Flush It Friday: Goin’ To The Movies
With a rejuvenated love for the silver screen, Sean describes Primetime and Digger with the sweaty, obnoxious enthusiasm of a true-blue blogger
Ever since the release of Osgood Perkin‘s Longlegs (which I saw in theaters three times), I’ve remembered just how much I love going to the movie theater. At home, I’m often far too distracted with my various gadgets and gizmos to have the desire to lock in on a movie and give it the amount of attention it might deserve. As such, the medium of film became one I fell out of favor with, in exchange for stupid metal records and even stupider video games. Longlegs really drew me in and, unlike most viewers and critics, left a chilling impression on me that reminded me why the theaters are so important. The big-ass screen, the popcorn, the smelly chuds who won’t shut the fuck up, and the painful $25-sized hole in my wallet—what’s not to love? Really though, it’s been a blast catching movies I loved like Eddington, Obsession, Nosferatu, and The Substance (as well as other movies I wasn’t quite as crazy about like Heretic, The Monkey, Cuckoo, and Mickey 17).
Most recently, I caught Primetime and Digger on opening weekend and, frankly, loved both. Primetime, directed by Lance Oppenheim and starring Robert Pattinson, is definitely the more well received of the two—and for good reason. Every moment of this movie exudes style, atmosphere, and tension as the events of the rise and fall of To Catch A Predator unfold in a biopic that offers serious critiques of its subject material. Pattinson is fantastic throughout, nailing the onscreen presentation of Chris Hansen, as well as the narcissistic desire for glory behind the facade. Merritt Wever also hands in a fantastic performance as Decoy Dan, the young adult who pretends to be a teenager in the various setups to catch predators. The latter character shows the perverse side of the production, with Dan being treated and spoken to like a child himself, while being groomed in a way that the movie compares to the pedophiles they attempt to ensnare. This mirror that Primetime holds up to Hansen is stark and uneasy, forcing the audience to reckon with his true intentions behind the mask he wore. The narrative plays out in a tightly-laced runtime, blending the dingy colors and setting of a movie like Nightcrawler with the nail-biting suspense of a man risking it all for his own selfishness of Uncut Gems—all while telling the story of the bust that cost Hansen everything. The end result is effortlessly engaging and unsurprisingly morbid, a deep dive into the psychology of a man who claimed to protect children, all while emphasizing spectacle over safety and ethics.
Digger, on the other hand, seems to be a film that left reviewers and early viewers deeply conflicted. It was this divisiveness that told me that, regardless of quality, this movie would be something at least worth trying out. Birdman and The Revenant director Alejandro González Iñárritu brings us a darkly humorous political satire that often invokes Kubrick‘s seminal Dr. Strangelove. Starring Tom Cruise in the first role in years where he’s not just playing Tom Cruise (he’s maybe the best part of the whole film), Digger follows the titular Digger Rockwell, an oil baron whose business is causing rapid ecological disaster on the global stage. Truth be told, I really do not want to talk much about the details about this movie; it’s far better that you see it. It’s an over-the-top, multi-layered satire that pulls off almost-corny cartoonishness without ever going full annoying-lib like Mickey 17. John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, and Jesse Plemons all shine in their roles as well, resulting in a quality movie that left me with a lot of thoughts to chew on. I refuse to ruin anything else detail-wise for you, go fucking see this! Considering it’s a strange, heady, contentious, and political drama-comedy that’s pretty much impossible to advertise, it’s not much of a surprise that it’s expected to bomb hard at the box office, but hear me well: THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION, GO SEE THIS SHIT AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, I’LL LET YOU SHOVE ME IN A LOCKER!!!
But that’s enough droning on about movies, this is a metal blog for metal records covered by metal writers:
Falxy covered the rapid chudification of Slipknot at extensive length:
All the food is poison on Toilet Radio:
Toilet Radio 646 – Songs to Listen to While Getting Food Poisoning
More minis for your mini mouth from Stevo, Hans, Falxy, and yours truly, you mini fool:
Esteemed guest Andy Mitchell of Snottrockit got to see and photograph a handful of amazing noise dealers in Eyehategod, Whores., No/Más, and Leafblower:
Live Photos: Eyehategod, WHORES, No/Más, Leafblower @ 529, Atlanta (9/19/26)
G/B/Us below!
