Round-up Week 5: Happiness & Friends

Todd Solondz will always have a special place in my heart. He is, to me, what John Waters was and is to many to this day. More than an auteur, Solondz is a humanist who would go to great lengths to showcase the recesses of modern-day society despite the mainstream fighting against him. His magnum opus, Happiness (1998), is everything a black comedy satire should be, and despite seeing it more times than I can count, I always find my way back to this freak fest. Somehow, Solondz can do something Waters never could: tastefully explore heavy and realistically disturbing topics with humor and care. Depictions of graphic sexual violence between bodily fluids as punchlines and dialogue would make any sensible human cringe, and yet, that being said, it is no chore for me to watch this, subject matter aside. Call me messed up, but this is exactly my kind of comedy, and I've yet to find another filmmaker to quite scratch the itch that this one does. 

I go a step further than just appreciating films like these; I write extended essays on why I think they are so important. If this is something that interests you, I highly encourage you to go check out my full-length review and analysis of Happiness, as well as the significance of the sequel, Life During Wartime (2010), that I've been working on. I spent a great deal of time breaking down the characters and their respective motivations for Solondz's overarching thematic approach, and I'm curious how others interpret the film. 

Needing a break from the heavy dramas and satire, I opted to give the John Wick films another go. I'd seen the first all the way through a couple of years back and remembered enjoying it a lot. I've had the DVDs for the first three chapters for a while and never cracked them open, so I took the opportunity to do so. Only managed to get through the first two (March Madness has been, unfortunately, consuming a lot of my movie time this week), but holy hell, are these some tightly constructed action films! I've heard it said before, but I mean it that Keanu Reeves was born for the role. The trauma he's endured as a human being translates over to the character of John Wick so well that it does become hard at certain moments to see where Keanu begins and Wick ends, especially in the events of the first film when he loses his wife and dog. Loss is a hard emotion to authentically replicate, and to the degree it’s performed, it showcases what he’s experienced. This never goes too far to be disheartening or depressing in the overarching film experience, though, in fact, it’s pretty satisfying to watch the hero ruthlessly murder the goons who’ve stolen what little he had left. The sequel, surprisingly, I enjoyed a bit more than the first. Larger and more elaborate action set pieces that are combined with further world-building make for a sequel that not only works off of its predecessor but is a film that can stand on its own. I haven’t gotten around to chapter three yet but I can see the series getting a standalone analysis if this quality of work keeps up.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the absolute crapshoot that is the release of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I have my beef with starlet Rachel Zegler over her political beliefs, but moreover, her annoying and incessantly narcissistic personality that she constantly puts on display for the world to see. I’d really like to believe that this is the leading reason for the film’s reception being so poor, but that would be me feeding my own delusions. The reality is that this is a long time coming. Disney has been unable to recognize what the masses really want from them: unpoliticized, well-written, original content for the family unit to enjoy together. Remaking classics with live-action and actors that people don’t like won’t get you far, no matter how hard you push it. As of right now, the audience score for the film rests at 2.4/10 on IMDb, with Metacritic at an even 50. I rest my case.

The ever-infamous Kanye YE West has released his newest album, BULLY (V1), on YouTube just as of writing this. Being a fan of his professional work for a large portion of my life, I feel I should comment on the situation he’s in. Bluntly put, someone needs to take away his access to the internet and give him a stern talking to about the reality of the weight of his words and actions, especially when it comes to the antisemitism that is already far too rampant in today’s society. Promoters, companies, and investors will continue to back away from him, but he obviously does not care. I desperately wish a close friend would try to work through things with him, but again, you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make him drink. All this being said, dammit is BULLY good. The soul sampling and old-school drums made my heart sing. And this is the first edition, supposedly? (Whatever that means to Ye) Here’s to hoping this is a sign of his return to form and not a continuation of the VULTURES crap we’ve had to endure the past couple of years.

My semester is on break for the next week, no more midterms. So, I expect to be watching a lot more movies and TV in the coming days. The Severance season 2 finale has left a lot on my mind, so that might be a topic to explore. I have a few things up my sleeve I want to work on, but as always, feel free to get involved and let me know what you’d like some coverage on.