#my local cinema rarely even plays a horror movie

[lgbt-cishet-movie-tournament]

not gonna lie I made the GAH! Quadrant so I could at least guarantee 1 horror movie could make it to week 7.

[grigori77]

Summer 2020′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 2)

10.  BODY CAM – in the face of the current pandemic, viral outbreak cinema has become worryingly prescient lately, but as COVID led to civil unrest there were a couple of films in this summer that REALLY seemed to me to put their finger on the pulse of another particularly shitty zeitgeist.  Admittedly this one highlights a problem that’s been around for a good while, but it came along at just the right time to gain particularly strong resonance, filtering its message into the most reliable form of allegorical social commentary – horror.  The vengeful ghost trope has become pretty familiar over the past decade or so, but by marrying it with the corrupt cop thriller veteran horror screenwriter Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact) has given it a nice fresh spin, and the end result was, for me, a real winner.  Mary J. Blige plays troubled LAPD cop Renee Lomito-Smith, back on the beat after an extended hiatus following a particularly harrowing incident, just as fellow officers from her own precinct begin to die violent deaths under mysterious circumstances, and the only clues are weird, haunting camera footage that only Renee and her new partner, rookie Danny Holledge (Paper Towns and Death Note’s Natt Wolff), manage to see before it inexplicable wipes itself.  Something supernatural is stalking the City of Angels at night, and it’s got a serious grudge against local cops as the increasingly disturbing investigation slowly brings an act of horrific police brutality to light, until Renee no longer knows who in her department she can trust.  This is one of the most insidious scare-fests I’ve enjoyed so far this year, sophomore director Malik Vitthal (Imperial Dreams) weaving an effective atmosphere of pregnant dread and wire-taut suspense while delivering some impressively hair-raising shocks (the stunning minimart sequence is the film’s undeniable highlight), while the ghostly threat is cleverly thought-out and skilfully brought to “life”.  Blige delivers another top-drawer performance, giving Renee a winning combination of wounded fragility and steely resolve that makes for a particularly compelling hero, while Wolff invests Danny with skittish uncertainty and vulnerability in one of his strongest performances to date, and Dexter star David Zayas brings interesting moral complexity to the role of their put-upon superior, Sergeant Kesper.  In these times of heightened social awareness, when the police’s star has become particularly tarnished as unnecessary force, racial profiling and cover-ups have become major hot-button topics, the power and relevance of this particular slice of horror cinema cannot be denied.

9.  BLOOD QUANTUM – it certainly has been a great year for horror, and for most of the summer this was the genre leader, a compellingly fresh take on the zombie outbreak genre with a killer hook.  Canadian writer-director Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls) has always clung close to his Native American roots, and he brings strong social relevance to the intriguing early 80s Canadian setting as a really nasty zombie virus wreaks havoc in the Red Crow Indian Reservation and its neighbouring town.  It soon becomes clear, however, that members of the local tribe are immune to the infection, a revelation with far-reaching consequences as the outbreak rages unchecked and society begins to crumble.  Barnaby pulls off some impressive world-building and creates a compellingly grungy post-apocalyptic vibe as the story progresses, while the zombies themselves are a visceral, scuzzy bunch, and there’s plenty of cracking set-pieces and suitably full-blooded kills to keep the gore-hounds happy, while the horror has real intelligence behind it, the script posing interesting questions and delivering some uncomfortable answers.  The characters, meanwhile, are a well-drawn, complex bunch, no black-and-white saviours among them, any one of them capable of some pretty inhuman horrors when the chips are down, and the cast, an interesting mix of seasoned talent and unknowns, all excel in their roles – Michale Greyeyes (Fear the Walking Dead) and Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant) are the closest things the film has to real heroes, the former a fallible everyman as Traylor, the small-town sheriff who’s just trying to do right by his family, the latter unsure of himself as his son, put-upon teenage father-to-be Joseph; meanwhile, Olivia Scriven is tough but vulnerable as his pregnant white girlfriend Charlie, Stonehorse Lone Goeman is a grizzled badass as tough-as-nails tribal elder Gisigu, and Kiowa Gordon (probably best known for playing a werewolf in the Twilight movies) really goes to the dark side as Joseph’s delinquent half-brother Lysol, while there’s a memorably subtle turn from Dead Man’s Gary Farmer as unpredictable loner Moon.  This is definitely one of the year’s darkest films – by and large playing the horror straight, it tightens the screws as the situation grows steadily worse, and almost makes a virtue of wallowing in its hopeless tone – but there’s a fatalistic charm to all the bleakness, even in the downbeat yet tentatively hopeful climax, while it’s hard to deny the ruthless efficiency of the violence on display. This certainly isn’t a horror movie for everyone, but those with a strong stomach and relatively hard heart will find much to enjoy here.  Jeff Barnaby is definitely gonna be one to watch in the future …  

8.  PALM SPRINGS – the summer’s comedy highlight kind of snuck in under the radar, becoming something of an on-demand secret weapon with all the cinemas closed, and it definitely deserves its swiftly growing cult status.  You certainly can’t possibly believe it’s the feature debut of director Max Barbakow, who shows the kind of sharp-witted, steady-handed control of his craft that’s usually the province of far more experienced talents … then again, much of the credit must surely go to seasoned TV comedy writer Andy Siara (Lodge 49), for whom this has been a real labour of love he’s been tending since his film student days.  Certainly all that care, nurture and attention to detail is up there on the screen, the exceptional script singing its irresistible siren song from the start and providing fertile ground for its promising new director to spread his own creative wings.  The premise may be instantly familiar – playing like a latter-day Saturday Night Live take on Groundhog Day (Siara admits it was a major influence), it follows the misadventures of Sarah (How I Met Your Mother’s Cristin Miliota), the black sheep maid of honour at her sweet little sister Tala’s (Riverdale’s Camila Mendes) wedding to seemingly perfect hunk Abe (Supergirl’s Superman, Tyler Hoechlin), as she finds herself repeating the same high-stress day over and over again after being trapped in a mysterious cosmic time-loop along with slacker misanthrope Nyles (Brooklyn Nine Nine megastar Andy Samberg), who’s been stuck in this same situation for MUCH longer – but in Barbakow and Siara’s hands it feels fresh and intriguing, and goes in some surprising new directions before the well-worn central premise can outstay its welcome.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that the cast are uniformly excellent – Miliota is certainly the pounding emotional heart of the film, effortlessly lovable as she flounders against her lot, then learns to accept the unique possibilities it presents, before finally resolving to find a way out, while Samberg has rarely been THIS GOOD, truly endearing in his sardonic apathy as it becomes clear he’s been stuck like this for CENTURIES, and they make an enjoyably fiery couple with snipey chemistry to burn; meanwhile there’s top-notch support from Mendes and Hoechlin, The OC’s Peter Gallagher as Sarah and Tala’s straight-laced father, the ever-reliable Dale Dickey, a thoroughly adorable turn from Jena Freidman and, most notably, a full-blooded scene-stealing performance from the mighty J.K. Simmonds as Roy, Nyles’ nemesis, who he inadvertently trapped in the loop before Sarah and is, understandably, none too happy about it.  This really is an absolute laugh-riot, today’s more post-modern sense of humour allowing the central pair (and their occasional enemy) to indulge in even more extreme consequence-free craziness than Bill Murray ever got away with back in the day, but like all the best comedies there’s also a strong emotional foundation under the humour, leading us to really care about these people and what happens to them, while the story throws moments of true heartfelt power at us, particularly in the deeply cathartic climax.  Ultimately this was one of the summer’s biggest surprises, a solid gold gem that I can’t recommend enough.

7.  THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME – the summer’s other heavyweight Zeitgeist fondler is a deeply satirical chunk of speculative dystopian sci-fi clearly intended as a cinematic indictment of Trump’s broken America, but it became far more potent and prescient in these … ahem … troubled times.  Adapted by screenwriter Karl Gadjusek (Oblivion, Stranger Things, The King’s Man) from the graphic novel by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini for underrated schlock-action cinema director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3, Colombiana, the last two Taken films), this Netflix original feature seemed like a fun way to kill a cinema-deprived Saturday night in the middle of the Lockdown, but ultimately proved to have a lot more substance than expected.  It’s powered by an intriguing premise – in a nearly lawless 2024, the US government is one week away from implementing a nationwide synaptic blocker signal called the API (American Peace Initiative) which will prevent the public from being able to commit any kind of crime – and focuses on a strikingly colourful bunch of outlaw antiheroes with an audacious agenda – prodigious Detroit bank robber Bricke (Édgar Ramiréz) is enlisted by Kevin Cash (Funny Games and Hannibal’s Michael Carmen Pitt), a wayward scion of local crime family the Dumois, and his hacker fiancée Shelby Dupree (Material Girl’s Anna Brewster) to pull off what’s destined to be the last great crime in American history, a daring raid on the night of the signal to steal over a billion dollars from the Motor City’s “money factory” and then escape across the border into Canada.  From this deceptively simple premise a sprawling action epic was born, carried along by a razor sharp, twisty script and Megaton’s typically hyperbolic, showy auteur directing style and significant skill at crafting thrillingly explosive set-pieces, while the cast consistently deliver quality performances.  Ramiréz has long been one of those actors I really love to watch, a gruff, quietly intense alpha male whose subtle understatement hides deep reserves of emotional intensity, while Dupree takes a character who could have been a thinly-drawn femme fetale and invests her with strong personal drive and steely resolve, and there’s strong support from Neil Blomkampf regulars Sharlto Copley and Brandon Auret as, respectively, emasculated beat cop Sawyer and brutal Mob enforcer Lonnie French, as well as a nearly unrecognisable Patrick Bergin as local kingpin (and Kevin’s father) Rossi Dumois; the film is roundly stolen, however, by Pitt, a phenomenal actor I’ve always thought we just don’t see enough of, here portraying a spectacularly sleazy, unpredictable force of nature who clearly has his own dark agenda, but whom we ultimately can’t help rooting for even as he stabs us in the back.  This is a cracking film, a dark and dangerous thriller of rare style and compulsive verve that I happily consider to be Megaton’s best film to date BY FAR – needless to say it was a major hit for Netflix when it dropped, clearly resonating with its audience given what’s STILL going on in the real world, and while it may have been roundly panned in reviews I think, like some of the platform’s other more glossy Original hits (Bright springs to mind), it’s destined for a major critical reappraisal and inevitable cult status before too long …

6.  HAMILTON – arriving just as Black Lives Matter reached fever-pitch levels, this feature presentation of the runaway Broadway musical smash-hit could not have been better timed.  Shot over three nights during the show’s 2016 run with the original cast and cut together with specially created “setup shots”, it’s an immersive experience that at once puts you right in amongst the audience (at times almost a character themselves, never seen but DEFINITELY heard) but also lets you experience the action up close.  And what action – it’s an incredible show, a thoroughly fascinating piece of work that reads like something very staid and proper on paper (an all-encompassing biographical account of the life and times of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton) but, in execution, becomes something very different and EXTREMELY vital.  The execution certainly couldn’t be further from the usual period biopic fare this kind of historical subject matter usually gets (although in the face of recent top-notch revisionist takes like Marie Antoinette, The Great and Tesla it’s not SO surprising), while the cast is not at all what you’d expect – with very few notable exceptions the cast is almost entirely people of colour, despite the fact that the real life individuals they’re playing were all very white indeed.  That said, every single one of them is an absolute revelation – the show’s writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (already riding high on the success of In the Heights) carries the central role of Hamilton with effortless charm and raw star power, Leslie Odom Jr. (Smash, Murder On the Orient Express) is duplicitously complex as his constant nemesis Aaron Burr, Christopher Jackson (In the Heights, Moana, Bull) oozes integrity and nobility as his mentor and friend George Washington, Phillipa Soo is sweet and classy as his wife Eliza while Renée Elise Goldsberry (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Jacks, Altered Carbon) is fiery and statuesque as her sister Angelica Schuyler (the one who got away), and Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter) consistently steals every scene he’s in as fiendish yet childish fan favourite King George III; ultimately, however, the show (and the film) belongs to veritable powerhouse Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, TV’s Snowpiercer) in a spectacular duel role, starting subtly but gaining scene-stealing momentum as French Revolutionary Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, before EXPLODING onto the stage in the second half as indomitable eventual American President Thomas Jefferson.  Not having seen the stage show, I was taken completely by surprise by this, revelling in its revisionist genius and offbeat, quirky hip-hop charm, spellbound by the skilful ease with which is takes the sometimes quite dull historical fact and skews it into something consistently entertaining and absorbing, transported by the catchy earworm musical numbers and thoroughly tickled by the delightfully cheeky sense of humour strung throughout (at least when I wasn’t having my heart broken by moments of raw dramatic power). Altogether it’s a pretty unique cinematic experience I wish I could have actually gotten to see on the big screen, and one I’ve consistently recommended to all my friends, even the ones who don’t usually like musicals.  As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t need a proper Les Misérables style screen adaptation – this is about as perfect a presentation as the show could possibly hope for.

5.  SPUTNIK – the summer’s horror highlight (despite SERIOUSLY tough competition) is a guaranteed sleeper hit that I almost totally missed, stumbling across the trailer one day on YouTube and being completely bowled over by its potential, prompting me to hunt it down by any means necessary.  The feature debut of Russian director Egor Abramenko, this first contact sci-fi chiller is about as far from E.T. as it’s possible to get, sharing some of the same DNA as Carpenter’s The Thing but proudly carving its own path with consummate skill and definitely signalling great things to come from its brand new helmer and relative unknown screenwriters Oleg Malovichko and Andrei Zolotarev.  Oksana Akinshina (probably best known in the West for her powerful climactic cameo in The Bourne Supremacy) is the beating heart of the film as neurophysiologist Tatyana Yuryevna Klimova, brought in to aid in the investigation in the Russian wilderness circa 1983 after an orbital research mission goes horribly wrong.  One of the cosmonauts dies horribly, while the other, Konstantin (The Duelist’s Pyotr Fyodorov) seems unharmed, but it quickly becomes clear that he’s now playing host to something decidedly extraterrestrial and potentially terrifying, and as Tatyana becomes more deeply embroiled in her assignment she comes to realise that her superiors, particularly mysterious Red Army project leader Colonel Semiradov (The PyraMMMid’s Fyodor Bondarchuk), have far darker plans for Konstantin and his new “friend” than she could ever imagine.  This is about as dark, intense and nightmarish as this particular sub-genre gets, a magnificently icky body horror that slowly builds its tension as we’re gradually exposed to the various truths and the awful gravity of the situation slowly reveals itself, punctuated by skilfully executed shocks and some particularly horrifying moments when the evils inflicted by the humans in charge prove to be far worse than anything the alien can do, while the ridiculously talented writers have a field day pulling the rug out from under us again and again, never going for the obvious twist and keeping us guessing right to the devastating ending, while the beautifully crafted digital creature effects are nothing short of astonishing and thoroughly creepy.  Akinshina dominates the film with her unbridled grace, vulnerability and integrity, the relationship that develops between Tatyana and Konstantin (Fyodorov delivering a beautifully understated turn belying deep inner turmoil) feeling realistically earned as it goes from tentatively wary to ultimately, tragically bittersweet, while Bondarchuk invests the Colonel with a subtly nuanced air of tarnished authority and restrained brutality that makes him one of my top screen villains for the year.  Guaranteed to go down as one of 2020’s great sleeper hits, I can’t speak of this film highly enough – it’s a genuine revelation, an instant classic for whom I’ll sing its praises for the remainder of the year and beyond, and I wish utmost success to all the creative talents involved in the future.  The Invisible Man still rules the roost in the year’s horror stakes, but this runs a VERY close second …

4.  GREYHOUND – when the cinemas closed back in March, the fate of many of the major summer blockbusters we’d been looking forward to was thrown into terrible doubt. Some were pushed back to more amenable dates in the autumn or winter, others knocked back a whole year to fill summer slots for 2021, but more than a few simply dropped off the radar entirely with the terrible words “postponed until further notice” stamped on them, and I lamented them all, this one in particular.  It hung in there longer than some, stubbornly holding onto its June release slot for as long as possible, but eventually it gave up the ghost too … but thanks to Apple TV+, not for long, ultimately releasing less than a month later than intended.  Thankfully the final film was worth the fuss, a taut World War II suspense thriller that’s all killer, no filler – set during the infamous Battle of the Atlantic, it portrays the constant life-or-death struggle faced by the Allied warships assigned to escort the transport convoys as they crossed the ocean, defending their charges from German U-boats.  Adapted from C.S. Forester’s famous 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by Tom Hanks and directed by Aaron Schneider (Get Low), the narrative focuses on the crew of the escort leader, American destroyer USS Fletcher, codenamed Greyhound, and in particular its captain, Commander Ernest Krause (Hanks), a career sailor serving his first command.  As they cross “the Pit”, the most dangerous mid stretch of the journey where they spend days without air-cover, they find themselves shadowed by “the Wolf Pack”, a particularly cunning group of German subs that begin to pick away at the convoy’s stragglers.  Faced with daunting odds, a dwindling supply of vital depth-charges and a ruthless, persistent enemy, Krause must make hard choices to bring his ships home safe … jumping into the thick of the action within the first ten minutes and maintaining that tension for the remainder of its trim 90-minute run, this is screen suspense par excellence, a sleek textbook example of how to craft a compelling big screen knuckle-whitener with zero fat and maximum reward, delivering a series of desperate naval scraps packed with hide-and-seek intensity, heart-in-mouth near-misses and fist-in-air cathartic payoffs by the bucket-load.  Hanks is subtly magnificent, the calm centre of the narrative storm as a supposed newcomer to this battle arena who could have been BORN for it, bringing to mind the similarly unflappable turn he delivered in Captain Phillips and certainly not suffering by comparison; by and large he’s the focus point, but other crew members do make strong (if sometimes quite brief) impressions, particularly Stephen Graham as Krause’s reliably seasoned XO, Lt. Commander Charlie Cole, The Magnificent Seven’s Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Just Mercy’s Rob Morgan, while Elisabeth Shue does a lot with a very small part in brief flashbacks as Krause’s fiancée Evelyn.  Relentless, powerful, exhilarating and thoroughly unforgettable, this was one of the true action highlights of the summer, and one hell of a war flick.  I’m so glad it made the cut for the season …

3.  PROJECT POWER – with Marvel and DC pushing their tent-pole titles back into late autumn in the face of COVID, the usual superhero antics we’ve come to expect over the main blockbuster season were pretty thin on the ground, leading us to find our geeky fan thrills elsewhere.  Unfortunately, pickings were frustratingly slim – Korean comic book actioner Gundala was entertaining but workmanlike, while Thor AU-take Mortal was underwhelming despite strong direction from Troll Hunter’s André Øvredal, and I’ve already made my feelings clear on the frustration of The New Mutants – thank the Gods, then, for Netflix, once again riding to the rescue with this enjoyably offbeat super-thriller, which takes an intriguing central premise and really runs with it.  New designer drug Power has hit the streets of New Orleans, able to give anyone who takes it a superpower for five minutes … the only problem is, until you try it, you won’t know what your own unique talent is – for some, it could mean five minutes of invisibility, or insane levels of super-strength, but other powers can be potentially lethal, the really unlucky buggers just blowing up on the spot.  Robin (The Hate U Give’s Dominique Fishback) is a teenage Power-pusher with dreams of becoming a rap star, dealing the pills so she can help her diabetic mum; Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of her customers, an NOPD detective who uses his power of near invulnerability to even the playing field when powered crims cause a disturbance.  Their lives are turned upside down when Art (Jamie Foxx) arrives in town – he’s a seriously badass ex-soldier determined to hunt down the source of Power by any means necessary, and he’s not above tearing the Big Easy apart to do it.  This is a fun, gleefully infectious  rollercoaster that doesn’t take itself too seriously, revelling in the anarchic potential of its premise and crafting some suitably OTT effects-driven chaos brought to pleasingly visceral fruition by its skilfully inventive director, Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Nerve, Viral), while Mattson Tomlin (the screenwriter of next year’s incendiary DCEU headline act The Batman) takes his script in some very interesting directions and poses some fascinating questions about what Power’s TRULY capable of.  Gordon-Levitt and Fishback are both brilliant, the latter particularly impressing in what’s sure to be a major breakthrough role for her, and the friendship their characters share is pretty adorable, while Foxx really is a force to be reckoned with, pretty chill even when he’s in deep shit but fully capable of turning into a bona fide killing machine at the flip of a switch, and there’s strong support from Westworld’s Rodrigo Santoro as Biggie, Power’s delightfully oily kingpin, Courtney B. Vance as Frank’s by-the-book superior, Captain Crane, Amy Landecker as Gardner, the morally bankrupt CIA spook responsible for the drug’s production, and Machine Gun Kelly as Newt, a Power dealer whose explosive pyrotechnic “gift” really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Exciting, inventive, frequently amusing and infectiously likeable, this was some of the most uncomplicated “cinematic” fun I had this summer.  Not bad for something which I’m sure was originally destined to become one of the season’s B-list features …

2.  THE OLD GUARD – Netflix’s undisputable TOP OFFERING of the summer came damn close to bagging the whole season, and I can’t help thinking that even if some of the stiffer competition had still been present it may well have still finished this high. Gina Prince-Blythewood (Love & Basketball, the Secret Life of Bees) directs comics legend Greg Rucka’s adaptation of his own popular title with uncanny skill and laser-focused visual flair considering there’s nothing on her previous CV to suggest she’d be THIS good at mounting a stomping good ultraviolent action thriller, ushering in this thoroughly engrossing tale of four ancient, invulnerable immortal warriors – Andy AKA Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron), Booker AKA Sebastian de Livre (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe AKA Yusuf Al-Kaysani (Wolf’s Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky AKA Niccolo di Ginova (Trust’s Luca Marinelli) – who’ve been around forever, hiring out their services as mercenaries for righteous causes while jealously guarding their identities for fear of horrific experimentation and exploitation should their true natures ever be discovered.  Their anonymity is threatened, however, when they’re uncovered by former CIA operative James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), working for the decidedly dodgy pharmaceutical conglomerate run by sociopathic billionaire Steven Merrick (Harry Melling, formerly Dudley in the Harry Potter movies), who want to capture these immortals so they can patent whatever it is that makes them keep on ticking … just as a fifth immortal, US Marine Nile Freeman (If Beale Street Could Talk’s KiKi Layne), awakens after being “killed” on deployment in Afghanistan.  The supporting players are excellent, particularly Ejiofor, smart and driven but ultimately principled and deeply conflicted about what he’s doing, even if he does have the best of intentions, and Melling, the kind of loathsome, reptilian scumbag you just love to hate, but the film REALLY DOES belong to the Old Guard themselves – Schoenaerts is a master brooder, spot-on casting as the group’s relative newcomer, only immortal since the Napoleonic Wars but clearly one seriously old soul who’s already VERY tired of the lifestyle, while Joe and Nicky (who met on opposing sides of the Crusades) are simply ADORABLE, an unapologetically matter-of-fact gay couple who are sweet, sassy and incredibly kind, the absolute emotional heart of the film; it’s the ladies, however, that are most memorable here.  Layne is exceptional, investing Nile with a steely intensity that puts her in good stead as her new existence threatens to overwhelm her and MORE THAN qualified to bust heads alongside her elders … but it’s ancient Greek warrior Andy who steals the film, Theron building on the astounding work she did in Atomic Blonde to prove, once and for all, that there’s no woman on Earth who looks better kicking arse than her (as Booker puts it, “that woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn”); in her hands, Andy truly is a goddess of death, tough as tungsten alloy and unflappable even in the face of hell itself, but underneath it all she hides a heart as big as any of her friends’. They’re an impossibly lovable bunch and you feel you could follow them on another TEN adventures like this one, which is just as well, because Prince-Blythewood and Rucka certainly put them through their paces here – the drama is high (but frequently laced with a gentle, knowing sense of humour, particularly whenever Joe and Nicky are onscreen), as are the stakes, and the frequent action sequences are top-notch, executed with rare skill and bone-crunching zest, but also ALWAYS in service to the story. Altogether this is an astounding film, a genuine victory for its makers and, it seems, for Netflix themselves – it’s become one of the platform’s biggest hits to date, earning well-deserved critical acclaim and great respect and genuine geek love from the fanbase at large. After this, a sequel is not only inevitable, it’s ESSENTIAL …

1.  TENET – granted, the streaming platforms (particularly Netflix and Amazon) certainly did save our cinematic summer, but I’m still IMMEASURABLY glad that the season’s ultimate top-spot winner was one I got to experience on THE BIG SCREEN.  You gotta hand it to Christopher Nolan, he sure hung in there, stubbornly determined that his latest cinematic masterpiece WOULD be released in cinemas in the summer (albeit ultimately landing JUST inside the line in the final week of August), and it was worth all the fuss because, for me, this was THE PERFECT MOVIE for me to get return to cinemas with.  I mean, okay, in the end it WASN’T the FIRST new movie I saw after the reopening, that honour went to Unhinged, but THIS was my first real Saturday night out big screen EXPERIENCE since March.  Needless to say, Nolan didn’t disappoint this time any more than he has on any of his consistently spectacular previous releases, delivering another twisted, mind-boggling headfuck of a full-blooded experiential sensory overload that comes perilously close to toppling his long-standing auteur-peak, Inception (itself second only by fractions to The Dark Knight as far as I’m concerned). To say much at all about the plot would give away major spoilers – personally I’d recommend just going in as cold as possible, indeed you really should just stop reading this right now and just GO SEE IT.  Still with us?  Okay … the VERY abridged version is that it’s about a secret war being waged between the present and the future by people capable of “inverting” time in substances, objects, people, whatever, into which the Protagonist (BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington), an unnamed CIA agent, has been dispatched in order to prevent a potential coming apocalypse. Washington is once again on top form, crafting a robust and compelling morally complex heroic lead who’s just as comfortable negotiating the minefields of black market intrigue as he is breaking into places or dispatching heavies, Kenneth Branagh delivers one of his most interesting and memorable performances in years as brutal Russian oligarch Andrei Sator, a genuinely nasty piece of work who may be the year’s very best screen villain, Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Widows) brings strength, poise and wounded integrity to the role of Sator’s estranged wife, Kat, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson gets to use his own accent for once as tough-as-nails British Intelligence officer Ives, while there are brief but consistently notable supporting turns and cameos from Martin Donovan, Yesterday’s HImesh Patel, Dirk Gently’s Fiona Dourif and, of course, Nolan’s good luck charm, Michael Caine.  The cast’s biggest surprise, however, is Robert Pattinson, truly a revelation in what has to be, HANDS DOWN, his best role to date, Neil, the Protagonist’s mysterious handler – he’s by turns cheeky, slick, duplicitous and thoroughly badass, delivering an enjoyably multi-layered, chameleonic performance which proves what I’ve long maintained, that the former Twilight star is actually a fucking amazing actor, and on the basis of this, even without that amazing new teaser trailer making the rounds, I think the debate about whether or not he’s the right choice for the new Batman is now academic.  As we’ve come to expect from Nolan, this is a TRUE tour-de-force experience, a visual masterpiece and an endlessly engrossing head-scratcher, Nolan’s screenplay bringing in some seriously big ideas and throwing us some major narrative knots and loopholes, constantly wrong-footing the viewer while also setting up truly revelatory payoffs from seemingly low-key, unimportant beginnings – this is a film you need to be awake and attentive for or you could miss something pretty vital.  The action sequences are, as ever, second to none, some of the year’s very best set-pieces coming thick and fast and executed with some of the most accomplished skill in the business, while Nolan-regular cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar and Dunkirk, as well as the heady likes of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, SPECTRE and Ad Astra) once again shows he’s one of the best camera-wizards in the business today by delivering some truly mesmerising visuals.  Notably, Nolan’s other regular collaborator, composer Hans Zimmer, is absent here (although he has good reason, currently working on his dream project, the fast-approaching screen adaptation of Dune), but Ludwig Göransson (best known for his regular collaborations with Ryan Coogler on the likes of Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther, as well as truly awesome work on The Mandalorian) makes for a fine replacement, crafting an intriguingly internalised, post-modern musical landscape that thrums and pulses in time with the story and emotions of the characters rather than the action itself. Interestingly it’s on the subject of sound that some of the film’s rare detractions have been levelled, and I can see some of the points – the soundtrack mix is an all-encompassing thing, and there are times when the dialogue can be overwhelmed, but in Nolan’s defence as a film this is a heady, immersive experience, something you really need to concentrate on, so these potential flaws are easily forgiven.  As a piece of filmmaking art, this is another flawless wonder from one of the true masters of the craft working in cinema today, but it’s art with palpable substance, a rewarding whole that really HAS TO BE experienced on the big screen.  So put your snobbery at post-lockdown restrictions aside for the moment and get yourself down to your nearest cinema so you can experience it for yourself.  You won’t be disappointed.  Right now, this is my movie of the year, and with only one possible exception, I really don’t see that changing …

[ohlayarfp]

Film Review - Misteri Dilaila by Syafiq Yusof

Misteri Dilaila is a Malaysian horror thriller film that went viral in 2019. I rarely watch Malaysian films because when i do, it’s usually the same plot all over again. Drama, romance, action, comedy and everyone’s favourite, Horror. I feel like these genres are the usuals everywhere but what makes it unbearable for most of us Malaysians is how similar every story is. Rich boy meets a poor girl. Rich boy falls in love with her and when they get married the mother hates the poor girl. They fight and one day someone dies and the end. For horror, it’s just about some people getting haunted by a ghost that was sent by a close friend of theirs.

The thing I understand about the horror hype for Malaysians is how our culture is deeply rooted with mystical beliefs and as religious as we tend to be, ghost stories seem to intertwine with our faith for countless years. Personally, I believe in Asian ghosts more than the western versions. This is probably due to my own family having our fair share of sights into the world of the undead. 

The reason why I chose to talk about this film is because of how disappointed I felt when I watched it. Unlike most Malaysian films, it had the potential to be a great one. The look of the film was far better than the usual ones we got and the story building had a Gone Girl vibe. What made me disappointed was the fact that while watching that film I was hopeful and excited thinking finally a Malaysian Filmmaker is making a psychological horror instead of those in your face jump scares. 

The story is about a married couple, Jefri and Dilaila, who were spending their holiday together at a luxury vacation home in Fraser’s Hill. After a petty issue where they end up quarrelling at each other, Jefri discovers his wife went missing the following morning. Next thing he knows, a mysterious woman who also goes by the name of Dilaila shows up one night where she claims to be his wife. Adding more confusion is the supernatural occurrences that regularly haunts Jefri whenever he’s alone in the house.

Throughout the whole film, I was at the edge of my seat thinking that there’s finally a malaysian filmmaker that is about to introduce a character with a mental illness as the protagonist which would’ve justified his hallucinations of the ghost. Unfortunately, it was just like other films where there’s no actual context to the sightings, they were just ghosts being ghosts and haunting him for no reason. Well that’s for the 2nd version of the film.

Another fun fact about this film is that it went viral due to the alternate endings it has. When the film came out in the cinemas, people were surprised to hear that they had different endings when they discussed it with their friends. This was purely the filmmaker and his team’s intention. Different halls have different endings and this was meant to be a surprise for the audiences. It was a great marketing strategy and considered as a genius way of thinking for some people while some were mad that they were being ripped off. 

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

As a person that watched both versions, I was unsatisfied with both versions as both endings angered me. Nevertheless, I didn’t think it’s an absolute flop though. Both versions have the fair share of plot twists. The first version revealed that the protagonist we thought all along was the actual antagonist. He was the one that killed his own wife whilst every supporting character was a part of the police team that were acting to make him confess to his wrong doings. It was then stated that the hallucinations he got was a result of his guilt and him being under the influence of drugs all along.

The second version on the other hand is more mystical. The ghosts made more appearances in this version. The protagonist is still the good guy but the inspector that was involved in the case turned out to be a fake policeman and he was working with the imposter Dilaila. Towards the end, Jef found out that his wife has been dead a long time ago and the ‘wife’ he was holding turns out to be something else (this we never see on screen though). 

Personally if i were to choose an ending, I would choose the 1st version as it makes more sense logically but I can understand why people love the 2nd Version.  Malaysians and their thirst for horror films explains the statistics. But a famous film reviewer on YouTube (ZhafVlogs) once made an instagram poll and asked his subscribers to choose between the two versions and surprisingly it was a tie. This proves that the director made the right decision to come up with alternate endings. 

*END OF SPOILERS*

The film then landed in a controversy within the next few weeks after the premiere. Someone noticed that the story was awfully familiar. It was then proven that the story was 90% similar to a few films from India, America, Russia and more. People were comparing it to a film called “Vanishing Act” and they were right. 

As a film student, I am aware about the concept of adaptation so I personally see no wrong in the filmmaker’s act. However, I can understand why people are mad. The filmmaker went silent once news got out about him “stealing” the idea and “claiming” the story as his. But based on my research, I never found him claiming the story as his before. Although, he also never mentioned about him making a remake of the initial film as well. The filmmaker went silent for a long time and people kept sending him hate comments but soon died after a few months. 

A year later, the issue was raised yet again by someone and this caused the filmmaker to finally speak up. He explains the concept of adaptation and how he was inspired by a scriptwriting book called Save The Cat which said that “A good artist copy, but a great artist steals”. He also states about there being so many films abroad that have the similar concept to an older film such as Fast and Furious with Point Break, Avatar with Pocahontas and Inception with Paprika. He finally came clean and stated that he was inspired by a stage play from France called “A Trap for a Lonely Man”. He then added his own twist by adding some horror elements knowing that it being the target audience favourite genre.

Also regarding the quote from Save The Cat, (in my opinion) I feel like what the author was implying is about ‘stealing’ stories from life. Not stealing the exact plot codes from other films. This is based on my understanding from the phrase which I assume Syafiq may have misinterpreted it.

He raised logical points from a filmmaker’s perspective and he also raised some issues about being pressured from his father (Yusof Haslam) and brother (Syamsul Yusof) who were well known filmmakers as well. He said that everyone kept on telling him to be better than his father and brother. Sadly, when he was at his lowest, even his family turned their backs on him and said that it’s fully his fault. 

From my point of view, I was initially furious with him for not being able to defend himself by explaining about the adaptation because I feel like most Malaysian audiences are unaware about it. People assume adaptation is from book to film when it's more than that. I, myself, learnt that from film school. And I’m not entirely defending him as well, I’m still disappointed in him for not speaking up sooner. But I do empathise with him as well. The audience were quick to attack him. The film industry in Malaysia is not entirely in the best state for these past few years. So a film like Misteri Dilaila made everyone hopeful for more quality films like it only to be betrayed at the end when they found out that it wasn’t his own creative idea and a total rip off. I still feel like he did a good job with his visuals which was an improvement from the local films around that time.

Reading through the whole issue and looking at how this decision to “copy” the plot codes as he was inspired from the Save The Cat book has opened my eyes. As a filmmaker, I feel like i should always do research before starting on a project and the best thing is to always be honest with our intentions. If it’s inspired by a remake, then set it straight and give credit to the original piece. Don’t keep it to yourself. It is terrifying though, being in his state where everyone turned their backs on him, even his own family. He released a few films after that, saying that film is his job and that it is his source of income so as much as it may seem hard sometimes, life still goes on. Sadly, he received a lot of backlash and people lost their faith in him. People were being sarcastic and teasing him if the film was even his.Seeing that happened to him opened my eyes. People may let it slide but they’ll never forget. Once you screw up, people will remember and use it against you. 

Pictures of the set:

Links to Film Reviews:

A Non-Horror Fan's Guide To Watching 'Misteri Dilaila'

https://rojakdaily.com/entertainment/article/6414/a-non-horror-fan-s-guide-to-watching-misteri-dilaila

Misteri Dilaila (2019) Review

https://www.caseymoviemania.com/2019/02/misteri-dilaila-2019-review/

Movie review: Misteri Dilaila

https://www.thesundaily.my/style-life/reviews/movie-review-misteri-dilaila-DJ649603

Link to news about the controversy :

Is Local Horror Film ‘Misteri Dilaila’ a Rip Off? Here’s What The Director Had To Say..

https://juiceonline.com/is-local-horror-film-misteri-dilaila-a-rip-off-heres-what-the-director-had-to-say/

Horror fans slam ‘Misteri Dilaila’ for ripping off Hollywood film ‘Vanishing Act’

https://www.malaymail.com/news/showbiz/2019/03/05/horror-fans-slam-misteri-dilaila-for-ripping-off-hollywood-film-vanishing-a/1729154

Clarification/Statement by the Director about the issue (in Malay);

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=649749852534594&set=pcb.649750949201151

[mattbrothersscriptwriter]

My Top 20 Films of 2019 - Part Two

I don’t think I’ve had a year where my top ten jostled and shifted as much as this one did - these really are the best of the best and my personal favourites of 2019.

10. Toy Story 4

I think we can all agree that Toy Story 3 was a pretty much perfect conclusion to a perfect trilogy right? About as close as is likely to get, I’m sure. I shared the same trepidation when part four was announced, especially after some underwhelming sequels like Finding Dory and Cars 3 (though I do have a lot of time for Monsters University and Incredibles 2). So maybe it’s because the odds were so stacked against this being good but I thought it was wonderful. A truly existential nightmare of an epilogue that does away with Andy (and mostly kids altogether) to focus on the dreams and desires of the toys themselves - separate from their ‘duties’ as playthings to biological Gods. What is their purpose in life without an owner? Can they be their own person and carve their own path? In the case of breakout new character Forky (Tony Hale), what IS life? Big big questions for a cash grab kids films huh?

The animation is somehow yet another huge leap forward (that opening rainstorm!), Bo Peep’s return is excellently pitched and the series tradition of being unnervingly horrifying is back as well thanks to those creepy ventriloquist dolls! Keanu Reeves continues his ‘Keanuassaince‘ as the hilarious Duke Caboom and this time, hopefully, the ending at least feels finite. This series means so much to me: I think the first movie is possibly the tightest, most perfect script ever written, the third is one of my favourites of the decade and growing up with the franchise (I was 9 when the first came out, 13 for part two, 24 for part three and now 32 for this one), these characters are like old friends so of course it was great to see them again. All this film had to do was be good enough to justify its existence and while there are certainly those out there that don’t believe this one managed it, I think the fact that it went as far as it did showed that Pixar are still capable of pushing boundaries and exploring infinity and beyond when they really put their minds to it.

9. The Nightingale

Hoo boy. Already controversial with talk of mass walkouts (I witnessed a few when this screened at Sundance London), it’s not hard to see why but easy to understand. Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) is a truly fearless filmmaker following up her acclaimed suburban horror movie come grief allegory with a period revenge tale set in the Tasmanian wilderness during British colonial rule in the early 1800s. It’s rare to see the British depicted with the monstrous brutality for which they were known in the distant colonies and this unflinching drama sorely needed an Australian voice behind the camera to do it justice.

The film is front loaded with some genuinely upsetting, nasty scenes of cruel violence but its uncensored brutality and the almost casual nature of its depiction is entirely the point - this was normalised behaviour over there and by treating it so matter of factly, it doesn’t slip into gratuitous ‘movie violence’. It is what it is. And what it is is hard to watch. If anything, as Kent has often stated, it’s still toned down from the actual atrocities that occurred so it’s a delicate balance that I think Kent more than understands. Quoting from an excellent Vanity Fair interview she did about how she directs, Kent said “I think audiences have become very anaesthetised to violence on screen and it’s something I find disturbing... People say ‘these scenes are so shocking and disturbing’. Of course they are. We need to feel that. When we become so removed from violence on screen, this is a very irresponsible thing. So I wanted to put us right within the frame with that person experiencing the loss of everything they hold dear”. 

Aisling Franciosi is next level here as a woman who has her whole life torn from her, leaving her as nothing but a raging husk out for vengeance. It would be so easy to fall into odd couple tropes once she teams up with reluctant native tracker Billy (an equally impressive newcomer, Baykali Ganambarr) but the film continues to stay true to the harsh racism of the era, unafraid to depict our heroine - our point of sympathy - as horrendously racist towards her own ally. Their partnership is not easily solidified but that makes it all the stronger when they star to trust each other. Sam Claflin is also career best here, weaponizing his usual charm into dangerous menace and even after cementing himself as the year’s most evil villain, he can still draw out the humanity in such a broken and corrupt man.

Gorgeously shot in the Academy ratio, the forest landscape here is oppressive and claustrophobic. Kent also steps back into her horror roots with some mesmerising, skin crawling dream scenes that amplify the woozy nightmarish tone and overbearing sense of dread. Once seen, never forgotten, this is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea (and that’s fine) but when cinema can affect you on such a visceral level and be this powerful, reflective and honest about our own past, it’s hard to ignore. Stunning.

8. The Irishman

Aka Martin Scorsese’s magnum opus, I did manage to see this one in a cinema before the Netflix drop and absolutely loved it. I’ve watched 85 minute long movies that felt longer than this - Marty’s mastery of pace, energy and knowing when to let things play out in agonising detail is second to none. This epic tale of  the life of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) really is the cinematic equivalent of having your cake and eating it too, allowing Scorsese to run through a greatest hits victory lap of mobster set pieces, alpha male arguments, a decades spanning life story and one (last?) truly great Joe Pesci performance before simply letting the story... continue... to a natural, depressing and tragic ending, reflecting the emptiness of a life built on violence and crime.

For a film this long, it’s impressive how much the smallest details make the biggest impacts. A stammering phone call from a man emotionally incapable of offering any sort of condolence. The cold refusal of forgiveness from a once loving daughter. A simple mirroring of a bowl of cereal or a door left slightly ajar. These are the parts of life that haunt us all and it’s what we notice the most in a deliberately lengthy biopic that shows how much these things matter when everything else is said and done. The violence explodes in sudden, sharp bursts, often capping off unbearably tense sequences filled with the everyday (a car ride, a conversation about fish, ice cream...) and this contrast between the whizz bang of classic Scorsese and the contemplative nature of Silence era Scorsese is what makes this film feel like such an accomplishment. De Niro is FINALLY back but it’s the memorably against type role for Pesci and an invigorated Al Pacino who steals this one, along with a roll call of fantastic cameos, with perhaps the most screentime given to the wonderfully petty Stephen Graham as Tony Pro, not to mention Anna Paquin’s near silent performance which says more than possibly anyone else. 

Yes, the CG de-aging is misguided at best, distracting at worst (I never really knew how old anyone was meant to be at any given time... which is kinda a problem) but like how you get used to it really quickly when it’s used well, here I kinda got past it being bad in an equally fast amount of time and just went with it. Would it have been a different beast had they cast younger actors to play them in the past? Undoubtedly. But if this gives us over three hours of Hollywood’s finest giving it their all for the last real time together, then that’s a compromise I can live with.

7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Wow. I was in love with this film from the moving first trailer but then the film itself surpassed all expectations. This is a true indie film success story, with lead actor Jimmie Fails developing the idea with director Joe Talbot for years before Kickstarting a proof of concept and eventually getting into Sundance with short film American Paradise, which led to the backing of this debut feature through Plan B and A24. The deeply personal and poetic drama follows a fictionalised version of Jimmie, trying to buy back an old Victorian town house he claims was built by his grandfather, in an act of rebellion against the increasingly gentrified San Francisco that both he and director Talbot call home.

The film is many things - a story of male friendship, of solidarity within our community, of how our cities can change right from underneath us - it moves to the beat of it’s own drum, with painterly cinematography full of gorgeous autumnal colours and my favourite score of the year from Emile Mosseri. The performances, mostly by newcomers or locals outside of brilliant turns from Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover and Thora Birch, are wonderful and the whole thing is such a beautiful love letter to the city that it makes you ache for a strong sense of place in your own home, even if your relationship with it is fractured or strained. As Jimmie says, “you’re not allowed to hate it unless you love it”.

For me, last year’s Blindspotting (my favourite film of the year) tackled gentrification within California more succinctly but this much more lyrical piece of work ebbs and flows through a number of themes like identity, family, memory and time. It’s a big film living inside a small, personal one and it is not to be overlooked.

6. Little Women

I had neither read the book nor seen any prior adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel so to me, this is by default the definitive telling of this story. If from what I hear, the non linear structure is Greta Gerwig’s addition, then it’s a total slam dunk. It works so well in breaking up the narrative and by jumping from past to present, her screenplay highlights certain moments and decisions with a palpable sense of irony, emotional weight or knowing wink. Getting to see a statement made with sincere conviction and then paid off within seconds, can be both a joy and a surefire recipe for tears. Whether it’s the devastating contrast between scenes centred around Beth’s illness or the juxtaposition of character’s attitudes to one another, it’s a massive triumph. Watching Amy angrily tell Laurie how she’s been in love with him all her life and then cutting back to her childishly making a plaster cast of her foot for him (’to remind him how small her feet are’) is so funny. 

Gerwig and her impeccable cast bring an electric energy to the period setting, capturing the big, messy realities of family life with a mix of overwhelming cross-chatter and the smallest of intimate gestures. It’s a testament to the film that every sister feels fully serviced and represented, from Beth’s quiet strength to Amy’s unforgivable sibling rivalry. Chris Cooper’s turn as a stoic man suffering almost imperceptible grief is a personal heartbreaking favourite. 

The book’s (I’m assuming) most sweeping romantic statements are wonderfully delivered, full of urgent passion and relatable heartache, from Marmie’s (Laura Dern) “I’m angry nearly every day of my life” moment to Jo’s (Saoirse Ronan) painful defiance of feminine attributes not being enough to cure her loneliness. The sheer amount of heart and warmth in this is just remarkable and I can easily see it being a film I return to again and again.

5. Booksmart

2019 has been a banner year for female directors, making their exclusion from some of the early awards conversations all the more damning. From this list alone, we have Lulu Wang, Jennifer Kent and Greta Gerwig. Not to mention Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass), Sophie Hyde (Animals) and Rose Glass (Saint Maud - watch out for THIS one in 2020, it’s brilliant). Perhaps the most natural transition from in front of to behind the camera has been made by Olivia Wilde, who has created a borderline perfect teen comedy that can make you laugh till you cry, cry till you laugh and everything in-between.

Subverting the (usually male focused) ‘one last party before college’ tropes that fuel the likes of Superbad and it’s many inferior imitators, Booksmart follows two overachievers who, rather than go on a coming of age journey to get some booze or get laid, simply want to indulge in an insane night of teenage freedom after realising that all of the ‘cool kids’ who they assumed were dropouts, also managed to get a place in all of the big universities. It’s a subtly clever remix of an old favourite from the get go but the committed performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein put you firmly in their shoes for the whole ride. 

It’s a genuine blast, with big laughs and a bigger heart, portraying a supportive female friendship that doesn’t rely on hokey contrivances to tear them apart, meaning that when certain repressed feelings do come to the surface, the fallout is heartbreaking. As I stated in a twitter rave after first seeing it back in May, every single character, no matter how much they might appear to be simply representing a stock role or genre trope, gets their moment to be humanised. This is an impeccably cast ensemble of young unknowns who constantly surprise and the script is a marvel - a watertight structure without a beat out of place, callbacks and payoffs to throwaway gags circle back to be hugely important and most of all, the approach taken to sexuality and representation feels so natural. I really think it is destined to be looked back on and represent 2019 the way Heathers does ‘88, Clueless ‘95 or Easy A 2010. A new high benchmark for crowd pleasing, indie comedy - teen or otherwise.

4. Ad Astra

Brad Pitt is one of my favourite actors and one who, despite still being a huge A-lister even after 30 years in the game, never seems to get enough credit for the choices he makes, the movies he stars in and also the range of stories he helps produce through his company, Plan B. 2019 was something of a comeback year for Pitt as an actor with the insanely measured and controlled lead performance seen here in Ad Astra and the more charismatic and chaotic supporting role in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

I love space movies, especially those that are more about broken people blasting themselves into the unknown to search for answers within themselves... which manages to sum up a lot of recent output in this weirdly specific sub-genre. First Man was a devastating look at grief characterised by a man who would rather go to a desolate rock than have to confront what he lost, all while being packaged as a heroic biopic with a stunning score. Gravity and The Martian both find their protagonists forced to rely on their own cunning and ingenuity to survive and Interstellar looked at the lengths we go to for those we love left behind. Smaller, arty character studies like High Life or Moon are also astounding. All of this is to say that Ad Astra takes these concepts and runs with them, challenging Pitt to cross the solar system to talk some sense into his long thought dead father (Tommy Lee Jones). But within all the ‘sad dad’ stuff, there’s another film in here just daring you to try and second guess it - one that kicks things off with a terrifying free fall from space, gives us a Mad Max style buggy chase on the moon and sidesteps into horror for one particular set-piece involving a rabid baboon in zero G! It manages to feel so completely nuts, so episodic in structure, that I understand why a lot of people were turned off - feeling that the overall film was too scattershot to land the drama or too pondering to have any fun with. I get the criticisms but for me, both elements worked in tandem, propelling Pitt on this (assumed) one way journey at a crazy pace whilst sitting back and languishing in the ‘bigger themes’ more associated with a Malik or Kubrick film. Something that Pitt can sell me on in his sleep by this point.

I loved the visuals from cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), loved the imagination and flair of the script from director James Gray and Ethan Gross and loved the score by Max Richter (with Lorne Balfe and Nils Frahm) but most of all, loved Pitt, proving that sometimes a lot less, is a lot more. The sting of hearing the one thing he surely knew (but hoped he wouldn’t) be destined to hear from his absent father, acted almost entirely in his eyes during a third act confrontation, summed up the movie’s brilliance for me - so much so that I can forgive some of the more outlandish ‘Mr Hyde’ moments of this thing’s alter ego... like, say, riding a piece of damaged hull like a surfboard through a meteor debris field! 

3. Avengers: Endgame

It’s no secret that I think Marvel, the MCU in particular, have been going from strength to strength in recent years, slowly but surely taking bigger risks with filmmakers (the bonkers Taika Waititi, the indie darlings of Ryan Coogler, Cate Shortland and Chloe Zhao) whilst also carefully crafting an entertaining, interconnected universe of characters and stories. But what is the point of building up any movie ‘universe’ if you’re not going to pay it off and Endgame is perhaps the strongest conclusion to eleven years of movie sequels that fans could have possibly hoped for.

Going into this thing, the hype was off the charts (and for good reason, with it now being the highest grossing film of all time) but I remember souring on the first entry of this two-parter, Infinity War, during the time between initial release and Endgame’s premiere. That film had a game-changing climax, killing off half the heroes (and indeed the universe’s population) and letting the credits role on the villain having achieved his ultimate goal. It was daring, especially for a mammoth summer blockbuster but obviously, we all knew the deaths would never be permanent, especially with so many already-announced sequels for now ‘dusted’ characters. However, it wasn’t just the feeling that everything would inevitably be alright in the end. For me, the characters themselves felt hugely under-serviced, with arguably the franchise’s main goody two shoes Captain America being little more than a beardy bloke who showed up to fight a little bit. Basically what I’m getting at is that I felt Endgame, perhaps emboldened by the giant runtime, managed to not only address these character slights but ALSO managed to deliver the most action packed, comic booky, ‘bashing your toys together’ final fight as well.

It’s a film of three parts, each pretty much broken up into one hour sections. There’s the genuinely new and interesting initial section following our heroes dealing with the fact that they lost... and it stuck. Thor angrily kills Thanos within the first fifteen minutes but it’s a meaningless action by this point - empty revenge. Cutting to five years later, we get to see how defeat has affected them, for better or worse, trying to come to terms with grief and acceptance. Cap tries to help the everyman, Black Widow is out leading an intergalactic mop up squad and Thor is wallowing in a depressive black hole. It’s a shocking and vibrantly compelling deconstruction of the whole superhero thing and it gives the actors some real meat to chew on, especially Robert Downy Jr here who goes from being utterly broken to fighting within himself to do the right thing despite now having a daughter he doesn’t want to lose too. Part two is the trip down memory lane, fan service-y time heist which is possibly the most fun section of any of these movies, paying tribute to the franchise’s past whilst teetering on a knife’s edge trying to pull off a genuine ‘mission impossible’. And then it explodes into the extended finale which pays everyone off, demonstrates some brilliantly imaginative action and sticks the landing better than it had any right to. In a year which saw the ending of a handful of massive geek properties, from Game of Thrones to Star Wars, it’s a miracle even one of them got it right at all. That Endgame managed to get it SO right is an extraordinary accomplishment and if anything, I think Marvel may have shot themselves in the foot as it’s hard to imagine anything they can give us in the future having the intense emotional weight and momentum of this huge finale.

2. Knives Out

Rian Johnson has been having a ball leaping into genre sandpits and stirring shit up, from his teen spin on noir in Brick to his quirky con man caper with The Brothers Bloom, his time travel thriller Looper and even his approach to the Star Wars mythos in The Last Jedi. Turning his attention to the relatively dead ‘whodunnit’ genre, Knives Out is a perfect example of how to celebrate everything that excites you about a genre whilst weaponizing it’s tropes against your audience’s baggage and preconceptions.

An impeccable cast have the time of their lives here, revelling in playing self obsessed narcissists who scramble to punt the blame around when the family’s patriarch, a successful crime novelist (Christopher Plummer), winds up dead. Of course there’s something fishy going on so Daniel Craig’s brilliantly dry southern detective Benoit Blanc is called in to investigate.There are plenty of standouts here, from Don Johnson’s ignorant alpha wannabe Richard to Michael Shannon’s ferocious eldest son Walt to Chris Evan’s sweater wearing jock Ransom, full of unchecked, white privilege swagger. But the surprise was the wholly sympathetic, meek, vomit prone Marta, played brilliantly by Ana de Armas, cast against her usual type of sultry bombshell (Knock Knock, Blade Runner 2049), to spearhead the biggest shake up of the genre conventions. To go into more detail would begin to tread into spoiler territory but by flipping the audience’s engagement with the detective, we’re suddenly on the receiving end of the scrutiny and the tension derived from this switcheroo is genius and opens up the second act of the story immensely.

The whole thing is so lovingly crafted and the script is one of the tightest I’ve seen in years. The amount of setup and payoff here is staggering and never not hugely satisfying, especially as it heads into it’s final stretch. It really gives you some hope that you could have such a dense, plotty, character driven idea for a story and that it could survive the transition from page to screen intact and for the finished product to work as well as it does. I really hope Johnson returns to tell another Benoit Blanc mystery and judging by the roaring box office success (currently over $200 million worldwide for a non IP original), I certainly believe he will.

1. Eighth Grade

My film of the year is another example of the power of cinema to put us in other people’s shoes and to discover the traits, fears, joys and insecurities that we all share irregardless. It may shock you to learn this but I have never been a 13 year old teenage girl trying to get by in the modern world of social media peer pressure and ‘influencer’ culture whilst crippled with personal anxiety. My school days almost literally could not have looked more different than this (less Instagram, more POGs) and yet, this is a film about struggling with oneself, with loneliness, with wanting more but not knowing how to get it without changing yourself and the careless way we treat those with our best interests at heart in our selfish attempt to impress peers and fit in. That is understandable. That is universal. And as I’m sure I’ve said a bunch of times in this list, movies that present the most specific worldview whilst tapping into universal themes are the ones that inevitably resonate the most.

Youtuber and comedian Bo Burnham has crafted an impeccable debut feature, somehow portraying a generation of teens at least a couple of generations below his own, with such laser focused insight and intimate detail. It’s no accident that this film has often been called a sort of social-horror, with cringe levels off the charts and recognisable trappings of anxiety and depression in every frame. The film’s style services this feeling at every turn, from it’s long takes and nauseous handheld camerawork to the sensory overload in it’s score (take a bow Anna Meredith) and the naturalistic performances from all involved. Burnham struck gold when he found Elsie Fisher, delivering the most painful and effortlessly real portrayal of a tweenager in crisis as Kayla. The way she glances around skittishly, the way she is completely lost in her phone, the way she talks, even the way she breathes all feeds into the illusion - the film is oftentimes less a studio style teen comedy and more a fly on the wall documentary. 

This is a film that could have coasted on being a distant, social media based cousin to more standard fare like Sex Drive or Superbad or even Easy A but it goes much deeper, unafraid to let you lower your guard and suddenly hit you with the most terrifying scene of casually attempted sexual aggression or let you watch this pure, kindhearted girl falter and question herself in ways she shouldn’t even have to worry about. And at it’s core, there is another beautiful father/daughter relationship, with Josh Hamilton stuck on the outside looking in, desperate to help Kayla with every fibre of his being but knowing there are certain things she has to figure out for herself. It absolutely had me and their scene around a backyard campfire is one of the year’s most touching.

This is a truly remarkable film that I think everyone should seek out but I’m especially excited for all the actual teenage girls who will get to watch this and feel seen. This isn’t about the popular kid, it isn’t about the dork who hangs out with his or her own band of misfits. This is about the true loner, that person trying everything to get noticed and still ending up invisible, that person trying to connect through the most disconnected means there is - the internet - and everything that comes with it. Learning that the version of yourself you ‘portray’ on a Youtube channel may act like they have all the answers but if you’re kidding yourself then how do you grow? 

When I saw this in the cinema, I watched a mother take her seat with her two daughters, aged probably at around nine and twelve. Possibly a touch young for this, I thought, and I admit I cringed a bit on their behalf during some very adult trailers but in the end, I’m glad their mum decided they were mature enough to see this because a) they had a total blast and b) life simply IS R rated for the most part, especially during our school years, and those girls being able to see someone like Kayla have her story told on the big screen felt like a huge win. I honestly can’t wait to see what Burnham or Fisher decide to do next. 2019 has absolutely been their year... and it’s been a hell of a year.

[gravecinema]

Top 10 Horror Movie Franchises - 07/06/2020

Number 10 – Phantasm

Number of movies - 5

In the first movie of this series, the residents of a small town have begun dying under mysterious circumstances, leading the young boy Mike to investigate. After discovering that the town's mortician -- known as the Tall Man -- is killing and reanimating the dead, Mike seeks help from his older brother, Jody, and local ice cream man Reggie. Working together, they try to lure out and kill the Tall Man, all while avoiding his zombie minions and a deadly flying silver sphere.

Featuring a beautiful Plymouth Hemi Cuda, a four-barrel shotgun-toting ice cream man, and a menacing tall and creepy antagonist with a ton of iconic flying silver balls of death, the Phantasm series is one the best and most enduring franchises in all of horror. With most of the main cast and actors returning and being featured in all five films, the quality of the series rarely dips, which can always be a detriment for other franchises. This is extra impressive considering the first film came out in 1979, with the final one being released 37 years later in 2016.

The character of Reggie would go on to become a great horror hero on par with the character of Ash from the Evil Dead series. His character becomes the main heart of the series, and really gives the audience someone to root for in each of the films. Combine that with the great villain of the Tall Man and the unforgettable killer flying spheres, and the Phantasm series is definitely deserving of the number 10 spot in the top 10 horror franchises of all time.

Number 9 – Saw

Number of movies - 9

In the first Saw movie, a photographer and an oncologist wake up in a dark and dirty bathroom while chained to pipes at either end. The two men soon realize that they've been trapped by a sadistic serial killer nicknamed "Jigsaw." Jigsaw then forces them to complete his perverse puzzle to live, while flashbacks reveal the fates of his previous victims. Meanwhile, the Dr.'s wife and young daughter are forced to watch his torture via closed-circuit video.

That first Saw movie is intense and suspenseful with a great twist ending. Working off a low budget, it would become one of the highest grossing movies of the year, and spawn 8 sequels, with the latest one set to be released within the near future. For seven years, the Saw franchised owned the Halloween movie season, with a new installment of the series being released every year. The low cost of the production of the movies pretty much guaranteed a high return at the box office for as long as the movies remained popular.

The character of Jigsaw would go on to become an Icon of the new millennium of horror. The movies would coin a new subgenre of horror known as torture porn. They have certainly left their mark and continue to inspire newer filmmakers today. They will always make us want to answer the question of whether or not we want to play one of Jigsaw’s games.

Number 8 – Psycho

Number of movies - 6  

Secretary Marion Crane is fleeing after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis. She buys a new car and soon gets caught in a heavy rainstorm. Traveling on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the small Bates Motel and meets the polite but odd proprietor Norman Bates, a young man with an interest in taxidermy and possessing a difficult relationship with his mother. One fateful shower later, and Psycho would then transform itself into a landmark of horror cinema.

The original Psycho movie by Alfred Hitchcock is one of the great masterpieces of horror. It made an entire generation afraid to take a shower the same way Jaws made people afraid to go into the ocean. The shower scene is one of the true iconic moments of horror with a great soundtrack to go with it. The great twist at the end would give Anthony Perkins one of the most memorable roles in horror, and he would go on to give equally great performances in the next three sequels.

The first Psycho sequel released 23 years after the original is one of the best sequels I have ever seen and is just as pleasing to watch as the first movie, with another great ending. While the quality of the other films may be questionable, Anthony Perkins always gives a great performance and makes the movies well worth a watch. That’s why the Psycho series is one of my favorites, and worthy of a spot in my top 10.

Number 7 – Evil Dead

Number of movies - 4

Ashley "Ash" Williams played by the great Bruce Campbell, his girlfriend Linda, and three friends drive into the woods to a cabin for a fun night away. There they find an old book bound in human flesh and inked in blood called the Necronomicon, whose text reawakens and possesses the dead when it's read aloud. The friends inadvertently release the evil from the book and must fight for their lives or become one of the evil dead. Ash watches his friends become possessed one by one and must make a difficult decision before dawn in order to save his own life in the first of Sam Raimi's great trilogy.

The first movie of the series is a landmark in independent horror, and the next movies would each outdo the other in their own way, with Evil Dead 2 being more of a horror comedy, and Army of Darkness being more of a horror fantasy adventure. There would also be a remake released in 2013 that would take the series back to its terror roots and it is one of the better remakes of the genre. Bruce Campbell would also return as Ash in the Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead in 2015 for three seasons.

There is not a weak installment in the entire series, and the character of Ash continues to be one the most iconic heroes in all of horror. When you have a chainsaw for a hand, and a boomstick in the other, the cool factor is definitely on your side. Another movie installment has recently been announced, and that is sure to be another great watch in one of the greatest horror series ever produced.

Number 6 – Frankenstein

Number of movies - 7

Released in 1931, The first iconic Universal horror film of this series follows the mad scientist Dr. Henry Frankenstein as he attempts to create life by assembling a creature from body parts grave robbed of the deceased. Helped by his loyal hunchback assistant, Fritz, Frankenstein succeeds in animating his great monster, played by Boris Karloff in his breakout role, but, confused and possessing an abnormal brain, it escapes into the countryside and begins to wreak havoc on the local villagers. Frankenstein searches for the elusive creature, and eventually must confront his tormented creation.

The original Frankenstein series of movies is among the most historical and iconic in all of horror. It was the original series to bring true terror to audiences starting all the way back in the 30’s. It is the most successful and prolific series of the original Universal horror monsters and maintains a high level of quality with each film. Bride of Frankenstein is highly regarded as one of the best sequels ever made. Each film has some of the best actors of their time, and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man kicked off the very first cinematic universe of films.

This universe reaches its zenith with the final film of this franchise in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. This classic film can be considered the first horror comedy, and brings together the classic monsters of Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man, with even the Invisible Man making a quick cameo at the end. It features only the second and last cinematic performance of the great Bela Lugosi as Dracula and has as great an ending as any horror franchise can ask for, inspiring even greater franchises in the years to come. This landmark horror series of cinema more than earns its place in the top 10.

Number 5 – Child's Play

Number of movies - 8

Gunned down by a detective, dying murderer Charles Lee Ray, played by the great Brad Dourif, uses black magic to put his soul inside a buddi doll named Chucky, which an unsuspecting mother then buys for her young son, Andy. When Chucky kills Andy's babysitter, the boy realizes that his new doll is alive and he tries to warn people, but he's institutionalized. Now his mom must convince the detective of the existence of the murderous doll, before Andy becomes Chucky's next victim, and the next vessel for the killer’s soul.

The greatness of the Child’s Play series is the ongoing story of the killer doll Chucky. Aside from the recent remake, all the movies in the series are written by Don Mancini, which provides the series with great continuity. Once the series starts getting named for Chucky and drops the Child’s Play title, each installment offers something new and different from the previous one. The introduction of killer doll Tiffany in Bride of Chucky breathes new life into the series, and her character soon becomes just as iconic as Chucky himself.

After the events of the most recent film which ended in a bit of a cliffhanger, a new television series will soon be released further exploring these characters and expanding the mythology in this great and ongoing franchise that started in 1988. The length of this franchise, it’s iconic status, and the continuing installments of the series has this franchise earning its place in the top half of my top 10 horror franchises.

Number 4 – Halloween

Number of movies - 11

On Halloween night in 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was then locked away in and institution for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a now adult Michael Myers steals a car and escapes. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, donning a simple white mask where he looks for his next victims, including that of Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis in her first starring role.

The very first Halloween movie has to be the most iconic in all of slasher-horror. It has spawned a franchise that has released 11 theatrical movies, with 2 more soon to be released within the next two years. The memorable theme song can be considered to be the finest in all of horror. Laurie Strode is also known as one of the best final girls of all time. Even after the series gets a little tired, every now and again, a new semi reboot gets released to install new life into the series, such as the most recent installment in 2018.

Even though the Halloween series is probably the most well-known horror franchise, the inconsistent quality of the movies and multiple restarts of continuity keeps this series out of my top 3. Starting with the third film, the series starts to branch off in multiple directions and continuities that essentially turn the Halloween franchise into a choose-your-own-adventure series. However, just like Michael Myers, the Halloween franchise never stays dead for long and always finds a way to come back.

Number 3 – Scream

Number of movies - 4

In 1996, writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven re-invented and revitalized the slasher-horror genre with this modern horror classic, which manages to be funny, clever and scary. The movie starts with the finest opening scene in all of horror and shocks the audience into believing that no one is safe and that anything can happen. As a ghost-faced knife-wielding maniac stalks high school students in the remote town of Woodsboro, a who-dun-it takes place as the cast tries to figure out who the killer is as they all start to die one by one.  

With the first few sequels, the Scream franchise single handedly revitalized the entire horror genre that had been on a downward trend in the 90’s, with each film being a commentary on certain aspects of the genre. After the initial trilogy, a fourth film was released a decade later to add another self-aware take on reboots and remakes that had been happening more widely during that time period. With each movie being directed by Wes Craven and with the main surviving characters returning for each one, the quality and continuity of this series remains higher than any other franchise in horror.  

With the announcement of a new movie planning to be released within the next few years, the Scream series continues to live on. Even with the sad passing of Wes Craven, the willingness of cast members to keep returning to this series almost guarantees that the quality of movies will remain to be high. As Sydney Prescott, Neve Campbell will go on as possibly the greatest final girl in all of horror, starring and surviving in each installment of the series. The sheer force of creative nature that keeps the quality of each movie insanely high earns this franchise my number 3 spot.

Number 2 – Friday the 13th

Number of Movies - 12

In the first movie of this classic and iconic horror series, Crystal Lake's history of murder doesn't deter a young group of counselors from setting up a summer camp in the woodsy area. Superstitious locals warn against it, but the fresh-faced and lusty young people pay little heed to crazy Ralph. Then they find themselves stalked by a brutal killer. As they're slashed, maimed, and stabbed, the counselors struggle to stay alive against a merciless and unseen killer.

If Halloween started the slasher craze, then the Friday the 13th series launched it into the stratosphere. With 8 installments released in the decade with varying degrees of quality, Friday the 13th lorded over 80’s horror. After a brief cameo in the first movie, the character of Jason Vorhees would go on to become one of the titans of horror. Donning his iconic hockey mask for the first time in part 3, the image of the machete-wielding hockey-masked killer would live on as one of the most recognizable and greatest in all of horror.  

Since the remake that was released in 2009, the franchise has remained stagnant and caught in litigation hell, preventing another movie from being released for the time being. However, that will eventually pass, and just like Jason Vorhees himself, there will be no stopping this behemoth of a franchise from returning from the dead with a new movie in the near future. The only thing keeping this series out of my top spot is the franchise performance of Jason’s greatest rival in horror...

Number 1 – A Nightmare on Elm Street

Number of movies - 9

In Wes Craven's classic slasher film, several teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger, played by the charismatic Robert Englund, a disfigured fedora-wearing murderer known as the Springwood Slasher who preys on the teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends' parents may be the key to solving the mystery, and finally defeating Freddy Krueger once and for all.

Released in 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street is quite possibly the most unique and best horror film ever made. The story terrorized audiences, and throughout the sequels, Freddy Krueger became a household name. Each movie launched Freddy more and more into the spotlight, giving us a killer who was not only scary, but also funny. The success of these movies single handedly turned a small movie studio into a major player in Hollywood. There’s a reason why New Line Cinema is known as the house that Freddy built. No other horror franchise can lay claim to that honor.

With the rights to Freddy Krueger recently reverting to the Craven estate, rumors continue to run rampant on the possibility of Robert Englund returning for at least one more movie as Freddy. His last movie as Freddy was when his character finally faced off against that other titan of 80’s horror, Jason Vorhees, in Freddy vs. Jason from 2003. If that movie should ever come, you can be certain that it will be the king of the box office just like the Freddy films of old. Even though Freddy may have lost his fight against Jason in Freddy vs. Jason, the massive success of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and the continued adoration of the Freddy character has let A Nightmare on Elm Street claim the top spot as my top horror franchise of all time.

[blazehedgehog]

On certain shows, such as Animaniacs and Tiny Toons, there is a sort of contempt with censorship reflected in its characters. This got me thinking that writers probably intensely dislike the regulation of their work. Therefore I guess they just want to have freedom from this regulation. Would it be better that the writers are allowed free reign and write whatever they want, no matter what they are working with?

I mean, they totally can do that now, thanks to the internet. Adult Swim shows a version of Venture Brothers where words get bleeped and nudity is blurred, but if you want there are fully uncensored versions of those episodes on different streaming services.

The implications of a question like this are not lost on me, and I’d like to think you aren’t simply JUST asking about Animaniacs and Tiny Toons either, but are coming from this from a perspective of censorship as a whole.

As such, and this may be a controversial statement to some, but I think TV censorship is fine. Usually, anyway. Obviously shows like Animaniacs and Tiny Toons were railing against censorship, and that’s because you occasionally hear horror stories over the years about bizarre, specific problems a censor will have over something genuinely harmless. Like, for example, censors having a problem with Nickelodeon’s Angry Beavers telling someone to “shut up” because it might inspire kids to be rude. Or the story going around about a single British TV censor that railed against nunchucks. Sometimes it is legitimately dumb and unnecessary.

But TV censorship does a lot of good, too. I mentioned just a week or two ago that I am (or was, it’s complicated) pretty squeamish when it comes to excessive gore in horror movies. 

One night in 2013, a local TV channel aired Return of the Living Dead. Now, normally, that’s an extremely violent movie with lots of hardcore language and even full frontal nudity. It’s a kind of a heavy metal movie. And, sight unseen, it’s a movie I’d normally never consider watching, because there are parts that are pretty gross. People could tell me, “oh it’s not so bad” and I probably still wouldn’t watch it, because I don’t like excessive gore, and I wouldn’t want to risk it on principal alone.

But they put it on TV. And not cable, this was over-the-air, network television, the stuff you get for free as long as you plug in an antenna. Even though it aired past midnight, they still had to do their best to cut out the worst, most gross parts.

And in that context, I was willing to watch the movie. It’s legendary zombie cinema and I’m a fan of seeing TV edits of “adult” movies (I saw part of a really great TV edit of Fargo once that replaced all the swearing, it was hilarious).

Through that, through this censored-for-TV edit of a very violent 1980′s horror classic, I could appreciate it. And I thought it was really good! I enjoyed watching it enough that I actually ended up seeking out the uncensored version.

None of that would have ever happened without the censored version existing.

That’s the thing a lot of people are losing sight of in the modern “omg censorship!!!” debate: there are actually acceptable forms of censorship. It can be totally okay to censor something! Not everything always has to be rude, nasty, and uncensored! Sometimes, you even get the rare case where censorship is better!

Take anime like Ghost Stories or Samurai Pizza Cats. In both of those cases, during the process of dubbing those anime, the original Japanese scripts were lost and the American production studios got to play it by ear and make up whatever they wanted. You could absolutely spin that as a case of them censoring the original shows, but it’s also transformative in a way that made those shows more fun to watch. A lot fewer people would remember Samurai Pizza Cats if it was a straight translation of “Kyatto Ninden Teyandee.”

What about Animaniacs and Tiny Toons? What do you imagine an unfettered version of those shows would actually be like? If they didn’t have to write around the censors, would those shows be automatically improved? We may never really know, but at the same time, that censorship was part of their sense of humor. If you took that away, isn’t that in itself also a form of censorship?

A good example of comparison here I think is Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, which is the show that more or less launched Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. The original run of Space Ghost ran just as part of Cartoon Network’s late night programming, when it didn’t have any kind of special name. Cartoon Network had just relaunched the “Space Ghost Brand” through something called Cartoon Planet, which was a block of classic cartoons hosted by Space Ghost, Moltar, Zorak, and Brak. In between cartoons they’d respond to reader mail or do skits. It was weird, a little random, but 100% kid friendly and clean.

Coast to Coast was originally just an extension of that, but through the lens of a late night talk show like The Tonight Show or whatever. Space Ghost would interview celebrities and ask them wacky questions. Early episodes of Coast to Coast were very close in tone to Cartoon Planet, but eventually Williams Street (then known as Ghost Planet Industries) started pushing the boundaries of the show, thanks to the late night slot. It got darker, and weirder, and creepier, but they were still kind of beholden to certain Cartoon Network censorship standards…

…Until the launch of Adult Swim. Here’s a block of programming that spent the first 3-5 years of its existence literally yelling through a megaphone that their late night content wasn’t for children. Williams Street was given a chance to write their own standards, for… well, adults. Space Ghost relaunched, and now unshackled from Cartoon Network’s kid-focused censors, got even darker and weirder. They can swear now! Zorak isn’t just Space Ghost’s foil anymore, now he worships SATAN! This isn’t kids stuff like Cartoon Planet! Isn’t that COOL?

And frankly? I don’t think the show was better for it. There is a point where Coast to Coast gets too edgy for its own good and it loses its charm. There’s a sweet spot to the series, around season 5, where they’re pushing the boundaries but haven’t tipped over the edge just yet. Making the show uncensored (relatively speaking) did not really improve its quality in my eyes.

What you call “censorship” was an ingrained part of what made these shows so good and taking that away does not guarantee any increase in quality. Limitations foster creative thinking. It’s not about the vulgarity they couldn’t do, it’s how they worked around that vulgarity that we remember.

Do not become so obsessed with what entertainment you think you’re “losing” that you forget what we’ve already gained by filling that void with something else.

There are obviously situations in which censorship can be very upsetting and even dangerous. Censorship can absolutely be used as a weapon against the people. But that is not universally applicable in all scenarios. The idea that nothing can ever be censored is, in itself, also a weapon. As always, everything must be considered in moderation.

[brokehorrorfan]

New Release Review: Midsommar

In the pantheon of horror cinema, there have been numerous filmmakers who have made back-to-back classics - John Carpenter, Wes Craven, George A. Romero, James Whale, Dario Argento, James Wan, David Cronenberg, et al. - but I cannot think of a single example of a director making the best horror movie of the year for two consecutive years... but Ari Aster may have just done it. After delivering one of the most unsettling debuts of all time with Hereditary, the 32-year-old writer-director returns almost exactly one year later with Midsommar.

After an unfathomable tragedy strikes her family, college student Dani (Florence Pugh, Fighting with My Family) accompanies her begrudging boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor, Transformers: Age of Extinction), and his friends - Josh (William Jackson Harper, The Good Place), Mark (Will Poulter, The Maze Runner), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) - on a summer trip to Sweden. They join Pelle's family commune in celebrating the midsummer with a sacred, nine-day festival, but it's not quite the relaxing getaway Dani had in mind.

The Wicker Man is the easiest point of reference when it comes to folk-horror, and while Midsommar shares some elements with the 1973 British horror classic, the film plays out more like Lars von Trier's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Where Hereditary had an atypical plot with a relatively conventional conclusion, Midsommar flips the script with a standard setup that goes in unpredictable directions. From Texas Chainsaw to Hostel, genre fans have seen ignorant young people happen upon unforeseen horror in exotic locales countless times - but we've never seen it unfold quite like this.

Aster's ability to weave raw emotion into a genre tale is masterful. Midsommar, like Hereditary before it, is an exploration of grief. Although melancholic - Aster penned the script while going through a bad breakup - it's not nearly as emotionally draining as its predecessor. Through Dani's perspective, the viewer experiences not only the lows of depression but also the euphoric mania that often follows. Furthermore, levity accompanies the heavy situations this time around; the humor ranges from pitch-black to surprisingly sophomoric, both of which are effectively funny.

Early in the movie, Aster and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski (Hereditary) employ multiple long, static takes that use reflections to show multiple characters rather than cutting away for standard coverage. Once in Sweden, however, the camera is in a near-constant state of motion, including several lengthy and elaborate tracking shots. With the sun rarely setting during Sweden’s summer solstice, the majority of the film unfolds in the harsh daylight, allowing the lush landscapes to pop. Composer Bobby Krlic (Triple 9) - who releases electronic music under the moniker The Haxan Cloak - composed a sparse, atonal score as well as the diegetic music within the film, including ritualistic vocalizations and music performed with traditional Nordic instruments.

Similar to watching Anya Taylor-Joy's turn in The Witch, Pugh's transformative performance promises a long, fortuitous career. Not to be overlooked, Reynor also delivers a fearless performance. Harper plays the intellectual type well, as he has proven on The Good Place, but he’s more lax here as a student researching his senior thesis. Poulter successfully provides the bulk of the comedic relief; his immature bro character could have walked off the set of an American Pie movie. Pelle is affable as the tour guide of sorts who is familiar with both our protagonists and the foreign customs.

Like the hallucinogenic drugs in which the characters indulge, Midsommar takes the viewer on a dizzying journey. It lacks anything as impactful (no pun intended) as Hereditary’s telephone pole scene, but it comes close in several shocking sequences. Aster pulls no punches, practically forcing the viewer to bear witness to graphic violence a la A Clockwork Orange. The pacing is less calculated than Hereditary's slow-burn, so its 140-minute runtime starts to show by the time the third act reaches its climax. Despite some excess that could have been trimmed, the picture remains absorbing throughout.

Hereditary showcased Aster's brilliance as both a visual and emotional storyteller, with the rare ability to marry the two without sacrificing either, and Midsommar cements his place as a modern master of horror. It may not be quite as strong overall and it’s certainly not as scary as his first foray in the director’s chair, which means it’s likely to be even more polarizing, but the disquieting film elicits plenty of dread. Sophomore slump be damned; Aster has crafted a confident, operatic, folk-horror nightmare.

[theaceace]

tagged by @lostjonscave thank you!!!

rules: answer 21 questions and tag 21 others!

nickname: mostly just Em, plus in this neck of the woods it’s common to call anyone closer than a passing acquaintance ‘love’, ‘my love’ ‘my dear’ etc. At work I’m also called by my surname/diminutives of my surname a lot, or by my initials (E.H) because at one stage there were 4 Emma’s working together and it got confusing

zodiac: leo

height: 5′8 yo

last movie: um last movie at home was little shop of horrors, and I don’t remember... the last one... at a cinema...

last google: 'Tunes in the castle’

song stuck in my head: ...‘Jonny No Legs’ by Mad Dog Mcrea

other blogs: NONE

do i get asks: VERY occasionally

blogs following: 360

amount of sleep: 6 on average, but it is rarely good sleep

lucky numbers: 14

dream job: realistically, zookeeper. Less realistically, any job that means I never have to talk on a phone again in my life. Even less realistically, dragon rider, or mermaid. But in all fairness I do really like my job (most of the time)

dream trip: round the world babey!!

favorite food: sweet potato fries, garlic bread, and I would kill a man for good risotto

do i play any instruments: sadly not, I tried to learn guitar when I was younger, but it turns out I have no ear for music whatsoever

languages: just English (our education system is sorely lacking in the languages department). Would love to learn Spanish, and Cornish. One day I’ll get there

favorite songs: that’s a good question, and if I ever figure it out you guys’ll be the first to know

aesthetic:  rugged cliffs, salt in the air, thick woods in the middle of autumn, clear skies, woolen jumpers, cozy local shops where you greet the owner by name, copper pans in a cottage kitchen, an abandoned engine house on the misty moors

I’m bad at tagging these things, but @hyperactivehedgehog @hecate-mist @lewis-renalia @digitalis-obscura @bowtie-loving-alien @themaximummax @that-asexual-nerd if any of you have already been tagged, oops, sorry!!

Plus anyone else that wants to do it (and if you’re thinking, ok, but she doesn’t mean me, I do. I do mean you. You specifically)

[bpak13-blog]

Media Interaction & Effects

Introduction

The society we live in is so heavily saturated with different forms of media. Everywhere you go the one constant omnipresent force in our lives that we rarely ever think about is media. I can attest in the case of myself I wouldn’t even think twice about what I am doing and how my interaction with different forms of media is affecting me. Over the course of one week I tracked and counted my media diet, and I will discuss how my media diet throughout the week affected me mentally and physically.

Media Diet

For the duration of one week I studied and tracked my media diet and observed my media ecology. According to Pavlik and McIntosh media ecology is “the study of media environments and how those environments may affect people and society”.  While tracking my media diet I in total interacted with some form of media for slightly over 55 hours for the week. I graphed all my data and majority of my media consumption came from using my phone 48% of the time. The 3 mediums I used the most were Apple Music, TV, and Videogames. I logged 21.6 hours on Apple Music, 12 hours through watching TV, and 6.5 hours playing video games. Next I will discuss how these mediums affected me mentally and physically.

Psychological Effect

Media can leave impressions on you without you even really noticing mentally, for instance mirror neurons and transportation theory. According to David Meyers, author of Psychology in Everyday Life,  mirror neurons are neurons that fire when we perform certain actions or observe others doing so. Meyers states how  mirror neurons are key components in learning and mimicking what we are seeing. Karen Dill, author of How Fantasy Becomes Reality, talks about how if you were to watch someone hit another person on TV, you not only will feel more prone to imitating the same act but your muscles in your own body are affected by what you are seeing. For example myself, during my week of tracking my media, I watched a mixed martial arts event with multiple fights. Throughout the night I would tense up if a fighter was hit with a big punch or kick. I would unknowingly throw punches and slip my head as if I was fighting in the ring myself. I am just reacting to my mirror neurons in my brain making me want to mimic what I am seeing in front of me. My brain is making me believe I am in the ring myself , me shifting my head side to side is a reaction to my mirror neurons.  This is not only an example of the mental effects but also the physical effects of media.

Physical Effects

As I talked about earlier with mirror neurons, I began to explain about how we want to mimic what we are seeing. Our brains control our bodies and automatically react to what we are seeing through our eyes. An example of this would also be if you go to your local cinema and watch the newest horror movie. Your heart rate will increase, your muscles may tighten up, and you could as begin to sweat. This is because of 2 things, your mirror neurons and transportation theory. You being invested into the movie and characters have transported you deeply into the plot putting yourself into their shoes and your mirror neurons are engulfing you into the story by what you are seeing. You subconsciously are mimicking what your body would do if you were in the same instance in reality instead of watching it on a screen.

This same experience happened to myself more than once throughout the week of tracking my media diet. I was watching my favorite team, the Boston Celtics, play the Sacramento Kings. In the game of basketball there are constant trading of baskets and scoring, so it is a normal thing but when the game gets closer to the end of duration each basket has more and more importance. I remember late in the 4th Quarter of the game I was watching, I began to tense up and start to sweat as the game grew tighter and tighter. I began pacing about because of how invested I am in the game. I am transported into the game, and am just reacting to what my brain is showing me, making it not only a mental but also physical effect on me. My body sweats and my muscles tense up because of what I am seeing.

Conclusion

Without a doubt media has a substantial effect on your physical and mental state. Physically you can get a wide range of reactions from sweating to goosebumps and everything else in between, and mentally you can be drawn into a story or event  by your mirror neurons and transportation theory. As we intake all these different forms of media I think we need to really take note and understand that everything we see, hear and do can be effected from media and our surroundings. While I also was noting every instance I did interact with different mediums of media, I was also aware that I was tracking my media diet. I believe there would even be a greater amount of media intake if I were unaware my media diet was being recorded. I feel this project will help me become more aware and conscious to what I am indulging through my media choices, I plan to be less reliable on being glued to a screen. Media is a strong and impactful thing that we need to monitor and stay aware of.

References

Converging media: a new introduction to mass communication John Pavlik-Shawn McIntosh - Oxford University Press - 2019

How fantasy becomes reality: seeing through media influence Karen Dill-Shackleford - Oxford University Press - 2009

Meyers, D. G. (2009). Psychology in Everyday Life. New York, NY: Worth.

[dweemeister]

Actress Wanted (2018)

Just south of Los Angeles is Orange County, which many know as simply, “The OC”. As an Orange County resident myself, I tend to avoid referring to my home county as such, as it summons an image of white, well-to-do hunks who live in the beach cities and for whom puberty was kind to. Today, Orange County, as a part of suburban Los Angeles, is no longer the affluent, white-dominated bastion it has been long stereotyped as. Look inland and you will find a growing Latino population, transforming the landscape of the county’s sociopolitical culture. So too can you find Vietnamese-Americans, especially in the Little Saigon area that encompasses Westminster, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. The largest collection of Vietnamese-Americans – many of whom are refugees or the descendants of those who fled South Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon and the years that followed – live in the area. Vietnamese-Americans have also shaped Orange County’s history, in ways rarely reported beyond Southern California.

Always in the shadow of Hollywood, Orange County has seldom been used in films. All of this makes Actress Wanted, directed, written, and edited by Minh Duc Nguyen, a startling surprise: a thriller-horror set amid the suburban placidity of Little Saigon. Little Saigon does not feel like a typical horror setting, but this is not any typical movie.

Mai (Thien Nguyen; no relation) is an aspiring actress frustrated by her inability to land an audition callback. Perusing through the classifieds of Việt Báo Daily News, a local Vietnamese-American newspaper, she notices a posting for an Actress Wanted. Soon, she auditions for Vu (Long Nguyen; no relation to his co-star or director), a Garden Grove Unified janitor in his late 50s – one wonders how, on a janitor’s wages, he is able to afford the house that he resides in; but that is the last of the film’s concerns. Vu is seeking someone to reenact ten moments between himself and his late wife, Hong. Unsettled by Vu’s demeanor but desperate for money to pay the rent, Mai is offered the part and accepts. Through these reenactments, Mai learns the details of Vu and Hong’s love – from their first meeting to the tragedy that befell them. Mai’s roommate, Linh (Isabelle Du), is relieved to hear there is no hanky panky involved, but senses something amiss. The film’s few moments of violence come in the final minutes – gruesome, yet evoking sympathies for all those involved.

Mai and Vu are of their respective generations. We suspect Mai has been looking for steady employment for a while, as she makes the ultimate decision based on financial stability as opposed to her safety. Her demeanor, as opposed to Linh’s sarcasm and eye-rolling attitude towards authority and elders, is deferential, with an eagerness to please and a verbal instinct to avoid confrontation. Like the millennial stereotype goes, her lack of direct eye contact during conversations suggests personal insecurities she might not have given much thought about. Mai goes out of her way to be pleasant towards Vu after they have playacted individual scenes. Her Vietnamese is also imperfect – code-switching occurs frequently depending on who she, probably American-born is speaking to (a majority of the dialogue in Actress Wanted is in Vietnamese). For Vu, it is established that he is a refugee, arriving in the United States following the Vietnam War. Unlike Mai, he has not assimilated to America – he never speaks English, and never appears to consume any English-language media or emerge from his household nowadays. It is also suggested that his mental health may be tenuous (as a subset of Asian-Americans, Vietnamese-Americans have among the highest rates of posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD), with Vu – home alone – turning to his late wife’s portrait, asking how those memories actually played out.

The scene reenactments – recalled down to exact sentences and written out by Vu; the script and even Hong’s clothes delivered by mail to Mai – are set in the exact locations where these scenes took place. Vu instructs Mai to wear exactly what Hong wore on those days, even making suggestions on makeup and hairstyling while shaving and donning an ill-fitting wig himself. If this seems to be an act of posthumous obsession where the living has considerable mental problems they need to address, Mai is looking the other way. Indirectly, Actress Wanted provides a glimpse of two Vietnamese-American generations in times of youth (and, in Vu’s case, old age). The dialogue during the memory recreations describes how difficult Vu and Hong found life in America, how different Vietnamese-American children born in the United States are to Vietnamese children. The cultural specificity in these moments, juxtaposing Vu’s recollections of youth to Mai’s present youth, permits empathy between the characters and within the audience – strengthening the impact of Actress Wanted’s final minutes.

Cinematographer Terrance Stewart alternates between tighter shots to imply Mai’s professional frustrations and wider shots during the memory reenactments to suggest artistic freedom, looming dread. Though not making for a visually fascinating experience, a lack of hand-held shaky camera pervasive in independent cinema and low-budget films is thankfully absent. I just wonder how did the crew find so many cloudy days in Orange County to shoot this film (there was an eighteen-day timetable on the shoot) – the overcast weather, a natural way to desaturate any movie, contributes to the increasingly disturbing atmosphere that Actress Wanted exudes. Once Mai first meets Vu and with the exception of any scenes involving Mai speaking to Linh, that atmosphere never relents.

Actress Wanted poses few departures or deconstructions of horror or thriller norms. The secrets of one supporting character that first presents himself near Dalat Supermarket in Garden Grove (a local landmark, among many appearing throughout) seem too convenient for the narrative, allowing Mai to unearth things about Vu far too easily. That twist, the first of two, never has the gravity that the filmmakers want it to have. The acting ensemble, spearheaded by a chilling performance by Long Nguyen, is sometimes uneven from Thien Nguyen and Isabelle Du – as enjoyable as both are. With Thien Nguyen (her feature film debut), the terror she feels in the closing minutes never feels as visceral as it should be; for Du, there is not much she adds to her character’s status as the comic foil.

Veteran Long Nguyen (1993′s Heaven & Earth, 2006′s Journey from the Fall) is the standout: an ethereal calm pervades his character, his voice hushed in conversation as if someone else might be listening. Nguyen, as Vu, does not realize that his requests to Mai are unusual. His presence, from his first to final lines, is always unnerving – if not to his fellow lead.

Following Touch (2011), this is Minh Duc Nguyen’s second feature film. That directorial debut – a cross-cultural romantic drama – could not have foreshadowed anything that appears in Actress Wanted. Given the scope of the project, the means of production involved, themes invoked, and superb use of its Orange County setting that has nothing to do with beaches and laid-back patricians, this is a strong sophomore effort. Like older horror movies from Hollywood, this is not a piece basing its appeal on jumpscares or frequent explicit violence. Instead, it relies on the strength of its actors and the genuine concern for those touched by a solitary man’s imperfect memories.

My rating: 7/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

NOTE: Parts of this write-up have been adapted from the synopsis that I wrote for the 2018 Viet Film Fest in Orange, California.

[screenandcinema]

Coming Attractions September 2021

As usual, we present monthly previews of new movies being released. These are the movies that will be hitting your local cinemas (and streaming services) this month:

September 3rd

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - The second of Marvel Studios’ four films in five months 2021 sprint is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The film marks Marvel’s first solo origin of a new character since 2018′s Captain Marvel and their first without an established co-character since 2016′s Doctor Strange. Not to mention, while the character has been around since 1973, he is probably the least known character to date to land his own film. Though Shang-Chi represents more than that, it is the first Marvel film from an Asian director and predominantly Asian cast. Not to mention the longest MCU title to date. If the trend follows that only one or maybe two movies a month during the pandemic are box office draws, you can guarantee that Shang-Chi will be September’s.

Cinderella - Camila Cabello stars as the titular future Disney princess in this Amazon Prime musical from Kay Cannon (the writer of the Pitch Perfect films). Rounding out the case include Idina Menzel as Cinderella’s evil stepmother, Minnie Driver and Pierce Brosnan as the land’s queen and king, and Billy Porter as Cinderella’s fairy godparent.

Worth - If you are looking to stay in during Labor Day weekend, check out Worth on Netflix starring Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, and Amy Ryan. The film revolves around the story of Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney tasked with running the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and calculating what each life lost that day was worth. The story is due to be depressing, but an important watch nonetheless.

September 10th

Malignant - Coming to theaters and HBO Max is a new horror film from director James Wan. This film looks bonkers and terrifying. Watch it with the lights on.

The Card Counter - Paul Schrader writes and directs this crime drama about a gambler hunted by his military past. Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe star.

Kate - Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as an assassin with only 24 hours left to live who is on the hunt for her would-be killers in this new Netflix film.

Queenpins - The release strategy for Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s new comedy caper co-starring Paul Walter Hauser and Vince Vaughn is a unique one. The film will be released exclusively in Cinemark Theaters on September 10th, then will be available to subscribers on Paramount+ on September 30th. Funny enough, it isn’t even a Paramount Studios film, Paramount+ just offered the most, apparently north of $20M, which isn’t too shabby for a film with a $7M budget. Which doesn’t include whatever Cinemark is shelling out for the exclusivity (unless they are the only one who wants it with the short theatrical window). Queenpins is a rare film that is profitable before it even opens.

Come from Away - AppleTV+ bought the rights to stream a recording from May 2021 of the Broadway musical Come from Away. The musical, set a week after the September 11th attacks, tells the true story of stranded plane passengers diverted to the small town of Gander in Newfoundland and Labrador. For years I have wanted to see Come from Away and I am looking forward to watching it finally very soon.

September 17th

Cry Macho - At 91 years old, director and actor Clint Eastwood is at it again with his adaptation of a novel of the same name that will be hitting both theaters and HBO Max this month. That’s all I got.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye - Jessica Chastian is Tammy Fake Bakker in this biographical drama about the life of the controversial televangelist and her husband Jim Bakker (played by Andrew Garfield).

Prisoners of the Ghostland - Nicolas Cage turns everything up to 11 in this neo-noir western action film from Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono. Early reviews had been fairly positive for the film that looks absolutely batshit crazy.

Copshop - Joe Carnahan directs Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo in this action thriller about a hitman, a con artist, and a small-town police officer.

September 24th

Dear Evan Hansen - Ben Platt returns to his Tony-award-winning role (and high school) in the film adaptation of the 2015 acclaimed Broadway musical of the same name. Kaitlyn Dever, Amanda Stenberg, Julianna Moore, and Amy Adams co-star.

Now for a quick look ahead to October, my top picks for next month are Dune, Last Night in Soho, The French Dispatch, and No Time to Die.

-MB-

[murdermayhemandmovies]

28 Days Later

28 Days Later is an outstanding example of what the British Isles has to offer, from beautiful open-land untouched by the hands of new build contractors. In a post-apocalyptic world where zombies exist, you’d think that would be the only potential threat to your life but that couldn’t be further from the truth in 28 Days Later.

28 Days Later is a horror/sci-fi movie directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. Released in 2002, this film not only helped to revive the zombie genre but also popularised a new type of “zombie” – one that runs very fast and can quite easily smash through a window to grab you. This is the variant of zombie that has become popular in 21st-century cinema and has been seen in films like World War-Z (2013), Train to Busan (2016), and Dawn of the Dead (2004).

The film begins with animal activists breaking into a laboratory so that they can free the chimpanzees that are being experimented on, not realising that they’re infected with the “rage” virus which makes the host have extreme anger and aggression. 28 days later the main character Jim, played by Cillian Murphy, wakes up from a coma after being hit by a car sometime before the virus ravaged the UK to find himself in an abandoned hospital and leaves to try and find somebody only to find London completely deserted. A depopulated London is a rare sight but if you ever were to ponder about what London looks like when it's quiet then look no further.

Taking digicam shots of Piccadilly Circus, Westminster Bridge, and the M1 motorway was no easy task though and was only made possible because of co-operation between the production supervisor Andrew Macdonald, local councils, and the police. To get shots of these usually bustling tourist attractions they filmed between four and five in the morning before rush hour began, with the police redirecting cars away from filming locations. Being able to film London in a way that it hasn’t been seen before is a big moment, with Macdonald stating that “It was very exciting, and when you see the whole of Westminster Bridge and the embankment all closed for you, and the traffic stopped, and you can’t hear anything, it was thrilling but strange as well”.

An important thing to note is that while 28 Days Later is considered a zombie movie (with even Danny Boyle saying it isn’t one), those who are infected aren’t actually zombies. While they do lose all power to communicate and think rationally and with higher intelligence, the host is still alive and can be killed the same way a normal human could be. The rage virus can be spread through bodily fluids like blood or salvia and takes around ten to twenty seconds to infect its next victim. Once infected, the victim’s eyes turn red and they begin to bleed from their eyes, nose, mouth, and hair follicles. Those who are infected only become violent and angry towards those who aren’t infected choosing to attack their victim and kill them or throw up blood in their face to infect them. Since the infected have no sense of self-preservation and don’t actually eat their victims they will eventually starve to death.

28 Days Later helped revive the zombie sub-genre after a dry spell, with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead series and Lucio Fulci’s international flair on the sub-genre being the last notable zombie films. With zombie films seeing even less attention in the 1990s, 28 Days Later marked the return of “zombies” to the big screen.

What sets 28 Days Later apart from other post-apocalyptic zombie movies is that while it does meet the criteria, the undead are merely just a distraction in the background to an even eviler truth. That truth is that those who you once trusted like the military and government will no longer protect you and the remaining humans you will meet in a post-apocalyptic world will most likely only have concern for their selves and their well-being, meaning they will either use you for their own personal gain or leave you to rot.

28 Days Later has quickly become not only one of my favourite “zombie” films but also one of my favourite British films. It’s refreshing to see the UK on the big screen and see the countryside rather than watching another film that pretends that nothing exists outside of London. With a cast from all around Britain and the Republic of Ireland, it’s nice not having an American put on a cockney accent as if they have all been warned before flying over here that we all walk round in top hats yelling “alright governor”.

[crowdvscritic]

round up // OCTOBER 20

Hubie Happy Halloween, friends! I’m not sure what October’s been like for you, but here’s a quick summary of my month:

Re-acquainting myself with my collection of (mostly gray and navy blue) sweaters

Ordering an embarrassing—like, I lost count kind of embarassing—number of lattés

Alternating between enjoying the ombré of the fall trees and cozying up with the first logs in the fireplace

Revisiting all-time favorite stories like The Scarlet Pimpernel by the Baroness Orczy, the extended Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, all three seasons of Stranger Things, the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries, and several Harry Potter movies

In short, this month has been all about finding joy in the little things, which is the essence of our search for coziness in autumn. Since these monthly Round Ups only focus on pop culture that’s new to me, that means this month’s list is shorter than usual, but many of the movies and shows feel like warm blankets I’ll return to again. Though, as you’ll see, a few are not…

October Crowd-Pleasers

Enola Holmes (2020)

A movie so charming, I’m on the verge of rewatching even though it’s only been a few weeks. (It’s a rare occurrence for me to return to something so quickly.) It lets a stacked cast of performers known for dramatic roles flex their comedic muscles, including Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, and—most spectacularly—Millie Bobby Brown. You can read my full review of the new Netflix movie at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Murder, She Wrote (1984-96)

This entry comes with a bit of an asterisk* because Kyla and I watched this murder mystery procedural in 2018 for our podcast, SO IT’S A SHOW? At the time, I was open to watching more episodes, but it was never so easy as with the launch of the Peacock streaming service. All 12 seasons are available in the free tier, and I never thought a show about murder—and in the procedural format, which I don’t typically love—could be so enjoyable. Angela Lansbury’s mystery writer/amateur detective Jessica Fletcher has become a non-ironic role model for me—I aspire to be as gracious, intelligent, humble, uncynical, and assertive. Also, who says I’m not aspiring to spending my 60s writing, traveling, and solving crimes while wearing a fabulous collection of cardigans?

The Return of SNL

When Saturday Night Live returns in the fall, I always squeak out during the premiere’s opening credits, “My friends are back!” It’s a silly thing to say about an ever-rotating group of people I’ll never meet, but when you’ve been watching Kenan Thompson do his thing for close to two decades, you can only be delighted to see him after months of absence. While the “At Home” episodes this spring were a treat I didn’t think possible, it’s even better to have my friends back at it in their usual environment with the high production value of Studio 8H. These were the skits that made me laugh the most month:

“VP Fly Debate Cold Open,” mostly for the Jeff Goldblum tribute (4602 with Bill Burr)

“New Normal” (4602)

“Dr. Wenowdis on Weekend Update” (4602)

“Enough Is Enough,” a bit which explains my feelings about almost all celebrity political takes (4602)

“Canadian News Show” (4603 with Issa Rae)

“Election Ad” (4604 with Adele)

“The Bachelor” (4604)

For more on how this season has come together back in the studio, you can read the Vulture interview with Lorne Michaels about it.

Coach Carter (2005)

A based-on-a-true-story movie about an unconventional basketball coach (Samuel L. Jackson) who wants his players (including a baby Channing Tatum) to succeed on more than just the court. It’s a straight-down-the-middle story that shares DNA with many of the inspiring sports movies that came out in the wake of Remember the Titans, but it’ll scratch that itch if that’s what you’re looking for. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Double Feature — Early ’90s Halloween Classics: Edward Scissorhands (1990) + The Addams Family (1991)

Both of these movies start at Christmastime, but both are spooOOooky movies in their bones. Not all Halloween movies are Tim Burton movies, but all Tim Burton movies are Halloween movies, including Edward Scissorhands (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10). Tim Burton is hit-or-miss for me, but I was pleasantly surprised at how moving this idiosyncratic fairy tale was. Johnny Depp is at his most tortured as a Frankstein’s monster whose inventor (Vincent Price) gave him scissors for hands, Dianne Wiest finds the heart and comedy in your local Avon representative, and Winona Ryder is a queen. The Addams Family (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10) might be even more idiosyncratic. I’ve never watched the TV series, so it took me a minute to warm up to its twisted sense of humor (“Are they made from real Girl Scouts?”), but once I did, I started laughing as often as my nostalgic parents.

The Magic iPod

A nostalgia kick you didn’t know you wanted. I have no idea why or how this site exists, only that it brings me joy. Try mashing up “Ms. New Booty” with “A Thousand Miles,” “Get Low” with “Float On,” “Tipsy” with Bring Me to Life,” “99 Problems” with “All Star,” “Country Grammar” with “Complicated,” or any other combo that brings your favorite songs from your first iPod together.

Hubie Halloween (2020)

You know those dumb movies that just hit you in the right spot? Adam Sandler has a knack for those kind of movies, and Hubie Halloween fills the void of Halloween fun you’re probably missing this year. Sandler plays Hubie, a not-very-bright do-gooder with a very big heart whose self-proclaimed purpose is to keep everyone safe in his hometown of Salem. But there are spooOOooky threats on Halloween night this year, and only Hubie and his thermos (which rivals a Swiss army knife in all its functions) will be able to save it. Don’t miss it you’re like me and love a good celebrity cameo and a Hollywood-designed Halloween costumes. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6/10

Double Feature — Are We Sure These ‘80s Movies Are for Kids? Gremlins (1984) + Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

After seeing Gremlins (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10), I know why parents were clamoring for the PG-13 rating—this movie may be short on the scares for adults, but I have no idea what I’d do for a tyke not expecting the cuddly Gizmo to spawn homicidal ghouls. In what may be the most ‘80s movie I’ve watched yet, we get a legit bonkers story, both in premise and execution—and it might also be a brilliant and scathing satire of consumerism? Perhaps another spoof of consumerism: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), which creates an impressively specific world that’s part animation, part live action. It’s a parody of classic film noir with no shortage of innuendo or just plain weirdness—its artistic achievement makes it worth watching, but since when have kids cared much about any of those things?

Double Feature — So-Bad-They’re-Good Action Flicks: Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) + Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

If Gremlins is one of the most ‘80s movies, then Gone in Sixty Seconds (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5.5/10) is one of the most Nicolas Cage movies. He’s a good guy caught on the wrong side of the law in a ridiculous plot engine where he has to steal 50 cars in less than a week. His pent-up frustration lives just below the surface, and his performance is so committed, you’re not sure if he’s knows  the dialogue and plot twists are zany—in fact, you’re not even sure he’s acting at all. Also committed to whatever the heck it’s doing is a movie that’s exactly what it sounds like, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6/10). An over-qualified cast (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anthony Mackie, Rufus Sewell, and more) just goes for it in a story with the premise that Abe Lincoln fought oppression caused by slavery and by immortal blood-suckers. I think my favorite part is when a vampire throws a pony at our 16th president—I couldn’t make this up if I tried.

October Critic Picks

Triple Feature — ‘60s Horror Classics: Village of the Damned (1960), The Haunting (1963), Night of the Living Dead (1968)

In Village of the Damned (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8/10), everyone in a British village passes out at the same time for hours, and weird events continue for years, centering around a mysterious group of children. In The Haunting (above, Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10), a group is studying events at a haunted house, but it may be the house that’s in control. And in Night of the Living Dead (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10), the zombie genre dawns with a group huddled away from the undead in a farmhouse. All of these are thoughtful, well-made films, but I recommend them with asterisks* because I’ll never watch any of these groups again. The Haunting made me scared of bumps in the night as I was falling asleep, and Night of the Living Dead gave me zombie-filled nightmares. If you’re looking for a dose of heebie jeebies, these are the movies you’ll be needing!

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

I’m not sure I understood any of it, but I think I liked it? If you don’t mind a film that feels more like poetry than a plot, this visual stunner is worth the long runtime and straight-up weird sequence of scenes. Fortunately, I was prepped for my viewing with the help of Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz and writer/director Brad Bird, who selected as part of this season’s Essentials lineup. While Bird loves the film, Mankiewicz admitted it’s not one of his favorites because it’s such an obtuse head-scratcher. Both acknowledged it’s an important one to cinema, so unless The Tree of Life is still making your brain hurt almost a decade later, it’s worth trying to parse through a story that covers the dawn of man, man’s fight against machine, and, um, a lot of other things I couldn’t explain if I tried. Crowd: 5/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

If you’re a fan of Aaron Sorkin’s idealist monologues and ideological pitter-patter, then pause your latest binge of The West Wing to watch his latest writing/directing outing, now streaming on Netflix. Based on the true story of protesters who clashed with the police outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968—which, yes, doesn’t seem to difficult to imagine these days—it captures the spirit of a wild trial about political activism, healthy debate, fairness in government, and even the importance of grammar. If you watch it and think there’s no way this really happened, be sure to read up on the real trial to see how the film toned down the judicial circus. While this Oscars season will be unusual, we can predict this film will be in the awards conversation. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10

Also in October…

My fellow ZekeFilm writers and I collected our favorite Halloween movies and TV specials for your enjoyment. Not-a-spoiler-alert: My pick is not very scary. In fact, it’s a zom-rom-com I’ve only come to love more since reviewing it upon its release.

Though Kyla and I always talk about Gilmore Girls on our podcast, we don’t just talk about the murder mystery TV shows it references like Murder, She Wrote. This month we talked about an ‘80s prime time soap full of shoulder pads and catfights as well as a ‘70s movie starring Rocky and the Fonz. Then we decided there were so many confusing pop culture references in an episode we couldn’t pick just one, so we researched a mish mash of topics like Punk Planet magazine, workout guru Jack LaLanne, singer Blossom Dearie, Manson cult member Leslie Van Houten, and a whole lotta board games.

540 movies and counting! You can follow real-time updates in what I’m watching in quarantine on Letterboxd.

[entertainmentnewsblogworld]

Unlocking The Lockdown With SPECTERAfter a three-month wait, U.A.E. based Zen Film Productions is set to release yet another short film saga under the ‘Ouija’ series banner, which specifically delves into and blurs the lines between horror, mystery, and the supernatural. In continuation to the local success of social awareness short films like The Power, A Dark Tale, The Peril and more, ‘Specter’ is set to take psychological terror to a new dimension. The ten-minute film sees a public figure, played by filmmaker and CEO of Zen Film Productions Zenofar Fathima, struggling to overcome her inner demons, as she sets out to explore an unprecedented presence. Zen met up with multiple bloggers, Vloggers and local reporters in UAE on Thursday evening to formally announce the movie series. Talking to the media present, Zen says “I think I’ve given my best to this film, it’s something new and I have taken on a new role like never seen before in my past films.” The series is currently being filmed during the Coronavirus outbreak with all safety precautions being adhered to, which is a challenging, yet rare phenomena for most filmmakers at this time. The series’ first episode premiered exclusively on Zee Cinemas Middle East (Channel 676 on Etisalat and Channel 179 on Du) on Thursday, 16th July at 11pm GST, and 12.30am IST. “For the Indian and rest of the world viewers, the series shall be made shortly available on an OTT platform,” Zenofar stated. Zen, as she’s called in her social circles, is a Dubai based entrepreneur, socialite, producer and actor who has been generating relevant, exclusive and original content since 2018, under her banner Zen Film Productions. Her foray into short films begun with the ‘Enigma’ series – a collection of short film series based on social awareness. Some of the prominent ones being ‘A Dark Tale,’ based on domestic violence, ‘The Peril,’ a film delving into the imminent dangers of technology, and ‘The Power,’ a spiritual tale of believing in miracles. Her persona as an actor has been resonated through projects like The Pit, The Peril, Hope and the newest to the bunch – Specter. She has been widely written about in almost all the leading Gulf media brands. Zen has spent the most of her lockdown time, especially through public service announcement campaigns to raise awareness for those struggling to cope with depression and negative thoughts and the ways to overcome them. For interview requests, features and all forms of coverage, contact Adventure Global Talent on E: hi@adventureglobaltalent.in  OR M: +91 98808 98125.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Movie Preview 12/6/2019  - PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE!

You may have noticed by now that I didn’t have a Box Office Preview over at The Beat today, but that’s only because there wasn’t much I had to say about the sole new wide release, PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE (STXfilms) which is clearly trying to capitalize on the success Warner Bros. Animation has had with its LEGO movies. Playmobil is a pretty known brand, and this one features the voice of Daniel Radcliffe as secret agent Rex Dasher, as well as the voices of Anya Taylor-Joy and Jim Gaffigan. The movie looks fun for sure, and it is the only release this weekend, although the weekend after Thanksgiving is notorious for bombs, and STX dumped this here into 2,300 theaters after moving something else.  STX’s UglyDolls movie earlier in the year also bombed with just $20 million and with a much bigger push, so I’m not sure I can see this making more than $6 million this weekend either. It won’t help that some theater chains are only charging $5 for ALL tickets… we’ll see if that helps or hurts.

Also, Focus Features will expand Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters nationwide, though I’m not sure into how many theaters, plus Amazon Music will push Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, starring Shia Labeouf, into significantly more theaters this weekend. The former seems like a better than the latter, since Honey Boy – which is great, mind you – averaged just $2,101 theaters in 186 theaters this past weekend.  Even if it expands to 500 theaters or more, I can’t see it making more than a million this weekend. Dark Waters did better in about half as many theaters, so it’ll be interesting to see how wide Focus will take it. Either movie will only need to make about $2.2 million or more this weekend to get into the top 10, but Haynes’ film starring Mark Ruffalo will really have to be VERY wide (2,000 theaters or more) to stand a chance.

LIMITED RELEASES

There are a LOT more limited releases this week, as we get into the month where studios try to get all of their “awards-worthy” movie theaters for enough time to be eligible for that year’s Oscars.

Amazon is releasing the historical drama THE AERONAUTS (Amazon), reuniting Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne from the latter’s Oscar-winning The Theory of Everything. This time, she plays balloon pilot Amelia Wren and he plays scientist James Glaisher who go on an adventure to take a balloon higher than ever before so he can do weather-related scientific experiments. Sounds pretty exciting, huh? Actually, it isn’t bad, directed by Tom Harper, whose previous movie Wild Rosecame out earlier this year. This is a perfectly fine historic drama with lots of exciting shots up in the air since most of it takes place in the balloon as the two try to survive against the odds. This is definitely a movie I’d check out a second time but it will also be on Amazon Prime in a couple weeks in case you miss it in theaters or it’s not playing near you.

Fortunately, there are also a number of semi-cool genre films this week, some better than others.

Opening at the Metrograph in New York and L.A.s’ newest Alamo Drafthouse and the Frida Cinema is IN FABRIC (A24), the horror film from Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy), who will be at the Metrograph for most of the weekend to do QnAs and introduce the movie. It stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a lonely woman who starts dating again and is coerced into buying a red gown at a London department store which might be cursed with an unstoppable evil force.  It’s another fantastically original film from Strickland that will probably be lumped into the current wave of “elevated horror” that so many filmmakers hate being lumped into, but it’s also good to know that it’s actually a movie in two halves (kind of like Trey Edward Schults’ Waves), as Ms. Jean-Baptiste only features in the first half and then the second half is another person who encounters the dress. And boy, that department store is one freaky place with Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie as what could only be described as a creepy mannequin come to life. In Fabric will be On Demand starting Tuesday, December 10. My latest interview with Strickland will be up later today over at The Beat.

There’s also Jessica Hausner’s sci-fi film LITTLE JOE (Magnolia), starring Emily Beecham as a single mother scientist who is working on developing a new species of plant at a company that will offer therapeutic qualities if fed properly and spoken to. As the plant grows, she realizes that it’s also creating different emotions in those that encounter it. The movie also stars Ben Whishaw, Kerry Fox asnd Kit Connor and will open at the Quad Cinema in New York, as well as in Philadelphia and other cities this Friday.

DANIEL ISN’T REAL (Samuel Goldwyn) is the new film from Adam Egypt Mortimer, starring Miles Robbins (Halloween) as Luke, a college Freshman who had an “imaginary friend” named Daniel as a kid who his mother (Mary Stuart Masterson!) forced him to lock up. As Luke starts dealing with a world away from his mother, Daniel returns, this time in the form of Patrick Schwarzenegger, who has deadly intentions for Luke and those around him, including a wild artist named Cassie (played by Sasha Lane). It opens in select cities.

Jennifer Reeder’s teen thriller KNIVES AND SKIN (IFC Midnight), which premiered at this year’s Berlin and played at Tribeca is an attempt to create a modern-day River’s Edge based around the disappearance of a teenager named Carolyn Harper. It stars Marika Engelhardt, Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper and will open in select cities and On Demand.

James Frey’s controversial 2003 novel A MILLION LITTLE PIECES, which was once sold as a “memoir” but then, like the work of JT Leroy, turned out to be more fiction than fact, except that this was learned about Frey’s novel after it was made a part of Oprah Winfrey’s prestigious Book Club. Anyway, Frey’s novel has been adapted to the screen by the husband-wife team of Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, as the latter plays a young man dealing with his addiction. Haven’t had a chance to watch the movie, but it should be interesting going by the Johnsons’ previous together.

Getting a one-week Oscar-qualifying run is Céline Sciamma’s critically-praised drama PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (NEON), which has been playing a number of festivals since Cannes. It’s about a painter who travels to a remote island, commissioned to paint a widow still in grieving for her dead husband, but without her knowing.

Also opening at the Metrograph is Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family (1091), a film set in Mexico City where there aren’t nearly enough ambulances for the city’s population of nine million residents. The Ochoa family runs one of the city’s privately-owned ambulance services, taking nightly calls while trying to beat rival EMT crews to the scene.

I’ve heard good things about Naomi Watts’ performance in Alistair Banks Griffin’s thriller The Wolf Hour (Brainstorm Media) set in New York City in 1977 where a citywide blackout is causing fires, looting and the Son of Sam murders are plaguing the city. Watts’ June shuts herself inside her grandmother’s South Bronx apartment but someone keeps ringing her doorbell as visitors keep showing up to make her even more paranoid and fearful. The movie also stars Jennifer Hele, Emory Cohen and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (who co-starred with Watts in the excellent film Luce earlier this year.)

Pantelion Films will release En Brazos de un Asesino (Pantelion) this Friday. Directed by Matias Moltrasio, it stars (and is co-written by) Cuban-born actor William Levy (who appeared as himself in Girls Trip!) playing Victor, the “world’s most handsome man” (not too much ego there, Señor Levy!) who is also a cold-blooded assassin, killing for money. When he goes to collect from a drug lord, he encounters the beautiful Sarai (Alicia Sanz) who has been held captive for years and uses  Victor’s arrival as a chance to escape. This actually sounds kind of fun, even though Pantelion rarely screens their movies for critics sadly.

Beniamino Barrese’s doc The Disappearance of My Mother (Kino Lorber) follows model-turned-activist Benedetta Barzini, a muse to Warhold, Dali and others in the 60s, who now in her ‘70s just wants to get as far away from the camera as possible, only allowing her son Beniamino to film this deliberate journey into obscurity.

This week’s film from Bollywood is Ashutosh Gowariker’s Panipat (Reliance Entertainment), a film set in 1761 as the Maratha Empire has reached its height and the Commander-in-Chief of the Hindostan army, Sadashiv Rao Bhau (Arjun Kpoor) has to fight  off the invading forces of Afghanistan king Ahmad Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt) leading up to the Third Battle of Panipat.

Other movies out this week and mainly on VOD that I don’t have time to write more about include:

Code 8 (Vertical) Grand Isle (Screen Media) Beyond the Law (Cinedigm) A New Christmas (Cinedigm)

This week also sees a couple re-releases including the excellent doc APOLLO 11returning to IMAX theaters and the Anime Promaregetting a “redux” release into theaters on Sunday, December 8 (the subtitled version), and then on Tuesday (English dub) and Weds (English dub in 4DX).

LOCAL FESTIVALS

Not really a festival but not exactly repertory either, Film at Lincoln Center will debut a new one-week series called Veredas: A Generation of Brazilian Filmmakers, running from Friday through December 11, which features a lot of work from this year and a few years back from Brazilian filmmakers, many which haven’t really been giving much U.S. distribution.

STREAMING AND CABLE

On Thursday, Netflix is debuting its new sci-fi thriller series V-Wars, based on the books by Jonathan Maberry, starring Ian Somerhalder (Lost, Vampire Diaries) as Dr. Luther Swann, a geneticist who is trying to put a stop to a virus that’s creating mutations across the planet. You can read my interview with Somerhalder over at The Beat.

Also, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story will hit the streaming network on Friday with its fantastic performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern and Alan Alda. This is a must-see... in case you don’t ever planned on getting married... or divorced.

The third season of Amazon Prime’s Emmy-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will also debut on Thursday, while HBO will release the season finale of Silicon Valley on Saturday, making it the next HBO series to end this year after Game of Thrones and Veep, giving people even less reason to subscribe. You can watch the Seth Rogen-Charlize Theron comedy Long Shot on HBO this Saturday so there’s that.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This week’s Noah Baumbach in Residence offerings are his 2013 film Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig, and then Gerwig’s own movie Lady Bird. Both are already sold out. This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph  is a good one, Fritz Lang’s 1953 movie The Big Heat, while Playtime: Family Matinees  will show Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). The Academy’s monthly series continues on Friday night with Kryzysztof Kieslowki’s 1991 film The Double Life of Veronique with a conversation and “musical discussion” with the filmmaker and Oscar-nominated composer Nicholas Brickell, who also scored the recent Netflix film The King.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Just one week after many people will have seen Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman on Netflix, Film Forum is putting a spotlight on the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s documentary work with “Scorsese Non-Fiction,” running from Friday through December 17, including some of the filmmaker’s better-known work like The Last Waltz (1978) and the Rolling Stones movie Shine a Light through some of his lesser-known documentary work.s If you really want to spend some time with Scorsese than maybe check out 1995’s A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies, which runs longer thanThe Irishmanat just under 3 hours! Scorsese’s 1974 short doc ItalianAmericanis also playing quite a number of times with 2001’s The Neighborhood. Personally, I’m kind of interested in seeing his 2011 doc George Harrison: Living in the Material World (also about 3 hours long), because it was recently the anniversary of Harrison’s tragic death. (The Film Forum will also use this as an opportunity to play some of Scorsese’s non-doc work like Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Baby Dol land more.) This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the 1956 musical The King and I, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner… that’s a good one!

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Weds “Afternoon Classics” matinee is Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955), starring Robert Ludlum, while Friday’s “Freaky Fridays” offering is Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining (1980). The Weds and Thursday double feature is On Dangerous Ground(1951) and Jacques Tourneur’s Nightfall  (1956), and then this weekend’s “Kiddee Matinee” is Joe Dante’s Gremlins. Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs screens Friday at midnight, while Saturday’s midnight offering is 1983’s Lone Wolf McQuad, starring Chuck Norris and David Carradine. The Monday Matinee is Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential, and then Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut will screen Tuesday and Wednesday night.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Friday will be a special Brian De Palma double feature of Sisters (1973) and Blow Out (1981), while Saturday will be a screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999).Sunday are two MORE double features, an afternoon pre-CodeJoans Crawford/Blondell double feature of Our Blushing Brides (1930) and Footlight Parade (1033) and then in the evening is a TERRY GILLIAM NIGHTS OF KNIGHTS double feature of Monty Python and the Holy Grail(1975) and Jabberwocky (1977).  The Aero will be showing the excellent Varda by Agnès for the next week or so, which is all the repertory you’ll need!

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Terrence Malick retrospective continues with a preview screening of Malick’s latest A Hidden Life with actor Valerie Pachner (who I met last night and she’s wonderful!) appearing to give an introduction. Friday is the “Brad Pitt version” of Voyage of Time and The Tree of Life: Extended Cut, while Saturday is Malick’s Song to Song and Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey as well as To the Wonder. In other words, all of Malick’s most recent films with multiple screenings through the weekend including Knight of Cups on Sunday. On Monday night you can see Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas as part of “Martin Scorsese: Four Tales over Four Decades.”

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1993, sadly already sold out, then “Weird Wednesday” is something called Blue Vengeance from 1989. Also next Wednesday is this month’s “Out of Tune” musical, Adam Sandler’s animated Eight Crazy Nights from 2002.

MOMA  (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Iris Barry’s History of Film continues this week with a few more screenings from the 1920s including Walt Disney’s early film Plane Crazy from 1928, plus Robert Wiene’s classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on Friday afternoon. Vision Statement: Early Directorial Works finishes on Thursday afternoon with Bong Joon-ho’s first film Barking Dogs Never Bite from 2000. (Plus there will be a screening of Parasite with director Bong in attendance, so who knows? Maybe he’ll pop in to say a few words after this one, too.)

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Spy Games will screen Brian de Palma’s Mission: Impossible while Late Night Favorites: Autumn 2019 is David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The IFC Center also begins its annual theatrical run of Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life, playing three times a day with Donna Reed’s daughter Mary Owen introducing a bunch of the screenings.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Continuing the Roxy’s “Nicholas Cage-athon” with David Lynch’s 1990 film Wild at Heart, co-starring Laura Dern,

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday night’s midnight movie is Penelope Spheeris’ 1985 movie The Boys Next Door.

Next week, we’re back to normal with three or four wide releases including Jumanji: The Next Level, Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell and the horror film Black Christmas. Plus the Box Office Preview will be back at The Beat!

[butterfly-child99]

Gosh the summer completely flew by and took us all by surprise!

July and August came and went and now it feels like it is nearly – dare I say it – CHRISTMAS! We had so many wonderful kaleidoscope adventures, if you follow any of my social medias you have hopefully seen some of the amazing things we got up to.

I haven’t written over the summer as I love being in the moment with the kids and taking lots of photos to have as memories and then I thought it would be nice to have one blog post full of all our memories as a keepsake to look back in time.

I hope you enjoy our recap of summer fun! What did you guys get up to over Summer?

Our summer of fun really started with BTS in wembley but I have covered that so this is everything after that, until schools started back. I have included some Wembley adjacent memories as I made some amazing friends. Speaking of….

Over the last few months, I have made some amazing new friends – who are ARMY – we have made friends over our mutual love of BTS. We met up with some at Wembley and our friendship has grown and they fell in love with my two children, because lets be honest why wouldn’t you! They are both amazing and adorable. So much so that one beautiful lady sent poppet and monkey some bunny rabbit hats, that appear in an episode of RUN BTS, if you press the paws, the ears will move. As you can see below, they loved them!

We also went to the seaside and enjoyed playing on the beach and some rides that were on Weymouth sea front. We love Weymouth and any chance we get to go over is always a good day. I love to swim in the sea but we didn’t get to do that on this trip as it was quite late when we arrived. We did get to bury the kids and have fish and chips by the sea!

Poppet loves to dance, sing and a variety of other things and goes to a lot of after school clubs. Monkey is not so bothered by any organised clubs or events as he likes to do his own thing. He has taken to climbing and loves to hit the local climbing centre. Poppet comes along as well on occasion as again she quite enjoys it. But this visit at the start of the summer holidays – monkey managed to climb higher than he has ever been and he jumped off the top yellow pole, which is quite daunting really. I am not sure I could do it.

We are all still very obsessed with BTS and enjoy watching music videos and their variety show RUN BTS. We have also started family quiz nights, which have been Harry Potter and BTS related so far. On one of these nights the challenge was to do the BTS fan chant as fast as we could. Monkeys practise was rather funny.

  Poppet was still learning by this point but has it perfect now. I shall have to re-video them so you can all see how well they can do it now. And yes, it does sound funny but hearing it in Wembley being chanted by 60,000 people was cool but still somewhat creepy! But mostly amazing and we are ready for (hopefully) when they return next year.

We visited a local National Trust site called Barrington Court. It is a beautiful house and grounds. We love to visit and go a fair few times each year, as they always have something for the kids to do, Christmas is always beautiful and I love the grounds. It is a a lovely place to walk around, let me know if you have been. And if you haven’t, you should come and have a visit. It is beautiful.

Before school finished, Poppet entered a solo dance into her school talent show. It was a shortened version of one of our favourite BTS songs – Anpanman. She was really brave to do it all by herself, as most of her friends were doing dances, singing etc in groups. But Poppet is not shy and she loves to dance and has been on stage lots of times before. I am so proud of her just for entering. But not only did she do us proud just by entering. She also won for her key stage. She is my little superstar and Monkey said he cheered the loudest and he got all his friends to cheer too, but then told me secretly he didn’t have to ask them as they all thought Poppet was the best anyway. But what an amazing big brother he is??

Poppet also did her Grade 1 ballet exam before the end of term and passed with distinction or honours. I am not sure what its called in Ballet, But she did amazingly, whatever it was. 🙂 Monkey thought he would give it a go in her skirt and not surprisingly it fit perfectly. 😂

I love how random and weird my children can be. It makes me feel very connected to them as I am very weird and random. 🙂 We are all very happy in our own skin and personalities and we definitely all fall from the same tree. They both came downstairs in their jurassic coast t-shirts and green shorts and declared that for today they were twins.

BTS new movie Bring the Soul played at Yeovil – so we got ourselves all dressed up and headed to the Cinema, I didn’t think there would be many people there as I have never met any ARMY near us. But the cinema was packed out with tons of ARMY of all ages. We met some lovely new people and really enjoyed the film. The kids did get a little bored as it was quite a lot of subtitled talking for them to keep up with. So they didn’t quite make it to the end and had to be picked up by Mr BC, but me and Mamma Butterfly really enjoyed it.

Speaking of me and Mamma Butterfly, we got a very rare child free weekend as the kids went camping for a weekend with my sister, brother in law and nephew. So we got the chance to have some adventures of our own. We went for cocktails (mocktails for Mamma) for one evening and watched some episodes of RUN BTS. We went to the new cocktail bar in our town, Kikis. It was lovely and my cocktail went down way too easy so I gladly had a second one. We also took a train into Bournemouth to visit the kids camping and have a look around as they were supposed to be going to the air festival. But they didn’t make it, so me and Mamma just had a nice walk around the town. I introduced her to bubble tea, which she loved.

We re-watched BTS live at Wembley when it became available on VLIVE. Kids loved it just as much the second time around, so much so, I had to keep asking them to move back, as they were so close to the screen, no one else could see it.

Before Mr BC headed off for a business trip, he took us all to the Car Show as he knows me and Poppet love a good car show. Heres some of our favourites:

This is a reminder for myself not to let Poppet eat cherries, it looked a little bit like the start of a really scary horror movie looking at her after she had finished.

I made a new friend over the Wembley BTS weekend because I asked if anyone would be around on the Sunday to keep me company as I would be attending Day 2 on my own as the kids and Mr BC had gone off to sightsee around London. My friends all jumped at the chance to spend the afternoon with me and they all told me where they would be meeting etc so I wouldn’t be alone but I was also asked if I wanted to meet up with a lady who had been let down and wasn’t sure she would feel comfortable going on her own. I offered to meet her and we could go for food etc, and she offered me her ticket  which was going spare anyway, and it was better seats than mine and as she didn’t want to go on her own, I said I would love too. And it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I would happily have sat on my own, I really just wanted some company for the afternoon, but after hearing she might not go as she didn’t feel brave enough to go on her own, I could not have that and as I am neither shy nor scared to make new friends, I accepted this silent challenge to befriend her. It was a good decision as it lead to a few happy accidents. I made a friend for life, she is truly wonderful person and I can’t imagine not talking to her now. Not only is she a great friend but she’s a wonderful crafter. I told her how Mamma Butterfly was sad she hadn’t made it to Wembley and she kindly made and sent this commemorative pillow to her for her birthday. How amazing is this? And such a thoughtful and beautiful gift.

And secondly, I now had a spare ticket. I had won my ticket in a prize draw and I really wanted to give it away so someone else could enjoy the concert too. I was meeting with some friends I had made online, as well as my friend above. They are all a wonderful group of Ladies and I am so happy to be included in their group. One of my friends had a friend who didn’t have a ticket and I offered him mine. He was really excited and pleased to be able to go and I think, at least I hope he enjoyed himself. I felt wonderful being able to give my ticket to someone who deserved one. All of these acts of kindness, stemmed from me simply asking if anyone would mind if I joined them as I didn’t fancy spending all afternoon on the run up to the concert on my own. It always pays to speak up and I discovered I have made some remarkable friends who have welcomed and accepted me and taken me under their wing. What an amazing start to the Summer it was?

Everyone we met, also fell in love with kids – which is always wonderful as its nice to hear that you have nice children from people you meet, it makes me worry less than I am doing a bad job.

I think that is it for our summer of fun. We did go to Legoland for a weekend but that was so exciting and amazing, I have an individual post to write about that.

I hope you enjoyed my round up of all the fun things we did. If you have any questions about any of the places we visited or if you just want to say hi! Please do drop me a comment or find me on facebook/instagram or twitter.

House of Butterflies: Summer of Fun. Want to know what we got up to over the summer - check out my latest blog post to find out. #summeroffun #summer #kaleidoscopeadventures #BTS #BTSxWembley #newfriends Gosh the summer completely flew by and took us all by surprise! July and August came and went and now it feels like it is nearly - dare I say it - CHRISTMAS!