Is this my first Alex Proyas film? No! I've seen I, Robot, and it's really mid. It's one of the most mid movies I've ever seen, honestly. So this was a huge step up in my estimation of Mr. Proyas's work.

I liked it! And I thought it only got better as it went along, too. STRONG performances and choices. My kind of movie.

I'm going to reflect and smoke a bowl, and I'll be back with my @letterboxd.social and @reelrank.bsky.social thoughts in a bit 💨

#FilmSky #MovieSky #DarkCity

This ending hits. Good movie, ultimately! Like, messy, for sure, and not perfect, but I really liked this.

Again, almost no way that either of these could have ripped the other off, but CRAZY similarities/parallels to ending of The Truman Show, made approx at the same time.

WOW! This could not be more reminiscent of The Truman Show, but also, that movie came out, like, four months after #DarkCity, so there's almost no way it could be influenced by this.

Just a crazy coincidence, I guess? Striking similarities 😳

#FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

Because we don't think with our hearts, and we don't feel with our hearts, either. That's figurative speech. We both think and feel with our heads, and it IS in there, but I think I know what the screenplay means by this (I think!), and I'm on board with it.

"You wanted to know what makes us human, but you won't find it in here. You went looking in the wrong place."

Interesting. Said while pointing at his head, & presumably, he means the heart was the place to look

I think what makes us human IS in our heads, but I get the metaphor

#DarkCity #FilmSky

His journey was honestly more thought-provoking and mind-bending than Neo's is in The Matrix, and The Matrix is so similar, it invites comparison.

Very dope 😎

There's nothing #TheMatrix does (except WAY more competent action) that #DarkCity didn't do first and more provocatively/interestingly, I'd argue.

I wouldn't say it's a better #film, but it's SHOCKING how derivative The Matrices are of this.

#FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

They're a little tentacle-y, but for some people (not me, ick), that's actually a plus. Like, a BIG plus.

I mean, it's got a lot of teeth for whatever it is, but I think, on the whole, especially with the chittering it's angrily doing, kind of a cutie.

Those teeth are definitely a problem for me, but everything else is kind of adorable. It's like something you'd see in Spyro the Dragon.

Honestly? Low-key kinda cute. Would have made great pets, if they weren't such weird, sociopathic dickheads.

#DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

Well, that's really something. It's akin to Bitter Beer Face, if I'm honest.

That face, omg I'm dying 😆

#DarkCity #FilmSky

This is more off-the-wall and thought-provoking (dare I say, substantive), but it's also not nearly as polished as The Matrix. There are totally good reasons why The Matrix was a mega-smash-hit and this did not make its money back.

By the way, Dark City's budget is not crazy. For the time? A fairly frugal film, and I feel that Proyas got a lot of value out of that investment, in terms of what we see on the screen. The psychic air-headbutting battles were pretty intense and costly, but even if you cut those entirely and replace with something theoretically costless, that still doesn't mean you turn a profit or anywhere close to it. So idk.

Now they're both just flying like Agent Smith & Neo in Matrix: Revolutions (no longer the worst Matrix, I hear; I haven't seen Resurrections, bc why would I?).

Yeah, final verdict as #DarkCity wraps up: A LOT of #TheMatrix was, I'd say, stolen from this #film. It's undeniable, I think.

#FilmSky 📽️

You may recognize this from every superhero movie made in the last 20 years, but they all got it from somewhere, and it might have been this. That blue skybeam is so tempting to some filmmakers. No shade on Dark City (which has plenty of its own shade, anyway), which may well have been an early-adopter and certainly isn't a trend-chaser. Hoo boy, is this movie not a trend-chaser.

Very blue! That's one of the bluest skybeams I've ever seen, if I'm honest, and I've seen heaps.

A blue skybeam!

I did not think I'd find one if I went back this far. Man, how widely-influential was this effin movie??

#DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky

That is pretty silly looking, but to be fair, the film does not dwell here overmuch. It's silly as hell, though, and we've got to be able to say that, even about movies we mostly like.

That wobbly face is fucking killing me. I just made that other photo I took of Wobbly-Faced John my banner, and it's gonna stay there for a bit bc it makes me lauuuugh. Goodness.

Wow! I'm pretty sure both of their power levels are well over 9,000.

Dude, what the fuck, lol, just leaning hard and praying SFX will fix it in post. Friendo, they did not.

It's the Kamehameha Wave, but done with your forehead, instead of your hands.

Again, The Force, but head instead of hands (Force usage is largely in hands, if you think about it).

It looks silly as hell, but I'm mostly on board with what #DarkCity is doing.

Boy, this ain't it, tho 😆

#FilmSky 📽️

Oh, man, I caught this at the perfect time to demonstrate how silly it is. That looks like a straight-up fun house mirror.

Darth-Vader-lookin ass.

It's Super-Effective!

It literally couldn't look sillier, the way these Tuners keep pointing their foreheads at each other & thinking real hard & then their opponent flies away like he's in a wind tunnel.

There was def a, "Oh, no, he's learning to Tune," earlier, which delighted my band-geek inner-child 😆

#DarkCity

Click-click-click-click

Who is *that* guy? The big face on the statue? It's like Zordon. Are these guys Power Rangers??

Oh, DUH! I've been racking my brains, trying to figure out what else reminded me of #DarkCity, and the whole Chronicles of Riddick franchise definitely drew HEAVILY from this #film and its aesthetic.

Like, look at that statuary. Good grief.

#FilmSky #MovieSky

Seemingly, not arranged by height, but also... maybe yes, arranged by height in some weird, counterintuitive fashion?

That one extra in the middle row there isn't quite looking in the right direction, I feel. One notices, because they're a hive mind. It's a not a criticism. Maybe he was even about to speak, I can't recall.

Just mad-dogging me, the person behind the lens and screen, staring right into my soul (if I had one, but ofc, those don't exist).

You know these rascals. That's kind of what the underground Stranger lair reminds me of, that or getting in line for recess in the second grade.

It gives, "We are displeeeeeased."

They still remind me of Coneheads more than anything else, lol.

It's really close to something good, & it has a really strong, thematically-resonant aesthetic, but I still snort every time I see them all lined up like the Von Trapp Children 😆

#DarkCity #FilmSky

I thought for sure we hadn't seen the last of Frank Bumstead, but it would seem we actually have seen the last of Frank Bumstead, and it's literally his bum. Ignominious.

Yeah, he didn't, like, Tune or anything. Just watched him float away dying. That partnership didn't last long! It wasn't even Bumstead's idea to chisel away the wall and make a hole to space; he just helped!

Ooh, John did *not* save Bumstead with his Tuning powers. Bumstead's just floating dead in space, I think 😬

Well, there is only 1 way out, per Walenski.

#DarkCity is coming together for me. It's messy, but it's low-key kind of brilliant & profound. I see why it was copied relentlessly.

#FilmSky

It probably doesn't hurt that I'm super high for this (on weed, which is all I really 'do' anymore)

No dice on the Big Turtle, but this is a huge win for Flat Earthers in this universe, I reckon 🤔

#FilmSky #MovieSky

Seriously, a very cool concept executed very well here, especially for the era. Lots of #DarkCity is impressing me!

#scifi

Whaaaaaat?! I love shit like this. I always want movies to Wow me, and this movie is Wowing me.

Something like that. They say.

Shit is getting real. I think there's a good chance, as we continue to pull back, that we'll see it's all sitting on the back of a Cosmic Turtle, too.

Based on what I've heard, anyway 🤓

#DarkCity #scifi #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

Bumstead appears to just be lost to the void of space, but maybe John will drag him back with The Force, I mean, Autotune.

I feel bad for Bumstead, bc it seems like this has gone badly for him, but it's giving us a great shot of the titular #DarkCity, and what its whole deal is.

Obviously, spoilers. Holy shit, spoilers; all I do is spoilers, there's no way you could not know that 😆

#FilmSky #MovieSky #Movies 📽️ #scifi

Is that the vacuum of fucking space they just broke the masonry to reach?

Yeah, it would seem so! There's just space on the other side of that wall.

They're as shocked as we are.

This is proper next-level-bonkers. I love it!

I've read that #DarkCity was heavily inspired by The Twilight Zone, and I think that's true in the best way. This is, again, a mixed bag, but, frankly, so is The Twilight Zone, and I love it.

This kind of wild shit does it for me, though. Hell yeah! 🤩

Technically, there is no John, John, either, but we could be here all day splitting hairs with this high-concept premise. This is definitely a resonant, spooky moment.

"You don't get it, John. There is no ocean."

Chills 😱

#DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

Something about lighting, I think, makes digital stuff look flatter and you can't get the same dramatic shadows and blacks. Idk, though, that's just what I've heard.

Looks fuckin incredible. Especially in that hat, which would swallow a lot of guys' heads, but fits him like a glove. Remember movie stars? Boy, I'm getting real old-trans-yells-at-cloud in this review, lol.

Look at these two studs 🤩

#Movies used to look awesome. Remember that? Can we go back? Do we have to shoot everything on #film again, like Tarantino does?

Maybe that's the answer. Celluloid.

#DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

"What can I do for ya?" said no cop ever.

It's hard to see in still, but he very balletically, and with a lot of flourish/flair, gives one cop the "Sleep!" and then sort of pivots with his hips, and brings the other arm up to do the same. It's something to see!

Look, he's like on his tiptoes. He's tiptoemaxxing, and if you don't know what that's referring to, you should be following us a bit more closely. We've gotten into tiptoemaxxing before.

It's cute that when the Stephen Millers cast their Sleep Spells, they also have to wave their arm in the guy's face.

It gives us this adorable moment when one of them dual-wields, and hits one cop with a left, then another with a right. Style points 😎

#DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

Now the shoe's on the other turntable!

This is a clever call-back to when we first met Bumstead, and who told this very same cop to tie *his* shoes, suggesting that now Bumstead is coming undone/untethered.

Deft, little script touches like that are a joy, and the camera-work of the inset shot underscores it well 🤩

#DarkCity #FilmSky 📽️

Wow! I guess I forgot he can do shit like this, but it makes for a hell of a script moment when he's like, "I know your love is real," and then he just shatters the fucking (shatter-proof, btw, impressive) glass between them at the jailhouse. I get why she's into him!

Even though they're, like, barely characters in the traditional sense (because all their memories are fabricated, and they don't have any real agency or actual lived-experiences in the way characters usually do), the performances are strong and the situation is compelling. Usually, I dip out for onscreen kisses, and am, like, "Don't buy it," but this one got me.

Smoooooch! It was still a weird day at the office for both of them, I'm sure, but that's acting, isn't it?

Most onscreen kisses lose me (it usually just looks like 2 actors smooshing their faces together), but this one from #DarkCity felt epic, earned and connected with me.

They did feel like two character connecting, rather than actors pantomiming from a script. Movie Magic! 🤩

#FilmSky 📽️ #MovieSky

"Time's up, Murdoch!" And both of them, who are just there, watching, I guess, grab him and start to drag him away. As if. But, again, it's totally workable in this movie, bc it's (essentially) aliens recreating human memories and ideas, and so they would have the TV/Film idea of jail visits in their heads. It's not a criticism here, but just, from someone who's been to jail a bunch, it is a little different than how it's usually depicted.

This is a real trope in #films (and #DarkCity is covered, bc it's a fake world created by Stephen Millers), but just to clarify, most jail visits don't end with the correctional officers bodying up to you and grabbing you in tandem to drag you away.

They're not really staffed for that 😆

#FilmSky 📽️

Just imagine if this were some deep-cover psyop she's orchestrated to get out of being in trouble for having an affair. That's a movie, in itself. By the way, obviously, we know she didn't have that affair and he's right, but nevertheless, I still pictured a situation where these crazy figments of his imagination were strategically placed there by a monster trying to get out of penance for having an affair.

It's amusing to imagine a world where this is all actually just Emma gaslighting John about the affair she had, bc he's now raving, from the other side of jail-glass, "It's okay! I know you didn't do it!" but she knows she did 😆

I totally see why this is a cult classic #film.

#DarkCity #FilmSky 📽️

It doesn't read super great in stills on a small screen, but he just straight-up levitates off the ground and through the air, and it isn't, like, an aggressive, threatening flight. He's very much floating with his arms stiffly at his sides, like someone on a fast people-mover. It wouldn't necessarily scare me to see that guy coming, is my point.

It's sinister, kind of, but anyone in any vehicle is moving faster than him.

It gives this, the Dark City Stranger-flight.

One of the Strangers takes off and floats through the cityscape, for all the world looking like Mary Poppins, if she forgot her umbrella.

It's quite a thing to see.

It's doing nothing to make these bad guys seem more threatening, I'll say that for shit sure 😆

#DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️

Something about the way he delivered the line, "Now, how do you think I could forget a thing like that?" hit with me. He's making a lot of interesting choices, though. I'm enjoying William Hurt's performance!

"How do you think I could forget a thing like that?"

I am loving William Hurt as Inspector Frank Bumstead. He's got a real gravitas, and brings a lot to this role.

The performances are actually uniformly strong, I think, which usually speaks to competent/good direction.

#DarkCity #FilmSky 📽️ #Film

Ooh, Neptune's Kingdom. Mysterious. It looks very cool!

The shot composition and color palette are very striking. This is a mostly good-looking movie.

So much of #DarkCity looks so cool 🤩

As @themorbidzoo.bsky.social says, "Looking sick as hell is not a trivial goal," and I think a lot of this #film looks sick as hell.

I'm hearing it's good I watched the Director's Cut, as well. People say I dodged a bullet. It's like Blade Runner 😆

#FilmSky 📽️

That looks great. It may not translate well to a little screenshot, but it looks awesome on my screen.

Incredible vista 🤩

#DarkCity is more hit than miss for me, but as I've said, it's a real mixed bag. It's starting to come together and tie some themes in. It's messy, but it's doing stuff, which I like and champion.

#FilmSky #MovieSky

That is striking. All the color palette and lighting. Like, it's all very similar. I wouldn't be shocked if watching Dark City had been part of the homework for the crew of The Matrix.

This could not be more reminiscent of the #TheMatrix aesthetic, lending a lot of credence to arguments I've heard that The Wachowskis borrowed generously and unreservedly from IP like #DarkCity.

I'd say so. They almost feel like the same worlds, at times. This one just existed first.

#FilmSky 📽️

Boy, I'd recognize that face anywhere.

Sure, we've seen it in Ghostbusters, when Dan Aykroyd is getting blown. All men do this, we all know that. If you're blowing a guy (as I occasionally am), and you're doing a good job, he'll cross his eyes, and his mouth will go all wonky. I learned it here and in Cosmo.

For my money, Andy Samberg's got the best onscreen O-face in the game.

Uh, I'll have what he's having 💁‍♀️

Mr. Hand (rough character name) comes out of this forced memory-infusion cross-eyed and dazed like Dan Aykroyd getting ghost-blown in Ghostbusters 😆

#lol #DarkCity #FilmSky #MovieSky 📽️