Sinners

Yeah I totally found this super underground movie and didn't watch it due to everyone telling me to watch it. Firstly, holy shit the color grading was so peak. I missed saturation in movies so much, I blame marvel and them normalizing overworking the sweat shop cgi people. Let's bring back this level of saturation. The lights?? The shadows??? Like holy shit I wish I could eat the raw film and ingest the silver halide crystals. I loveee the use of color, and it was so simple but so smart to assign Smoke and Stack colors and having them appear throughout the film. The lighting of the whole juke was also so good like I love how warm it looked. I feel like the movie could've been cheesy so easily. Like I remember even watching the trailer in theaters "oh naur it's going to be a cheesy musical." and this isn't even me being a musical hater, like I like cheesy musicals. The soundtrack was just incredible though, I think making the songs diegetic was very smart, and played into the overall themes of music. I could go on about the score, but overall, Ludwig Göransson is amazing, and I'm glad to see he takes risks. I was lowkey shocked when I found out he scored this, because it was so out of what movie scores he's done, and it felt so tasteful. I love the transition of genre throughout the movie; how it begins with very traditional blues and spans into more modern sounds. It makes a lot of sense in the end, when we see Sammie playing as an oldhead. Like it really emphasizes the power of music and how it transcends time, and how Sammie uses to to remember the past etc etc. I was apprehensive of Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfield. Lowkey it was an RDJ in Oppenheimer moment where I'm shocked a Marvel actor is actually good at acting. Although, I saw Edge of Seventeen and like Michael B. Jordan was good in Black Panther, like I knew they were good actors. It's more like I thought they had iphone faces, but I was proved wrong. Moreover, why was everyone in this movie fine shyt like damn. I loved the portrayal of Bo's character. Like Asian masculinity has always been something the west was afraid to portray. The racial tensions of the movie were so well done. Like, obviously I can't speak on the accuracy of the majority of it. However, the portrayal of Asian communities and their role in both white and black communities was so good. Like the way they ebb and flow between the two communities, where through Jim Crow law and unofficial law were able to have a certain leeway that black people didn't. The little details. The fact that Bo never stepped foot in the "white" store, the fact they spoke a Cantonese dialect instead of just Mandarin, the Tamales shop next to their grocery store, the traditional Chinese dancers and music, how Bo is played by a Filipino-Malay Chinese man. Like yes, give me a complex story about race. I know a lot of people are pressed by Annie's actions, but it's like bro let's use critical thinking skills. Like the political tension between the two minority communities. The metaphorical racial betrayal of white people towards Asian people. The betrayal of the Asian community, because we are manipulated into thinking the black community is the enemy instead of coming together in solidarity. etc. THE FACT THAT THE VAMPIRE IS IRISH. LIKE HOLY SHIT VALIDATED MY FEELINGS ON ITALIAN AND IRISH BITCHES SM. LIKE YOU AREN'T POC. YOU AREN'T BEING OPPRESSED ANYMORE. NO WHITE BITCHES ARE FIGHTING YOU FOR BEING ITALIAN/IRISH STFUUUUUUU. Like the fact that this vampire dude thinks he is the same, and in a way, has endured similar struggles as the black community in Jim Crowe era, but has failed to understand HE HAS NOW BECOME WHAT ONCE HURT HIM. and like how he and the other white vampire bitches reflect how white people steal black black and invite themselves into spaces that do not belong to them and (in the movie) literally make themselves the center of it. like holy shit wow. how he wants sammie's abilities to reconnect with HIS ancestors.....how vampirism is a metaphor for assimilation......how you can see this white savior complex in mary, bc ultimately she is white passing and sought after the vampires bc she felt she could get the money they needed...bro and the choctaw vampire hunters...like considering the historical relationship between the chotaw and irish people...and then the utilization of the fact that people countlessly ignore the warnings of indigenous people who know the land better. anyway i could talk about this movie for way longer. like the tie between capitalism and colonialism. THE RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS THROUGHOUT THE STORY. holy shit the costume design. white passing politics.. also one last emphasis on the grace hate being rooted in racism, because there's like some weird takes about how she hates all black people and wants them to die. it's giving the hate on the affirmative action case dude like bro we are missing who the true evil bitch is. and lowkey her crashout was valid. also shout out to vampires, folk and blues music, apush, southern accents, and cool hats. like all my favorite things in one movie. and also i think it's funny how micheal b jordan just wrecks people's shit in every movie he's in like wdym he had a fucking sniper rifle in the end. and also i want to personally thank whichever of the costume people decided to have his arms outs in the entire second act of the movie. i love you.