th3filmcorner

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Together Together (2021)

Where I watched it: Amazon Prime Video (for rent @ $6.99)

We are stepping into an age where the nuclear family no longer serves the needs of the majority in this dynamic and shifting society. This is why our two main characters are perfect for this little experiment in boundaries and relationship dynamics, because in another time period the surrogate, Anna (Patti Harrison), might have been forced or at least pressured to marry the eligible bachelor that is Matt (Ed Helms). Despite the 20-year age gap. Yikes. Instead, Matt is choosing to take on paternity on his own, without a partner by his side, and Anna simply (and also not so simply) needs the money to pursue a college degree. Feminism has been achieved! We live in a post-sexist society! As if. But it certainly illustrates the change that is occurring, and how awkward and uncomfortable it will be to navigate these new relationship dynamics that are forming. But it does not make these relationships any less worthwhile and filled with emotional connection. Because we are human, after all, and even those who shy away from heteronormative relationships, which sometimes only work to confine us, need the emotional and physical warmth of another human being, no matter the blood relation. 

6/10

#together together #patti harrison #ed helms #nikole beckwith #rosalind chao #tig notaro #fred melamed #film #films #film review #movie #movies #surrogate #surrogacy #single dad

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Do the Right Thing (1989)

Where I saw it: Google Drive link

The only movie I want to become totally irrelevant in the sociopolitical conversation.

7/10

#do the right thing #spike lee #danny aiello #ossie davis #ruby dee #giancarlo esposito #xenophobia #racism #police brutality #murder #arson #racial tension

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Minari (2020)

Where I saw it: Amazon Prime Video

A beautiful film about perseverance and faith.

8/10

#minari #film #films #movies #movie #steven yeun #han yeri #lee isaac chung #alan s. kim #immigration #korea #korean #yuh-jung youn

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Crímenes de familia (2020)

Where I saw it: Netflix

7/10

#netflix #crímenes de familia #sebastián schindel #cecilia roth #miguel ángel solá #benjamín amadeo #yanina ávila #cinema #cine #cinematography #film #films #movie #movies #tw rape #tw sexual assault #tw attempted murder #tw infant death #tw infanticide

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Promising Young Woman (2020) 

 An unequivocal condemnation of rape culture. 

 6/10

P.S. Bo Burnham is so sweet in this film that it makes my teeth ache.

#promising young woman #emerald fennell #carey mulligan #amazon prime #bo burnham #revenge #tw rape #tw sexual assault #film #films #filmcriticism #filmreview

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The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

The actors were the only ones who knew what this movie was supposed to be. If you've heard of poverty porn, this was addiction porn, like if you took the drug and sex addiction sequence in Bohemian Rhapsody and stretched it out into a 2 hour long movie. I'm so frustrated, I can barely put it into words, because this could have been a great movie if whoever wrote, shot and edited it had been even just a smidge more competent.

4/10

P.S. I was surprised to find out that this was Andra Day's acting debut, and you wouldn't know it from how she carried this whole film on her skinny shoulders (she lost almost 40 lbs to play the part). There were moments where you understood that there was more to Billie Holiday than her drug addiction, thanks to Day's acting. Ms. Holiday was fighting against racism in the whole of the US, from the fields of the deep South to the nightclubs in Harlem. Her pain seemed isolated, like an anomaly, but it was by design. Manufactured by a system that never wanted her to live, much less thrive. And the United States government did not care to be reminded about their systematic killing of black Americans. I think that's what hurts the most about how poorly the film was made. Even if the film had been edited competently, it had more gratuitous scenes showing her bruised veins and naked body, with a white knight staring at her like, "Baby, my love could fix you," that it felt more like the self-insert fanfiction of an incel than a film celebrating a civil rights activist.

Andra Day on The Daily Social Distancing Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZmQ4WZNCJU

#hulu #the united states #the united states vs billie holiday #andra day #trevante rhodes #lee daniels #billie holiday #filmcriticism #film

[th3filmcorner]

Lupin (2021-)

A real treat to watch. It is not merely satisfying to watch the protagonist, Assane Diop (Omar Sy), get away with his crazy schemes from the pure adrenaline rush of a carefully laid-out plan falling into place seamlessly. No, the original novellas and stories this series is based on reveled in the sweet justice of relieving the bourgeoisie of their vast wealth, and this adaptation adds the sinister underbelly of racial inequality and xenophobia. The gentleman burglar doesn’t steal carelessly nor without purpose, and it allows you to revel in, “stealing is good and justified sometimes actually.” With the rise of protests such as GameStonk, arrested very ironically by an app called Robinhood, and a “eat the rich, black lives matter” sentiment felt across the world, this show definitely has a place in the cultural zeitgeist.

7/10

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Nomadland (2020)

I’ll see you down the road.

8/10

[th3filmcorner]

The White Tiger (2021)

Similarly to Parasite (2019), this film tackles socioeconomic inequality while being set in India, which means the cultural impact of the ancient caste system is the excuse readily given for things being “the way they are.” It tells it’s victims that through destiny and predetermination, the poverty of their life is what they deserve and should be grateful for. It is used in the modern age in conjunction with capitalism to feed those of lower castes the lie of upward mobility when it, in reality, needs them to remain in poverty to benefit the elites at the top. In the film, Balram (Adarsh Gourav), our lovely protagonist, tells the legend of a Brahmin that tried to fool the Buddha. The Brahmin asks, "Master do you consider yourself man or god?, to which the Buddha smiles and says, "Neither. I'm just one who has woken up while the rest of you are still sleeping." Within the context of the film, it is meant to suggest that only once in a great while does someone realize that the shackles of capitalism are not real and that the door has always been open. Balram does not suggest, however, that that person should then turn around and seek to liberate all those still trapped inside, in accordance to the Buddha’s teachings. He shall remain the only “enlightened” one, continuing to exploit others as he was once exploited. Not to get all Inception (2010) on you, but it really sounds like he merely got caught in the American Dream of capitalism and never woke up at all.

5/10

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St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

I’m in love with this car crash of a movie.

5/10

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The Assistant (2019) 8/10 https://www.instagram.com/p/CKu0oQrj1mm/?igshid=1pa9ofegf7u4p

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The Dig (2021) An ode to archaeology, and to the line that connects us to our forebears. 7/10 https://www.instagram.com/p/CKu0j-UjdVl/?igshid=espatr7iqi3a

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The American President (1995) pov: ur bf is the president of the united states 5/10 https://www.instagram.com/p/CKu0a84joZ9/?igshid=1mqgsoo2v4985

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Posting will be suspended until further notice while we fight for justice, for peace. #blackouttuesday #blacklivesmatter https://www.instagram.com/p/CA751grjj6h/?igshid=r5wvhged5n0o

#blackouttuesday #blacklivesmatter

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Sita Sings the Blues (2008), dir. Nina Paley. Starring Reena Shah, Debargo Sanyal and Annette Hanshaw. #film #movies #cinema #cinematography https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5SjagjxCu/?igshid=1dx1incg6w0a4

#film #movies #cinema #cinematography

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Donnie Darko (2001), dir. Richard Kelly. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone and Patrick Swayze. #film #movies #cinematography #cinema https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2Qd6Sj0YC/?igshid=146qnfiav1rgb

#film #movies #cinematography #cinema

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The Prestige (2006), dir. Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine. #film #movies #cinematography #cinema https://www.instagram.com/p/CA0cbvvjgnp/?igshid=19v807enfptpc

#film #movies #cinematography #cinema