“It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when television’s so-called Second Golden Age began; however, by the 2010s, it was understood that Prestige TV had begun to fill the gap left by the demise of cinema’s mid-budget tier.”
“The Danish emperor of cool has lost his clothes.”
‘Drive’ Soundtrack: A Vague Visages guide for every song in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 movie.
‘Drive’ Cast: A Vague Visages guide for every actor and character in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 movie.
“Taken as a whole, ‘Too Old to Die Young’ is a summative statement on genre, aesthetics and the crumbling American psyche, delivered with a fury sublimated in neon glow. It is a major work of art.”
“Noé’s work has always been concerned with errant self-expression, what happens when we are wrenched from sensation and how we adjust to the comedown.”
“‘Too Old to Die Young’ is rough around the edges, and perhaps deliberately so. It’s almost as if the writers are two brothers in a car fighting between soft rock and techno on the radio.”
“In ‘Vox Lux,’ pop music is an emblem of pop culture and the distractions we use to soften the growing trauma of the nation. It also plays into the main question that Corbet raises: just how long can we cling onto pop culture before society gets so bad that nothing will help?”
“As a largely disregarded noir B-side, ‘Pushover’ deliberately recalls its more famous predecessor, playing upon audience expectations of MacMurray’s screen persona to create an experience of déjà vu.”
“What ‘First Man’ might lack in emotionality, Chazelle more than compensates for in spectacle.”
“‘Baby Driver’ and ‘Drive’ are not road maps to modernity, they don’t offer any route through it that guarantees a safe arrival. The only advice they might offer is to tear up the map itself. To simply drive.”
“In straining to emulate something in the order of a traditional thriller, Katz and his team of long-time collaborators find themselves sliding perilously towards the formulaic.”
“What’s truly terrifying about ‘Hereditary’ is how empty it really is.”
“Behind the mask, lurking within the timbre of the vocal choices, buried beneath the shaped physique, there is truth.”
“It’s not the edge of the knife — it’s the business end of the blade.”
“For the most part, ‘Message from the King’ doesn’t mess around.”
“Either you love the squeaky rollercoaster or you’ve got no time for the squeaky rollercoaster. Welcome to the carnival.”
“With ‘Baby Driver,’ Wright delivers a delightful, mid-summer cinematic treat.”
“It’s the subliminal drive toward the realization of his ideal self that evokes his potential.”
Vague Visages Chat Transcript