Two wildly different dystopian futures were the major bright spots for me this month. George Miller's post-apocalyptic prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Jérémie Périn's animated cyberpunk thriller Mars Express were easily my fave titles.
I also listed my highest rated 21st century films on Letterboxd this month, before a software update briefly turned the app into an adpocalypse
Film:
The Flying Deuces (A. Edward Sutherland, 1939)
Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965)*
The Flesh and Blood Show (Pete Walker, 1972)
House of Whipcord (Pete Walker, 1974)
Dominique (Michael Anderson, 1979)*
Nightkill (Ted Post, 1980)*
The Isle (Kim Ki-duk, 2000)*
The First Purge (Gerard McMurray, 2018)*
Challengers (Luca Guadagnino, 2024)*
The Fall Guy (David Leitch, 2024)*
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller, 2024)*
In a Violent Nature (Chris Nash, 2024)*
I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun, 2024)*
Mars Express (Jérémie Périn, 2023/2024)*
Under Paris (Xavier Gens, 2024)*
Television:
The Avengers - ‘Return of the Cybernauts’ (Sydney Newman, 1961 - 1969)*
Years and Years (Simon Cellan Jones & Lisa Mulcahy, 2019)*
Doctor Who - New Episodes (Sydney Newman, 1963 - 2024)*
*First time viewings.
Dada Debaser Notes:
- We might onlyt be halfway through the year, but Christmas came early (or really late, the more I dwell on it) with the Pete Walker box set finally being released after such a long delay.
- Furiosa and Mars Express weren't the only dystopian futures watched over this period. Russell T. Davies's neurotic writing for the highly praised mini-series Years and Years, turned out to be an unintentional comedy for me. Best things about it were his clairvoyant predictions and Emma Thompson's Nigel Farage-like villain.
- Was enjoying Kim Ki-duk's psychodrama The Isle until it went into Pain Olympics territory with multiple fish hooks winding up in orifices. Like Roger Murtaugh, I'm too old for this shit.
- Don't get the love for David Leitch's films, but all of my issues (of which there are many) are irrelevant compared to the tragic sight of Emily Blunt's botched face in The Fall Guy.
- Wasn't feeling Challengers. Might be me still harbouring a grudge over Luca Guadagnino's pointless Suspiria (2018) remake, to be honest.
- Both Dominique and Nightkill were solid Hitchcockian style murder plot thrillers, but done better elsewhere. Decent timewasters, regardless.
- Not being available in my region, Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires was a major blindspot. Sadly, despite its gorgeous cinematography and production design, I found it quite underwhelming. I can see the similarities with Alien (1979), though.
- I Saw the TV Glow is a strong contender for most pretentious film of the year, while Under Paris might deserve an award for being the most idiotic.
- Biggest disappointment this month was Chris Nash's In a Violent Nature. Such a low effort and horribly acted film. It continuously breaks the very concept which sold it to peeps like me. Expect the yoga kill to forever live on as a gory gif as it's the most memorable scene from it.
- Overall, the episodes from the recent series of Doctor Who ranged from poor to mediocre, but I’ll admit the cliffhanger from the penultimate episode had me hooked and eagerly awaiting the finale. Shouldn't have bothered as it was a huge anticlimax.
- RIP Donald Sutherland! A star of so many classic films and the face (and sound) of one of the most horrifying movie endings ever:
4 comments:
That scene from The Avengers left an imprint on my kid brain like the Thin Man scene from The Boy From Space 😬
Did you see Furiosa at the flicks?
It was cool having Peter Cushing as the villain and Fulton McKay as a science professor in that Avengers episode.
Would be great if the BFI put out The Boy from Space, Stig of the Dump and The Haunting of Cassie Palmer out on blu ray eventually.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Furiosa in the cinema. Have you seen it yet?
Negative. Definitely will do in the not too distant future tho.
Definitely coppin’ the 4K whenever it’s released.
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