aweebitdaft

No doubt the lead is multitalented and adroit, and I don't necessarily need a meaty narrative if I know what I'm getting into; I enjoy experiencing actors morph into multiple characters.

However, I still want to feel entertained, not...icky. Although I did marvel at the red woman's flexibility, I was distracted by the fact that the poor thing was forced to have her face near this troll's undoubtedly sweaty, velvet-clad nethers, while wondering if she'd end up crippled with pain after a lifetime of cartilage-punishing dance moves.

I also know a fake, um, member when I see it-all part of the costume, but fairly gratuitous as was the entire film for me up to that point. The lullaby afforded me a final eye roll, and I was done.

I'm not the audience for this. I tend toward depression and am too sensitive, have experienced too much trauma, i.e. I'm deeply scarred. Life turns out that way sometimes, and after 50+ years of keeping my patched-up self afloat (ship wrecked one too many times!) one just becomes exhausted. And not a little jaded, unfortunately.

If I'm going to do "dark", I prefer darkly-bright, like Blade Runner or Kwaidan, or the few Ingmar Bergman pieces in his colour years, or maybe with a soft edge like a Roy Andersson offering.

Holy Motors feels like another male director/writer sharing his nasty rotted insides, his sex-driven drug-laden neuroses and traumas. Much like the Lars Von Trier, in gifting the festival artistes, academia and fellow auteurs, ever-hungering for more, he can receive accolades for his art, thus garnering a sort of second-hand approval, as well as upkeep of the demons he can no longer face alone.

I'm all too familiar with them, and I neither want to, nor need to adopt yours as well, thank you.

And after suffering through this slog of a film, I no longer cared.

Does the title convey a Godzilla film minus the one reason people will even choose to watch it? Namely, minus one monster?

Is the hyperbole due to little overall experience with Japanese cinema? Because this is a terrible representation of the absolute gold standard of so many truly incredible, engaging, visually captivating as well as engaging films from the myriad talents of our friends in the land of the rising sun:

Classic folkloric scares: Kwaidan (only the Japanese create sets Breathtaking and Unique Art Direction/Sets: Two Portraits of Miyagino & Ballad of Narayama Heartbreaking storytelling: Harakiri (1962 version is much more subtle and beloved than the remake) Surrealism: Woman in the Dunes... and how about Funky Forest! (an experience!) Feel good/Humour: Good Morning (1959) Ozu is one of the most respected filmmakers in Japan, if not in the world!

Heartfelt: Late Spring; Late Autumn; Early Summer; Tokyo Story- all of Ozu's works are wonderful, but these really stand out as classics, and yes, they repeat themes and use several of the same actors, but this is part of the undying charm.

Etc.: Seven Samurai; Hanging Gardens of Babylon; Still Walking; After the Storm; Sweet Bean; Rashomon; Ikuru et al

This was not an award-worthy film. It's not even a decent "popcorn" flick. A subpar WWII film from the Japanese perspective with a rubbery Godzilla stuck in a few scenes to draw the audience in.