Activist & Political · Essays · SF & Fantasy
As the story progresses, we realize that nothing could have changed the outcome. The resistance will be used as the justification for the slaughter. Yet even had they never resisted,[…]
Of all the visual art forms, film is the most improvisational, requiring the most thorough collection of spare pieces. In order for a film to work its magic, it must[…]
Dystopia · SF & Fantasy · TV series
The first-generation system relied on total, complicit violence, where everyone had to stain their hands with blood to become an accomplice to the state’s crime. In The Testaments, we see[…]
And so we arrive at the hollow world. Not merely the subterranean kingdom of Kong and Godzilla but the cultural landscape of global capitalism itself: a world filled with endless[…]
Historical & Epic · Myth and Archetype · SF & Fantasy · War
The two fundamental concepts of Homer’s world – xenia, the generous hospitality owed to strangers as Zeus’s law; and nostos, the longing for home – converge with mētis in Nolan’s[…]
There’s a different, far more potent layer to this film; one actually relevant to most, if not all, people watching. It hinges on a question Caleb asks Ava’s creator after[…]
The world is human and non-human, anthropocentric and non-anthropomorphic, sometimes even misanthropic. Arguably, one of the greatest challenges that philosophy faces today lies in comprehending the world in which we[…]
Conspiracies · Drama · SF & Fantasy
Knowledge is no longer public – it is in the hands of private companies, access conditional, sharing selective. And like everything that is privatized, what belongs to everyone does not[…]
Drama · Essays · SF & Fantasy
Perhaps this is a fantasy. Perhaps this is the father as imagined, not as experienced. Perhaps this is what the students receive, and what the son never did. And so,[…]
Artificial Intelligence (AI) · Dystopia · SF & Fantasy
Fiery the angels fell; deep thunder rolled around their shores; burning with the fires of Orc. – Roy Batty, paraphrasing William Blake * * * Los Angeles, November, 2019 Dark[…]
Franchises & Series · LGBT & Queer · SF & Fantasy · Superheroes
Queerness and madness can be seen as dangers to the status quo, disruptive states that open up new possibilities. The question then is do you find this disruptiveness beguiling or[…]
Animation · Artificial Intelligence (AI) · Colonialism · Essays · Horror · SF & Fantasy
Ultimately, the comparison of human–ecology relationships in both The Martian and Scavengers Reign reveals two contrasting modes of becoming alien: The former envisions human survival as contingent on an anthropocentric[…]
One of the delights of running a film review website is being able to repost an article just because we feel like it. Admittedly, we have many to choose from[…]
Covid-19 · Disease and Epidemics · Men & Masculinity · Military and Paramilitary · Pandemic · SF & Fantasy
As a single-minded seismologist posted in Antarctica who predicts the disastrous DC quake, Yoshizumi embodies the willful blindness and debasement of humans in the Cold War era: like those who[…]
Psychology · Religion & Spirituality · SF & Fantasy
In the same way that reading Jung can provide insight into The Day the Earth Stood Still, it is also the case that watching the movie can illuminate aspects of[…]
AI · Asian · Philosophy · Revolution · SF & Fantasy
ABSTRACT Marx’s idea of species being is the recognition by humans that their work is carried out for the sake of other humans (rather than for any god or ruler).[…]
Crime · Drama · Sex & Relationships · SF & Fantasy
This leaves the provocateur director herself in her role as catalyst for the mayhem to follow as the ultimate filmic presence wreaking its influence on others. Assigned only the title[…]
Activist & Political · Class System · Crime · Essays · Franchises & Series · Myth and Archetype · Outsiders · Politics · SF & Fantasy · Societal Trends · Superheroes
If you want to make a popular blockbuster, it better be about the right kind of person – and the right kind of person isn’t a loser. A decade ago,[…]
Horror · Indies · Mental Illness · Sex & Relationships · SF & Fantasy
It is not that there is something wrong with Jodorowsky’s perseveration on sex and violence per se; it is that he is not saying anything about it. It is an[…]
Exploitation & Erotica · Mondo Culture · SF & Fantasy · Superheroes · Thrillers & Action
Turkish exploitation movies are one of the most elusive gold mines of film history. * * * Currently, no exclusive history of Turksploitation cinema exists in print. The most exhaustive[…]
