I don’t have much to say about July. Happy birthday, Adrian. I’m glad I didn’t buy you DVDs you already own for once.
This month’s playlist:
Inscyption
It is impossible to praise Inscrytion fully without spoiling the experience. Great gameplay (I’m not even a fan of digital deck-building games), original visuals, and a mysterious, shapeshifting narrative that demanded I see it through. The most satisfying gaming experience I’ve had this year.
Gave me the bug to revisit Doki Doki Literature Club. There’s a spiritual tether there.
Seinfeld
The OG. I finally watched through the entire series for the first time. Seinfeld permeated my childhood. Mom and Dad were fans. They tucked references into everything. The child-safe swear? “Newman!” What are we having for dinner tonight? “The Big Salad.” It was a delight to discover so many origins from my family’s lexicon -- most of which I was oblivious.
This run has ruined my appreciation for sitcoms I’ve enjoyed in the past. They are feeble imitations.
Maybe the greatest series finale of all time?
Claymore
I believe this was one of the first manga I ever read. But I never finished it. So I picked it back up from the beginning. Love the dark fantasy setting, exciting combat illustrations, and the often disturbing creature design. But the narrative is sparse and characterization frail. It doesn’t have much emotional punch when I feel it should.
I’m going to see it through to the end. The aesthetic carries it.
Johnny Mnemonic in Black and White
I’ve been aware of this movie for years. It became a priority when I learned a black-and-white version was released. To properly render a film in black and white, you cannot simply turn off the saturation. You must light specifically for it (see Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light) or spend great care on a new color grade (see George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road Black & Chrome). I was curious to see if this mid-90s cyberpunk rerelease was merely a gimmick.
It’s not a gimmick.
It’s elevated.
Johnny Mnemonic recast in silver and onyx could be mistaken for some lost 1960s sci-fi film. A feature-length episode of The Twilight Zone. The narrative is your standard 90s sci-fi Hollywood fare, but the new visuals impart a level of prestige that I did not expect. I looked up a few clips from the theatrical release and... I will be watching it in color, ever. Black and white is the only edition that exists for me.
Other notable mentions: Zardoz, The Host (long overdue), The Raid (long overdue), and the Ken movie.
Update: this discussion between the director, Keanu, and William Gibson about the production and rerelease of Johnny Mnemonic is a delight. The godfather of cyberpunk wearing airpods 🤌.
This month I finally scanned my backlog of film (yet to post any of it!), rediscovered Cherry Glazerr (they have a song about grilled cheese that’s somehow horny), and read a disturbing report about the U.S. government planting cyanide bombs out in the countryside that you can just stumble across and if they detonate you die a slow painful death??