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The Clapper (2017)
This movie is much deeper than it seems.
This is a movie about how honest, hard working, broken people try to navigate in an uncaring world. It's a movie about all of us, really. This seems weird to say, but we're all the Clapper, in one sense or another. Not many of us are working jobs we thought we would. We just do what we need to get by. That's what everyone in this movie is doing, just trying to get by. When Eddie, Ed Helms's character (who has given up on finding love again after the death of his wife), finds someone he truly cares about and who cares about him, this insensitive and psychopathic world tears them apart for it's own entertainment and profit.
One thing that I find interesting in the movie is how the people who run the symbolic machine of the world (in this case represented by a late night talk show) themselves seem to actually care about Eddie and want to do right by him. Unfortunately, as part of the psychopathic machine which cares only for it's own growth and profit, they are forced to act out their roles in nearly destroying Eddie's life. Towards the end of the movie we can see that they actually do seem to feel genuine remorse for what they've done. It's really just a great allegory for how corporations are run and makes me think of that great documentary "The Corporation", which diagnoses corporations as "psychopathic", because they care nothing for how their actions affect anything but their own profit margins.
The Chef Show (2019)
Jon Favreau's Narcissistic Pet Project
This show seems to be nothing more than Jon Favreau fancying himself Roy Choi's apprentice/protege and getting off on it. They do a dish with Babish from "Cooking with Babish" which Babish is leading and when it's time to plate the dish, Jon pushes him aside and says, "this is my job." I find Jon to be an incredibly annoying part of the show. It's a shame, I used to love him in stuff, but I think his success has really gone to his head in strange ways. This would also be a very interesting show without him in it warping things to be centered around his "apprenticeship" with Roy.
Ingrid Goes West (2017)
Not a comedy, but an incredibly moving drama
This film is no masterpiece, let's get that clear from the start. However, after watching it I am left incredibly moved, and that's what art and film are all about. This is an honest look into the lives of so many people today and our society in general.
In a world where genuine person to person interactions are becoming more and more rare, what is a caring and sensitive person to do? How can people who long for an intimate and soulful human contact fulfill that need? And let's be honest, we are, in essence, ALL craving intimate personal contact with our fellow humans, and it's driving our society gradually mad.
This is the story of a woman who has no one to turn to in her time of need, so she turns to the only outlet she has: social media. The completely soulless world of social media, fake posts, fake happiness and fake lives, does not help her at all. She is screaming out for help and willing to grasp at any branch she can to keep from falling off the tree that is her life. And no one hears her calling. No one comes running to help. All she receives is derision.
So she decides to start over and to do it in a way that is completely in line with the world she sees in social media: she's going to lie, manipulate, deceive and use people to get what she wants. It's terrifying to watch her cycle through the people around her and do whatever it takes to get what she thinks she wants and needs: a friend. It's such a basic need and when one is able to look past the psychotic ways she is willing to do anything to achieve this goal, we can have great sympathy and compassion for her, and through her, for ourselves and our entire society.
The ending is an ironic one. She finally does what the world she sees is afraid of doing: she has a rare moment of honesty and vulnerability in which she bares her soul to the world, and the world finally responds. That we can see in her eyes how this response is immediately being twisted and warped into something else is disturbing and unfortunately, normal.
The Divide (2011)
Why People Misunderstand/Dislike This Movie (very minor spoilers)
I saw this movie despite it's 5.8 rating, because I've been pleasantly surprised by other low rated horror films, and this one is another exception. Also, Michael Biehn's presence was a good sign
Some reviewers have stated that there are plot holes and aborted story lines that are never explained. This is very true. BUT, here's the caveat: it doesn't matter. This movie is about a descent into madness and chaos and it attempts to bring us, quite successfully I might add, all along with it. There are things that aren't explained to the audience, namely who bombed the city, who were the soldiers that appeared and what the hell were they doing with those children? The fact that we're never told any of these things is a a bit maddening. There are scenes of rape and degraded/violent sex, and that's a bit maddening. We watch seemingly normal, likeable people fall apart and turn towards their darkest selves, Lord of the Flies style, and that's a bit maddening.
The point of this film isn't to provide the audience with easy answers, it's to make us FEEL the madness that's descending upon the survivors and so these unanswered or aborted plot lines are a device used to HELP move us towards that end, not a PROBLEM with the movie. I suggest that those who were bothered by this like simple answers and for things to be all neatly tied up with a little bow on top. This movie doesn't do that for you, so if that's going to bother you then either skip this movie or allow it to broaden your perspective and help jolt you out of that mindset.
Open your minds, enter this movie with no expectations and allow it to take you on a crazy ride and you'll experience a true masterpiece of psychological torture that will leave you feeling deeply moved and disturbed. The actors did an amazing job and the director allowed them free reign to explore their depravity, their cowardice, their scheming, their compromising, their justifications, their holding on to whatever humanity they had left...
It was quite difficult to watch at times, but that's a horror movie for you. This movie is not for the faint of heart, that's definitely true.