thegldt Reviews

Parasite (2019)

THIS. IS. SO. METAPHORICAL.

[10/10 · 28 September 2019]

'Parasite', this year's winner of the Cannes Film Festival's highest award, the Palme d'Or, is so many things - tiptoeing different genres, exploring themes of family, work, inequality, and the class divide - rolled into one thoroughly wild, exciting, hilarious, dark, tragic, and unpredictable film.

Honestly, I can only sum it up in the wise words spoken by one of the characters: THIS. IS. SO. METAPHORICAL.

Hustlers (2019)

Nostalgia Trip

[8/10 · 28 September 2019]

'Hustlers' is not as groundbreaking as festival critics set it out to be, but enjoyable nonetheless. Constance Wu may be the lead actress in 'Hustlers', but it's Jennifer Lopez who shines through (especially at 50 years of age).

The key issue about 'Hustlers' that's still being discussed is whether or not the movie condones the "Robin Hood-esque" actions/crimes perpetrated by this opportunistic group of ladies. I personally wasn't bothered by it. The film ultimately felt ambivalent to their crimes. (But I know there are critics who think the film doesn't do enough to rebuke their actions - considering events in this movie happened in real life.)

Caution: To those of us who grew up listening to the magnificent pop music of the 2007s, you will want to dance and sob and remember that amazing, care-free era of our lives. #NeverForget: "Gimme More", "Love In This Club", "Club Can't Handle Me", "Beautiful Girls", "Motivation" + more.

Ad Astra (2019)

Two distinct halves. But visually delicious throughout the journey.

[8/10 · 21 September 2019]

'Ad Astra' seemed like two distinct movies stitched together right down the middle. The first half is kinetic and action-filled as advertised in the trailers. The dizzying space fall, horror-esque SOS detour, and intense moon rover chase sequences, in particular, were equal parts heart-pounding and visually striking. I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle chase on the moon executed this viscerally before.

Everything switches gears in the midpoint when Brad Pitt's Roy McBride reaches the red planet. The film practically loses its exciting energy when it finally decides to focus on the main conflict of the story: Roy's relationship with his father (or the lack thereof). The film suddenly feels plaintive, ruminative, and lonely-especially against the backdrop of the vast emptiness of space.

To its credit, 'Ad Astra' maintains A+ cinematography and other-worldly imagery throughout its respectable two-hour runtime. If you allow me, I'd even compare this film's gorgeous and mystifying visuals to that of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' (*film grain included). It's a visual treat and Max Richter's hauntingly beautiful score is the icing on top of this cosmic cake.

Perhaps I would've enjoyed this more if it had just a little payoff on the extraterrestrial intelligence front, but that whole "search for alien life" aspect was not the point of this story-which really is (in contrast to the marketing) a dark and stoic expedition to strip apart complex father-son dynamics and question our definitions of masculinity (and where love, longing, and fragility fit in to the idea of a "man" or heroic figures).

Chernobyl (2019)

Bleak, Unsettling, Haunting All Throughout

[10/10 · 7 May 2019]

'Chernobyl' is scarier than most horror movies in that it is a dramatization of actual, real-life horror experienced by thousands of people on that fateful April 1986 morning and the years that followed. This disaster has haunted the nation, Europe, and the rest of mankind more than three decades later. And that creeping dread permeates the whole show. It's difficult to watch. But it certainly makes it a must-watch.

Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

More heart, more humor, less horror

[8/10 · 16 February 2019]

Happy Death Day 2U surprises with more heart and humor as it tones down the horror. Clever twists and legitimately laugh-out-loud sequences (*cue Paramore's Hard Times*) make this genre-bending sequel more enjoyable than the first.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

I've Been Sucked Into This Spider-Verse. And I Don't Want Out.

[10/10 · 18 December 2018]

"Another Spider-Man movie," you ask? Get excited as 'Spider-Verse' breathes new life into our familiar friendly neighborhood hero. It is slickly and gorgeously animated in a way I have never seen Western cinema attempt before. This is the closest we will get to a comic book coming to life.

For a movie jam-packed with main characters, they find a fun and extremely efficient way to introduce them all without getting too repetitive or too dumbed-down. Minimal expositional dialogue gives way to creative visual devices and recalls that are implemented so satisfyingly because they treat the audience like the smart people that we are.

If you are looking for humor (meta or slapstick), lessons on power and responsibility, shocking twists (for non-comic book readers), meaningful cameos, tear-jerking emotional scenes, action-packed sequences, then you are ready to swing into this universe. I, for one, am sucked into this Spider-Verse. And I don't want out.