Lexa White

The Warning Live From Auditorio Nacional, CDMX has one of the most inventive sequences I've ever seen in a concert movie. Truely cool stuff, and the music is just spectacular as well.

From the Patreon - Carmilla (feat. Alonso Duralde) Morlocks · Episode

I had the wonderful @aduralde.bsky.social on my podcast to talk about one of the most influential pieces of queer media from my developing years, the Carmilla web series. I am so proud of this episode, and it's now available to the public. Happy Pride
open.spotify.com/episode/2cCk...

One of the best movies of the year is a concert film. I did not have that on my bingo card

Overall it's a solid film. Not quite competing with his previous works Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman, but it's very much on the same wavelength in a really interesting way. Do still recommend

By the end of it, Bullet Train Explosion is a lot more interestingly morally complicated film that it's premise or initial 30 minutes indicate, but I think it still comes together. This something that should be expected from Shinji Higuchi

I am having an amazing time with Bullet Train Explosion, which is Japanese Speed on a Bullet Train directed by one of the directors of Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman

In the same film though, it has a racist caricature of a Native American played by a Chinese actor in brown face. This film is a film of horrible clashes. I cannot recommend this film.

Detective Chinatown 1900 is a fascinating and horrible contradiction of a movie. It's a film that is about how horrible the rascisim towards the Chinese were in early 1900s America, and how their efforts in pysically building the country are oft forgotten. 1/2

Just got done catching up on the first episode of Watson, and they have a really interesting version of Moriarty in the show. Not quite my favorite as that is still the Natalie Dormer version from Elementary, but I'm interested to see where they go with this version

working on my top 50 songs of the decade so far playlist and my shortlist is 70 songs, there are going to be some real real rough cuts to make it to 50

Gods of the Deep is the worst film I have seen this year. It is horrifically slow and amateurish, without the charm that can come from films with those qualities. Just overall not something anyone should see.

Million-Dollar Pentagram has the prettiest recap section of any of the Detective Conan Films that I have seen so far. Playing the classic clips on the stained glass backdrop worked well.

Again, overall I like both films, and I find the different ways they adapt the material fascinating. I have heard about a TV movie adaptation with Alfred Molina that I will have to track down at somepoint, but this has been a very interesting experience overall.

All of this said, the 2017 film can be very brisk with it's clues, and the way they shuffled some things around make it much closer to a thriller than a traditional mystery, and make it harder for the audience to solve the film ahead of the movie. In that way, the 1971 film has an upper hand

I am not, and have never been an adaptation purist, which I know is some of what people have criticized this film about but I think a chunk of the changes really do improve the film overall.

The ending shot is something that has stuck with me so distinctly from the first time I saw it in theaters, that's how great the cinematography in the this film is. I also really like the change to the ending.

Kenneth Branagh's adaption is gorgeous (I don't know what people talk about when they say it's ugly.) While I think the set design is a huge part of the beauty, the real winner, and what pushes this adaptation over the 1971 one as a film, is the gorgeous shot composition

That said, when I go to compare them, they also feels so different as films, with very different ethoses on how to present their renditions of the same material. In the end, I think that I end up liking the 2017 one more as a film, but the 1971 one more as a presentation of a mystery

Having now watched both the 1971 and rewatched the 2017 adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express within a week of each other, I have a lot of tangled up emotions. Let's start with the fact that both films are good films, if not great films.

Rebel Ridge and Revolver

I just finished the Sidney Lumet Murder on the Orient Express, and it might just have been over talked up, but I was very whelmed by the film. It was good, but it is not my favorite Poirot adaptation that I have seen. I need to revisit the 2017 one to see how I feel about it in comparison

Pretend Like It's the First Time is a phenomenal episode of TV. So fucking good

One of my Honorable Mentions from the best films of 2023 is finally on Streaming, so if you want to see a Korean version of Apollo 13, I highly recommend The Moon, now on Prime Video

I got an idea in my head, and now I am writing the most unhinged crossover fanfic. It's going to be a delightful mess. We'll see if it ever see the light of public consumption or if it just lives on my computer

Detective Di Renjie: The Deadly Monk, despite being the 6th Detective Di film of the year, is also the worst. This film is without any of the redeeming factors of the other Detective Di films of the year that allowed them to be at least a little memorable. This is forgettable drek at it's worst

Rewatching Project Wolf Hunting, this film really does have one of the best moments of "You thought that was the villain, let us show you the real villain of the movie" with just the perfect amount of over the top ore that exemplifies that film

4 Films from 2024 that deserve more attention:

Mom, If I were a Vampire by Deborah Devyn Chuang (2022)

Godzilla Minus One by Takashi Yamazaki (2023)

How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Daniel Goldhaber (2022)

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin by Benjamin Ree (2024)

Favorite Films of 2020s so far

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is the best film I have seen all year. It is a truly remarkable documentary that shows why digital communities are so important. I hope everyone gets the chance to see it

I am only like 15 minutes in to The Remarkable Life of Ibelin and it has one of the most deeply affecting sequence I have encountered this year. I am balling at it. If this film holds up for the rest of it's run time, it will be in contention for end of year