#TerayleHill | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doomonfilm · 3 years

Text

Thoughts : Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

Nicolas Cage has built a career out of occasionally interspersing his unique characterizations in random films with a sort of inverse approach involving an unchained Cage as the figurehead of a story so off the wall that only Cage could carry the weight of it. That’s why it was no surprise that an immediate groundswell of buzz and anticipation occurred when Willy’s Wonderland was announced. To the average movie-goer, any opportunity to witness a Cage-rage (as one of my coworkers refers to the Cage approach) is a welcome one, and seeing him beat down human-sized android puppets sounds too good to miss out on. For those aware of Five Nights at Freddy’s, however, the film seemed like an attempt to steal the thunder from a film that will automatically have a built-in fanbase if (or more likely, when) the trigger is pulled on production and release. That being said, Hulu came to the rescue and picked up the streaming rights to Willy’s Wonderland, meaning I had no excuse for not seeing this fever dream of a flick.

youtube

What we are looking at is a unique two-fisted cash grab attempt, and luckily, each fist contains the main elements worth talking about in this film, as honestly, there is not much going on here. We’ll start with the elephant in the room before diving into the obvious realm : this is basically the Wish version of a Five Nights at Freddy’s film, with a healthy dose of R.L. Stine-inspired lore building tossed in to give the film a sense of purpose or narrative thrust. First and foremost, there is BARELY a narrative arc to this film, and many of the story beats feel tacked on purely for the need of having the parts of the story that aren’t Willy’s-centered still feel like they’re moving forward. With Five Nights at Freddy’s already being a dark take on the real-life Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese’s establishments that dot the nation, taking it one step deeper with Willy’s Wonderland gives the film’s creators a false sense of agency in terms of the need for backstory. We are literally dropped into the proceedings with the barest bones of a flashback sequence before being asked to buy into no less that 4 sets of character stories, three of which consistently managing to bring the portions not involving the centerpiece of the show to a cringe-filled crawl.

Speaking of the centerpiece of the show, the other obvious attempt to bring curious viewers to Willy’s Wonderland is the lure of the most curious star in the Hollywood system : the enigma that is Nicolas Cage. It’s no secret that Cage has built up an extremely varied career of roles that fall all over the highlight and lowlight spectrum, many of which appear to be blatant cash grabs to keep him financially in a head above water situation (allegedly, as I am not his accountant). Willy’s Wonderland falls completely into the same realm for Cage of films like Jiu Jitsu, the upcoming The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Left Behind and so on, where the addition of Nicolas Cage is meant to lift the credibility of the content by association, and the anticipation of Cage going off the rails is implied by his connection. With this in mind, I’ve got to give it to Cage for continuously being able to cash in on properties like this while still managing to maintain some version of star power, as trying to imagine the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Brendan Frasier, Johnny Knoxville or some other ridiculously outlandish casting immediately makes this film way less interesting.

From the outside looking in, it appears that the budget was mainly allocated to two realms : the animatronics and however much it cost to include Nicolas Cage in the cast. The work on the animatronics is one of the few saving graces for Willy’s Wonderland, as each puppet has just enough of a unique look to have them stand out from one another. The movement of each figure matches their personality, and the gore effects for each animatronic kill really give those highlight moments additional impact. The visual look is otherwise a bit dry in terms of color timing... there is quite a bit of eye-catching fluorescents once we enter the Willy’s establishment, but everything in the film (including these sequences) are so washed out that it mutes the effect... my guess is that they were looking to capture a living and breathing comic book look, which is accomplished, but somewhat in odds with the tone of the film. A nod must be given to the score and soundtrack creators for attempting to create a small bank of original jingles and in-world diegetic music rather than going for stock tunes.

Giving Nicolas Cage top billing is an interesting choice... he gives you a textbook Cage performance full of odd choices, intense but hilarious stares and overconfident physicality, all without uttering one word (to my recollection). Beth Grant gives her down-home, over the top best as a literal plug-in character meant to explain the existence of Liv Hawthorne (who we will get to). David Sheftell, Ric Reitz and Chris Warner all bring in some much needed levity in the form of outrageous caricatures of standard horror character tropes. Unfortunately, the thing that really drags the film down is the inclusion of the teenagers in the story : Emily Tosta is given very little purpose as Liv Hawthorne, as her character could have literally been one of what is implied to be scores of kids sacrificed to Willy’s Wonderland, while her counterparts (Kai Kadlec, Caylee Cowan, Christian Del Grosso, Jonathan Mercedes and Terayle Hill) are, ironically, nothing but sacrificial lambs, both symbolically in terms of the narrative and literally in terms of being characters. Jiri Staneck, Jessica Graves, Taylor Towery, B.J. Guyer, Chris Schmidt Jr., Billy Bussey, Christopher Bradley and Duke Jackson must all be given props for their animatronic performances.

Willy’s Wonderland may almost certainly go down as the most singularly unique and interesting viewing experience of the year, short of someone like Charlie Kaufman releasing a new film. I don’t ever see myself returning to this film in a capacity outside of sharing it with friends or watching it “impaired” (if you catch my drift), but don’t let my bit of a beating that I gave the film fool you... this isn’t a bad movie... I’d say it’s an unnecessary guilty pleasure, if nothing else.

3 notes · View notes

doomonfilm · 4 years

Text

Review : Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

The buzz surrounding Judas and the Black Messiah has been massive, so much so to the point that even my father recently asked me if I was hip to it. It’s odd how COVID-19 and the year 2020 rewired us in ways we didn’t even realize, but I am just now understanding how long it has been since I truly anticipated a movie release date like this one. With the film falling squarely in the heart of Black History Month and focusing on the sad and tragic death of Fred Hampton, it seemed like a no-brainer to jump into this one at the first opportunity possible.

Despite their intentions to protect and educate their impoverished communities, the Black Panther Party finds themselves targeted by J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen), the F.B.I. and COINTELPRO in an effort to undermine and destroy the group. After he is caught impersonating an F.B.I. agent in an attempt to steal a car from a Black Panther party member, petty criminal Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) finds himself assigned as an F.B.I. informant tasked with infiltrating the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party in hopes of getting him close to Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) so that he can report back to F.B.I. Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), his handler. O’Neal quickly finds himself in Hampton’s inner circle, but due to O’Neal’s checkered past interactions with the criminals that the Black Panthers are trying to turn to their side, O’Neal finds himself under intense scrutiny from both sides. Meanwhile, Hampton begins to make true inroads by uniting Black, White and Puerto Rican groups in Chicago under the banner of erasing oppression, and with each step in the right direction, the F.B.I.-based target on his back grows.

Framing the film as flashbacks and recollections of Bill O’Neal that occur during an interview taping for the very real Eyes on the Prize documentary immediately drives home way that O’Neal is split between two sides of a war on ideals. O’Neal is literally forced to be two different people depending on whom he is associating with at any given time, and based on this lifestyle, there is never a true moment where we see him at ease or laid-back, which helps root the narrative tension that walks viewers up to the sad and inevitable ending. All the while, we are also shown just how many irons the F.B.I. had in the fire, to the point that the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.

What really makes the film work is the authenticity in regards to the area and the era in which the film takes place. Chicago had an infamous history in regards to the Black Panther Party, but the film does a good job of making sure that people understand that the Crowns, the Gangster Disciples and the Black P-Stone Rangers all had just as much influence on the community at the time. The echoes of the tragedies that beset the Civil Rights Movement are continually brought up in the film, along with several moments focusing on other icons of the Black Panther Party and their current state of affairs. The way that the movement devolves into chaos, courtesy of the police and F.B.I., helps viewers understand why so many inner-city locations are in the state that they’re still in, and clarifies to those who don’t know how the goal was always to destabilize the disenfranchised.

For a film about such a cold and calculated assassination of a political figure that spoke for the streets, the visual tone is incredibly warm and inviting, and the juxtaposition is stark enough to keep viewers glued to the screen. It also helps establish the downfall of the party, as the warmness gradually fades form the film, leaving it bathed in blacks and blues. The film mostly focuses on ideals and political philosophy, but when it finds itself in the realm of action is does not disappoint... the depictions of conflict between the police and the Panthers feel like guerilla warfare in their rawness. Only the best songs from the era are chosen for the soundtrack, which leaves room for the moving and emotional film score to do it’s job by pulling us into the depths with those struggling to survive and stay afloat.

For the most park, Daniel Kaluuya tends to play reserved and withdrawn characters, and at times he channels this in his performance, but he also proves himself more than capable of achieving the fire, passion and gravitas it takes to portray an iconic leader like Fred Hampton. Lakeith Stanfield maneuvers through the film like a mouse dancing around traps, trying his best not to be caught while edging closer and closer to springing the demise of his downfall, with all of the paranoia one imagines would come with this set of circumstances. Jesse Plemons keeps his eyes on the prize (no pun intended) with an unwavering and statuesque dedication to the end game, all the while feigning the least amount of care it takes to convince O’Neal. Dominique Fishback brings much needed tenderness to the a film full of strife, tension and double-crossing intentions, helping to soften the razor-sharp edginess present. Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Algee Smith, Jermaine Fowler and Dominique Thorne all step up to the plate and do the Black Panther Party justice in their portrayals of their respective group members. Martin Sheen brings his stature to the table in his role a J. Edgar Hoover, and supporting appearances by Lil Rel Howery, Robert Longstreet, Terayle Hill, Amari Cheatom, Caleb Eberhardt and Mark Francis fill things out.

Shaka King really and truly stepped up to the plate for this historical drama. Based on the production of this film versus the date it was released, I am unsure of where it will fall in terms of awards consideration, but I hope that it is cued up for next year, because I can see a Best Director nomination for King, a Best Picture nomination, and perhaps even a Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor win for Stanfield. Regardless of what accolades this film may or may not achieve, it is almost certain to go down in history as an important film.

1 note · View note