Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Kajillionaire (2020)
One critique of contemporary mainstream cinema is that movies of the current era cannot or will not depict desire. Superhero blockbusters lack any real emotional depth or deeper motivation. 80s reboots lack the gritty pathos that defined the originals. Even auteur films such as Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster or David Lowery’s Green Knight left me…
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My Top Albums Of 2020
Despite the crushing indignities of the COVID-19 outbreak, this year has produced some incredibly good music.
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Dragged Across Concrete (2018)
The main thing I’ve heard about this movie is that it’s extremely reactionary. That’s not far from the truth, but just so there is no mistaking my critique for political posturing, let’s get this out of the way: It’s a boring movie. you should not shoot two hours of conversation when you can’t even write…
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Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
Even better than I remember. Despite being extremely mid-2000s in it’s aesthetic, the examination of 21st century loneliness is as relevant now as it was then, if not moreso. Great performances fully realize the self-consciously silly script and create a universe where everyone is sensitive and sympathetic, without feeling forced. This is a feat attempted…
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Something Wild (1961)
An uncompromising portrait of trauma and post-traumatic stress becomes an allegory of desire and imprisonment. Garfein’s direction is lush and compositionally satisfying. The story relies on dialogue so scarcely that it sometimes feels like a silent film, a good one with expressive acting and a brilliant score. I found the ending utterly strange and dislocating,…
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Heat (1995)
The greatest crime thriller of all-time. Heat is more nuanced than what you might expect from the genre, and that’s exactly why it outclasses all else. The acting is famously incredible. Pacino & De Niro are in their prime, plus Kilmer, Voight, Sizemore, Trejo etc. It’s incredible not just due to the big personalities on…
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Variety (1983)
“Many of the artists, filmmakers, and musicians from the ’80s…discussed the collaborative nature of the art world at that time: people helping with each other’s projects, the flow between different art forms – playing instruments with no training, musicians as actors, actors as cinematographers, and all combinations. I think it was because the ’80s were…
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Le Samouraï (1967)
Since the beginning of moving pictures, there have always been movies about lone gunmen. Somehow, the solitary hitman is a subject filmmakers never tire of exploring. Make of that what you will. Le Samouraï (directed by Jean-Pierre Melville) is said to be heavily influenced by the classic 1942 film This Gun For Hire (directed by…
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Near Dark (1987)
Before her recent success with modern warfare dramas (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker), even before her initial breakthrough work in the 1990’s (Point Break, Strange Days), Kathryn Bigelow directed this oddball vampire movie. This movie could confidently be called a…dark-romance-action-horror-punk-western?? Bigelow displays expertise at mixing styles and genres even at this early date. So,…
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Burning (2018)
Chang-Dong’s anti-thriller (no thriller is so placid as this on the surface, and yet the premise is pure Hitchcock) achieves something special here: finding an original angle on Murakami’s understated tale of faithless introversion while remaining deeply compelling through the 148 minute runtime. I wouldn’t describe Burning as urgent in the least, yet I must…
Got any book recommendations?
David Ted Tarnovski 