Keanen's Film Blog

This film really stands out. It’s not pure action, it’s not a character study, it’s not beholden to a specific genre. I can be entertained by a number of things, but to be this entertained takes something beyond typical well-received cinema.

I can enjoy this film despite it having no personal significance to me. My appreciation of it does not depend on external circumstances. This is a mainstream popcorn flick, and it’s also culturally significant and a work of art. Peak Tarantino content.

[Read more…]

The Heavy Metal/Métal hurlant franchise is awesome, if you are familiar with the material then you probably love it. That is a testament to the fantastic work of French comic artists and the animators who made this first American film. The anthology format of this and subsequent adaptations lends itself well to stories of raw passion and violence.

What is perhaps most interesting about Heavy Metal is that it crosses time and space to tell stories of human triumph over enemies, society, and life in general. It does not falter in its unflinching awareness of how the universe really is. It doesn’t lie as much as the Disney shit.

[Read more…]

Steven Seagal is immortal and omnipresent. This actually goes along with Shintoism, which he picked up as an aikido instructor in Japan before he got into movies. However, when he talks himself up in English (or rather sings himself up, if you listen to his Songs From the Crystal Cave album) it’s almost insulting. He’s a chocolate fiend who can’t hold back, and all those candy bars caught up with him in recent years. I’m sure he’s sensitive about that. Sorry.

[Read more…]

Steve Jobs wanted no part of the Internet, if one of his biopics is to be believed. I don’t know which one, because they’re both the same and my brain melts them into a ball of catchphrases. Computing is personal! Everything is a priority! Computers aren’t fucking paintings! No, they fucking are paintings! I don’t know what these people are talking about half of the time, but it probably sounded fresh to screenwriter Matt Whitely. If you find Steve Jobs interesting, both movies are decent. This is the one that tried to be the fun Kutcher one.

[Read more…]

In moving pictures, dark fantasy usually sucks. (With the exception of Hellraiser and The Witcher.) “Evil is good” is a tough sell for American Christian audiences, who have historically made up the bulk of Hollywood’s market. Anime can get away with a lot more, but in terms of American movies, there is not much to pick from.

Let’s consider for a moment that Groundhog Day is dark fantasy in disguise. It’s a “what if?” movie, and such movies are usually explainable if you assume the protagonist has demonic powers. Bill Murray is the spirit of Satan, doing ritual suicides and resurrecting repeatedly. He lusts after his naive muse, bending time to subjugate her to his will. The man is unstoppable, and at the climax he takes the titular pagan sacrificial animal with him to the grave, only to resurrect and claim vengeance again.

[Read more…]