Table Of Contents
- People Who Aren’t There Anymore Review
- The Metamorphosis Review
- Argylle Review
- The Florida Project Review
People Who Aren’t There Anymore Review
People Who Aren’t There Anymore is the 7th studio album from pop-synth band Future Islands. The project has 14 tracks and a 43:55 runtime. It was released on January 26, 2024.
People Who Aren’t There Anymore perfectly encapsulates feelings of isolation and loneliness mixed with love and hope. The vocals from Samuel Herring, while not technically impressive, have a husky rawness to them which pairs nicely with the electric sound of the synths to give an authentic feel to the music. The ambient production creates a misty soundscape which is easily to get lost into as the music evokes reminiscing. The blend of synths and electronic instruments also has a sort of understated organic quality which makes it augment the vocals rather than overpowering them as often happens in electronic music. The songwriting on the album is also excellent with many memorable melodies and hooks, which, although not the most dynamic, have a simple and timeless charm which makes the listener sit back and relax.
While the album certainly has its strong points, variety is not one of its strengths. The songs tend to sound very similar which makes the album blend together into a not unpleasant coma-like listening experience. However, its hard to pick out a bunch of unique hits from the album and makes the best songs seem less important. This minimal range in both sound and theme means that if someone does not initially like the sound and feel of the project, it is unlikely that any of the tracks will interest them.
Even though People Who Aren’t There Anymore was certainly interesting to listen to, I can’t see myself coming back to listen to the full album again though there are several standout songs that will find a place on a playlist or two. That being said, the production on the album is clearly well done and commendable. The vocals of Herring also have lots of potential and provide a good amount of emotional depth to the album.
People Who Aren’t There Anymore begins with “King of Sweden”, a driving track with a heavy beat. The song speaks to feelings of extreme reliance on a loved one and the depression that comes with being apart from them. Herring’s vocals come across loud and clear on this track and are largely responsible for its impact, even with a lackluster tune. The project continues with “The Tower” which is probably the catchiest song of all. It begins with a small motif that will easily get stuck in your head while the verse and chorus do not disappoint. Continuing on with “Deep in the Night”, the album slows down with a more contemplative song. The slow but calming melody combined with Herring’s deep voice make the track memorable. “Say Goodbye” is a fantastic relatable song about the passage of time and the fragility found in the fact that nothing material is permanent. This track has an anthemic nature, a strong beat, and a catchy chorus which makes it great for playing on repeat. Next is “Give Me The Ghost Back”, a piece which grows better on repeat listens. The songs buildup and repeated longing refrain make it deeply personal and expressive of grief and loss, even if the tune is nothing special. The album continues with “Corner of My Eye”, which certainly has its beautiful moments but lacks a distinguishing hook or memorable production making it sink into the rest of the album without making a splash. It is one of the less memorable entries on the project. “The Thief” features one of the catchier verses on the album though the emotional resonance is less strong than previous tracks. Next comes “Iris” which stood out for its simpler production which lacks the consistent synth backing. However, this is a welcome change and the songs chorus which poses several questions is a treat to listen to and makes this track stand out. “The Fight” is another slow song on the album which has some of the rawest vocals on the album. While the message of continuing to fight for meaning and love is appreciable, Herring’s vocals are not enough to save the lackluster chorus and verse which make the track somewhat tedious. People Who Aren’t There Anymore continues with “Peach” which is in a similar optimistic vein of “The Fight”, but is less a personal stand and more about standing for something. I found the message to particularly resonate. Next comes “The Sickness” which is made unique by its chorus chord progression. The production and sound design are as usual excellent and while it isn’t the catchiest tune, it is still a pleasant listen. The project concludes with “The Garden Wheel” which fittingly picks up to a driving beat. The verse of this song sounds almost like a typical pop song but the chorus is all over the place lacking a strong identity. This makes the concluding track fall short of achieving its hit potential.
The Metamorphosis Review
The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka in 1915. It is one of the authors most popular works and tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who wakes up one morning transformed into an enormous insect. The novella focuses on the effects of this transformation on the life of Gregor and that of his immediate family made up of his mother, father, and sister, Grete. While on the surface, the novella seems, aside from the obviously strange premise, to be relatively straightforward and perhaps even boring, it has captivated many and stood the test of time.
***Spoilers Below***
The Metamorphosis explores many themes related to work and how people define their lives and duties. As to be expected, various interpretations have been offered as to the central point or message of the piece. One particular element that stood out to me was the effect of Gregor’s transformation and eventual death on his families own self-actualization. At the start of the novel, Gregor describes his family as largely incapable of providing for themselves. His parents are seemingly old and decrepit while his sister is too young and childlike to be exposed to the callous world of business. However, once Gregor becomes an insect and is no longer able to work, we see the family defy these boundaries as the parents become “young again” finding new purpose in their jobs and Grete herself takes on a position as a saleswoman. A strain of tragedy can be found in the fact that Gregor, thinking himself noble and sacrificial in working very hard to support the entire family, actually hindered their development. A reversal of expectations occurs when we see that instead of Gregor’s new status dooming the family to destitution, it allows them to become the best versions of themselves. This message can be easily applied to many of the problems and solutions of the modern world. Take for example, the idea of universal basic income which mandates that everyone receive a certain amount of money for simply existing. Many have posited that this measure alone will all but solve poverty, but we must take into account not only the problems that may be solved, but what new problems may arise. Could this new universal basic income cause people to neglect to better themselves or act a barrier to self-actualization? Every solution must be carefully constructed so as to address the root problem and not create additional detrimental ramifications.
Another fascinating part of the book is Gregor’s psychological attachment to his job and the effect of him losing the ability to work has on his psyche. From the beginning of the novella, it is clear that Gregor finds purpose in his ability to provide for his family. His job and the money he can earn from it are almost all he thinks about, though he is not fond of the work itself. Gregor feeds off of his family’s dependence on him, wanting his parents to feel proud and his sister to be happy thanks to his work. He is almost self-centered and prideful in the way that he refuses to let the rest of his family “suffer” and earn money reserving this sacrifice to himself. When Gregor wakes up as an insect, he loses his job and is left with nothing to do except crawl around in his room. Without his job, Gregor completely loses his purpose and initiative to do anything. This is evident when his sister Grete comes to remove the last remnants of his previous profession, his writing desk from his room. Gregor imagines himself clinging to this as a last vestige of his previous dignity and purpose even though as an insect, he has no use for it. In the end, Gregor is unable to accept his new condition, viewing his life as essentially meaningless if he cannot directly provide for his family and he eventually takes this stance to the grave. While it is impossible to know what exactly Kafka was trying to say by this, I believe that it is a critique on the narrow-minded view that providing for someone is an end unto itself and that there are much more important endeavors such as art and the joy of companionship which do not have anything to do with the material gains of work.
Argylle Review
Argylle is a spy-action-comedy directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring a whole bunch of A-list actors and actresses including Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is one of the worst movies I have seen in a very long time due to it being not funny, incredibly contrived, generic and cliché, and stylistically boring. Almost every element of the film is either crazy to the point of stupidity or bland and tasteless. The comedy also falls flat with the dialogue being painfully cringe and the physical comedy being so over the top that it feels farcical. The plot disintegrates under the slightest scrutiny to the point where absolutely nothing makes sense. Saying there are plot holes is an understatement as the movie is borderline incoherent. It is almost comical how the movie continually outdoes itself with contrived and increasingly ludicrous events so that the viewer is baffled by how such insanity was every greenlit by a studio and created by a human who calls themselves an artist. One would think that a movie with such an acclaimed cast would at the very least have good acting but unfortunately this is not the case. No performance stood out as being particularly bad but this was likely because no one had anything to work with due to the script being so incomprehensibly terrible. After seeing the movie and ruminating for a little while, I realized that what I had seen was essentially a live-action Illumination studios movie in the vein of the Despicable Me franchise. However, this comparison does not entirely work because the Despicable Me movies themselves are infinitely more entertaining with characters that are much more fleshed out and relatable. In an animated medium, it is also easier to make insane stuff happen without making the audience feel the film is corny and just plain idiotic.
The premise of Argylle (shown in the trailers) that an author’s writing actually happen in real life has some potential but the way the movie explains this phenomenon is so lame and full of plot holes that it makes no sense and manages to make the concept seem boring. Additionally, the characters all have about as much dimension as a piece of cardboard so all that the movie is left with is cartoonishly bad action sequences which grow increasingly nonsensical. For example, near the end of the film, Bryce Dallas Howard’s character is stuck in a warehouse-like room where the floor is covered in crude oil and about twenty assailants are creeping up on her. Guns have been declared obsolete because no one wants to cause a spark that ignites the oil. In order to beat the bad guys, Howard’s character (who was established to have previous skating knowledge) takes two double edged knives, sticks them to the bottom of her boots, and proceeds to glide across the gasoline like an Olympic figure skater bayonetting opponents as she passes them. This entire display lasts what feels like several minutes and if it seems mind-bogglingly dumb, that is because it is. The entire film has so many moments that are similarly brainless that trying to make sense of any of it will only sour viewing experience even more-so. As another note, it seems interesting to me why the film starts out portraying the fictional side of the spy world as more “cartoonish” and unrealistic than the real world only by the end to have abandoned this distinction. It begs the question what was the point of the whole “author writes things that actually happen” gimmick if nothing ever comes of it.
In conclusion, Argylle is a mindless idiotic film that is definitely not worth watching even once. Save your money or find something else to watch in theaters.
The Florida Project Review
The Florida Project is excellent at giving a glimpse into effects of poverty and parental neglect on children. However, it explores the topic in an honest and forthright way never softening things or succumbing to melodramatic posturing.
The film stars Willem Dafoe as Bobby, a rundown motel manager, Brooklyn Kimberly Prince as a stereotypical six-year-old named Moonee, and Bria Vinaite as Halley, her irresponsible mother. Interestingly, the film does not shy away from focusing on the adventures of Moonee and her friends as they are largely left unsupervised to run around and play during the day, even if these events do little to affect the larger narrative. A standout is the child acting and dialogue which is both realistic and not annoying. These scenes evoke a kind of nostalgia for childhood and the joy of having no responsibilities and seemingly endless time. The summer days that Moonee spends getting ice cream and playing hide and seek remind us of similar moments from our own childhood. These scenes also create a contrast between the childlike innocence of Moonee and serious real world that her mother cannot seem to cope with. Halley, played by Bria Vinaite gives a strikingly good performance as the derelict mother of Moonee. Her character is immensely tragic because, while her love of Moonee is not in doubt, she lacks the strength to take responsibility for her shortcomings and work to improve herself, making it impossible for her to care for her child. Rather than framing Halley as this evil villain, the movie takes a neutral view leaving the audience feel more sadness than anger as she spirals out of control. The film takes this angle to its conclusion to bring up potent moral and ethical questions about the protection and raising of children. Willem Dafoe also plays a large role in the film and adds some much-needed optimism to the story. In short, he represents everything good that Halley does not. Bobby is hardworking, honest, and takes accountability for his mistakes. He does not shy away from problems but confronts them head on and always acts with integrity. Dafoe also instills the character with a mild toughness that one could expect from a landlord that constantly has to deal with the low-class inhabitants of his motel. The Florida Project, at its core is a tragedy which makes it hard to watch as the plot goes forward. I expect the characters and subject matter hit home for a lot of people who have experience with family members or friends represented in the movie. While I it isn’t the kind of film I would watch again, The Florida Project is a superb film and a reminder of the simple tragedies that happen in the real world and effect real people.