Change Your Image
brentjordan-1
Reviews
Survive (2022)
A beautifully done metaphor
Metaphor
noun
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable:
SURVIVE.
From the moment Jane wakes and tells us she had the dream of the plane crash, we understand what follows to be purely metaphor. There is no plane or mountain or wilderness. There is only memory of her recovery; what it entailed. From soaring the highest of highs (the plane) to hitting rock bottom (the plane crash), to refusing to leave the perceived comfort of rock bottom. Her inner voice and those who aided in her recovery (Paul) compelling her to begin the journey. Climbing the mountain, leaping from the cliff, climbing the next mountain, being overwhelmed by the avalanche, escaping the depths of the cave, taking charge of those inner voices, taking the lead. The end in sight, leaving the doubt and pain behind, being pursued by the demons (the wolf), baptism and rebirth in the river, leaving the past (watch) behind, finding the road to recovery, the recovery of finding the love of her mother, forgiving her father, embracing the memories (Paul), and many, many more examples.
The filmmaker could not possibly have made the metaphor any more clear without placing a title title card before the movie: "This is metaphor of what it is like to recover from depression and addiction."
Well done by Mark Pellington. Excellent performance by Sophie Turner. A beautiful film all around.
Ragnarok (2020)
Why?
To take such rich enduring mythology and do this with it... Why? Did the authors truly believe they could improve on the stories and characters that have stood the test of millennia? Why would they chose to designate random humans as gods in a universe which already has gods and giants and sea monsters... Why the choice to shove modern sensibility down our throats nauseam when in the end it has nothing to do with advancing the story? The acting is good. The direction, competent, but the writing is heartbreakingly bad. You could get better Norse mythology from the Marvel Universe (I prayed those words would never be forced out of me). So my question to the creators of this series is, why?
Extraction (2020)
Exceptional
Exceptionally well done. A writer and director who know the difference between a magazine and a clip.