Media Log 3: January Roundup

After taking so long to write the past two logs, I've decided for my own sanity to bring these down to a monthly round-up, Karsten Runquist 'what I watched' style. If you haven't read them yet, you can find my review on the worst Nic Cage movie here and the third Pirates movie here. With that said:

'A Kind of Testament' [short film, direct. Stephen Vuillemin, 2023]

Since going to a local festival last year, I've found myself more interested in the short film circuit than I have... ever? So when I saw that this was not only in the running for a Best Animated Short nomination at this year's Oscars, but it would have a limited showing online for free, I knew I had to jump on this.

If you didn't get a chance to watch it within its week of release, the film is framed around a young woman detailing her discovery of a series of animations made about her posts online, made by someone with her exact same name. From there, it gets very metatextual and very surreal about the parasocial connections we make online, as well as a warning about the impact of one's decisions. 

And yeah, it's great! The animation directed by Vuillemin and the team at Remembers captures the eeriness of these imperfect facsimiles of her life, where it feels like each moment of flesh is moments from slipping off its bones (almost literally at one point!). While I can't say I understand all of it, sitting with it has connected several points in my head, and I wish I had a chance to watch it again before it was taken down.

My Letterboxd Review

'Everything Everywhere All At Once' [film, direct. Daniel Scheinert; Daniel Kwan, 2023]

Not much I can really say on this one, other than:

1. How the hell did it take me this long to get around to watching this?
2. Can I go back in time and watch this in a theatre?

It has also made me want to finally watch 'Swiss Army Man' in full, so I look forward to that traumatising experience.

My Letterboxd Review

'Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales' [game, Insomniac Games, 2020, played on PS4]

Started this back in like, I think Christmas of 2022? I did not expect to take this long with a side game of all things, but life gets in the way I guess. In saying that, I did enjoy this one. Gameplay-wise, the addition of tricks and expressive animation really improved the swinging mechanics from the last one, and I loved incorporating the Venom attacks with gadgets and melee combat. That said, I can't say I don't miss some of the gadgets from the last game, particularly the Trip Mine, my beloved, though I think that's more because I know it didn't return for 'Spider-Man 2'.

The story is uh... Well, it works. Definitely as derivative to the original as everyone says, but I did enjoy the dynamic between Miles and The Tinkerer, even compared to Peter and Doc Ock (speaking of which, seeing them in the flashback was a nice treat). Roxxon was on the nose a bit, yes, but I kinda wish they went a bit further with it honestly. There's no way after the last game that anyone in New York wouldn't be giving the big dodgy energy corporation with a private army the stink-eye. I really did enjoy the cast in this one overall though; Ganke and Danika were especially entertaining, and the whole Morales family gave me some of the most heart-warming moments of the entire game. That post-game treasure hunt comes to mind... man.

I'll probably go through the game again at some point (the New Game+ unlocks are a bit of an odd choice, but hey whatever you need to get more game time), but for the moment I'm happy leaving it at that. Oh yeah, top five suits are Programmable Matter, Tracksuit, 2020, Winter, and Spider-Verse, with 2099 in close sixth. How Tracksuit wasn't the main suit for Miles or even used instead of his Adidas promotion in the sequel at all is an atrocity.

'Chuck' [show, created by Josh Schwartz; Chris Fedak, 2007-2012]

Finally finished watching this with my dad this month! I definitely have more to say about this that I'll save for a separate blog post, but I'll say this: Reading reviews for this on IMBd while watching was a strange experience. You'll look at some episodes and people have written about it with such vitriol and hatred, that you'd think it were the last season of Game of Thrones. Meanwhile, others will be full of blind praise and 10/10s. So essentially what Sonic Twitter looks like.

Personally, I don't agree with either (I have some very different opinions on Seasons 4 and 5 in particular), and would probably put it as a 7/10, but goddamn if it isn't one of the best 7/10 shows ever made. Zachery Levi at arguably his most enjoyable (before he started acting like a bit of a jackass) with some of the greatest soap drama and comedy this side of 'Grey's'. It's a bit hit or miss for sure, but give it a go and see what you think.

'Paprika' [film, direct. Satoshi Kon, 2006]

I think I put off watching this for a long time, mainly because of the weight behind Kon's filmography and legacy. I know it is probably not the strongest reason for avoiding a film, but so much praise and comparison is given to his work that it sets such a high expectation in my head. Hell, the homages (plagiarism?) found in 'Inception' alone created such lofty goals for this to achieve. Thankfully, this managed to exceed them and completely divorced itself from whatever nonsense I predicted about the plot. Instead, I found myself enraptured by its own nonsense.

I loved the way this used the contrast between the dreaming world and reality as a mirror to our the different personas used in life. I wasn't expecting it to go much further than 'oh look people have dreams that may be messed up from how they act in real life and look there's a red head pixie girl', but it was interesting to see how prevalent it was among the entire cast. It also illustrates a lot about the real antagonist of the movie — someone who feels trapped in his real form and must take another person's body within the dream world.

There's also probably a lot to be said about how this film reflects on Kon himself as a filmmaker; from the detective's movie dreams to how a lot of the iconography and even posters are taken from prior (and even then-upcoming) works of his. In fact, it's hard not to say this is a culmination of his entire filmography, obviously due to his later passing, but also from how he talked about the films he wanted to make after 'Paprika', looking to make more family movies like 'Dreaming Machine'. That said, I am probably talking out of my ass a bit here seeing as I still need to watch everything else he's made (I will find a way to watch Perfect Blue in cinemas even if it kills me), but it still sort of killed me inside looking up 'Dreaming Kids' after the last scene, and thinking what could've been.

My Letterboxd Review

Don't have a whole lot to say on these two, but I thought I should highlight them anyway. The 'Fresh Blood' program is a initiative by the ABC (the Australian one not the Disney one) to find fresh comedy talent to put on TV, selecting 10 teams to each make their own 3-part shorts series to post up on their Youtube page. From there, about three will get their own full-length pilot and maybe a full series broadcast.

'Day Job' was the one that actually introduced me to this program; an animated mockumentary series about working at a dodgy bowling alley in your twenties. It very much feels like 'Home Movies' (from what little I've seen of it) or 'Stoked' (at least premise-wise) mixed with your typical 'Office' structure. Love the artstyle of this one, the water-colour style backgrounds are especially gorgeous in wide shots. It's great to see some more hand-drawn animated comedies being pitched to networks, even if Flash has gotten better in recent years. The humour as well is very on point, feels like I'm listening in on some weirdo's conversations on the train to Melbourne at times (except without, yknow, the risk of being around said weirdo).

But if you've probably seen this one if you've been on animation twitter for the last week, it already has around a combined like 80k views across all three shorts. What has a bit less at the moment is 'Ruby Rai P.I.', a noir detective story mixed with modern satire on Australian culture. It follows the eponymous P.I. trying to catch the 'Monstera Murderer', a blue haired figure (with pronouns?!?!) stealing people's potted plants. What surprised me about this one was how bizarre and absurdist the humour got in this one, especially in the first two episodes. There's a whole sequence looking back on Ruby's time as a child actress in a girl's horse show that lingers just a tad... too long to be comfortable. I'd say the satires on polyamory and mainstream radio touch on some fun points without going too far into repetition (the short episode length also helps). That said, the third episode doesn't really feel as well connected to the others, rather a portion of a larger episode (maybe as a plea to get picked up for a full pilot?).

Definitely give both a look, as well as the rest of the series that are slowly being trickled out as the weeks continue. Currently half of the announced series are available on the ABC iView Youtube page, which you can find here.

And that's about it really. Hope I've given you something new to watch next month! Life has been just kinda slow for the minute, but maybe things will pick up before March? Either way, I'll be back then for my February round-up (unless this becomes a quarterly thing, which isn't too far fetched at this point).