The Cruelest Joke (Joker, 2019)

This review is going to focus on the movie itself…the final product. I will be including a post soon that gets into the controversies. But most of my issues with the Joker are, in fact, not with the film itself. They are with the director and how he has reacted to the controversies with the movie.

The Joker is a character with a long history, both in print and film. He is, really, nearly as popular as his great nemesis Batman. Of all of the comic book villains, it was always likely that he would get the movie treatment as “the star”.

Enter Todd Phillips, of Old School and the Hangover fame and Joaquin Phoenix with a decidedly retro take. Set in a pre-Batman Gotham City, Arthur Fleck is a man who is struggling with his own darkness and delusions. He wants to believe he is here to bring joy and happiness, but every day pushes him further into believing this world is too far gone. It has lost its way and people treat each other terribly, society favors the rich and the rich don’t care about the rest of us. And yet, at times, this just seems like a cover that Fleck uses to fool himself.

It is after committing an act of self defense that sets off the city pitting the citizens against each other that he starts to just give up and tumble towards the darkness. And it is indeed a dark tale. The Joker becomes a cult hero to the oppressed citizens of Gotham, used to fight back against economic injustice. Citizens wear clown masks and paint their faces in solidarity with the mysterious “vigilante” who stood up to the 1%.

The cinematography of the film is amazing. There are so many beautifully dark and unnerving shots framed in this film. It all feels very late 70’s Scorcese grit. It is hard to turn away. And yet, at times, you really want to. Phoenix gives an impressive performance as Fleck. He is constantly unnerving (much like the best moments of Ledger’s Joker in the Dark Knight). There are scene that are shocking and scenes that are genuinely scary.

While Phoenix carries the film, The Joker has an excellent supporting cast as well. While largely a stand alone, a few of the moments that kind of bring the film down a little are connections to Batman. It is not the mere presence of the Wayne family, but rather certain ways they are used.

The film is also struggling at times with how it wants us to perceive the Joker. He is clearly dangerous, and flat out commits murder, but he also is treated as an anti-hero.

Overall, however, this is a very good movie. It is not as groundbreaking as some want to make it out to be (It is literally “what if Scorcese made Taxi Driver, but with the Joker, instead of Travis Bickle). But the cinematography and the performances definitely make for a challenging but engaging watch.

October 5, 2019 0

Lovecraftian Re-Lives (The Resurrected, 1991)

The wife of scientist Charles Dexter Ward has hired the private investigator John March ti find out what secret her husband has been hiding. She knows he has been conducting mysterious experiments at an ancient home he has recently inherited.

What they discover is that his is exploring paths mankind should not dare…and the results are potentially blasphemous.

One of two films ever directed by Alien screen writer Dan O’Bannon, the Resurrected never gained the status of his other film, Return of the Living Dead. And, to a certain extent, I get it. Unlike Return of the Living Dead, this is based on a Lovecraft story. It is also set in genre of a Detective Noir.

Lovecraft can be very tough to adapt, and the screenwriter Brent Friedman’s decision to make it a Detective Story allows the basic structure to stay in place, since the original story is a doctor investigating the disappearance of Ward.

The performances are good in the film, with the small cast being made up of familiar supporting players and headed up by Fright Night’s Chris Sarandon.

The visual effects are quite good, with some very good creature designs.

This was meant to be a theatrical release, but the studio that produced it went bankrupt, which led to a home video release. In addition, apparently, the studio made rather large edits against the wishes of O’Bannon. But the released version is a good little supernatural detective yarn worth a watch.

October 4, 2019 0

Games People Play (Ready or Not, 2019)

Grace is engaged to Alex, a son in the Le Domas gaming, uh, Dominion. Alex is quickly revealed to b very unlike his family. Kind and rather unhappy with his family’s status as ultra-rich. The family is quirky, save Alex’s mother who seems to understand Grace’s nervousness at marrying into the family.

The night after the wedding ceremony, Alex explains that there is one last ceremony. The family has a tradition in which the new member of the family selects a game that the family must play. While most of the time it is something casual like checkers, on this night, Grace draws a card Alex dreaded… “Hide and Seek”. At first, Grace finds it all silly…until it is clear that losing the game means she dies. If she survives the night, the family is certain something unknown and truly awful will befall the family.

Ready or Not is a film with its tongue firmly in cheek. The family is rich and inept, having gone for years without actually having to have played Hide and Seek. One of the family members struggles to learn use of the crossbow. His coked up wife is so freaked out she cannot shoot straight. They argue over the value of tradition.

Grace, on the other hand, is trying to find her way out of a house full of hidden passages and no idea who she can trust. The help? Alex? Alex’s brother who seems to be struggling with his conscience? Alex’s nephews?

The humor is dark, but effective. Its targets being ultra rich fools obsessed with keeping their wealth, their actions often have comical results. The film is so stylish, and the character and set design so full of personality, it really enhances the film. The visual sense of Aunt Helene perfectly encapsulates this. Her hair is strikingly short and spiky. She wears a permanent scowl and really stands out. Nicky Guadagni is wonderfully dark in the film.

I also found Samara Weaving’s performance really good. She often gets mocked as being indistinguishable from Margot Robbie, which I think is unfair to both actresses…for one thing? Weaving has spent most of her career getting drenched in buckets of blood. But she is great as Grace.

Ready or Not was a surprise gem of a film this year, deserving of someday being a cult classic among thrillers.

October 3, 2019 1

Blood On Screen (Kolobos, 1999)

So, in the early 90’s, MTV decided they needed to expand their programming. One of their first greatly successful experiments was an “unscripted show” that put a bunch of young people from all over the country into a single house that would film the events. The Real World became a phenomenon.

In the late 90’s, three young filmmakers were trying to make their first film…their original idea was a road movie which was then ruined by weather that would have made outdoor shooting really tough. The filmmakers came up with a horror movie idea that could be set in one location and mostly indoors.

The result the thriller Kolobos. Several reality show wannabes seeking fame show up at a home and goof around, but then things get serious. Not like on the Real World, where personalities clashed-not that clashes don’t happen- but rather the sudden terror that they are trapped in the house and it has a who lot of traps meant to kill them.

At the center of the film is Kyra, a withdrawn artist, who keeps seeing faceless killers. Has Kyra lost connection to reality? Is she the killer? Or is there someone else? Is the hulking scarred man real?

Long before Saw, Kolobus explored the potential of watching people suffer horribly for entertainment (and honestly, are less preachy about it, the filmmakers do clearly have fun coming up with crazy death traps). The film has decent gore effects, and the acting is passable for the horror genre.

So, why does nobody talk about the film? One of the first to toy with the idea of reality-TV based horror? Well, it got released directly to DVD…right before this little movie called the Blair Witch. Blair Witch ushered in the era of found footage and steam rolled right over Kolobos. Arrow films recently re-released the film on Blu-Ray (for the first time in HD, it had been out of print for some time otherwise).

I recommend the disc and the movie, it deserves wider recognition. A lost indie horror film from the late nineties, you really should check this one out.

October 2, 2019 1

Welcome to October!

Well… the last couple of Months got away from me. It seems every August tends to slip away and my Septembers go silent. This year I have started trying my hand at selling art and August and September saw me run into some crunch. I was at the Crypticon Minneapolis Convention. I had some prints to sell and some original art.

crypticon_doug_bradley — Doug Bradley and Me

crypticon_ashley_laurence — Ashley Laurence and I

crypticon_Caroline_Munro — Caroline Munro, Joshua Kennedy and myself

crypticon_pennywise — Insert “Floating” joke here.

crypticon_mihm — Christopher Mihm’s table…

Here is some samples of artwork I had. There were prints…

some original art…

I am going to GalaxyCon here in Minnesota next month and I am trying to get a few more prints ready to go.

Add to this, Christopher Mihm (a local film maker and friend) cast me in a supporting role in his film that is in Post Production, the Phantom Lake Kids in the Beast Walks Among Us. I am also going to be appearing his film that follows, That Which Lurks in the Dark. If you want a refresher, I went through Chris’ films back in 2017. I have held back on reviews since I have gotten more interconnected to Mihm’s film making. I may do some write ups to talk about experiences and feelings on the films, but as Chris is a friend, I want my bias to be clear.

So, what is the plan for October? I probably will not be having quite the same past output as previous Octobers. But there will be more than one review this month. One of my themes will be “Less Talked About Gems”. Good little horror films I rarely see talked about. I also am going to get some reviews of recent films (Ready or Not and Haunt, for example) and a few…non-gems.

October 1, 2019 0

Working Out Your Issues (Ad Astra, 2019)

Fifteen years ago, Clifford McBride left earth to find intelligent life in the universe, leaving a wife and son behind. At some point, the mission was lost. McBride’s son has followed in his fathers footsteps and now works as part of a space station/satellite. After he survives a massive accident Roy McBride discovers that his father may yet be alive and that his experiments may be what caused the accident. See, the accident was due to a massive surge from space that has impacted the planet.

Roy is recruited to go on a mission to see if he can convince his father to stop the experiments. Much of the film is focused on Pitt’s Roy McBride’s trip and emotional journey. It is established early on that Roy is in a rather remarkable sense of self control. He is aware that this is detrimental to his relationships and that he is pretty distant from his own life. He even comments that he might be lying to everyone, even himself.

This tends to work really well, as Pitt keeps his performance largely detached and emotionless until you near the end of the film. Only as he sees possible closure do his emotions start to creep to the surface.

The film really rides almost completely on Pitt’s performance, as most characters pass in and out of the story very quickly. But Pitt is up to the task. The film is not terribly deep, it is about fathers and sons and letting go of personal pain. And the film is very much surface level. But I appreciated that the film does not get so lost in meandering philosophy (and it could have) that it feels like a solid resolution and hope for Roy by the closing minutes of the film.

The other thing I appreciated a lot in this film is the atmosphere and the world building. Set in the vague “near future” we have space stations on the moon and Mars, but nothing feels implausible. The tech feels like logical extensions from current tech. The moon is established as a borderless zone, full of tourists and threats. In the safety of America’s Moon-base you have fast food restaurants, families taking their pictures with mascots and hotel chains. but leaving there, you run into human threats.

Ad Astra is thoughtful sci-fi without being too esoteric for mainstream viewers. It is amazing to look at and Pitt gives a simple but interesting performance.

September 30, 2019 0

History Repeating.. Again (Happy Death Day 2 You, 2019)

So, Happy Death Day had a pretty simple premise. Groundhog Day with a serial killer. Tree woke up on her birthday, is killed by a serial killer. She had to solve the mystery of the killer and become a better person. She succeeded and the loop was over. Until now…

Happy Death Day 2 You opts to explain what actually caused Tree’s time loop. The result is a change to the film…rather than being horror Groundhog’s day, the film goes on a sci-fi bent involving parallel universes.

The cause of the loop is a science experiment being conducted by students. When the time loop begins for Ryan, Tree and Carter to help him close the loop. But in the middle of their attempts, the Dean interrupts and the end result is an explosion.

Tree wakes up to find herself in her original time loop…or so it seems. She discovers that there are many subtle differences…and at least one that makes her hesitant to return to how things were.

I liked this part a lot, as Tree finds herself torn between her family and her boyfriend Carter. The cast is enjoyable, and I generally liked the characters. The film has some good twists on events and characters in the previous film.

While I largely enjoyed the film, there was some problems. Even though the previous film established that each time she dies and returns, she is weaker…and one too many deaths, she may not wake up again. However, while this plays a role somewhat late in the film, Tree has a montage of “wacky suicides”. This borders on slapstick (and one death borrows directly from Groundhog’s Day) to the point of ruining the tone.

Also, the final tag of the film during the end credits seems unnecessarily cruel.

But I largely, as with the first film, enjoyed this one. And the switch to sci-fi is a pleasant surprise.

August 1, 2019 0

History Repeating (Happy Death Day, 2017)

Tree is apparently the child of hippies, cause who else would name their kid Tree?

But seriously… Tree is a popular and all around unpleasant sorority girl. On her birthday, she wakes up in the room of some random guy. She storms out and has a generally annoying day that culminates in her murder by a masked killer (the mask is the school mascot… which is a pretty creepy choice for a school to make).

She wakes up to the same day, confused as events repeat themselves…including the masked killer murdering her. She then wakes up and realizes it is the same day. As she pieces it together, she tries to figure out why, but decides she has to solve her murder.

Of course, the problem is, Tree is just a jerk, she has a lot of suspects to work her way through.

To be blunt…and the film admits this outright…it is basically Groundhog’s Day, but with a serial killer. And it really…well, works.

The film starts adding progressive stakes, forcing Tree to face the fact that she may, in fact, not survive the experience. And this causes her to look inward and not like the person she sees. While Bill Murray’s Phil decides to use his time loop to woo Rita, Tree looks at the bigger picture. And I think this is something the film does pretty well. Jessica Rothe does a convincing job of showing tangible change in Tree’s personality. The gimmick feels pretty fresh, even though it is clearly lifted from a very specific film.

Happy Death Day is a fun horror film that I think even folks who don’t care for slashers might enjoy.

July 31, 2019 0

Rinse and Repeat (Groundhog Day, 1993)

Phil is a jaded weather man who really hates his job. When he is paired up with producer Rita and forced to go produce a segment on the famous Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil to see if he sees his shadow…well, Phil ain’t happy. He is annoyed by Rita’s bubbly personality. He is annoyed by the townspeople. He is annoyed by his lodging conditions. Phil is bitter and cynical.

But things take an unexpected turn for Phil when he finds himself having to live the same day over and over.

At first he fights it, then he gives up…and then he decides to embrace it. A lot of the humor comes from his first two stages as he randomly kills himself and finds ways to amuse himself.

Rita and their camera man Larry are constantly questioning his sanity for good reason. Of course, when Phil fully embraces things, the film becomes more sentimental as Phil uses his days to learn to play piano, become artistic and more…troubling…learn about Rita so he can win her heart. The Pop Culture Detective has an excellent video that talks about the problems here…and the notion of Rita falling totally in love with Phil in one day seems odd if you really think about it. Only Phil is aware of the time loop…only he is directly experiencing it.

That said, I still do enjoy this film. Ramis and Murray have a synergy that goes back years, and it is on display here. There is plenty of absurd fun, and this is certainly one of those characters Murray excelled at playing over the years. Even though I think there are story problems, Groundhog Day is still quite a bit of silly fun.

July 30, 2019 0

Apex Predators (Crawl, 2019)

Haley is somewhat estranged from her parents, but when her father is unresponsive to calls from her and her sister in the face of an impending hurricane, she drives into the storm to find him. When she finds him wounded in a crawlspace beneath the home, she discovers they are trapped by alligators. As water fills the crawl space they struggle to find a way out.

Director Alexandre Aja delivers a very tight thriller. It is exciting and dramatic, rarely slowing down. The performances from Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper are quite effective. Their relationship feels real as a father and daughter whose relationship is strained by unspoken issues-but they still love each other.

Really, Crawl is a great B-Movie in the man vs nature vein. It has some good scares and keeps a brisk pace. I definitely recommend this for folks wanting a good thriller.

July 29, 2019 0