Hello all and happy april fools day ^.^!!! thanks for checking in for the monthly media review!!!!! *confetti falls from sky* today is the special day i look back on the things i watched, played, or read in the month of march 2024. this month we've got 4 movies, not bad!! hopefully next month we'll get some variety to the list.
our month's movies are;; Propaganda, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Carol and Thelma.
thats all for the starting text, lets dive in!!!!!!


Propaganda (1984)
directed by Makoto Sato, Saito Shin

Before Yellow Magic Orchestra broke up, They released this concert film that uses footage from their 1983 japan tour, with additional extra acted footage filled with surreal symbolism. the plot this film ends up with is hard to understand but easy to enjoy.

I watched propaganda on the 6th day, all alone in my room. from start to finish, it was a wonderful experience.
I am a big YMO fan, so it was extremely fun seeing my favorite band play my favorite songs and have them in the background of various plot related events on the screen.
The strange vignettes scattered between concert footage rely heavily on symbolism and allegories, some being extremely hard to understand and some being a little more obvious.
The most obvious one is tied to the fascist imagery which has a strong influence over the film. the imagery can be a little too on the nose for some, as the fascist aesthetic is straight ripped from nazi germany with the only changes being the that the flags, banners and armbands are replaced with YMO's own logo. the usage of it is a very obvious critique at idol culture and such. basically "kill your idols" type of beat with the ending and all.. still kind of odd to use it like this.
The other allegories and symbolism are extremely confusing, high heels? horse sculpture? alternative universe? fish bowl? dont even ask me to explain. IDK what any of this means.
overall, the movie is good. it can get a little boring at times since THERE'S A LOT OF WALKING, but i still enjoyed it. certainly something i will rewatch in the future.
boring meter: 1/5
crazy meter: 3.5/5
pretty meter: 4/5
OVERALL: 3.5/5 stars!!

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
directed by Nagisa Oshima

MCML takes place in a Japanese PoW camp situated on the island of Java during World War II. the plot follows Cononel John Lawrence who tries to find common ground between the British prisoners and the Japanese guards. shit keeps happening.
the movie is too complicated for a good summary forgive me.

I watched this film in my room on the 7th day, then in the living room on the 17th.
This film truly surprised me. on my first watch i wasn't expecting much more than the obvious themes of cultural clash between the prisoners and guards, and war, but what i ended up with was way more than that. ontop of the themes said earlier, the film also touches on the relationships between the characters, regret, homosexuality, and tragedy.
The characters are fantastically written. even with their flaws, all of the main cast are likable, which made the ending way heavier for me (i was just seconds away from bursting into tears).
I especially love the relationships between the characters, The complicated friendship between Lawrence and Hara, and Yonoi's insane gay longing towards one of his prisoners, Jack Celliers (which is a surprisingly big part of the film, also way more complex than what im mentioning here.) shit is crazy!!!!!
MCML might be less plot heavy than other war films, it has no huge overarching plot about escaping or combat, nor does it have intense dramatic moments that keep you on the edge of your seat for the whole duration, but it still managed to be one of the most perfect movies ive watched. everything the movie had to offer worked so well and truly resonated with me, particularly the beautiful score composed by the one and only Ryuichi Sakamoto. Absolutely deserving of the praise it receives!
I love LOVE this movie and i am happy to own it on DVD! i will rewatch this billion times.
boring meter: 0/5
crazy meter: 3.5/5
pretty meter: 4/5
OVERALL: 5/5 stars!!

Carol (2015)
directed by Todd Haynes

Carol is a very cool lesbian(!!) movie taking place in the 1950's. the plot follows a department-store clerk as she falls in love with an older married woman she met during one of her shifts.

This one I watched alone in my room on the 14th day.
Im not the biggest consumer of romance but this movie is definetly what im looking from the genre, it felt real, was written well and a little slow paced on top of that.
The story was beautiful and the relationship between the two main characters got me crazy invested. it made me feel many things during the almost 2 hour runtime.. i was constantly worrying how things will turn out for both of them. MADE ME REAL EMOTIONAL.
the movie was the perfect lenght, but i wouldn't have minded if it was longer.
Now, about the visuals. I am a big fan of the cinematography the movie offers. I'm no expert on the 1950's but i feel like the movie captured it quite well, aesthetic wise atleast. the usage of color and the slight grain on top of the film really emphasizes it.
It was a very enjoyable watch. I LOVE WOMEN *starts loudly shaking a handbell*
if drama and romance and queer media is something you enjoy. i totally recommend this!
boring meter: 0/5
crazy meter: 2/5
pretty meter: 5/5
OVERALL: 4/5 stars!!

Thelma (2017)
directed by Joachim Trier

This movie is about a college student, who after experiencing extreme seizures, finds out she has crazy powers.

I watched this film with two of my friends on the 31th day.
I wasn't a big fan of this one! i didn't care for the main relationship at all, which was kind of upsetting as it was a big focus in the movie. i felt like the chemistry was lacking and the interactions weren't enough to get me interested.
they could've fleshed out the relationship more, a lot more.
The mystery and twists around the powers were a little too predictable, i had a gut feeling some things were going to happen, AND THEY DID. for one of them it was still kind of shocking, but rest were just eh.
more of the plot points would probably have hit harder if the main character was more interesting as a person, the movie was full of unnecessary scenes that could have been used to let us know more about the protagonist.
#hating over
boring meter: 3.5/5
crazy meter: 2/5
pretty meter: 1/5
OVERALL: 2/5 stars!!