ARTICLES
Time is a Flat Circle
“It’s hard to see you as desirable” my partner said, unwittingly – or perhaps just unfortunately – confirming the longstanding fear that I may not be wanted by someone I love, and feeding the fervor of the eating disorder I developed during my adolescence to keep those thoughts at bay. These words transported me to…
The Potential for Life – Conception, Inception, Disconception
When I discovered that I was pregnant, my immediate concern was how I could stop being pregnant as soon as possible. I had consistently denounced the prospect of motherhood – or at least of myself as mother – since I was a child. As a twenty-six-year-old student who had recently broken up with and tentatively…
Suicide Squad: Solemnity in the State of the Superhero Film
The Suicide Squad is concerned with a group of misfit anti-heroes who are temporarily released from prison to perform the bidding of the military industrial complex, with the likelihood of their demise rationalised by the state’s devaluation of the lives of convicted criminals. Under James Gunn’s direction, the film unites the playfulness of the Marvel…
Letterboxd – An Anthology
The absence of new material on View Kid during the past ten months coincided with a resolution to produce a greater volume of less substantive film reviews. The purpose of this endeavour was to limber up my writing skills and diminish perfectionist tendencies. The film-oriented social networking website – Letterboxd – proved to be the…
Withnail and I
Withnail and I is a comedic horror about the recognition of one’s own depravity and its consequences. The narrative centres upon Withnail and Marwood (the titular ‘I’), a pair of impoverished creatives astounded by the indignity of their own circumstances, though doing nothing to improve upon them. Indeed, they live in a less dignified manner…
Knie vor dem Ubermenschen
“What is the ape to man? A laughing stock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman.” Friedrich Nietzsche The Ubermensch is an ethical ideal proposed by Friedrich Nietzsche and represents the type of life he believed could be justified as worth living in a fundamentally meaningless world. Nietzsche formulated…
Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
The Last Jedi indulges its audience in a wealth of rich imagery, the most distinct of which is a tie between the unexpectedly sensual reveal of Kylo Ren’s tree trunk of a shirtless torso, and the unexpectedly disturbing image of Luke Skywalker’s green-milk-encrusted beard following his molestation of a sea cow. These scenes speak to…
Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens
Not being the type to give up on something problematic, I returned to The Force Awakens this week as the starting point for my incremental Star Wars marathon. By incremental, I mean I’ll be watching the movies in my own good time instead of bingeing all nine like a psychopath. I would like to say…
The Dead Don’t Die
The Dead Don’t Die follows a local police outfit comprised of Cliff (Bill Murray) and Ronnie (Adam Driver) as they deal with a zombie uprising in the claustrophobically small town of Centerville. In classic Jim Jarmusch style, it is perhaps misleading to say that these characters deal with anything; rather, they have meandering conversations while…
Land of Silence and Darkness
Land of Silence and Darkness takes deaf-blindness as its subject and charts a gradual journey into isolation. Bereft of humanity’s common means of communication, Herzog marvels at the attempts of those who are deaf-blind to understand others and make themselves understood. This project feels true to Herzog, given his self-confessed admiration of the illiterate, while also being the gentlest…
Okja
Of all the things that could have convinced me to become a vegetarian, I never expected it would be the tale of a grossly anthropomorphised super pig. Such is life under the influence of Bong Joon-Ho, a modern master of science fiction. Okja is premised on the alleged discovery of a new breed of pig…
Taxi Driver
“Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There’s no escape. I’m God’s lonely man.” Taxi Driver treats loneliness as a disease with which Travis Bickle is unmistakeably afflicted. It’s not a story of redemption; rather, it documents a steady spiral into alienation and instability which is at…
1917
1917 takes place during World War One and depicts the journey of two young soldiers, Blake and Schofield, tasked with delivering a message to the second battalion before dawn, lest they walk into a trap that will end in mass slaughter. While its premise is simple, the film has attracted widespread media attention for its…
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler is a gloriously dark journey through night-time Los Angeles, where Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is making a name for himself as a “stringer” – a freelance journalist who captures graphic footage of crime scenes, turning a profit by selling it to TV stations. Unlike many journalist protagonists who came before him, Lou doesn’t endeavour…
2019 In Review – My Top 5 Films
This is something of a late entry, given that most of us have already closed the book on 2019. Nonetheless, I have reflected on the films I watched this year and selected 5 timeless favourites which I will certainly be revisiting for years to come. They aren’t listed in any particular order, merely the order…
Crumb – The Stuff of Nightmares
I felt uncomfortable watching Crumb. I felt uncomfortable as I looked for a picture of Crumb to include in this review (his comic depicting the rape of a headless woman was ubiquitous irrespective of how I phrased my search query). Everything about Robert Crumb makes me uncomfortable. As an eccentric and a creative, I identify…
Ghost World
I watched Ghost World this week as part of a Terry Zwigoff film review. The film is adapted from a graphic novel written by Daniel Clowes and follows the life of 18-year old Enid Coleslaw following her graduation from high school. It is notable that Enid Coleslaw is an anagram for Daniel Clowes, thereby suggesting…
Jojo Rabbit – Anti-Hate in the Time of Hitler
When I attempted to explain the plot of Jojo Rabbit to a friend of mine, they found it difficult to understand how the events of World War II could be framed as a comedy. “I hate Nazis” was their response. I was reminded that the use of an ironic tone can divide audiences between those…
Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
Allow me to preface this review by stating that I enjoy every Star Wars film (yes, including The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) and this was no exception. It was a highly entertaining romp that included many fun call-backs to service long-term fans of the franchise, from revisiting the ruins of the Death…
View Kid 