Sean Lemme

I started blogging as a way to lazily pass my high school senior project and somehow I've kept doing it for more than half my life

Criterion Month Day 7: Bicycle Thieves

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Aside from the highs and lows of tragedies and comedies, I think one of the most effective emotions for a story to tap into is frustration. At least for me, it’s consistently easy to empathize with characters who are put into helpless situations. It’s why villains like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix‘s Dolores Umbridge and The Mist‘s Mrs. Carmody are so easy to hate. Couple that with some crushing disappointment and you’ve got a recipe for a deeply moving night. Just like the one I had in the wee hours of last night watching Bicycle Thieves!

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Criterion Month Day 5: Black Narcissus

Black Narcissus (1947)

I’ve seen three movies by the Archers, with years-long gaps between them, and I don’t know why. Every time I’m impressed by the works of the British duo, real names Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who were churning out breathtaking melodramas miraculously during and immediately after the Second World War. I don’t even think Black Narcissus lives up to The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp or The Red Shoes, but once again I feel massively compelled to go pursue more of their technicolor tragedies. But chances are the next time I check in with the Archers, it’ll be a year from now in Criterion Month 2019.

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Some Kind of Movie – Ep. 9: Why is Gamora?

When the first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War came out, on top of my excitement I had one nagging thought: “This looks like the biggest movie ever… Until the next one.” Six years ago, when the first Avengers movie came out, it felt like a culmination of years of movies – all that lead-up was finally paying off. It was an experiment in blockbuster moviemaking hitherto undreamt of, and it was amazing. But then it kept going. Phase 2 came and went, with its Avengers movie not seeming nearly the same event, especially since the Guardians of the Galaxy was a more exciting team. It seemed like things could go on forever. But Marvel is smart, and now that we’re here again, they’re playing for keeps.

It’s comforting and exciting that Avengers: Infinity War positions itself as the setup for the grand finale of the MCU next year. It’s a movie that tries to pull in just about every character, weapon, and setting that’s still standing in this massive universe. With a scope this vast, you can’t help but marvel at how well everything turned out. It has to be seen to be believed. So do that, then join us on a spoiler-filled discussion of what is destined to be one of the biggest movies of ever. And yet, I still worry, what’s next?

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Wakanda Forever

Black Panther

In my review of Transformers: The Last Knight, I brought up the Writers Room, the surprisingly talented group of people tasked with turning the aging toy-themed movie franchise into a Marvel-style cinematic universe. Well, as much as the MCU seems to be the sole vision of Kevin Feige, the truth is they had something like the Writers Room of their own, back in the day. It was called the “Marvel Creative Committee” and has been implied to be the source of everything bad that ever happened.
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Mildly Pleased Hall of Fame: The Edge

You know, we’ve been talking about this tenth anniversary week for a long time. The problem is, we’d always end that conversation before coming up with a concrete plan for what to do. This Mildly Pleased Hall of Fame idea isn’t that fleshed out yet, but I think we’ll use it to enshrine media that specifically we all like. Meaning it’s not going to be the best stuff of all time, but the stuff that most represents our tastes. I had originally envisioned doing something like this years ago as a video essay series, but that’s a lot of work. So instead, I’ll merely write about a movie that has become the centerpiece of an annual tradition at the blog: The Edge.

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C.A.T. Revisited: Parachutes

Coldplay – Parachutes (2000)

When given a chance to comment on Parachutes in 2006, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said “We know that’s terrible music, and we always try to think about what we can do next.” Nonetheless, two years later I still made it my first C.A.T. (and one of the few any of us would do on an album from the 21st Century). Three years after that, a spambot commented on that post “I am not sure where you’re getting your information, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for great info I was looking for this information for my mission.” Perhaps I can help.

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Sean’s Top 10 Video Games of 2017

I wonder if 2018 will be the year I get back into video games? The past few years, being a gamer has become something of a secret shame, since you could argue that the alt right came out of the Gamergate controversy. Plus, video games are the most time-demanding media to make a hobby out of; it takes way more time to play a game than it does to check out a show or a watch movie or listen to an album… I guess reading books maybe take longer. Anyway, after watching the Last Jedi backlash, I’ve been reminded that all fans are terrible and just because other, bad people like a thing doesn’t mean I can’t like it too (I hope).

So I wish I had played more games last year. I regret not getting to play Divinity: Original Sin II the most, it looks so good and I never even bought it. I had a policy last year, it was my New Year’s resolution, to only buy a game if I was going to play it that night. Even with that, I still ended up with copies of Splatoon 2 and Persona 5 that I never got around to because I’m a sucker for that Prime 20% discount thing. I hope to do better this year.

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