Watching Nomadland hurt the soul. I’m not going to say it was enjoyable, as a matter of fact, in parts it was simply downright depressing. But enjoyability doesn’t make a movie great anymore than special effects do. What makes a movie great is whether or not the audience can be impacted by what they have just watched. Nomadland is like been doused with a bucket of ice cold water which also happened to be filled with pointy rocks.
What this film as to say about modern civilisation is simply dreadful. The visuals throughout the film of Amazon packaging plants is mind boggling. I found my mind yawning at the boredom of it all. And the dry cold vastness of the abandoned town visualised towards the end of the film leaves the viewer feeling empty and helpless. It is a tale of modern day survival, but ultimately it is also a story of cycles. Economic cycles, weather cycles, human cycles and surprisingly bowel cycles. This film takes the viewer on a ride throughout America revealing many of the ins and outs of life on the road. It is mostly about the cycle of life, living, loving and death. It’s simply sad to watch and what it has to say about the future of the western world should be a warning that is taken seriously but I doubt most people will even take the time to watch it neither alone learn something from it. From the crap we put into our mouths to the crap that comes out we are all in this together and in the end one day it will be the end. Modern human liberty pivots around love and when that centre is broken liberty becomes confusing, neglected and wasteful. There is a saying “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”. And that’s about all we can hope for. Damn. At the end there is barely a glimmer of hope on the horizon. However, it is also the story of perhaps a new way of living. Somehow the entire history of humanity is has found itself full circle, like that of a snake eating it’s own tail. From the Indians who once lived a nomadic lifestyle across the plains of America to the new nomads who are more and more frequently finding themselves on similar trails across the country it is hard to ignore that perhaps this is how a lot of humanity may have to sustain itself in the future, not only in the states but in many western countries around the world. On the road, continuously moving from place to place in search of food, perhaps this may just become the new normal for how people get through. The film is brilliantly acted by Francis McDormand and is superbly put together by director Chloé Zhao who has planted a subliminal message behind all the visuals of the film. Everything says something and the whole story is easily assembled by the viewer making the experience seamless. We know what she is saying without having to have it rammed down our throats. Is it well worth the watch? Yep. No doubt. But I do believe that this films impact will depend heavily on the viewer themselves. From other reviews I have read some people are finding things in this movie that I simply over looked. I guess that’s what truely makes this a good film. The fact that the viewer, no matter who they are or what their attitude is towards the modern world will find something of value to be consumed in the wastes of Nomadland.
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The Mosquito Coast
Episode 1 Now I’m going to shoot straight. Some TV series simply feel as though they have been written directly for me. The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV plus is one of these rare series. On the rare chance that I do experience this uncanny phenomenon I am often quick to realise that I have finally found something worth watching. Now….I know this comment may seem selfish and somewhat delusional but hey, I’ll gladly accept my faults as a person if you the reader can accept my somewhat biased television recommendations. The truth is simply because of the shear volume of TV experiences now available world wide of course I was eventually going to find something that played into my Confirmation Bias. In fact knowing that it was playing into my confirmation bias has given me the opportunity to enjoy it more. After all, when all is said and done I am the viewer it was written for and I enjoy that fact that someone else in the world recognises the important issues raised in this TV series. Watching it gave me a good helping of vindication and personally I believe that vindication is the sweetest and most useful variety of pride there is. So, what did I enjoy about this show the most? Well, that would the following. It’s the system that’s the problem. That’s the message I got from episode one of The Mosquito Coast. Which, as it surprisingly turns out is actually a brilliant reimagining of the same namesake film originally released in 1986 which starred Harrison Ford while he was in his prime. Many societal themes run throughout the entirety of the episode. Amongst these themes are many of the most debated topics of the current age. The various topics touched upon include homeschooling vs government sponsored system education. Enforced Authority vs parental authority, enforced coercive family behaviours and of course the big one, climate change. Chaos and it’s impacts also plays an important role throughout the episode and is brilliantly represented on screen by the presence of a single butterfly. Underpinning the entire episode is the story of one mans consistent struggle to break away from the invisible prison of the modern first world civilisation we find ourselves in today. Painted against this some what desperate backdrop is also the secretive story of this particular mans reason for avoiding first world life at all costs. One quote, mentioned by Mr Fox’s own daughter early on in the episode is particularly poignant. It is as follows. “Do you ever wonder? If dad is so smart how we got to be so poor” This quote alone opens up a world of mystery and forces the viewer to ask why Mr Fox lives the way that he chooses. Another question the viewer soon asks is Why is Mr Fox and his family in hiding? These questions help to pique the viewers interest and creates a TV experience that is genuinely exciting and something worth looking forward to. In fact after watching episode one I careened directly into episode two. Something I have not done since watching Mr Robot. It has been some time since I have been as captivated by a television series such as this. Ultimately The Mosquito Coast TV series is a perfect blend of the previous best TV had to offer. While watching it you will encounter moments of brilliance that have not been seen since Breaking Bad or Mr Robot. The team behind the production have taken the time and care to produce a dramatic TV series that is of top caliber entertainment. You may also unintentionally learn something useful along the way. Which is unironically one of the themes deliberately imbedded within the storyline of the series. It is fair to say that I finally I have another reason to watch Apple TV+. And for that matter, so do you.
X-men Apocalypse. Also known as How the Professor lost his hair.
The only time I had heard anything about Apocalypse was when I was recording another podcast I once hosted. The podcast was called Offtrack’s Podcast and my fellow cohosts and I were living up to the namesake, we were thoroughly Offtrack. Somehow we had ended up on a discussion regarding the after credits scene of X-Men Days of Future past when my weakness was revealed. I had never heard about Apocalypse. And that, my friends is the only time I have indeed heard of Apocalypse… I got berated for my lack of knowledge, lost some serious geek creed and have since never lived it down. As such the only reason I want to watch X-Men Apocalypse is so I can learn who the fuck Apocalypse is. It’s a little late but better late than never right?!? It should be mentioned that my expectations have flatlined for this one. I feel as though this could be a good waste of two hours of my existence. But anyways, it’s time to press play. The man loves his Egypt. Anyone who knows me knows this. I love Egyptian History, especially Ancient Egyptian History. So the opening scenes to this film were a pleasant surprise. They were also jam packed with clever action sequences and booby traps. I love booby traps, the unseen mechanics of these hacks of sand and earth have always fascinated me ever since watching Raiders of the lost Ark and golden afternoon sessions of Ducktales. Straight up this film gave me enough to satiate my desire for adventure, I thus decided to hang in there for the ride just to see where it would take me. First up it must be said that Apocalypse is one unfortunate looking fella. Not sure how he got his head but he should have left it in the sand whence he was born. However! Head aside, he does have an interesting back story. Legend has it that he’s s as old as humanity and has links to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Yep, he’s that Apocalypse…. As a mutant of the old earth he had the freaky ability to be able to transfer his consciousness from one person to the next so just as he is about to cark it he transfers into a new body and whammo! He’s good as new. However somewhere along the way he figured out that if he simply transferred his consciousness into that of a mutant he would take control of their powers thus inheriting them as he went. So technically speaking over time he become a mutant collector harvesting powers as he ventured across the landscape. Interesting fellow, no doubt about it. So what happens when this talented mutant gets unleashed upon the earth in the 1980’s? Well, that’s what this movie is all about. Well that and the back story regarding the underlying divisions that run deep throughout society of the 1980’s. This film works well as an analogy of the numerous divisions that exist throughout the world today as well but basically put, this is the story of one mutants quest to press the refresh icon on his search browser. Now I’m not gonna lie, the film is a little hyperactive. It sadly suffers from the same faults that a lot of recent super hero films do but as hyper active as this film was in places there were a couple of enjoyable highlights. The first highlight, truthfully also a welcome comic relief to the darkness of Apocalypses very presence was the Quick Silver scene. This was simply an absolute joy, as they nearly always are. So was the Quicksilver reveal. Turns out he’s got daddy issues. All I know is that one day he’s gonna work out that he is indeed the only X-men who is able to time travel and than the shits really gonna get knocked into 12th gear!!! Another highlight is when The Wolverine makes a brief appearance and leaves his mark on the world and on everyone he encounters who didn’t friend him on Facebook. Simply but, they deliberately let Wolverine lose… weapon X is lose…Why Wolverine was at the Dam compound to begin with remains somewhat of a mystery, though I do believe it was something to do with Major Stryker injecting andamantium into Wolverine’s veins inadvertently making him stronger and angrier. So? Is this snippet technically a missing piece of the first Wolverine Film? Yep… Ultimately this is the story of how the X-Men become the X-men and how Professor X lost his hair. Overall the film is decent but far from great, it is however machined to perfection and fits like a jigsaw piece into the puzzle that is the X-Men timeline. The credits rolled, we were treated with what some might call a stinger regarding the Weapon X program and than Apocalypse and his four horsemen came for Singer… |
Micheal FarmerOnce upon time Micheal Farmer owned a cinema. So you can trust that his passion for film is truly immense. Archives
May 2022
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