The conservative Youtube historian "the cynical historian" details the abundant errors of fact in the film, all of which lean the same way, which he attributes to 1960s media narratives. He, moreover, does not find it very funny. I disagree on the last count. As a conservative, he seems unlikely to downplay the historical inaccuracies. But if you watch it like Oliver Stone's JFK, as a movie rather than a mistaken account of history, it has plenty to offer. Note to the squeamish: it gets grisly, and the satire disappears, at the very end. The first five or ten minutes are a highlight, and will surely tell you if you want to keep going.
Reviews
53 Reviews
Triangle of Sadness
(2022)
dull attempted satire
19 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Almost nothing happened for the first hour or so, then some potentially interesting stuff happened (e.g., the appearance of the American Marxist and the Russian plutocrat). But the final message seemed to be that, while the rich may be annoying twerps, the lower orders of society are extortionists and murderers. Was that the point? Were the rich supposed to have driven the serving class to murder? Is the message simply that "everyone is awful"? These questions are not framed in an engaging way. A lot of attention was granted to visual detail, but little or no point to the careful craftsmanship seemed evident. This attempted satire, evidently so subtle that I couldn't even find where it was supposed to be, is about the opposite of "Don't Look Up," which hits the audience over the head with its message.
Debating the Alt-Right
(2017 Video)
master class in satirical synthesis
6 September 2021
This is readily available as a transcript, but the video -- requiring a little deep internet digging -- is worth the effort of finding. Natalie plays four distinct characters, each well. The "satirical" comments section/scroll at the bottom of the screen is disgustingly representative of the genuine article, so more genteel viewers may want to look away.
Aftermath
(IV) (2021)
works best at the meta level
16 August 2021
I mildly enjoyed this in retrospect when thinking about the attempts at misdirection. It is sort of fun to compare to other film that tried to, as it were, utterly fool the audience, but by conventional standards I would have to say it lands with quite the THUD.
Alt-Right: Age of Rage
(2018)
meandering but good as an overview
2 August 2021
The narrative line in this documentary takes and long time to emerge, and remains thin and often recedes. But it covers the broad ground such an overview-style doc should -- one appropriate to newcomers to the subject. Richard Spencer certainly embraces the "give 'em enough rope and they'll hang themselves" chance he was given, though that impression may result from deceptively careful editing. The comments from balaclava-wearing Antifa members are understated but worth a rewind.
I Care a Lot
(2020)
like "There Will Be Blood," but with entertainment
7 June 2021
Most of this one has the flavor of an exploitation/revenge thriller, only classier. Things are kicked up a notch at the end, about which Marxist theorists would have things to say. The sleaze factor would have been minimized with more technical details or the semblance thereof (e.g., on gaming the legal system). The ideal audience would seem to be those with a high tolerance for ambiguity.
.
.
Spiral
(2021)
uneven, but it comes together at the end
3 June 2021
Despite the hiccups along the way, the not-entirely on the nose references to the first Saw brought things together. It looked to be on the path to a topical quasi-exploitation revenge thriller, but it shifted toward a more conventional (symbolic or poetic, relatively speaking) concluding note -- with the aid of those throwbacks .
Death at a Funeral
(2010)
not so bad (people are overreacting with all the 1/10 reviews)
25 May 2021
It is, indeed, odd that Chris Rock plays the straight man and the white guy is the funny man, but this one would still have to be slightly above average for a mainstream comedy. Regina Hall is likeable and pretty funny. The massive cast may be mostly wasted, but not entirely so. They got an annoying actor (Martin Lawrence) to play the annoying character. When Danny Glover says his catch phrase, it is more appropriate than all the other times he said it.
Free Lunch Express
(2020)
the only one-star movie worth seeing
23 May 2021
As an attempted satire, this is definitely so bad it's good -- or perhaps a primo drinking game (but stick with light or American beer for health reasons). It is so incompetent, so dishonest, so transparently revealing of its biases, it provokes more guffawing and snorting than offense. The appearance of Hillary Clinton is a highlight. Since the Washington Post published 16 negative stories on Sanders in 16 hours (in 2016), this sort of thing seems like softball.
I Origins
(2014)
are we supposed to derive satisfaction from psychoanalyzing the protagonist?
20 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Beyond the mystical pseudo-science (which need not be bad if the rest of the story is okay), this is the plot: man ignores wife, fawns over another woman; the wife dies; man marries the other woman then ignores her and obsesses over dead wife.
War Machine
(2017)
rare achievement: comedy that is funny all the way through
13 May 2021
The average good comedy has about 30 minutes of humorous material. This one surprised by not falling apart in the second half. The strong start sort of implies that it is modeling itself on "Dr. Strangelove," but I think the more modest scope works to its advantage. A lot of viewers seem to think Pitt was miscast. I thought he was good, if perhaps not perfectly cast in the lead role lacking his standard flamboyance.
68 Kill
(2017)
polished exploitation
12 May 2021
If you think the problem with Rob Zombie movies is not the sadism but the sloppy plotting, you should check this one out. It is well-paced and generally well-crafted. There is a class-based interpretation that is probably condescending, though I'm trying to avoid thinking about it. You could also try to find it "satirical," but it won't be easy.
A Dark Song
(2016)
ride that FF button: almost ruined by one of the two characters
12 May 2021
Every time the male lead started screaming obnoxiously, I skipped ahead. Reading the other reviews, I suppose the author's intent may have been to contrast the lead character's dishonesty with his abusiveness. But, to me, he was the definition of unwatchable. On a completely different note, the ending may not sound like it would work on the page. But I thought it worked on the screen.
Confinement
(2016)
slow but decent
12 May 2021
Like a found footage flick, this one benefits from its shortcomings by focusing on what is available without a big budget. Most of the good parts are at the end, but the first half was not utterly devoid of interest. The commentary on social media, tech, and video games was perhaps a bit on the nose, but it created an effective sense of isolation -- of an almost "empty world" -- pretty well.
John Dies at the End
(2012)
awesome, if you like weirdness
7 May 2021
This one is reminiscent of a movie made up entirely of Shyamalan movie twists. On second viewing, I almost spotted traces of a three-act structure -- but only because I was really looking. If you expect to be disoriented the first time, you will probably enjoy it more.
Followed
(II) (2018)
decent effort, poor sound quality
25 April 2021
The music is occasionally mixed louder than the dialogue in this one, which may present a problem (with headphones in particular). Other than that, the film made a decent attempt to establish characters, pace things out adequately, maintain tension, and deliver a conclusion. No feature was great, but none was bad either.
Fubar
(2018)
Very Bad British Things
14 April 2021
The writers seem to be fans of "Very Bad Things," which is a very bad movie. This one is somewhat similarly mean-spirited, but in a classy British way. It was good on the character side and had some decent plot twists. Some of the good jokes are subtle, requiring close attention. Others, though, are not subtle at all -- and more delicate viewers might regret having seen. It seems to have many titles. The one I saw was "Game Over."
Auteur
(2014)
Amateur Auteur
12 April 2021
Does it require skill to fill 75 minutes with almost no content? Something does happen eventually, but it smacks of a tv short story (e.g., a supernatural episode of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits"). In fairness, there is nothing particularly dumb or offensive, but nothing good either.
Useless Humans
(2020)
skillful comedy with horror/sci-fi trappings
8 April 2021
The characters are introduced in an amusingly effortless way, making it easy to follow what was going on, just as as a comedy should. Why all this appears with horror/sci-fi trappings is a little odd, but I say -- don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
The Rezort
(2015)
must love cheese...
7 April 2021
There are about five really good minutes of social commentary toward the end of this one. But the rest is pretty cheesy. If you can't take the cheese to get to the good part, then it is not worthwhile. If you love cheesy zombie movies, then you will find it awesome.
The Widow
(2020)
Russian riff on "Blair Witch": good pacing....
30 March 2021
Something at least remotely interesting happened every five minutes. There are lots of ideas too, though they don't fully gel -- like a mini-series distilled to its best bits. I saw a dubbed version, and in this form, the dialogue was a little sub-par (e.g., characters blurting out the obvious). The ending was the highlight, so skip ahead if you must.
Villains
(I) (2019)
the first half is pretty good
27 March 2021
The premise runs thin once the full scenario is explained, at which point skipping to the end seems optimal. The satirical punch, so to speak, was more of a swirling wind -- that is, rather poorly focused, but at least the good parts were all together.
Tell Your Friends