Yesterday I reviewed STREET PUNX, which I did not think was a successful movie but I was intrigued by its movie-within-a-movie topic of punk rockers in Yangon, Myanmar, and the lead character mentioning that there is a documentary about them. Last night I rented that documentary on Vimeo and yes, it was very much worth sitting through STREET PUNX just for that movie recommendation.
MY BUDDHA IS PUNK (2015) is a 67 minute cinema verite look at Kyaw Kyaw, the lead singer of a band called Rebel Riot. He was in STREET PUNX mostly talking to the main character on video chat. There he came across as a goofy, sweet, kind of shy guy with a whole bunch of girlfriends, and it came as a surprise when the movie ended on his moving explanation of the importance of artists in a revolution. Here, though, the younger Kyaw Kyaw is absolutely magnetic, a wise punk rock guru always speaking philosophy and inspiration, always teaching and advising. He straight up doesn’t believe in leaders, but seems to be the driving force of a punk rock movement and subculture in Yangon. He has a bunch of friends and band members who live and work together as a collective, but at least when the cameras are on most of them don’t talk much. They’re always listening to him. He genuinely seems a little frustrated by this. He’s always soliciting responses, but usually not getting them
SENTIMENTAL VALUE (Affeksjonsverdi) is the beginning of my awards season viewing ritual of seeing movies that I know almost nothing about except they’re supposedly good. It’s on all the lists of predicted best picture nominees, but also my friend Matt Lynch told me to see it, so I was planning to.
THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE BARN is a 2023 horror comedy that I watched because it was one of the very few Christmas movies on Shudder that I hadn’t seen yet. It’s pretty middle-of-the-road, but definitely watchable, kept me entertained, gave me a few laughs.
I’m not gonna waste your time pretending you need my opinion whether to see AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH or not. If you don’t like these movies, no, don’t bother. If you do, obviously you’re gonna see it, it’s a new AVATAR! A new James Cameron! You’re not a heathen. And he’s still pretty much undefeated. The streak continues.
Would you believe I never saw a TRANCERS movie before now? And I’ve still only seen one. But when Dreadguacamole recently mentioned in a comment that it “goes pretty full-in on its christmas cheer” I decided that would be a good one to watch right now. Thanks for the tip. It’s a good balance – not a movie about Christmas that would feel weird to watch in some other time of year, but enough decorations here and there to make it kind of cool to watch when it’s seasonal.
Turns out it’s a time travel movie and a zombie movie and a couple other things. It starts in 23rd century Angel City (FKA Los Angeles) and it immediately reminded me of some weird ‘80s comic book, because it has that era’s fascination with futuristic worlds where men try to seem like they’re out of some old detective novel. Not like 
A couple years ago I really liked this horror-thriller I saw on Shudder called 
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (2025) is not a great remake, but it’s a fun one, a solid one, mostly because it’s a playful one. The first couple scenes seem like a pretty straight forward update of 
FUCK MY SON! is a movie that, for the foreseeable future, you’re only gonna see if it comes to your town as part of a road show. Writer/director Todd Rohal (
THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM (2011) is weirdly-titled Todd Rohal comedy #2, and truly the only thing I knew about it was that the OCN partner label Factory 25 gave it a special edition blu-ray a few years ago and some people seemed to think it was some type of cult classic. I feel pretty ignorant now because it turns out it’s a Seattle production and I even know a couple people in the credits. I had no idea.
