when i saw this movie in college, i remember not much happening throughout the whole thing and then a really weird/ambiguous but memorable ending. watching it now, it actually feels like the opposite - very dense. there are like 500 different little things that happen throughout the movie that are suggested at or referenced, but the movie doesn't really stick with one thread. just interesting how time can totally change how you view something.
when i was a young teenage music appreciator with strong opinions, the dichotomy between music for the masses and music for "the critics" loomed large for me. the gulf that formed after alternative rock blew up in the 90's was between the more refined and cultured parts of the genre and the more base butt-rock elements for the masses. and this was sort of the foundational divide to the era of 00's Pitchfork indie rock if you subscribed to it.…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
so many complicated feelings about this one...
i think the trouble with any sort of shocking and abrasive art is that, in being critical of it, you end up having to endlessly qualify that you are not some rube who lacks the ability to critically engage with art or some prude who is offended by the mere existence of shocking imagery. like you have to constantly account for people's potential defensive misinterpretations of your critiques lest they characterize you as…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
i think i very quickly realized that in spite of being described as "a cancel culture movie", this movie isn't in fact about the people trying to cancel Lydia Tár at all. it's not about the vaguely strawman-y Julliard kid with restless leg syndrome and an online-poisoned view of Bach that isn't exactly coherent, whom she schools. it's not about the fact that one of the ways she gets canceled is a youtube poop, something which must be utterly mystifying…
