The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one who can see.

Blindness

(2008)

The premise has the potential for a five-star apocalyptic masterpiece, a smart piece in which mankind is brought down not by zombies but by its own selfishness. But the film gets caught up in the increasingly despairing, wallowing misery and faeces of an isolation unit where the first batch of those struck blind have been placed.

There's nothing particularly daring or revelatory about the resulting treatise on man's inhumanity to man, since we're talking concentration camp-like survival instincts coming to the fore. The eventual departure from this environment sees the film tip into the opposite extreme of emotion, wanting to have its cake of degradation but then reward you in salvation.

Which makes for an odd viewing experience that is anchored not by the script but by Mereilles' assured direction and the performances of Julianne Moore (never less than commanding in anything, even here where blighted by a character - as the only sighted person – who never seems to attempt a course of action to get the better of a situation in which she is the only one equipped to do so), Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga (who reminds me a little of a young Lena Olin) and Danny Glover are all strong. In contrast, I dislike Gael Garcia Bernal more and more with every film I see him in. I'm not sure if it's because he chooses to play smug, over-the-top, lunatics, or because he is a smug, over-the-top, lunatic.

***

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She writes Twilight fan fiction.

Vampire Academy (2014)
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Out of Africa (1985)
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Django Unchained (2012)
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Rejoice! The broken are the more evolved. Rejoice.

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Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
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Roma (2018)
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Russian Doll Season One
(SPOILERS) It feels like loading the dice to proclaim something necessarily better because it’s female-driven, but that’s the tack The Hollywood Reporter took with its effusive review of Russian Doll, suggesting “although Nadia goes on a similar journey of self-discovery to Bill Murray’s hackneyed reporter in Groundhog Day, the fact that the show was created, written by and stars women means that it offers up a different, less exploitative and far more thoughtful angle” (than the predominately male-centric entries in the sub-genre). Which rather sounds like Rosie Knight changing the facts to fit her argument. And ironic, given star Natasha Lyonne has gone out of her way to stress the show’s inclusive message. Russian Dollis good, but the suggestion that “unlike its predecessors (it) provides a thoughtfulness, authenticity and honesty which makes it inevitable end (sic) all the more powerful” is cobblers.

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Starship Troopers (1997)
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Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
(SPOILERS) The latest instalment of the impossibly consistent in quality Mission: Impossible franchise has been hailed as the best yet, and with but a single dud among the sextet that’s a considerable accolade. I’m not sure it's entirely deserved – there’s a particular repeated thematic blunder designed to add some weight in a "hero's validation" sense that not only falls flat, but also actively detracts from the whole – but as a piece of action filmmaking, returning director Christopher McQuarrie has done it again. Mission: Impossible – Fallout is an incredible accomplishment, the best of its ilk this side of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Now In Full Color, with a Happier Ending

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