Review by A. Swafford

Parsons has said he is interested in “interrogating [AI] artistically,” which I would argue is what his breakout feature is fundamentally doing. While Forbes and MSN, of all places, have published reviews of the film that respectively call it “a critique of generative AI” and “the first horror movie of the AI era”, I haven’t found much in-depth analysis online examining what the film is saying about AI. (Yet — I’m sure all the creepypasta loredivers are going to churn out dozens of hours of content about the film in the coming weeks.) So the following review is my best attempt to parse what’s going on here, AI-wise, in an attempt to generate further conversation about it. 

Review by Alison Swafford

Labyrinth of Cinema is one of those movies that is easily described as a career-capping magnum opus: it’s 3-hours long, it’s a highly experimental work by a filmmaker who had been experimenting with form for half a century already, it’s a metafictional movie-about-movies that spans a great deal of Japan’s sociopolitical and cinematic history, it was written, directed, and edited during Obayashi’s battle with cancer, and it was likely made with the full understanding that it would be Obayashi’s final statement as a filmmaker. As someone who has seen at least a handful of Obayashi’s films, I feel relatively more qualified to speak on Labyrinth of Cinema than the average white American film critic who has only seen House, but I have to admit that I struggled greatly with it.

Review by Alison Swafford

All Light, Everywhere encouraged me to reflect on the profound importance of how cameras can be used to justify or condemn police violence – and who is better positioned to take advantage of the power offered by them.