Category Archives: Reel understanding

‘Barbie’ is all about queerness and domestic violence and it took my dumb ass a week to fully realize it

Posted on July 29, 2023 by reelentropy

My Barbie review last week ended with several paragraphs on the romantic relationship played out in stereo between the Barbies and the Kens in the final leg of the film, the main argument being it seems like writer/director Greta Gerwig … Continue reading →

Posted in Reel understanding | Tagged #2001: a space odyssey, #donald trump, Abortion access, Barbie, domestic violence, Don't Worry Darling, Greta Gerwig, my dumb ass, Noah Baumbach, Oppenheimer, queerness, Supreme Court | 1 Comment

Reexamining ‘The Matrix’ as primarily a love story

Posted on January 16, 2022 by reelentropy

Reactions to The Matrix Resurrections, the new long-gestating revisitation of the turn-of-the-century series, have been extremely strong and extremely mixed in ways that I don’t feel like quantifying. I’ve been torn between the desire to write about it and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reel understanding, White Noise | Tagged Lana and Lilly Wachowski, MPAA, Ritalin generation, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Resurrections, Warner Bros | Leave a comment

Reely understanding the ‘Suspiria’ remake

Posted on August 19, 2020 by reelentropy

The 2018 Suspiria remake is a daunting masterpiece of queer and anti-fascist cinema that demands to be understood on its own terms. I’ve ‘splained this movie enough times during quarantine, or tried to, that I think it’s time to put … Continue reading →

Posted in Reel understanding | Tagged #dakota johnson, #the witch, German Autumn, Hereditary, Luca Guadagnino, Suspiria, Tilda Swinton | Leave a comment

Revisiting ‘Uncut Gems’ eight months later

Posted on August 16, 2020 by reelentropy

I’ve been revisiting a lot of recently streaming favorites in quarantine, and I wanted to take a few minutes to write about a movie that I don’t think I gave its due on initial examination. Uncut Gems is a frustrating … Continue reading →

Posted in A less chaotic state, Reel understanding | Tagged #adam sandler, Jewishness, Josh and Benny Safdie, Kevin Garnett, Schindler's List, The Song of Names, Uncut Gems | Leave a comment

Reely understanding ‘John Wick’ and parallels with Roman mythology

Posted on May 27, 2019 by reelentropy

One of my favorite things about John Wick: Chapter 2, and one of the most illustrative ways in which John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum represents a slight step down, is how well it sews mythology into its narrative. Chapter 2, and by extension the original John … Continue reading →

Posted in Reel understanding | Tagged #john wick, #keanu reeves, Dante's Inferno, Don Quixote, Heracles, Hercules, John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Odesseus, The Odyssey, Ulysses, Vasilisa the Beautiful | 3 Comments