Hell

Seen at the cinema. Free admission, yeah, otherwise I wouldn't dream of spending €9 for Spielberg. The film starts with some pretty good premises, but 1) at a certain point, it completely overlooks the relationship between the protagonist and the Soviet spy, which seemed to me the most interesting part, 2) since he goes to Berlin, there's an astonishing drop in attention, the screenplay starts to spin in circles like a little top, and the characters spend an eternity negotiating, "I'll give you my eraser and you two pencils," "no, I'll give you just one pencil," "then I'll ask for one pencil and one pen," etc., my friend next to me fell asleep for a good half hour, not to mention that 3) the contrast between America and Berlin is represented in an annoying way... when the scene with the kids casually climbing over the fence came, I was ready to roll my eyes all the way to the front row; was it really necessary to be so blatant and didactic? Bah. Other than that, the direction is elegant, Kaminski's photography is always the exact same and conveys nothing to me... 1.5

I confess I’ve only listened to it a couple of times, and I didn’t find it as powerful/devastating/whatever you want as Streetcleaner.

Moderately appreciated. I am very fascinated by ideas, a bit less by results.

I'll make a sulky comment that could be read in any other forum: if I see it, it will be a long time from now. All this media pounding has made me feel sick and has caused me to hate a saga that, nonetheless, marked my childhood and adolescence. End of clichés, over and out.

I hated it to death. One of the most pedantic and fake movies I've ever seen, all Haneke/Lanthimos, angst, coldness, violence, and a depth close to zero as far as I'm concerned. A waste of time passed off as an art film. Just thinking about it makes me feel irritated.

Still undecided between this and the latest from Newsom for album of the year, but that’s a trivial detail. At first, New Bermuda disappointed me a bit; I was still too attached to the wall of sound of Sunbather, but then I changed my mind: there are no dull moments, zero filler, contrasts galore, while Sunbather was much more homogeneous, and it had that couple of pretty useless interludes. Sure, it’s not the height of originality; some things sound familiar: the ending of Luna is identical to that of Dream House, the piano outro of Brought to the Water exactly echoes Irresistible, the post-rock beginning of Baby Blue references Vertigo... but what changes is the context; I feel them increasingly aware and fierce, more masters of their own style, in short, and I love this ability to quote themselves while simultaneously transforming. If Sunbather represented the blinding desire for a better life, the vertigo of possibilities, the sterility and disorientation of post-adolescence, New Bermuda is the attainment of adulthood, a new milestone and thus a new terrible disappointment, made only of traffic, wet asphalt, sleepless nights, endless coughing.

I still prefer it to the ever-beautiful Hosianna Mantra; Vuh is something out of this world. The title track is a bit more challenging but still a great trip.

Sorrentino sings to himself, plays to himself, brags, and splashes himself. More than his directorial flourishes, what bothers me is his obsession with dispensing pearls of wisdom and pseudo-aforisms in every scene, without managing to convey anything substantial. Nevertheless, I preferred this film to La Grande Fetecchia because it’s a bit more emotional and has a beautiful soundtrack. As for the rest, it’s just hot air.

Beautiful movie, a real surprise. Memorable characters, especially the mother, who I liked a lot; maybe it’s because she reminded me of mine, both in personality and appearance. Perfect soundtrack, the cinematography is spot on.

Given that I almost hate them for all these remakes, live, live of the remake, compilations, reissues... given that I think they are short on ideas, and that it greatly troubles me that three years after Dead End Kings they haven’t said a word about a new album, nor replaced Daniel and Per... given this, among all the secondary releases they have shoved at us so far, this is the most sensible and sincere. Because if the DEK remake sounded sloppy and inconclusive, this unplugged live show is appreciated for its attention to detail, a setlist that is anything but trivial (Day, Gone, A Darkness Coming, The One..., Sleeper), and the spectral atmosphere of the Union Chapel. Let’s also add some rearranged melodies here and there, and the good Jonas in splendid form (you can tell he feels much more at ease this way, compared to the usual electric shows), and the result can only please any respectable Katatonia fan.