THE MENU (Mark Mylod, 2022)

(Directed by Mark Mylod from a script by Seth Rice and Will Tracy; starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Hong Chau, Nicholas Holt, John Leguizamo, Judith Light, Janet McTeer, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, and Aimee Carrero. Released 18 November 2022; watched 2023w35 via Max)

A deliciously horrific (dark, dark dark) comedy-of-manners (think Renoir's RULES OF THE GAME if Octave went all Count Zarnoff ) meets excoriation of a CHEF'S TABLE culture that takes the love out of that most primal of arts – though it could be applied to any art, really – and in whose gut, as Ralph Fiennes's executive-chef-cum-cult-leader Julian so aptly puts it, that art becomes shit.

With the exception of the (apparent? I'm not discounting that I may have misread the final scene and relish the chance to revisit at some point) turn in the remaining diners' attitudes at the final course – I couldn't tell if it was acceptance or resignation or conversion or all (or none) of the above – feeling more than a bit like a switch flipped (had it been seeded throughout, perhaps that would have worked better; as it was, the totality of "The Menu" and its attendant punishments didn't feel as complete as it could have had total conversion to Julian's perspective been achieved – in my eyes, it didn't go far enough (which probably says more about me than the film itself)), THE MENU ranks among my favorite recent releases – so much so that It's now the second film (the first being PARASITE) that I purchased on Blu-Ray midway through my first viewing.

Indeed: as PARASITE did for peaches, THE MENU does for s'mores.

PARASITE (Bong, 2019)

(Directed by Bong Joon Ho from a screenplay by Bong and Han Jin-wan; starring Song Kant-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam, Lee Jeong-sun, and Jang Hye-jin. Released 21 May 2019; watched fri/20230123 via Hulu)

Has the distinction of being the only film I purchased on Blu midway through watching it: a tour-de-force that demolishes expectations of genre and character from one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. Hilarious, terrifying, poignant, brutal, suspenseful, gut-wrenching – all within a single scene. Everything I want in a film and then some: the finest con/fallout pitch-black comedy since FARGO. Never have peaches been so terrifying.

stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck

OK that didn't last long: now it's irritating. But now I know I can, if necessary, move over to something else for a couple of days or a week. Not sure it will help, though – this thing's been like this for awhile now. Last time I let this happen, it took me seven years to realize it wasn't a novella but a paragraph. Won't let it subsume me that much again.

(Unlike then, not afraid of running out of ideas if I give up on one: those things are a dime a dozen. What takes doing is finding the rhythm that both satisfies the present moment (got that part) and provides a means of continuance to the next (that's the tricky part).)

At the point of using Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies (which are very cool and helpful in getting me to think outside my normal thought patterns)

Might be doing two daily text things here (depending on the number of workblocks in the day), just to give me something to jump to if I get stuck like I am now. PARASITE post-script in afternoon, probably. Already on my favorite films list. So good.

Also: POKER FACE is brilliant.