As the title states, here is yet another zombie film even as we are working through the South Korean series Kingdom. Happily this one hearkens back to the original meaning of the word before it was commercialized by American films. Though framed as a fictional story set both in Haiti in the past and present day France, I feel that it is works better like a documentary that is meant to introduce to us voodoo and that entire aspect of Haitian culture.

This film as well as the book it is based on are both frequent subjects of study with the book in particular being banned in many places. Incredibly while countries in the Soviet block were upset at its depiction of anti-Semitism in Poland, Western countries were upset as well, seeing in it an attempt to absolve Catholics of some of the guilt of the Holocaust. In any case, while I was somewhat puzzled at first about how this film is actually composed of two entirely separate stories, I eventually came to appreciate how each part complements the other and it certainly lives up to its reputation as one of the world’s great film.

We’ve watched almost every Wes Anderson film by now, but not this one. This was his second film and the one that received enough critical attention to establish his career. It was also his first collaboration with Bill Murray and of course we know how that went. Anderson was only 29 years old when he made this so it is remarkable that the essentials of his signature style are all already present here. His newer films can boast of bigger budgets and more polish, but I find that I really enjoyed the restraint and lower stakes in this one.

This is purportedly a science-fiction film in English by a French production team led by director Claire Denis. I say purportedly because Denis has no background in science-fiction and it seems clear that she’s not about to start here. The setting is a mere backdrop for the same kind of sexually-charged psychological horror that the director habitually indulges in. I’m irked by how little respect is accorded to the practical and technical details of the space mission and also very disturbed by the implied reasons for why the main character survives.

This is too important a documentary to skip over so here it is despite my own misgivings about its shallowness in some ways and how it looks and feels over-produced and over-dramatized to grab your attention in the exact same way that the social media it criticizes does. Like everyone says, the centrality of social media in today’s society makes this a near mandatory film to watch even as I wish that it could have taken a more measured approach with a wider perspective and less breathless alarmism.

One of the consequences of a blockbuster driven Hollywood with its need for scale and large budgets, is that modern mainstream films now rarely have sex and nude scenes. There is now probably far more sex and nudity in television shows which seems kind of strange. This one is an erotic thriller back from when this wasn’t the case, added to my list because it is considered one of the best of its genre. Unfortunately while it has some steamy scenes, it is actually overall kind of tame in terms of sex and makes up for it by being an excellent thriller.

Everyone should know this as the landmark Chinese propaganda film from last year and amazingly it was also the highest grossing film worldwide of the year due to US cinemas being mostly shut down during the pandemic. This made it a much watch for me, patriotic bombast notwithstanding. Overall I found it to be an effective action film with fantastic production values. It is however highly exaggerated and from what I can tell somewhat ahistorical, though probably not out of malice.