Against Competence: Short movie reviews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Clash: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Against Competence: Short movie reviews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Clash: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-19T19:16:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html\",\"name\":\"Against Competence: Short movie reviews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-19T19:16:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-19T19:16:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415\"},\"description\":\"Clash: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Against Competence: Short movie reviews\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/\",\"name\":\"Eve Tushnet\",\"description\":\"Conservatism reborn in twisted sisterhood\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415\",\"name\":\"Eve Tushnet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eve Tushnet\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/author\/evetushnet\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Against Competence: Short movie reviews","description":"Clash: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Against Competence: Short movie reviews","og_description":"Clash: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html","og_site_name":"Eve Tushnet","article_published_time":"2018-03-19T19:16:28+00:00","author":"Eve Tushnet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eve Tushnet","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html","name":"Against Competence: Short movie reviews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-03-19T19:16:28+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-19T19:16:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415"},"description":"Clash: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Against Competence: Short movie reviews"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/","name":"Eve Tushnet","description":"Conservatism reborn in twisted sisterhood","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415","name":"Eve Tushnet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eve Tushnet"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/author\/evetushnet"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1071"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":11166,"date":"2018-03-19T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T19:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=11166"},"modified":"2018-03-19T15:16:28","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T19:16:28","slug":"against-competence-short-movie-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2018\/03\/against-competence-short-movie-reviews.html","title":{"rendered":"Against Competence: Short movie reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Clash<\/strong><\/em>: On paper, this is a fairly formulaic movie. During the 2013 conflict between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Armed Forces, a group of Egyptians (and Egyptian-Americans) from disparate religious, political, and social backgrounds all get shoved into the same locked police van, and discover one another\u2019s common humanity. \u201cMy enemies are people\u201d is one of those things easy to write but complex to learn; Clash<\/em> takes the viewer on the journey with the characters, so their discoveries of one another feel urgent, hard, and new. The restricted location (we spend almost the entire film inside the van) adds a slightly experimental feel, but overall, this is a story about how hard it is for humans in shared desperate circumstances to fail to understand one another\u2013even when misunderstanding is what they\u2019re aiming for. On US Netflix streaming and very much worth a watch.<\/p>\n

In My Skin<\/strong><\/em>: A tour de force from writer\/director\/star Marina de Van, looking like Saturn devouring his son but actually gnawing on herself. De Van uses body horror to explore self-harm, alienation, and addiction. It\u2019s hard to know what to say about this movie. It\u2019s hard to watch, there\u2019s some pitch-black comedy (the horrifying dinner-with-clients scene is unforgettable), and the emotional notes are perfectly struck: friends whose fear expresses itself as judgment; the fascination with one\u2019s own wounds. De Van\u2019s Esther retreats into a private world<\/a>, where her successes and relationships just become new things to escape. I think I found this via the Deadly Doll<\/a>. Looking forward to checking out de Van\u2019s Dark Touch<\/em> as well.<\/p>\n

Point Blank<\/strong><\/em>: A late \u201960s neo-noir about Lee Marvin\u2019s revenge quest. Some gorgeous images, a haunting ending on deserted Alcatraz Island, overall deeply not my thing. This movie is how I realized that what I love in noir is the heroes\u2019 weakness, their commitment to playing the losing hand. Walker, The Man Too Butch for Christian Names, is a competent killing machine and that is just not what I want from noir.<\/p>\n

Velvet Goldmine<\/strong><\/em>: I grinned almost all the way through this movie\u2013a tribute to glam rock, also Bowie\/Jagger fanfiction\u2013and yet at the end I felt like the sum was less than the parts. Is it a \u201cdestroyed by fame\u201d tale, the sweet smell of success? It\u2019s more an exploration of gay identity as swooning, sordid, ever-disappointed defiance, which is\u2026 respectably old-fashioned, at least. It\u2019s about the triumph of surface over substance and it also is<\/em> more surface than substance.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know, I got the feeling I was approaching this movie wrong, so if you love it, I\u2019m very open to correction here. It looks great<\/em>, and there are haunting images, of which the saddest and most underexplored was definitely the naked kid face-down on the bed, getting his initiation into gay life. The movie seemed to me to be using moralistic tropes without actually believing in the morality underlying them. Also all the music is worse than it should be. But, as I say, maybe I\u2019m wrong.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"