“Rape is when a man consciously keeps a woman in fear.”
- Sophie (Adrienne Barbeau) as the best friend/co-worker of Lauren Hutton’s wry, determined live TV director, Leigh Michaels, who moves from New York to LA at the top of the film.
A cop: “Not until he does something.”
Our lead: “Rape? Murder?!”
I am going to be thinking about this film for a long, long time. This early career work demonstrates my beloved KING, John Carpenter, at his most…
I hated Poor Things and reviewed it for Vulture. That people are speaking of this as a rousing, weird, feminist treatise is insane. How are y’all so easily fooled by such glaring misogyny???? Excerpt below. Read my review here at Vulture.
“there’s a corroded spirit to the story, like it’s intermittently possessed by an edgelord who’s unaware most women menstruate, and an early-wave white feminist who believes having sex is the most empowering thing a woman can do. (For all the…
“We swore we’d die together even if we were born alone.”
This film has it all! A black cat with a taste for blood. A black cat puppet that can motherfucking fly. Copious amounts of bright red blood. A tight runtime. Violent action. Surprising silliness. Distinct characterization. Even more surprising supernatural elements and weirdness. A blind assassin out for revenge and she has great physicality/style. And most importantly, Meiko Kaji’s face…the camera truly loves you.
Unfortunately, the very end is…
“I wanted you to tell me about the dreams that you never dreamt.”
I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this before. This is so my shit. The Feminine Grotesque on acid. Decadence gone to rot. Madness in women as internalized misogyny that is so deeply entrenched it leads to murderous hate and venomous obsession. The film opens and closes on death — and the desires born of it. A film that is alluring and nasty and revelatory.
The film centers…
Hmmm. This one didn’t hit for me y’all. Mikey Madison has her sparks. But this film is a bit too emotionally threadbare, our lead is too improperly shaded, and it’s a touch too long. Easy to watch but light weight in a frustrating way. Certain notes don’t hit at all. Pretty but not wholly striking in its cinematography. Some humor but little heart, grit, or emotional intrigue. Sean Baker has a social curiosity into the realms of people who live…
What the fuck was this mess? Starts off fun but falls apart when it reaches toward something meaningful and revealing to say about the way men use and abuse women. Devolves into a “damn, bitches be crazy” story that obliterates the good will it engenders. Also, kinda chuckled at the framing of Thomasin Mackenzie’s lead character as quiet, yearning, and picked on by vapid mean girls. (And not a good chuckle, mind you.) Anya Taylor Joy innocent.
It’s a shame…this…
