Lunchtime!

Film: Raw (Grave)
Format: DVD from Wilmington Public Library through interlibrary loan on gigantic television.

Julia Ducournau is really early in her directorial career in terms of the number of films she has made. I think, for me, she’s going to be a director whose work I seek out, but only watch once. That’s definitely the case for Titane, which I think is a masterpiece. It’s equally true of Raw. (Grave in the French, which translates to “serious.” It would be Brute if we wanted the French to be the same as the English.) This is an important film and one I’m happy to have finally seen, but I’m not going to watch it again any time soon.

Let’s get the main points of this out in the open before we dive in: Raw is a film about cannibalism. This is not a zombie film, nor a film that pretends to be an ethnography and is actually just poorly-disguised racism. No, this is about people living in the modern world, in Western society, with inexplicable, terrible, monstrous cravings. And, importantly, it’s not clear that this is what the film is about until we’re a good distance in and already invested in the story, one of the realities that makes this such a masterful piece of cinema.

That's Really Super

Film: Supergirl
Format: Streaming video from HBO on various sources.

Before we talk too much about Supergirl, we need to spend some time talking about the toxicity of nerd culture. If Supergirl had been a perfect superhero movie, something that rivaled the cultural relevance and power of Avengers: Endgame, there would have been a sizable contingent of nerds online rating it 1-star, sight unseen. Why? Because it’s a superhero movie with a female lead who isn’t entirely dependent on a male character or even in any kind of relationship with a male character. Wonder Woman got a pass because of Steve Rogers. Birds of Prey was downgraded because Harley Quinn escaped from the toxic influence of the Joker in that film. There are a lot of nerds who project their desperate desire for male dominance on all movies, and none so much as those they seem to think are theirs by divine right. Oh, and probably Supergirl isn’t hot enough for the standards of guys who haven’t touched a woman other than their own mother.

The truth is that Supergirl is not a perfect superhero movie. It’s not even the best DC superhero movie of the last few years. It is, however, at least very good, and presents a very interesting view on the title character. It also does this without a lot of the expected “Grrl power” attitude. In fact, for a good portion of the movie, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Milly Alcock) isn’t very likeable.

All You Can Eat

Film: Buffet Infinity
Format: Streaming video Amazon Prime on Fire!

I’m not sure how to explain what Buffet Infinity is. It feels like it is pulling ideas from completely disparate sources but also like something completely original, something you have never experienced before. It’s horror, but also comedy, and also kitsch. There are connections to the movie Stay Tuned, SNL short films, Detroiters, Mr. Show, SCTV, Scientology, and cheap local ads. But none of this tells you what Buffet Infinity actually is.

Imagine someone watching late night television where all of the ads are cheap, local ones. The person holding the remote has that sort of scrolling ADHD that keeps them switching channels every 30 seconds or so, and that they have a unique ability to only find news and commercials. And as they continue to move from channel to channel, some odd reality starts to take shape.

A Remake Worth Watching

Film: The Naked Gun (2025)
Format: Streaming video from Paramount on The Projector

I’ve had a number of different methods to watch films over the last 16 or so years of this blog, but now and then I get to add a new one. Through a series of events, I now have access to a device that projects streaming channels on a blank wall. Long story, and I may reveal it some time in the future. Anyway, this weekend, I’ve spent some time with a cousin, his wife, their son, and their son’s partner, and we watched the remake of The Naked Gun. So, while this is not entirely unique for me, this review will also come with the necessary context of seeing this with a group of people, and frankly, that is the way to watch this movie.

For those uninitiated (and why would you be uninitiated in this), The Naked Gun is based on the movie of the same name, which came from a short one-season television show called Police Squad. This is a film done in the style of Airplane! with hundreds of jokes tossed at the screen at the same time with the hope that a few of them will stick. This is the sort of comedy that rewards rewatching, since there are often multiple jokes happening at the same time, and you have to work to catch them all.

He Loves Me...Not

Film: Heart Eyes
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on Fire!

If you are perpetually online, you have almost certainly seen clips of shows from the Dropout Network. One of the shows, Make Some Noise, is an improv show that frequently features the talents of Josh Ruben, known for some impressive impressions and the ability to make odd animal noises. I bring this up because Josh Ruben also directed the horror/comedy Heart Eyes. I know nothing about Ruben beyond what I’ve seen online. The comedy seems right on for what I know; the horror seems surprising.

Heart Eyes is an attempt to create a new slasher villain, a character with an iconic look. Our killer, naturally known as the Heart Eyes Killer or HEK, has had a two-year reign of terror. The gimmick is that HEK kills happy couples on Valentine’s Day. The first year, he killed couples in Boston; the following year, he attacked Philadelphia. Since this movie takes place in Seattle, you can guess the city that will be struck this year.

What I've Caught Up With, August 2026 Part 2

I did better with television shows in August. I watched the final season of Good Omens, which was really just a movie-length episode of the show. I also finally finished The Sopranos as my workout show and have moved on to 12 Monkeys, which is surprisingly intense. I watched the second season of Fallout as well. I also watched the DC animated show Harley Quinn. It was fun for four seasons and went one season too long. Last and absolutely least, I watched the Harley Quinn spin-off Kite Man, Hell Yeah, which at a single season also went one season too long.

What I've Caught Up With, August 2026 Part 1

As seems to be the case lately, I go into the month with plans of catching up on movie watching and I simply fall further behind on my goals. I watched 26 movies in August; three rewatches and 23 new-to-me films. It’s almost a full week’s worth off the pace of just watching one movie per day. So, it seems likely that I won’t hit the year’s goal for movies this year, either. Ah, well.