALL MINDY. Credit: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX ©
Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) begins her morning like any other. She makes a cup of tea, curses at herself as she prepares her jam and toast, pops in her earbuds, and plants herself in the observatory at Michigan State. But as she looks out at the stars, she notices something strange, out of place, and beautiful: a comet, fierce and fiery, making its way across the solar system. For a brief moment, Kate experiences the joy of genuine discovery. She’s soon joined in the observatory by her fellow PhD candidates and their mentor, astronomy professor Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio). But after conducting a few calculations, Kate and Randall come to a stomach-churning realization about the comet. ​

Read More
0 Comments

In the Style of Teen Classics Like “The Breakfast Club” and “Dead Poets Society,” Daigo Matsui’s “Remain in Twilight” Appeals to Our Restless Youthful Spirits With Wit and Sincerity [Fantasia International Film Festival]

12/6/2021

0 Comments

 
Originally published on Elements of Madness.
Picture
Picture
L-R: Kisetsu Fujiwara as Tajima, Ryûya Wakaba as Akashi, Ryô Narita as Yoshio, Kengo Kôra as Fujita, Kenta Hamano as Sogawa, and Rikki Metsugi as Mizushima in REMAIN IN TWILIGHT.
It’s not every day we get the chance to chat with a loved one who has passed on. Skeptics would say that we never get that opportunity. If you’ve lost someone important to you, you’ve probably at least imagined having one last conversation with them, whether you believe in the afterlife or not. Imagining that conversation can provide a sense of comfort and closure that unexpected death does not grant us. But if you did get the chance to spend a day with someone you’ve lost, would it really be enough time to get the closure you need? Writer/director Daigo Matsui builds an elaborate fantasy based on that very question in his latest feature film, Remain in Twilight, which screened at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival. Based on Matsui’s play of the same name, the film provides a funny, sincere, and powerful take on grief and mortality.

Read More
0 Comments
    ​​"Our embodied spectator, possibly perverse in her fantasies and diverse in her experience, possesses agency...finally, she must now be held accountable for it." 
    -Michele Aaron

    Categories

    All
    Action / Adventure
    Activism
    Adaptations
    Amazon Originals
    Animated
    Comedy
    Crime / Mafia
    Directorial Debuts
    Disney
    Documentary
    Drama
    Elements Of Madness
    Fantasia International Film Festival 2020
    Fantasia International Film Festival 2021
    Five Star Reviews
    Five-Star Reviews
    Foreign Language Films
    Girl Power
    HBO Max
    Historical/ Based On A True Story/ Biopic
    Home Release
    Horror
    Hulu
    Kids / Family Movies
    LGBTQ+
    Mental Health Issues
    Musical
    Mystery / Spy
    Noir
    Paranormal
    Period Movies
    Religious Trauma / Issues
    Romance
    Sci-Fi / Fantasy
    Short Films
    Shudder
    SXSW 2021
    SXSW Film Festival
    Teen Movie
    Thriller / Suspense
    TV Reviews
    Western

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020

Home
About
  • Home
  • About