Multiverse

Hey guys,

Some new things:

1. Multiverse. This is some painstaking timelapse and rearranging of frames.
   

2. Soul's ending was a little weaker that I expected, but it's yet another Pixar triumph. Clever. Silly. With NYC streets that are rendered in possibly the most beautiful picturesque animation yet.  And like Inside Out before it, not afraid to tackle the intangibles. Looking back at the past few decades, the pieces of film closest to my definition of "classic" are actually made by Pixar. At this point their formula is a little bit on autopilot -- look at their 22 rules -- but it really works.
   
   More on those rules.  Stephan Vladimir Bugaj gave his own interpretation and elaboration. I've found them extremely helpful over the years.
   

3. Hard to call things best or worst. More than ever, content has become decentralized, so you don't even know what's good or bad or placed in your own little world via algorithms. Also, much of what I consumed was from previous years.
   
   But here are some 2020 films (USA streaming release date) that tipped more to Letdown or more to Success for some reason or another.
   
   Letdowns: Mulan. The Old Guard. The Midnight Sky. Rebecca. On the Rocks. Palm Springs. Mank. The Assistant. Nomadland. (No miniseries here, as I just cut them short). Interestingly, they seem to mostly be high-profile projects. Many are critically acclaimed.
   
   Successes: A Sun (and "the indifference with which it was dropped into the bottom of the streaming world's biggest ocean"). The Painter and the Thief. The Platform. The Invisible Man. I'm Your Woman. Sound of Metal. My Octopus Teacher. Black Bear. Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm. Wonder Woman 1984. The Good Lord Bird. Tiger King. The Mandalorian. Mrs. America. Unorthodox. Alice in Borderland.
   And unexpectedly, The Wilds, a young adult series that starts off too young-adult-ish, pop, and cliched, but quickly turns into a sophisticated viewing experience, primarily because of the really great, complex performances from most of the girls. Surprisingly not saccharine, yet still earnestly felt.
   

4. Do robots not have anything better to do?
   

5. In 1991, Kieślowski released a beautiful, haunting, mysterious film, The Double Life of Veronique. I'm reminded of it because of this captivating doc about real-life doppelgangers.  Let me know if you've ever met your own.
   

6. My view the other day.

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Chris