“If a story doesn’t give you a gut feeling, it’s not ready to be a movie.”
Cape Fear (1991)
Robert De Niro paid a dentist $5,000 to alter his teeth to resemble Max Cady’s. After filming, he spent another $20,000 to fix them.
Robert Rodriguez
“You’re only as good as the people you hire. Surround yourself with people smarter than you.”
William Goldman
“Nobody knows anything… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work.”
Double Blind (2024)
Down on their luck, in an isolated facility, test subjects participate in an experiment that goes awry and race against time for their survival.
Flawed yet great indie horror that serves the intended purpose. Double Blind cuts right to the chase. While the experiment does not go awry straight away, the feeling is instant the moment the characters introduce themselves. Half of them are indifferent, but it’s interesting to see what’s gonna happen to all of them. Are they gonna make it? Will the medication hurt them? Will they hurt one another? Their insomnia will mislead the story’s development, blur the lines between reality and paranoia, and increase the suspense to enjoyable and exciting levels.
Great one-location thriller that escalates nicely, captures paranoia brilliantly and is directed and edited meticulously. Furthermore, the ensemble cast gives wonderful performances believing in the film and enhancing the intended enjoyable pseudo-realism.
A lot of effort has been put into it by the director Ian Hunt-Duffy, the cast, and the crew, so I will not bother with certain plausibility issues the story faces.
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Walter Murch
“The ideal film editor is a neutral observer with a very sharp eye for what works and what doesn’t.”
Lost Girls and Love Hotels (2020)
Having left her life in the US, a troubled teacher finds a connection with a Yakuza member in hotels destined for those connections.
It could have been a great experience, but it felt incomplete. The reason why can be summarised by an IMDb trivium: “Original cut of the film, which was filmed in 2017 and shelved until its official release in September of 2020, was longer and darker, showing more of a disturbing reality of love hotels, and with more graphic and longer sex and nudity scenes. However some time before release the film was cut down in order to tone it down and attract more wider audience. This is also why most of Alexandra Daddario’s nude scenes were heavily cut down. For example, originally the “sex montage” was longer and it showed her character having rough sex with more men and it also included some topless scenes from her. Despite the rumors there never was any full frontal or lesbian scenes filmed with her. Reportedly, original cut was about 45 minutes longer than final version. It has not been finalized whether a director’s cut or an unrated version would be released.“
This means that while the camera work and the story are great, they become victims of their watered-down version. The film was meant to be longer and darker. It was written and directed this way. It was also acted this way. The sex scenes, other than pleasing to the eye, are also necessary to develop Margaret’s character through her internal turmoil. Also, the (Western, but only) audience would better understand the nature of those hotels. Having heavily cut it in the cutting room, these integral parts of the story feel… incomplete. That makes one wonder how the film would have been perceived or how much we have missed out. Great performance by Alexandra Daddario, whose character increasingly and depressingly descends into isolation, alcoholism, and self-destruction. Takehiro Hira, Carice Van Houten, Misuzu Kanno, and Andrew Rothney complete the brilliant cast.
Cinephiles like daring and provocative films, and they can detect if a film is holding its punches. And the studio’s cut-down version of William Olsson and Catherine Hanrahan’s vision most certainly does. Lastly, think about it. Out of all those films you have watched with Americans or British in Japan, what do their characters have in common?
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David Mamet
“Directing is not about what you want. It’s about getting things done through other people.”
Sidney Lumet
“The most important part of my directing is working with the script. You have to make the screenplay your own.”
Titanic (1997)
A crew member poisoned everyone with hallucinogens to the point where a colleague of director James Cameron was talking to him through a radio while he was standing right in front of her. When he mentioned it, she stabbed him with a pen. Another person led a conga line, and someone else asked to see a priest. The culprit was never found.
Clock (2023)
After receiving a lot of pressure from her surrounding environment, a thirty-plus-year-old woman who doesn’t want to have kids enrols in a clinical trial that will allegedly make her want to.
Flawed yet suspenseful low-budget thriller that deserves your attention. The opening sequence promises a lot. It’s a good old-fashioned setup that will make you want to see how it fits in the narrative. From then on, a lot of clocks are ticking, literally and metaphorically, with the heroine racing against time both biologically and mentally.
The original concept of Clock is the polar opposite of the soul-crushing drama numerous women face around the world when they want to have kids and… they just can’t. And they suffer a pain that whoever hasn’t faced it can’t. Hence, it’s original to see a woman suffering from despising having. The procedure itself doesn’t raise many eyebrows. The slight hallucinations increase the tension but only lay out the foundation of what’s about to happen. The turning point is Ella’s point of view on the Holocaust. It’s a daring monologue that reflects on her mental state and will make you want to counter-argue her view in your head. From then on, it is the point of no return where her life descends into the darkness that resembles the descriptions of purgatory. With a nightmarish woodworm that consumes whatever is left of her tormented life. I say no more…
Diana Argon is not just a pretty face. She pours a lot of heart into her work, as she has done repeatedly in the past. Writer/director Alexis Jacknow captures Ella’s psychosynthesis perfectly. Her shots accurately depict Ella’s mental struggle and discombobulation, and the same applies to Alexandra Amick’s snappy and quirky editing, which stitches Jacknow’s shots together, creating trippy and psychedelic montages.
Arguably, the message of Clock subliminally says that if you let the world crawl under your skin, it will own you. Family, friends, neighbours, unknowns, Media, doctors… They’ll become your source of paranoia. If we don’t distinguish our happiness from the world’s misconceptions, we’ll end up living someone else’s life – or not at all.
Despite some flaws towards the end and with the overall pace and rhythm, Clock is a great watch that, as said in the beginning, deserves your attention.
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Walden (2023)
A socially awkward court stenographer gets diagnosed with a tumour and becomes his little town’s vigilante.
Deadpan comedy, drama, and suspense blend like very few times have in the past. The comedic opening sequence combined with the initial heinous crime set the foundation for the oxymoronic feelings you are about to experience throughout the rest of the film. Psychopathy, childhood trauma, ignorant Church but strong faith, and funny and tragic situations that happen concurrently in a small society by people whose normalcy is not what we usually witness compose a bittersweet thriller that generates the desired contradictory emotions.
A similar film would be The Middle Man (2021): https://kaygazpro.com/the-middle-man-2021-comedy-drama/ These are the “beauties” of American cinema that defy Hollywood standards and offer a memorable experience. The epitome of such films is Strange Darling (2024): https://kaygazpro.com/strange-darling-2023/
There is a twist! The way writer/director David Keith decides to deal with the ending is not what you’d expect. But then, nothing really is in this film, so… Hats off to Emile Hirsch for taking such a bizarre role and bringing it to life. Kudos also to the rest of the cast.
The individual battles within us reflect collectively on society. Who we are, what we do, who we have been, and what we have done… “every moment, every truth, every lie, every word” of our lives make societies what they are.
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The Inheritance (2024)
On his 75th birthday, a billionaire gathers his estranged children and forces them to protect him against something that will try to kill him.
Poorly written and executed. So, this is how it goes… No one in the family is likeable. They are unreasonably unlikeable. It’s not because they are rich kids. They are just unlikeable. And if you don’t care about them at all, why would you care if they die? The smartest, most likeable and reasonable person in the film is not family. She is unreasonably reasonable and likeable. She is a coder and knows literature, Latin, the occult, ancient civilizations, and art. She is also sympathetic; she likes them so much that she is willing to sacrifice herself to save one of the worst people alive. Overall, the characters and their development in this film are non-existent.
As for the story and its development, it is mediocre at best. It is plainly shot, predictable, with boring dialogue, and anticlimactic. The worst part is that it explains everything to the viewer, leaving nothing to the imagination, copying horrendously Edgar Alan Poe and undermining its audience’s intelligence.
There is no point in going into more negative details. Unfortunately, it is a film that cannot be recommended. Rachel Nichols is a lovely person and a great actress, and she deserves better than that.
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Werner Herzog
“Follow your vision. Form secretive Rogue Cells everywhere. At the same time, be not afraid of solitude.”
I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
Two polar opposite and complicated teenagers bond over a mysterious TV show that gets cancelled, which complicates their relationship even more.
Slow, trippy, and ostensibly pointless. This will be a quick review, as I wouldn’t want to slate it. While it is classified as horror, it is not. The too-many parallels with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) do not attract the series’ fans and confuse non-fans. Maddy’s reappearance makes an exciting sequence and gives the intended Twin Peaks (1989) vibe, but it ends immediately after her captivating monologue. Overall, the slow pace isn’t as effective, with overly convoluted moments that border-lining previous similar snoozefests.
Trauma, memory, and identity relate in intricate ways that field experts constantly discover theories that blow previous theories out of the park. Trying to cinematically and allegorically depict any of them, let alone combine them, is a Herculean task where writer/director Jane Schoenbrun does her best. In front of the camera, Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine deliver convincing performances.
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Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
A woman is accused of her husband’s death, and their half-blind son becomes the main witness.
Slow-paced, realistic, personal, with excellent performances. Justine Triet and Arthur Harari’s tight, story-driven script and Triet’s character-driven directing compose an excellent whodunit thriller/court drama that, until the very end, will keep you on the edge of your seats.
Anatomy of a Fall‘s strongest point is that while all evidence points out at her, as an audience, you know she probably didn’t do it. If that’s the case, then how will she prove her innocence? Another strong point is the couple’s disagreements that escalate into arguments and then into fights. Very interestingly, writer/director Justine Triet, co-writer Arthur Harrari, and editor Laurent Sénéchal… take no sides. The angles favour no one; the dialogue from both sides provides food for thought and their pace, and the way those arguments/fights are cut finds the right balance of ambiguity. Of course, the result wouldn’t have been the intended if it wasn’t for the great performances of Sandra Hüller, Milo Machado-Graner, and Messi, the dog*.
Making a great film is a collaboration among thousands of like-minded people who have poured their souls into it.
Inevitably, Anatomy of a Fall becomes the anatomy of the human soul. What happens, how we perceive those things happening, what we know, and what we think we know, bottle up one day, and avoiding the truth, or what we perceive as truth, erupts. And avoiding that eruption becomes no option anymore. But, make it to the end, see what the verdict is, and, regardless of our preconceptions, having witnessed all the evidence and testimonies, what do you think happened?
*”For his role as Snoop, border collie Messi was awarded the Palm Dog at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17009710/trivia/?item=tr7168787&ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
P.S. That moment with the dog almost broke me (you’ll see)…
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The End We Start From (2023)
An unprecedented flood forces people out of the major cities, making a woman with her newborn struggle for their survival.
Great allusion to our climate change with realistic ups and downs. One of the major downs is its pace and rhythm. The suspenseful opening sequence that builds the story up is followed by a dramatic sequence of events that only happen, and the story moves on. They are short and lack development, which blocks the intended emotions. Something happens, it shocks you, but before you absorb it… on to the next sequence… And so on. On the other hand, the acting is solid, but even the outstanding cast – Jodie Comer, Joel Fry, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch – can save the film so much.
Overall, Mahalia Belo’s directing and Alice Birch and Megan Hunter’s script create a disjointed slow-burn that doesn’t live up to the expectations it raises. Current environmental and societal issues blend in a near-apocalyptic drama/thriller that doesn’t know where it wants to go and, unfortunately, leads nowhere. Honestly, the potential was there.
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Nowhere (2023)
A pregnant woman escapes a country at war only to end up in a container floating in unchartered waters.
I’ve said it more times than I can count: An opening sequence’s protracted shot raises the bar high. And this one is none hell of a shot! Unfortunately, this is what also follows; hell.
In a fictitious, dystopian present, where the world is not so dissimilar to our issues, authoritarian governments have taken over and treated people like cattle. Writers Indiana Lista, Ernest Riera, Miguel Ruz, and director Albert Pintó address this calamity’s horror and drama with such mastery that they will pin you to your seats. Based on our recent past, they depict humanity’s capability for the atrocious but also the remarkable. And then claustrophobia and despair hit you full force. Having said that, the script becomes far-fetched and increases the plausibility levels to abnormal standards. But this merely means that you should discount the effort. It’s a film, after all.
With her brilliant performance, Anna Castillo helps Pintó deliver the promise he made in the opening protracted shot. For an hour and forty-five minutes, both of them show you a world that nobody wants to live in, but individuals who can inspire and make our world the way we dream it for future generations.
This is a story about hope and despair, unconditional love and unspeakable hate, survival and perseverance, and finding strength and humanity within ourselves before asking others to do so.
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Dogman (2023)
A lonely man who was traumatised as a kid finds companionship in dogs who help him out committing crimes.
A very daring film by Luc Besson. The film comprises brilliant performances and beautiful dogs. But first things first. The non-linear way of telling the story builds up a compelling narrative of an unlike antihero that, while most people (hopefully/thankfully) have never experienced such a tragedy, his unmatched passion and unconditional love for dogs make him relatable to a vast audience; from people who love animals to people who loathe loneliness… Furthermore, this relatable and unlike antihero is for everyone who struggled – and still does – to make a living, to find success, and, above all, to find love.
Love plays a catalytic role in this narrative. It shapes Douglas because not only did he never experience it as a kid, but he also faced hatred from the people who were meant to love him. Then, the only time he falls in love, he crash-lands and never recovers from it. Alas, he becomes someone he never thought he would. So… you see… who can’t relate to that?
After a series of unfortunate films, Luc Besson returns with one of his humane stories. A story that is not about an action hero who solely takes up on the world and relies on fast-paced editing to do so. But on a human being who, surrealistically, finds acceptance from beings who will never betray him or let him down. Lastly, Caleb Landry Jones gives an Oscar-worthy performance that will shock you to your core, and the outstanding Jojo T. Gibbs accompanies him as the tormented psychologist.
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Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
A zombie apocalypse will unite a group of young men and women against the collapsing civilisation when they realise that they only have one another.
Well-crafted, unique, and full of thrills and horrors! Young men and women, bullies, outcasts, misfits, misunderstood, visionaries, and everything else in between, find their voice, style, pace, and rhythm in a world that collapses, dies… and comes back from death for more. Like every other musical, Anna and the Apocalypse begs the question: Why do people sing and dance instead of talking and acting… “normal”? Consequently, what connects the real to the performing world? Anna and the Apocalypse unites those two worlds with humour, horror, drama, and surrealism, offering a different kind of Christmas spectacle that will hold your attention till the very end.
The brilliant performances by all actors and actresses, the exceptional script by Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry, the captivating songs by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, and the engaging directing by John McPhail make this film a must! And like with every film, especially musicals, extra credits should always go to the editor(s). In this instance, to Mark Hermida, who stitches it together with exquisite precision.
Like a new musical version of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Anna and the Apocalypse is a must-see for every fan of apocalyptic films, as well as (British) comedies, musicals, and cinema as an art form.
P.S. The film is dedicated to writer Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed the short Zombie Musical (2011) from which Anna and the Apocalypse was adapted.
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It’s A Wonderful Knife (2023)
A young woman who wishes she was never born gets transferred to a reality that she hasn’t, only to see her town suffering at the hands of a psychotic killer.
Unoriginal, uninspired, and uncalled for. It can’t be woke and watchable. History has shown that, and It’s A Wonderful Knife is no exception. Combining the clichés of previous decades’ slasher horrors with modern woke touches that ruin cinema in its entirety, this film does a massive disservice to one of the most classic films of all time, It’s A Wonderful Life (1946).
Turning this classic into a horror is not a bad idea, though. It could have been a decent adaptation that combines Christmas, horror, drama, comedy, and suspense. Instead… well… Michael Kennedy’s poor script and Tyler MacIntyre’s indifferent directing offer nothing to the genre. In a small American town where everyone could as well be an underwear model, even people in their forties and fifties, and everyone accepts everyone for who they are, is the actual fantasy genre. Surely, they can’t expect their audience to be that dumb.
Shame! I’ve praised Shudder for most of the films they have produced lately, but this is a colossal misfire. Both Katharine Isabelle and Justin Long deserve a lot better than that. P.S. Having said all that, the chemistry between Winnie (Jane Widdop) and Bernie (Jess McLeod) is the only positive element the film has to offer.
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Genie (2023)
A man who struggles to keep his family together stumbles upon a genie who might be able to help him right before Christmas.
Naive, not so funny, and utterly formulaic. Well, I guess I don’t have many good things to say about it, so I’ll keep it short. This is how it goes: Issue -> magical solution -> more issues but some solutions -> they lived happily ever after. The remake of the British television film Bernard and the Genie (1991) messes it up with the wishes, as well as its Christmas messages. This messed-up situation translates to an unoriginal film that grasps at straws where nothing is as funny as intended. But I’m going to finish this short review on a positive note, and that is – what I perceive to be – the main message: Even if we had the wish to find happiness, we probably wouldn’t be able to as we wouldn’t be able to recognise it.
We struggle to identify happiness, and no genie, Santa, or deity can help us do so because we need to find it within ourselves and then offer it to the people we want to as well as the rest of the world. Therefore, even if we had wishes, we wouldn’t really know what to wish for, let alone how to handle the consequences of our wishes.
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Silent Night (2023)
Fueled with rage and having nothing to lose, a grieving father prepares himself to take revenge on a vicious gang on Christmas Eve.
Action-packed, dramatic, Christmas-y, and… John Woo! Not knowing if I’d ever watch a John Woo film again, I must say I’m kinda impressed, but to a certain extent. The way he decides to tell the story, Joel Kinnaman and Catalina Sandino’s acting, the lack of yawnsome dialogues (or not at all), the heart-wrenching drama, and the pseudo-realistic action-packed sequences kinda make it up for the formulaic script that we’ve seen a lot more than once in the past.
Let’s be honest. There is no audience today that believes that a man who has allegedly never trained, has never used a knife to kill, has never fired a gun, has never had surveillance experience, and has never had any hand-to-hand combat experience… can become that good in a year through a montage sequence. But Woo ties it all up to the Christmas spirit, and if you love a good, violent, vengeful, bloody Christmas film with cheesy slow-mos… look no further! The film has numerous flaws, no matter how you look at it. But it is not a film that takes itself seriously and does not try to fool anyone. It is easily digestible with the right dose of everything.
So, grab your popcorn, put the phone on silent, gather your mates or chill on your own, and enjoy the vicious Christmas deaths of detestable drug dealers and gang-bangers!
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When Evil Lurks (2023)
Two brothers deal with evil themselves to prevent it from spreading, only to create ultimate chaos.
One-way ticket to hopelessness! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. A protracted opening shot raises the bar high! And the whole of When Evil Lurks‘ first act does exactly that. What people say and why they say them makes one wonder what the characters know and what the audience doesn’t. Why do people regard evil the way they do, and what is that evil anyway? More importantly, how does one defeat such an evil force?
And while everyone’s trying to figure it out and approach it in a way that makes sense to them… the dog sequence will haunt you almost as much as it will haunt them! It’s brutal, relentless, and… evil! Upon watching it, while it noticeably slows down, expect chaos till the very end (The woman and the boy walking…)! And this is where I’m going to leave it… with a question: What if the world found out one day that biblical evil exists, it has taken over, and God, the one we used to justify our atrocities, has abandoned us?
Writer/director Demián Rugna hits the nail on the head with an original and unconventional horror that will shock you to your core. A must-see Argentinian horror for every fan of the genre. This is one of Shudder’s best horrors yet! Speaking of Argentinian horrors, you must also watch Rugna’s earlier horror Terrified (2017), one of my earliest reviews.
P.S. Have a look at Rugna’s inspiration for writing the script: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16300962/trivia/?item=tr7183296&ref_=ext_shr_lnk
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The Creator (2023)
Years after the war between humans and robots began, a former soldier is sent to locate the robots’ secret weapon only to discover something extraordinary.
Formulaic script that overshadows the impressive visuals, but more importantly, the film’s message. Right off the bat, Hollywood’s standard formula stands out. The story brings you up to speed, calamity strikes, personal drama occurs, the hero says “no” to a mission, he will say”yes” immediately after, the mission itself takes place, and nothing is what it seems.
Alas, it is only natural for the plot to unfold as predictably as the story. As a viewer, you sit back, relax, and accept anything that happens, as the suspense is always kept to the minimum. Unfortunately, so does the drama. It feels like, “Let’s put things there so they happen.” Nothing builds up. It just happens. Furthermore, nothing is daring about the plot, the dialogue, or the acting – Notice that the characters shed tears only after the shots cut back to them. Not letting the actors unfold their charisma leads to a waste of talent, such as John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Marc Menchaca, and the rest of the cast (But one. Wait for it…).
I’d like to finish this review, though, with a positive touch. There is A LOT to take from The Creator‘s symbolism. In my last review, I spoke about Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and how it still manages to shape today’s stories [Birth/Rebirth (2023)]. Writer / producer / director Gareth Evans finds ways to incorporate the God Complex into his film, but the harmful elements mentioned above deliver an outcome that “just does the job.” What’s more, the Americans being the villains in an American film is a daring notion, and kudos to everyone who green-lit such a project. Furthermore, if you want to see unforced, real diversity and representation, and not some woke horse$hit, this is the film you are looking for. All races blend cinematically the way they should, just like in the real world we should. Lastly, one of the film’s biggest surprises (the wait-for-it moment above) is the phenomenal acting of the introduced actress Madeleine Yuna Voyles. She will bring tears to your eyes by adding the intended emotion to the film.
A.I. is not the film’s theme; freedom is. What we all want in life is to be free of oppressive governments, institutions that manipulate us and turn us against one another, corporations that we can’t stop being constantly indebted to, war, famine, diseases, bigotry, poverty, and everything else in between that prevents us from being happy.
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Birth / Rebirth (2023)
A morgue technician, obsessed with defeating death, reanimates a woman’s dead daughter, and when she finds out, both of them cross every ethical as well as scientific line.
Shudder dares the out-of-the-ordinary… and improves itself! The film’s strongest suit is that, for just a little while, it focuses on the thrill and the drama and makes you believe that things can actually be all right. For a mum who lost her girl, things can still work out. But then it reminds you that messing with Mother Nature leads to hubris. Man or woman playing God is a one-way ticket to physical and/or mental torment.
Marin Ireland and Judy Reyes create incredible chemistry as two women who defy everything considered morally “right” in a script penned by Brendan J. O’Brien and co-written and directed by Laura Moss. Birth/Rebirth is a low-budget must-see for every horror lover and whoever examines the relationship between life and death.
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” (1818) will always inspire such horrors, finding ways to modernise the God complex. By the way, it’s funny how we used to think that Frankenstein was the monster when he was the doctor… who was actually the monster.
P.S. Read my last note about Marin Ireland in my previous review: The Boogeyman (2023)
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The Boogeyman (2023)
A creature lurking in the shadows will terrorise a family already torn apart.
Successful, scary moments, but formulaic as a whole. The Boogeyman cuts right to it! Its first act conveys the horror and drama, sets the pace, and warns you about what you have signed up for. The appearance of Lester Billings – the amazing David Dastmalchian – solidifies both the genre and the subgenre and opens the door to our haunting childhood fear. The main characters, Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, and Vivien Lyra Blair, pick up the torch and, till the very end, deliver solid performances.
Every sequence counts. As said above, the acting is exactly what it needs to be, and the jump scares are used properly (something I don’t say often). The photography is haunting, and Stephen King’s story is compelling. The story’s development into narrative, though, is its downfall. Arguably, nowadays, any story with a CGI monster called “Boogeyman” can not be that surprising for the audience. It is a story that has been told and developed numerous times despite its diverse portrayals. Rob Savage’s Boogeyman is not an exception, even though it was written originally by King (short story). In my opinion, Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (2014) was the last time its portrayal properly balanced the psychological and physical horror. The Boogeyman is a decent effort. It’s meant to have flaws; it’s a (CGI) monster under the bed. But then, it’s Halloween week, and everything goes. So, turn the lights off and enjoy a decent horror during the celebration of the dead.
Personal note: Marin Ireland is like Barbara Crampton back in the day. She’s been into every horror I have watched in the last few years and really liked it. If you haven’t watched The Dark and the Wicked (2020), I most highly recommend it. I would watch anything with her in it.
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Hellbender (2021)
A mother does the best she can to protect her daughter from the world, as it will never be ready for their witchcraft.
Halloween-ish, dark, and cuts right to it. The Adams family and Shudder bring to life a pagan horror that aims to entertain rather than scare. The location is the perfect fit, the questions asked and the way they are answered, and the more questions raised right after also work quite well. The premise is simple and the film is honest.
Wearing the hats of actors, writers, producers, and directors (and more), the Adams family makes a film about the humanistic side of an old witch and her witch-in-the-making daughter and the way they deal with society nowadays. Admittedly, I would expect Shudder to spend a tad more on the project, but this is not the case. The visuals don’t always deliver regardless of the effort put into it.
There is no need to talk about certain flaws. Overall, it’s enjoyable and a good fit for the celebration of the dead. Happy Halloween!
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Fast X (2023)
A man who once suffered from Toretto and his gang shows up years later for revenge.
Yet another unnecessary and ludicrous addition to the franchise fatigue. I was not meant to watch it, but after repeatedly hearing how “dumb” it allegedly is, I watched it only to write this review and offer my 2 cents.
A film is not dumb. The writers who write these kinds of scripts are not dumb, either. The same applies to the directors, producers, and distributors. A film has no intelligence to be smart or dumb, but it can be superficial or profound, depending on how much it delves into its subject matter and/or how much it spoonfeeds you the answers to the questions it poses.
Having established that, we are left with two options:
1. The filmmakers consider the audience dumb and, therefore, produce nonsensical films, thinking that the audience will react with astonishment!
2. The filmmakers think that the audience is oblivious to narrative quality. They have as low standards as they do, and they will get their fat paycheck regardless of how low that quality is.
Neither dumb nor oblivious is a positive way to think of your audience. Your audience is the people who will pay for the tickets and will produce you money in return. So, cars that defy the laws of physics, tech-savvy characters who are also prolific in fighting, non-existent technology created only to serve as a gimmick, indifferent drama/parody that you only want to fast forward, hearing the already funny word “family” for yet another 56 times (as per IMDb), and bad editing that is meant to “make” the film but instead “breaks” it even more, characterises the film, in a nutshell.
Universal seems undecided as to what kind of company it wants to be. This year, they released (and they keep releasing) incredibly diverse films where, while most of them deserve praise, Fast X most definitely doesn’t. Anyway, it is their money as much as it is the audience’s choice not to pay for the ticket. Let’s see whose loss it’s going to be.
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Older Gods (2023)
A man becomes obsessed with the death of his friend and the eerie cult that caused it.
Decent tribute to the man who started it all. H.P. Lovecraft died in poverty as he and his writings were utterly ignored – in life, anyway. In death, he lives in a kingdom of fantastical and horrific riches beyond anyone’s imagination. A kingdom that belongs to a world ruled by dark, monstrous, and inconceivably terrifying deities… where the humans are only cattle, and their loving gods are nowhere to be found! That is Lovecraft’s source of immortality and gift to the lovers of primordial horror.
Older Gods deals with the primordial and starts off really well, introducing that compelling darkness that can only make one think if they can conceive the inconceivable. The notion that these gods can permeate our world is what writer/director David A. Roberts teases. Their introduction, their state of existence, and what could have happened to our insignificant (to them) world if they decided to come back is where he succeeds the most. Upon doing that, though, he delves a lot into it and tries to convey the abstruse. A verbal explication of that darkness is excessive when images capturing glimpses of that horror can depict it. Personally, I’d rather be left with (what if) questions rather than spoonfed answers.
Having said that, Older Gods is recommended as anything that remotely resembles Lovecraft’s work – and is presented in a way that represents his unfathomable fascination with the human mind chaos – must be seen by every horror fan!
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Reality (2023)
An American Intelligence Specialist is held and questioned at her house by the FBI for leaking government information to the media.
This is a fresh take on building suspense and cinematic realism! Reality is a pleasant surprise to Contemporary Hollywood. HBO and writer/director Tina Satter get access to the FBI transcript, and more particularly, the day of the arrest, and visualise only what’s in there. Anything you can’t read or listen to or anything missing is missing from your screen or speakers, too. This is a risky but highly effective way of making a docudrama.
I have extensively spoken about the role of editing in building up suspense. While most of the time I refer to metric montage or the amount of information revealed from cut to cut, something else is happening: Editors Ron Dulin and Jennifer Vecchiarello don’t cut when they are expected to cut! Pay attention to how editing builds up anticipation in the way they cut from the addresser to the addressee, from what is uttered to its reaction.
Furthermore, this is arguably Sydney Sweeney’s best acting so far! She did her research, spoke with the actual Reality Winner, and absolutely nailed the part. Josh Hamilton (Agent Garrick) and Marchánt Davis (Agent Taylor) support her, fueling the tension even more. Lastly, the dialogue is as realistic as they come. Because it’s not scripted, it takes you in unexpected directions, and, as mentioned above, so does its pace and rhythm.
Watch it and see for yourselves. Again, this is a fresh take on something you have already seen before, but nothing like it at the same time. A powerful feature debut from Satter!
As it has been repeatedly said, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. In politics and philosophy, there will always be questions without definite answers. How much government do we want? How much government do we need? If the government is there to protect us, who can protect us from the government? I guess part of the cinema’s role is to present to us vantage points, and our role as cinemagoers (and citizens) is to familiarise ourselves with them, interpret them, question them, accept them, reject them, and/or counter-argue them. As we need to do with our governments, too.
Indifference, though, leads to a different quote: “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing.” – John Stuart Mill. Today that includes women and non-binary people. We are ALL responsible.
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Women Talking (2022)
In 2010, women of an isolated religious community gathered to decide their own and their children’s faiths.
The title accurately describes what the film delivers. Sarah Polley deserves every award she’s got and every award she eventually didn’t. As an actress, writer, and director, she has managed to stay on top of her game, and Women Talking took her once more to the Oscars. Other than herself, there is a lot of talent gathered in the film. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, and the rest of the cast shine in front of the camera and deliver Oscar-worthy performances. For a single-location film, it is well-paced, and director of photography Luc Montpellier spectacularly frames those performances. So, from a filmmaking point of view, it is an outstanding achievement.
My objections lie with the narrative itself. I am unaware of the story behind the script, but it felt like a feminist version of 12 Angry Men (1957). Sticking only to Miriam Toews and Polley’s script, here’s how I experienced it: All men are monsters, and all boys will end up probably like their fathers. The only exception is the man who records the events, August (the amazing Ben Whinshaw), who can be described as unopinionated, spineless, castrated, or mentally inept. According to the film, that is a good man!
On the other hand, all women are dynamic and highly opinionated, and even though they don’t know how to read or write, they are as eloquent, if not more, than August, who graduated from the University. You work out how someone who has never read a book in their life can argue in such depth and academic level philosophical and sociopolitical issues such as existentialism, history of religion, the difference between God and what people say about God, gender roles, behaviourism, and education. I praise the actresses for their eloquence, but if that is not head-scratching, I don’t know what is.
Ultimately, how much you are into these fields of study will determine whether you love them or loathe them. I did neither, but due to how arguments and counterarguments are structured, I most certainly found them profound and intriguing.
As much as I love films, I live in the real world and get to see that men, women, and non-binary people have the capacity to physically and mentally heal and harm one another – no exceptions! Let’s do more of the former rather than the latter.
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A Dark Song (2016)
A woman who wants to find closure goes down a very dark path with unpredictable consequences.
You have never seen more elaborate and thorough preparation for something that could not sound, seem, or feel so wrong. IFC Midnight invests in a slow-burn thriller that writer/director Liam Gavin makes as real as they come. The amazing performances from Steve Oram and Catherine Walker enhance that pseudorealism.
As the ritual progresses, one question will inevitably come to your mind: Is it working? A subsequent question will be: Do you want it to work? Even better, should it work? Now, what you need to know is that the ritual performed in the film exists and is known as the Abramelin Operation. Certain parts of the rituals were deliberately left out, and Gavin asked the artists to change the symbols – for obvious reasons.
A Dark Song meticulously elaborates on a ritual that you wouldn’t probably dare to perform, whether you are a believer or not. The ending is like anything you ever expected, so if you are going to find it exciting, thrilling, dull, or nonsensical, it cannot be predicted. All I can tell you is that it will get your attention.
Highly recommended for every horror fan out there (with patience). Definitely worth your while!
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Kotoko (2011)
As her mental state deteriorates, a single mother loses custody of her child, escalating further her suffering and self-destruction.
One of the most realistic cinematic depictions of mental illness! Dramatic as much as it is horrific, Kotoko cuts your breath short and breaks your heart. Cocco’s frenetic acting (and original story) and Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s writing, editing, and directing bring to life a fairly unknown and, consequently, underrated drama/horror that physically pins you down and mentally disturbs you. One of the rare occasions where a film is directed and edited by the same person and actually works. More often than not, the director fails to “kill their darlings” while editing, but Tsukamoto not only does that, but he also delivers a final cut where all the “wants” and “needs” are clearly distinguished and the character development, or its excruciating effort to develop, defined.
Kotoko is relentless and brutal! It delves into Kotoko’s derailing mental state and deprives her of her life, taking away her willingness to exist. Tsukamoto’s narrative restricts you to the way Kotoko perceives the world, and her distorted and manipulated reality infinitely increases the unpredictability, giving you zero clues as to what may happen in the end. Not knowing what the worst will be, the bad becomes worse and worse and worse… not knowing when it’ll get there.
Heavy on the soul, but highly recommended to whoever seeks to explore a true cinematic representation of mental illness.
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P.S. Take a hint about the adverse media and how it may affect or even define people’s lives. There is a message there that is not to be discounted.
Last Sentinel (2023)
In the not-so-distant future, when the oceans have drowned most of the land, four people do everything they can to protect a weapon that can wipe out what is left.
Low budget, high quality! Writer Malachi Smyth and director Tanel Toom build up suspense from the opening scene to the end credits. The characters are defined, and so is the problem: us! The human race. We’ve managed to drown the planet, and even then, we fight for what’s left. Cpl. Cassidy couldn’t have said it better, half an hour into the film. Kate Bosworth, Lucien Laviscount, Martin McCann, and Thomas Kretschmann form a great team whose members both clash as well as stand united against their own worst fears.
The more the narrative develops, the more hope is lost. The more hope is lost, the more unpredictable the escalation and climax get. Last Sentinel is a thrilling one-location, low-budget sci-fi with severe environmental and humanistic messages for you to contemplate. There is something else, though… the enemy! Who is the enemy? More importantly, what is an enemy? Enjoy watching!
Rest in peace, Tina Turner and Ray Stevenson… Safe journey!
P.S. Hope was the last thing left in Pandora’s box…
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Skinamarink (2022)
Two children look for their father in the middle of the night only to experience eerie paranormal phenomena.
Very hard to recommend and even harder to digest. While watching any film, if it’s not distracting for you, ask yourselves this: what role does the camera serve? What does it show? How does it show it? Consequently, how does it move? Why does it move the way it does? Writer/director Kyle Edward Ball brings to life this nostalgic “analogue horror” (yes, it’s a sub-genre) that resembles a nano-budget, experimental, eerily dreamy, and painfully slow-paced Poltergeist (1982) that can quickly make you lose interest. Really quick! Having said that, I can easily see Skinamarink being taught at Uni, especially due to the parallelisms with the cartoons on TV, as well as topics such as perception, childhood, and memory.
Should you not turn it off after a few minutes and stay till the very end, try to understand why no one and nothing is shown in full – except for the innumerable shots of dark walls. Also, try and understand why you see what you see when the kids talk to one another or the entity when they are in a totally different part of the house. Lastly, I’ll give you a hint of a potential angle to approach it – a spoiler-free version. See yourselves as a voyeur of a once vibrant and now empty house with a deafening silence where the sun will never shine upon or through it…
P.S. Well-played by Shudder to produce such a film!
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SPOILERS
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Be it a demonic entity having enslaved the kids in a hellish dimension – where time passes differently, Kevin being in a comma somewhere – after hitting his head, you as an audience experiencing Kevin’s trauma living in a broken home, or any other perspective or theory that you may have about the way we remember things as children or anything else… one thing remains certain: You will never know! Only Kyle Edward Ball will know! Hence, there are no right or wrong answers or interpretations. And in that respect, Ball has achieved his goal.
Hunter Hunter (2020)
A family of fur trappers is threatened by a wolf, but the real threat is unlike anything they have ever encountered.
Suspenseful, compelling, and nothing like you expect! Absolutely brilliant! One of the most realistic thrillers you’ve seen in ages. Separate stories come together naturally, blending financial and societal issues that you and I face, with the thrills and horrors of the remote wilderness, and all that to a build-up that neither you nor I have and hopefully will never have to face. Devon Sawa (Joseph) and Summer H. Howell (Renée) have wonderful chemistry as father and daughter, but it is Camille Sullivan (Anne) who will blow you out of the water. Her character is meticulously written, and Sullivan has thoroughly developed it.
There is no need to go into technical details: directing, writing, acting, editing, and photography are 10/10. IFC Midnight, leader of independent film productions, delivers once more! The man behind it, Shawn Linden, builds up the suspense in a way that glues you to your seats, but wait, oh boy, wait for the way he climaxes it. Wait to see what’s coming in the end, as it is highly unlikely that you have ever seen anything like it…
A must-see for every horror fan out there!
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The Middle Man (2021)
The town hall of a severely depressed town hires a middleman to deliver news to its citizens, mostly bad.
An adaptation done very right! Adaptations have never been easy. Let alone when two opposite genres are combined. The Middle Man is one of the films in which there is no need to scrutinise the way it was made, except for its character and story development. The characters’ passivity matches the story’s steady pace, and that can be seen throughout all three acts, where there is this tendency for the addresser to state something obvious and the addressee to respond to the obviousness cynically.
Following up on that, The Middle Man expresses thoughts that we all have had at some point in our lives but never expressed them the way we wanted in fear of how they would have been perceived. There are awkward statements and reactions to those statements that other films would deem nonsensical or indifferent, but not this one. Writer/director Bent Hamer truly comprehends Lars Saabye Christensen’s novel, “Sluk”, 2012, and uses this awkwardness and flatness of human emotion to develop both the characters and the story. It is not often that you watch a film like this. What I personally find intriguing in a narrative like this is the level of unpredictability. You can never know where it will lead you, where and how the hero’s journey will end. To the point that you will philosophise on the purpose of the actual nature of the journey. A proper analysis would connect society, the economy (or lack thereof), and the human psyche. In other words, the collapse of the economy, its consequences to society, and, consequently, its effect on the human soul. Ask yourselves this: How can a “dead” town have “alive” citizens? But I’ll leave this up to you.
Excellent job from the cast: Pål Sverre Hagen, Tuva Novotny, Paul Gross, Trond Fausa, and Rossif Sutherland share Hamer’s vision and brilliantly offer you this flatness and awkwardness the narrative requires. Somehow, the narrative might affect you also due to the actual premise. While allegedly taking place in America, the film was shot mostly in Germany and Canada. Hamer and Hagen are from Norway, and the rest of the cast is from Norway and Canada. The Middle Man is a collaboration amongst these countries, and its effect will last on your way past the end credits. Interestingly, I encountered something similar in the previous film I reviewed, Dual (2022).
P.S. Gary! This review is definitely for you, mate!
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Dual (2022)
After receiving a terminal diagnosis, a woman decides to clone herself, but when she realises she is not dying, she challenges her clone to fight to the death.
Solid script and solid execution! Great opening sequence that gives you a glimpse of a… sort of dystopia. Cutting to Sarah, the magnificent Karen Gillan, the comedic element surprises on several levels. At times, it is cut and dry; other times, it balances between intentional and unintentional. What enhances it is the lack of emotional response, mostly from Sarah but also from everyone else. Everyone takes this dystopic legality and morality as a matter of course, and while this is not unusual for futuristic scenarios, Dual (which, if you haven’t noticed, already sounds like a “duel”) visually takes place in the present day.
There are a lot more pros than cons in Dual. Gillan is definitely the biggest pro. She’s a great actress, and I, for one, hope to see her in more and more projects over the years other than the MCU. Aaron Paul is great, no matter what he’s in. The writing and directing of Riley Stearns is another great pro for all the abovementioned reasons. While watching it, ask yourselves, where does it take place?* When does it take place? Why do so many people have so many different accents?
Stearns is the man behind the equally quirky, awkward, and unconventional The Art of Self-defence (2019). Yet another film that focuses on martial arts, without taking them seriously, to the point that actually questions their existence.
While darkness hovers throughout all three acts, the ending carries it more heavily. There is a conspiracy behind what happened in the forest, and while it is revealed afterwards, this unsettling feeling of false interconnectedness stenches way past the end credits. Enough said! Enjoy it!
*At least, we know it was shot in Finland.
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Moloch (2022)
A series of unexplained deaths and mysterious attacks are somehow connected to a sinister presence that is after a single mother and her little daughter.
Eerie, unpredictable, and disturbing! Starting off with one of the most atmospheric opening sequences you have ever seen, the bar is set immediately high. Thankfully, the bar stays high in all three acts. The story unfolds naturally for quite some time without explaining anything about the past, holding the supernatural back, and maintaining suspenseful sequences that make the audience wonder how all is connected. What also helps immensely is Sallie Harmsen’s (Betriek) presence, charismatic acting, and astounding beauty.
Moloch has a lot of thrills to offer. The opening sequence, the house invasion, the lift, the theatrical/feike’s myth, and the events, in the end, are sequences that writer Daan Bakker and co-writer/director Nico Van Der Brink have cleverly written and meticulously constructed, respectively. Brink brings to life a local folk horror full of twists that will satisfy every horror fan out there, offering hope for the future of the genre (please refer to the numerous negative reviews prior to this one).
While Shudder specialises in horror films, they are responsible for horrors ranging from piss-poor quality to mediocre to really suspenseful ones. Moloch is inarguably their best horror to date, and maybe their collaboration with XYZ Films is one of the reasons. Really looking forward to their next project(s)!
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Scream VI (2023)
After the Woodsboro massacre, Billy Loomis’ daughter and her friends move to New York, but a new Ghostface killer will be after them one more time.
Unfathomably unoriginal, unintelligent, and laughable. Scream VI, like Scream (2022) and Scream: The TV Series (2015-2019), is yet another waste of resources and talent and a prime example of milking the cow. Some Hollywood filmmakers don’t want to think outside the box or take chances, and they keep perpetuating the same old over and over again, trying to make it look like ‘old wine, new bottle’. It is exactly the same, just more and more and more boring. I honestly don’t know if they think that the audience is getting dumber or if their ideas are just dumb. Regardless, the final product is dumb.
I won’t even go into details as to why I think it’s dumb because, unlike the creators behind it, I don’t want to insult some people’s hard work. I’ll just say this one thing: Whoever wants to write about killers using knives, do some research as to what happens when someone gets stabbed, especially with a knife of that size. The same applies when devising ‘whodunit’ strategies or even breaking the rules. Learn the rules first; don’t invent your own based on cheap horrors; break them and then insult the audience’s intelligence. Wokeness, once again, proves that it has the Anti-Midas touch. It turns everything into $hit!
I have written quite a few negative reviews lately because I thought the films I was about to watch would be, at least, decent. But I have some really good ones brewing, so stay tuned.
P.S. If you really want to know how talented directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are, watch the amazing Ready or Not (2019).
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Children of the Corn (2020)
The children of a small town start gradually taking over, wreaking havoc against the adults.
Shame… really! I don’t think anyone expected to beat the original (1984). Still, Shudder and co-writer/director Kurt Wimmer will make you sigh in disbelief and ask yourself if Stephen King had anything to say. Wimmer tried to dumb it down and verbally explicate what was written as a mystery, leaving it open to interpretation in 1977. I wish I could recommend it to anyone, but I can’t.
If you are interested in high-quality horrors where children are used as the source of evil or the source of resolution, I would highly suggest The Innocents (2021).
As aforementioned, it’s a real shame! Some films should be left alone as they are products of their era. And if the filmmakers are unwilling to crack many eggs and find ways to blow their current audience out of the water, they should let the sleeping dogs lie. Kudos to actors Elena Kampouris (Boleyn), Kate Moyer (Eden), Callan Mulvey (Robert), and Bruce Spence (Pastor) for their performances.
P.S. It is even more sad because Kurt Wimmer is the writer/director of the amazing Equilibrium (2002).
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Toga (2023)
Seven years after “Upstate Story,” Ellis looks back at his life and wonders where it is going.
Writer/director Shaun Rose becomes Ellis Martin once more and teaches nihilism – you might look at his philosophy in a different light towards the end, though. Rose’s strongest suit is the honest monologues. He offers on screen what you and I have thought, one way or another, at some stage of our lives but maybe never really expressed out loud. His cynicism gives birth to a faithful sequel, where Ellis still looks for some purpose in life without really putting any effort into finding it – again, stay till the very end. Narrating your own life and explicating your mundane everyday routine speaks volumes about who you are and your mental state. The balance between drama and comedy is delicate, but Rose manages to find it throughout. And all these are the interesting bits, the highly relatable ones.
When he makes it to Toga, there are moments where it feels like a tour of the place he grew up and even though it kind of makes sense to provide most of that information there, a lot could have been sped up or cut out in post to avoid narrative deceleration. Having said that, the way the storyteller decides to tell the story is the way we’ll get to experience it. Some will like it some will not. Inevitably.
So, if you have watched Upstate Story (2018), watch Toga to see where the hero’s journey ends. If you haven’t… watch both!
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Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)
Disney’s animated heroes take flesh and blood… from everyone who happens to cross them.
George Clooney once said: “It’s possible for me to make a bad movie out of a good script, but I can’t make a good movie from a bad script.” While well-shot, this is a badly written film. And that makes it a bad film.
The animated opening sequence promises a decent horror, but the live action that follows it immediately drops the bar. For starters, the characters tell one another what they need to do before doing it, and then they describe the action while you are watching it. What’s more, the pace and rhythm are literally all over the place. I can only name a few films where the director was also the editor, and the film was decent. Having said that, I actually admire Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who wrote it, directed it, edited it, flew the drones, put the producer’s hat on, and more or less became a one-man army. I can tell you from experience that it is a Herculean task. Regardless of the outcome!
In addition, while most of the acting is terrible (and the character development is nowhere to be found), Maria Taylor (Maria) and Natasha Rose Mills (Jessica) stand out positively. So does Vince Knight’s cinematography. As for the rest, gather your mates, order pizza and drinks, and get ready for a good laugh.
There is no point in criticising it more negatively. The script is extremely poor, yet it managed to captivate a certain audience already. To the point that its sequel has already been announced. Will I watch that? Of course I will! Until then, as said above, grab your besties and enjoy quality time! You’ll never see Disney’s animation the same way ever again…
P.S. You even get British rednecks! Brilliant!
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I’ll Take Your Dead (2018)
A man who lives with his young daughter and specialises in disposing of bodies has to face a gang over unfinished business.
Interesting concept, but flawed execution. I’ll keep it very short as I don’t want to badmouth a film and a filmmaker with noble intentions. It’s not a bad horror, but nothing really stands out in Chad Archibald’s film, making it mediocre. What I personally found significantly flawed was William’s character. A man with the reputation of the Boogeyman says or does nothing to support that reputation. Therefore, I never got why he earned it to begin with. The ending is interesting and somewhat dramatic, so that’s one reason to watch it. But the main reason to watch it, and that’s why I decided to do this review, is for Ava Preston’s (Gloria) performance. That girl has the potential to become an incredible actress. Keep an eye out for her. She has impressive acting skills.
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Shut In (2022)
A young mother of two children must find a way to protect them when her ex-boyfriend and his thug friend lock her inside a pantry.
OK, I’ll write in a way I haven’t written before and, hopefully, I won’t have to write like that ever again.
So, the basics… The script is decent, the directing is all right, and the acting is really good. While the visuals and the audio are slightly problematic, it didn’t really concern me. What really concerned me was the intentions. Let me be clear: I have nothing against writer Melanie Toast, director D.J. Caruso, actress Rainey Qualley, the rest of the cast and the crew. They worked the best they could with what they had. My issue is with The Daily Wire and their right-wing propaganda where “They in fact intend to create an entertainment branch of their media company as an alternative to Hollywood which they consider to be too far left wing. And to create movies and shows with values that reflect traditionally minded Americans”.(1)
I will also copy and paste some information and statistics from my older review, Run Hide Fight (2020). This was the first film (from acquired rights) for The Daily Wire, and I remind, an American conservative news website turned TV/Film production company which, according to NewsWhip, is “by far” the top right-wing publisher on Facebook: “The Daily Wire is by far the top publisher among its peers in terms of engagements to its content, with more than 130 million Facebook engagements to its web content for the year”.(2)
Should you decide to watch Shut In, ask yourselves this: Is that their idea about who “traditionally minded” Americans are? Really?! The atrocious Run Hide Fight (2020) capitalises on the American plague, namely mass shootings, and considers John Mclayne the hero American kids should look up to in life. Their mentality is responsible for the thousands of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters who mourn the people they lost, and they have the audacity to produce such films to state what exactly?
After Shut In, I vow not to watch any other film of theirs. If I knew this was one of their films from the start, I wouldn’t watch it either – just found it on Amazon and put it on. My bad. But, in a way, I am glad I did because I got the chance to position myself. As much as I don’t like Hollywood’s petty politics, the abhorrent woke movement, the boring SJW (whatever that is), the intolerable sense of fashion, and the rest, I can argue about it, and whoever wants to can counterargue back. We might all learn something from one another, even change our minds or meet halfway. The kids and adults who were tragically killed by the epidemic of gun crimes in the US can not! So, I will choose independent and world cinema, admire or tolerate Hollywood (depending on each project separately), and avoid at any cost films and filmmakers that “use” violence for anything other than sheer entertainment.
P.S. 2,5 stars just because the film itself is decent.
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10131024/trivia?item=tr6182532
- https://www.newswhip.com/2022/05/top-publishers-facebook-april-2022/
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The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
A renowned detective with a dramatic past is hired to solve a mysterious murder and enlists a young cadet and aspiring poet, Edgar Allan Poe.
The haunting photography, the dark poetry, the ostensible suicide that proves to be a crime full of enigma and deeper motives, and the man-for-hire with special skills will bring at least three films to your mind: Sleepy Hollow (1999), From Hell (2001), and The Raven (2012) where Poe is again involved in solving a crime. And while The Pale Blue Eye had all the potential of making it to that level, it doesn’t.
Christian Bale (Augustus Landor) is as good as you’d expect him to be, and Harry Melling (Edgar Allan Poe) exceeds everyone’s expectations. Toby Jones (Dr. Daniel Marquis), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Patsy), Gillian Anderson (Mrs. Marquis), and Robert Duvall (Jean Pepe) are always great no matter what they are in. One of the film’s main issues is that it could have been shorter. It is the editor’s and the studio’s (Netflix) job to see that, but it all depends on how much influence the director has. And writer/director Scott Cooper always has. While I haven’t read Louis Bayard’s book, I felt like certain sequences could have been more condensed, starting by cutting out the superfluous verbosity. But another main issue is the plot’s convolution that, unavoidably, leads to several “hold-on-a-minute” moments. I believe I followed the story through, yet certain incidents and revelations couldn’t sit properly with me. But maybe it is me. The film is ultimately saved by its twist, and that alone is enough for me to urge you to watch it.
I hope you enjoy it as it is well-made and inundated with remarkable performances.
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Unwelcome (2023)
After a traumatic event, a young couple moves to the Irish countryside only to face horrors that they never expected to encounter.
A lot of confusing ups and downs… The helluva suspenseful opening sequence is, intentionally or not, misleading. But arriving at the Irish countryside, Hamish Doyne-Ditmas’ beautiful photography and Christian Henson’s eerie soundtrack lead it in the right direction – meaning, towards the thrilling and the horrific. Moreover, Hannah John-Kamen and Douglas Booth’s performances also lead it in the same direction. It is writer Mark Stay and writer/director Jon Wright who don’t know where they want to lead it.
The story has all the right ingredients to be a decent modern horror, but leaving aside all the things that don’t make sense (and there is a lot of that) during the film’s scariest moments, I couldn’t help but chuckle or laugh. Were those moments meant to have that effect? I kind of doubt it. Overall, I found that the suspenseful moments eventually lead to funny moments, and it is unclear how the filmmakers intended to make the audience feel. Having seen and admired Men (2022), I embrace and encourage the different and the unconventional, but not to the expense of “whatever the audience gets, gets”. There has to be a meaning regardless of how symbolic, intricate, or mind-blowing it is. Furthermore, the contrasting character arc between Maya and Jamie smells like “wokeism”, and I, for one, am not a fan. The characters and their development should serve the narrative, not petty politics supported by couch fighters.
Give it a shot if you have the time. I wouldn’t prioritise it, but I wouldn’t discard it either. Let me know what you think.
P.S. It is interesting how Kristian Nairn accepted an incredibly similar role to the one he had in Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019).
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Cocaine Bear (2023)
A mother with two kids, a couple of street thugs, and local police find themselves chasing one another over drugs, and all of them are chased by a huge black bear that has gone berserk after consuming most of it.
Fun and surrealistic escapism. Writer Jimmy Warden and director Elizabeth Banks give the middle finger to anything related to realism, defy reason, and, thankfully, hold no punches. Yes, the drugs fell off the sky. Yes, the chutist jumped to his death. Yes, the bear sniffed some of it… but died – and it was a “she”. All the rest, though, is unadulterated, brilliant, bloody, brutal, and funny fiction brought to you for your sheer entertainment. Kudos to Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, and the late and adorable Ray Liotta for their performances and for believing in Banks’ vision. Cocaine Bear is solid proof that she can do miracles when Banks leaves politics aside. She’s a great actress and an equally great filmmaker. Extra credits go to the VFX team, which looked like they had tons of fun while creating the bear and its crazy and bloody shenanigans.
Lastly, the film is dedicated to Ray Liotta, who unfortunately left us early but fortunately left us with brilliant and undying performances for all of us to remember. As the bad news came in today, the same applies to the late Lance Reddick, who will always be remembered for all the films and series he’s been in. RIP.
P.S. The film was shot entirely in Ireland!
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!