Movie HighLow

The Happening is a bad movie with a genuinely good idea trapped inside it, which might be the most frustrating kind of bad movie. On paper, M. Night Shyamalan making an R-rated eco-horror film about nature turning against humanity should at least be creepy. The planet mounting a defense against us? Plants communicating through airborne neurotoxins? Mass panic spreading through the Northeast? There is a real movie in there somewhere.
But The Happening (2008) keeps finding the least frightening version of every possible choice. Wind blows through trees. Grass sways. People stare blankly. Mark Wahlberg says science words like a man who has never been inside a classroom voluntarily. And somehow, a movie built around mass suicide, environmental collapse, and social breakdown becomes funny in ways it absolutely does not seem to understand.
That is why this episode goes Low. Not because the concept is worthless, but because the execution is so bizarre that the movie becomes less of a thriller and more of an accidental comedy about hot dogs, lawnmowers, lemon drinks, and the least convincing science teacher in film history.
In this episode, we try to answer the obvious question: is The Happening still terrible, or has time been kinder to it? After rewatching it, the answer is that it is still terrible, but in a way that is almost impossible to look away from. This is not some forgettable bad movie where nothing happens. Too much happens. People jump off buildings, feed themselves to lions, lie down in front of lawnmowers, and deliver lines like they are speaking a language recently invented by aliens.
We spend a lot of time talking about where The Happening sits in M. Night Shyamalan’s career. This is not a lazy “Shyamalan was never good” conversation. He had already made The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village, so we know he understands suspense, dread, silence, and atmosphere. That is part of what makes this movie so confusing. He takes a concept that could work and then builds it around one of the least cinematic villains possible: the wind.
And that becomes one of our biggest problems with the movie. Wind, trees, and grass are not automatically scary just because the score says they are. You can only cut to ominous leaves so many times before the threat starts to feel like aggressive landscaping. Because the plants themselves cannot do much visually, the movie leans on the suicide imagery, and the best version of that comes right at the beginning. The construction worker scene is probably the movie’s strongest sequence. It is eerie, simple, and genuinely upsetting. Bodies falling one after another from a building is an image that actually works.
But after that, the movie keeps trying to escalate, and the deaths start getting more ridiculous than horrifying. The lion scene. The lawnmower scene. The shotgun house. The movie clearly wants these moments to be shocking, but they often play like slapstick with blood.
We also get into the whole neurotoxin explanation, which sounds science-adjacent until you think about it for more than five seconds. If the toxin shuts off self-preservation, does it also shut off pain? Reflexes? Panic? The basic human instinct to move when something horrible is happening to your body? The movie wants the rules to sound scientific, but every new death makes the logic feel shakier.
Then there is Mark Wahlberg as Elliot Moore, one of the strangest pieces of casting in modern studio horror. We talk a lot about how hard it is to buy him as a gentle, thoughtful science teacher. It is not just that he feels miscast. It is that every line seems to become more awkward once he says it. “Be scientific, douchebag” basically becomes the thesis statement for the whole performance.
Zooey Deschanel as Alma has her own problems too. While she is not inherently a bad actress, this movie gives her almost nothing that works. Her relationship drama with Elliot is supposed to give the story emotional weight, but it mostly feels like filler. The whole marriage subplot, the guy calling her, the tiramisu betrayal, the tension between them, none of it feels urgent or real. John Leguizamo’s Julian basically has to explain their marriage problems to us because the movie cannot make us feel them.
We also talk about Julian handing off his daughter Jess, including the very weird “don’t take my daughter’s hand unless you mean it” moment. In theory, it should be emotional. In practice, it feels like one more example of characters saying things no human being would say in that exact situation.
And then there is the hot dog guy. Wow. Somehow, he is the first character to seriously suggest that plants might be behind everything, but he also cannot stop talking about how hot dogs have a cool shape and protein. That is The Happening in one scene: useful exposition wrapped in total nonsense.
One of the biggest questions we keep coming back to is whether The Happening is secretly supposed to be a B movie. Shyamalan has talked about it that way, and though that explanation is tempting, we do not fully buy it. If it is supposed to be funny, the movie is too stiff. If it is supposed to be scary, it is too funny. The tone never settles, and that is what makes the whole thing so strange.
That said, we do find a few highs. The premise is strong. The opening scene works. And the Mrs. Jones section near the end is probably the closest the movie gets to matching its own weird energy. By the time we get to “you eyeing my lemon drink?” the movie has become so bizarre that the creepy old lady sequence almost feels right. It is awkward, uncomfortable, funny, and unsettling in a way the rest of the movie keeps trying and failing to be.
The ending is another major discussion point. Elliot and Alma walk into the wind, the threat just stops, the news explains the movie, Alma is pregnant, and then the Happening starts again in Paris. It is abrupt, convenient, and weirdly underwhelming. We even end up workshopping a better explanation than the movie gives us, which is never a great sign.
By the end, The Happening is not just a bad environmental horror movie. It is a movie full of interesting ideas, terrible dialogue, miscast leads, accidental comedy, and moments so strange they deserve to be preserved. It fails, but at least it fails memorably.
Topics Discussed
The Happening 2008 review
M. Night Shyamalan’s first R-rated movie
Mark Wahlberg as Elliot Moore
Zooey Deschanel as Alma Moore
John Leguizamo as Julian
The Happening killer plant theory
Airborne neurotoxins in The Happening
Environmental horror movies
Why The Happening is unintentionally funny
“Be scientific, douchebag” scene
The Happening construction worker opening
The Happening lawnmower scene
The zookeeper lion death scene
The shotgun house scene
Hot dog guy plant explanation
Mrs. Jones lemon drink scene
“You eyeing my lemon drink?”
The Happening ending explained
The Paris ending in The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan career low points
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Taxi Driver is not great because Travis Bickle is cool, misunderstood, or secretly right. It is great because Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Robert De Niro, and Bernard Herrmann drag us close enough to understand him without ever letting us feel safe around him. That is the central tension of this Movie HighLow episode: Taxi Driver (1976) still feels disturbingly alive because the movie understands loneliness before it becomes ideology, isolation before it becomes violence, and fantasy before it becomes a headline.
Fifty years later, Scorsese’s film still has a pulse because it does not flatter the audience. It asks us to sit in Travis’s cab, hear his thoughts, absorb his disgust, watch him mistake obsession for purpose, and then deal with the fact that the world might reward him anyway. That is why this one goes High. Not because it is easy to watch, but because it gets harder to shake every time you revisit it.
This episode digs into Taxi Driver as one of those movies that may not fully hit the first time you see it. The argument here is that good movies provide answers, but great movies ask questions, and Taxi Driver is nothing but questions. What does Travis Bickle actually want? Is he trying to save anyone, or just looking for somewhere to aim all that rage? Is the ending real, fantasy, afterlife, media mythmaking, or some nightmare combination of all of it?
A huge part of the conversation centers on how Paul Schrader’s script builds Travis through voiceover without using it as a shortcut. The journal entries are not just exposition. They are a trapdoor into Travis’s head. Lines like “my life needed a sense of someplace to go” become the key to the whole character. Travis is not tethered to anything. He has no politics, no real relationships, no taste, no emotional vocabulary, and no understanding of how to live among other people. So when Betsy, played by Cybill Shepherd, appears to him as an angel in the filth, he turns her into a symbol before he ever sees her as a person.
That failed date with Betsy gets a lot of attention here because it is one of the most tragic and uncomfortable scenes in the movie. Travis has the right impulse at first. He works up the courage to speak to her, asks her out, and somehow gets further than he has any right to get. But then he takes her to a porn theater because that is the only version of “the movies” he knows. The episode’s take is that this is what makes Travis so disturbing and sad at the same time. He is not trying to offend her. He simply has no idea how warped his own normal is.
The discussion also spends time on the movie’s split structure: the first half built around Travis’s fixation on Betsy, the second around his fixation on Iris, played by Jodie Foster. Foster’s performance is described as especially upsetting because she is both performing adulthood and visibly still a child. The diner scene, where Iris behaves like a kid while trying to act like someone much older, becomes one of the clearest examples of how finely tuned the film’s supporting performances are.
And then there is Harvey Keitel as Sport, a character who is charismatic for about half a second before the horror of what he represents takes over. The episode points out how strange and important the scene between Sport and Iris is because it is the one major moment that steps outside Travis’s direct point of view. In a movie so locked into Travis’s head, that break matters.
The biggest High, though, is Scorsese’s direction. The episode keeps coming back to how subjective the filmmaking is: the Alka-Seltzer fizzing like pressure in Travis’s skull, the cab being washed by fire hydrant water like some failed baptism, the camera drifting away from Travis during his painful phone call because even the movie can barely stand to watch him. Taxi Driver is not just about a man losing his grip. It is shot like the grip is already gone.
Bernard Herrmann’s score also gets singled out as essential. It moves between smoky noir romance and pure psychological dread, almost like it is scoring two versions of Travis at once: the lonely guy who thinks he is in an old detective story, and the unstable man who might turn any street corner into a horror movie.
The biggest debate in the episode is the ending. One read is that Travis survives the shootout, gets turned into a hero by newspapers and public narrative, and returns to the cab still dangerous, still unresolved, still waiting for the next demon in the rearview mirror. The other read is that everything after the shootout has the quality of wish fulfillment: Betsy back in the cab, Travis admired, the world finally seeing him the way he sees himself.
The episode does not flatten that ambiguity. It leans into it. The rearview mirror sting is treated as the perfect final note because it suggests that whatever Travis experienced, he has not been cured, redeemed, or understood. He has only been rebranded.
Even the one Low is complicated: the desaturated shootout. Scorsese had to mute the blood to avoid an X rating, and while that compromise is frustrating, the episode admits the washed-out, pinkish, grimy look may accidentally make the scene feel even more nightmarish. That is the kind of conversation this episode has with Taxi Driver: not just “great movie,” but why the damage, compromises, contradictions, and unresolved questions are part of what make it one of Scorsese’s most disturbing masterpieces.
Taxi Driver 1976 review
Martin Scorsese’s direction in Taxi Driver
Paul Schrader’s Taxi Driver screenplay
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle loneliness and male isolation
Taxi Driver and the incel reading
Bernard Herrmann’s Taxi Driver score
Betsy and Travis’s failed date
Cybill Shepherd as Betsy
Jodie Foster as Iris
Harvey Keitel as Sport
Albert Brooks in Taxi Driver
Peter Boyle as Wizard
Scorsese’s Taxi Driver cameo
“You talkin’ to me?” mirror scene
Taxi Driver ending explained
Rearview mirror final shot
Taxi Driver shootout and X rating
New York City decay in 1970s cinema
Is Taxi Driver Scorsese’s best movie?
Previous listeners: we know it’s been a while. One of these days we’re gonna get organ-iz-ized.
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Movie HighLow is back.
After a very reasonable, not-at-all-concerning multi-year pause, Dom and Dee return June 5 with new episodes about the best and worst that cinema has to offer.
Some episodes are HIGH episodes: classics, masterpieces, and movies worth revisiting. Some episodes are LOW episodes: disasters, trainwrecks, and movies where you start wondering if anyone on set knew they were making a movie.
And sometimes, the best movies have lows, the worst movies have highs, and a few movies leave us completely confused by both.
Subscribe now so the first new episode is waiting for you when Movie HighLow returns June 5.
Send your HIGHS and LOWS to MovieHighLow@gmail.com.

This movie never decides what it wants to be.
In The Fanatic, you’ve got a character study, a thriller, and a dark comedy all fighting each other… and none of them really win.
And somehow, that’s what makes it so... fascinating?
 
We break down:
Why the tone is completely all over the placeThe strange (but committed) performance from John TravoltaHow the movie keeps undercutting its own serious momentsAnd why this story almost works… but never quite gets there
 
👉 It wants to be disturbing👉 It ends up being confusing👉 And sometimes… accidentally funny
 
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GIGLI is more than a notorious flop. In this episode, we get into why it feels so uniquely humiliating: a tabloid-era Bennifer vehicle, a studio-mangled gangster movie turned awkward rom-com, and a cast stranded inside material that never finds the right tone.
We talk about the film’s broken kidnapping plot, Ben Affleck’s bizarre performance choices, Jennifer Lopez’s underwritten “tough” character, the movie’s wild tonal swings, and the sense that everyone involved is trapped in a project that got away from them. We also get into the larger story around the film, including Martin Brest’s career after the release, the movie’s overstuffed two-hour runtime, and the one stretch almost everyone remembers: Christopher Walken somehow wandering in and stealing the whole thing.
Is Gigli truly a disaster… or is there something weirdly fascinating hiding underneath?
 
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BACK TO THE FUTURE is one of those movies that can feel endlessly familiar and still hit like the first time. In this episode, we get into why Robert Zemeckis’ classic still feels so alive: the perfect Marty McFly and Doc Brown pairing, the airtight script, the escalating stakes, the DeLorean as an all-time great movie image, and a finale that still plays like pure cinematic adrenaline.
We also talk about Michael J. Fox’s performance and why it was so essential, the emotional weirdness of Marty becoming his mother’s crush, the brilliance of Hill Valley as a self-contained world, Alan Silvestri’s score, the joy of the Johnny B. Goode sequence, and why the last stretch at the clock tower remains one of the great endings in blockbuster filmmaking. Plus: a few nitpicks, some sequel talk, and a firm stance that this is one movie Hollywood should leave alone.
⚡ 1.21 Gigawatts of analysis. Let’s go.
 
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James Cameron’s TITANIC is one of those movies that became so huge it almost invited backlash, but revisiting it now, the real story is why it still lands. In this episode, we talk about the film as both a massive technical achievement and an unapologetically emotional crowd-pleaser, with a romance that can feel corny and deeply effective at the same time.
We get into James Horner’s haunting score, Cameron’s mix of practical and digital effects, Kate Winslet’s central performance, Billy Zane’s gloriously hateful villainy, the movie’s class politics, and the way Titanic balances historical tragedy with pure Hollywood melodrama. We also talk about where the movie feels most alive, where it shows its seams, and why Rose’s story ultimately carries more weight than the film’s more formulaic love-story mechanics.
 
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Why do Terry Gilliam’s movies always feel just a little… off?
In this episode, we get into why the film still feels so unsettling and alive, from its warped visual language to the way it turns time travel into something tragic, paranoid, and psychologically unstable.
We talk about Gilliam’s direction and why his surreal style is such a perfect fit for James Cole’s fractured point of view, the film’s blend of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and time-loop storytelling, Brad Pitt’s unhinged and funny performance as Jeffrey Goines, and the role reversal between Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe as the story keeps shifting its sense of reality. We also dig into the airport memory, the Army of the 12 Monkeys misdirect, the movie’s layered rewatch value, and the small details that make it feel so strange and specific.
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Jaws: The Revenge is where one of the greatest blockbusters ever made finally turns into pure franchise absurdity. In this episode, we talk about how the movie turns shark terror into family vendetta nonsense, and why that makes it both embarrassing and weirdly entertaining.
We get into the movie’s wildest choices, from the idea of a shark personally targeting the Brody family to Ellen Brody’s near-psychic connection to the threat in the water. We also talk about the sequel problem, the way Jaws gets reduced from a landmark film into a hollow brand, and why this entry still has some camp value if you meet it on its own ridiculous terms. Along the way, we cover Michael Caine as Hoagie, the painfully forced romance, the recycled echoes of the original film, the infamous ending, and the handful of moments that are funny for reasons the movie probably never intended.
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You ever watch Big as an adult and realize… it’s not the same movie?
This week on Movie HighLow, we revisit Big—the classic Tom Hanks film that somehow hits even harder the older you get. What starts as a fun “kid becomes an adult overnight” story turns into something way deeper.
🎡 A wish gone wrong
🧸 A dream job at a toy company
💔 And a reminder that growing up isn’t always what you think
 
We break down:
Why Tom Hanks’ performance is still unbelievably convincing as a kid in an adult body
How the movie changes depending on when you watch it
The balance between comedy, fantasy, and something surprisingly emotional
And… yeah… that relationship (you know the one)
 
🎹 Plus:
The iconic piano scene
The weirdness you definitely didn’t notice as a kid
And why this movie still works decades later
 
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This is how you do a modern murder mystery.
This week on Movie HighLow, we break down Knives Out—the insanely fun, layered whodunit from Rian Johnson that surprised us way more than we expected.
🕵️‍♂️ A dead mystery novelist
🏡 A house full of suspects
🎭 And a detective with a very questionable accent
 
At first, it feels like a classic whodunit… …but then the movie flips the formula on its head.
 
We get into:
Why this might be the most fun murder mystery in years
How the movie gives the audience more information than the characters (and why that works)
Daniel Craig’s surprisingly hilarious performance
Why Ana de Armas becomes the emotional core of the story
And how this script rewards you even more on a rewatch
 
🎬 Plus:
The “live-action Clue” vibes
That insane ensemble cast (seriously, everyone shows up)
The twist… and the twist behind the twist
 
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Did this remake need to happen at all?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into Jacob’s Ladder (2019)—a remake of a cult classic that… doesn’t quite justify its existence.
🪖 A war medic haunted by trauma
🧠 Hallucinations that blur reality
😈 And a story that never quite lands
 
At first, it feels like it might work…
…but the deeper it goes, the more it falls apart.
 
We get into:
Why the movie feels rushed from the start
The problem with revealing too much too early
Why the twist doesn’t hit the way it should
The overuse of CGI horror vs practical effects
And the biggest issue: it doesn’t bring anything new to the story
 
🎬 Plus:
Some surprisingly decent visuals and shot composition
A few ideas that almost work
And why this might just make you want to rewatch the original instead
 
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If you could erase someone you loved… would you?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—a film that’s as heartbreaking as it is brilliant.
💔 A relationship falling apart
🧠 Memories being erased
❄️ And two people who can’t seem to stay away from each other
 
This isn’t your typical love story. It’s messy. Honest. Painful. …and uncomfortably real.
We get into:
Why this feels more like real relationships than most movies
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet completely flipping their usual roles
The genius of Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay and non-linear storytelling
How the memory-erasing concept actually works (and why it feels believable)
And why the middle of this movie is where it truly becomes unforgettable
 
🎬 Plus:
The small, painfully real moments that hit the hardest
Why this is one of our all-time favorite films
And the question that sticks with you long after it ends…
 
👉 Is it better to forget… or to remember, even if it hurts?
 
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What if the gangster story… doesn’t end in glory?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into The Irishman—Martin Scorsese’s long, quiet, and brutally honest look at the cost of a life in the mob.
🧓 Aging hitmen
🤝 Loyalty vs betrayal
⚰️ And a life that ends not with violence… but loneliness
This isn’t Goodfellas. It’s what comes after.
We get into:
Why this feels like Scorsese’s “final word” on mob movies
The legendary performances from De Niro, Pacino, and Joe Pesci (in a very different role)
The emotional weight behind the Hoffa storyline
Why the ending hits harder than any shootout
And yes… the de-aging (what works and what doesn’t)
🎬 Plus:
The small moments that make the story feel real
Why this movie is intentionally slower and quieter
And the idea that this isn’t about crime… it’s about consequences
 
👉 In the end, this might be the least glamorous gangster movie ever made.
And that’s exactly the point.
 
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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movie-highlow/id1894669466
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Check out:
 Martin Scorsese NY Times Op-Ed - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/martin-scorsese-marvel.html 
 Irishman "deepfake" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyRvbFhknRc
 The Shining starring Jim Carrey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG_NZpkttXE
"Home Stallone" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2svOtXaD3gg
 

How does a movie this bad become this entertaining?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into The Wicker Man (2006) — a movie that somehow failed as a thriller… and accidentally became a comedy classic.
🐝 Nicolas Cage vs. bees
🐻 A bear suit for no reason
👊 Punching his way through an entire island
 
What was supposed to be a dark, psychological remake turns into something completely different… and honestly, way more fun.
We get into:
Why this is the definition of “so bad it’s good”
The absolute insanity of Nicolas Cage’s performance
The unintentionally hilarious dialogue and moments
The bizarre third act that completely goes off the rails
And whether this movie is secretly more entertaining than it has any right to be
🎬 Plus:
The infamous “NOT THE BEES!” scene
The twist (and why it kind of works… and kind of doesn’t)
And how this became one of the most meme-able movies ever
 
👉 This isn’t a good movie.
👉 But it is a great time.
 
🎧 Listen on your favorite platform:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movie-highlow/id1894669466
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5F6GMoqeJcahbZtk592a9a
 
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References:
"Nic Cage Losing His Shit" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zySHepF04c   
 Nic Cage Interview talking about his process/using fake cocaine (also referenced in show) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1sziPDrRJc
"Mega Wicker Man" (long standing YouTube favorite) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ-5Mg_12zo
"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" (one of many legitimately great Nic Cage Movies/Performances) - https://amzn.to/2GmZAPL

This isn’t just a bad movie… it’s an endurance test.
This week on Movie HighLow, we take on Battlefield Earth (2000) — a sci-fi epic that somehow became one of the most infamous flops of all time.
👽 Psychlos
🐀 Man-animals
📉 9 Razzies (yes, NINE)
 
What was supposed to be a massive sci-fi franchise starter turns into a confusing, overlong, and honestly exhausting experience.
We get into:
Why this movie feels way longer than it is
John Travolta’s wild performance (and endless villain laughs)
The infamous “Dutch angle” overload
The bizarre tone that never quite lands
And the moment that almost makes it worth it:
👉 “DO YOU WANT LUNCH?!
 
🎬 Plus:
The confusing plot and uneven world-building
Why the concept actually had potential
And how this movie became a textbook example of what not to do
 
👉 It’s not fun-bad.
👉 It’s not good-bad.
👉 It’s just… bad. (…with a few unintentionally hilarious moments)
 
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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movie-highlow/id1894669466
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Is The Dark Knight still the greatest superhero movie ever made?
On the very first episode of Movie HighLow, we start with a HIGH—and it doesn’t get much higher than The Dark Knight.
🃏 A Joker with no rules
🦇 A hero pushed to the edge
⚖️ And a city forced to choose what it stands for 
This isn’t just a comic book movie.
It’s a crime story.
A character study.
And a film that completely changed what blockbuster movies could be.
We get into:
Heath Ledger’s unforgettable Joker performance
Why this version of the Joker is so different (and so terrifying)
Harvey Dent’s arc and the idea of heroes vs villains
Christopher Nolan’s grounded, realistic approach to Batman
And whether the movie really has any flaws
🎬 Plus:
The philosophy behind chaos vs order
Why the movie still feels relevant today
And the moments that made this an all-time classic
👉 Gotham deserves a better class of movie… and this might be it.
 
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