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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 4d

Overall, I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to watch something challenging and not in my wheelhouse. I feel that I have a new tool experiment with in my writers toolbox. It’s not a film I’ll forget anytime soon.

A karate instructor getting pulled over by the cops in One Battle After Another (2025).

Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 4d

The runtime is 2.5 hours but it felt like a solid 90 minutes. This is perhaps the best paced movie I’ve ever seen. Each POV offers its own stakes that you simultaneously hate to leave when we cut away to the next POV, yet happy to return to. I predict this triplicate method will be copied henceforth

A protest with police armed with riot shields in One Battle After Another (2025).

A pregnant woman with an assault rifle in One Battle After Another (2025).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 4d

If my enjoyment of the beginning was around a 4, the rest of the film jumped to around an 8. The main leads are all deliciously rounded and fleshed out. Almost like a game of the TTRPG Fiasco, there is a weight to the flaws and complications within each relationship. Sometimes these flaws explode.

A decisively one-sided argument falling on deaf ears on the phone as seen in One Battle After Another (2025).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 4d

I’ll be honest, the first twenty minutes of the film almost lost me. There were many scenes that I found cheesy to the point of being more inline with an OnlyFans plotline than the grounded tone it’s gunning for. Additionally, its use of stereotypes feels unctuous and in desperate need of an editor.

A lead revolutionary parading a military office with a plot important massive erection in the film One Battle After Another (2025).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 4d

Monday Mini-movie🧵: I’ve jumped on the bandwagon and watched One Battle After Another (2025) this weekend. In my life, I’ve only seen a handful of PTA films, so I didn’t exactly know what I was getting into. I personally contain multitudes of conflicting opinions on this flick. #filmsky #cinephile

A character practicing their Karate in a dojo in One Battle After Another (2025).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 11d

Besides its anime trappings, what does Inu-Oh (2021) add to the genre? I’d argue it recontextualizes the iconic “selling out” scene with its historical equivalent: honoring the Shogun. What is your fate when you are pulled between the status quo or fighting the system? Oh! the music is all bangers!

The required pink anime music sequence set in present day as shown in the film Inu-Oh (2021).

Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 11d

For juxtaposition’s sake, the rock opera tropes focus on rebelling against the system (found in works like American Idiot or Quadrophenia) while the more audacious sprinkles in abstract psychedelia (a la Tommy or The Wall). Inu-Oh (2021) attempts both but is slowed down by required world building.

Tomona rocking out on his Biwa in Inu-Oh (2021).

Cover art for Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1979).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 11d

Japan, at this time, is divided by clans and conniving lords due to its feudal system. The Heike Clan was once a strong clan, now annihilated by war. Tomona and Inu-Oh can hear the Heike spirits so they decide to sing their tragic songs. To the tune of a prog rock opera, don’t you forget!

The Heike spirits floating amongst a forested wilderness in Inu-Oh (2021).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 11d

The plot throws a series of fastballs. The conflict is the dichotomy of an ostracized dyad against their marginalized societal expectations. Tomona is a blind biwa priest and the character Inu-Oh is a monstrous disfigured brought about by a curse. Both subjected to alienating “other” syndrome.

The first encounter of our deuteragonists in Inu-Oh (2021).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 11d

Monday Mini-movie🧵: Ever get in a mood to watch a Heian period anime rock opera kind of mood? I did. I’m lucky because Inu-Oh (2021) is the only film that can fill this void. Helmed by anime legend Masaaki Yuasa, can this film add to the rock opera genre? #filmsky #film #anime #movie

Inu-Oh performing a song and riding a projection of a whale as water is ejected from the stage in the film Inu-Oh (2021).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 14d

Hechicero has obtained his final form.

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Reposted by Vivid Divine (Alec)

CaptainGrapeDrink @cgd-2.bsky.social · 15d

Some promotional images from the Pokemon Latin America account on the bad place. #CMLL 🤼

Hechicero dressed as Machamp, holding a tiny Machamp plush

Mistico dressed as Hawlucha, holding a tiny Hawlucha plush.

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 14d

This movie is how the future generations will remember us, the ancestors.

Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 14d

Had a great time at the Mountain Goats concert last week.

The Mountain Goats playing on stage at the Windjammer.

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 18d

Ultimately, Speed (1994) is a perfect name for a great distillation. This movie gets you into the action and maintains compelling tension and narrative velocity. To compare this film to food, you are eating a cheeseburger with a 93% lean patty. There is hardly any fat on this burger.

The bus loaded with a bomb making a sharp turn in Speed (1994).

Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 18d

Keanu’s portrayal of LAPD Jack Traven isn’t interesting due to his personal motivations or back story. Keanu’s acting shines through in convincing the audience that this cop is making life or death decisions on the fly. The consequences of these decisions is how we explore Jack Traven’s character.

The stereotypical main character standing in front of an explosion. Keanu Reeves stands in front of an exploding bus in Speed (1994).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 18d

Some iconic films are about characters responding to interesting situations (see 12 Angry Men, Wages of Fear, Groundhog Day) rather than exploring a particular narrative or character. For Speed (1994), there is a bomb on a bus that’ll blow if it slows down to 50 mph. How you get out alive?

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock driving a bus loaded with a bomb in Speed (1994).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 18d

Monday Mini-movie🧵: decided to do something light today. Put on a Keanu Reeves classic: Speed (1994). In terms of gimmick action movies, this is a title that I perhaps have some of the most fond emotions for. It has a simple premise, with near flawless execution. #film #movie #cinephile #filmsky

Keanu Reeves in the film Speed in a borrowed vehicle used for a high speed chase. The car’s owner is sitting next to him giving him attitude.

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 23d

This is my favorite Full Moon Movie. Super fun, I watch it every time I’m on a flight.

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 25d

Newton’s Third Law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Repercussions are a reality of our actions in any relationship. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film examine how we scar one another and question if we ever truly heal. Thank yourself later and watch this movie.

Ryohei atop a hill looking down at Asako. It is raining and both are holding the same umbrella in Asako I & II (2018).

Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 25d

Akin to a slow burn with a supernova ending, this romance is fundamentally flawed. Flawed in the way you are flawed. Flawed in the way I am flawed. This humanizes its romance and mitigates the cinematic regalia of epic emotions. It is electrifying with how real it feels.

Asako touches Ryohei in Asako I & II (2018).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 25d

To juxtapose this romance to its in genre contemporaries of Titanic (1997), Notebook (2004), and the masterpiece Casablanca (1942), Asako I & II (2018) is not a wish fulfilling fantasy. Hamaguchi explicitly changes character POV to obscure intent and emotion within romantically charged scenes.

Asako and Baku looking at a gallery of photos in Asako I & II (2018).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 25d

Asako, our titular character, falls in love and out of touch with a free wheeling man named Baku. Years later, she routinely runs into his lookalike go-getter Ryohei. This film abstractly criticizes modern romance by questioning the shallow importance and ultimate merits of physical attraction.

Baku and Asako after an accident in Asako I & II (2018).

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 25d

Monday Mini-movie🧵: Just bought my most desired blu ray from Grasshopper Film: Asako I & II (2018). A blisteringly bizarre romance that experiments with perspective, identity, and fantasy from academy award winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi. A must watch for lovers of atypical romance.
#filmsky #movie #film

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Vivid Divine (Alec) @vividdivine.bsky.social · 26d

I just finished my DPS overwatch competitive placements. I got diamond 3!!! IVE ONLY EVER BEEN A PLATINUM SUPPORT PLAYER! I’m getting absolutely smoked by players who can actually aim now lol.