“Thump Milton!” Ree yowls at the figure weaving away amongst the cattle below. It’s a funny name but this isn’t a time for laughing. Ree needs to find her Daddy or at least his remains before the cold comes and the bondsman kicks her family from the house. The trees tower over her, the keepers of Ozark secrets. A table in the woods is smeared with squirrel guts. “Goddamn you Thump.” Ree says and travels home to a silence as wide as a reservoir. For a moment she finds solace in the strings of an old banjo, in her kid sisters jubilant trampoline hops, then she bends over the leaking sink and spits her teeth out.
Independent
Thankskilling 3
0 stars
Colorful, garish, lot’s of cool puppets but beyond dumb. A couple sketch comedy dudes try to salvage it and it’s visually pretty creative but the script is such a stinker. Lot’s of gags about how bad the gags are, unsettling comfort with fillicide and uxoricide. I could write better dick and fart jokes on no sleep. This wannabe Meet the Feebles turkey (if I was Thankskilling 3 I’d say, “see what I did there?”) The peice de resistance is an Evil Dead 2 parody. The turkey muppet loses his phallus and replaces it with a chainsaw, he looks at the camera and says, “gravy”. It’s a texturally arresting little piece of hate. Honestly I don’t recall the 1st Thankskilling being much better though.
The New World
Reflections in the river, giant ships coursing to new land. A wonderous, arty Pocahontas movie. More sci-fi in it’s lyricism than that other Pocahontas movie Avatar.
Smoke Signals
1st nations indie comedy. A sobering testament to alcoholism. Great buddy road trip movie.
The Neon Demon
The hungry city, puking eyeballs. Sweet, secret-witch artsploitation. Baroque, stylish and the best kind of dumb. Sad and vicious. The neon demon lives in electrical currants coursing through toys for young girls. The neon demon hangs out by the sea, walks around the salt flats, writes letters home. Here’s the neon demon, his mouth on her mouth, her mouth on hers.
Belladonna of Sadness
Satan preaches consent in this awesome psychedelic feminist sex witch anime. Looks like Paul Klee. Lot’s of medieval brouhaha set to acid jazz.
The Alien Dead
Gator slurpin’, gut chompin’, swamp zombie schlock. Cheap & dull. I mistook it for this other movie, Alien Factor which is supposed to have a lot of cool claymation beasts and a Maryland heart.
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
A street dancer spins to soft beats while cold earth crystalizes the hearts of the vampire lovers. A tepid, mumblecore Ganga & Hess remake. It starts strong, remain political, exudes malaise & solemnity, moves glacially. Jesus saves and kills in equal measure.