It kinda feels like Miyazaki spent his career making slight variations on the same film over and over again, but it's a good one so can't really complain.

Interesting piece of Cold War paranoia mixed with a soft critique of McCarthyism. Fun to watch but don't really understand why it's considered one of the greats. It doesn't really stand out to me artistically or have a particularly deep political analysis compared to other films from the same time.

This film felt like a haphazard collection of sci-fi tropes that did not cohere into a poignant statement or particularly interesting story. It wasn't unpleasant to watch but I doubt it’ll come to mind again after writing this review.

Kinda wild that Burning Man was originally a series of "zone trips" from a group who cited Stalker as an influence. I'd also probably go the way of Porcupine if I went to the Playa to self actualize, only to discover my actual innermost desire was to have an orgy involving several white women with dreads and a guy who day trades crypto