‘One Battle After Another’ (dir. by Paul Thomas Anderson) | Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Sean Penn (9/26)

[Ribbs]

I said it in this thread already, but hearing Leo say lines like "I love black girls. Why the fukk do you think I'm here?" and "I don't know how to do her hair, man." were cringe af. PTA on some . I cannot in good faith put this movie in my top 5 because of the tone deaf cac shyt going on in this.

Seeing the praise for it after seeing it made me kinda scratch my head a little. Like everyone is calling this movie of the year? Are they realizing the faults in it or stepping over it cause it's a PTA movie? I haven't checked out what my go-to movie podcasters were saying but I think non-movie critic Bomani Jones may have summarized it best:

"This had much to do with the revolution as Boogie Nights had to do with the pornography industry... a pretty cool backdrop to write a script."

 

[StraxStrax]

I don't understand the love for this movie. It's a fine and somewhat interesting movie with some above avg. performances. Benicio del Toro was a standout though.

 

[MurderToCassette]

Didn’t expect to see so much arguing about a movie where a stoner CAC has a karate teaching Mexican driving him around to save his daughter from a crazy army WS named Lockjaw who has to do a paternity test on his ex lover Perfidia Beverly Hills daughter or else he can’t join the Christmas adventurers club.

Typed out, that sounds like the plot of a South Park episode

 

[DaRealness]

This was a long ass movie, not to mention pretty bizarre too lol. The tone reminded me of Dragged Across Concrete but without the blatant shock value.

It was funny in parts though.

Not sure what to make of it honestly.

 

[ItWasMeThough]

I’m interested in seeing this movie, but I can’t get over Teyana’s character love triangle with one of the guys being a white supremacist. Like what in the Monster’s Ball!!! Lol. It just sounds so offensive. A fake revolutionist who’s in it just for the thrill of it and on top of that some “ghetto-gaggers” bs. I just can’t.

 

[Piff Perkins]

I've read several of Thomas Pynchon's work, it's mostly satire but vehemently anti-fascist which one battle after another is. The movie ridicules both sides one for infighting and the other for everything it is and ever will be.

Many of his novels are also heavily draped in drug and counterculture themes from the 60s/70s that don't really translate to audiences today. I'd be very curious to know if PTA initially conceived of this as a period piece before moving it to present day. Even the modern setting has some odd wrinkles like pay phones, as if he's playing around with the setting. A lot of the criticism over "revolution" boil down to people saying "wait a minute this isn't a real revolutoin" as if it's supposed to be. My brothers in Christ, the original story is about hippies who secede from the US to smoke dope and have free love. It reminds me of that tweet about people criticizing the Black Panther film because T'Challa doesn't turn to the camera, declare he's a communist and then specify exactly what type of communist he is lol.

Even the names of characters in the film are him trying to channel Pynchon. Perfidia Beverly Hills? I get why an audience might find it jarring or feel the film is unserious. But like...it's based on a novel from a guy who regularly names his characters things like Puck Beaverton and Takeshi Fumimota.

 

[Ol’Otis]

 

[OJ Simpsom]

Good. All that cac shyt ain't gonna slide come awards season too.

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

I’m interested in seeing this movie, but I can’t get over Teyana’s character love triangle with one of the guys being a white supremacist. Like what in the Monster’s Ball!!! Lol. It just sounds so offensive. A fake revolutionist who’s in it just for the thrill of it and on top of that some “ghetto-gaggers” bs. I just can’t.

The good thing is she disappears from the flick pretty early and its the best thing that happens for the viewer. Movie gets much better with her gone. Trust me.

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

Went from top 10 to not mentioned at all