skybridge

esteeb.art · @esteeb.art@bridge.neodb.net

Rated PlayTime 9/10

Could have been made yesterday. So cantankerous and silly and just full of energy. Class as performance, culture stripped down to vapid aesthetics, modernity both as a confounding sterile nightmare and dizzying circus. The 90% color that forces its way into the movie takes the form of products, ads, food, things to be consumed and desired. The world is cut down the middle between tourists and the service people/salesman who are basically laying down track just ahead of an oncoming train. It's unnerving, it's a farce, but it's what we've decided is best. I think the thing that maybe sets this apart from the kind of movie it would be today is the big finale. Tati spends most of the movie grousing about modernity and making fun of it but still has the good sense to admit that while everything may appear vapid and empty to him, he can see the allure. He can conceive why people would be having a good time. It's fun, after all. All the cool cars and the food on demand and the thrill of all the great stuff all around you. It was fun. I'm old enough to remember a time where the modern world felt fun. It's just that part hits weird now, not badly mind you but weird in a way that isn't quite nostalgia but it's close. It's just being reminded that, "oh yeah...that's what progress was supposed to feel like." Even if it was empty, a joke, a show. It was fun. It's not really fun anymore is it? Anyway I like when he makes the weird chair make a sound that's kinda like a fart. Great movie. <b>Fantasy Double Feature With: </b><i>Bambi</i>

#cc2026 #criterion challenge 2026 #movie

Published 2026-01-25 00:00 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere