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Reviews
Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal (2024)
A wonderful documentary about a wonderful mind.
Only until recently have I really been 'back into' professional wrestling, but I always came back and watched around April, and other dates if it interested me.
Bray Wyatt, or Windham Rotunda always interested me, and learning of his passing a few months ago gut-wrenching.
An amazing mind, gone far too soon.
This documentary covers his whole life, and whole professional wrestling career.
The worst thing I wanted was to come into the documentary, and see WWE make it about themselves, rather than the life of Windham.
Fortunately this was not the case, most of the interviews you see are with the family of Rotunda, with some wrestlers included.
The documentary, and the WWE acknowledge their mistakes with their creative, going into detail about Windham's first character given to him, Husky Harris.
It's an incredible documentary, and doesn't seem to miss any corner covering the life of Windham, and there was likely not better choice to do the narration than Mark Callaway, better known as his character, The Undertaker, who is usually referenced in conversations about the character of Bray Wyatt.
The last thirty minutes of this documentary are absolutely heartbreaking, yet turn to hope, as his creativity and influence on those around him will never go away.
My only complaint is a rather jarring cut to a teaser at the end, somewhat cutting off the final image, with Windham's name, 1987-2023.
Nonetheless, if you're a fan of Bray Wyatt, or just the WWE, I wholeheartedly recommend this documentary.
Doraibu mai kâ (2021)
Grief, loss and acceptance.
I struggled to collect my thoughts after I finished Drive My Car, I knew I liked it, but was not sure on why. Whether that be the film's excellent cinematography, showing beautiful long shots of Hiroshima, or the film's characters, many of which flawed in different ways.
The film's main character, Yûsuke Kafuku, discovers his wife engaging in sex with another man. Kafuku had known about this for some time, seeing his wife with numerous other men, but was too scared to confront her about it. He enjoys the life he has with his wife, as he desperately tries to convince himself that he is happy with her. In reality, he is not. Kafuku lies to himself just so he can stay with his wife. One day, his wife, Oto, tells him that when he gets home with work she wants to talk about him. Kafuku, fearing that she would finally come clean, and their marriage would subsequently crumble, takes time on his way home, driving more into the night. Once he arrives home, he finds his wife dead on the floor due to a brain hemorrhage.
This happens 40 minutes into the film. Some have said the film is masterfully paced but I do have to disagree, the film in my eyes is rather slow paced, but in a good way. The film takes its time to flesh out its numerous characters, truly adding depth to them. However, if you do not enjoy films with slow pacing, this may not be the one for you.
Another complaint I have seen is that the film relies on knowledge of the stage play Uncle Vanya, by Anton "the gun" Chekhov. Whenever Kafuku is driving in his SAAB 900 Turbo, he listens to a tape recorded by his wife, reciting the lines of the play. On a rewatch, it's apparent that parallels are made between the characters of Uncle Vanya, and those in the film.
In his car, Kafuku recites Vanyas lines; Vanya, being a miserable old man, much like Kafuku. Right after Kafuku finds his wife cheating, these lines are recited.
"Look at that swagger, acting like he's some kind of lord"
"You envy him don't you"
"Yes I do. I envy him a lot."
His wife is meant to represent the character of Yelena, someone who Vanya has romantic feelings for, yet Yelena does not reciprocate.
The film uses intertextuality incredibly well, and the main debate is whether this the knowledge of the text is obligatory, or optional. I personally believe it is optional. I had no knowledge of Uncle Vanya prior to watching the film, and yet still enjoyed it.
If you're able to stick it out until the end, you will likely find yourself enjoying Drive My Car. Much of the precious film results in many payoffs in the third hour of the film, with some scenes being the best I have seen in some time. However, due to the slow pacing, this film may not be for everyone.