Obviously there’s lots of weird trash in the direct to VHS/DVD/streaming ecosystems, but when it comes to something that actually got a first run theater release, what is your strangest?
For me, it’s Southland Tales. I actually kind of love this movie but it’s difficult to recommend because people you recommend it to might not look at you the same afterwards. The cast is positively stacked with big names, the movie looks great, and there’s a fantastic and really sad musical number half way through. This is the only movie that has truly captured the vibe of reading the biblical book of Revelation in that it’s making you go “wait, what?” every five minutes as it spirals into either intensely meaningful imagery or schizophrenia manifest on 35mm.
See, to me, “thems fightin’ words.”
Well… Not actually. More, like, I’ll plead a case.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968!) will always be one of my favourite film experiences because it is epic AND subtle. Arrival (2016) comes close, as do Her (2013) and Advantageous (2009).
It spans eons, megaparsecs, and bends the concept of reality itself. Meanwhile, it’s also two guys on a ship with a talking computer. Some neat camera tricks and big scale sets. Some very creative storytelling and a reminder that we’re sophisticated monkeys compared to a, potentially, cosmic-level intelligence.
Imagine Bezos or Musk digging up a 4 billion year old alien data center on the moon — one that pointed to Jupiter. What would follow would be, exactly, 2001. Everyone involved in a slipshod attempt to fly to Jupiter would die. Everyone. The AI would kill them all.
Also, note: the sheer impact a single secret has on an Artificial Intelligence system. And to top it off, a single, poorly told lie.
This film made me love film.