Happy Easter gang. Yes, I am back on schedule this week, having risen from the cavernous shit hole that is my work schedule to save you all from some shitty think pieces on why eating chocolate and not white chocolate on Easter is problematic. I actually had a fucking busy week here with the cinema picks, and it was really good. There’s one movie that is most definitely going to drop in rating as time moves on, but I gotta say that I’m glad to have seen all this flicks. So give it a go on this holiday, celebrating it or not. Peace.
It Follows (March 29th, 2015)
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, and Lili Sepe
I always have hope that a horror movie I’m about to watch will at least be entertaining. It’s a little naive to think that you can get smart horror a good deal of the time, mainly because horror is cheap and doesn’t attract as much intellect anymore. But then there’s times when one with something on the brain and it’s a nice breathe of fresh air. Then theres the even rarer times when a movie like that doesn’t really hit the mark completely, leaving a disappointing flavor in your mouth. And It Follows is a movie like that, a well made movie on the technical aspect but leaves a good deal to be desired in the meat of the movie, story and character and such. The plot of the movie is simple yet convoluted and not really delved into all that deeply. There’s this supernatural killing machine ghost type thing that only haunts someone, trying to kill them. The way that person gets haunted by It is sex. Simple enough and an obvious metaphor for STDs. But the movie really doesn’t get too deep into the actual reality of the situation, just lounging about a bit with a few “scare” scenes thrown in. The movie really feels like an overlong 1st act, really just dragging everything along at a snails pace. It doesn’t help at all that only one other person gets tagged in the movie after the main girl (Monroe). So it’s all just a slog of watching this girl try to not be electro fucked by It. And It is a lame element too, as it just shows up as a person in white attire usually and slowly walks at you. It has the same basic plan of attack as Michael and Jason, without any change despite being inherently supernatural and stealth. The fact that it doesn’t strike when sleep is being had, is really fucking stupid. And the end is a little too silly, going into this ridiculous climax in a pool that’s very anticlimactic, leaving a lot too be desire within. None of this would be a problem if you cared about anybody, but everyone is just a blank slate, typical cardboard cutouts of typical horror characters. And the main girl is just an absolute blank, someone whose fate we’re supposed to care about despite being as empty a vessel as a Terminator. I know it sounds like I’m being real hard on the movie, but it has to be said. The movie is aiming for higher standards than simple entertainment. It has themes on the brain, though it’s a bit scatterbrained. It wants to be a more progressive version of a horror movie, but it still has the old school vibe of having sex you deserve to die. And it gets even weirder, since Monroe gets It in a scene that kinda devolves into a scene shot like a rape scene. It’s muddled and all the problems really coalesce into a crippling outcome. But there is plenty of good within the movie. But it’s all really technical stuff. The movie is gorgeous to look at, shot with utmost precision. The score is great, a real 80s throwback to the synth days of movie music. And there are some really good scenes of tension being built, with It wandering in the background without being noticed, giving a slow building sense of dread. Mitchell must be a fan of Carpenter, since this feels so much like it wants to be Carpenter, down to the shots and the score to even the story. If I had to make a comparison to what this movie feels like, I would have to say it’s as if Terrence Malick was given a script that was a bastard mix of Halloween and A Nightmare On Elm Street but was told to shoot it like Carpenter. While watching the movie I was enjoying it, even when it ended I was ok. But it’s a movie that started to lose its luster as time has gone on. It hasn’t stuck and many of the scenes are gone from my memory. I’m gonna be real generous here with my rating, but I’m gonna straight up say that this is more likely than not drop in the future and is solely based on my feelings right when it ended.
Vertigo (March 30th, 2015)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Tom Helmore
Yeah, this is a good movie. People weren’t wrong. Shocking, I know. It’s another in a long line of really well made movies by Hitch, and this one may be the pinnacle of his powers. What seems like a typical mystery from back in the day becomes something more, a little darker and more unsettling than the norm. I like that the movie does not fly by the playbook of the usual movies of the genre. It has a real weird structure, not typical and I like that. Jimmy Stewart is great as usual, playing a lot darker than normal. The rest of the cast is great too, many of whom playing depths not seen at the beginning. And I like that the movie is not a feel good movie, going for the truthful ending of a story like this. It’s about obsession and grief and fear, all rolled into one ball that crashes together at the end. Not some of the stuff that goes down towards the end of the movie is a tad bit silly, stuff that requires a little more suspension of disbelief than normal in a movie. But since it all thematically works, I can give it a pass. Now the very end, the last scene, is great until what I feel is a bit of a twist for twist sakes punch line. But it does contain a really great, haunting image in the scene so I can dig it. It doesn’t kill the movie for me, just made me cock my head to the side a bit in wonder. I don’t wanna say much more about the movie because I really don’t have much to add to it at this point that hasn’t been said already, and even though its damn near 60 years old I want it to be fresh in peoples minds if they decide to see it. It’s a great flick, one for all to see. Do it up.
Green Zone (March 31st, 2015)
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, and Amy Ryan
Paul Greengrass is a hell of a filmmaker and is responsible for the worst god damn trend in action movies in the 2000’s. The shaky cam he brought to the table in The Bourne Supremacy worked fine for him, but brought along a shit ton of imitators that couldn’t do it well at all and it killed a lot of action movies. He’s got the docu style in his work, and it’s fine, it works. So when he was reuniting with Damon for an action movie set in Iraq during the search for WMD’s, it sounded like a clone of Bourne but real world. But Green Zone isn’t that at all. Damon isn’t playing a super soldier, kicking ass without a worry. He gets his ass kicked plenty of times. He isn’t a wimp, but he is out of his depth. And the movie is a movie-fied version of the search for WMD’s and the truth coming out. The movie isn’t really an action movie. It’s a procedural essentially, with Damon trying to find out the truth of what he’s doing. There’s action within, but not wall to wall and not over the top. It’s a war flick, with people getting hurt bad. It’s definitely an R movie. The movie doesn’t get much love in Greengrass’s career, and that’s a shame. It’s a solid little movie, playing things really murky about how it all went down. It’s a morally confused world and I like that. The action is well done and exciting enough. Narratively it may get a little too convoluted, but it works itself out in the end. The only thing negative to say is that it lacks the spark of The Bourne movies or Captain Phillips. It seems manly like he’s going through the motions, which again is fine. It’s like Fincher on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or Scorsese on Casino. That and a lack of any other character to really get to know. Supporting roles aren’t really up to snuff, but it’s about Damon so we can deal. It’s a fine little movie, and one that works a little better now that the situation in Iraq has gotten as bad as was predicted in a way in this movie.
Director: Richard Franklin
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, and Robert Loggia
There comes a time when a movie is announced and you just kinda know that it isn’t gonna be good. Shouldn’t be good. It’s usually a sequel to a movie that told a complete story and doesn’t need any further expanding upon. And the original Psycho is one of those movies. How do you sequelize that movie? Well, the 80s came a knocking with a bloodlust for any slasher movie sequel they could find. And somewhere, young upstart Tom Holland (future creator of Fright Night and Childs Play) had an idea for it, and they made it. Somefuckinghow, they managed to make a pretty good damn movie that works as a good sequel. Set 22 years after the original, Norman Bates (a returning Perkins) is deemed sane by the courts and released back into the public. There is some outcry that he’s too dangerous, but for the most part no one remembers anymore. Time has marched on and Norman really does wanna be better, tries to escape the past. The movie than starts to throw some obstacles in his way, testing his mind and really asking can Norman be normal. The biggest shock in here is that the movie manages to be of a piece with the original, feeling in tone and visuals the same. Obviously being made in the 80s when the industry was completely changed, there are some differences. The violence is more graphic, but for the most part not 80s over the top violent (except for one really crazy graphic kill). And there’s a tad bit of nudity. But for the most part, fits right in. And despite being an 80s sequel, it’s pretty slow paced and not a gore fest. There is blood, oh yes. But it’s saved for the climax for the most part. Perkins is great in his return to the iconic role, bringing real pathos to a man trying so hard to escape his demons. Tilly is alright, the one true weak link in the cast, just not up to snuff with the rest of the cast. And a complaint I have with most movies is that there isn’t enough Dennis Franz. Honestly, I’m still kinda shocked at how good the movie really was and how natural it all felt. There are some genuine surprises and some good character writing in it, fitting in with the kinda funny and slightly over the top original. My only issue is it may get a little too busy and twist happy at the end. But for the most part, it’s really god damn good. And it has a really great and haunting final image. I gotta say, if you like the original and/or Bates Motel, you’d really dig this. And hey, Tarantino likes it more than the original. And we know that mad man has to see something in it.
Syriana (April 4th, 2015)
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, and Chris Cooper
Well the writer of Traffic was given a chance to direct a movie, and he took that chance to make Traffic but with oil instead of drugs. Which is cool and all, but it gives things a little too much of a convoluted business. Traffic was busy and had a lot of characters, but it was simple enough in that you knew what everyone was doing and why. Syriana has the issue of Oil businesses being such a dense and complicated issue that it becomes a bit of a confusing watch. That and there’s too many side plots that deal with the oil industry, showing way too many sides of the problem. If it mainly dealt with Clooney, Damon, and Wrights storyline it would be fine. But there’s a whole terrorist in training subplot that is fine in theory but really drags the movie down since it’s really not that fleshed out. Kinda just done in broad strokes. And even the stuff that should have been the focus is a little too mechanical. It wants us to care for some of these guys, by giving Clooney a kid, Damon a dead kid, and Wright an alcoholic father. But it’s so hackneyed and mechanical and not given enough time to really connect, it’s not as affecting seeing there stories. The movie is interesting in spite of those things as it shows the ways in which shit goes wrong and how fucking murky and corrupt the world really is. And for the almost clinical way it shows it this world, I can dig that, even though it dumps us into the deep end of the pool. It’s a good flick with some damn good performances, but it’s really just a bit too confusing. It’s fine, but I don’t think most would like it. It lacks a certain touch of humanity that Traffic had.
Top Movies
1. Vertigo
2. Psycho II
3. Green Zone
4. Syriana
5. It Follows
- Tom Lorenzo
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