The Wandering Image: April 2026

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Viewing Journal: 4/30/2026

178) ANIMAL FARM

(2026 dir. Andy Serkis) Date Seen: April 30 2026

177) LOVE & POP

(1998 dir. Hideaki Anno) Date Seen: April 30 2026

176) PINK NARCISSUS

(1971 dir. James Bidgood) Date Seen: April 30 2026

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Viewing Journal: 4/29/2026

175) BHOOTH BANGLA

भूत बंगला

(2026 dir. Priyadarshan) Date Seen: April 29 2026

174)

THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS:

THE LAST ACT

(2026 dir. Gooseworx) Date Seen: April 29 2026

173) CATERPILLAR

(2011 dir. Kōji Wakamatsu) Date Seen: April 29 2026

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Viewing Journal: 4/28/2026

172) THEY WILL KILL YOU

(2026 dir. Kirill Sokolov) Date Seen: April 28 2026

The way this movie conveyed the majority of its visual sense of humor through action was honestly far out, & all the bloody chaos somehow felt weirdly cathartic to watch.. kinda nutz how many fight scenes in recent moviedom draw from the fountainhead of that OLDBOY hallway scene; especially in tighter corridor-style set pieces like this movie's got. & while the choreography clearly shows a strong debt to THE RAID: REDEMPTION & its intense close-quarters combat

--the actual sleek & dreamy way that action's stylized at times recalls the atmospheric flow of Massive Attack's hotel set “Karmacoma” music video (Glazer).

Some viewers might find THEY WILL KILL YOU's carefully composed Ozu frames within this toy train-set / dollhouse design ethos a bit overly precious or possibly even kitschy, but personally for me all that deliberate stylization feels less like affectation & more like a welcome assertion.

An actual visual perspective in a movie landscape too often dominated by formally unadventurous filmmaking. I personally find musical selections that are heavy on vocals distracting if misplaced or not well-timed in scenes, especially really fast rhyme spitting hip-hop (like a steady aural beat of stuttering gibberish). Some of those choices here majorly threw off my focus during fight scenes + sometimes the writing is a little too full of itself.. But overall I'd still say this one's a pretty fun & wild ride.

Monday, April 27, 2026

Viewing Journal: 4/27/2026

171)

THE ASTHENIC SYNDROME

АСТЕНИЧЕСКИЙ СИНДРОМ

(1989 dir. Kira Muratova) Date Seen: April 27 2026

170)

ECSTASY OF THE ANGELS

(1972 dir. Kōji Wakamatsu) Date Seen: April 27 2026

169) THE NIGHT

OF COUNTING THE YEARS

المومياء [THE MUMMY]

(1969 dir. Shadi Abdel Salam) Date Seen: April 27 2026

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Viewing Journal: 4/26/2026

168)

LA RÉGION CENTRALE

(1971 dir. Michael Snow) Date Seen: April 26 2026

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Viewing Journal: 4/25/2026

167) BALLISTIC

(2026 dir. Chad Faust) Date Seen: April 25 2026

166) DAMNATION ALLEY

(1977 dir. Jack Smight) Date Seen: April 25 2026

strikes a very similar dopey but loveable chord to THE AFTERMATH (1982), as far as goofy post-apocalyptic adventures go. & this one is even more pollyannish in its worldview. Who has time for existential dread when you can be a groovy new-age pioneer. [my brain couldn't stop science nitpicking this scenario. Even disregarding the nonsense polar axis stuff; How would the heroes be waltzing around w/o rad suits or respirators? 😂]