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The Big Empty

5/25/2015

37 Comments

 

1.67
C-

  • I'm not exactly sure what this movie was going for - Bryan
  • Sean Bean & Kelsey Grammer were fine, but they were too little too late - Phil
  • I would say [Favreau] deserves better, but he doesn't - Jon
Initial Review by Tom

I had never heard of this movie prior to searching for something which piqued my interest on netflix. To set up my mindset and very likely my enjoyment of said film 1. I was not in the mood for a serious drama 2. I wanted something easily enjoyable to watch 3. Early Jon Favreau is generally enjoyable 4. fuck off it’s my pick.

This movie satisfied on all points. The only thing missing was a big ol bucket of artery clogging day old popcorn and a gallon of the finest diet soda. A popcorn movie at it’s finest ranks up with the classics for me. They are of equal importance. You can’t have chateauneuf du pape everyday.

In addition to being entertaining this is well written, well acted, and while not outright poking fun at itself at least does not take itself too seriously. There are little things sprinkled throughout the movie that would make at least one rewatch worthwhile. The bandaid on Grace’s neck is seen again in the last abduction scene on John’s neck and then again on the FBI agent’s neck. Indian Bob was present in the first bar scene only to be called back in the last. I could go on but then again you could also go watch the movie.  I would enjoy watching again specifically for these and to see what can be pieced together when. A special note should be made about Kelsey Grammer. His first scene in the bar is truly great. Forceful, commanding, and funny.

You know the more I think about this movie it is an instant classic for me. Aliens, Conspiracy, and one of the few movies in which Sean Bean does not die? Win, Win, freakin win!

This is an A. The only reason this movie does not get an A+ is that it makes me want to watch evolution and laugh my ass off. If this movies was funnier I would go buy the bluray special edition tomorrow.

As a Side note Netflix had a screenshot with Wesley Snipes in it reading a paper sitting on a bench when I picked this movie. I was waiting for him to show up the whole time. The issue is solved now apparently but still was weirding me out for a while.



37 Comments

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

5/19/2015

68 Comments

 

1.48
D+

    • I need a full movie, not just some cool looking scenes with a bit of social justice - Shane
    • What Amirpour deserves credit for her is the successful mixture of Western culture in a story based in Iran - Drew
    • Just poke the egg with your fork already! - Jon
    Original post by: Shane

    We talk about Tarantino quite a bit around here. Deservedly so, the man is excellent at what he does. One thing in particular that strikes me about Tarantino is that he’s such an incredible nerd, but he’s able to create some of the coolest characters on the screen. (I always assume Tarantino is exactly like his character in From Dusk til Dawn, more on that movie shortly.) Tarantino has an ability to reach across genres and ages and give us some really cool worlds to hang out in. 

    I couldn’t help but think of Tarantino when I started to watch Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. I’ve never seen an Iranian movie before let alone a Vampire Western New Wave Iranian movie. With her slick camera work shot wonderfully in black and white, Amirpour gives us what Tarantino gives us: Cool looking characters with interesting enough personalities and an air of mystery and tension. But what Amirpour fails to give us is a second half of a movie, ultimately falling short of Tarantino and much more like Rodriguez. 

    I’m tempted to compare it to From Dusk til Dawn, which disappointed me wildly as a kid when it turned into a campy vampire movie. But I’ve rewatched that movie willingly a dozen times and have come to appreciate it for what it is: Not a mix of two genres, but two genres butting heads. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night does a better job at mixing genre than From Dusk til Dawn, bit it just doesn’t give us something interesting. 

    I want to talk about the best aspect of the movie: How it looked. I hate black and white as a gimmick, but here it works as more than that. Arash Marandi just looks like he belongs on the big screen in the 50’s and 60’s and the way he is shot in black and white sells that noir feeling to me. I thought many of the camera angles and framing added to what would be otherwise blander scenes. I, of course, have to bring up Frances Ha because it’s over-rated and it needs to be brought down. Frances Ha just filmed in black and white and I never felt like its characters belonged in that world because they’re a bunch of immature hipsters, though of course hipsters would film in black and white. Here, the car and some costume choices made it make sense.

    Be fore I get to the negatives, I just want to note that Sheila Vand was absolutely fantastic as The Girl. She did most of her acting with her eyes and I thought she did an amazing job of keeping your attention. I wanted to know more about that character.

    But of course, we just don’t get to know much. The second half of this movie just flies by and hits plot points simply to move the thing along. The relationship between Arash and The Girl just doesn’t make sense. There was so little development there. They took two really interesting characters and just gave them a boring ending that depended on The Girl randomly coming across Arash’s dad and judging him. Reminds me of a few GoT plot decisions this season that are way too convenient. The Girl starts as an independent woman marching to her own drum to someone who just falls for a good-looking loner guy because he’s lonely and nice. 

    I would still put this movie at a B- at this point, but they went and did some things artistically and failed miserably. There are a few scenes that are absolute wastes. 

    What the fuck was the dancing scene? It probably has meaning, but I’m not sure how it fits into the plot. I could overlook it, but we needed that time for plot development. 

    I liked the oil derrick scenes combined with the bodies, but there they went to that well too many times. I get it: bodies pile up, but oil is produced so no one cares. No need to say it so many times. 

    I don’t get the bathtub scene. Maybe it was a feminist statement of fuck you, this is a naked woman, deal with it, but they lose any feminist credence when they have The Girl fall in love with Arash and leave everything for him. 

    I’m not shocked this scores so well on Rotten Tomatoes. This is right up the artsy folks alley because it’s proving points, maaaaan. It’s Iranian. I’m really into Iranian cinema. 

    Sorry, I need a full movie, not just some cool looking scenes with a bit of social justice. 

    C  (which is a negative grade in my book)




    68 Comments

    Babadook

    5/5/2015

    60 Comments

     

    3.19
    B+

    • Much of the terror comes from a combination of atmospheric terror and superb acting - Phil
    • As psychological horror goes, this is an intense descent into madness - Jon
    • Blair's kids say that this is supposed to be the scariest movie ever or something. Whatever. Those kids ain't shit - Shane
    Original Post by Philly

    I like to think I don’t scare particularly easily.  “The Babadook” freaked me out.  It is completely unpredictable and director Jennifer Kent masterfully creates a world with an omnipresent sense of dread.  Kent draws on several influences from earlier horror movies and connects them to create a truly terrifying story held together by an excellent performance by Essie Davis as Amelia.

    Too many horror movies are unpredictable for the sake of being unpredictable (Hi Scream series), but The Babadook was constantly forcing me to question everything and kept me on my toes throughout.  We go through two assumptions of what the conflict actually is before arriving at the true battle.  Act 1 sets up a standard “demon child” story a la The Omen.  As far as child actors go, Noah Wiseman as Samuel did a great job switching roles throughout the movie, but he had a couple noticeable points where he was lacking.  He didn’t seem “worried enough” throughout, if that makes sense.  By Act 2, we have solved the mystery of Samuel and now we’re in full-on psychological terror.  Amelia was our rock throughout the first portion of the movie, our grip on reality.  Now, she’s forcing us to question what is and isn’t real.  The atmosphere established by Kent is pivotal to this section working.  The creepy, dimly lit house and effective use of the score and sound really forces the audience into the mind of Amelia.  We’re just as terrified as her to pull those blankets down and see what’s creeping around the bedroom.  Finally, by Act 3, we have learned the Babadook is very real and we move into possession horror territory, with Kent drawing liberally from The Exorcist.  This act doesn’t work at all with a great performance out of Essie Davis, and she flips between psychotic killer and caring mother effortlessly.  Everything about Essie’s performance in the climactic battle is chilling and unnerving.  The unpredictability continues here, as we are led to believe the book will perfectly predict the outcome of the movie, starting with the killing of the dog.  (That’s a scene that’s going to stick with me for a really long time.)  Ultimately, Sam is a resourceful kid, and once again we are forced to recalibrate our protagonist/antagonist expectation.  The Babadook gives itself a tough task of using Act 1 to set up Sam as the antagonist and Amelia as the protagonist, but by Act 3, we have the reverse and it makes perfect sense in the context of the world.  The epilogue was an equally surprising conclusion, with the Babadook now subjugated by Amelia.  It ultimately makes the most sense of any of the options given, as no clues are given to actually kill the Babadook.

    Beyond the fear of the unknown, much of the terror from above comes from a combination of atmospheric terror and superb acting.  Both of these are very well done.  If there is a place the scares tone down some, it would be from the “showpiece” stuff involving the Babadook itself.  The voice was gravelly and poorly produced, and the ultimate reveal of seeing the Babadook descend upon Amelia was a bit on the laughable side.  When that happened I was left with a “that’s it?” feeling.  I know these were probably budgetary constraints, but they did ultimately detract from the experience.  However, I haven’t even mentioned the creepiest thing in the movie – the book itself.  That thing is just disturbing.  Whoever created it deserves an award.  The illustrations and use of black-and-white matched the tone of the movie to a T.

    Horror movies do not tend to have an agenda beyond scaring audiences, but much of the brilliance of The Babadook is its focus on those quieter moments involving the relationship between Amelia and Samuel.  Amelia is a broken person raising what appears to be a broken boy, desperate for any sort of affection.  It makes for an interesting dynamic throughout the movie, especially in the final battle between Samuel and his possessed mother.  Samuel, like most kids, is smarter than we give him credit for.  He understands that Amelia has very real issues that ultimately make her an unfit mother.  Most children expect their parents to protect them from monsters, but Samuel has built himself an arsenal.  He also talks about how he just wants to protect Amelia from the Babadook.  It makes for some very jarring interactions where Samuel acts as an authority figure within the household, innately aware that the two of them will not survive the Babadook without his intervention.  I think we have to give Samuel some big credit for forgiving Amelia in the end, as many of the things she said while possessed would have left the deepest emotional scars on people who are acutely aware of what is happening.  For Samuel to power through and understand that his mother didn’t mean any of what she was saying is something to be commended.

    Or did she mean some of it?  Amelia never got over the trauma of losing her husband.  She probably does hate Samuel to a degree.  The battle with the Babadook ultimately turns into Amelia letting go of the trauma of losing her husband, and winds up forcing her to protect Samuel, something neither of them thought she was capable of. 

    Now is a good time to comment on Essie Davis’ performance, which was fantastic and terrifying.  We recently talked about Rose Leslie having to play multiple roles in The Honeymoon; Davis has a similar evolution, going from downtrodden basketcase to possessed monster.  She proves to be scarier visually than the Babadook himself, able to contort her face into such looks of rage that she proves to be the real monster the audience should fear.  It will be a long time before I forget the look of determined anger on her face as she chokes the life out of her own dog or the screaming banshee unleashing a tsunami of hate upon her own son.  I’m not sure how good of an actress she is, as my only other experience with Essie Davis is a small part in The Matrix Trilogy, but my curiousity is definitely piqued.  Also, it was good call “uglying her up” and turning her into the female version of Dave Mustaine.  That certainly added to the experience I think.

    The Babadook takes many of the best aspects from classic horror to create something completely unique and scary in today’s horror genre.  Jennifer Kent managed to make less more and relied on her actors to generate the bulk of the scares, and it paid off.  There were some effects that begged to have more budget put into them, and Noah Wiseman had a few hiccups.  In the end, this is a great horror movie that I’d recommend to any masochists out there.

    + Freaking scary
    + Builds terror through means “unconventional” by today’s standards
    + Essie Davis turns in an amazing performance
    + The book itself is one of the all-time great movie props
    - Effects were cheesy
    - Noah Wiseman had a couple rough patches

    Grade: A-

    Phil

    60 Comments

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