the girly who shall end all girls

Lady Macbeth

HOORAY FOR MURDER!

and that's a wrap. what a fine last film for me. no, it's not the play. but there is a woman, and there are people in her way who need to be eliminated. also sex and windswept moors. yes please and thank you.

and they're doing laundry at the Marqueen, so the wait for the bus is toasty warm and fresh-smelling. good night!

schedule fail. this is NOT the showing of this film that several friends are seeing. at least I got to have a pleasant meal with mimerki beforehand.

I have no idea what just happened. other than featuring a famous Chinese actress, that film had nothing to do with the description. and it was all disjointed and, well, that was a cultural experience. she spoke before the film, with a translator. I was completely at sea.

documentary about a Russian performance artist who uses his body to make political art. the striking thing is that this man is of sound mind. he is calm, he is on message, and he is fully committed. tough to watch with the body squick (not linking the trailer, which shows him nailed to Red Square) but compelling and well done. the images he makes are haunting.

an article about this guy with some good photos

Forever Pure

would you like to have someone piss all over your faith in humanity? check out Forever Pure, where right-wing Israeli soccer fans literally set their club on fire because the team hired a couple of guys from Chechnya. on fire, as in burnt up their trophies. walk out of the stadium because the Muslim player scores a goal. stop coming to games at all. (also, there's this whole thing where all these racist fans are, well, brown people who look exactly like the brown people they hate when we see them play a game vs the "Arab" team.) anyhoo, everyone who was horrible gets rewarded and everyone who wasn't a vicious racist loses their job and the team makes Europa League as soon as the Chechens leave. yes, it's a documentary.

The Landing

narrative film, made in the style of a documentary (lovingly made by people who know documentaries). Apollo 18 lands in the wrong location, and only one man comes out alive. was it...murder? good stuff. creepy how many people walked out thinking it was real. *sigh*

God of War

Chinese army vs Japanese "pirates" with gunpowder, plus the usual arrows, swords, and polearms. I was expecting rampant jingoism, but plenty of time was spent on Team Japan as humans. I feel like this is one where I'm lacking cultural context for the historical characters. but whatever, Sammo Hung was in it and he's still got it. also, the little sister from Red Cliff had a minor role and just seeing her makes me smile.

Take Every Wave: the Life of Laird Hamilton

(I have had more than my share of colons and testosterone today.)

doc about a pioneering surfer. I wasn't expecting to learn about a guy who is an innovator and backyard engineer. beautiful ocean, check. real-life drama, check. massively egotistic bad boy, check. one of those people (like Anthony Bourdain) that I find interesting but would never ever want in my social circle. I was wishing for IMAX to really get inside those giant waves.

Life in Waves

doc about electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani. she's the sound of my childhood (not that I knew). interesting and informative.

I have seen so many fucking ads for Valley of Love on TV 5 Monde. it looked like a shitty movie I didn’t want to see the first ten times.