The Antisocial Socialist

Here is my review. Spoilers follow.

( and I mean major spoilers )

 As in previous years, I didn't watch a ton of movies, but there were a few notable films, including one standout last-minute entry.

Everything Everywhere All At Once: I don't have a lot to say about this one. If you like that kind of thing, you've probably seen it a million times. Personally I found it bloated and overlong, with a troublingly uneven tone that held some nasty implications about fatphobia and mental illness. But on the plus side it had a lot of Michelle Yeoh, and I will take an ambitious hot mess over the vastly inferior Marvel equivalent, Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which was shit other than every moment that Wong was on screen.

Day Shift: This was a movie I did not actually expect to be any good at all, and that I forced my friends to watch after we watched The Invitation (which was also a 2022 movie about vampires and race and class, and also highly enjoyable) for two reasons, and two reasons only. There is a third, and a fourth, unconfirmed reason to watch it, but let's talk about the movie first. It stars Jamie Foxx as a down-on-his luck vampire hunter who must re-ingratiate himself with the vampire hunting union so that he can get enough money to pay for his daughter's braces before his wife leaves him. The first reason to see it is that the union that organizes the vampire hunters is the IWW. It's really a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo but if you think the online left cares that it's only there for a split second, you haven't met the online left. The second reason is that one of the other vampire hunters is played by Snoop Dogg, who is absolutely hilarious in it. Anyway turns out it's good, actually? The vampires' evil plan is gentrification and it's part of a growing number of horror movies, and vampire movies in particular, that have working class Black leads and monsters that are metaphors for white supremacy and capitalism. The third reason to see it is that the soundtrack slaps. The fourth, unconfirmed reason is that apparently it's an adaptation of Night Watch and Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, which I enjoyed in their translated and subtitled versions respectively. At the very least, it shares the bonkers sensibility of "let's play urban fantasy tropes completely straight."

RRR: This was, up until last night, going to be my movie of the year. It's a Tollywood (Telegu language) movie that's an absolute fucking masterpiece. Before I get too far in, there are some problematic politics about it that would probably be better analyzed by someone who is actually from India. I'm coming at this with as a white Westerner who knows slightly more about the early Indian Independence movement than the average white Westerner because I read some really horribly translated Marxist books about it.

Anyway, RRR is about two revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, who never met in real life and did not actually have superpowers and also never demolished the British in a dance-off in the 1920s. But look. It would have been better if they had. You know it would have been. There are musical numbers and CGI animals and imperialists get absolutely pwned and it's a delight that's manages to get some solid politics and heartfelt drama into a spectacle of a movie that is relentlessly entertaining for its entire 182-minute run time. Both of the leads are charming as all fuck. There's even a shout-out to my favourite Indian revolutionary, Bhagat Singh, at the very end.*

So that was going to be my pick as best movie of the year but yesterday I saw Women Talking, which is going to live rent-free in my head for the rest of my life.

I haven't read the Miriam Toews book that it's based on but I've read some other work by her, and Sarah Polley is a hell of a director so I went into it with no idea what it was about but figuring it would be great just based on who was attached to the project. Given the bleakness of the subject matter, the title almost feels like a bit of a joke or at least a play on the Bechdel-Wallace Test. Which, obviously, it passes with flying colours; there are two men with speaking roles in the film and they're both confined to the margins of the narrative for different reasons.

The film takes place on an isolated Mennonite colony in 2010. The women of the colony learn that for years, their husbands, brothers, and sons have been drugging them and violently sexually assaulting them in the middle of the night. The elders of the community not only participate in the coverup, but eventually take almost all of the men to town to post bail for the attackers and insist that the women forgive them. The only men left behind are the schoolteacher, who has only recently returned to the colony after his family was exiled, and a trans man who is in charge of supervising the children.

In the absence of the men, the women vote on a course of action with three options: do nothing, stay and fight, and leave. Doing nothing is ruled out by almost all of the women, but staying and fighting and leaving are tied. Two extended families are appointed to debate between the remaining options, while the schoolteacher takes minutes because none of the women can read or write.

What follows is nearly all dialogue and silences, which nonetheless manages to be visually captivating as well thanks to Polley's direction, the incredible acting, and an understated, heartwrenching soundtrack. The debate encompasses faith and theology, pacifism and nonviolent resistance, family, and female solidarity. The subtle use of light creates a gripping tension and urgency—the autumn day never feels long enough to grapple with the enormities facing these women. Every character is beautifully brought to life with a compelling viewpoint and poetic dialogue. And if you thought "Daydream Believer" was not a song that could ever bring you to tears, well.

This is one that was worth seeing in theatres because the cinematography is jaw-dropping, and worth watching multiple times because there are layers upon layers in a film that's 95% a group of women having a debate in a hay loft. Utterly brilliant.

* What's that you say? Not everyone has a favourite Indian revolutionary? What's wrong with you people?

 I guess I better start these, huh? It is, after all, a tradition.

I'll start with the shortest one: Film. I don't watch a lot of movies at the best of times, and while other people felt like sitting in a cinema for 3 hours in a mask with strangers who are not necessarily wearing masks sounds like a good time, I am not one of those people. Accordingly, I saw two new films with other people, both at the drive-in, and one new-ish film on my own. According to my calendar, there was also one of our online Charlize Theron-a-thons in 2021, though I don't remember which of the films we watched. That might have actually been it? I don't know. 2021 is a blur.

The new and new-ish films I saw were:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: This was the first movie I saw in two years with other people in person, with popcorn and everything! So it's always going to be associated with the brief period where things were actually looking up. I really enjoyed it beyond that, though—it is basically a Marvel formula movie but with some important twists: a primarily POC cast, the female lead not being the love interest, and the origin story elements minimized. It was also quite funny, and the special effects were excellent in a way that enhanced the narrative rather than felt like filler. Also Simu Liu is a local guy and we stan him. I didn't know Michelle Yeoh was going to be in it either and I actually squealed out loud when she turned up.

The Eternals: I also saw this one at the drive-in, except in this case it was more about "omg I get to see another movie" than coming away with the sense that it was any good. It definitely had good moments and I appreciate its ambition, but I felt that its reach exceeded its grasp. What was irritating for me was that it pushed back at some of the things I dislike about superhero movies and teased at subversion but then left it alone. It raised issues that I wanted to see explored more in superhero/fantasy movies, like "why do hugely powerful characters waste so much time stopping crime when they could end the climate crisis," but the constraints of the Marvel Formula and Hollywood economics meant that they couldn't explore them, by, say, having the Eternals and the Deviants band together to overthrow the gods, or even by suggesting that the steam engine is responsible for a good lot of our problems.

Additionally, I'm not sure it's possible to make a movie in which aliens nudge human civilization forward without it being racist, even if those aliens are played by BIPOC actors. It sure was pretty, though.

Blood Quantum: This was objectively the best movie I saw in 2021. It came out in 2019 though. It's by Jeff Barnaby so it's gory as fuck and Problematic. Set on a Mik'maq reservation, it's about a zombie plague where Indigenous people are immune to zombification (but can still be eaten by them). A group of white survivors take refuge in Red Crow's fortress, and predictable horror ensues.

Zombie movies are best when they tackle real world politics, and this has it in droves. The zombie plague brings up not just genocide through disease, but the complex politics of multiracial identity, generational trauma, and gender politics. It's also wonderfully inventive, with stunning animated sequences and memorable characters, with particularly outstanding performances by Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, and Stonehorse Lone Goeman.

Winter break is traditionally my time to watch movies, so I'll probably see a few more (like Dune) this week. In lieu of me having anything to say about them, enjoy this article from the Jacobin about why movies suck now.

Hey, it's only, like, several months late.

I really enjoyed it, mainly owing to Joaquin Phoenix and Frances Conroy absolutely killing it on the acting front. But I have never wanted to edit a movie so badly in my life because it was so close to being perfect and argh.

( spoilers for a movie you've either seen or don't care about )

Despite the fact that I'm pretty much exhausted all the time, I managed to do stuff:

Thursday, I went with some friends to see Us. Which I loved. A lot more opaque than Get Out, Peele's first film, but that just means that I get to methodically go through all of the thinkpieces in an attempt to figure out the symbolism. Lupita Nyong'o' is so incredible. Go see it if you haven't and then come back here and talk to me about it. I probably need to watch it again b/c I'm not much of a horror movie person, so there were parts where I was just busy being scared and probably missed things.

Friday I got invited to a thing but ended up crashing out and watching telly. I have Opinions about the latest episodes of Disco and The Magicians.

Saturday, I went to see Orville Peck. On the subway on the way to meet my friend, there was a group of teenage girls sitting beside me. One of them asked if they were getting off at Christie Station, "as in the Christie Pits Riot" and another one said "I know all about that!" and they fistbumped. The kids are all right.

Orville Peck is amazing, though the sound at the show did him no favours, at least from where we were standing. (Ran into another friend after and she said that the vocals were more distinct from the opposite side.) Less of a problem for me because I've been listening to the album non-stop since it came out and thus know how the songs are supposed to sound, but my friend hadn't so that bothered her more. Great performance, though. If you haven't heard him, picture Chris Isaak and Roy Orbison giving each other handjobs in a truck stop, only in musical form, and sung by a sexy lamp.


Oh, you think I'm kidding about the lamp thing? I am not.

This is what I'm talking about:



This is my favourite song off the album, which sadly doesn't have a weird music video to go with it:



Truly we live in a blessed time for WTF music.

It's legitimately been a good few days!

( cut for people who aren't having the best time )

I see very few movies. And most of those movies, I don't like. I will eventually go on at great length about which TV I loved, because TV is far less formulaic than film is these days, but that's a longer post to write, so movies first.

Not all of these are 2017 because that would be an even shorter list. But only 2017 movies can qualify for the year's best.

Okja: This is completely vegan/animal liberation propaganda and I am fully biased but I don't even care. It's about a girl and her giant, genetically modified, probably sentient pig. When young Mija finds out the plan for the pig she and her grandfather have raised for the last ten years, she must journey from her home in the Korean countryside to rescue Okja from the Mirando Corporation in New York City, aided by the Animal Liberation Front. Ahn Seo-hyun as Mija turns in an incredible performance, the special effects are surprisingly believable, and its message of compassion, though anvillicious, is important and beautiful. Two caveats: First, there's an unnecessary anti-GMO subtext, and second there is a really horrifying (animal) rape scene towards the end that IS completely necessary, and rather accurate in terms of what happens to farm animals, but traumatic to watch. Also, animals die, though not Okja.

Pride: I somehow missed seeing this when it came out in 2014, but I rectified that error this year so it goes on the list. It's the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, who fundraised and later travelled to come to the aid of striking miners in 1984. This is how to do intersectionality and solidarity properly, and it's an absolutely gorgeous, powerful film.

Death Race 2000: Lest you think that I only watch earnest political movies, I also watched this 1975 Roger Corman movie about running over pedestrians with souped-up cars and fucking loved it. Okay, so it also has a political subtext—an interesting one, especially in the context of Death Race 2050, the 2017 remake, which I did not like despite an absolutely hilarious Bechdel Rule reference. While the former allows a space for revolutionary organizing and the potential of building a better (or at least slightly less horrifying) world, the latter is pure nihilism, with both the rebels and the government portrayed as equally terrible, and the only solution being individual, heteronormative escapism. It's odd to think of a film made in 1975 as being far less progressive than one made in 2017, but there you have the historical dialectic as a spiral rather than a straight line. Also it's a movie about people running down pedestrians in cars. I don't know if I mentioned that. You get points for babies and old people.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: However, I did love 2017's unabashed remake of 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, er, or, you know, the brand new Star War. It probably tops last year's Rogue One for me and also Return of the Jedi (yes, one of the new ones is better than one of the originals, fight me), mainly for its focus on non-Skywalkers and for its deconstruction of every trope that the franchise has been beating into popular culture since 1977. There's no shortage of good thinkpieces that you can read about it and probably have but anyway Rose Tico is my new favourite after Leia and haters can STFU.

But the best movie of 2017, by far, was Get Out, Jordan Peele's complex, harrowing, and completely hilarious horror-comedy film about white supremacy in America. If you haven't bothered to see it yet, read absolutely nothing about it, see it, then read the analysis of all the layers and symbols and clever filmmaking tricks (there are many) and then see it again with the knowledge of what is going to happen in it. It should be taught in film school as an example to do absolutely everything right with a fraction of an average movie budget and almost no special effects or famous actors. It's a movie for film geeks that manages to be entirely entertaining even as it brings home hard truths about race and politics.

Annnnd, that's it, really. Biggest disappointments were Wonder Woman, which I expected to love based on the hype but which I found formulaic, and Blade Runner 2049, which was only really good because of the visuals and soundtrack and also because it really annoys geeks when you tell them you didn't like it. The film I'm saddest about missing is Armando Iannucci's Death of Stalin, which only played at TIFF this year and I'm desperately hoping will be released in theatres (or better yet, on Netflix) because I am dying to see it as it sounds like everything in life that I love.

I have seen bad adaptations of good books, but never one as deeply embarrassing as Tim Burton's mutilation of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. The scene with the Clash of the Titans CGI skeletons versus knockoffs from Pan's Labyrinth—except invisible and covered in cotton candy—really cemented how much Burton has lost it. One of those movies that's so bad it's almost instructive.