Seth Harris

Movie Review – Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation (2003)
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola

There’s time in life where you become vulnerable to ennui, the sense of listlessness. From when you are a child to an adult, you will periodically reach points where you question what you are doing and where you are going in life. What compounds that ease would be to feel disconnected from your surroundings, unable to communicate how you feel with others. In this time of social distancing and mandatory isolation, these feelings can be heightened. We don’t know what next year will be much less the next day. Sofia Coppola crafted a story of two people in this state, trying to make sense of life and find a direction.

Movie Review – Emma.

Emma. (2020)
Written by Eleanor Catton
Directed by Autumn de Wilde

Comedies of manners are always a popular subgenre of film & television. Shows like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm center their entire premise around social misunderstandings and conflicts centered around etiquette. The master of this narrative is Jane Austen, whose body of work was mainly concerned with the comedy and drama that comes out of what most people would see as everyday interactions. Her novel Emma has been adapted many times, so the question for this film is, what makes it unique from the others?

Movie Review – Queen & Slim

Queen & Slim (2019)
Written by Lena Waithe
Directed by Melina Matsoukas

Queen & Slim is presented as a story of legendary figures who don’t realize that they will become icons. They are unassuming people, but the filmmaking informs us through its cinematography and a musical score that this is important. The first moments of the movie undercut these elements, two people sitting across from each other in the middle of an awkward Tinder date. It’s clear the situation is not going well, and they likely won’t see each other again after this. We learn a lot about Slim (he prays before he eats, he chose a little corner diner for their date) and Queen (she’s a lawyer whose client was just executed, she rolls her eyes at Slim’s prayer). The aftermath of the date becomes the inception of the entire film, a traffic stop by a police officer with ill intent on his mind.

TV Review – Star Trek: Picard Season One, Episode Nine

Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access)
Season One, Episode Nine – “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1”
Written by Michael Chabon & Ayelet Waldman & Akiva Goldsman
Directed by Akiva Goldsman

So many things about this penultimate episode of Picard feel pleasantly familiar while others seem so out of place in a Star Trek story. But that is to be expected with Akiva Goldsman, who delivered one of the most un-Star Trek-like series in recent history (Discovery). He loves things that are conceptually cool and full of visual spectacle. There’s the sense that the final episode of the season will involve a big shooty space battle, which is simply not what Star Trek really is. Star Wars? Most certainly. But I am not looking forward to this conclusion. Star Trek, when it does space battles, is more about one-on-one and the strategy of battle.

Media Moment (03/20/20)

These are worrisome times. I don’t expect we are close to the end of this crisis, and without strong centralized action, it is only going to get worse. I’ve noticed that our “leaders” are passing the buck instead of taking charge. The president says it’s all on the governors, which is one way of saying, “I’m not taking responsibility for this.” Even down to my local state legislature and governor, they refuse to take action and just suggest what should happen. In the meantime, some Hollywood studios are putting up movies for distribution.

Movie Review – Defending Your Life

Defending Your Life (1991)
Written & Directed by Albert Brooks

It makes sense that writer-director Albert Brooks would reimagine the afterlife as a comfortable professional-managerial class utopia. It allows him to continue making satire about the social class he knows the most about. Judgment City is everything a privileged person could want. You get to stay in a nice hotel room, the food is the best you’ve ever tasted, you can’t gain weight, and you’re chauffered where ever you want to go. The only catch is that after a week, you’ll be assigned to Paradise or reincarnation.

Single Location Movies

Right now, many of us are stuck inside our homes for the foreseeable future, and it can seem like an incredibly dull place. Movies have repeatedly shown us how even one tiny room can hold great stories within. Here are some movies that use small spaces to tell tense and exciting stories.

Movie Review – Postcards From the Edge

Postcards From the Edge (1990)
Written by Carrie Fisher
Directed by Mike Nichols

Before her passing, actress Carrie Fisher had become well-known for her blunt, take no shit demeanor. After decades of growing up and living in Hollywood, Fisher was numb to the nonsense of her profession. She has a rare experience that not many actors have, to be a part of a film franchise that becomes so iconic it reshapes the planet. Add in her rough childhood, and you can see why Fisher ended being a substance abuser. The movie industry is the only thing Fisher knew, and it can take a toll on someone who can’t always be “on.”

Comic Book Review – Jupiter’s Legacy Volume One

Jupiter’s Legacy Volume One (2015)
Written by Mark Millar
Art by Frank Quitely

Out of all the comic creators that I’ve written about on this blog, I’ve never talked about Mark Millar. He’s an incredibly prolific writer and very controversial. This particular comic book series is set to be a Netflix original series sometime in 2020, so I thought it would be appropriate to read through Legacy and it’s spin-off Jupiter’s Circle to talk about Millar’s style and what he’s doing in this series. I wouldn’t call this his best work, it’s much tamer than his more infamous books.

Movie Review – The Times of Harvey Milk

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Directed by Rob Epstein

Intersectionality is a word you might hear going around these days. This is the concept of recognizing how people represent multiple identities or how a political issue intersects with various communities and identities. In the United States right now, it’s become time to look at how issues like climate change and a lack of health care have become intersectional issues. The people first affected and most dramatically traumatized by climate change are and will continue to be low income and non-white people. Climate change becomes an intersectional issue, not just merely about cleaning up pollution but acknowledging that our society has allowed groups to become more vulnerable than others.