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Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (1998) - REVIEW

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I have to take a deep breath every time I finish this movie, and yet it remains in my top films of all time. I think it impossible for Depp to have played a role more perfect as he and Del Toro stumble, creep, jerk, and twitch eerily through this neon nightmare. Sweat beads glisten like small LED lights on the protagonists foreheads as they embark on a semi-linear, vertigo-inducing drive through Nevada’s desert territories. Gilliam, known for his strange collage-animation contributions with Monty Python and as the director of the visually jarring Brazil (1985), brings the viewer wholly into the scrambled plot as the camera sways, tilts, and breathes along with Duke and his madcap lawyer Dr. Gonzo. I absolutely loved the spinning, decaying environment portraying the gritty reality of the post-hippie scene in the west.
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Daisies (1966) - REVIEW

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9/10 || ★★★★½ I sat down to watch Vera Chytilová's second feature film Daisies  earlier this month for the second time, and was pleasantly greeted once again by a mind-bending, colorful, and powerfully pastel early Czech New Wave masterpiece. Chytilová's 1966 feminist thinkpiece tells the story of a duo of bored young women (ironically both named Marie) who dive headfirst into the world's decadence, giving into the temptations they were often denied and embracing an indulgent, epicurean lifestyle as they travel. Intercut with the storyline is a variety of black and white stock footage and absurdist collage storytelling to add to the film's nonsensical air. The film explores a search for freedom and its' tendency to push the barriers of morality. Daisies ' controversial nature led to a ban in Czechoslovakia, but was praised by critics globally (though some American critics were turned off by its somewhat pretentious nature and sardonic humor). Though the film...
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