Ellison Oswalt is a true crime novelist who has just moved his family into the house of a heinous crime. Ellison doesn't tell his family the specifics of the crime, but when he discovers a box of mysterious and deeply disturbing home movies, him and his family are dragged into a nightmarish experience of supernatural origin. Scott Derrickson's Sinister is a creepy and fun film that owes just as much to DePalma's Blow Out or Antonioni's Blow Up, as to other supernatural films. The film plays somewhat like a mystery as Hawke's character attempts to figure out the truth behind the heinous crime and the connection which exists between the tapes. Lots of time is spent with Ellison as he dissects the images, looking for clues. This actually adds a nice wrinkle to a rather tired genre, keeping Sinister much more fresh and interesting than many similar films. Ellison is a man who is tormented by his inability to achieve the level of success and fame he desires, even going so far as to sacrifice his family's well-being as shit begins to hit the fan. Some may find Ellison's character to be stupid or unlikeable but I found that the film covers its tracks well, showing just how desperate Ellison is to have major success again as a writer. On the horror front, an argument could be made that Sinister is too reliant on jump scares but I think they are more complimentary to a solid atmosphere which is created in the film with sound and image. The film isn't particularly gorey or violent but the Home Videos are really disturbing and inventive, really adding to the overall creepiness of the experience. Sinister isn't perfect but it's a creepy, entertaining experience and one of the better studio horror films to come out in recent years. 8/10
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The Forgiveness of Blood tells the story of an Albanian family who is caught in a blood feud after the father of the household is wanted for the murder of a member of the rival family. The film's primary focus is on Nik and Rudina, the oldest son and daughter of the family. It's an immersive look into this archaic tradition where a family is forced out to never leave their homes out of shame for what one of them, in this care, their father has done. This is at least until the victim's family shows forgiveness. I honestly don't get why this film has gotten such rave reviews. If the directors intention was to show the absolute stupidity of this Albanian tradition then he definitely succeeded but I really had some issues with the son's character. I found Rudina to be a much more interesting character, who really stepped up for the sake of her family when she had too. This is the bitter opposite of Nik, who the director wants to focus on. As the film progressed I found myself growing more and more annoyed with Nik's actions. I really found the character to be a little bitch who was incredibly selfish, for a lack of a better term. I get the notion that his carefree lifestyle is interrupted by his fathers actions and how he is the main person who sees problems with this cultural practice but really all he does is sit around and mope. The film does have some strong aspects and does show the archaic, really quite ridiculous practice but I just couldn't get around how much the boy's character was a detriment to the experience. 6/10 Logan Stuart is a bit of drifter who never stays in one place to long. He's sorta a backwoods businessman and the film begins with him escorting Lucy, his good friend's fiancee, back home to Jacksonville, Oregon. On the way to Jacksonville it becomes clear that Lucy is attracted to Logan, who himself has feelings for someone else. Jacques Tourneur's Canyon Passage is an incredibly dense drama that touches on variety of issues, none so more than the thin line that exists between goo and evil. Shot in technicolor, Canyon Passage is a lavish production that really showcases the beautiful fronteir landscape. Being that Jacques Tourneur is typically known for his Noirs, Canyon Passage does have some of those same sensibilities maybe none more so than a scene early in the film where a man breaks into Logan's room and attacks him. Tourneur uses dense shadows and lighting to create a great sense of tension and mystery which is very reminiscient of his aforementioned Noirs. The thing that really makes Canyon Passage stand out as one of the best westerns I have seen is its dissection of the society in Jacksonville, showing how ones own individual desires can conflict with the communal good of society leading to situations where it isn't particularly clear who the villain and hero of this story is. Things are more than they appear and just because a man appears to be a well mannered, intelligent and sophisticated doesn't mean his intentions are good. The climax of the film involves an Indian attack that is very intense for the time but the reason it all works so well is Tourneur sets the stage early and often, hinting in both subtle and not so subtle ways that there is a real danger of living in the West which creates an aspect of unpredictability and tension. 9.25/10 Marty is a Hollywood writer who is struggling to find inspiration in writing his latest screenplay, Seven Psychopaths. His best friend Billy, an unemployed actor, whose primary income comes from a dog stealing scam where he returns people's stolen dogs for reward money. Through an inadvertent series of events, Marty and Billy find themselves caught in the middle of a Los Angeles criminal underworld when Billy steals a Shih Tzu that happens to be owned by a major crime boss. Martin McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths is an extremely fun, witty film that relies on a great script and fun, off-beat characters to create a highly engaging experience. The film is a great example of how tone dictates a films intentions in that while Seven Psychopaths is an incredibly violent film, you never really feel that disgusted or affected because of the light, playful tone. It's really impressive how McDonagh's script balances the tone and characters in creating some somber and heartfelt moments while still keeping such a light atmosphere. From an acting standpoint, everyone is extremely well cast with Sam Rockwell and Colin Farrell, with Christopher Walken really stealing the film as a deeply religious man with a checked past. It also has a nice duality, how Marty's screenplay begins to mimic and almost run parallel to the story creating a lot of nice opportunities to play with genre conventions and story structure. If I had one complaint about Seven Psychopaths it would be that McDonagh seems to think that the film is more profound than it actually is in its message but ultimately this barely matters cause the film is such a great time. 7/10 Kate and Charlie are a young married couple whose relationship is built among laughter, good times and more so than anything, alcohol. When Kate's drinking puts her into embarrassing and somewhat dangerous situations she decides to join AA and become sober. Her journey to sobriety is incredibly difficult both on herself and her relationship to Charlie, as she struggles to get her life back on track. James Ponsoldt's Smashed is an honest portrait of alcoholism that more so than not avoids manipulative tactics, simply presenting an honest portrait. Kate is the central character of the film and Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a marvelous job at portraying this difficult character. This isn't more prevalent than in the sequence where Kate first goes to an AA meeting and begins to simply breakdown under the weight of her mistakes. It is a truly affecting sequence that Winstead pulls off with subtle grace. From a visual perspective Smashed isn't transcendent or anything but the aesthetic fits the story well, complementing the down-to-earth gritty life of Kate and Charlie. Smashed does a great job at not simply showing 'the event' which makes Kate come to her decision, instead showing a series of events, which increasingly help Kate realize she has a real problem. Even her co-worker Dave, the man primarily responsible for her going to AA, has issues, and all of this together help the film feel more real, showing how these character all have problems and are trying to work things out. Although Smashed is about a serious subject, the film does a great job at providing a nice balance of comedy, with some great moments that really help ease this tense drama while also elevating the dramatic moments because of it. Smashed does a great job at showing the difficulty involved with getting over something like alcoholism, portraying how tough yet ultimately rewarding it can be. 8.25/10 A group of families go on vacation with the intention of spending Christmas and New Years together in a beautiful winter wonderland. While the kids are playing, they venture into the woods and ultimately are changed for the worst. Tom Shankland's The Children is an artistically crafted horror film that doesn't pander to the audience. The film never gets too involved in sharing the details of the hows and whys instead opting to focus on the craftsmanship of the film and ultimately the experience. The film takes its time to develop and unravel in a nice atmospheric way and being completely told from the adults point-of-view, the viewer can identify with the lack of understanding early in the film, just like these character. Even in parts of the film where there are pretty insane mysterious injuries, the viewer doesn't question it because of the point of view. No parent would ever suspect that their own offspring is responsible and the film takes advantage of that fact. The film builds a nice atmosphere using the cold winter and barren forest to set atmosphere, along with a nice array of foreboding compositions to create a constant tension. Many films of the genre rely far too much on the long static stares of these children to establish evil, but this film uses the editing as an asset, juxtaposing frightening images and quick cuts to help sell you on the evil nature of these children. This is a solid horror film all around that has a good blend of tension, thrills and violence. 7.5/10 A middle class German family lives in a nice suburban neighborhood during the 1960s. Very much the typical family with two loving parents, a young boy, Achim, and a baby girl. When the parents go to a party, they leave Achim and the baby girl under the supervision of Monika, the neighbor's daughter. Soon after the parents are gone, Monika ditches babysitting to go out with her boyfriend which leads to a terrible crime in which Achim murders his baby sister by means of suffocation with a plastic bag. Roland Klick's debut feature Little Boy is a film that uses cinema as a means to comment on German society. Much of the film is spent in the aftermath of this crime with the parents and neighbors trying to figure out who is responsible with both Monika and Achim denying any involvement or taking any responsibility for their actions. Klick doesn't offer the viewer any reason as to why the boy committed the crime - was it jealously? was it even on purpose? or maybe he did it simply out of boredom, it doesn't matter. This is simply not an important aspect, as the film is much more interested in the consequences on the family than the crime. Even after the father begins to put the pieces together, discovering the truth about his son, he hides the evidence, afraid of this horrible truth coming to the surface of society. We are shown how society, or a family in this case, is quick to sweep things under the carpet instead of letting the truth come to light because of fear of judgement and responsibility. With Little Boy, Roland Klick uses this story to paint a critical view of German society, and it's one hell of a debut film. 8.25/10 Charlie doesn't really have any friends. He lives at home with his parents and older sister, scared to death of the upcoming school year - the start of High School. A complete introvert because of a dark past, Charlie has trouble making any potential friends at school until Sam and Patrick, two high-school seniors, take him under their wing. Charlie is endearing, yet very naive about the world around him, and Perks of Being A Wallflower chronicles his year at school as he experiences all sorts of things while trying to find a place where he belongs. Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being A Wallflower is a heartfelt, endearing look into the world of high school, full of the highs and lows of growing up. The most impressive aspect of this film is its ability to transport the viewer back to high school, touching on a barrage of issues like sex, love, friendship, etc, all from the point-of-view of high school students while never feeling convoluted. The two male leads are fantastic from the scene-stealing Ezra Miller, who brings most of the energy and comedy to the film, to Logan Lerman's portrayal of the awkward, naive Charlie who he plays to perfection. While I do have a few small complaints, Perks of Being A Wallflower is relatively subtle and natural in its portrayal of dramatic events. One of my few critiques was the way the film handled the whole Aunt subplot and Charlie's mental condition which just felt scattered and rushed, though to be fair it could have been handled in a much worse way in being over-dramatic and manipulative. Also, Emma Watson is a solid actress but she was simply miscast in this film, somewhat struggling at times with the accent. In the end, Perks of Being A Wallflower is a film about young people simply trying to understand and embrace the world around them. It perfectly captures these young souls trying to figure it all out and does so in a really nostalgic-inducing way. 8/10 On the surface, Vincent is a good cop and loving father, yet in reality he is in a lot of trouble. Vincent and his partner are involved with a very dangerous assortment of gangsters and drug dealers and after a botched job where they are caught stealing a massive amount of cocaine, Vincent's son is kidnapped and held for ransom. Frederic Jardin's Sleepless Night is a fast-paced, stripped down action thriller that takes place over the course of you guessed it, one long night. Once of Sleepless Nights' best attributes has got to be its pacing. Using an incredibly simple story which takes place in one location, the film is able to still stay very fresh and thrilling through the use of all sorts of complications and hurdles that arise on the fly, with our protagonist needing to think quickly on his feet in hope of saving his son's life. Vincent goes through hell over the course of this night, feeling lots of pain from both an emotional and physical level, and we the viewer really feel this. The audience really feels the desperation of Vincent's situation and in one particularly scene which stood out, the filmmakers show this beautiful contrast between Vincent, in this horrendous situation, and the euphoria which surrounds him from the various club-goers having a blast. Sleepless Night is action-packed and while some of the fight sequences are brutal and exciting, others are rather poorly choreographed with punches that clearly looked staged. Even though Sleepless Night does suffer through a few typical genre conventions, like the good naive cop for example, its stripped-down fast-paced style make it a fun, tense experience. 7.75/10 Helene, a wealthy woman, has just returned home to her lover from a night out on the town. Eager to clean her conscience, she confesses to Jean, her lover, that she has lost the love and passion which made their relationship special. Much to her surprise, Jean quickly agrees, praising her for having the guts to speak her mind and telling her that he no longer loves her. Jean suggests that they remain close friends and confidants but Helene is much more hurt by this than she had anticipated. In an attempt at revenge, Helene forms an elaborate scheme in which she engineers a budding relationship between Jean and a poor young woman, Anges, a cabaret dancer, with Helene's intentions set on making Jean as miserable as she is. Although Ladies of the Park is without question a lesser effort by Robert Bresson, some of Bresson's undeniable talent shines through. The film is rigidly conventional in its approach and the pacing is quite slow, similar to many silent films, but Bresson's unique ability to capture human emotion on such a primal, truthful level on camera is very prevelant. Bresson does a great job at having the viewer understand these characters motivations and somber struggles, particularly with Agnes, who seems to be constantly haunted by her checkered past as a Caberet singer. Bresson's Ladies of the Park is not essential viewing but it definitely provides lots of hints as to the filmmaker which Bresson would ultimately become. 7.25/10 |
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June 2023
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