Bold Filmmaking Gives Mixed Results In ‘Mute’ & ‘Annihilation’ [Adjust Your Tracking Podcast]

It’s thrilling to see a bold work of genre filmmaking succeed, but depressing to see an equally ambitious picture fail so miserably.

On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I find plenty of interlocking themes in two films that refract and overlap, with the aim of giving us something fresh. One is far more successful than the other. “Mute” from Duncan Jones (“Warcraft“) is the latest splashy release from Netflix. Spoiler, it’s another big swing and a miss for the streaming giant (find The Playlist review here). But what could have been? The ambition was there, but alas, it ain’t pretty.

Meanwhile, there’s much to admire in Alex Garland‘s (“Ex Machina“) new psychedelic sci-fi horror “Annihilation” (glowing review here). It’s all held together beautifully by Garland, here adapting the first book in Jeff VanderMeer‘s Southern Reach Trilogy, with a style and confidence that’s straightforward, no-nonsense and utterly devoid of pretension even when it’s completely blowing your mind. This is the film of 2018, so far. It’s early folks, but we’ll be talking about “Annihilation” for the rest of the year. Go see it!

LISTEN: AYT talks “Black Panther” and Rian Johnson‘s debut “Brick“

All episodes of Adjust Your Tracking are part of The Playlist Podcast Network and can be found on Overcast, iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher. You can stream or download the podcast via the Soundcloud embed below or up top. Leave us a review and rating there if you’re so inclined and help spread the word on our podcast. Find and follow AYT on Twitter, Facebook and of course, do the same for The Playlist.