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I think Spider-Verse also deals with facing an entity you cant overcome and the crux of Miles story is overcoming what they believe you cant overcome.

Puss in Boots The Last Wish’s villain could be seen as an archetype of The Entity depending on how you view what they personify

What I liked about Asteroid City was yes, it had the point that the world is hard to explain and it is most important to keep going and keep telling the story, but it doesn't discount the search for answers. Tilda Swinton's character marvels at the children's curiousity and tells them to never lose it. She even says "I never had children, but sometimes I wonder if I wish I should have."

I love that tension. Don't stop living your life when the world becomes too much but don't lean into nihilism. Don't lose your sense of curiosity. Understanding the world could lead to mending it.

I have been a fan of your videos for a while but your last 6 videos have especially struck a chord with me.  Your blend of film analysis and discussion of deeper themes/ideas is both entertaining and enlightening.

Keep up the good work!

After my second viewing of Oppenheimer last week, the first thing I did was message my friends saying I felt the same way after listening to "That Funny Feeling," so I'm so glad I wasn't the only one with that thought! You put it very succinctly.

Asteroid city spoke to me in more ways and more deeply than any movie ever has and I haven’t stopped thinking about it for weeks

John Wick 4 sorta falls into the same category as Dead Reckoning of looking straight at what feels to be an incontrollable entity that irrevocably changes how people act in its wake (the high table in JW4 and the entity in DR) and fighting tooth and nail to take back your agency anyway

2:10 Another nuke this year was in the trailer for The Creator, when the AI nukes a city, I think?

Truly thought provoking video Houston. Piggybacking off of what you said, one theme that a lot of these films share is grappling with the existential horror of a paradigm shift and how it drastically affects all of our lives. And these films being released around the same time makes it, at the very least, cathartic. And it’s reassuring to know that we’re not the only ones having these anxieties. Can’t wait to see Dune Part Two’s take on this.

Great video to put some of these thoughts into words! Maybe a hot take, but Asteroid City is rapidly becoming one of my all time favorites. It's a somewhat simple message underneath all of the weird intricacies of Anderson's work, but it's really resonated with me.

I think another movie from this year that lines up with what you're saying here is Knock at the Cabin. Which also ends with that uncertainty about how the world has shifted in the wake of what's unfolded

Interesting discussion! This is something that I’d thought a little bit about, but not to this extent. Asteroid City was my favorite of those three movies (though on a rewatch I might like Oppenheimer a lot more). While I can’t think of another summer movie that fits into this category, one thing I would like to highlight is the ending of Asteroid City (spoilers I guess). Everyone just goes back to their lives, like they hadn’t just seen an alien. But that’s all they can do, because they have no control of the universe. All they can do is accept this mind-shattering new reality and go back to their lives, and I think that’s similar to how people had to live after the nuke and how we’re having to live now with artificial intelligence. We can’t really stop it, we just have to hope it doesn’t completely destroy our lives.

Sitting with your thoughts, I can't help but wonder if there's been more change in filmmakers and their subject matter, or audiences and their lens. Your analysis made me think of the movie The Boy and The Heron, even though it's not that connected thematically. But I thought of it because the main character living through war was an event that created a clear before and after, similar your listed movies. Craig Mazin said in an interview that audiences for The Last of Us TV show had greater frame of reference for viral pandemics than when the original video game came out, so it made a difference in the adaptation. The easiest answer would be both. Recent years have affected what stories filmmakers want to tell, as well as the way audiences connect to those stories.

Of the three movies you focused on, I've only seen Asteroid City, and there was a moment from the trailer that originally struck me and made me want to see the movie. Where Jason Schwartzman says "like we're doomed," and Scarlett Johansson answers, "maybe we are." It was oddly comforting, and I'm sure it could mean a lot of different things, but the first thing I thought of was climate change.

Funnily enough in Dune they actually are called atomics

I haven't been able to watch many movies this past year (uni + finances + mental health issues) but I've engaged with some discussions with friends who do and I definitely enjoy hearing your observation and relating it to them

I would also relate it to political turmoil and how politicians deal with these events of uncertainties. It adds to the perception of lack of control where you're unsure if the people who do have the power are your friends or your foe (whether they have your best interest at heart). More people are starting to anticipate doomsday but feeling meh about voting because there is a feeling of incapacity and inability to make any real effect

But I am saying this from the context of my country (politics has been the most insane within my short lifetime here) but also from my shallow observation of US politics.

Ironically on a personal level, my therapist is exploring the idea that my issues are coming from the impossible expectations I place onto myself on things I cannot control. And failing to reach them, I feel like I have irredeemably failed and am unworthy of anything even though I never had the power to 'pass' in the first place.

Yeah, that Dune explosion is literally an atomic bomb. Not trying to spoil the plot for those who haven't read the books but the use and ethics of atomic bombs in warfare is very much a plot point in the final chapters of Dune book 2 and especially within its sequel, Dune Messiah.

Just watched TMNT: Mutant Mayhem which had a tidy resolution...so no doesn't fit the trend here.

Asteroid City was...interesting. I can appreciate the whole "unease in sitting in the unknown," but considering how much of that we deal with on a daily basis now, can't a guy just escape for a bit?! (Granted that just gives more merit to the idea these recent movies are a reflection of the times).

Anyway, great video, even with the cheeky ending.

Barbie is about how things in the real world beyond effect Barbie world...

Why did u get married so young