For their 93rd episode, two roaring critics, two snakebit dads, and two school teachers, Will Johnson and Don Shanahan are joined again, for the second week in a row, with guest Cati Glidewell of the Blonde in Front for the second of two recordings. Just in time for its wide release, they break down the exhausting and decadent opus that is "Babylon" from director Damien Chazelle. The only thing that can match that movie's energy is the reactionary energy from our trio.
Read MoreThis week, I was honored to be invited as a guest on the Cinema Royale podcast presented by Punch Drunk Critics hosted by Travis Hopson. The Washington, D.C.-based film critic and site founder is a fellow member of the Critics Choice Association. I had the distinct pleasure to talk to Travis (on the road, so to speak, at my school library during a break period) about Damien Chazelle’s Babylon. Even in a quick conversation, we found the movie to be a bottomless pit of style and talking points.
Read MoreThe audience’s constitution will be the deciding factor on Babylon’s wide gamut of pungent engagement and raging spectacle. This juxtaposition of the carefree and zany with the dirty and dark underneath can very easily be too much. Any twinkling enchantment is met with bracing hardness. Any gleaming art is met with harsh repulsiveness. Extend this blaring back-and-forth of lift and defeat for over three hours, and Babylon can be as exhausting and unfocused as it is impressive. Good luck coming down from that high or out of that fog.
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