Ivan Engler's CARGO (2019)

It's cold in outer space, and lonely, too. 

A four - year trip aboard a cargo ship,

With eight-month shifts alone, while all the crew

But you is hibernating, gets a grip

On mind and body. Engler here partakes

Of A. Tarkovsky, Ridley Scott, and, yes,

Of Kubrick. Spacecrafts shown are dark, with lakes

(Well, shallow pools) of water, and a mess

Like YoYoDyne Propulsion! Atmosphere

Is paramount in moody sci - fi flicks, 

And this has it in spades. And, too, the sheer

Unpleasantness of all aboard will fix

Attention on the dreariness yet more,

As will the silences that form the score. 

Frant Gwo's THE WANDERING EARTH (2019)

That China can make big, dumb movies, too

Should not surprise me, but I didn't think

A Cixin Liu tale would inspire a true,

If gorgeous, Hollywood-style pile of stink.

The visuals, I will say, are superb, 

The actors charismatic, one and all, 

The script though? E'en allowing for the derb - -

I mean the dubbing - - was what I must call

(If charity did move me) what the duck?!?

A grander scale of action we could not

Have asked for, yet we must believe our luck

Has brought us engines that, when they get hot 

Can move our planet, yet one family

From out of billions, saves us all? I see... 

Joseph H. Lewis' MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945)

So tight and closely woven is this plot,
Which we, the viewers, know of all along,
That just an hour wraps it on the dot.
Such Gothic trappings seem a little wrong
When played out in a proto-noir disguise --
A lovely woman, kidnapped on a ruse,
Is gaslighted and can't enjoy the prize
Of Cornish seascapes many, sure, would choose
To see each morning from the windowsill
Of one's great sumptuous bedroom. Watch her stress!
Her mocked suspicions! Held against her will
And called another name! I must confess
The expositions of the evil plan
Got silly, but I still might be a fan.

Kenneth Anger's FIREWORKS (1947)

How ev'ry damned emotion one could feel
Comes forth in thirteen minutes, I can't tell.
In that short span, the viewer's fed a meal
Of imagery, some raw, some cooked too well.
Deep shadows, lush and secretive, invite
Our exploration, then, as though a spell
Is breaking, stark and strong and sere and white,
The body beautiful is put through hell.
Sometimes it disappears, a landscape, or
An abstract pattern takes its place. No cell
Or tissue has been substituted, nor
A shred of clothing. Laugh? Too soon t'will quell
Your humor with some horror. Frame by frame,

The dreamer's dream can never be the same. 

Elaine May's MIKEY AND NICKY (1976)

The squalor and the glamor of the day
In Philly of the '70s, behind
These faces! Watch as two such old friends play
Each other. Falk and Cassavetes wind
The viewer in their story, scene by scene
(And not one wasted, nor is one detail!)
Is captivating. Both are at their keen
And subtle best, as they chat, laugh and flail
In bitter combat. But it's Carol Grace,
A side piece, treated badly, whom I'll keep
In memory the most, I think. Her space
And how she's treated -- no, I will not weep
But cheer. Elaine May grab me any night
And show me what she likes. I'll never fight.

Jemaine Clement's and Taika Waititi's WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014)

The fruit that's hanging low but never picked,
Is it still fruit? It could have rotted. I,
For one, am sick of vampires, but was tricked
With silly genre mixing by this sly
Directing duo. Monster roommates fuss
O'er household chores and how to dress without
Reflections... Ev'ry rule is played for yucks.
What ultimately made me laugh and shout
The most was early-ish; we meet a pack
Of "werewolves, not swear-wolves" out in the night,
And Waititi as Viago, calling back
To Andy Kaufmann's Latka, a delight!
It's all quite gross and silly, juvenile
But also smart. I couldn't help but smile.

Thomas Russell's MR. DUNGBEETLE (2005)

No geese fly over any cuckoos' nests;
Disciples of a strange and kindly god,
The Khepri, who persuades them it is best
To heal themselves in wilderness. Applaud,
As each is given space and time to tilt
At his own windmills. Ev'ry line they say
Has meaning strange and lovely as they build
A world that looks like ours, but better. They
Are fun to watch e'en as they make one cry
At kindness and at courage. This unknown
But perfect cast will have you asking why
Divergence bears such stigma. We're alone
Each in our heads, but Thomas Russell sees
Us all. Let's sit together 'neath the trees.