OMD's ABCs #275: Bullet Train Movie Review, Medley of Reflections from Anthony Bourdain, Shitty Cities, Nostalgia...
Hello! This week’s newsletter is divided into two broad segments. One is a movie review and the other is a medley of thoughts to stir up a reflecting mode about cities, life
The ABC’s of the OMD learning function are below. Feel free to pick and choose the segments that interest you and I hope they make you think about something you didn’t before, raise an eyebrow, or leave you satisfied.
Art: Books, Movies, Creations
Business: Investing, Systems, Work
Culture: People, Self, Observations
Art: Books, Movies, Creations
Movie Review: Bullet Train
Bullet Train became one of my favourite movies of all time. To give you a taste of what I love, my top 5 is made up of the The French Dispatch, The Big Short, Inglorious Basterds, The Pianist, and Bullet Train. It’s the portfolio approach of selecting my favourite directors (Wes Anderson, Adam McKay, Quentin Tarantino, and Roman Polanski. Bullet Train is the only exception given I didn’t know who made it before I went to watch it. But it will soon be one of two movies I’ve watched twice in theatres in quick succession—the other was The Big Short.
I’m going to tell you a bit about the movie without spoiling any major details. Most of it would’ve been obvious from the trailers and blogs.
The first big revelation is that the movie (for 95% of the time) takes place on a bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Kyoto. I thought the title of the movie was some play on words regarding a bullet and a train. But nope. It’s a movie literally set in a bullet train. As a lover of trains, this was a major plus.
The second part is the genre. It’s labeled as an action comedy. We get a sense for what flavour this will be given Brad Pitt is the main character—think Mr and Mrs Smith and Inglorious Basterds. It’s bloody and funny, the best combo for action comedy.
What also adds to the action element is that the movie is Pulp Fiction-esque. The movie begins by showcasing the backstory of various characters on the bullet train and it’s a mess of assassins, hitmen, criminals and the like all gathered on the train through this intertwined element of “fate.”
Finally—this might be a spoiler—is the theme wedged in throughout the movie. There are constant references to fate and luck. I’m not saying that was what made me love the movie. But in the context of this pulp fiction mashup of killers, it was refreshing and new. The way their stories all intertwine was a delight. I love it when I’m confused for most of the movie and it starts to make sense near the end. Is it just me who gets satisfied with that?
However, all the above aren’t enough to make me watch a movie twice in theatres and spend all this time thinking and writing about it. No. The true satisfaction came in the wonderful medley of soundtracks, theatrical ludricracy, speed and depth of character development, and a feeling of awe at the sheer creativity. Simply put, it’s a movie with its own category. This is the same with most movies I love—a category of one in my mind.
Now, what are the elements that make it a category of one? Well, one requirement is the amount of time I’ve been surprised by the story. I’m not talking about the kind of surprise I get from reading some classical literature that makes me see humanity in a different light. I’m talking about genuine surprise for the story’s twists and turns where I can’t predict what the next sequence will be. Most movies follow a story trope and the next few scenes become predictable. That wasn’t the case with Bullet Train.
That leads to how tasteful the movie was. It was ridiculous and cheesy in many ways. Some of the actions were so CG’d that it was downright funny. The scene where ****spoiler**** I get the backstory of a water bottle was fucking amazing. All this led to the age old requirement for most movies to be: fun. It’s something most critics and movie-lovers have forgotten as a core necessity for even the most serious and thoughtful of movies.
It’s a true tragedy that the faux-sophisticados of movie watching have deemed a movie that is fun and ridiculously witty can’t be a classic or something that’s far better than most academy award nominees (not winners because we all know it’s really a social PR stunt for Hollywood). Do I sound bitter? Why yes, it’s because this movie didn’t get highly rated by critics becasue…well…critics are quite one-dimensional and if the movies are nowhere close to their Apocalypse Now (an okay movie, Heart of Darkness was far better) framework, the ratings are poor. But back to the movie.
Something else I wanted to point out about the cheesy and absurd scenes peppered throughout was how the movie owned it. See, most cheesy scenes make me want to crawl up and hide in the deepest corners of a dark room. What I didn’t know was possible though was for a movie to own its cheesiness so powerfully that it broke the proverbial glass ceiling of cheesiness and absurdity to the point that it became crucial to the overall essence of the movie. Bullet Train unashamedly double-downed on how ridiculous it was as if it was telling the audience, “you think this is ridiculous? Hold on to your seats.”
It was this whole package that made the movie so loveable. It was absurd, and it knew it. It had exciting action with great soundtracks. It had fun characters and the plot progressed at a cadence that kept me dazed and confused—in a good way where I’m not set with boredom. Even in the whirlwind of laughter it even found moments to smack me with some deep emotion. It was the kind of movie that had a level of depth in creativity that could’ve been easily ignored in the surface. I recommend it.
Business: Investing, Systems, Work
Thoughts are being processed. Till next time.
Culture: People, Self, Observations
Medley for Reflection
Have you considered why you live where you live? Is your city designed for humans or cars? Too many accept the limited culture of North American as the norm. It isn’t. Europe doesn’t have people-focused cities because it’s old. They built highways, realized it was ruining cities and reverted their mistakes.
Frequent readers of the newsletter would've gotten a glimpse of my admiration for Anthony Bourdain (in issues #227, #231, #243, #257, #262, #270). It's been an obsession that brewed up slowly then with rapid intensity, as is the case with most of my obsessions. The following interview with Morgan Fallon, a long-term Director of Photography with Bourdain was amazing. It gave insights into what it was like working with him and served as another point of reflection on a creator and the pursuit of art.
Nostalgia and the power of art. The value of art—whether it’s a book, song or painting…whatever touches the soul—is not lost on the generations who’ve consumed it. Art is the closest thing we come to expressing what makes us human and it needs to be respected.
If a North American saw this, would they scream in terror from cultural appropriation? Or would they start thinking instead of blindly following what is socially fashionable and politically correct? Why is it not cultural appropriation when I wear a suit but it is for a white person to wear a kimono?
OMD's Journal in July
Powerlifting July '22: Thinking about Training Systems
Investing July '22: Constellation Software Annual Meeting Reflections
Disclaimer
This information is not investment advice. This is a personal site. Any views or opinions represented are personal and belong solely to myself and do not represent those of companies that I may or may not be associated with in a professional capacity, unless explicitly stated.