When a whole village mysteriously passes out, many women wake up pregnant with kids that will grow up to be pure evil.
Classic, no matter how you look at it. The intriguing inciting incident, the mysterious human blackout that ultimately causes the pregnancies, is one of the most appealing cinematic concepts ever conceived – pun not intended. What were the whispers? How did they locally cause the massive-scale collapse? Was it natural or supernatural? All these questions, as well as the government’s interest in the event, move the story forward to the actual deliveries and the ostensible happiness that follows. But the signs of sinistry show too early and cut the happiness short. How do those kids do what they do? How is this going to end? Is it going to end?
There is not a lot to say about filmmaking techniques. Some of them may be now outdated while others are standard, but it doesn’t matter, really. John Carpenter approaches the themes of life, death, and the supernatural in a way he only knows how. And that’s enough for you to know. Needless to say that watching it again now, after all those years, it got me saddened right from the start. With the recent loss of the wonderful Kirstie Alley and the tragic years that haunted Christopher Reed after that film, I choose to remember them now at the prime they once were. Linda Kozlowski and Mark Hamill are also exceptional.
Despite its differences and similarities from Wolf Rilla’s homonymous original film and John Wyndham’s novel, this version, despite its flaws, can still be called a “classic” horror for the fans of the genre.
Please, don’t forget to share, and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me onhttps://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for Ukraine 🇺🇦 🙏
Stay safe!
P.S. I know I’m being childish now, but I’m gonna say it anyway… Towards the end, I imagined Charles Xavier mentally battling them! I know, right?!
After saving a man from a horrible accident, a hopeless romantic woman falls in love with his brother.
Funny and romantic, and that’s all you need to know. You’ll probably know by now that I’m not into romantic films, but even I make exceptions from time to time for films that do not insult human intelligence and offer nothing but smiles and entertainment during this festive time. While You Were Sleeping is one of them and one that watched as a kid back then. In a time when the Internet was not even a known word, films were one of the ways I got to discover the world and foreign cultures. The American way, cinematically at least, was, is, and always will be appealing to the human eye and soul – especially in this genre. This merely means though that American cinema, in and outside Hollywood, cannot be brutal, gritty, and realistic. That is another story for another time though. I feel like digressing…
Sandra Bullock, after Speed (1994), became a romance queen and one of America’s sweethearts with a lot of roles like this (and later on a lot more than that). Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric Lebrow wrote a tight script and director Jon Turteltaub made a comedy/romance with plenty of delay of resolution that will keep you till the very end waiting for the tables to turn. The film paces beautifully and leads to the outcome that brings that tear of joy to your eyes. It’s a beautiful film about the most beautiful feeling n the world; love. We couldn’t live without it even if we knew that one day someone would take it away from us. Failure to experience it hurts infinitely more than the pain it causes. And like with most Christmas films, its message is to constantly seek it, for it can be found in the most unlikely places. And in the most unlikely people, who, like us, are looking for it to become whole.
Please, don’t forget to share, and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me onhttps://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for Ukraine 🇺🇦 🙏
Stay safe!
P.S. As for Bill Pullman, to this very day, like Bullock, he hasn’t stopped surprising us with the projection of his internal bittersweet darkness. Amazing actors through and through!
A troubled child psychologist takes on a kid that is able to make contact with the dead.
Still haunting, still dark, and still gripping. This is more of a reminder than it is a review. By now, everyone knows what happened, how it happened, and when it happened. The reason I am resurfacing it though is to quickly remind you why it still cinematically matters, and, maybe, encourage you to watch it again this festive period.
I’ll leave out the couple of obvious plot holes that could have been paranormally interpreted in more than one way and avoid the use of reason in explaining how we get from one act to the next. But… I’ll focus on a couple of significant details that you either missed back then or possibly forgot over the years, such as the colour red. The award, the made-up house, the clothes, the staircase, the balloon, and, of course, the mysterious doorknob that does not open the door are only but a few examples of the colour’s usage that pushes the narrative forward but also betrays the film’s twist. This pattern is waiting for you to unravel it and grasp its importance in relation to Cole and his bliss or curse, depending on how one perceives that sixth sense of his.
The other mystery that makes the whole difference in the world in understanding the way the story unfolds is distinguishing who tells the story. In other words, whose story is it? What Cole knows that everyone else doesn’t is now known. What Dr. Crowe doesn’t know, but Cole does is also now known (back then none of it was). The answer lies in the camera angles. What the camera shows and the way it shows it gives away the person or entity’s point of view. These angles also establish where the audience stands at any given moment, something that wouldn’t have been possible if the editing wasn’t such. Ultimately, after the film’s twist is revealed, understanding whose story it is will put into perspective who helps whom, and will provide answers to most of the complex questions.
Bruce Willis captures the essence of his role, Toni Collette gets her first (and last) Oscar nomination, and Olivia Williams supports the story to her full extent (she’s an equally brilliant actress). But the ultimate surprise couldn’t be anyone else other than Haley Joel Osment (also, first and last Oscar nomination), the wonder kid that was later seen in films, such as Pay It Forward (2000) and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). And if you are wondering how a kid goes from a film like The Sixth Sense to A.I., know that in both films, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall (husband and wife) are behind both productions. Even though that’s a story for another time, keep this in mind: Kennedy started as a production assistant in the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), helped develop films such as Gremlins (1984) and The Goonies (1985), and made the Star Wars universe what it is now. George Lucas might be the mastermind behind it, yes, but, without her wouldn’t have expanded to the lengths that it has now. Again, just to keep in mind how behind ostensibly irrelevant films the same people call the shot. Food for thought…
With The Sixth Sense, at the turn of the century, M. Night Shyamalan established himself as the new dominant ‘player’ of the thriller/horror genre, despite the numerous ups and downs that followed. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we all look forward to the Knock at the Cabin (2023).
Filmmaking is an intriguing and intricate process and The Sixth Sense is an intriguing and intricate film that took years to decode the techniques behind its effect on the film industry. I hope you enjoy it once more.
Please, don’t forget to share, and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me onhttps://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
When a nun receives a letter of support from a convicted murderer on Death Row, she needs to find a way to comfort him as well as the victims’ families.
Heavy real drama, supported by incredible acting. Dead Man Walking starts off with the beginning of a tough relationship between Sister Helen Sejean and the convicted murderer on Death Row Matthew Poncelet. Coming from totally different backgrounds and currently being on opposite sides of the fence, this short-term relationship is meant to be tough; like no other relationship before it. And as if the plot is not morbidly unbearable, the subplot, how Sister Sejean deals with the heavy hits she receives, supports the plot and further burdens on her and the audience’s soul.
There are some extremely short straws handed in this story: The two kids who got brutally murdered, their parents who suffer their unspeakable loss, Matthew’s family who suffers the consequences of his unspeakable action, Matthew himself who suffers for reasons you’ll get to know in the end, and, last but not least, Sister Sejean who stands right in the middle of it. It is through her, that we get to experience everyone’s pain, and, ironically, the only person (except for the audience) who gets to experience hers is the person responsible for the inhumane acts and who is about to die. Sister Sejean burdens everyone’s suffering in her soul, in an attempt to help everyone involved find peace in their hearts.
Based on Sister Helen Sejean’s homonymous book “Dead Man Walking”, writer/director Tim Robbins brings to life the shattering and soul-crashing real drama/horror that cost the life of two young people and ruined the lives of so many around them. Watching it in the cinema back then, on a VHS a few years later, or on Blu-ray now, I must admit that it has been equally hard. Dead Man Walking is a heavy drama, paying respect to the audience’s intelligence without trying to proselytise, judge, or point you in any particular political or religious direction. Tim Robbins and Sean Penn were nominated for the Oscar, and Susan Sarandon got it.
Not that I have run out of newer films to watch, but every now and then I enjoy going back to films that made me love cinema as a kid and get a first cinematic view of the world that I got to know – more like, still get to know. I might not be well known for my religious beliefs, but no matter what the reason is, anyone helping or trying to help a fellow human being is a person I want to help achieve it.
Tonight, Michelle Satchwell comes back once more with, as always intriguing information regarding Friday the 13th both as a day and as a film. Is it actually an unlucky day? Does it still have an impact on us and the society we live in? What is it that made it a great horror film back then and why is it still considered cult today?
References
Michelle’s book: Psychology Review: A-level Exam Skills and Practice Paperback – 30 Oct. 2020 ISBN-10: 1398308013
Baron-Cohen, S (2001). Theory of Mind in normal development and Autism. Department of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, Cambridge.
Yuki, Metal (2007). Are the windows to the soul the same in East and West? Cultural differences in using the eyes and mouth as cues to recognise emotions in Japan and United States. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (43), pp 303 -311.
In-group and Out-group in Social Identity Theory (in reference to bullies); Tajfel, H (1979). Individuals and groups in psychology. British Journal of Social and Critical Psychology (18), pp 183 -190.
(Psychodynamic Approach in relation to the Mother-Son bond) Oedipus Complex in Phallic Stage of Psychosexual Development; Freud, S (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition (7), pp. 123 – 246. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_SE_Three_Essays_complete.pdf (Psychodynamic Approach in relation to the Mother-Son bond) Schizophrenogenic Mother; Fromm-Reichmann, F (1948) Notes on the development of treatment of schizophrenics by psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Psychiatry, 11(3), 263–273.
(Evolutionary Approach in relation to the Mother-Son bond) Bowlby, J. (1956). Mother-child separation. Mental Health and Infant Development, 1, 117 – 122.
(Evolutionary Approach in relation to the Mother-Son bond) Bowlby, J. (1944). Forty-four juvenile thieves: Their characters and home life. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 25(19-52), 107-127.
SOCIOLOGY SPECIFIC: Stephen: The murder that changed a nation. (2018). https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b0br42 (Three part documentary looking at institutional racism in the UK in the 1990s).
Tonight, I created a short, yet concise episode about something that I was contemplating some time ago and published for the first time in The World of Apu online film magazine. As the episode’s title implies, it is regarding the pessimistic or even horrific view of our future.
Tonight, I’m releasing the second part of the interview with Michelle Satchwell. Michelle analyses Martyrs and its contribution to the horror genre but she also uses it as a reference for the role of women in torture horrors. Moreover, she talks about advertisements and gender roles in the 80s, and how females have been portrayed, could have been portrayed and how that has affected the present. Last but not least, she talks about the representation of ethnic minorities and non-binary people in the film industry and what potentially the future holds.
Feminism References Evolutionary Psychologists (no specific names), they focus on reproductive success in mate selection in humans.
Tuchman (1978) Symbolic annihilation (narrow range of roles for females).
Glascock (2001) Leading female characters (e.g. Lara Croft).
Bristol Fawcett Society (2008) Imbalance in media representation.
Ferguson (1983) Forever feminine; focusing on womens’ magazines and the cult of feminity. Women focus on “him, home and looking good (for him)”.
Johnson and Young (2002) Impact of advertising on children.
McRobbie and Garber (1976) Bedroom culture.
Heidensohn (1985) Social Control of women and crime.
Westwood (1999) Transgression and Gender. “Transgressive female roles that go beyond gendered expectations”.
Gauntlett (2008) The representation of gender roles in the media. “Do the traits of the characters challenge conventional masculinity?”
Julia Kristeva (1980) Powers of Horror: An essay on Abjection.
Freud (1905) Psychosexual stages of development (Pre-Oedpial stage).
Tonight, I’m interviewing Michelle Satchwell. Michelle is coming back on the show to talk about the role of women in horror films. Class, gender, and race will also be analysed as to how they have been portrayed over the decades and if and how nowadays things have changed. Michelle analyses classic female-led horror films through sociopolitical theories and practices, and sheds light on how psychology examines these filmic portrayals.
Tonight, I’m interviewing Dr. Neni Panourgia. Dr. Panourgia is Affiliated Faculty at the Program in Hellenic Studies. She is an anthropologist, Associate Professor at the Prison Education Program, Psychology Department, and Academic Adviser at the Justice in Education Initiative at Columbia University. Tonight, she is talking about the prison system in the US and how that has affected their current but also futuristic cinematic depiction. Without further ado, here’s the interview.
Tonight, I’m interviewing Aris Lanaridis. Aris is a film & media composer, sound designer and music producer. Tonight, he is talking about how music affects and enhances the suspense in horror films and what principles dictate how and what kind of music is used.
Tonight, I’m interviewing Pantelis Tsibiskakis. Pantelis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied languages and art both in the UK and the US. Tonight, he is talking about one of his favourite poets, and admittedly mine too, Edgar Allan Poe, his writings, the adaptations, his personal tribulations, but also his legacy.
Tonight, I’m interviewing Michelle Satchwell. Michelle, after shedding some new light on why kids are portrayed in certain ways in horror films, is coming back to talk about asylums and their portrayal in favourite, or not so favourite, horrors. The interview takes an interesting turn as she is pointing out that reality can be scarier than fiction as none of us is as free as we think we are. Regardless, the origins of asylums as the, arguably, scariest places a horror film can take place at is explained and so is the believability behind their projection.
Mental Health Act 1983 where people can be sectioned as “danger to self or others”.
Marie Jahoda (1958) “Ideal Mental Health” including six criteria; autonomy, self-actualisation, positive attitude to self, resistance to stress, accurate perception of reality, and environmental mastery.
Ethical guidelines originated from Nuremberg code (1947), later developed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the British Psychological Society (BPS).
R.D Laing (1965) created a “safe heaven” for patients with Schizophrenia. This has been made into a film; Mad To Be Normal (2017).
Rosenhan (1973) carried out three experiments titled; ‘Insane in sane places’ of pseudo patients being diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
Both Laing and Rosenhan were part of the 1970s anti-psychiatry movement.
Thomas Szasz questions how mental health is defined and how it’s been ‘constructed’. In 1961, this was published as the “Myth of Mental Illness”. Then in 2011, released the “Myth of Mental Illness”, Revised 50 years later.
Valentine Douglas (2016) The CIA as organised crime. This covers “Project MK Ultra”.
Weindling (2016) looked at victims and survivors of Nazi human experiments.
The World Health Organisation (1977) said “no culture is free from Schizophrenia”. Shamanism and Schizophrenia similarities.
Taijin Kyofusho (TKS) as a Japanese culture bound phobia.
Individualist (independent) Western cultures versus Collectivist (interdependent) Eastern cultures can affect diagnoses and disorders.
Homophobia was seen as a mental health issue up until 1972 and DSM II edition (Diagnostic Statistical Manual reviewed by the APA). The depathologising of homosexuality; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4695779/
International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) was published in May 2019 and is used by the WHO in the UK and Europe. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM 5) published in May 2013 is used by the APA in America.
“Time to Talk” day in February and World Mental Health Awareness in October celebrate diversity and try to remove stigma. #HelloYellow campaign for young people to promote positive mental health.
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on soundtracks that have played a catalytic role in constructing powerful cinematic sequences. Some are well known, some not so much, and others, potentially unnoticeable to the vast majority.
Born to a mom who was hit by lightning while she was pregnant with him, a kid grows up and shows abilities and IQ like anyone has ever seen.
The year draws to a close and, as always, I choose to watch films that, at some point in my life, they meant something to me. Powder is one of them.
From narrative’s point of view, it’s all about a boy who’s special and the physical and mental differences between him and the rest of the world make him a loner. Very well written and directed by Victor Salva, excellent performances by Mary Steenburgen, Sean Patrick Flanery, Lance Henriksen, and Jeff Goldblum, and brilliantly composed by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Setup, confrontation, and resolution are meticulously developed, offering moments of self-realisation in regard to what we know and what we think we know and how we deal with it. After everything is said and done, in the last scene, just ask yourselves this: where does Powder return to?
From sociology’s point of view, it tackles quite a few aspects… Our schools are incapable of handling different and, consequently, incapable of teaching anyone how to handle different. Our society is still in the dark ages, on an ongoing witch-hunt with modern torches and pitch forks. Our level of understanding about what is going on around us or what lies ahead is laughable – Yes, that includes especially the people we entrust to guide us. Finally, our inability to comprehend the fact that we are not on the top of the food chain and we should stop acting like it and respect nature as much as we should be respecting one another despite our so many differences, quirks and foibles. You wanna make a change but you don’t where to start? I follow Michael’s advice: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror”…
Stay safe!
P.S. I believe the film would have performed better if the director Victor Salva hadn’t been convicted for child molestation a few years prior to the film’s release. Thus, much of the “touching” in the film was misinterpreted or interpreted, after the wrap, in an inappropriate way. But, please, don’t see it that way because it has nothing to do with it. I don’t know how much that affected Salva’s career as he kept writing and directing.
P.P.S. It is not mentioned why Doug is not speaking to his estranged son. Why don’t you all take a guess…
In the early 1900s, in Montana’s vast wilderness, the retired colonel Ludlow and his three sons stand united in war but are torn apart by their passions.
There are people out there, academics or otherwise, who think too little of Hollywood or nothing at all. Personally, I don’t like labeling cinema or seeing it as black and white, i.e., world cinema, good – Hollywood, bad. Having reviewed numerous Hollywood films, I can tell you with certainty that powerful storytelling knows neither indie or studio level nor language or cultural differences.
Legends of the Fall is the undeniably captivating Hollywood style of storytelling that pins you to your seats and sucks you into its world. John Toll’s gripping, Oscar-winning photography stands out from the opening sequence, foreboding the magnitude of what lies ahead. Brad Pitt, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond, Henry Thomas, and the late Gordon Tootosis give Oscar-worthy, memorable performances with Hopkins’ been shockingly emotional.
Producer/Director Edward Zwick took seventeen years to get this project off the ground and the wait was definitely worth it. Based on the novel by Jim Harrison and written for the big screen by Susan Shilliday and William D. Wittliff, the chronicle of the Ludlow’s family sees the father suffering while his boys fall apart from what’s meant to be sticking them together but offers the closure the story needs, without necessarily being the one that the vast majority would want. James Horner’s music enhances those vigorous emotions and Steven Rosenblum’s masterful editing puts the non-chronological footage together, maintaining the continuity illusion but also creating montage sequences that travel us through time.
Definitely one of my favourite dramas growing up! Legends of the Fall is a dramatic Odyssey of love, a tale of revenge, a family’s legendary journey of courage, loss and sorrow…
Tonight, I’m interviewing Dr. Mathias Clasen. Mathias, among other things, is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, teaching at the School of Communication and Culture, director of Recreational Fear Lab, and Associate Editor of Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture. Literary Darwinism, Gothic, Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Apocalyptic and Post-apocalyptic Texts, but also Cognitive and Evolutionary Theory are only but a few of the research areas he specialises in. Tonight, he is talking to me about a very interesting research of his on the pandemic and horror films but also explains what it is that attracts us to the genre.
When Count Dracula comes to London from Transylvania, a series of ungodly events follow him, and a group of men unites to stop him from claiming his future bride.
Which Dracula is your favourite? I guess your answer depends on how old you are. I grew up with Francis Ford Coppola’s and, admittedly, it is my favourite. And how could it not be… Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes, Richard E. Grant, and Tom Waits. The late Michael Ballhaus’ haunting photography and the team’s meticulous editing synthesize one of the greatest Gothic fairy-tales of the 90s. Two years before that there was Edward Scissorhands (1990) – once again with the one and only Winona Ryder. See how shadows are cast, how the match-cuts stitch the sequences together, and how the narrative patiently unfolds. Also, what is not to be discounted is the amazing costume design and the brilliant makeup (Oscar winners).
There is an enormous amount of information regarding the film’s production, revealed at the 2007 Collector’s Edition DVD audio commentary. One of the most interesting information is the fact that, other than the blue inferno, NO digital visual effects were used in post production. Coppola was adamant and his vision paid off (it also paid for his production company’s debt and saved it from bankruptcy).
In all honesty, of course, I am not posting this to actually review the film. I am doing it for two reasons: Its brilliance lies in the storytelling and I really want to bring it to the newer generation of moviegoers or film lovers’ attention; to appreciate and understand that visual effects should be used only as a means to enhance the narrative rather than overshadow it or compensate for the lack of it. Also, to remind mine but also older generations that films such as Dracula still exist and, hey… it’s Halloween time, why not dust the old scary DVD’s and enjoy something from the past. For nostalgia…
Tonight, Erik Kristopher Myers (ekm) is talking about the roots of the found footage subgenre, its evolution, its contribution to the cinema, and its effects on society. Myers is a writer and filmmaker. His film Roulette (2013) won numerous festival trophies and his latest feature Butterfly Kisses (2018) shot to the top of the Amazon charts for New Release Fantasy, scoring rave reviews. Myers has also won numerous awards for screenwriting and editing, and among others, he has been a producer for XM Satellite Radio, a reporter for WTOP News, and film critic for The Dagger and Ain’t it Cool News.
Tonight, Dr. Michael Lee is talking about the horror inside us and why and how one’s inner certainties and anxieties can render the everyday person monstrous. Dr. Lee teaches courses on 20th-century music history, American music history, film music and film studies at the University of Oklahoma. Over the years, he has been teaching courses on the history of horror films and one of his many specialties is Vampire Cinema. He is music historian, loving horror movies with passion and began researching their film scores and their diversified styles, especially, from the 1930s and 1940s. Listen to how our perception affects the way we interpret horrors and what was Val Lewton’s contribution.
Ashley Scott Meyers is a writer, producer and director and owns the blog sellingyourscreenplay.com where you can find practical tips and advice on how to sell your screenplay. He also runs SYS Select where you can subscribe to receive premium screenwriting leads, online coaching and mentoring, online courses, and more. Among other things, tonight, he is talking about the production and artistic differences between indie and studio level horrors, their perception by both audience and directors and the importance of narrative in filmmaking.
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on why constructing the perfect society is nothing like constructing a seemingly perfect society. In other words, why filmmakers see the future in a cataclysmic and calamitous light.
Michelle Satchwell is Head of the Social Sciences Department at a large school in Derbyshire, UK. She analyses the use of kids in horror films and examines the genre through the prism of Evolutionary, Cognitive, Psychodynamic, and Social Psychology. She will definitely make you question yourselves why you feel the way you do when you watch a horror.
References:
Trypophobia – fear of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps, e.g. buttons, crumpets, sponges etc.
Evolutionary/Biological psychology
There’s not a named psychologist, but we tend to take Dawkins and apply to psychology.
Emamzadeh (2018) Origin of common fears: A review (Psychology Today)
Parapsychology
[ESP cards]
Utts (1991) Replication and meta-analysis in parapsychology.
Cognitive psychology
[Elizabeth Loftus pioneer in the field and expert witness in courts].
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of automobile destruction (I mentioned experiment 1).
Loftus and Pickerell (1995) Lost in the mall study.
Jean Piaget (1952) Assimilation and Accommodation in Schema theory.
Psychodynamic psychology
Sigmund Freud (1917) Introduction to psychoanalysis.
[Id, Ego, and Superego all part of the Tripartite model of the personality in our unconscious like an iceberg].
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on some of the most influential, dissuasive, and thought-provoking monologues I hand-picked. I hope these chosen ones entertain you, educate you, and, potentially, find an application in the way you see and experience life.
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on some films we loved so much – or not – that we turned the blind eye to their plot holes. Hint: One is definitely not one of my favourites, and another actually has not a plot hole…
After inheriting a castle in Italy, a man moves there with his family to start anew, only to face unimaginable horrors created by an eerie and sinister presence.
Fancy watching a loosely-based-on-a-Lovecraft’s-short-story-B-movie? And by B-movie, I mean following-all-the-80s-conventions-kitschy-as-hell! Damn, that film took me back years… Castle Freak is exactly what you would and should expect from the poster above. Yes, it is that enjoyable and it’ll take you down the memory lane or will introduce you to the 80s and early 90s horror era where plotholes do not matter and mean nothing. Third collaboration between writer/director Stuart Gordon, and actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton after Re-aninator (1985), proving how well they perform together in front and behind the camera – all three based on Lovecraft’s stories. Crampton is a veteran in Lovecraftian adaptations and, consequently, one of my favourite actresses.
It is definitely not the best adaptation – I’ve elaborated extensively on that issue – but you may as well just watch it as a standalone. It will definitely take your mind off things and… horrifically entertain you.
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on the Qatsi trilogy. A cinematic statement about civilisation, technology, nature, and the relationship among the three. A trilogy left behind in the shadow cast by blockbusters, forgotten by time, buried in oblivion.
It is the end of the millennium, Satan has taken a human form while looking for the woman who will bear his child, and it is up to a suicidal ex-cop to prevent the end of days.
Arguably, one of the best, darkest… and underrated films Schwarzenegger has ever been in. Brilliant fast-paced and edited realistic action with a just over fifties, sentimental Arnie been purely tough as nails. Great shooting scenes, great fight scenes, and great chase scenes that make two hours fly by. But the awesomeness doesn’t stop here. The slow-paced sequences testing the heroes’ and antiheroes’ ‘faith’, and the drama of a young girl standing in the midst of chaos, who never chose to be special, make the End of Days an unforgettable choice to put a close to this year and decade. The film’s highlight: Arnold fighting the Satanists and the Devil in the alley.
Arnold, having undergone a heart surgery two years prior to the film, comes back performing extreme action sequences and nailing the self-destructive, rock bottom, action antihero, taking as much as he can give back. Gabriel Byrne is evil as hell – pun intended – and brutally tortures everyone crossing his path with utter style. As for Robin Tunney, she’s magnificent and I can still see why I fell for her in my early twenties. My last ‘congratulations’ goes to the director and director of photography Peter Hyams who pulled this off and brought Andrew W. Marlowe’s solid, very dark yet optimistic script to life.
Again, arguably, Schwarzenegger’s last prominent film.
Enjoy, and have a healthy, happy, productive and creative nee year. Be well!!
Leading a repetitive life, Larry Burrows, on his 35th birthday, wishes his life was different, more exciting… and this is exactly what he gets!
How many times have I watched this film is beyond me… And I think I’m gonna grow old and grey and I’m still gonna be watching it. Yes, it’s very similar to the classic masterpiece It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), but since I was a kid when it first came out, I grew up with it, and I couldn’t help but stop thinking about… what if my life was different? As I kept growing up, till this very day, till this very moment, writing this review right now after just having watched it (again), I am wondering why does this film age so well? What is it that makes it so diachronic that I can’t stop having enough of it.
I guess I wouldn’t watch it any other period other than Christmas/New Year time. It is the time when, if not all of us, most of us contemplate a bit more about our new year resolutions. It is that time where we look back and ask ourselves, what could I have done differently? What do I lack? What do I have in abundance? Why would I want my life to be different anyway? It might be all these would haves, should haves, could haves that loop in our minds with warp f@£$%^& speed causing this effect. I think I’m digressing…
Anyway, Larry Burrows is John Belushi. And not like a film poster kind of way. I mean that I can’t imagine anyone else portraying him and I kinda don’t want either. Michael Caine is visual poetry. Linda Hamilton is to fall in love with and proves, once more, to be so diverse actress that I take my hat off to her and bow. Rene Russo always had been and always be lighting up the screen when appearing on it. As for Courteney Cox, she is… a killer! Last but lost least, it is an absolute shame that we don’t see the amazing Jon Lovitz in many films anymore – series mostly.
Mr. Destiny had a big impact on my life, and it has inspired my screenwriting in ways that I can’t begin to describe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the decades.
An ambitious young man is put by the board of directors as president in a… convoluted company involved in a stock scam.
‘It takes a village to make a film’… and The Hudsucker Proxy is the living proof – and the best side of Hollywood. Joel and Ethan Coen write (alongside Sam Raimi), direct, and produce one of their best and underrated films to date, focusing on a man’s ambition, the crowd’s paranoia, the Media’s superfluous vanity, and the corporate greed! In addition, Carter Burwell’s music, Dennis Gassner’s production design, and Roger Deakins’ cinematography pay a true homage to the films of the ’30s and ’40s. Thom Noble’s meticulous and precise editing paces the film from beginning to end. Great montage sequences delivering passion, laughter, drama, and rhythmic film magic.
A naive Tim Robbins, an extremely articulate Jennifer Jason Leigh, a sexist Bruce Campbell, and the legend Paul Newman develop amazing on-screen chemistry and one cannot help but fall for them. The film’s brilliance is such where the devil’s in the details. For example, Robert Gallagher’s character ‘Vic Tenetta’ shows up for just a few seconds and the screen lightens up.
And now for the shocking facts: Not even one Oskar, Golden Globe or Bafta Nomination. 3 wins and 3 nominations all and all. And that’s not just it! It cost approximately $40M and made $2,816,518. I think, sometimes, it’s surprising what makes people tick and what doesn’t. But I know that, always, when it comes to the film industry, all bets are off!
Having gone missing for seven years, spaceship ‘Event Horizon’ reappears having come back from a darkness beyond human understanding.
One of the best psychological, sci-fi horrors you have ever watched: Alien (1979) meets Hellraiser (1987)! The ‘tragedy’ with Event Horizon is, as usual, the studio. When uncreative people in high places interfere with art, art always suffers the consequences. Paul W.S. Anderson’s 130′ original, ‘graphically violent’ cut forced Paramount to cut 30′ and water it down. Both the studio and Anderson regretted doing it! Twenty years later (2017), Anderson stated that the year after the film’s release he and a producer started looking for footage that due to bad archiving had gone missing. Most of it was destroyed, some of it was of poor quality and some of it was found as far as a Transylvanian salt mine!
From cruciform shapes to spinning tunnels and rotating interlocking circles, Event Horizon marries the antithesis between religion and science, showcasing the man-playing-God hubris, and offering us the results in an entertainingly, bloody way. The film has become a cult for both sci-fi and horror fans alike. The Making of ‘Event Horizon’ (2006) is a documentary that whoever liked the film MUST watch. The production details give away the great lengths Anderson went to, to bring this film to life. Philip Eisner’s script is solid, Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill are brilliant, and the Production Design is Oskar-worthy. Unfortunately, the studio forced the editing to damage the film’s unimaginable potential. It is wishful thinking that the series in development will live up to the film’s expectations and include the ‘Old Testament Speech’ and the ‘Dimension of Pure Chaos’ analysis.
The detailed, infamous captain’s log ‘orgy of death’, the ship’s return, and the extended black hole’s Bosh-influenced ‘visions from hell’ have made all our imagination run wild over the years, hoping that, one day, the film’s re-release will re-surface missing footage, and will re-appear to us to reveal what it has seen…
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on a few international films, not particularly well-known ones, that have spawned renowned Hollywood successes (whether critical or commercial). Maybe I can get you to watch either or both of them, and then get you to ask if the Hollywood remake added to the existing film it was indeed necessary.
A man, after been brutally murdered, comes back to life to avenge his and his fiancée’s death by killing the ones responsible one by one.
Even though deeply stigmatised and remembered as the film that Brandon Lee was killed, The Crow still remains Lee’s legacy and a ’90s goth, revenge, Halloween classic. One of Alex Proyas’ finest films that unfortunately spawned sequels that should have never been made. Ranked 37th in IGN’s Top 100 Comic Book Heroes, the film has significant differences to the graphic novel but, proudly growing up with it, I can reassure you that, despite its flaws, it will be admired by every future generation to come.
The production details vary from ground-breaking VFX to complete the film after Lee’s death, to sets getting destroyed, to numerous people getting injured, and to cast and crew constantly abusing cocaine from the set to the toilets. Regardless, if you grew up with it as well, it will take you for a stroll down memory lane and if you were too young or not born yet, it will travel you to an analog world before the digital era took over.
Both father and son will always live in our hearts.
An eccentric constable is sent to a village called Sleepy Hollow to investigate three mysterious murders but he gets more than he bargained for when he encounters The Headless Horseman.
Twenty years later and it’s still captivating. Tim Burton adapts for the silver screen the legendary Celtic and German folklore and creates one of the most atmospheric, period gothic fairytales you will have ever watched. Sleepy Hollow is purely a masterpiece. The perfect balance of horror, comedy, and fantasy with an equally “magical” and intense subplot. Like Shakesperean thespians, all actors deliver amazing performances that enhance the film’s genre. Danny Elfman’s eerie score gets your undivided attention from the opening scene and Emmanuel Lubezki’s hauntingly beautiful cinematography may have lost the Oskar to American Beauty (1999) but this merely means anything as you will probably have never encountered anything like it in any other fairytale adaptation [Maybe, Edward Scissorhands (1991) or Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)]. The “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” Oskar was well earned for building the Sleepy Hollow from scratch within three months. As the and crew stated: “The feeling one had walking around Sleepy Hollow’s sets, and in particular the town at Lime Tree, was almost as if you were walking around the inside of Tim Burton’s head.”
Sleepy Hollow is the best side of Hollywood. A side that is often forgotten by the studios but should be a reminder that quantity (the $100M budget) can be indeed spent wisely and increase the film’s quality. A reminder that visual effects are meant to be used as a means to advance the story, and not dominate the film overshadowing its narrative. Words cannot beautify Tim Burton’s classic. A must-watch not only for the Haloween period but also for times of classical storytelling nostalgia.
“The World of Apu” is a bimonthly, diverse, and multilingual online film magazine which explores film cultures from around the world.
Below you can find my analysis on the origins, the decades of contestation, the development and expansion, the impact, and the current status of the found footage horror subgenre. I hope you enjoy the ride.
A scientist who has devoted her life to discovering extraterrestrial life form not only has her breakthrough but also uncovers a secret message.
Carl Sagan: “The astronomer of the people”. Astrophysicist, author, researcher, and controversial figure regarding his scientific, political, and religious views.
Robert Zemeckis: The enormously talented director of films such as the Back to the Future franchise, Forrest Gump (1994), and Cast Away (2000).
Two and a half hours of lessons about life… on this planet or the next. And Carl Sagan was there since day one to make sure that everyone got the science right. And that everyone got a glimpse of what he “saw”. Of what he envisioned. Unfortunately, halfway there, cancer beat him and left his last breath. He was 62.
Fortunately, his adaptation, his vision, was left in the brilliant hands of Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis grasped Sagan’s concept of the “Encyclopaedia Galactica” which is based on the science fiction novel “Foundation” by Isaac Asimov and delivered a heartfelt drama about a girl who turned into a woman with the brightest of minds and who wouldn’t stop until she discovered the truth.
The truth that science should be seeking. And not at the expense of people. The same truth that faith in something higher than ourselves should be doing. And again, not at the expense of people. “Contact” is a sci-fi/drama that doesn’t patronise, exploit, manipulate or try to impress with fake, non-coherent, uneducated scientific jargon. It takes its time to find a middle ground between science and religion and make it about not who is right and who isn’t but about respecting the fellow human being who just happens to have a different view of the “cosmos” than ourselves.
It is amazing how the real-life discovery of an arctic meteorite from Mars coincided with the film’s shooting and how Zemeckis grasped the opportunity and adopted Bill Clinton’s actual interview which looks like it is custom-tailored to the film’s discovery. Luck and talent are beyond understanding here.
Lastly, I find it really interesting how in a film that is primarily sci-fi, having so much to offer to our way of thinking, the best shot (my opinion anyway) is a young Ellie running up the stairs, after having found her dad lying on the floor, to get his medicine.
“Contact”… One of the best political, social, humane science fiction you will ever get to watch.
The discovery of a mysterious device in Egypt will teleport a linguist and a Colonel with a military mission galaxies away to a world where Ra rules over an ancient civilization.
Who built the pyramids? How were the pyramids built? When were the pyramids built? Blending history with fiction, Rolland Emmerich manages to build up an engaging premise surrounding the aforementioned questions which, to this day, people post online or publish books and articles.
“Stargate” has everything. Brilliant directing and photography, strong storyline, relatable characters, impressive visual and sound effects, great performances, excellent music score, and right editing pace. A solid sci-fi flick with no kitsch and no cliche, offering an entertaining take on Egyptian Mythology that will especially satisfy the thought-provoking conspiracy-lovers believing that once the aliens paid us a visit. And not only.
That said, between them and those who think that “Stargate” contains “Americans liberating the world” right-wing hidden messages, “religion is oppressive” beliefs, and “power to the people” left-wing ideologies… I’ll side with the “Aliens built the pyramids mirroring Orion” dudes…
A cynical insurance investigator is hired by a publishing company to find a disappeared, renounced horror writer while global psychosis starts plaguing his readers worldwide.
I was a kid when I first watched it in the cinema. And then a young adult when I watched it in VHS. And here I am now, an adult, watching it in Blu-ray and feeling like a kid all over again. “In the Mouth of Madness” is one of John Carpenter’s best works, one of Sam Neil’s best performances, Michael De Luca’s best script, and, without a doubt, one of the best psychological horrors you will ever watch in your time. Fantasy and reality, sanity and insanity, pronoia and paranoia… all blend in to “bring to life” and pay tribute to H.P.Lovecraft’s horror fiction. Probably the best film that has captured the essence of the abstruse and horrifying Cthulhu Mythos. I say nothing more. Turn the lights off and get sucked into madness!
H.P.Lovecraft died in poverty and only posthumously he and his works were recognised. “In the Mouth of Madness”, a homage to Lovecraft, was not a commercial success, yet today, it is a critically acclaimed horror; a classic. I am so perplexed by what makes people tick most of the times. I guess, like almost everything else in life, we only learn the hard way and only when it’s too late – if that! Because it’s so hard to see what’s in front of our eyes the whole time and appreciate it while it’s there. Same with people…
You know what? I’m gonna write the sequel and send it to New Line Cinema. F@!% it!
Living on the top of a hill, Edward, having scissors for hands, is at first welcomed but then abominated by a conservative society.
Potentially, Tim Burton’s greatest fairy tale. One of Danny Elfman’s best film scores. Stefan Czapsky’s most wondrous cinematography. The film that showcased Johnny Depp’s true thespian skills. The film that Winona Ryder made me fall in love with an actress for the first time. Dianne Wiest and Alan Arkin are amazing as gullible and naive parents and both the visual and sound departments deliver a truly mesmerising result.
As for the story and its development, please keep in mind that it is about Edward Scissorhands who is… different. And through his eyes, we recognise isolation, we seek self-discovery, and we find love. Similar, yet more sensitive than the story of Frankenstein, “Edward Scissorhands” could be more of a different take on the Beauty and the Beast through German Expressionism enhanced with Gothic constituents.
Try not to ask too many “whys”. Try not to rationalise actions and reactions. Try not to get too political or too scientific diagnosing Edward with autism. This is one of the best modern, love stories Hollywood has to offer. It is a magical love story…
An epic vampire chronicle, from the moment he turned to the moment he found salvation.
I would dare to say the best, atmospheric, captivating vampire film ever made. Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Dazzling Cinematography. Oscar nominating Art Direction-Set Decoration and Original Score. A Kirsten Dunst to give you the chills. 22 wins and 25 nominations well earned. A Neil Jordan masterpiece.
Imagine a human being finding eternity. What would they do? How would they spend their time? What human values would they keep and what human values would they discard? “Interview with the Vampire” sees and justifies eternity through a creature of a night that, legend has it, it outlives us all. Louis and Lestat stand for the bright and dark side of what we call the “soul”. Choose a side, travel around the world, and be guided through the centuries. Debunk the myths, explore philosophical questions, find God if you can, and look for the meaning of life – if there is any.
In a fictitious world, evil, non-human beings exist and live forever, wondering through perpetuity, neither knowing nor caring about racism or homosexuality. In our real world, us, the distinguishably separated from the animals, humans, with our very short given time on this Earth, why can’t we do the same?
An old man who fits the Santa Claus profile becomes a symbol for a company, a family, and a nation alike.
Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, and Mara Wilson give a great performance in a film for the whole family. Legendary John Hughes behind the production and director Les Mayfield remake the 1947 version of the homonym film with humour, fantasy, great photography, camera work, and editing. Gather the family and enjoy!
Non-Christmas Version:
An old chap found on the street, who has not been vetted whatsoever and officially claims he is Santa is trusted by a family, a major company, and a nation to be near kids.
My, oh, my… Folks gather round! A major company whose CEO’s last name is “Cole” hires a guy for its representative Santa Claus who looks like the 1930’s Santa Claus, property of Coca Cola – “Coke”. And all of us… worldwide… to this very day… religiously… still pass the same torch from generation to generation.
But our generation is evolutionary! We keep walking while texting towards the third decade of the 21st-century with our wireless headphones on because seeing and listening in life is for the backward-looking.
