Thriller

A creature that lurks in the shadows will terrorise a family that is already torn apart.

Succesful scary moments, but formulaic as a whole. The Boogeyman cuts right to it! Its first act conveys the horror as well as the drama, sets the pace, and warns you as to 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 at all). 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 that is called “Boogeyman” can not really 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 horror as well as the physical. 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): https://kaygazpro.com/2021/01/26/the-dark-and-the-wicked-2020-horror/, I most highly recommend it. I would watch anything with her in it.

Thank you for reading!

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Hellbender (2021): Horror

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): Action/Adventure/Crime

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 have, 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): Drama/Horror

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 that is 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 that can capture 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 for the human mind chaos – must be seen by every horror fan!

Thank you for reading!

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Reality (2023): Drama

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 up suspense and cinematic realism! Reality is a pleasant surprise to Contemporary Hollywood. HBO and writer/director Tina Satter, get access to the transcript of the FBI, 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 that’s missing is missing from your screen or speakers, too. A risky but highly effective way of making a docudrama.

I have extensively spoken about the role of editing in building up suspense, and while most of the time I refer to metric montage or the amount of information revealed from cut to cut, here, something else is going on: 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 and fuel 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 very 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.

Thank you for reading!

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Women Talking (2022): Drama

In 2010, women of an isolated religious community gathered together to decide their faith as well as their children’s.

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 frames those performances in a spectacular manner. So, from a filmmaking point of view, it is a great achievement.

My objections lie with the narrative itself. I am not aware of the real 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 has 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 define if you’re going to love it or loathe it. I did neither, but due to how arguments and counter-arguments are structured, I most certainly found it 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 just do more of the former rather than the latter.

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A Dark Song (2016): Drama/Fantasy/Horror

A woman who wants to find closure goes down a very dark path with unpredictable consequences.

You have never seen more a elaborative and thorough preparation for something that could not sound, seem, and 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 both Steve Oram and Catherine Walker enhance that pseudorealism.

As the ritual progresses, inevitably, one question will constantly be coming to your mind: Is it working? A subsequent question then 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, whether you are a believer or not, you wouldn’t probably dare to perform. The ending is like anything you ever expected, so if you are going to find it exciting, thrilling, boring, or nonsensical cannot be predicted. All I can tell you is that will get your attention.

Highly recommended for every horror fan out there (with patience). Definitely worth your while!

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Kotoko (2011): Drama/Horror

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 the hint of the adverse media and how that may affect, or even define people’s lives. There is a message there that is not to be discounted.

Last Sentinel (2023): Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller

In the near 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 of it. 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 a couple of serious 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!

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P.S. Hope was the last thing left in Pandora’s box…

Skinamarink (2022): Horror

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, and topics such as perception, childhood, and memory.

Should you not turn it off after a few minutes and stay till the very end, try and 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…

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P.S. Well-played by Shudder to produce such a film!

SPOILERS

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): Drama/Horror/Mystery

A family of fur trappers is threatened by a wolf, but the real threat is nothing they have ever encountered before.

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): Comedy/Drama

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 them films that 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 cynically respond to the obviousness.

Following up on that, The Middle Man expresses thoughts that all of us 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 is going to lead you; where and how the hero’s journey is going to end. To the point that you will philosophise 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, and 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 you way past the end credits. Interestingly, something similar I encountered in the previous film I reviewed, Dual (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/2023/04/25/dual-2022-comedy-drama-sci-fi/

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P.S. Gary! This review is definitely for you, mate!

Dual (2022): Comedy/Drama/Sci-fi

After receiving a terminal diagnosis, a woman decides to clone herself, but when she realises she is not actually 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 a number of levels. At times, it is cut and dry, and other times, it balances between intentional and unintentional. What enhances it is the lack of emotional response, mostly by Sarah, but also by 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 “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): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/02/01/the-art-of-self-defense-2019-action-comedy-crime/. Yet another film that focuses on martial arts, without taking them seriously, to the point that actually questions their existence.

While there is darkness hovering 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!

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*At least, we know it was shot in Finland.

Moloch (2022): Horror/Mystery

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, whose acting is charismatic, and her beauty astounding.

Moloch has a lot of thrills to offer. The opening sequence, the house invasion, the lift, the theatrical/feike’s myth, and the events that take place, 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): Horror/Mystery/Thriller

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. There are filmmakers in Hollywood that 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, then break them, and, finally, don’t 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 as a result of thinking that the films I was about to watch would be, at least, decent. But I have some really good ones brewing, so stay tuned.

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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): https://kaygazpro.com/2021/01/05/ready-or-not-2019-comedy-horror-mystery/

Children of the Corn (2020): Horror

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), but Shudder and co-writer/director Kurt Wimmer will make you sigh in disbelief and ask yourselves if Stephen King had anything to say about this. Wimmer tried to dumb it down and verbally explicate what was written as a mystery and left it open to interpretation in 1977. I wish I could really recommend it to anyone, but I can’t.

Anyway, a few years ago, in an attempt to answer why children had been used in horror films over the decades and find their role in them, I interviewed the amazing child psychologist Michelle Satchwell who provided me with answers I shared back then and I am urging you to visit or revisit now: https://kaygazpro.com/2020/09/09/kids-source-of-evil-vs-source-of-resolution/. 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): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/03/23/the-innocents-2021-drama-horror-mystery/

As aforementioned, real shame! Some films should be left alone as they are products of their era. And if the filmmakers are not willing to crack a lot of 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.

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P.S. It is sad because Kurt Wimmer is the writer/director of the amazing Equilibrium (2002).

Toga (2023): Comedy/Drama

Seven years after “Upstate Story”, Ellis looks back at his life, wondering where it’s 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 what your mental state is. 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): https://kaygazpro.com/2021/08/17/upstate-story-2018-drama/, watch Toga to see where the hero’s journey ends. If you haven’t… watch both!

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P.S. You even get British rednecks! Brilliant!

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 drops the bar straight away. For starters, the characters are telling 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 couple of 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 bad (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 negatively criticising it more. 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…

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P.S. You even get British rednecks! Brilliant!

I’ll Take Your Dead (2018): Horror

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, and that’s what makes 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): Thriller

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 that 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, or 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): https://kaygazpro.com/2021/01/24/run-hide-fight-2020-action-thriller/. 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 that mourn the people they lost, and they have the audacity to produce such films, to state what exactly?

After Shut In, I vow to not watch any other film of theirs. If I knew from the start this was one of their films, 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 you 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.

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The Pale Blue Eye (2022): Crime/Horror/Mystery

A renowned detective with a dramatic past is hired to solve a mysterious murder and enlists a young cadet and aspiring poet called 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): Horror

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. What’s more, 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 lead eventually to funny moments, and it is unclear how the filmmakers intended to make the audience feel. Having seen and admired Men (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/06/29/men-2022-drama-horror-sci-fi/ I totally 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 and 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.

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P.S. It is interesting how Kristian Nairn accepted an incredibly similar role to the one he had in Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019).

Cocaine Bear (2023): Comedy/Thriller

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 been 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 that has to do with 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 when Banks leaves politics aside, she can do miracles. She’s a great actress and an equally great filmmaker. Extra credits go to the VFX team that 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, with brilliant and undying performances for all of us to remember. And 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.

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P.S. The film was shot entirely in Ireland!

Monos (2019): Adventure/Drama/Thriller

A group of teenage guerillas who belong to a shadowy organisation, hold a female doctor hostage, not knowing that heavy military forces are coming to her rescue.

Allegorical, brutal, and nerve-racking! In my previous review, Plane (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/2023/03/02/plane-2022-action-adventure-thriller/, I made a specific reference to the lack of realism in both the traditional military operation and guerilla warfare – despite the film’s other qualities. If you want to see what it could potentially look like, watch Monos! Writer Alexis Dos Santos and writer/director Alejandro Landes heavily invest in the realism of a group of youths and their isolation (hence the title that means “alone”, in Greek), making you wonder if you are actually watching a docudrama. Mica Levi’s soundtrack enhances smoothly the already powerful visuals and the editing team’s cuts flow the story naturally, connecting time and space in a way that it feels like you are actually there, observing like an omniscient narrator. Having said that, pay attention to the montage in the end and the way it constructs the group’s advancement. Except for Mosises Aria, the rest of the kids are not actors and this adds to the aforementioned realism, but I found it shocking that Julianne Nicholson (Doctora), who’s also an associate producer, performed her own stunts. All of them! Acting masterclass!

While it’s loosely based on William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” (1963), it isn’t. “Lord of the Flies”, and Monos are addressed to different audiences. I’ll do a separate review of the former and explain certain differences, in the near future. For now, watch this masterpiece and experience a totally different perspective of life as seen through the eyes of people who have experienced the world in a way we wish we never have to.

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P.S. If past the end credits, you are still wondering about Rambo’s gender, you are meant to.

Plane (2022): Action/Adventure/Thriller

A pilot is forced to land a plane full of passengers on a remote hostile island ruled by rebels and to use the help of a dangerous man to find a way out of it.

Predictable, but very much suspenseful and enjoyable! So, let’s keep it simple. You meet captain Brodie Torrance (Gerald Butler), the diverse passengers get on board, you meet them too, you see their quirks and foibles already, you then meet Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) and you get ready for a… really bumpy ride.

Now, I don’t know anything about the technicalities of aviation or the circumstances under which crash landings can be possible, probable, feasible, or however you want to call it, but it’s shot and edited properly, in a manner that will get your attention – Butler immensely helps in that. From personal experience, I can tell you that the military operation is pure Hollywood. Nothing plays out that fast or that organised with so little information. Again though, it’s quite convincing the way it’s been portrayed – especially the stand-off sequence – and, as an audience, that’s all you need to know. In addition, the first attack on the captain, the protracted shot that follows the uncut action, is impressive. Ultimately, the sniper rocks, and Gaspare rules!

It’s a shame the director of Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), Jean-François Richet, and Lionsgate don’t take chances. On one hand, they invest in the captain’s realistic responses (till the very end), but, on the other, they lose it at the hostage situation and the brutality of the rebels. I guess it’s fun for everyone in the family over the age of fifteen, but an R-rated version would be really intriguing. Enjoy it regardless, though! It’s the harmless entertainment we need nowadays.

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Blood (2022): Horror/Thriller

A nurse, and mother of two children, finds herself in a terrible position when her son gets bitten by their dog, infecting him in a way she has never encountered before.

Flawed, but pseudorealistic and suspenseful. Starts off as a standard American horror in an unreasonably huge, old, creaky house where anything can go awfully wrong. Well, something does go awfully wrong, but it doesn’t have to do with the house. Actually, until the inciting incident, the dog’s biting, all of it seems a bit too American, but brace yourselves as it gets scary. Dramatic and scary! Will Honley’s script is tight, but director Brad Anderson and Michelle Monaghan make these dramatic and scary scenes as solid as they come.

Watch out for the pace and build-up! See, from the moment Jess realises what is happening, how she reacts, and how it escalates. Questions such as: “How long can this go on?” and “How is this going to end?” will fill up your mind. Now, the nature of the script presents a tremendous obstacle for both the writer and the director: to make the audience empathise with a mother that would do anything for her child – moral, immoral, illegal, etc – and then make them deal with the fact that “anything” is actually more than they can handle. Which one of her actions will tip the scales and to which side?

What Honley has done differently is to offer you a dramatic and humanistic approach to a “disease” that you have seen before in other horror sub-genres, but he and Anderson only hint at it; they let you speculate while keeping you on the edge of your seat. What also needs to be addressed is the excellent casting: Other than Monaghan, Skeet Ulrich, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, and Skylar Morgan Jones deliver the dark performances the narrative requires.

Blood has a beautiful rhythm and is inundated with eerie wide shots, meaningful close-ups, and disturbing Dutch angles. Stick till the very end that holds, literally, no punches! Again, flawed in parts, but a good cinematic experience overall.

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Resurrection (2022): Crime/Drama/Horror

A single mother and successful executive starts gradually losing her mind when a mysterious man from her past appears out of the blue.

Intense and captivating! I walked right into it, knowing nothing about it. Rebecca Hall’s acting and her character, Margaret, compete to get your attention. Is Margaret that compelling or is Hall so freaking good? And while you’re wondering that, the appearance of the mysterious man, the one and only Tim Roth, escalates the suspense to the extreme. Who is he? What has he done to her? What is he doing to her? What is he going to do to her?

But when you make it to Margaret’s disturbing monologue, take a break for a second – actually 8 minutes, stop asking questions, and pay attention. A great director knows when to cut or not. In dialogue, they know when to cut from the addresser to the addressee. They know their actors’/actresses’ abilities and trust them – and that extends to Grace Kaufman (Abbie). Writer/director Andrew Semans goes above and beyond and creates a psychological thriller that delves into trauma, manipulation, and their implications and throws you off your comfort zone. He lets Hall, Roth, and Kaufman unfold their talent and paces his film eerily and methodically.

It’s interesting, we may think we know someone and admire their confidence and want to be like them but little do we know. More interestingly, we may think we know ourselves, but, one day, we might realise that we have forgotten how our actual face looks, buried deep underneath the innumerable facades we’ve put on over the years…

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P.S. Speaking of disturbing 8-minute monologues, a similarly unsettling one is Mia Goth’s in Pearl (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/2023/01/06/pearl-2022-horror/ Remember… a good director knows!

Baby Ruby (2022): Drama/Thriller

When a young woman becomes a mother, her world starts falling apart and the line between what’s real and what isn’t keeps constantly blurring.

Intense, dark, and surrealistic! There is this slight paranoia in the first act. That something has happened, something is happening or something is about to happen – altogether. While pondering that, it starts feeling like something has happened to Jo (Noémie Merlant), or something is happening to her, or something will happen, and she is going to cause it – to herself or others. Writer/director Bess Wohl and editor Jin Lee deliberately confuse the audience with the way the story unfolds, the jump cuts, and the montage sequences, making them unsure if it’s Jo, the baby, everyone around them, or a concoction of everything and everyone. In the second act, that slight paranoia peaks, and only towards the end it starts steadily and gradually clearing up, revealing what is happening and what Jo thinks is happening. I’ll leave that for you to figure out, though.

Directorial debut for Bohl and the way she handles her brilliant actors, Noémie Merlant, Kit Harington, Jayne Atkinson, and Meredith Hagner, and her editing – when to cut, what kind of montage to use, etc – is remarkable. More importantly, though, she manages to start, develop, and finish a narrative that delves into a fear only women in that position can understand. For whoever is or whoever has to live with a person in that position is just a descent into madness. I, not being in that position, found it a tad excessive or surrealistic, but maybe that was the goal. Having worked for the NHS, though, and seen some post-natal mental illnesses, I can not say with certainty if it actually is. And just by wondering and asking relevant people about it after the post-credits have scrolled down and days after watching it, it shows how much it is worth watching.

All I can say is that it’ll be worth your while. Actually, it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat while making you experience every family’s happiest moment through the lens of a lurking darkness that can consume everyone. Especially women.

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Babylon (2022): Comedy/Drama/History

The transition from the silent to the sound era slowly brings the frenetic and debaucherous Hollywood lifestyle to an end, affecting everyone in the industry in ways they had never fathomed before.

A wild and extravagant cinematic wonder! Damien Chazelle is a freaking genius. He knows what to write, how to write it, what to shoot, and how to shoot it. His sense of rhythm, editing, depth of field, comedy/drama/music/musical, even horror, and his actors’ abilities turn everything he touches into gold. Every sequence carries its own priceless cinematic values that are given to you through sheer acting, photography, and editing. Babylon is a modern masterpiece and one of the most beautiful and difficult films seen in recent years. A love and hate letter to what has been and could never be repeated after it was done.

Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Diego Calva, Jovan Adeppo, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Li Jun Li, Eric Roberts, Samara Weaving, Tobey Maguire (also, producer), Olivia Wilde, Phoebe Tonkin, and the rest of the cast give their 100%, holding nothing back! Similar praise deserves the rest of the crew that seems to have worked to perfection like a Swiss watch to make this top-tier level film happen. No matter what I or anyone else says, will not add to its superb quality. Babylon is the absolute must-watch and must be in everyone’s collection! Like every other Chazelle film, it knows no boundaries when it comes to evoking all the intended emotions.

A couple of years ago, at a conference, I extensively elaborated on Chazelle and the editing behind his films (always with editor Tom Cross); the average length shot, when he cuts and when he lets the shots “breathe”, and how his editing creates meaning by showing not telling, and most certainly not giving away. Everything I have said about Whiplash (2014) and La La Land (2016) firmly applies here, too. How much did the Academy notice Babylon? There was a time that I would really care about who they nominated and awarded, but I grew up and grew out of it. The Academy is meant to reward the filmmakers and the filmmaking techniques, but lobbies get in the way, rewarding politics while constantly swapping with one another the facades of hypocrisy. Furthermore, the fact that Babylon didn’t manage to find an audience means nothing. Be it the too many subgenres, the marketing (or lack thereof), its duration, or the time it came out, it doesn’t matter. All it matters is that you watch it.

If Hollywood’s lifestyle back then was worse than it is today, it is up for debate. It is a phantasmagorical business that elevates talents as easily as it chews them up and spits them out.

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P.S. Most characters are based on actual actors/actresses and filmmakers of the time.

P.S. The similarities in the narrative between Babylon and La La Land are meant to be striking. Look into it if you are interested while keeping “nostalgia” in mind.

Sick (2022): Horror/Thriller

During the pandemic, two young women go to a lake house to quarantine only to realise that they are not alone.

Flawed but suspenseful. It’s been three years since the pandemic’s nightmare started, and films like Sick feel already something between outdated and voyeuristically familiar. Let me explain…

Not many of us or people we know have been assaulted by serial killers who asked if you wanna party or what your favourite film is right before they attempted to kill you. Having gone to the supermarket, though, to get toilet paper and finding nada has happened to all of us, even to the ones who caused the problem. So, once we have identified ourselves with that problematic situation (the guy at the supermarket), it feels weird to watch a film about it. It’s like watching people getting assaulted under similar conditions that we have experienced and that adds a weird pseudo-realism to it. Makes sense? Maybe, it’s me. Anyway, I move on…

Writers Kevin Williamson and Catelyn Crabb and director John Hyams pace really well this house-invasion horror that goes over the top about the aforementioned situation that we’ve all been through, one way or another. I mean, way over the top. Hyams did the amazing Alone (2020): https://kaygazpro.com/2020/09/27/alone-2020-thriller/ with the also amazing Marc Menchaca and while Sick is not Alone, it’s still impressive. The best parts of the film are the tracking shots and the clear-cut John Wick-like (2014) action. Hyams knows what to frame and what to leave outside the frame. These on-screen and off-screen choices build up immensely the suspense and glue you to your seats. Furthermore, Gideon Adlon (Parker) and Bethlehem Million (Miri) do a spot-on job as victims of this invasion.

Ultimately, just like Scream (1996) – also written by Williamson – Sick‘s motives are purposefully kind of satyric or comedic, expressing the paranoia of what we went through not so long ago (see the lack of toilet paper above) that will go down in history as one of the most head-scratching buffooneries of the humankind.

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Petite Maman (2021): Drama/Fantasy

A young girl helps her parents clean her mother’s childhood house when she meets another young girl in the forest that looks exactly like her.

Original script, unique execution! There is no reason to fully elaborate here, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. Writer/director Céline Sciamma explores the world in a way that a child only could and, gently and with imagination aplenty, she distinguishes it from the adults’ world. The beauty of her filmmaking lies in its simplicity and honest intentions. Forget the cinema of impressions, the “in-your-face” close-ups, the rapid editing, and the trying-to-find-plot-holes mentality. Sciamma and the real-life twins Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz, in just an hour and ten minutes, will manage to get your undivided attention, by inviting you to a world that offers a second chance, understanding, and explication that defies analysis. Surely, the ending will have you thinking. The more the end credits scroll down, the more unreasonable but heartfelt answers will come to your mind.

Very simple but extremely well-thought premise that is brilliantly elaborated and executed. Remember, the restrictive narrative presents the world through an 8-year-old girl’s eyes who only aims to understand the world around her. After all, aren’t we all?

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The Chalk Line (2022): Horror/Mystery/Thriller

A couple that is trying to have kids stumbles upon a young girl with partial mutism and the mystery about who she is and where she came from begins.

Flawed, but gripping! Without wasting any time, it cuts right to it. At first, it seems quite disjointed as if writer Isabel Peña and writer/director Ignacio Tatay are rushing to be done with each sequence. But then, the fast-paced editing moves the fast story forward even faster as if you are watching it in fast forward. And as if that’s not enough, every single shot’s internal rhythm – mostly medium or close-up tracking shots – seems so fast because everyone is moving fast in it. I’m sure intensifying the narrative was the reason behind those decisions, but, honestly, my eyes started tripping.

OK, there is some really good news as well though. The story itself, based on actual events, is brilliant. Peña has developed an original, suspenseful, and scary plot (the girl’s appearance out of nowhere) over a realistic and dramatic subplot (the insufferable pain of not being able to have kids) that has been psychologically and physically ripping people apart since the dawn of time. Tatay should have paced it more patiently, leaving the shots to “breathe” more and the audience to “absorb” the happiness and sadness, to get carried away by the suspense, and to be able to tell the difference.

There is an impactful and intense climax that definitely deserves your time and attention. What’s more, the wonderful Elena Anaya (Paula) does an incredible job as a woman with a maternal instinct who would do anything to protect someone as if she was hers. Pablo Molinero (Simón) beams an underlying sorrowful darkness next to her as well.

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The Eternal Daughter (2022): Drama/Mystery

A writer spends a few days with her mother at a secluded Victorian hotel, but the past evokes emotions she never expected.

Atmospheric, eerie at times, truly Hitchcockian, but awfully slow. It is a very intriguing story, but a rather non-challenging execution. For starters, while it is a noble idea to have Tilda Swinton playing both daughter and mother, the fact that producer/writer/director Joanna Hogg couldn’t place them in the same shot (not till the very end, anyway) made the dialogue editing look like a ping pong match. Overall though, the film’s great shots compensate for the unimaginably slow pace and rhythm and while the purpose is justified, you might find it difficult to stay with it until the end. There is a steady pace throughout all three acts, something that provides a sense of realism, and while there is a denouement, yes, the path Hogg paves towards that denouement will seriously challenge your patience and ability to focus. Ultimately, it is a heavily depressing concept that does not aim to cheer you up. And this is what you sign up for; an hour and a half of Kafkaesque gloom. Personally, I very much enjoyed it by being sucked into the story and the dark drama it carries, but I find it difficult to recommend it.

This is yet another A24 film that I will praise, as well as their collaboration with BBC, and producer Martin Scorsese. There is an audience for such films, and they aim right at it. The key to just accepting it for what it is is to grasp the feeling of loneliness, the burden of guilt, and the impact of loss.

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Piggy (2022): Drama/Horror/Thriller

An obese girl who gets constantly bullied witnesses a crime that will complicate her life even further.

Challenging, thought-provoking, and unique! Bullies… Who likes bullies?! Would you like yourself if you were one? Would you even know if you were one? Then, who likes an outsider? How would you deal with it if you were one? Piggy succeeds where the vast majority of Hollywood horrors fail. It dares to challenge society and youth in a way that very few filmmakers have. Writer/director Carlota Pereda disregards how the masses might feel and gives it to you raw, just the way you don’t like it. Her horror/drama reflects the ugliness of modern times through a mirror that reveals an extremely unpleasant image of ourselves.

Piggy tackles bullying but also battles the actions towards it or lack thereof. On one hand, the act of bullying or doing nothing to prevent it from happening is abhorrent, and, on the other hand, taking drastic action raises significant questions as to what the limit is. Piggy shifts the moral compass time and time again, placing the audience in a very uncomfortable position. You will not stop thinking about how “bad” the “right” way feels and how “good” the “wrong” way does. Ultimately, what is moral and legal, and the disorientating line between them will be occupying your thoughts while the story painfully advances. What we would like to happen, how it should happen, and what it actually happens will really cloud your judgment. And all that to a wild, climactic, and controversial ending.

While all cast and crew deserve praise for this beautifully ugly film, Laura Galán deserves the biggest round of applause for portraying such a character with such charisma. Congratulations to Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing, and everyone else who co-funded this film.

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M3gan (2022): Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller

A robotics engineer designs a life-like doll that turns out to be stylishly sadistic and murderous.

Noble intentions, but awfully formulaic execution. You can’t get more Hollywood than that so, I will just keep it simple. I’ll start with the positives: Allison Williams (Gemma) is always great. She’s an excellent actress and gives amazing performances no matter what she’s in. Then, M3gan as a concept is the new Chucky – Child’s Play (1988). Don’t expect it to become a “classic” though despite her cool killing mode. Finally, Violet McGraw (Cady) is not one of them annoying child actors. She’s actually really good.

Now, for the negatives: Firstly, the character arc is way too obvious from the very beginning. At first, Gemma can’t even take care of her plants, and then you know that M3gan will wreak havoc and she and her niece will come closer and have learned “valuable” lessons in life – can’t get more obvious than that. Secondly, the underlying drama, the parents’ loss, the inciting incident that sets the cogs in motion, has been severely epidermically approached. Actually, that was the part that put me off the most. Finally, using montages to advance the story forward is the easy way out. It was great seeing Rocky (1976) becoming a better boxer in five minutes back then, but now? Hmmm… Not so much.

Producers Jason Blum and James Wan, respectable veterans in the horror genre, have nothing much to offer other than bloody entertainment. Director Gerald Johnstone, the one behind the great Housebound (2014) seems like he just had to work with whatever he had to work. Aleka Cooper’s script was meant to be bloodier and gorier, but again, the producers noted how well the trailer did on freaking Tik Tok and decided to water it down and address it to teenagers. Fair enough, at least now you know who it is meant for. Both Blum and Wan have interesting projects lined up, so I look forward to them.

So, there are positives and there are negatives. Is it worth watching? Sure, why not? But mostly, due to M3gan’s bat-$hit crazy artificial psychopathy. If I were to pitch that script, the tagline would be something along the lines of “Annabelle (2014) gets an upgrade”.

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Hatching (2022): Drama/Fantasy/Horror

A young girl finds and keeps a dead bird’s egg, but when it hatches, a horror beyond her imagination starts growing.

You don’t know what you sign up for! Meet the family… mother: detestable, father: poor sod, brother: mama’s boy and spoiled brat, Tinja: victim of the “perfect family” and the true anti-heroine of the story (or is it, villain?). Once that’s established, the awkwardly looking and sounding gigantic bird spices things up. Admittedly, it doesn’t seem much, and its role, at first, is quite questionable and awkward, but the way the narrative escalates the awkwardness is replaced by an unexpected horror that leads the story in an unpredictable direction. How so?

Interestingly, the mother, you know, the one you instantly hated, you will abhor later on. Her boyfriend? You’ll empathise with him, even knowing what’s happening. The father and son are as bad, and Tinja becomes one of the most interesting child characters you’ve seen in recent years. The last time I got that impressed was watching The Innocents (2021): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/03/23/the-innocents-2021-drama-horror-mystery/.

Hint and tiny spoiler… I believe there is a moral behind it, and that has to do with the externalisation of inner human monstrosity, and its connection to the alter ego. The obviousness of the father/son relationship might be displayed on purpose by co-writer/director Hanna Bergholm only to throw you off and hide the subliminal similarities of the mother/daughter one. I’m sure you can find more online about it, but my recommendation is to watch it, contemplate it, and only then do a “compare and contrast” with what you thought of it. IFC Midnight rarely disappoints and always offers a fresh perspective to the genre.

Excellent performances by Siiri Solalinna (Tinja) and Sophia Heikkilä (mother)! Also, excellent photography and editing!

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Prey for the Devil (2022): Horror/Thriller

A demonic possession will challenge a nun’s faith, but also her promiscuous past.

Decent concept, but too formulaic. Right off the bat, both photography and acting promise a good scare. Then the statistics show up, and I pause for a minute to research if they are accurate. They aren’t. As Hollywood tends to do, it just bends truths and facts, to confuse the audience, so they don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. Great narrative technique, but not when presented as “facts”. Come on…

Regardless, the suspense and the thrill work quite well for the most part, it is the horror that doesn’t and the first exorcism cannot hide that. Certain Hollywood producers cannot escape the formulaic and the cliché. They will use, for instance, jump scares – which is only a tool – over and over only because the scripts they are handling are grasping at straws. Remember, “flashy” editing, rhythmic, and metric montages can only do so much to advance the story. The same applies to visual effects. The story needs to flow convincingly on its own.

Robert Zappia’s script tries hard to become innovative, but it doesn’t do well. On the other hand, Daniel Stamm, the experienced director behind the gritty 13 Sins (2014), and The Last Exorcism (2014) seems to have his hands tight up. Lionsgate used to be ahead of its game, but not for years. They just love, as said above, the formulaic and the cliché. Jacqueline Byers (Ann) is a great actress, but a victim of a narrative that is doomed to fail.

You know what I would like as an audience? Pseudo-realism! No soppy montages, no jump cuts, and no demons who do whatever the poor narrative demands them to do just to make it to the end credits. I would like a suspense build-up that leads to a balanced drama/horror narrative, addressed to people that I can relate to. And all that, accompanied by filmmaking techniques that will not constantly remind me that this is a film, especially a Hollywood one. Both 13 Sins and The Last Exorcism do that. How can I properly relate to these characters? Once again, everyone could have been an underwear model. It’s like, literally, all Calvin Klein models quit and decided to become members of the clergy.

Wait for the sequel of The Exorcist (2023) around Halloween time. Hopefully, that will blow our socks off.

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Calibre (2018): Drama/Thriller

A weekend of quality time turns into a living nightmare for two friends in a remote Scottish village.

Low budget, high quality, excellent deliverance! Absolutely captivating! Two friends go hunting in the countryside at a time when everything works out well for them. What can go wrong, right? Calibre is the epitome of how one’s life can descend into darkness right before it makes it to hell. A hell, no religion has prepared you for.

I won’t tell you much, but I’ll tell you this: it’s not an easy watch. It offers a soul-wrenching realism that will unavoidably place you in Vaughn and Marcus’ shoes, but especially Vaughn’s. It will make you question what you would have done if you were them and will challenge your emotions and principles. On the other hand, you will be placed in Logan’s shoes too. Keep this in mind, a remote local community’s sense of justice might be different to anyone who has not been born or raised in a place feeling forgotten and abandoned by the rest of the world. Watch it and see what happens. Feel the suspense escalating by the minute as well as the psychological torment.

Netflix couldn’t get this more right! Writer/director Matt Palmer puts together a flawless drama/thriller, offering a suspense masterclass. Jack Lowden, Martin McCann, Tony Curran, and the rest of the cast deliver exceptional performances, amplifying the already heightened suspense and drama. My advice is to read nothing about it! Turn the lights off, put Netflix on, choose it, and experience the horror of consequences.

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P.S. That was the second time I watched it and I felt the tension even more.

Nanny (2022): Drama/Horror/Thriller

Wanting to bring her son to America, a Senegalese woman becomes a nanny for a wealthy family while her mind plays horrific tricks on her.

Well-acted, but awfully problematic. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was not sitting well with Nanny. So, keep in mind that it is predominantly a drama and not a horror. Therefore, you may agree that the dramatic plot should be supported by a horrific subplot. Well, it does that much, so the question is, does it in an appealing manner? In a way that hooks you?

Aisha is an overly relatable character, especially for those who know about migration, and Anna Diop absolutely nails her part, adding to the drama that slowly and painfully unfolds. Hence, her story starts from sad only to end up… well, you’ll see. But the snippets of horror don’t add up as they find it difficult to place themselves in the story. The constant use of eerie music when they try to do so is their only way of infiltrating, and writer/director Nikyatu Jusu feels the need to have an “in-your-face” approach. That becomes a direct contradiction because what is happening to Aisha lurks under the surface and the filmmaking techniques that are meant to subliminally deliver her uneasiness couldn’t make it more obvious as if you otherwise wouldn’t get it. You would. And you will probably figure out from the very beginning what the drama is about. In psychological dramas, thrillers, and horrors the action is divided between on and off-screen, carefully chosen by the director what is happening where. Jusu places everything on-screen, projecting confusion rather than mystery, and the plot and subplot become indistinguishable.

Jusu’s strong suit is the use of Diop’s incredible acting skills, and, consequently, she solely becomes the reason to watch it. The film itself, unfortunately, till the very end, fails to decide what it wants to make you feel. Needless to say that the ending is a narratological mess that claims a “fatality” victory over the already visually wounded audience. Shame, really…

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VFW (2019): Action/Crime/Horror

In a not-so-distant dystopian future, a group of veterans barricades themselves in a bar to save a young woman from a drug dealer and his goonies.

Hail the man who paved the path… the great John Carpenter! Director Joe Begos honours Carpenter and Grindhouse films with a modern low-budget, gory, bloody, dystopian horror that will take you back to the 80s’ fun the movies had to offer. Great photography, great editing that defies time, space, and continuity errors, great practical make-up effects, great synthwave music that accompanies the film throughout, and great acting by Stephen Lang, William Saddler, Fred Williamson, and Martin Kove – all acting veterans that Begos gives them a chance to work together.

Just for your information, as per IMDb, the film’s budget was meant to be $20M, but when purchased by Cinestate/Fangoria, the production company that made it, it was cut down to a six-figure number. What I want to say with this is that movies are categorised as entertainment, but they belong to the film industry. It’s a business. A really tough one. So, production, management, marketing, distribution, and numerous other “gatekeepers” that you may have never heard of will influence in innumerable ways the film’s final cut. Back in the 60s, dealing with “auteurism” was illuminating and innovative. Now, nobody wants to hear it.

Back to the film, there is nothing to examine, really. VFW works as it is, I wouldn’t change anything. It’s not Devil’s Rejects (2005), but who cares. Whatever flaw you find, and you will, is highly entertaining and, potentially, meant to be found. Just forget your problems and enjoy for an hour and a half. There is enough bitterness out there for a thousand lifetimes.

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P.S. Not long after the film’s wrap, Cinestate was shut down because one of the producers was ultimately revealed to be the Harvey Weinstein of indie cinema. Fear not though, other pieces of shit like him who knew all about it and covered it up went on to work for other production companies whose films most or some of us have thoroughly enjoyed. Yeah…

The Menu (2022): Comedy/Horror/Thriller

Upon invitation, a group of elitists travels to an isolated island where the chef has prepared a menu beyond anyone’s imagination.

Spicy, sweet & sour, and easy to digest! Right-o… let’s start with the basics! If cooking is your fetish and you are familiar with posh recipes, you will engage quickly. If, on the other hand, you are as irrelevant as I am about fancy foods and restaurants and you quickly make pasta for three days just before you rush to work, then you’ll just find it funny, and meaningless, and you will only empathise with Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) – and you won’t even know half of it. But brace yourselves, that is until course number… I am not telling you. This is where it gets interesting for both parties; the relevant and the irrelevant ones. The comedy and the mystery start blending in, and shocking revelations will glue you to your seats. The chef’s dark surrealistic psychopathy moves the story forward in an entirely unexpected direction. As further disclosures about the… menu will not be made, all you need to know is that surprises, pleasant or otherwise, do not stop till the very end.

Writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy and director Mark Mylod’ The Menu, like so many films of Searchlight Pictures, is the fresh breath that Hollywood needs. I’ve used that expression before with production companies such as HBO and A24. It’s like slowly and gradually Hollywood reinvents itself, producing films like this one, Pearl (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/2023/01/06/pearl-2022-horror/ and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/27/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-2015-comedy-drama-romance/ while still making, of course, superficial and somewhat insulting films of the likes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/02/23/texas-chainsaw-massacre-2022-crime-horror-thriller/

Anyway, the narrative is deep, intricate, and twisted. See, for example, the “Tantalus” name. Read about the myth and connect the dots appropriately. I’m sure there are connections between the chef’s menu and the haves and have-nots, but the food industry is not my specialty. Also, look out for the themes of idolisation and fanaticism and connect them to the innumerable people who watch shows like Gordon Ramsay’s. That will explain Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), but also the sous chefs’ behaviour and decisions.

Highly recommended to all fans who love the marriage between comedy and horror – and great acting.

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P.S. Will Ferrell is one of the producers.

P.P.S. John Leguizamo’s character is based on… Steven Seagal!

P.P.S. Why do you think producers keep hiring British actors to portray Americans? Interesting…

Why Indiana Jones 5 will be the most intriguing action/adventure of 2023

It seems that after every spectacular and exciting Indiana Jones, a somewhat dull or let-down follows. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) will be the former. While the plot is fairly unknown, the prediction does not derive only from the film’s trailer which is nostalgic and thrilling, but also from certain undeniable parameters.

Having left the ‘monster’ films behind him, it is known that Steven Spielberg won’t be sitting in the director’s chair this time and George Lucas will not be getting involved at all with the script. Fear not though as James Mangold is! The director behind films such as Copland (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), the incredibly underrated Identity (2003), and one of the best superhero adaptations Logan (2017) takes over, taking with him his Ford v Ferrari (2019) writers, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Furthermore, the one and only John Williams will compose for the last time the film’s score.

Though we don’t know yet who’s the foe and who’s the ally, the immensely diverse Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, John Rhys-Davies (yes, he’s back), Boyd Holbrook, Toby Jones, Thomas Kretschmann, and more, will join Indy in what could be his last adventure against the unknown – at least with Harrison Ford. It’s an incredible cast that, be it Nazis, divine judgment, aliens, or anything else will support him or plot against him throughout this journey.

Indiana Jones 5 expands the franchise once more 42 years after the Raider of the Lost Ark (1981), which would have been a round 40 if the pandemic hadn’t changed the world the way it did. So, what does that mean for the hero’s journey now? As briefly mentioned above, Indy has been against numerous known and unknown forces that always came in twos. After Nazis and the Ark of the Covenant, the Thuggee cult and the mystical stones, Nazis and the Holy Grail, and Soviets and Alien artifacts, it only remains to be seen who Indy is going to go against in 1960s America. What human and non-human forces will be combined to add to Professor Jones’ experiences? How will his nostalgic self react to the new extraordinary stimuli presented? What will this adventure mean for his character arc? What does the future hold for one of the longest-running franchises?

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny promises to give a fresh perspective to one of the most beloved heroes of all time. It promises laughter, nostalgia, and action for the whole family with a new cast and crew, but still under the watchful eye of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas who will act as producers and still with Harrison Ford as the titular hero. Spielberg and Lucas created a universe where the mystical and the realistic co-exist, bringing to life from biblical theories to extraterrestrial conspiracies. On June 30, buy your popcorn and soda, get comfy, and let the Dial of Destiny guide you to the unfamiliar and the unexpected…

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Village of the Damned (1995): Horror/Sci-fi/Thriller

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.

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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?!

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022): Comedy/Drama

A man’s obsession to find out why his best friend suddenly stopped talking to him spirals gradually out of control.

Funny, sad, nostalgic, and kinda heart-wrenching. Perfectly balanced, the drama goes hand in hand with the (dark) comedy in a small gossiping Irish society during yet another nasty civil war. The themes of hopelessness and helplessness prevail, characterising the two main heroes, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), leaving still some room though for the ostensibly inescapable loneliness that tortures Siobhán (Kerry Condon). The underdog of the entourage though, the one that gets life’s shortest straw, is no other than Dominic (Barry Keoghan). What, I believe, in this instance, writer/director’s Martin McDonagh brilliance is, is that all the characters above are experienced through the eyes of the villagers and each others’ (comedy), but also through their own eyes when they are alone and no one is watching (drama) and the striking difference and inevitable clash between the two can be experienced by the audience.

You may have heard of character-driven vs story-driven films; films that are driven by the actions of the characters vs films that are driven by events that set the cogs in motion, respectively. Upon explaining that difference to numerous people who watched it, I asked and everyone told me that The Banshees of Inisherin is a character-driven story because the heroes’ actions escalate the situation and move the story forward. While I agree with that, I will note that the story taking place, profusely, in April 1923, towards the end of that civil war, is not a coincidence. Therefore, I argue that it is a story-driven narrative and it is the war (and, maybe, the wars before it) that has mentally affected everyone the way it has. Not long after the film starts, Pádraic walks along the shore and turns around abruptly when he hears the bombings coming from the mainland. McDonagh stays on him, looking in that direction until he says: “Good luck to ye. Whatever it is you’re fightin’ about…” In its simplicity, this couldn’t be more heartbreaking. He doesn’t know who to say good luck to and he doesn’t know why either. He only knows how he feels about seeing his fellow countrymen kill one another. Respectively, everyone copes with that atrocity in their own secret or more obvious way. And Pádraic, the once optimistic and cheerful chap, gradually… well, you’ll see…

More often than not, I examine the way the filmmaking techniques interact with the film’s narrative, but then there are times that I just let it go. This will be one of them. I’ll tell you this, though: Expect a brilliant soundtrack, astonishing photography, tear-jerking acting, and a thought-provoking journey that will make you laugh as much as it will bring tears to your eyes.

As per McDonagh, “there was no other way for the story to end”. I’m sure there are people who agree as much as there are people who couldn’t agree less. The fact that he makes all of us contemplate it, agree, disagree, or even create our own endings in our heads shows how powerful his story is. An absolute must-watch!

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P.S. It already has and will keep rightfully claiming every award under the sun.

Troll (2022): Action/Adventure/Drama

A group of unorthodox people does everything in their power to stop an ancient creature from making it to Oslo.

Hollywood-style action/adventure that excites as much as it divides. The solid first act is the exciting part. Firstly, the child’s perspective plants the seed of faith, then the rapid editing builds up suspensefully the faith, and then the faith turns into a nightmare. Everyone’s disbelief, and the destruction the troll leaves in its path, but not its actual appearance, increase the suspense and maintain your attention until it actually appears and until the military operation against it begins. Somewhere there, the subplot surfaces, the troll becomes the reason the damaged father/daughter relationship gets a second chance, you get sucked into it, and then you remember that, oh yeah, there is a troll strolling somewhere.

The Norwegian military operation is blatantly stupid and doomed to fail as any Hollywood military operation is and everyone knows it beforehand. At least, it’s well-shot and edited so it will keep you glued. Unfortunately, but predictably, the same military bottomless buffoonery is infinitely amplified in the end, and one can only hope that the alternative will work. Every time I see these kinds of military operations, I get the feeling that there is an underlying message, something along the lines of ‘Hey! If that was not a mythical creature/alien/Jaeger/god/whatever, we would have kicked his a$$’ – a hint towards whatever country’s real-life potential enemies.

Anyway, without elaborating further, Roar Uthaug’s Troll is enjoyable. If you can overlook the Hollywood-style filming, and the rudimentary story and character development, the visuals are great, the audio is superb, the acting is conviencing, and the photography is effective. Above all, though, it is beautifully edited. Christoffer Heie and Jens Peder Hertzberg’s editing is what makes it so good despite the aforementioned flaws.

Enjoy it without over-thinking about it and you’ll be all right.

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White Noise (2022): Comedy/Drama/Horror

A family that constantly disagrees on every aspect of life has to escape a major catastrophe, something that will deepen their existential views even more.

Between Film studies that specialise in car crashes and Hitler studies that specialise in… well… Hitler, there is this family that doesn’t stop talking. Men, women, and children alike sound and act as if they came out of Shakespeare’s play or human testing for a new drug. No one speaks or behaves… naturally. Think of it as three unrelated or totally disjoined parts (at best) of the same theatrical that relies heavily on rhythmic montage sequences to match the film’s frenetic and unstoppable verbal diarrhea.

Without getting into too much detail, the comedic part is not comedic enough – maybe, sporadically humorous or caustic. You won’t find yourselves laughing over anything, really. The part that is meant to be dramatic is not really dramatic because of the head-scratching roots that cause the drama. Finally, the horror part comes late(r) to the party, but, even then, it doesn’t stay long, really. Everyone over-philosophising everything through never-ending verbosity leaves no room for processing all this information, and, consequently, developing the intended emotions. Other than that, it doesn’t really know what kind of film it wants to be and its focus is all over the place. Take, for example, the camp Daffodil exodus. Similar sequences of evacuation have been in the past a living nightmare for everyone experiencing catastrophic events, including the empathising audience. Now, compare that sequence to any of the escaping sequences of the War of the Worlds (2005). Any. Escaping. Sequence. The comparison’s outcome leads to parody, and so do these disconnected points of view on literally everything and nothing. Is this what writer/director Noah Baumbach aimed to do? A parody of the American family? A parody of American society? Is that what that pointless musical, in the end, is (not spoiling it, don’t worry)?

Think about it, what happens after the cloud is gone till the end of the film? Nothing. Nothing for absolutely no reason. While I haven’t read Don DeLillo’s novel, solely focusing on the film, leaving the survival mode of the second part behind, all you get in the third part is lyrical nothingness. Who was meant to be the target audience, in other words, who was meant to like it? Horror fans? Nope! People, who need a good laugh? Nope! Fans of existentialism (is there such an audience)? If I were to characterise it in one sentence, I would say that it is an exceptionally well-shot and well-acted bewilderment. Congrats to Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, and the rest of the cast who act so great for whatever reason.

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Pearl (2022): Horror

Pearl unleashes her dark side when she realises that her dream to become a star is crushed by the reality that she’ll get stuck on a farm.

Pearl starts off with antithetical notions. The extremely colourful scenery, the soundtrack’s joyful orchestra, the dream to become a movie star one day, and everything a classic Hollywood comedy/drama/romance represented in the early 20th century, such as The Wizard of Oz (1939), is offered to you in a slasher horror of today, a prequel of a bloodbath that only takes place in that era. So, what do you think is going to happen?

I have already spoken about X: https://kaygazpro.com/2022/04/29/x-2022-horror/. The film seems to have been ridiculously edited on purpose (to resemble the 70s?) and still made, arguably, last year’s best horror film. While such editing was not spotted in Pearl, what couldn’t be missed was the prolonged build-up; the reason why Pearl became the psychopathic murderer she is in X. While it is considerably less eventful than X, Mia Goth (also producer) steals the show. She absolutely nails her part. Not only with her brilliant 8-minute monologue, but throughout all three acts. She’s absolutely magnificent and producer, writer, and director Ti West sees it and pictures her as the star her character always dreamt of being.

Now, bear in mind that the script of Pearl had already been written before the filming of X started, and both films are produced by A24. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: The people in charge of A24 know what they are doing. They are ahead of the game and their vision is the new breath Hollywood needed. Think of them as the new HBO. They filmed two related horrors simultaneously, knowing beforehand that both they’ll be successful. Again… vision!

In a twisted and deranged manner, Pearl manipulates the early “Hollywoodland’s” dreamworld, visually sodomises it, and turns it into a nightmare! An absolute joy for every horror fan out there. And none of it would be possible if, other than Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, and Emma Jenkins-Purro didn’t give their 100% with their remarkable performances.

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P.S. As per IMDb, Tandi Wright learned how to speak German only for her role – she even fooled two German members of the crew.

P.P.S. To the specific online fan clubs: Before I found out about you, I thought of the same thing myself! You have my vote! To whoever studio mogul explores the idea of making a female version of Joker or a similarly twisted character, look no further! Mia Goth is here!

P.P.P.S. Look out! MaXXXine is coming out soon!

Thoroughbreds (2017): Comedy/Crime/Drama

Two diametrically opposite upper-class teenagers try to devise an intricate and sketchy plan.

Two amazing actresses in a quirky and unpredictable thriller. The slow-burn and verbose Chapter One patiently sets up the scenery and provides insight into who Amanda and Lily are, what they hide inside them, and what they can potentially unleash. This is where Chapter Two comes in and gives you a glimpse of that and provides the visual justification the crime needs to be committed – a little bit more fast-paced, admittedly, but not significantly. And you also get to know Tim, the accomplice. Chapter Three, the actual crime (?), is what carries the most suspense. Or is it? Chapter Four… actually, I am not telling you about Chapter Four.

Cory Finley has written and directed a deliberately “emotionless” or emotionally confusing (at best) film. From a directing point of view, the protracted shots are a visual feast. They thoroughly frame the action, leading the audience to what they think might happen or purposefully misleading them to what actually does. But what really holds the attention is Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy. They are remarkable, and they have fruitful careers in and outside of Hollywood. Their diversity is simply astonishing. Unfortunately, though, not long after the film’s wrap, Anton Yelchin tragically passed at the age of 27. The film is dedicated to his memory, and we surely and sorely miss him.

I recommend it to anyone who has patience with art. To anyone who knows how to follow the narrative and accept it for what it is and not what they would like it to be and to anyone who appreciates great acting. If you are going to like it or not, cannot be predicted. Regardless, I say have a go at it. I believe it’ll be worth your while.

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It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010): Comedy/Drama/Romance

A clinically-depressed teenager checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward and… a kind of funny story unfolds.

Based on Ned Vizzini’s homonymous novel and his actual brief hospitalisation in 2004, It’s Kind of a Funny Story is actually kinda funny the way it is told. While nothing is or should be funny, mind you that what you see is Vizzini’s reality and the way he perceived it at the time. Also, remember that the funniest comedies derive from the deepest dramas. And that’s what writers/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck brilliantly do, they beautifully bring out both. They feel Vizzini’s inner struggle, they endorse it, they respect it, and they bring out the didactic and sensitive side of it. Keir Gilchrist (Craig), Zach Galifianakis (Bobby), and Emma Roberts (Noelle) enter Vizzini’s world, and under the supervision of Boden and Fleck, bring tears as much as they form smiles. Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan, Zoë Kravitz, and Thomas Mann (who a few years later aced it in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, link below) do a great job in showing the lack of understanding the former people need to cope with the world. As a feel-good film, based on an extreme yet realistic situation, when asked towards the end how Craig feels about his release, he responds with what the takeaway of the film is; that he “can handle it”.

Sorrowfully though, eventually, Vizzini couldn’t. And, sadly, three years after the film’s release, he actually did what for so long had been going through his mind. But his admirable effort, strength, and will are what we need to keep in our minds.

With It’s Kind of a Funny Story, I conclude the list of some of my favourite comedies/dramas/romances that Hollywood has managed to hit the nail on the head. While I am not a huge fan of romances, I cannot not appreciate the efforts of the directors, writers, editors, cinematographers, actors, and all cast and crew that have contributed to making these films as amazing as they are. The rest of the list includes Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/27/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-2015-comedy-drama-romance/, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012): https://kaygazpro.com/2020/12/16/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower-2012-drama-romance/, Ruby Sparks (2012): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/27/ruby-sparks-2012-comedy-drama-fantasy/, and The Rules of Attraction (2002): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/28/the-rules-of-attraction-2002-comedy-drama-romance/ and 500 Days of Summer (2009): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/29/500-days-of-summer-2009-comedy-drama-romance/.

This is the side of Hollywood that not only doesn’t insult human intelligence but actually gives plenty of food for thought and evokes all the intended emotions – which is what cinema is meant to do. Please, feel free to explore more of those films and create a list that made you laugh and cry, and, why not, move on to other genres as well that, potentially, thrill you, horrify you, etc. Regardless, I will always do my best to keep you posted on the latest releases as well as older ones that you potentially missed or forgot about over the years.

This is also my last review for this year. I concluded it with films that when I watched back then and rewatched now have had a positive (even cathartic) impact on me and I hope you feel the same. I wish you and your families a healthy, happy, and incredibly productive 2023. Be always well and stay safe!

Solidarity for Ukraine 🇺🇦 🙏

Stay safe!

500 Days of Summer (2009): Comedy/Drama/Romance

The joys and tribulations of a couple that sees love, relationship, and life in antithetical ways.

Funny, sad, awkward, introverted, and very non-chronological. Well, as the narrator explains, it may be partially a boy-meets-girl story, but I would argue that also partially, it is the old fear-of-opening-up story. The narrator also talks about “walls,” but narrators are liars (see Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, link below). Filmmaking is a manipulative art, so don’t blame them, narration is meant to be misleading. What you want to happen and what needs to happen might not match what will actually happen. Sounds convoluted? Well, we are! Individually, let alone collectively. There are no fingers to be pointed at though. We are who we are due to numerous personal, professional, academic, or even cosmic reasons. Do we want to change that? Do we need to change that? Then, how much of it and which part(s)? If yes, who for? Are they willing to do the same? It always has been and always will be convoluted.

Very well-edited, acted, and directed, focusing on the dark side of love, but also its silver lining. Writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and Director Marc Webb open up with a film that speaks their truth about human feelings and the things we say to one another, or, actually, don’t. The amazing Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt share that vision and fully express the significant differences between expectations vs. reality, “forcing” you to root for one or the other. The way the story is told though I don’t think anyone could root for Summer. I believe that what she does, in the end, is brutally cruel. But, as we ultimately get to find out, whether they actually meet one last time or not (you’ll get to decide), the truth is… even… more… cruel…

500 Days of Summer belongs to the category of films I have been revisiting these days and truly believe they deserve your attention. Other films that do too are Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/27/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-2015-comedy-drama-romance/, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012): https://kaygazpro.com/2020/12/16/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower-2012-drama-romance/, Ruby Sparks (2012): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/27/ruby-sparks-2012-comedy-drama-fantasy/, and The Rules of Attraction (2002): https://kaygazpro.com/2022/12/28/the-rules-of-attraction-2002-comedy-drama-romance/. More to follow!

Solidarity for Ukraine 🇺🇦 🙏

Stay safe!

P.S. Jenny, the girl mentioned in the beginning, was actually one of the screenwriter’s ex. Summer is based on her. So, the disclaimer is… personal.

P.P.S. I still can’t believe sometimes how fast Chloë Grace Moretz grew up and the long way she has come. Incredible actress!