Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg's most recent film asks us to take seriously the pervasive consumption of alcohol and to see within it the potential for transcendent societal liberation and new forms of communal engagement.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It's a dog-eat-dog world in the tiger kingdom. And this Netflix series shows us that, in American (libertarian) culture, its much the same.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
By glorifying and providing community to the lonely individualism of sociopathic liberalism this film transforms a philosophy confronted with its limitations into pure ideology.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Another moving film from master director Ang Lee that deals with the the moral ambiguity of participation in the American war machine and the role of the cinema and the cinematic in perpetuating it.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What initially appears as a deeply cynical perspective on love seems to use the seductiveness of images of passion to develop a profound cinematic critique of romance.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
While the film is only a semi-tolerable juvenile romance, there is something interesting in the disruptive, rebellious rhythm of the film that unpretentiously expresses a certain form of economically marginalized and excluded life.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
George Clooney elevates this Coen brothers script into rarefied territory. Vintage, dry humor at its absolute best. And a serious poetic commentary on contemporary American culture as well. Pure genius.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx