Comfortable and Furious

Author: Alex K

  • Tokyo Sonato (2008)

    Tokyo Sonato (2008)

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    The creeping dread of a faltering global economy is likely to inspire a wave of films with themes of depression, loss, and vulnerability within developed nations. Punching holes in ideas of safety and permanence while all of our friends and neighbors lose jobs and businesses would seem to be a fairly easy target, and one…

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  • Goodbye Solo (2008)

    Goodbye Solo (2008)

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    In its own way, this film is perfect. From start to finish, the performances are flawless, not a moment is wasted, and the story ends just as it should. I would use the word masterpiece, but director Ramin Bahrani is only on his third feature, and given his work in Man Push Cart and Chop…

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  • Vagabond (1985)

    Vagabond (1985)

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    How does one conduct a character study of a complete void? The human soul is elusive enough when it has emotion, connection, and interacts with those who share its space. When that soul retreats deeply and sheds aspiration, joy, and intellectual craving, then a standard investigation into that marrow would be halting, and make for…

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  • The Exterminating Angel (1962)

    The Exterminating Angel (1962)

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    Luis Bunuel was obsessed with ritual and fetish, but he managed to harness them for his art; perhaps selecting embrace rather than denial is what saved him from self-destruction. Social conventions are part of the learned behaviors that members of a society use to relate to one another, but they can also become a languid…

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  • Watchmen (2009)

    Watchmen (2009)

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    Given the troubled production history and the reputation of Watchmen as unfilmable, it is remarkable that this ever came to the screen, and was able to reduce the expansive narrative into a digestible chunk. Though the comic book (‘Graphic novel’ is a stupid term – if there is nothing wrong with ‘comic book’ then there…

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  • The Dark Crystal (1982)

    The Dark Crystal (1982)

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    Leaping at the chance to ham it up alongside a rich cast of puppets cut from felt might seem like a strange choice, but anyone who witnessed the wit and irreverence of its stars could understand the appeal.

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  • Moon Tide (1942)

    Moon Tide (1942)

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    Jean Gabin made a career out of playing damaged characters with good intentions, making him a natural for noir.

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  • The Future is Wild

    The Future is Wild

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    Nature films represent a body of work very much under threat in a society that has come to see intellectual pursuits with utter contempt, if not outright vilification.

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  • Flow: For Love of Water

    Flow: For Love of Water

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    Regardless of your leanings regarding politics or economic theory, if you do not drink water, you will be dead within a few days.

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  • The Edge of Heaven (2007)

    The Edge of Heaven (2007)

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    Much as the quirky indie film has induced irreparable rot into independent cinema, the hyperlink movie has become the go-to framework for overwrought drama for auteurs lacking ingenuity in an increasingly sparse creative landscape. You see, in a hyperlink movie like Syriana or Babel, the world is a giant organic being and we are all,…

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