Watching movies... Everything Must Go (2010)

It's definitely been a bit, as I find I generally have a hard time blocking out that much time. And even then, it has to line up with what my brain feels like doing.

But one I saw fairly recently: Saloum. I cannot recommend this enough.

At least originally it was only available on Shudder, but it looks like it's available for rent/buying (in streaming form) all over (see first link below). I've been looking for a home media release, but have only come across a limited run that has long since sold out.

Anyway, it's billed as a horror movie, but that's definitely misleading. There are supernatural elements to it, but those are mostly at the end, and are more a consequence of the rest of the movie than the point. At its core, it's a movie that is heavily influenced by Westerns, and whose main theme is the self-destructive nature of revenge.

Most of Saloum takes place in the eponymous area in Senegal, and unsurprisingly takes significant cues from local traditions and folklore. But because it's also so heavily inspired by Westerns, I (as a white American) didn't have any trouble understanding most of it, as best I can tell. It follows three mercenaries who were hired to get a Mexican drug trafficker out of Guinea-Bissau during a coup, but who end up having to stop in Saloum before getting to their destination. The rest of the movie takes place almost entirely in a little resort spot in Saloum, and has fewer than 10 characters.

Overall, it's brilliant. The dialogue, the way things are framed and shot, the acting, everything fits together incredibly well. There are so many cool details that it gives you without telling you. It's much more of a character-driven flick than supernatural or horror, and one of the things I really like is how the supernatural elements are integrated without totally changing the feel. You know something is off the whole time, but the reveal is well-handled and the movie does a great job keeping up the pace afterwards. 96% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.

A movie podcast I subscribe to, Kill James Bond, did an episode on it last fall. I've linked it below, but bear in mind that they go through the movies they discuss in significant detail, so definitely don't listen unless you've already seen the movie or have no plans to. Wisely (given that the podcast is entirely British), they brought on ML Kejera, a Gambian writer, to help with some of the cultural context.

I watched Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on the recommendation of some friends. I don’t know anything about the franchise, but I do have a soft spot for cheesy fantasy, so I gave it a go. It was...weird. The pacing was hurried, frantic somehow. It’s like the film was terrified its audience would get bored and wander off if a scene lasted longer than 15 seconds or so. I wanted to put an arm around the movie and tell it to breathe, it’s okay, you can relax.

There was some pretty set design in the film, but we rarely get a chance to see any of it in any detail, as the camera never lingers. The characters are superficially charming, but their emotional story beats never hit as hard as they should, since we’re always rushing, rushing. Gotta move the characters to the next bit of franchise fanservice! The hyperactivity left me feeling unsettled, and wondering if this is what movies made for the smartphone brain are going be like going forward.