Saw The Assistant because Ride Your Wave got cancelled since it didn't finish downloading or something. Huge bummer because it was a one night only Fathom event showing, not sure how long I'll have to wait until it gets a blu ray release, but blows that I won't get to it theatrically. They had similar problems with Weathering With You, but that one just went off like ten minutes late. Going to have to find a different theater for Tokyo Godfathers next month #KingKon But really bummed to miss this Yuasa, I was really looking forward to it. They couldn't even issue a refund since it was a fathom event or something, the GM went through the process but it just wouldn't take, so they gave me three free passes to movies, which, combined with the one I got from another theater for Ad Astra and this one for the curtains getting stuck without opening all the way for Cats, I now have five free passes, but pretty much never hit my 3 a week for A List.
Anyway, I'll also respond to The Assistant, which I really ended up taking to, and do see the comparisons that Bondo has drawn with JD in regards to its pacing. Unlike that film, which I do count very high on my personal list, this one doesn't really give the opportunity for catharsis, which I kind of admire. Where I stumble a bit is that it feels as if it documents, very thoughtfully, the ways that women are silenced and controlled. In the workplace here, but the strokes are broad enough that it's easy enough to see how that transfers to society at large. But I'm not sure it does more than expose and analyze. Not sure it needs that, and I wouldn't expect it to 'solve the problem' especially since that analysis is way more than most films do, but I can see that being a knock against it because not everyone can stomach confronting hopelessness. Sometimes I can't, but as I'm typing this, I think I can here and I did really enjoy this one, and the willingness to embrace how inescapable it all is, how completely hopeless the world truly is. It's not JD, but it's really good.