Dustin
@mayflyunderground.bsky.social
Occasionally rants about politics, movies, music, and board games.
Some great atmosphere and truly grotesque body horror shine in a glacially paced 2 hours of confusing non-linear, long-winded narrative. It's creepy over cohesive. A clunky pastiche of early 2000s J-horror and found footage, it's 20 years late to the party and didn't bring anything new.
1/5
1/5
April 18, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Some great atmosphere and truly grotesque body horror shine in a glacially paced 2 hours of confusing non-linear, long-winded narrative. It's creepy over cohesive. A clunky pastiche of early 2000s J-horror and found footage, it's 20 years late to the party and didn't bring anything new.
1/5
1/5
An inclusive horror comedy that has plenty of laughs and feels, and looks great throughout. The big sticking point is that it's teenage+ themes of identity, guilt, demonic possession, and the prison industrial complex are at odds with a tone, style, and narrative more akin to a kids movie.
3/5
3/5
April 18, 2025 at 7:25 PM
An inclusive horror comedy that has plenty of laughs and feels, and looks great throughout. The big sticking point is that it's teenage+ themes of identity, guilt, demonic possession, and the prison industrial complex are at odds with a tone, style, and narrative more akin to a kids movie.
3/5
3/5
AI thinks music is a sport, so I don't think we should let it run Social Security. Or anything else, for that matter.
April 18, 2025 at 5:31 PM
AI thinks music is a sport, so I don't think we should let it run Social Security. Or anything else, for that matter.
Plot, dialogue, acting, cinematography, wardrobe: all of it is bad. One of the worst high-budget disasters I've ever seen. Every corner that could be cut, is: no character has purpose beyond bad exposition, the camera cuts to avoid VFX shots, the ADR is inexplicably awful. Morbius was better...
0/5
0/5
April 14, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Plot, dialogue, acting, cinematography, wardrobe: all of it is bad. One of the worst high-budget disasters I've ever seen. Every corner that could be cut, is: no character has purpose beyond bad exposition, the camera cuts to avoid VFX shots, the ADR is inexplicably awful. Morbius was better...
0/5
0/5
Fuck me, that was painful. This cycle of abuse in the guise of inspiring greatness cuts to the bone in every scene. We watch a determined young drummer destroy himself to get the approval of his sadistic mentor and a chance to be the best. It sticks with you, interpreting the final performance.
5/5
5/5
April 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Fuck me, that was painful. This cycle of abuse in the guise of inspiring greatness cuts to the bone in every scene. We watch a determined young drummer destroy himself to get the approval of his sadistic mentor and a chance to be the best. It sticks with you, interpreting the final performance.
5/5
5/5
While it has some funny and iconic moments, this day-in-the-life comedy is just as boring, stupid, and pointless as it's inspiration: Clerks. The ending is trying to say something, but it's muddled at best. "Beat a man with your fists, not a gun" is as close to a lesson as it gets.
1/5
1/5
April 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
While it has some funny and iconic moments, this day-in-the-life comedy is just as boring, stupid, and pointless as it's inspiration: Clerks. The ending is trying to say something, but it's muddled at best. "Beat a man with your fists, not a gun" is as close to a lesson as it gets.
1/5
1/5
The post-apocalyptic detective story of S1 is abandoned in favor of a split story: a nerfed lead does fetch quests while the Silo spends 10 episodes trying to figure out if a rebellion is happening. The characters all suck and each episode is filler that ends with an empty mystery box. Bad.
1/5
1/5
April 6, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The post-apocalyptic detective story of S1 is abandoned in favor of a split story: a nerfed lead does fetch quests while the Silo spends 10 episodes trying to figure out if a rebellion is happening. The characters all suck and each episode is filler that ends with an empty mystery box. Bad.
1/5
1/5
The history is really interesting, including the sometimes ham-fisted inclusion of Ian Fleming, but the narrative falls flat over its 2h runtime. The tension of war and threat of discovery (à la Valkyrie or Spy Gone North) is mired by unnecessary side plots and a misplaced love triangle.
3/5
3/5
April 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The history is really interesting, including the sometimes ham-fisted inclusion of Ian Fleming, but the narrative falls flat over its 2h runtime. The tension of war and threat of discovery (à la Valkyrie or Spy Gone North) is mired by unnecessary side plots and a misplaced love triangle.
3/5
3/5
A really strong satire of American capitalism's exploitation of black voices. A lot of touching character moments and cringey comedy centered around Wright's conflicted black academic in a white-focused world. The ending, though pointed, is jarring and loses the heart-felt character drama.
4/5
4/5
April 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
A really strong satire of American capitalism's exploitation of black voices. A lot of touching character moments and cringey comedy centered around Wright's conflicted black academic in a white-focused world. The ending, though pointed, is jarring and loses the heart-felt character drama.
4/5
4/5
What if a character arc was a straight line that blips a bit in the final 10 seconds? The performances are good despite the characters being unbearably awful - except Igor & Garnik. The film is bloated and gratuitously eye-fucks Madison, while painting a picture of sex workers as gold-diggers.
1/5
1/5
April 2, 2025 at 2:53 AM
What if a character arc was a straight line that blips a bit in the final 10 seconds? The performances are good despite the characters being unbearably awful - except Igor & Garnik. The film is bloated and gratuitously eye-fucks Madison, while painting a picture of sex workers as gold-diggers.
1/5
1/5
Bong Joon-ho is back with biting and timely social commentary, cool creatures, and his trademark dark humor. It's a solid movie, but runs about 20 min too long and has some wishy-washy character arcs. Pattison does a great job (x2) and Ruffalo eats the scenery as space-Trump.
4/5
4/5
March 31, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Bong Joon-ho is back with biting and timely social commentary, cool creatures, and his trademark dark humor. It's a solid movie, but runs about 20 min too long and has some wishy-washy character arcs. Pattison does a great job (x2) and Ruffalo eats the scenery as space-Trump.
4/5
4/5
What if The Twilight Zone, but poorly written and made on an 90s kids TV show budget? The logic of the film is confusing at best, the twists are comically dumb, the set design is nonsensical, and the acting is pretty awful throughout. Derivative of the many, many better time travel stories.
1/5
1/5
March 26, 2025 at 1:10 AM
What if The Twilight Zone, but poorly written and made on an 90s kids TV show budget? The logic of the film is confusing at best, the twists are comically dumb, the set design is nonsensical, and the acting is pretty awful throughout. Derivative of the many, many better time travel stories.
1/5
1/5
I think about this quote every day now.
March 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM
I think about this quote every day now.
A promising concept gets mired in "hit my head amnesia". The series of events are mostly fun and cleverly written, except for "quirky misunderstanding where I fuck my friend's supposed girlfriend, hahaha". The humor is there sometimes, but chained to very stupid characters aside from Madonna.
2/5
2/5
March 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
A promising concept gets mired in "hit my head amnesia". The series of events are mostly fun and cleverly written, except for "quirky misunderstanding where I fuck my friend's supposed girlfriend, hahaha". The humor is there sometimes, but chained to very stupid characters aside from Madonna.
2/5
2/5
It's like a noir, but the private dick is boring and the femme fatale is invested in therapy. Fonda is great, despite her terrible haircut. The story moseys along, revealing the villain way too early and then waits an hour for the protagonists to catch up in an anti-climactic finale.
2/5
2/5
March 22, 2025 at 10:25 PM
It's like a noir, but the private dick is boring and the femme fatale is invested in therapy. Fonda is great, despite her terrible haircut. The story moseys along, revealing the villain way too early and then waits an hour for the protagonists to catch up in an anti-climactic finale.
2/5
2/5
NCAA Men's Final 4 prediction.
Championship: Florida vs Duke
Winner: Duke
Championship: Florida vs Duke
Winner: Duke
March 20, 2025 at 2:06 PM
NCAA Men's Final 4 prediction.
Championship: Florida vs Duke
Winner: Duke
Championship: Florida vs Duke
Winner: Duke
NCAA Women's Final 4 prediction.
Championship: UCLA vs Texas
Winner: UCLA
Championship: UCLA vs Texas
Winner: UCLA
March 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
NCAA Women's Final 4 prediction.
Championship: UCLA vs Texas
Winner: UCLA
Championship: UCLA vs Texas
Winner: UCLA
A satire that goes the correct distance into farce and is more relevant now that it was in 2018. Lots of funny moments and a WTF turn in the 3rd act. It has a few loose ends in the narrative, like characters who just stop existing once they've served their purpose, but overall a fun, dark film.
4/5
4/5
March 20, 2025 at 12:47 PM
A satire that goes the correct distance into farce and is more relevant now that it was in 2018. Lots of funny moments and a WTF turn in the 3rd act. It has a few loose ends in the narrative, like characters who just stop existing once they've served their purpose, but overall a fun, dark film.
4/5
4/5
Well shot, but incredibly slow and doesn't have any plot to speak of. It starts with a woman clinging to her nomadic lifestyle instead of dealing with her trauma and ends the exact same way. Instead of tackling the exploitation it glimpses, it romanticizes the hardship that leads people to it.
2/5
2/5
March 18, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Well shot, but incredibly slow and doesn't have any plot to speak of. It starts with a woman clinging to her nomadic lifestyle instead of dealing with her trauma and ends the exact same way. Instead of tackling the exploitation it glimpses, it romanticizes the hardship that leads people to it.
2/5
2/5
Really enjoyed this witty, snarky, and heartfelt love-story of exploding teenagers. Written (quite presciently) before COVID, it captures the confusion of being young and uncertain of your future. Afterward, found out it was from the writer/director of "No One Will Save You". He's one to watch.
4/5
4/5
March 18, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Really enjoyed this witty, snarky, and heartfelt love-story of exploding teenagers. Written (quite presciently) before COVID, it captures the confusion of being young and uncertain of your future. Afterward, found out it was from the writer/director of "No One Will Save You". He's one to watch.
4/5
4/5
Overthrowing a single rich man's life for legitimate reasons that are revealed in the end. This had the common satire problem of mixing it's message: it points fingers at the rich for escaping COVID while exploiting the working class, but also downplays the necessity of the shutdown.
2/5
2/5
March 18, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Overthrowing a single rich man's life for legitimate reasons that are revealed in the end. This had the common satire problem of mixing it's message: it points fingers at the rich for escaping COVID while exploiting the working class, but also downplays the necessity of the shutdown.
2/5
2/5
How this 40s-era Western was made in 1962 is beyond me. That said, it's good. It's a standard Western with a cool narrative device and a lot of over-acting. It's not anything different from Westerns that pre-date it and it's got nothing on the spaghetti Westerns that would soon follow.
3/5
3/5
March 12, 2025 at 5:42 PM
How this 40s-era Western was made in 1962 is beyond me. That said, it's good. It's a standard Western with a cool narrative device and a lot of over-acting. It's not anything different from Westerns that pre-date it and it's got nothing on the spaghetti Westerns that would soon follow.
3/5
3/5
Some movies you just pick apart the logistics of the scenario instead of being engaged. It's the Helm's Deep battle and a location swapped Escape from NY on a sci-fi channel budget. Lots of awkward shots with action happening off-screen, bad stunt work, confusing editing, and bad ADR.
1/5
1/5
March 8, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Some movies you just pick apart the logistics of the scenario instead of being engaged. It's the Helm's Deep battle and a location swapped Escape from NY on a sci-fi channel budget. Lots of awkward shots with action happening off-screen, bad stunt work, confusing editing, and bad ADR.
1/5
1/5
Holy shit. As a movie, it's okay - it's too long and the story is so-so. But, as a statement, it's fucking amazing. The speech at the end almost moved me to tears because it was so relevant 85 years after it was filmed. Go watch it right now.
3/5 - but 5/5 on substance alone
3/5 - but 5/5 on substance alone
March 5, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Holy shit. As a movie, it's okay - it's too long and the story is so-so. But, as a statement, it's fucking amazing. The speech at the end almost moved me to tears because it was so relevant 85 years after it was filmed. Go watch it right now.
3/5 - but 5/5 on substance alone
3/5 - but 5/5 on substance alone
There's a lot crammed into this 1h 41m runtime. Reflections on death, loss, and grieving, moments of subtle humor and raging absurdism, a coming of age story, and a platonic love story. Self-destruction and knolling as therapy. Not ideal, but it's the journey this guy is on.
4/5
4/5
March 3, 2025 at 3:35 PM
There's a lot crammed into this 1h 41m runtime. Reflections on death, loss, and grieving, moments of subtle humor and raging absurdism, a coming of age story, and a platonic love story. Self-destruction and knolling as therapy. Not ideal, but it's the journey this guy is on.
4/5
4/5