Notes taken while watching Mosquito State

 


 

 Creepy theremin like music and yellow background screams Giallo but I don't think that's what this is.

Is that larvae?

Okay, credits look like old timey medical drawings interapersed with bug life-cycle images. That should push some buttons. 

Is the ickyness performative or is it building to something?

I was bitten by a horse fly today, so maybe this is playing to that in my mind.

The CGI is weak.

Fancy people at a fancy party. They are instantly boring. 

Is this guy creepy? Or does he just need a user manual for his body?

Nice shot of a spiral staircase from below.

Is that Taika Waititi?

No. It isn't.  Damn.

Taika had a great cameo in The Suicide Squad,  which was a mostly delightful movie. 

This dude is very odd. He hasn't spoken yet and looks extremely uncomfortable to exist.

The pretty blonde is going to his apartment for some reason. 

His apartment is very American Psycho.

Her cat ran away apparently. 

He didn't notice a mosquito in the collar of his shirt for (hours?)?

The muted color pallette is nice. Very quiet.  The camera work is settled and yet unsettling. 

Oh! He's a Wall Street quant! That's why he's so fucking weird.

Bees! He is interested in bees. I guess that counts as a personality. 

Wine cellar. 

He is wearing white socks with a charcoal suit. I hate him now.

More bee talk.

This sounds boring,  but I don't think it is.

His breakdown over being up too late is believable. 

Mosquito is laying eggs now. Yuck.

I assume something will happen soon. 

Okay, my weird dude has some ugly face swelling.  Maybe this is body horror? I could be down for that. 

The 2008 election is in the background of all of this. Maybe it's political satire?

"THE BLOOD MEAL"!

white socks with a grey suit now.

The wall street guys are sub Wolf of Wall Steet punks.

Hints of stock market trouble.  This is leading up to the big crash. So maybe that's what it's on about. 

Doom and gloom and nobody wants to listen to our weird ass Cassandra with a swollen face and white socks. 

This film seems to be running on three tracks.  I wonder if they can converge.

This weird dream sequence is very Fail Safe territory.  Is he the matador? Is New York getting nuked?

Killing Them Softly is one of the best films about capitalism of this era. I need to re-watch that.


The news is about West Nile Virus. That's a tie-in.

Fun fact, mosquitos kill more humans than any other animal does.  Everyone is worried about Jaws or cocaine bears and a little annoying bug is the real serial killer. 

Weird dude is maybe enamored of the mosquitoes.  He's talking to them now.

Maybe he's postmodern Gregor Samsa.

Or entomological Willard. Perhaps they will do his bidding. 

He is looking bad. 

Is this about default credit swaps? This isn't as funny as The Big Short.

Paranoia will destroy ya

He is off the rails, but he didn't really seem on them to begin with. 

Pi! This is like Pi sorta, but not really.  

The plot, as such, is oblique.  I feel like the actual story is happening just out of frame.

Wall Sreet stooges playing  Trump board game is maybe too clever by half.

I like the chapter headings. Very moody.

There has been a shift in the color pallette.  More reds.

He is making dinner for a swarm of mosquitos.  That's normal. 

And...

Is he in love with the blonde lady?

Or is he in love with the bugs?


Okay. Here's the body horror!

Dutch angle in the house.

I should write something about Anticapitalist cinema.

Market crashed. I didn't see that coming.

The ending is ... off? maybe too light a touch while also being surreal? I don't know.

 

This has been part of The Notes Project





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