Iro's Film Diary

I saw Piranha at the movies when I was little, but I barely remember it.

I've seen Piranha 3D a handful of times, a great guilty pleasure of mine. I love that they don't hold back with the gore and mayhem.

DD wasn't very good, but I enjoyed it a little bit.

#44 - Carrie
Brian De Palma, 1976



A repressed high-schooler who is constantly tormented by her fellow students and her fundamentalist mother soon discovers that she has telekinetic powers.

Brian De Palma's adaptation of Stephen King's notorious high-school horror still holds up rather well despite the factors that might threaten to ruin it forty years after its original release. Between its dated nature and the fact that this was a repeat viewing, it had lost a significant amount of its initial impact - its most notorious jump-scare didn't have much of an effect despite the many years that had passed since my last viewing, nor is the rest of the film all that good at building dread for the most part. Regardless, its taut running time and simplistic story do make it a relatively easy watch where the characters may all be two-dimensional but they still get played by some decent performers. Sissy Spacek makes for a believably vulnerable protagonist, while Piper Laurie definitely stands out as Carrie's rabidly evangelistic mother (and that's without mentioning stand-out antagonists in the collective forms of Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, and John Travolta). De Palma's always had a knack for elaborate visuals (to the point of it arguably being a fatal flaw with his films) and Carrie is no exception with its complex long-takes and suitably garish colour palettes. It certainly helps to make up for when he lays on the Hitchcock homage a little too thick with Psycho-like strings on the soundtrack or some decidedly erratic editing choices. Carrie may not feel all that terrifying or complex but it's got more than enough cinematic bravado to make up for it. There's plenty of camp value due to the '70s setting and bizarre social mores (such as gym teachers slapping disrespectful students in the face) but it's still a well-made film in enough regards.

__________________
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

#45 - Steve Jobs
Danny Boyle, 2015



A biopic about Apple Computers executive Steve Jobs that focuses on him as he prepares to launch three separate products.

Danny Boyle has built his filmmaking career on taking well-worn genres and filtering them through his own particular sensibilities in order to breathe new life into them, though it's not always enough to guarantee that the end result will be a solid film. This fundamental sense of imperfection certainly applies to Steve Jobs, which sees Boyle take on the biopic. The film is distinguished by the conscious decision to avoid a linear progression through the life story of its eponymous subject. Instead, the film's coverage of Jobs (here played by Michael Fassbender) is ostensibly broken up into three chapters, each of which takes place during the launches of three separate personal computers. Though the pieces of technology on display may be different, it is the behind-the-scenes constants that become the film's focus. Jobs himself prowls around like a caged tiger as he makes constant demands of his subordinates (most prominently Kate Winslet as long-suffering executive Joanna Hoffman and Michael Stuhlbarg as Apple programmer Andy Hertzfeld). In addition, he must also juggle some incredibly strained relationships with his business associates; Apple co-founder and Jobs' long-time friend Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) wants him to publicly acknowledge the company's past triumphs even though Jobs would rather look to the future, while Apple CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) proves a challenging foil when it comes to the two men discussing business practices. As if that wasn't enough, there's also the matter of Jobs' former girlfriend Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston) showing up at the launches in order to get him to pay child support for his illegitimate daughter Lisa (who is played by a different actress in each time period).

Steve Jobs does boast a rather impressive cast, though their performances may grow a little questionable at times. As Jobs, Fassbender can't help but seem a little miscast; his airy Californian affectation wavers enough to recall the mangled European diction of Tommy Wiseau. This proves to be a greater distraction than his almost complete lack of a physical resemblance to the real Jobs could ever be. Despite that, he gets by on his typically intense brand of charisma to sell everything from sarcastic impatience to self-aggrandising rationalisations and even the odd humanising moment. Supporting players are a mixed bag - Winslet is almost unrecognisable as the bespectacled Hoffman, who is easily the most prominent of Jobs' multiple foils as she counters his vitriolic perfectionism with a mercurial combination of neurosis and pragmatism. Rogen tends to get typecast as a happy-go-lucky slacker in predominantly comedic roles, but I'm always glad to see him do something that stretches his usual screen persona - his portrayal of Wozniak is a surprisingly solid one and his gradually escalating confrontations with Jobs show a depth to the actor that I'd definitely like to see more of in the future. Even though the film's ensemble-based script is tight enough that it's almost like watching a play at times, it doesn't always leave the supporting roles with much to do. Daniels is a standard authority figure who see-saws between grumpy and affable depending on what the film needs, Stuhlbarg doesn't leave much of a favourable impression (or any impression, really), and Waterston has to do some seriously heavy lifting in her particular sub-plot. I also wonder why Sarah Snook is even in this film if she's relegated to playing a person who feels like little more than a member of the stage crew.

Boyle does show off some of his strengths as a filmmaker, especially by utilising visibly distinct types of film to differentiate between the separate eras. By collaborating with a distinguished screenwriter like Aaron Sorkin, Boyle also avoids his infamous tendency to have his films suffer from poorly-executed third acts; however, this comes at the cost of every act feeling inconsequential in equal measure. The decision to focus the film around three non-consecutive but crucial moments in Jobs' life is not only designed to counter a more conventional biopic narrative, but it also draws extra attention to cinema's need to project a narrative structure onto a person's life, exposing the sheer artifice of such a practice in the process. Recognising that is one thing, but determining or not whether it ultimately benefits the film is another. This approach is further muddied by the decision to inter-cut conversations held in flashback with "present-day" conversations. While this may be the film's way of covering important ground without losing momentum, it also has a tendency to feel like a shortcut that's intended to include all the material that Sorkin couldn't organically work into the characters' already-verbose and jargon-riddled dialogue. As a result, Steve Jobs may assemble some solid performers to pull off some appropriately acerbic verbal volleys and Boyle's technical aptitude does make it fairly watchable, but it's a fundamentally pedestrian affair where things don't quite cohere into a truly satisfactory whole.

#46 - The Big Short
Adam McKay, 2015



In the years leading up to the collapse of the American housing market, a handful of people who work in finance try to predict the outcome and resolve the situation.

As far as major cinematic releases go, The Big Short is a very peculiar one. At first glance, it seems like a somewhat off-beat comedy about white-collar types that boasts some fairly potent star power (to say nothing of a director whose previous films are broadly comical Will Ferrell vehicles), but then it turns out that there's more to it than that. As if the fact that this apparent comedy runs for over two hours in length isn't enough to raise a metaphorical eyebrow, the fact that it's based on a true story about the events leading up to the 2008 financial crisis will certainly cause such a reaction. The Big Short then ends up coming across as a dramatisation of the events leading up to the crisis as seen through the eyes of various financial entrepreneurs operating at different levels inside and outside the industry. It begins with one hedge fund manager (Christian Bale) cluing in to certain discrepancies in the housing market that have resulted in said market becoming unstable and threatening to collapse within a few years. He opts to exploit this for his own gain, with his plan not only drawing skeptical reactions from overconfident bankers but also gaining the attention of multiple high-finance players who want their own pieces of the action. Of particular prominence within the story are an opportunistic trader (Ryan Gosling), a temperamental manager (Steve Carell), a retired banker (Brad Pitt), and the pair of trading neophytes (John Magano and Finn Wittrock) who seek out Pitt's help.

Being an adaptation of a non-fiction book concerned with exploring the ins and outs of the financial world, The Big Short ends up having the bulk of its dialogue consist entirely of extremely mundane-sounding conversations about complex economical concepts. This does render the film a little difficult to follow as characters are cast adrift in roiling seas of jargon; however, it soon becomes clear that any confusion for an audience is apparently by design. There's a thick layer of self-awareness to the events of The Big Short as multiple characters will break the fourth wall in order to explain exactly what is happening at any given moment. Occasionally, this gives way to fantastic segues where the film acknowledges just how ostensibly boring such explanations can be and comes up with all sorts of methods of conveying the necessary information to a mass audience. The most prominent examples involve cameo appearances by certain celebrities who stop the film in order to to help the audience keep up. However, such scenes can and do backfire because their sudden appearance is enough to throw off the previous scene's momentum; this is especially true of the first such cut-away gag, which involves The Wolf of Wall Street's Margot Robbie delivering exposition while sipping champagne in a bubble bath and is so jarring that I've barely registered anything she's said before the film gets on with its plot. Things do improve by the time that a scene of pop star Selena Gomez playing a game of cards is used to explain one very convoluted financial situation, but it's still an obtuse film that demands your unwavering attention in order for you to keep up.

It's at this point where I question whether or not The Big Short truly succeeds as a film. It definitely feels like an important film, if only because of its mission to break down an incredibly dense and dry true story into a more palatable work of fiction. It aims to do this by filtering the events through a comedic lens, though whether or not this approach works varies extremely wildly from scene to scene. As if in acknowledgment of this approach and its potential flaws, McKay and co. use many different methods in terms of both narrative and technique to keep the film moving along at a brisk pace. The jittery camerawork and frequent cutting come across as deliberate methods of adding urgency to a film that seriously needs it, plus the actors on display are capable of keeping up with the film's speedy progression. However, the attempt to spin a comedy out of the proceedings (especially one as dependent on exposing the sheer artifice of filmmaking as The Big Short ends up being) threatens to seriously undermine the film. I may understand why the film went with this particular angle and can appreciate its cleverness to a degree, but I ultimately didn't get much amusement out of its humour. There's nothing overtly objectionable about said humour, but I'm still unsure whether or not its abundance ultimately works out in the film's favour or not. Cases can be made either way, but that only has the effect of making The Big Short feel like too much of a compromise, albeit a rather interesting one.

#164 - Double Team
Tsui Hark, 1997



A counter-terrorist agent fails to take out his terrorist arch-nemesis and must join forces with an arms dealer to take revenge.

Original review found here.

(Additional notes: Man, I seriously underrated this one, if only because I was still deliberately underrating films that I considered "so bad they're good" at the time of this review. It's still goofy as hell but it's a genuinely fun movie despite all the ways in which it should be atrocious. I'll still need to see more of JCVD's movies before I can make a proper assessment of its general worth, but it really does feel like the man's own version of Commando - plus, Tsui Hark can definitely direct some good action.)

#48 - Grabbers
Jon Wright, 2012



The inhabitants of a remote Irish island must defend themselves against a species of blood-sucking aliens.

A year before Edgar Wright made The World's End, a certain other director named Wright made his own sci-fi comedy involving alcohol and aliens. With Grabbers, the aliens in question are large, squid-like creatures that can only move in damp conditions and sustain themselves by drinking the blood of their prey. Fortunately, it turns out that these "grabbers" (as they are so named by the old drunkard who discovers them) do have one serious weakness - they are seriously allergic to alcohol. Unfortunately, it turns out that there's a storm coming and soon the grabbers will be able to come onto the island and start looking for food. It is at this point that the island's alcoholic chief constable (Richard Coyle) comes up with a foolproof plan - get everyone on the island drunk enough to ward off alien attacks and keep them contained within the island's solitary pub. Of course, when alcohol is involved in quantities as large as this, such a plan is never that simple...

While the concept at the heart of Grabbers is a sufficiently interesting one (albeit one mired in Irish stereotypes), the resulting film struggles to deliver for the most part. I can definitely respect the quality that's gone into the effects work on what is presumably a low budget, with a mix of practical and CGI effects working well enough to bring the grabbers to life. In addition, there's some pleasant use of natural lighting to really make the picturesque landscape pop out. Unfortunately, despite the film's apparently comical vibe, there are virtually no laughs to be had here. The characters are one-note in terms of both characteristics and development - the actors can only do so much in such a lean film. Not even the premise that requires them to get drunker and drunker is an automatic guarantee of any humour (even with Ruth Bradley's teetotaler mainland copper getting very into the action compared to everyone else). As a result, Grabbers may look fairly decent under the circumstances but it's generally a pretty underwhelming excuse for a horror-comedy and barely worth watching.

#49 - Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie
Joe Randazzo, 2016



A fake made-for-TV adaptation of Donald Trump's autobiographical self-help book Trump: The Art of the Deal.

So this is the first 2016 film I've seen and, while it's not the ideal place to start, it could certainly be a lot worse. Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (hereafter shortened to Art of the Deal) is a 50-minute web video released on popular comedy website FunnyOrDie that plays out as a mockumentary about American businessman and aspiring presidential candidate Donald Trump. After an introduction by Ron Howard (playing himself) that explains the film-within-a-film's history as a long-lost curiosity that was originally created back in 1989, Art of the Deal plays out as a shoddily-made combination of biopic and self-help video where Trump himself (played by Johnny Depp) proceeds to lecture a starstruck young boy about the secrets to his success. He does this by rattling off a number of dot points from his business plan, illustrating each slogan with anecdotes about his history and dealings; meanwhile, there is an ongoing plot as he works to pull off a scheme that involves purchasing a replica Taj Mahal from Merv Griffin (Patton Oswalt).

Considering what an out-sized eccentric the real Trump is, Art of the Deal doesn't really need to dig too deep when it comes to creating an over-the-top parody of him. Various actual sound-bites and factoids are referenced and built upon throughout the film, especially when it comes to satirical exaggerations of Trump's more troubling qualities (such as his harsh treatment of his wife Ivana or the running gag where he keeps firing child actors because of their different races). Though Depp's recognisably deep voice can still be detected underneath Trump's New York rasp, it's still a rather committed performance from an actor whose fondness for playing bizarre characters makes him the perfect fit for the role. He certainly stands out in a cast that consists of little more than a cavalcade of cameos in some extremely thin roles; it's questionable how much of this weakness is by design considering how the film-within-a-film is supposed to be Trump's badly-written ego trip. Due to its status as both a glorified viral video and as a glibly superficial example of political satire, Art of the Deal is a fundamentally ephemeral film and is too lacking in staying power to be genuinely great. It's good for a few laughs and Depp's turn as the helmet-haired industrialist makes good use of his comic talents, but the film's humour lacks a bit too much nuance to make its jabs at not only Trump but at the '80s in general really stand out in a way that goes beyond preaching to the converted.

#50 - Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Tim Burton, 1985



An eccentric man-child goes on a cross-country trek when his beloved bicycle is stolen.

I've never watched anything to do with Pee-wee Herman, the tuxedo-clad goofball played by the rubber-faced Paul Reubens, but I'd heard good things about Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, a feature-length chronicle of its eponymous hero's latest batch of shenanigans. In this case, the big adventure ends up beginning when Pee-wee's most prized possession - his bright red bicycle, which he dreams about riding in the Tour de France - is stolen while he is out shopping one day. He then launches into a singularly obsessive quest to find his bicycle; his journey takes him to all sorts of places and puts him in contact with people who are either not amused by his antics or prove too crazy even for him (or both). Pee-wee's Big Adventure definitely doesn't seem like a film that needs a particularly complex plot to carry it through its rather brief running time, but that just raises the question as to whether or not it can provide enough amusement to justify its status as a comedy.

The humour in Pee-wee's Big Adventure tends to be broad and family-friendly; while that isn't necessarily an obstacle to a film being funny, none of the jokes ever really seem to land. Between his weird appearance, gurning mannerisms, and fundamental immaturity, Pee-wee makes for an extremely difficult protagonist to enjoy when it comes to witnessing either his triumphs or his failures (and it's not like the supporting cast gets a whole lot to do as they embody a number of flat characters who all seem defined by their extremely slight connections to Pee-wee). The plot is flimsy and speeds from scene to scene at the drop of a hat, playing out like a series of live-action cartoon segments with barely any connection. This looseness seems to apply to the actual humour, which bounces between jokes with no punchlines or punchlines with no jokes. I reckon that the latter metaphor does a good job of summarising my perception of Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The humour on display is so incredibly simple that it feels fundamentally incomplete, resulting in a film that takes the feeling of strange bemusement that one gets from hearing a punchline by itself and stretches it out across ninety straight minutes.

I've been debating watching this for a few months now....your review has put me into the yes I'll watch it column.

Right?

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

It's a free country.

#51 - Norwegian Ninja
Thomas Cappelen Malling, 2010



An elite squadron of Norwegian ninjas such work to protect their country during the Cold War.

With Norwegian Ninja, I can't tell where my growing disinterest in modern B-movie sort-of-parodies ends and my disdain for the movie itself takes over. It definitely feels like a film that not only depends on the absurdity implied by its expository title but it also throws in a loose mockumentary gimmick in an attempt to distinguish its story. It forgets about this approach frequently and, though it does its best to stage an appropriately retro-looking but technologically adept homage to ninja movies in the meantime, the results are decidedly underwhelming in terms of action, comedy, or any kind of cinematic substance.

#52 - Only God Forgives
Nicolas Winding Refn, 2013



An American criminal living in Bangkok is forced to go on a quest for revenge after his brother is murdered.

Original review found here.

(Additional notes: well, it's still an extremely unpleasant film full of incredibly loathsome characters who do horrible things, but now that the shock of a first viewing has worn off I'm pleased to see that it's at least a little better than I initially thought. It's not likely to become a major favourite in a hurry, though.)

I think there should be a game where we predict Iro's rating.

Predict it how? If I mention a movie I've watched, there's probably already a rating in close proximity anyway.

#53 - Tangerine
Sean Baker, 2015



On Christmas Eve, a transgender sex worker who has just been released from prison goes looking for the pimp who cheated on her while she was incarcerated.

Tangerine takes place on Christmas Eve and focuses on a pair of African-American trans sex workers, Alexandra (Mya Taylor) and Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez). The plot concerns Sin-Dee, who has just finished serving a prison sentence and has quickly learned that her boyfriend/pimp Chester (James Ransone) cheated on her while she was locked up. To this end, Sin-Dee launches into a relentless search for Chester that sees her travel around West Hollywood with Alexandra in tow. Alexandra, on the other hand, is naturally frustrated by Sin-Dee's over-reacting and wants nothing more than to just get through the day and perform a singing gig at a local bar. Meanwhile, an Armenian taxi driver named Razmik (Karran Karagulian) is working a shift in the same area - though he has to attend a Christmas gathering with his family, the film makes it clear that it is only a matter of time before he crosses paths with Sin-Dee and Alexandra. The arcs that carry the film might be simplistic and are reflected by the lean running time, but they are fleshed out reasonably well by a cast of eccentric characters in parts great and small. Rodriguez may ham it up as an especially sassy black woman, but she is appropriately balanced out by the much more down-to-earth Taylor and their tumultuous friendship makes for quite the backbone to the film.

The film has picked up a lot of hype due to the fact that it's been filmed entirely on iPhones (albeit with the pragmatic inclusion of extra equipment and applications to help the process run smoothly). but it definitely proves to be more than just a needless gimmick. The technique lends the film an appropriate sense of urgency and vibrancy thanks to the jittery (but not disorienting) camerawork and heavily saturated colour palette that creates a captivating world of garish neon and harsh sunlight illuminating the lives of various people living on the edge. The vivid aesthetic of the film is reflected in the soundtrack, which consists primarily of electronic-based music that ranges from moody ambient pieces to cacophonous club jams. Both these elements mesh together to create an experience that may be visually striking yet doesn't set out to be overly provocative in its depiction of the characters' lives; even scenes where Alexandra and Sin-Dee ply their trade or engage in drug use are shown as being so utterly mundane that they become anything ranging from comically absurd to subtly poignant.

Though one can easily take Tangerine to task over its basic narrative and outwardly abrasive approach to its material, I still find it an interesting piece of work. It may struggle at times to find ways in which to fill out its rather short running time, but it definitely doesn't provide a needlessly convoluted plot either. The characters may be heavily flawed and potentially grate on viewers, but if you can become used to the rhythms of their diction and behaviour then it becomes quite the engaging portrayal of all sorts of marginalised folks. Though most of the cast is made up of amateurs (with the only faces I recognised being Ransone and also a brief appearance by veteran actor Clu Gulager as one of Razmik's fares), they all manage to give decent performances in even the most thankless of roles. I'm not all that convinced that the film works on a comedic level, but I don't feel like that's a major strike against the film. Despite its unorthodox and potentially alienating subject matter, Tangerine proves a decidedly solid piece of work. It's refreshing in that it doesn't feel like it's trying too hard to push an agenda but is instead content to tell a relatively down-to-earth story in an engaging manner.

#54 - The Editor
Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy, 2014



When a series of murders starts to occur on the set of a giallo film, a disfigured film editor becomes the prime suspect in the ensuing investigation.

The Editor is a somewhat affectionate genre parody that takes on giallo, an Italy-based cinematic movement that provides a much more lurid variation on regular thrillers. It does this through a variety of methods that includes strong use of colour, "modern" soundtrack choices, and graphic content of violent and/or sexual natures. All of these are on frequent display throughout The Editor - for better or worse. In addition to co-writing and co-directing the film, Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy also play the leads in this very believable pastiche. Brooks plays the eponymous editor, who works at a low-rent studio that specialises in giallo movies after an accident causes him to lose four fingers on his right hand. However, a shadowy figure soon emerges and starts to slowly kill off people involved with production of the studio's latest film; the fact that the killer cuts off their victims' fingers makes Brooks look extremely suspicious to a police detective (Kennedy), though Brooks himself has no memory of ever having killed anyone...or does he?

To the film's credit, it does a pretty good job of recreating the genre's most distinctive qualities while also squeezing some decent humour out of the proceedings. Even the most juvenile gags on offer (such as a scene from the film-within-the-film where the hero's attempt to do a Scooby-Doo mask-pull ends up actually tearing a person's face off - and then replacing it as if nothing ever happened) are capable of causing some amusement. However, it's when the film starts pushing just how black it can make its comedy that it starts to struggle, especially when the gags involve stuff like hysterical acts of wrist-cutting or ambiguously consensual sex scenes. The more questionable and unfunny gags tend to appear more frequently as time goes on, ultimately appearing symptomatic of the film's inability to maintain momentum as it progresses. Even the many scenes of gore and ample displays of nudity start to have a numbing effect after a while regardless of any troublesome implications that they may have. To the film's credit, it could seriously pass for the genuine article at times, which just makes the bad jokes feel even worse.

#55 - Anomalisa
Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, 2015



While staying at a hotel for a business conference, a middle-aged motivational speaker tries to form meaningful connections with other people.

Considering Charlie Kaufman's knack for creating stories that involve remarkable combinations of the surreal and the mundane, it's naturally going to be interesting to see what he does with the creative freedom offered by full-blown animation. Initially, Anomalisa seems like it doesn't really need to be animated as it sets up a down-to-earth story revolving around a neurotic schlub named Michael (voiced by David Thewlis) who has flown from Los Angeles to Cincinnati in order to deliver a seminar based on his best-selling self-help book. However, the reason for the stop-motion animation soon becomes very clear due to a problem with Michael's perception of reality. To him, every single individual he encounters appears to have the exact same face and voice regardless of their age or gender (with the voice in question being provided by veteran character actor Tom Noonan). Michael checks into his hotel and putters around, occasionally attempting to forge connections with people like his family back home or an old flame who he hasn't seen in years. However, when he hears a timid woman named Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) over the multitude of Noonan sound-alikes, he is inspired to find her and reach out to her.

If you're in any way familiar with Kaufman's previous creations, then you have a pretty good idea what to expect from both the story and the way in which it's told. The usual elements are here - outwardly pathetic protagonist, frequently awkward conversations, everyday occurrences depicted as soul-crushingly as possible, idealistic romanticism being brutally undercut, and of course an undercurrent of surrealism that bleeds into the plot as necessary. Of course, the talent on display is enough to keep things fresh in this particular variation on Kaufman's favourite themes. Thewlis makes for an appropriately beat-down lead whose quest for a human connection is sympathetic but frequently misguided, with his worn-out performance being accentuated by his nasal British accent. Leigh also delivers a delightfully understated performance as a woman who struggles with the idea that someone might find her not just attractive but also fascinating, making for a warmly emotional centre to an otherwise comically cold film. Noonan, meanwhile, may not seem like he's doing a whole lot as he uses the exact same voice for dozens of characters but his continued presence is vital to the film's atmosphere and his deadpan line readings on a variety of subjects definitely grants the film a lot of energy in terms of both comedy and drama.

Anomalisa may not do anything exceptionally revolutionary when it comes to probing the same thematic territory that Kaufman has been staking out for years, but it still manages to provide enough new material to justify its existence. It makes good use of the medium in telling its story and illustrating its thematic concerns. The more obvious imperfections in the generally-impressive character models and sets not only set up a variety of significant moments, but they also play into the film's treatment of the concept of perfection and whether or not chasing it is fundamentally futile. The characteristically bizarre world-building on display also keeps one's attention going throughout the film even as the film seems to rush its third act and conclude rather abruptly. Still, I suppose I'd rather have that than a film that wears out its welcome. As a result, I'm not inclined to think of Anomalisa as some sort of ground-breaking masterpiece, but it is definitely a solid piece of work that doesn't feel like a major drop-off from what audiences have come to expect from Kaufman.

I'm so jealous of all you guys that are getting to see Anomalisa. I can't wait.

__________________
Letterboxd

I like it, not as much as you, but I feel it should win Best Animated even though I know Inside Out will win. I just have a deep vendetta against Inside Out.

__________________
It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.

This.

__________________