George Clooney's SUBURBICON (2017)

The ticky-tacky's thick, the satire's dark,
Production values through the roof. It's all
So on the nose, unsubtle; ev'ry mark
Of '50s archetypes is made. I'd call
Director Clooney out for too much try,
But it all kind of works. Against a real
And ugly integration fable, why,
A standard Cohen Brothers caper reel
Is just the thing, I guess? Not all the crime
Is collared white, but all the bad guys are,
While lily-perfect neighbors spend their time
Harassing black newcomers who have marred
Their fantasy. A movie for our age
Pretends to history, our dumbest stage.

Thor Heyerdahl's KON-TIKI (1950)

Though all is black and white, the contrast low
It's not for artfulness one watches this
A diary on film of how we know
For certain now, 'twas Incas first to kiss
The many islands. Nothing's unexplained.
And while the style is hokey to us now
(A narrator with all the facts, restrained
And clipped, with dotted lines on maps), it's how
They did all this at all that makes this piece
A triumph. And while all is shown in greys
A parrot steals the show! Sure, without cease
Its viewers at the time spent all their days
In wishing they could do what these six men
Had done, despite the troubles now and then.

Chris Marker's LETTER FROM SIBERIA (France, 1957)

It's all about the editing with Chris
And Marker, even early, does it well.
I knew that going in. But what is this?
Such whimsy, even cartooned moments swell
The range of tones achieved here as we cross
The taiga and the towns. At times there seems
A hint of propaganda with a sauce
Of satire -- to remind us the regime
Is still totalitarian? But look
As Sacha Vierny's eye contrasts with all
(I am a Sacha fangirl). This film took
Too little time in ending. I would fall
Enrapt to silence for a day-long cut.
For eye-candy, I've got a greedy gut.