Vox Lux

[Drunk Monk]

Artsy, almost cloyingly so, although it has its moments. It's very flawed but engaging stylistically, and catches that strung-out tone quite well at times. Natalie again shows she's got decent acting chops, taking on another very different role for herself, although the transition from the child actress playing her character to her was shocking (it's cleared up somewhat later but the damage to flow was already done). Honestly the only two things that came out of the Star Wars prequel were Natalie and Maul.  This coulda used Maul.  Jude does what he always does and could've been swapped out with anyone.  Willam narrates and that works surprisingly well because narrators often spoil the storytelling, but not here.  There's a few nice cinematographic bits - I liked some of the color schemes - along with some comments on present-day culture. The finale concert is overblown - music by Sia and a tribute to Demme - it kind of kills the vibe. And all the messing with the credits was a tad pretentious. Not completely disregardable, but not highly recommendable.  No swordfights.  An okay drug scene. Not particularly DOOMish.

[Drunk Monk]

This was the contrapositive to A Star is Born