I just saw a short reaction from the Film Threat guys. I don’t know their politics in specific detail, but they are outspokenly anti-woke and savage on DEI. They have a running series on how DEI has destroyed Disney in particular. They ain’t wokies.
Anyhow, they’ve not seen Civil War yet but Chris Gore saw the first ten minutes as a special early peek. He likes Alex Garland movies (except for Men) and considers him one of the more thoughtful writer-director around. Personally, I’m not as taken with Ex Machina as a lot of people, though it is interesting, ambitious, well made and thoughtful, so it’s worth a watch and a must watch if you are interested in AI films (and willing to accept some nudity). I do think Never Let Me Go is the best anti-abortion film that no one except me seems to realize is an anti-abortion film. (I’d love to ask Garland if he’s thought through that subtext.
Anyhow, Chris Gore’s take, based on seeing just the first ten minutes, is that the trailer is both bad and highly misleading. He thought the trailer tries to make Civil War look like an action film, and one can understand the studio’s marketing calculus there given the bulk of who actually goes to theaters nowadays. Based on the first ten minutes, however, he thinks the movie is more about media manipulation driving polarization. He also guessed that the Texas-California alliance, which EVERYONE thinks is bizarro world crazy, might be a deliberate attempt to scramble the political equation so that the movie doesn’t come across as a heavy handed election year commentary on current American politics. The USG, by the way, has devolved into a dystopian quasi-dictatorship and the rebels commit war crimes, so pick your side.
Maybe. We’ll see. Based on the trailer, I had put this down as a hard pass. The Film Threat guys say they’re going to a pre-release screening next week. I imagine they’ll be back with a no-spoilers reaction. I’m willing to wait and see. Alex Garland is a 50-something English guy still married to his first wife, not a Hollywood dumpster fire clown, and Civil War is an A24 film, so it’s a complete wildcard.
I’ll hold fire until I know more.
“ Alex Garland is a 50-something English guy still married to his first wife, not a Hollywood dumpster fire clown…”
Yeah. I do see his wife is making a film about Frida Kahlo, Mexican millionaire Marxist.
“ He also guessed that the Texas-California alliance, which EVERYONE thinks is bizarro world crazy, might be a deliberate attempt to scramble the political equation…”
That seems obvious. Like plausible deniability.
“The USG has devolved into a dystopian quasi-dictatorship”
Sounds like they nailed Xiden’s lawless America perfectly.
I remember liking the movie Men as a horror movie. I realized it probably had some subtext going on, but I decided to just enjoy the creepy weirdness.
Freegards