Lynn Chu

Watched "Inside" starring Willem Dafoe. An art thief gets trapped inside an exquisite, hyper-swanky postmodernist penthouse full of the kind of art and modernist design features that an arty male multibillionaire architect would desire. It becomes a nightmare prison to the criminal protagonist. He gradually destroys it over the months/(years?) of his entrapment in which he lacks (almost) all food and water—the water having been shut off with his initial attempt to leave, with the sole exception, he eventually discovers, of the irrigation system to the indoor arboretum. I liked this movie, or rather, the metaphor of our postmodern era as a cold, evil, sterile inhumane prison despite all its apparent luxuries and conveniences and cleverly designed technological delights. It was retro-seventies/eighties in the apocalyptic darkness of its message and clever, but, like other such films along different lines such as Polanski's Repulsion, unpleasant to watch. I recommend it for those of you who like this kind of arty (but not annoyingly so) film.

REALLY GREAT FILM. Very true to the historical truth of the medieval period. An extremely intelligent presentation of the themes of truth, justice, and the dogged determination of those who pursue it, against all the games and delusions of a self-serving courtier elite. Echoes of the protests of the Trump era, as well as the #metoo movement. There was even a clever jab at "science." From original research by UCLA medievalist Eric Jager into the legal archives of what has become an iconic medieval French tale, Ridley Scott's movie depicts the nuances of human vanity, presumption, honor, and fidelity by offering each of the main characters' slightly differing perspectives with sensitivity and without cliché. Lots of brutal blood and gore—as one might expect from a setting in the Crusades—plus a distinct filmic reference to Robert Bresson's Lancelot du Lac.