Disclaimer
I missed, among other things, 20 Days in Mariupol, Matter Out of Place, Our Body, Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros, and King Coal. I refused to watch De Humani Corporis Fabrica.
Review highlights
*This* is the reason why - "after all", "all things considered" and "nevertheless" - I still subscribe to MUBI.
A cunning, insightful, penetrating exploration of social media trends associated with "the feminine" on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and the likes as a manifestation of widespread insanity, (in)voluntary malevolence and manipulation. Stemmer tackles with gusto phenomena like institutionalized OCD, normalized misogyny, and neoliberal mantras for the masses. This is one of the most interesting take on the enormous social and psychological toll inflicted by social media in the past twenty years. Funny, ha? NOT. [Please note that I am referring to the four-installment Arte TV redux/expanded version, and not the original 2019 version]
The correct title is Putin's Gift. Deschamps' three hour documentary is as terrific as her 2018 exposé of Lehman's Brothers. The key message here is that West was incredibly naive, deliberately distracted and intentionally clueless when it came to the collapse of democracy in Russia under Putin. Imagine turning a blind eye for 20 years (!). Her style is very different from Adam Curtis's, but the outcome is similar: one must blame both the US, the UK, and the EU for Russia's toxic behavior (literally). It is hard to disagree with Deschamps' conclusion: the worst has yet to come
Telemarketers is what you get when you mix The Wolf of Wall Street with Office Space and Training Day. America is the land of the scam, where con men become presidents and money buys pretty much everything, including "justice". Why would anyone want to "defund the police" when there have professional telemarketers, pardon, consultants, doing all the work? Well, not so fast. What if the telemarketers ARE former officers and members of police unions? Good luck fixing that "conundrum".
The landscape of India, as depicted in All that Breathes, is a visage of the world's bleak future under the crushing grip of neoliberalism and unbridled capitalism. The film presents a haunting tale of avian creatures and humans struggling to survive in the age of the Anthropocene, an epoch marked by the destructive impact of human activity on the environment. A counterpart to Yuri Ancarani's The Challenge and a great companion to Rahul Jain's Invisible Demons, All that Breathes serves as a chilling warning that the horrors of dystopian sci-fi are already being played out in reality.
Whaam! Blam! Roy Litchenstein and the art of appropriation
Finlay and Reed's exposé on Roy Lichtenstein is an intriguing exploration into the complex world of art, copyright, and originality, though it's not without its technical shortcomings. While falling short in aspects of its editing and sound design, which sometimes disrupt the narrative flow and clarity, the doc still manages to carve out a space in contemporary art discourse. The authors delve deeply into the contentious issues surrounding copyright infringement, fair use, appropriation art and the concept of transformative works. Where's the line between inspiration, homage and plagiarism?
LINK: 2023_My favorite docs
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