Miguel Costa

“Some men just want to watch the world burn, Master Wayne.” – Alfred, The Dark Knight.

Yes, some men just want to watch the world burn because there’s not much to them other than a truly evil soul. That’s the general idea and consensus behind Michael Myers. He doesn’t need a reason to kill because he is simply put…evil. Except, I felt like I needed a reason because it wasn’t giving us much of anything else as an alternative. There’s no motive, there’s barely any violence, when there is actual violence, there’s no gore or any real idea of where the victim was even struck. Even the acting is atrocious. As a member of an audience, I would have no idea of what’s even happening. I get it, they just want to give you an idea of what’s happening, which is fine most of the time…but if I don’t know what’s happening or where, I rarely care why.

The movie does do something right – it created a memorable looking villain. That may be because this movie is nearly 40 years old, but even so, it is what it is. It also had a good idea of how to present general creepiness based solely on the location of the camera – which helps when Michael Myers is stalking his victims. The music, I could have done without, but who cares. That being said, this is a movie that, in a way, changed the way horror films are presented. For that reason alone, I respect this movie, but I don’t like it – there’s too much about it that goes wrong in my opinion, and that comes down to the completely absent storytelling.

So here’s how it is…Halloween feels like a classic horror film. A part of that may solely be reputation and simplicity, but it feels how it should. That being said, its biggest weakness lies with storytelling. The reasoning behind Michael Myers doing what he does is as cheap as the movie…he’s evil – which means these victims are suffering from a random selection…they mean nothing…how can you care about their lives? There is barely any violence, which in and of itself is fine, but when there IS, it doesn’t show anything…so I’m left wondering how they died…apparently they were stabbed…which I guess doesn’t matter where. If you get stabbed anywhere on the body…you die. Apart from that, the acting is atrocious and it is downright weird towards the end – mainly the tombstone and ghost costume. Those are things you’d expect with a 8th or 9th installment running out of ideas…not the first movie ever.

So there it is. I wasn’t a fan, and I tried to list why. What is your opinion on this film?

This is one of Marvel Studios’ riskier projects, the hyperlink structure combined with the villain being the main character immediately makes it stand out in the genre. It’s because of those two aspects that the film works as well as it does. Thanos is a great character with an interesting motivation. The animation is so detailed and lifelike that it never fails to bring out the emotion, in fact I’d argue that the scenes between him and Gamora have the most emotional punch (courtesy of Zoe Saldana and Josh Brolin, who both put in a really solid performance). The balancing of all the different plot lines is also quite well done as there’s a relevancy to each one, nor does the tone feel too disjointed at any point. Some transitions or the sudden pop culture riffing during serious scenes can be awkward, but it’s handled about as well as it could. The exposition is handled tastefully and kept to a minimum, it instead chooses to focus on unexpected interactions between characters from different branches of the Marvel universe, which is the more exciting part. I’m less into the action and filmmaking, however. Not a lot about the camerawork or score jumps out to me, I feel like what little vision the Russos brought to their previous MCU projects is completely lost here. The washed out colour palette (which for some reason is slightly more vibrant during scenes in space) and obvious music embellishments don’t evoke all that much. The staging and editing of the action is a little too quick for my liking, the moments that are meant to be memorable don’t leave much of an impression because the editing doesn’t take its time to punctuate the stunts properly. Some of the CGI also feels a little weightless, for example Stark’s suit looks and feels like its made from paper. The resulting scenes, such as the final battle on Titan, feel more like small scale, digital mush than the big epic scenes they’re aiming for. Once the film decides to slow down for the dramatic conclusion, I find its intent to be manipulative and disingenuous. I felt that way after watching it the first time in the cinema, and after every ‘death’ in this movie having been retconned in one way or another, it turns out I was right. Even in its riskier films, Marvel will find ways to take most of the edges off. Overall, it’s still decent but it’s lost a lot of its flavour for me over the years.

6/10

Smartest creature ever. Super adaptable, evolutionary. This is by far the bad assiest being ever imagined. The science in the movie was up to my extremely lofty standards. For the first time, ever in a horror movie, this thing could theoretically actually exist makes the movie extremely interesting. The main reason I gave it a 9, is due to the fact, they should have sacrificed the first guy, immediately. I had one other issue, but that would tip spoilers. Other than that, this is a great, thrilling, mind bender of a horror sci-fi movie.

And for those who ridiculously state this was "like Alien". This movie had a super intelligent, highly evolved bacteria. This was never done before. Actual physics and biology was implemented. It wasn't just some creature out of the mind of a teenager. The crew were attempting to contain and survive. Never before have I saw a movie, that was about containing an entity while above the planet. This used an actual space station, that is real and does exist. This was not a fairy tale of a movie, as was Alien. No one was hunting this thing down with guns and such. This movie is about what can actually happen as we go frolicking around our solar system. This is something that we should actually be worried about. That is completely ground breaking in every way possible. The Europa Report was closer related to this film, but even that was not as real of a threat as this movie, since it was on a Saturn moon, using theoretical science and fictional equipment. Life used all actual equipment, actual science, and actual crew reactions, although, I would have sacrificed the first guy, immediately and launched the immature state of Calvin at the first sign of an issue. And one last thing, Calvin didn't even kill anyone, except the first guy, who was attempting to incinerate it. I bet in part two, we will find out he is actually peaceful.

This movie was nothing like Alien. Besides the fact that the setting was in space and there was a creature hunting them down (or was he?). The Alien was killing, Calvin was surviving.

As if the visual aspect wasn't good enough, the movie is also a pleasure for our ears and has what I consider the best track of my heavily worshipped Joe Hisaishi, one of the best (if not the best) film composers I have ever heard. Spirited Away is exceptionally good at that aspect; I'd say it's one of the very few cases in which there is, at some scenes, such a strong fusion between story and music, that I can't conceive nor think of one without the other.

But despite all of these beautiful qualities about its setting, the real substance of this movie is at its story. I apologize in advance, again, because as I'm going to develop some points I will give some free spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie I'd recommend to stop reading at this point.

It has been said many times by critics that Spirited Away felt like a senseless blend of magic elements, just a simple story filled with many things the author introduced undiscriminatingly to drag out the experience. Well, I have a quite different point of view for that device. I just can't conceive that the animation, for example, is taken to such a high level of detail and, on the other hand, that doesn't happen with the story. And by rewatching it repeatedly in a short amount of time (once every two months, more or less), I began to develop some theories about the nature of the world that is depicted here.

What must be considered at first is that all this magical world, with strange creatures and spells, is just an allegory for the always difficult transiton between childhood and the first steps of adulthood. It's the age you start dealing with responsibility, when you realize your acts have consequences and you have to make decisions that will affect your future; you define yourself and the course of your life. Miyazaki puts these simple concepts by transforming the need of finding an identity into a way to escape the wonderful yet cruel world where Chihiro is suddenly trapped. Its hostility imitates quite well the drama of the process, as it reinforces the need of an additional effort every one of us have to make at some point and reset our lives and our positions.

Does this mean that Yubaba's world is an undeveloped blend of magic, hostile things that only serve as a situation that Chihiro has to overcome at some point? Well, I don't think so, as it seems to have a clear structure and hierarchy. One of the stories I see compared more often with this one is Alice in Wonderland. However, I would define that as a blend of unrelated events, a story whose main charm lies in its anarchic, nearly nightmarish, narrative. Spirited Away is not like that in any way. In fact I think there is an effort to transmit a strong sense of logic throughout, it tries to delimit the causes and consequences of every single case.

The key character to understand how Yubaba's tyranny works is, in my opinion, Lin. She just happens to be the link between Chihiro and the rest of the magical creatures, just like somebody that is in some sort of intermediate level. Her physical appearance looks slightly transformed, but not as much as the rest. She is aware of the existence of another world outside of that one, the importance of remembering her name, her "identity"; and knowing that, she helps Chihiro and takes the role of a mother. I have the theory that every one of the creatures that live in Yubaba's world were once human, maybe little boys and girls like Chihiro who couldn't find the way to escape, or other people; and they ended up forgetting who they were, losing their "humanity" and becoming mere pieces of this world. Lin is a special case because it seems she's not lost her identity yet, at least not at all, but forgot at one point her name, the key to come back home, and knows her situation is irreversible. She maybe observed this in some of her companions when she arrived, and Chihiro reminds herself of that. Maybe because of that, because she knows and appreciates what she's doomed to lose, she decides to help her in an altruistic way.

And what about Kamaji? Another key character in Chihiro's development in there; he seems to be quite aware of his situation too. I'd say he is a bit like the "sacrificed" individual, who Yubaba used to start his project and maybe the only one that didn't lose his identity at all. He's a slave in this world, he knows it but can't help it.

So yes, I have a more "adult" and crude view of the overall concept. This definition of the magical public baths as a place were people are doomed to end up losing what makes them "special" is quite harsh and melancholic for a -as targeted and admitted by Miyazaki- kid's movie, and it might feel even weird, but that's how I interpreted it and I think it makes some sense.

Does this mean Yubaba is a villain? Well, define villain. Somebody whose only objective in life is to harm people? That's hardly what Yubaba is. She, for better or for worse, created a world, and made it work. She imposed some rules. We could even say she created her own utopia (and that doesn't mean she is naturally "bad"), why not? And, most important, she has a strong sense of honor, she dictates and also OBEYS her rules. One of the (maybe) main reasons why she loses her battle against Chihiro, in fact, is that her weakness is shown eventually (giant baby); and reveals a hypocritical attitude, as she is protecting her lovely child from any influence while she's always preaching the exact contrary. As she knows it, it's a shameful thing to admit and maybe here is where her image of forcefulness starts to teeter.

All in all, these examples just show that the real strength of this story lies in the characters, as they are always depicted in a detailed way. Yubaba not being the typical villain, or not even being a "villain" at all; Haku, the hero and the "positive" one here has also an overambitious side and is for the most part guilty of his situation... and Chihiro, of course. She is a spoiled brat who learns to appreciate some things, but in no way overreacting at these points, as she sounds real and relatable at every damn scene. It's quite easy to understand her, she's not made to be likeable but her portrayal is solid enough to make us join her development through the story.

I could spend hours and hours talking about this precious anime and its many details, the enigmatic role of No Face, the negative influence of the parents in Chihiro's behaviour, and so much more... I love it. It breathes mastery at (almost) every one of its points, and I can enjoy it in many levels. My only grip would be the way things are resolved, which I have always found too rushed; reading Miyazaki's opinion on that ending I've come to understand the intention behind, but still I'd say the metaphor is made too subtle for the audience, and maybe the execution is also somewhat clumsy. But aside from this minor flaw, I can't help but admire this fascinating, eye-captivating piece of art, my second favorite anime behind Grave Of The Fireflies.

Got back from watching Ant-man and the Wasp. I really enjoyed this one. I loved how it was its own adventure and relatively self-contained in terms of the MCU. I actually really liked the original Ant-man a lot more than I thought I would when I saw it, so it's no surprise that the humor and tone of the sequel works for me as well. Paul Rudd definitely plays a solid Ant-man and I love me some Evangeline Lilly, who is the star of this one. Even the secondary characters of Ghost/Ava, Foster (and others) were pretty well fleshed out and had good backstories and development to them.

What really made me like this movie was that it had a very good "end game"/goal to strive toward (don't want to spoil it too much), so it made the adventure, journey and conclusion that much sweeter. It's definitely better than some of the other MCU movies where they just inject a rando bad guy trying to destroy the world for some nefarious reasons.

I definitely recommend checking this out if you liked the first at all. If you haven't seen the first, you'll miss out on a ton and not have a good idea of the what is going on emotionally and what is at stake. The original Ant-man is a great movie as well, so this just gives you another excuse to watch it :P

This has everyone involved play to their strengths. It's another tale of Scorsese deconstructing the myth of the American dream, but with a thematic approach I found quite refreshing for him. The way that the film tackles racism, and how it's tied to issues of money, power, greed, trust and systemic injustice, feels authentic and well constructed. It's a movie that's unsettling and will leave a mark on your brain emotionally, you should know that going in. De Niro has a lot of fun playing a sinister crime boss with a wholesome facade, it's a performance that could be compared to Giancarlo Esposito in Breaking Bad. DiCaprio is always at his best when playing a pathetic dumbass, and he also shines here. It almost feels like he's in Tarantino mode, it's not similar to any of the previous work he's done with Scorsese. Yet, despite both of Scorsese's go-to actors having prominent roles here, it's actually Lily Gladstone who ends up delivering the most emotional, subtle performance. Technically the movie is pretty much flawless. The production design, lighting, cinematography and score are all immaculate, and despite the long running time, Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing kept me engaged for the entire runtime. However, the pacing is still somewhat of an issue. As Scorsese has matured as a filmmaker, the choices he's making are becoming more and more understated. The tracking shots and montages are still here, but they're less energetic and he's relying more on pauses instead. There's nothing wrong with that, given that the substance carries the movie, but with a movie this long I want a little more pop. There's one scene involving fire that'll stay with me, as well as another couple of haunting moments, but besides that he's not turning up the intensity too much. It would've been nice if the movie ended with an extended courtroom scene where all the actors get to really show off with some incredible dialogue, for example. This movie still ends in a pretty weird way, having some creative use of what are essentially ending title cards, but it involves a major tonal shift that didn't work for me. Finally, I thought Brendan Fraser's performance was flat out bad, showing up for a small part and overacting every line. All in all, while I do recommend this movie, I don't think it's a masterpiece. Martin 'this is cinema' Scorsese would probably hate me for saying this, but given the pacing issues, there's an argument to be made it would've worked better as a miniseries.

7/10

Great movie, but what exactly are you trying to say, Peele?
How do I make sense of the weirdness in your film?

Are you trying to say that those who unite to build a wall, those who use their scizzors to divide other people in half, can’t see the light in the ‘US’?
Is the twist meant to indicate that we can’t be sure who’s on which side?
In other words: is this a big political metaphor, a critique against republicans?
Then again, you can also find themes about capitalism and class here, it’s so ambiguous and broad that it’s not being very precise on a subtextual level. Not that a movie has to, but this is a little too broad for my taste.

Still, great craftsmanship, really well acted, memorable, scary, funny, it’s very good.
The whole 300 million people are living underground reveal might be a little too much of a leap, I don’t think the movie was that fantastical up until that point (a similar problem that I have with Get Out, where the brain replacement twist kinda feels a little too out there compared to the movie preceding it).

7.5/10

I've been quite tentative on recent Spike Lee outings, maybe he doesn't have it any more I said.

I watched the trailer for this and knew I had already been proving wrong.

The story of 4 black soldiers who served in Vietnam going back to reclaim many things they lost, love, gold and much more.

While the cast was all excellent, Delroy Lindo as Paul STOLE the show in what is probably his greatest performance.

From the very start you can tell he's a PTSD powder keg ready to explode and boy does he ever.

The hurt, the anger, the bitterness, even the psychosis is on full display as he presents to the audience a truly broken man, if he's not atleast up for an oscar it will be highway robbery.

Chadwick Boseman shines in what is slightly more than a cameo as Stormin Norman.

I'm assuming they shot on location in Vietnam, if not they did a heck of a job recreating vietnam because everything looks very authentic, especially the jungles.

Lastly even though there's not a whole lot of it, the gore effects are SUPERB, there's one scene and you'll know when you see it where someone dies and it's just disgusting yet beautiful at the same time.

The acapella Marvin Gaye soundtrack interwoven with real life solders who wouldn't otherwise get mention was the cherry on top.

Bravo to all involved, Spike Lee is back.

"To be born is to have a soul, I guess"

EDIT: Third time seeing it and still in awe of how beautiful this movie is and how perfect the score is.

This is sci-fi done right. Everything from the cinematography to score to the color palette to the acting were all fantastic. Denis Villeneuve has another winner. It seems like he did the impossible and gave a worthy sequel to a classic. Hans Zimmer's score really sets the mood. The visuals are where this movie really shines. The colors, the landscapes, the holograms and even the ads are all beautiful and it really expands on what Ridley Scott was able to do 35 years ago. This deserves to be seen on the big screen. Ryan Gosling gives one of his best performances. Harrison Ford was good with his limited screen time but it was Sylvia Hoeks' Luv who really stood out.

I can't wait to see this again and see what new things I will catch. One of the best films of the year and one of the best sci-fi films so far this century.

EDIT: I saw it again, twice in three days, and it just got so much better the second time. Usually if I watch the same movie that close I get bored but I was so into it that the 2 hours and 43 minutes run time went by quick. I think it became my favorite movie this year so far. It still is a visual treat to watch and must be experienced on the big screen. What Roger Deakins was able to do is Oscar worthy and I hope he finally wins one.

Some things I picked up on the second were more of the symbolism of the two female leads, Joi and Luv. Joi isn't real and K has Joi that makes him happy and gives him joy. Even when K gives her the ability to move around freely and the go to the rooftop and have an intimate moment only to be ruined by a work call. That really is what joy is, an illusion of happiness, but it can be ruined by work or something else. Then there is Luv where she is determined to do what Wallace asked her. She ends up fighting with K and destroying Joi, whose last words were I love you. Love will destroy your joy and you will struggle with Love.

After K has been beaten and bruised and lost the only thing that made him happy he happens to run into another (large) Joi is just a slap in the face. Joi repeating phrases K's said earlier and saying he looks like a Joe. I think it is at this point he realized that Joi was never real. He realizes he can be more than human by fighting (and dying) for the right cause. He has to fight for what is real, Deckard and his daughter. This scene was beautiful but I think it has much more meaning and depth.

There really aren't any villians in this movie. Wallace is fighting to help human kind by making more replicants. Lieutenant Joshi is trying to keep the peace by not letting replicants reproduce. The old nexus replicants just want to live their lives in peace. K is caught in the middle of all of this.

P.S. When Ryan Gosling started to play the piano in Sapper's house I really wanted him to go full La La Land and play City of Stars.

Okay, so Villeneuve really did the impossible. He took the world of the original Blade Runner and expanded it spectacularly, not only in terms of actual world-building but also by providing viewers with new ideas and topics to discuss, which all resulted in a film I loved even more than the original. Going into the film, I never would have expected the main plot line, yet it made complete sense, and raised many questions that relate to the original's debate over replicant humanity that viewers can debate for years to come. Much like the original, 2049 is a very thought-provoking film, and is especially relevant when thinking of our world today. 2049 touches on current issues like climate change, AI, and living in an increasingly digital world, in very clever ways, all while never seeming out of place in the dystopian setting of 2049 LA. I want to say so much more (!!!), but much like the filmmakers wanted, you really should go into this film not knowing any spoilers.

Speaking of this futuristic world, it's stunning. I read one review that said you could watch this whole film on mute and still be engaged, which is true - I've seen the film now 3 times, and really couldn't point out a single scene that wasn't visually engaging. Roger Deakins really went above and beyond, and like everyone is saying, he absolutely deserves an Oscar for this film. The only place, I thought, where 2049 didn't live up to the original, was in terms of the score. If you love soundtracks/scores like I do, don't think that you'll be disappointed by this film's score, just know that it doesn't compete with Vangelis' work on the original. (The sound editing on this film was pretty stellar however).

So overall - Blade Runner 2049 is amazing, and definitely my favorite film of the year. Denis Villeneuve showed how well he can pull off the "human story in a sci-fi film" in Arrival, and he takes this concept even further in 2049. This film is a must watch of 2017, and preferably in IMAX/3D/the largest screen possible!

I love this movie. It really nails the high school feeling. It has its own style and doesn't try to be anything that its not. That's part of the reason why I love this movie so much, its a self contained movie that doesn't have the end of the world on the line. It does have a lot of connections to the MCU but in the end Spider-Man is just trying to save people and be a normal high schooler. Tom Holland just kills it as Peter Parker, my personal favorite Peter Parker, and Michael Keaton is Fantastic villain (I hope he comes back in the sequel). Marisa Tomei's (hot) Aunt May was a lot of fun too. RDJ doing his thing, you either love him or are tired of him. Zendaya as MJ will be interesting to see how it plays out in the sequel, I'm not sure how I feel yet. And Donald Glover as Aaron Davis aka Miles Morales' uncle. I hope we see Miles sooner rather than later. This is one of the most fun movies I've seen in a while and I can't wait to see more Spider-Man in Infinity War and Spider-Man 2 (Michael Mando looks promising as Scorpion, any Better Call Saul fans will be excited to see more of him).

So, I watched 'Victoria' and I have mixed feelings about it. For those of you who don't know, 'Victoria' is a German heist movie filmed all in one take - quite the impressive selling point if you ask me. Credit where credit is due, this film is nothing short of an achievement. The level of planning, timing, and coordination that it took to make this one-shot movie is absolutely awe-inspiring. There were several shots in which the camera was behind a ledge, and when the camera moves up to see what's behind the ledge, in the background, we see an action taking place at that exact moment. It's moments like those that really show that talent involved in making this film.

Now, although this ambitious single-take selling point is extremely impressive, it is just one aspect of the film. And as much as I loved and enjoyed the movie, there were a few aspects that were kind of lacking - one of those aspects being post-production audio. The film had a good soundtrack, and for the most part I didn't mind the extra music being there. But in one scene, instead of the music accompanying the sounds in the film, it literally replaced them. All of a sudden, at a very unfitting moment, the film decided that what the characters were saying wasn't really important. It kind of seemed like the music was only there as a cover-up. Maybe one of the actors flubbed their lines, maybe they couldn't fit the mic guy in the elevator; it just seemed really weird and out of place for the characters' voices to suddenly be muted.

Closer to the middle of the movie, we hear this inexplicable post-production nose-breathing sound. It happens three times in the span of less than fifteen minutes and then never happens again the entire movie. The main character's in a vehicle and all the sudden we can hear this really loud breathing. My initial thought was, "Is that the cameraman?", followed by, "Oh, maybe there's someone in there with her." Then she gets out of the vehicle, and a few minutes later the same thing happens again. It happens when the camera moves closer to her face and then stops when it moves away - At which point I think, "Oh, it's just a really bad foley to accentuate how intense this is for her." But then the third time it happens, the camera's nowhere near her and she shouldn't reasonably be making those noises. It's confusing, distracting, unfitting, and completely unnecessary, And all it would have taken to fix it would be to just not add it into the movie.

Later there's a sleeping baby in a crib. Later on, the camera's not looking at the baby and we hear it screaming and crying; and within seconds, as the camera looks back towards the baby, it is sleeping again, making it obvious that it was just a poorly done sound effect. Again, something that easily could have been fixed by just not adding it into the movie. And last but not least, the absolute worst culprit of post-production audio cheating was the piano scene. With the short clip of her playing piano in the trailer, it left me thinking one thing: if what she winds up playing is actually impressive and complicated, then that'll add a lot to the movie. I mean, if it takes a certain level of coordination and you fuck it up, then you have to start the whole movie over. So this was a scene that I was particularly looking forward to. And unfortunately it is some of the worst fake piano playing ever. You realize that you actually need to press down on the keys for it to make noise, right? This scene clearly only exists to impress the audience by having us think that she's actually playing, so having it cheated this poorly is kind of disappointing. And the way that this scene pretends to be doing something impressive is just misleading and dishonest.

Another issue that I had with this movie is that these are the stupidest characters ever of all time. Not going to spoil anything, but there are moments in this film where the characters are so stupid that they become unrelatable. And then if something bad happens to them, all I can think is, "Well, what did you think would happen?" Still, for the most part, this was a very entertaining and well executed movie. Every single performance on screen was absolutely fantastic, and that, combined with the pressure of not really wanting to mess up your lines, had me impressed, to say the least. Yes, it's flawed. But I think its achievements outweigh those flaws, so I would recommend checking this one out and seeing for yourself.

I'm definitely bias and haven't even watched that many concert films in my life, so I don't really know how to review them without focusing solely on how much I love or don't love the artist. Well, I love LOVE Taylor Swift. She's the most talented artist in pop music currently, and note that I say artist - not performer. There's definitely a difference. And as much as this film shows Taylor the performer, the moments that stuck most with me were the acoustic performances, that really is her element, that's when her songs truly shine through, as they should, for the masterpieces they are (All Too Well... i mean...) and that's what sets her apart from most acts in today's comercial music industry. That being said, the major, epic, choreography, special effects filled performances were still really enjoyable and had me singing as loud as I could. Every word in every song has a weight of its own and it's amazing to see how different the world Taylor creates around each one is from the one you create in your own mind when listening to her albums. I had already absolutely loved her 1989 tour film and this one wasn't any different. I hope one day I can live them in person and not just experience them through a screen.

10/10

An adult film in stop-motion.

A middle-aged executive with too much power is going through a mid-life crisis, and has an affair. The same effect is created in the audience by having the same male voice in almost all characters in the film. The world becomes more interesting --- for both the executive and the audience --- when a different (feminine) voice finally shows up in the film. And so, because a real woman is different from the sameness that pervades his life, the executive falls in love with the woman --- who happens to be a groupie of his. He even plans on divorcing his wife and abandoning his son. But after a drunken night of sex, even this new and unique woman's voice begins to change to the same voice he hears everywhere --- and this happens when this executive starts attempting to control the unsophisticated girl who has become his new love interest in order to change her to his wants and expectations. I suppose that is the point of the movie. One must allow people to be the anomalies they are to begin with and not attempt to change them into other versions of ourselves, or else the world will become extremely bland and boring. It is this message that rescues it from simply being an adult sex film --- albeit one done in stop-motion.

And I suppose there is another bright spot to this movie. It clearly shows that men and women are different, and not simply interchangeable. The movie is truly unpleasant when only a male voice is heard throughout. But then a feminine voice shows up, and her voice is the most refreshing sound in the movie, for the audience as well as the main protagonist. Surely this is evidence that the significant difference of sex actually is important to our very senses. Against those who would deny the objective existence of biological gender this movie is a refreshing counterexample.

However, the film also seems to teach that abandoning your wife and children for the sake of a paramour if they have become boring to you is an acceptable price to pay.