By Jace Brittain and Jayme Russell

 

first 15 minutes of Suicide Squad
— bludgeoned with character introduction montages music and but-he-has-a-child handholding begging you to love a movie uninterested in what’s disgusting about itself

 

Ghost in the Shell/Arise (anime and live action)

Molding muscles to flesh. Skin to muscles. A shell to house the brain. Pulling muscles from the bone. Twitch. Twitch. A resurfacing.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1&2

Gunned up on mixtapes. Flying. In the 80s, my mother said my father was Kurt Russell. Now, Star-Lord’s father is Kurt Russell. We all have fond, painful memories of the Walkman. Crush.

Doctor Strange (animated and live action)

Shots adapted to pull out the pain. In the hands. Music expanded. A harpsichord added. Can’t wait to see Cumberbatch in black.

Mortal Kombat
— a painted backdrop and a consequently disorienting visual effect I’ve ever only also seen in Hitchcock’s Vertigo, but only one movie includes the exchange –puny mortal, i’ll crush him in one blow –alright, let’s dance!

X-Men Days of Future’s Past

This is 90% extraneous. This is when Logan still has animal hair. Mystique, Magneto, McAvoy. Quicksilver time stunned. Time running so slow even though music plays. Music shapes time but not in this scene.

 

Independence Day 2

–find an actor who can deliver the lines <<they must be after our molten core>> and make a paris-is-destroyed-and-so-is-everything-else scifi flick that is both dumber and better than every marvel movie and put him in thor 3 and pray

 

Logan

Bleak and dust.

Split

Not exactly down the middle. Not exactly strong or weak. Good or bad. In many ways, we hide parts of ourselves from ourselves. Sometimes see them too late.

Trance

A blue haze of laughter. Smiles in strange moments. Blue eyes in fire. Will he wake underwater?