Given that I'm not really a fan of the heavy use of electronica, and I'm a pretty straightforward boring het sort, this probably wasn't directed toward me as a demographic. And yet I found it very entrancing. The music, while not to my taste, was a good listen, and the imagery -- basically vignette after vignette, basically music videos interpolated into a plot about, well, 1984ish conformity -- was, as I said, entrancing. It shouldn't have worked for me, but it absolutely did and while I have nothing particularly insightful or profound to offer here, I felt I just do it the justice of rating it here. So, 8. Would, and probably will, watch it again at some point.
11 Reviews
Art in a nutshell
tina_con_c12 October 2018
The greatest artistic musical visual proyect ever made. She creates a whole story set full of aesthetics that include her fantastic music. A world designed by a true artist. Completed with her own personal mystical ways to enhence her political views as well as social changes and empowered movements. An inmersive vision comparable in quiality to Bowie's or Prince's. Brilliant!
Finally a new musical that matters!
natpereyra30 May 2020
Janelle is just genius... Using her music, sense of art, knowledge of her surroundings to express the inequity that we're living in, trying to wake up people thru their senses is just beauty itself...
This is a brave black non binary "famous"
woman who is shouting out injustice and claiming freedom therefore her great value, this is hard to find we should pay more attention to her and appreciate her in this present, her present...
The people who wrote distasteful reviews are as superfitial as their writing, these are the ones that still see things without reflecting on it, these people are dormant and afraid of change so don't be fool by their bickering / mockery and fear better if you watch this piece of Art as it is: a bright shout for freedom and equity in these grey times...
P.S. And of course Tessa was wonderful as always. Let's they continue creating functional beauty. Thank you!
A concept music video movie
bettycjung17 May 2018
If the future is Janelle Monáe, colour me excited!
FilmsFillMyHoles31 December 2018
Even though the connection betwixt the memories/music videos is a bit ham-fisted, Dirty Computer (the "emotion picture") is wonderful. It's themes feel extremely personal yet universal, the songs are bangin' (the album itself is bloody fantastic) and the whole thing feels so vibrant, colourful and just alive! Janelle's been one of my favourite artists since The ArchAndroid, so I can't wait to see what she does next!
Creative, amusing, startling, visually rich, youthful
jenniferok16 December 2018
Dirty Computer enhances Monáe's artistry in conveying a political statement.
TheMovieDiorama2 May 2018
A first for me, can't say I've ever seen something like this before. A short narrative that connects each individual song from Monáe's eponymous album into essentially one long music video. It depicts the story of an android named Jane attempting to deviate from the totalitarian regime that supports homophobia, forcibly wiping her previous memories of same-sex relationships. A rather creative and contemporary project that allows Monáe to convey her message through multiple senses. The vibrancy of the dystopian pastel colours is a feast for the eyes, while her songs accentuate meaningful lyrics which act as a statement against society. Bringing in fellow actress Thompson to star in the film enhances the additional star quality and conviction of the primary story. The production design was certainly adequate and suited the authentic futuristic vibe that Monáe excels at. Extremely reminiscent to Fritz Lang's dystopian masterpiece 'Metropolis'. Whilst I appreciate her artistic integrity, the film isn't actually necessary and rarely builds on the character's backstory. The music videos for each individual song acts as a memory, these are stringed along in a linear structure where we view each memory before they are wiped from Jane's mind, thus repressing her emotions. "PYNK" is sexually illustrious whereas "I Like It" showcases contemporary subtlety, so there is a wide range of themes throughout her songs. Connecting these songs together just felt uninspired and offered little incentive in watching the film as it lacks the additional layer of depth that is missing from the individual music videos. I admire Monáe as an artist and appreciate the effort into this "Emotion Picture", it just feels slightly uninspired and lacks memorability. Did I enjoy it? Of course, but you could simply just watch the videos separately to save time.
Music Vids Masquerading as a Movie
Buzwardo16 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Don't have enough 49 minute music videos in your life? Have I got a series of moving pictures for you! Titled "Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer" for tenuous reasons soon to be explained, the film is a series of richly wardrobed, tightly choreographed, Autotuned music videos constructed using high production values, so long as you don't number a plot among the values required to produce a movie.
Said plot, such as it is, revolves around the notion that humans that fail to adhere to racist, sexist, homophobic norms are cast as a "dirty computer" in some future totalitarian society, one that needs to be floated in on a levitating gurney to some sort of reprogramming clean room where prop brain wave helmets and inhaled special effects fog elbow those nasty notions aside, causing the human to reboot with the ethos of a country club Republican, albeit one garbed in white spandex with Egyptian affectations as this is an almost music video, after all.
Those music videos, though not my genre, are pretty darn good. As noted production values like staging, lighting, costumes, choreography, et al were top notch. Cleary a lot of time and attention were paid to them. I indeed, I wish the vids had been presented as some sort of montage rather than a full up flick as the vapid plot detracted from the excellent music videos.
I give the vids an 8, the plot a 2, which averages out to a 5. If you want to see a series of well executed pop music videos this is your moving picture. If coherent story lines and actual plots are required for you to enjoy a film you likely ought to pass this one by,
Said plot, such as it is, revolves around the notion that humans that fail to adhere to racist, sexist, homophobic norms are cast as a "dirty computer" in some future totalitarian society, one that needs to be floated in on a levitating gurney to some sort of reprogramming clean room where prop brain wave helmets and inhaled special effects fog elbow those nasty notions aside, causing the human to reboot with the ethos of a country club Republican, albeit one garbed in white spandex with Egyptian affectations as this is an almost music video, after all.
Those music videos, though not my genre, are pretty darn good. As noted production values like staging, lighting, costumes, choreography, et al were top notch. Cleary a lot of time and attention were paid to them. I indeed, I wish the vids had been presented as some sort of montage rather than a full up flick as the vapid plot detracted from the excellent music videos.
I give the vids an 8, the plot a 2, which averages out to a 5. If you want to see a series of well executed pop music videos this is your moving picture. If coherent story lines and actual plots are required for you to enjoy a film you likely ought to pass this one by,
Superficial bubble gum pop music
DoubleORoos3 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I think miss Janelle Monáe is missing out on things. She is far more capable then this utterly crappie bs. Very disappointed here. Now it's just another Prince imitation and so on. Never the less, we do need more people like her. I still wish she would have taken the risk to be soul like original, more powerful, far more powerful.
back to back music video
AziziOthmanMY4 February 2019
Bunch of useless rubbish.
artur-niedzielski5 February 2019
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