I rewatched Under The Skin for the first time, fearing that it might not be as good as I remember. And then it's the best sci-fi film. Utterly unique cinema, visually and conceptually a true original. The way the film strips away all sense of human normalcy, leaving me with the feeling of viewing an entirely alien world is remarkable. Beauty, sex, the naked body, deformity, the crowd, a stack of boxes in the street, everything is reduced to emotionless curiosity. I can feel the film warping my perception as it plays in a way that only the very best works of art do. Sci-fi as ontology-horror in the Goya/Mary Shelley class, free of time and context, with the transcendental quality of a Blake. The music is perfect. The visual stuff is like an early Disney adaptation of The Garden of Earthly Delights. It makes Kubrick feel like an IT technician, Nolan and Villeneuve look like burger chain managers. Hell, it surpasses Bergman and the restrictive intellectualism of Persona. Up top, right next to Metropolis.
I saw Marriage Story and The Beach Bum, and enjoyed them: Both films playing out as part of the death rattle decadence of a declining empire. It was interesting how Marriage Story chose to weigh up each side of the dispute. Was it attempting balance? I felt that it was favouring the ever-amiable Driver over the slightly harsh Johansson. And the supporting cast sees pushy, ditsy and vapid women bossing about infantile men. I think it works comedically, and who's winning is hardly the point, but I am surprised there has been little push back against some of the broader characterisations. I find Korine's cinema likeable and interesting, but with all his stuff there is always a point in the films where I want them to bite, and they always end up just smirking. I'm not always a McConaughey fan but I think this is a better character and performance than Joker.