This year was another Covid mess so a great time for watching movies and shows from a variety of streaming services. These are in no particular order, and this is just what I remember seeing this year! Some are linked to longer discussions, and I highlighted a few that are not
Continue readingTag: Films
A Puff of Absurdity: The One with the Apocalypse
I recently watched a few things, back to back, to distract me from the news. One was openly apocalyptical, as so much is these days. Is it a trend, or is the output the same, but I just never gravitated to it so much?? I’ve also noticed a rise in
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Art to Guide the Masses
Can sitcoms save the day? Back in the 80s, there was a very funny show about a detective agency, Moonlighting. It was a take on the classic enemies-to-lovers trope with a very prim and efficient Maddie Hayes up against the fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants David Addison. Of course the two fall in love. In
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Barbie
I saw Barbie, and it was fun, particularly for those of us who love a good choreographed dance number, life-size Barbie decor, and tons of costume changes and hairstyles. The details were amazing – how she moves and how she fits in her house and opens her closet. It’s very
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Maté: Part Depth Psychology, but Part Questionable Quick Fix
He received the Order of Canada, profoundly helped many people with addiction on the streets of Vancouver, and is much loved and admired, but some of Dr. Gabor Maté’s claims feel like they don’t hold water. And some claims might actually be dangerous if blindly accepted. I’ve encountered Maté in
Continue readingScripturient: Review 3: Godzilla Raids Again – 1955
The unexpected success of the original Gojira film led Toho to find a quick and cheap way to cash in on the popularity. And within six months, they released the second Godzilla film: Godzilla Raids Again (aka Godzilla’s Counterattack). Since most of the previous film’s crew were already working on
Continue readingScripturient: Reviewing Godzilla Films
To pass the time doing two things I enjoy — writing and watching Godzilla films (and, yes… reading books about Godzilla films…) — I thought I would watch each Godzilla film in order, one per week, starting with the 1954 original, and write a synopsis/review of each one, trying to
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: The Whale and Love
I used to write about films a lot, and then I just stopped. But for the first time in a long time, I’m compelled to say something about a film, mainly because so many reviews I read or watched seemed to get it all wrong. I have to wait for
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Films of 2022: Quick Single Line Comments
Some quick one-liners (synopsis and/or reviews) on the films and shows memorable enough to remember seeing this year. These are in no particular order, and I’m missing many of them: Good Luck to You Leo Grande – It’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape 40 years later. It was okay. Tar –
Continue readingScripturient: Books for the Kaiju Aficionado
With possibly two new Godzilla films coming to theatres in 2023*, it may be time to refresh your memory and appreciation of the previous films in the franchise. And what better way to do it than with a brand-new book about them? And perhaps re-reading some of the content in
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Cuties, Euphoria, and Promising Young Woman
My social media feed is full of political scandals that I have no ability to affect, so I’ve immersed myself in movies and shows. Bechdel test for the win for this trio! Film both reflects and affects society, like all forms of art but even more than most as it’s
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Planet of the Humans Review
So I just noticed I’m getting a lot of traffic for a post I wrote 8 months ago that advertised the release. Back then I wrote about some concerns with the film. I actually watched the film on Tuesday, Earth Day’s eve. It’s free for the next month. The first
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Hedges’ Veganism Claims
Chris Hedges’ recent article, “Eating Our Way to Disease,” largely just advertises the new doc What the Health: “Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn—whose documentary Cowspiracy, about the environmental impact of the animal agriculture industry, led me to become a vegan—recently released a new film, What the Health, which looks at how
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Swiss Army Man
I first saw this at the theatre and, despite the fact that it starts with a whole lot of farting in a wide variety of tones and tempos, the ending had me in tears. I highly recommend it. The surface story is about Hank, trapped on a deserted island –
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Swiss Army Man
I first saw this at the theatre and, despite the fact that it starts with a whole lot of farting in a wide variety of tones and tempos, the ending had me in tears. I highly recommend it. The surface story is about Hank, trapped on a deserted island –
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: HyperNormalisation or Welcome to The Age of Absurdity
I added the subtitle above because this is one trippy film, but it’s important to see (or read this summary in about 15 minutes) after last night. It actually helps explain Trump. After Adam Curtis’s The Century of the Self, a very straight-forward documentary (albeit 4 hours long), this one,
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Sorry, but You’ve Been Duped into Denial
In the U.S., about 70% believe climate change is real, 35% believe it’s caused by humans, and 16% are worried about it. The 30-minute film, “The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers’ War on Climate Science” explains how you’ve been tricked into false belief. It features Michael Mann, who was
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Before the Flood
First of all, I love that this Leo DiCaprio film, directed by Fisher Stevens, is free to watch everywhere on the National Geographic Channel. (Or was free – I’m not sure how long it will last. I can’t seem to embed the film at all.) Without ads, it’s 90 minutes,
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: How to Let Go of the World
I was really looking forward to seeing the latest Josh Fox film on fracking. I liked Gasland, and then Chris Hedges gave this film a nod, which means a lot to me. And then one reviewer wrote that the film will “restore your faith that we, as a people, have the
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Ghostbusters
It’s got an amazing cast, each of whom I absolutely adore. The director directed some of them in Bridesmaids, which is absolutely hilarious. The editors were responsible for 40-Year-Old Virgin and Anchorman, two favourites. But don’t slam me as anti-f…
Continue reading