The Palace of Excess/Access: the-young-turk's reviews

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Bamboozled (2000)


Spike Lee is an absolute master of the craft, we can all agree with that. But when I put Bamboozled into my DVD player i really didn't know what to expect. I was coming into watching it straight from doing some viewing for a festival, so had lots of lo-fi digi-crap rattling around my brain. I was ready for high-intensity colour and black power realness. I did NOT expect a lo-fi Y2K pre-cursor to Get Out, or a film with such huge huge ambition and message. It seems super relevant right now that we're in this super PC culture (not saying that's a good OR a bad thing), and seems to be the super stylish answer to that culture but made 20 years too early.

To give you the low down, Bamboozled is about a man who, in his rage against the white machine, accidentally manages to create the 21st Century black & white minstrel show. Insane, controversial, and v ambitious topic. Obvilously there's a lot of humour in there, both Lee and leading man Damon Wayans bring this in spades, but the humour really is where the elements of Get Out come in. You're laughing because you're horrified. Like horror move Curb Your Enthusiasm.

The Y2K elements come in through these super creepy primitive CGI segments of the show, that are almost like if Frozen had a minstrel show segment. Terrifying, and dated but that really works in favour of the film's aesthetic.

Absolutely loads to love about this film, would love to get other people's takes.
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Out of Blue (2018)
Carol Morley is interesting. Her short films are nothing short (lol) of marvellous. The Falling has all the elements of a subtle folk-horror flick that I need in a film like that. But Out of Blue just doesn't work.

When you see a film with both Morley and Patricia Clarkson on the poster you stop and think "Hang on, gotta see this". However, with this film, it isn't worth it at all. It feels like a half-cooked TV drama, and gives away most of it's key "twists" aaaages before you're meant to gasp. Also, it's quite sad to see such a frail performance from James Caan. Just really disappointed by this, I expect a LOT better. Hopefully, she'll take this film and learn from it's failings.










Casa de Lava (1995)

Ok so. Pedro Costa always really makes me want to go to Cape Verde. I'd seen Horse Money before today and knew that I wanted to watch his other films. Then he won the Gold Leopard and that probed me to actually do it ! SO, I couldn't sleep and so today have watched Ossos, In Vanda's Room, and Casa de Lava. I really enjoyed the first two and the shared cast etc but something has really hit me w Casa de Lava. My favourite VolcanicTM moments in film have previously come from Italy, obviously, there's Stromboli but there's also Porcile and the weird ending to Teorema that hit me hard. The black volcanic soil looks so gorgeous on film, and provides such an alien setting for melodrama.

In Casa de Lava the vibrant colour and activity of the volcano is such a stark contrast to the incredibly restricted, almost cloistered filmmaking of Pedro Costa. He's been called by Peter Bradshaw the "Beckett" of cinema, but I think Beckett's work allowed for a lot more self-pleasure than Costa's work. Whenever we think we're finally going to be allowed that one joyous melodramatic moment, Costa forces an ellipses. We are constantly frustrated but in the best possible way. Does Pedro Costa make BDSM films for art house kids ? Maybe.

Also, his sound work is always INCREDIBLE like Horse Money is practically an ASMR film. The strings on both the diegetic and non-diegetic sound of this film are amazing they add such a local but also highly dramatic element to its magic. Would highly recommend for anyone who enjoys frustration or Pasolini's late-60s work.







Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019)

His worst film ? Probably ? This is only gonna be a short review because I really don't have much to say about this film but wanted to air the fact that I thought it was gross. Uses Sharon Tate as an object for a lot of the film? Or as a symbol? Rather than a person? Also the portrayal of Bruce Lee was super hard to watch. Damian Lewis is Not Steve McQueen. And I never need to see feet again. 2/5 Would not recommend.