screenotes Reviews

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Doctoring Kubrick in service of King

[6/10 · 7 August 2020]

Director and Screenwriter Mike Flanagan's film Doctor Sleep, an adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling 2013 novel of the same name sees a middle-aged Danny (son of Jack) Torrance seeking to start a new life in a new town yet being drawn into battling a troupe of steam-addicted, child-killing near immortals by a young girl rich with magic (which is possibly the same thing as The Shining power that Danny possesses and both may be the same thing as the aforementioned 'Steam'). Yes, it's The Shining Part II and apart from Danny (now Dan) we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters.

Adapting a novel to screen is challenging at the best times, yet when the source material is a sequel to a much-loved original novel, which in turn was adapted into an undeniable classic of cinema, the challenge rises. But here's the real rub, many fans of the original The Shining actively loathe Kubrick's adaptation for being too far removed from its source material, including Mr King himself.

I can empathise with Mike Flanagan. As a Critic striving for perfection at all times, satisfying disparate groups of avid and let's face it, 'rabid' fans across the world can be a challenge. Particularly when the art of Criticism is one which is so dependent on its source material - the films which one is charged with reviewing - as Critics don't have the luxury afforded to novelists of plucking any old idea from the ether and putting it to the page.

The dearth of successful book to screen adaptations, let alone adaptations of King's own work is evidence enough of the proportional relationship between degrees of removal from the source material and the increase in difficulty. That is, the job of the Screenwriter who must deconstruct a novel before reconstructing its remaining parts for the visual medium is more difficult than that of the novelist and the job of the Director who must deconstruct the screenplay and then effectively communicate a vision to a cast and crew is harder still. Readers should then therefore draw their own conclusion as to whether the job of the Critic - or to spell it out, the job of deconstructing a visual work which has itself been deconstructed from an original written work, in order to effectively communicate the key question of how viewers should spend their valuable time- is vastly underappreciated.

I'm not saying Stephen King couldn't do what I do (that's for the reader to decide), I'm merely pointing out the enormity of the task befalling Mike Flanagan as Director and Screenwriter of a work which is an adapted sequel to not one but two, disparate, iconic works.

So how well did Mr Flanagan do? Perhaps damningly, Mr King himself is on record as being a fan of the adaptation. Though let's not hold Mr King's hereto-proven lack of judgement against Mr Flanagan, for even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day. In defence of both parties, The Author has also been effusive in his praise of Flanagan's previous adaptation of His work, Gerald's Game, and I agree with King that Flanagan did as good a job as anyone could have hoped to, considering the source novel is widely regarded as one of King's worst and had previously been considered 'unfilmable'.

Despite what Mr King would say, when it comes to film adaptations of his work, less has always proven to be more. Films such as IT: Chapter Two and The Dark Tower failed to resonate with filmgoers due largely to the fact that they tried to pack in so much story as to leave little room for the creation of suspense. This was not true of Kubrick's The Shining, which eschewed exposition for iconic moments and created suspense through lack of action.

Doctor Sleep is a more enjoyable ride than either the aforementioned flops. The acting is strong with the ever-watchable Ewan McGregor believable as an adult Danny and Rebecca Ferguson brings a charm and charisma to the murderous big bad, Rose the Hat. The plot has some interesting turns but there is just too much going on, leading to a total lack of suspense.

In the end, in trying to please everyone, the film ends up falling short on too many fronts. While two thirds of the film seem to slavishly hew to King's source material, struggling to balance exposition and plot propulsion, the final third feels like fan service for Kubrick's film. This has the effect of feeling like two different movies mashed together. Speaking as a fan of Kubrick's film, the final third is especially underwhelming as watching a re-creation of iconic scenes by different actors served less as the intended nostalgia trip than a reminder that I was not watching the work of Kubrick.

As sure as Stephen King will not accept that the Review is the highest form of Art - nor reply to my numerous emails on the matter - Mike Flanagan will lose no fans for Doctor Sleep. Yet for fans of Kubrick's The Shining, his legacy is more prevalent in Flanagan's Oculus (2013).

Molly's Game (2017)

In safe hands with Sorkin

[7/10 · 28 May 2020]

While the phrase "based on a true story" is usually code for "Hollywood has run out of original ideas so we hired a cheap screenwriter to adapt a biography in order to save money and still have a shot at an Oscar because...wow...isn't life sometimes stranger than fiction", Molly's Game is different.

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's feature Directorial debut kept me pretty well engrossed for its 2 hour and 20 minute runtime, largely because the Director employed a Screenwriter whose grasp of the craft of storytelling is evidenced in such works as the laugh-track-era-ending- Sports Night (1998 - 2000) as well as lesser known works such as The West Wing and The Social Network 2010).

Molly's Game cracks along at a fair old clip, distilling the decade long story of a one-time would-be Olympian-turned high-stakes underground celebrity poker Host facing criminal charges into a slick and pacey picture.

Yet with Sorkin's trademark fast-paced dialogue comes Sorkin's inevitable trademark schmaltz and hence the film's only real let down is a scene toward the end which amazingly is still not earned after approximately 2 hours of dense activity. This contrivance is perhaps a necessary evil of Sorkin's work given his enduringly refreshing interest in portraying professional and capable characters striving for greatness. More specifically, the titular protagonist of Molly's Game is a would-be gold medallist skier who, forced into a change of career due to a serious injury, cannily works her way up from glorified waitress to master manipulator through her intelligence, integrity and tenacity. The obligatory adversity Molly faces comes primarily in the form of her run in with the law, cue her adept yet initially sceptical advocate Idris Elba.

Necessary contrivances and aforementioned schmaltz aside, Molly's Game is a prime example of Writer / Director Aaron Sorkin's penchant for snappy dialogue and for exploring the mechanics of spheres most of us will never otherwise understand.

Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

wokesploitation

[7/10 · 14 December 2019]

After three feature films we can now safely say that S. Craig Zahler's 'Zahlerness' is not a fluke. An uncompromising and unapologetic vision reveals the stamp of an auteur throughout Bone Tomahawk (2015), Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) and Dragged Across Concrete (2018). Zahler himself is a multidisciplinarian who has written, directed and scored all three of his features.

The 'Zahlerverse' is a violent one to say the least. A mix of genres is everpresent yet a descent into horror is inescapable. Zahler's characters are dragged to metaphorical and literal depths and their redemption is invariably bloody. Concrete itself begins as a gritty crime drama. It follows two Cops, suspended for excessive use of force (or more to the point, for being caught on camera using excessive force) who decide to operate outside the law in order to make ends meet. The first and perhaps most important thing to say is that the descent of this crime drama into horror is one of the most engaging and entertaining experiences I've had in film in a long time.

Zahler cites, among other, Michael Mann as an influence and the plot and characterisations here are not a world away from those found in Mann's epic Heat (1995). Yet while both Heat and Concrete offer insight into characters doing bad things for good reasons, the latter is unflinching in taking a warts-and-all look at its characters and their setting.

Perhaps though, Zahler's own comparisons to the work of Michael Mann are a decoy for a deeper agenda. That is, while much of Zahler's work to date echoes a Grindhouse aesthetic of the 70s, his characters also echo 70s sensibilities in their views on race and gender. While these views are present in his first two films, they are far more prevalent in Concrete to the point that we cannot not discuss Zahler without discussing his character's archaic views.

In Concrete more than in Zahler's previous films, the racist aspects of the dialogue feel largely forced, stilted and expositional. This is interesting because the characters' racist views are in no way crucial to the plot. Suffice to say that while this problematic dialogue at times was so jarring as to take me out of my suspension of disbelief, it did provide for added character depth. It's also interesting because Zahler's ability to write great, snappy dialogue is evidenced here, as in his previous work, reaching Tarantino-esque heights at times.

Taking as given that we should separate the art from the artist, many critics and journalists have described the insertion of Zahler's 'problematic' protagonists into his work as needlessly provocational. The casting of Mel Gibson, who himself was recorded giving a racist rant in 2010 has been described as 'trolling' in some quarters. Yet as meta as it may be, Gibson's performance, as indeed that of the rest of the cast is pitch perfect.

Zahler remains reticent to discuss his own political leanings and advocates opining about his films and by association the characters within his films from all sides. Compare this with Todd Phillips' incendiary quote about why he left comedy to make Joker - "Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture", or Joaquin Phoenix's walkout of a BBC interview when asked whether the same film may inspire a youth to commit violence and Zahler seems thoroughly reasonable and thick-skinned.

Perhaps what makes the Zahlerverse challenging is also what makes it utterly unique in 'woke' culture. I for one am eager for more offerings and, perhaps in justification of my indulgence to fellow leftist liberals, my preferred reading of the Zahlerverse is wokesploitation black comedy.

In the Tall Grass (2019)

King on Grass

[3/10 · 26 October 2019]

I think Stephen King really hates mowing lawns. He has managed to find horror in the lawnmower itself in The Lawnmower Man (1992), King appeared as a half man / half grass monster in Creepshow (1982) and most recently has had Netflix adapt his novella In The Tall Grass (2019). While Sunday garden maintenance can unnerve even the most stoic, it is a unique mind which can envisage a cast of characters getting lost in tall grass to horrific ends. Still, after so many decades of writing horror fiction, not all ideas can be as inherently creepy as killer clowns lurking in sewers.

Having not read the novella and very quickly realising that the plot of the film indeed is contained within the title, my first question was how a 1 hour 48 feature film could be teased out of such a basic premise. The answer to this question quickly becomes less important than the question, why bother?

A number of Stephen King staples such as family man turned rapist, incestuous overtones and dead dogs pervade a concentric mess of a story while the backdrop of just about every scene is (unsurprisingly) grass. Supernatural elements are introduced to advance plot points without adherence to any kind of internal logic, omitting a basic tenet of horror which made films like the Director's own cult classic, Cube (1997) such a success.

The fact that the film is so visually boring is surely only partially the fault of Director Vincenzo Natalie. Lets face it, he didn't have much to work with from the screenplay. However, the complete lack of any tension is surely within his remit and not helped by the unceasing and unsubtle score.

The answer to the question "why bother" is the same as the answer to the question of why there are so many recent Stephen King adaptations. It's the same as the answer to the question of why there are so many Tom Clancy adaptations, why there are so many Marvel and DC adaptations and why the concept of an "unfilmable" novel is now just a marketing tool.

Dependability of an inbuilt audience has been a boon to risk-averse studios in the modern era and the bane of filmgoers who long for the lost age of mid-budget, original gems such as the aforementioned Cube. This dependability is in fact the seductive siren lure of mediocrity in opposition to which Netflix itself has been a beacon.

War Dogs (2016)

Phillips' post-Galifianakis, pre-Phoenix picture

[6/10 · 26 October 2019]

Right now it seems if you don't have an opinion on Todd Phillips' DC foray you're either dead or Joaquin Phoenix. Having not seen Joker hasn't stopped anyone from offering an opinion to date but journalistic integrity (and frugality and laziness) has driven me to explore Todd Phillips' back catalogue available on Netflix before attending a picture theatre and subsequently diving head first into spurious debate about his latest effort.

With titles such as The Hangover (2009) and Due Date (2010), Phillips has previously shown that he can point a camera at Zach Galifianakis. But how would he fair with the Galifianakis-free, true(ish) story of two young arms dealers who hustle their way into a major contract with the Pentagon in War Dogs?

Taking a lesser-told story from a secretive industry can be both a blessing and a curse. If we take the main reason we watch films as being 'catharsis' which necessitates empathy with a protagonist and the second reason as being 'to watch something we've never seen before', an inherent problem with ambitious cinema can be that of how to tackle exposition.

In tackling this problem, Phillips tries to balance a sympathetic 'everyman' protagonist-come first person narrator with that character's willingness to engage in nefarious acts. And thus the film effectively falls at the first hurdle. While we can all empathise with a young family's desire for stability driving as it does to make money "between the lines", moral lines can surely be drawn somewhere soon after the first few million dollars are achieved.

Yet the fact that our protagonist has an extreme change of heart late into the Third Act, having been previously complicit in all dubiousness and duplicity which amounted to the films tensions and therefore main entertainments left a sour taste. While technique, including Fight Club inspired-text-labels for weapons costs sustains the early part and subsumes the necessary exposition, the film's pace drags as it deals with manufactured moral dilemmas now minute in comparison with the margins in which its protagonists are continually working.

War Dogs is not without quality. Its cast is adept and its subject matter alone is almost enough to sustain it. However, its reliance on the (non-existent) 'everyman' qualities of its lead protagonist are essentially what diminish this quality.

Coherence (2013)

Watered down ketamine is not a social lubricant

[7/10 · 20 September 2019]

Between the years 2011 and 2013, an astral phenomenon occurred which caused several different Screenwriters to have the same idea. The product of that idea was the following films:

Melancholia (2011) - Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.

Another Earth (2011) - On the night of the discovery of a duplicate Earth in the Solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.

Coherence (2013) - Strange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead.

This phenomena was the reason I had never seen Another Earth nor Coherence, for though I am an avid consumer of science fiction, I remain a staunch sceptic when it comes to both astrology and appropriation. I was destined to see Lars Von Trier's Melancholia at the approximate time of its release but based on a hunch I assumed the other efforts would be derivative.

Though I am yet to see indy darling Brit Marling's Another Earth, I recently caught no-one-in-particular's Coherence*. And lo, I am ashamed to admit I was a fool to make the assumption that this film would be derivative. In fact far from being so, Coherence is original in both idea and execution.

A science fiction film which leans into its zero-budget** milieu through naturalistic dialogue and hand held cinematography, the true genius of Coherence crept up on me well into and long after its 90 minute runtime. It's a thought experiment which essentially asks, what would you do if you came across multiple versions of yourself?

It's not a perfect film, at least not on first viewing. There are seemingly needless references to unrelated thought experiments which arise as the film's cast of dinner party guests attempt to understand their predicament***. And yet I am of the suspicion that the film's seemingly glaring plot holes are little more than challenges to the viewer to watch it all again.

Whether or not one does attempt a repeat viewing, Coherence is well worth its 90 minute**** runtime. An enjoyable ride and a definite conversation starter***** over a post-watch beverage******.

Though the jury's still out on Astrology, I now hold out hope that there are parallel universes, alternate timelines and realities in which I were not so closed-minded as to have missed out on an enriching experience.

*James Ward Byrkit may be a household name in an alternate reality

**The budget was actually $50,000 which is one fiftieth the budget of Time Crimes (2007), one hundredth the budget of Moon (2009) and seven times the budget of Primer (2004) - though Shane Carruth's film itself should have an asterisk beside it as Shane Carruth is not of this world

***If you placed a red herring in a box with a cat and sealed it, you would not know whether the herring were alive or dead until you opened it

****Half the runtime of Interstellar (2014)

*****In that parallel universe where I have loads of friends

******Watered-down ketamine is not a social lubricant

Incident in a Ghostland (2018)

This guy directed Martyrs (2008)

[4/10 · 13 September 2019]

After a desperate plea from her sister, a horror writer returns to the home in which the siblings and their mother were brutally attacked sixteen years earlier.

The only thing I knew of Ghostland was that it was Written and Directed by Pascal Laugier and the only thing I knew about Pascal Laugier was that he'd Written and Directed Martyrs (2008). Having seen none of Laugier's other works was no deterrent as his 2008 'French New Wave' foray ultimately left me spellbound.

This was just as well, otherwise I may have stopped watching shortly into the jump scare reliant trope-fest that is Ghostland's First Act. It was all so unimpressive. Creepy looking dolls adorning a creaking old house while terrified women flee from evildoers hell bent on doing evil for evil's sake.

At least the antagonists in Martyrs had a motivation. In fact Martyrs posed a question about whether the end justified the means. From a narrative perspective, the question was specifically, can divine knowledge be gleaned through the torture of innocents? Throughout much of Ghostland, I was wondering whether this film's ending would justify the torturous repetition of outmoded scare tactics I'd endured thus far.

In the second Act there's the promise of something much deeper at play. Specifically multiple time shifts provide a hint of probing into the psychology behind trauma. Perhaps the over-egged First Act was a purposeful misdirection after all? The answer to this question was no. Ghostland remains unredeemable and is haunted by a much better and much earlier effort.

White Chamber (2018)

Why is the future always so white?

[4/10 · 23 August 2019]

Netflix's new release, White Chamber* is a Sci-Fi Horror made and set in the United Kingdom. Being a sucker for Sci-Fi and a hound for Horror, I decided to give this one a go without having heard anything about it.

The setup is thus: During a future civil war in the UK, A woman wakes up in a futuristic cell** and, claiming to know nothing, is subjected to torment and torture by a faceless person who is disguising their voice. The plot thickens*** when the film jumps back to 5 days previous and we learn that all was not as it first appeared.

White Chamber wants to be a relevant social commentary on Brexit, but also asks the question of whether ends truly justify means, such as in the case of torture to bring an end to a war. Oh and there's a point about how war dehumanises both sides. The problem is that these points are not found in the subtext but rather shouted through the dialogue.

To be clear, the film is not remotely 'torture porn'****. It's also not remotely good. It is grating, insistent and instantly forgettable.

*Grow up!

**By which I mean a white cell. Yes it's one of those films which buys into the idea that technology and clothing in the future will be very white. This may be symbolic of a sterile, dehumanising environment or it may simply be low-budget shorthand for "this is sci-fi".

***Going back in time to 'thicken' a plot is like using cornstarch to thicken gravy and is a form of cheating.

****A pejorative and hurtful term used to lump Lars Von Trier and the New French Extremity in with Eli Roth. Some of my best friends are torture porn.

Burning (2018)

disquiet, disquiet, disquiet...BANG!

[10/10 · 23 August 2019]

On the face of it, Burning may be a hard sell. A two and a half hour slow burning mystery which leaves more loose ends than it ties up is not going to be everybody's jar of kimchi. Adapted from a Haruki Murakami short story called Barn Burning the film follows seeming loner and aspiring young novelist Jong-su (Ah-in Yoo) and the disappearance of the object of his affections Hae-Mi (Jong-seo Jun) who initially returns from a trip abroad with her new friend 'Ben' (Steven Yeun). The more Jong-Su learns about the mysterious, suave and sophisticated Ben, the more suspicious Hae-mi's disappearance seems.

Make no mistake, there is a definite end to the narrative. Yet part of the charm of this film is that several different interpretations of the narrative work coherently and concurrently.

Burning is one of those films which made me question everything I'd just seen. It made me want to immediately watch it again with the knowledge I'd gained by the end to see how my perception of the preceeding events had been altered. This aspect is not unlike many films I've seen (and reviewed) over the last 12 months. Films such as Cure (1997), Stay (2005) and Hold the Dark (2018) all contained a narrative ambiguity with endings impactful enough for me to at least spend time mulling over everything I'd just seen.

Yet the genius of Burning (2018) is that there is nothing ambiguous about its narrative at all. More to the point, everything we see is from the point of view of a single character and there is no sense that anything has been redacted from this point of view. All our protagonist's actions make complete sense from beginning to end based on his (and indeed our) experience and yet looking back, it is as easy to read him as a jealous and jilted Sociopath as it is to read him as a justified avenging hero.

All of this is achieved without the short cut of expositional dialogue or internal monologue as Director Chang-dong Lee allows the cinematography to do most of the 'talking'. It's true that this method contributes to the two and a half hour runtime, which is perhaps the only negative I can offer and also a factor which will limit its audience regardless of how highly it is praised. This is not to say there isn't any dialogue but the interactions seem to be at once believable, metaphorical and opaque, serving more as a means to further isolate our everyman hero (or villain) than to fill in any gaps in the audience's understanding of the narrative.

It's isolation which pervades the screen in Burning. It wasn't long after the film's conclusion that I began to draw parallels with Taxi Driver (1976). While Scorcese's classic doesn't quite end on its climax in the way that Chang-dong Lee's does, the structure of 'disquiet, disquiet, disquiet...BANG!' is eerily present in both as well as a desperate isolation. Yet while DeNiro's Travis Bickle noticeably unravels before our eyes, Lee Jong-su's social awkwardness surfaces only through his inability to ask direct and seemingly obvious questions of the characters around him. This is not a frustration I found as a viewer as much as a realistic portrayal of how the majority of people interact in real life, serving to further Jong-su's everyman credentials. It is also quite telling that Hae-mi feels isolated to the point that she expresses a desire to simply disappear.

Speaking of the film ending on its climax, the climax itself is as shocking as it is congruous with everything that's come before it. It's evidence of the tightrope the narrative has been walking for its entire runtime and is the key to the alternative perspective(s) on everything that's come before. The final scene is also mirrors many of the visual metaphors and motifs throughout the film which is a delight to anyone who's been paying attention to remember any and all seemingly throwaway shots or remarks. I haven't yet watched Burning a second time all the way through however I gleefully patted myself on the back noticing the following:

Rather than seeing the car explode into flames, we see initially only a refraction of the light from the frames in the Van / on Jong Su's face as he is driving away, echoing the sunlight which comes in only at a certain time and for a short while into Hae-mi's tiny apartment.

Jong-su's own history of burning things is referenced through dialogue (his father made him burn his mother's clothes after she left) and visually, as he not only seemingly absent-mindedly starts and then stops burning a barn he is inspecting. One of the few flashbacks or dream sequences (the film doesn't tell us which) is of what must be Jong-su standing in front of a burning barn. This may indicate Ben is a figment of Jong-su's imagination. Whatever the case, references in dialogue to The Great Gatsby are certainly a clue that we may have an 'unreliable narrator' on our hands.

The fact that Jong-su removes all of his clothes (ostensibly to burn the evidence of his connection to the crime scene) echoes his admonishment of Hae-mi for exposing her breasts when in the shared company of Ben. It also references the conversation Jong-su has with Hae-mi's coworker in which she emphasises the plight of women who are criticised for wearing clothes which are "too revealing" as well as being criticised for "dressing down". This seems to indicate that Jong-su will be even further isolated after his final violent act.

A feminist take on toxic masculinity? The world as seen through the eyes of a Sociopath? Or just a straight-forward revenge thriller? The film seems to offer so many levels of interpretation and yet works from a narrative perspective on all of them. These are just some of the reasons that Burning is instantly one of my all time favourite films.

I Am Mother (2019)

This mother passes the Bechdel Test and the Turing Test

[6/10 · 22 June 2019]

With I Am Mother Debut Writer and Director Grant Sputore's Sci Fi offering tackles big ideas with a small budget. Set in a post-apocalyptic 're-population' facility, a teenage girl is raised by a robot "mother" until a stranger interrupts their unique bond.

In the tradition of Ex Machina (2014) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), I Am Mother (2019) narrows the scope of storytelling in order to explore wider themes, utilising a minimal cast and primarily interior shots to get its messages across.

Despite appearances, I Am Mother is actually as much a coming of age tale as a high concept Science Fiction story. For all its twists and turns the tension is derived primarily from the jeopardy in which our young female lead is cast after the arrival of the stranger. To this end, the film offers up an interesting take on the concept of the other, with this role filled in turn by the human stranger and the familiar but strange robot Mother.

Yet there is an inescapable feeling that the tension is sacrificed for plot twist after plot twist, perhaps down to an issue with pacing and there's a sense that after a lingering first act, the final third seems rushed. Much of the action feels unnecessary and doesn't serve at all to ratchet up the tension.

Still for all its flaws, I Am Mother is recommended viewing for anyone who is interested in a different take on well-worn Sci Fi tropes. It is a film of big ideas that works best during its slowest moments. It is also one of too few movies to easily pass the Bechdel test*.

*The criteria being: 1. The movie has to have at least two women in it 2. who talk to each other, 3. about something besides a man

They Look Like People (2015)

The rise of 'Buddy Horror'

[6/10 · 15 June 2019]

There is a sub-genre of Horror which IMDB calls "Alien Infiltration" and a cursory keyword search of 'the database' suggests it is a potentially rich yet largely untapped theme. Notable entrants include Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and its various remakes as well as the much loved yet now quite dated John Carpenter film They Live (1988). Carpenter's film was based on Ray Nelson's very short story Eight O'Clock in the Morning with Nelson himself employed to write the screenplay.

Perry Blackshear's Directorial debut feature They Look Like People (2015) is still perhaps the latest entrant into the sub-genre, focusing more on the psychology of its hero-come-antihero as he struggles to distinguish reality from fantasy (read 'nightmare'). Yet Blackshear's film is several iterations away from any of the aforementioned efforts.

In fact stylistically, They Look Like People is akin to the work of Blackshear's comtempories Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. By this I mean the film is part of a movement which places relationships between characters at the forefront of Genre storytelling. The duo's films Resolution (2012) and The Endless (2017) are both as concerned with the endurance of male friendships amid horrific circumstances as they are with staples of the Genre. We may now come to define this 'Buddy Horror' as its own sub-genre.

Far from derivative, Blackshear's debut is suspenseful and atmospheric, containing minimal gore yet just enough half-seen body horror to keep one white-knuckled. Its dramatic question is less about whether or not it's main character is mentally ill than about whether or not the relationship between its two 'buddies' will endure in spite of this challenge.

They Look Like People is not perfect by any stretch. It lives and dies on its portrayal of the relationship between its two leads. Relative newcomers MacLeod Andrews and Evan Dumouchel do a fine job in both the portrayal of the central relationship and in service of suspense. Yet generations of Horrorphiles raised on jump scares and gore may not find what they're looking for here. The suspenseful moments are truly suspenseful but there is as much time spent on portraying the key relationships as on anything else.

Yet considering its budget and the relative inexperience of all concerned They Look Like People more than exceeds expectations. This film is evidence of a unique vision and cinematic craftsmanship. It is also evidence that 'Buddy Horror is here to stay'.

Oculus (2013)

Better than 'Hush'

[6/10 · 14 June 2019]

When her younger brother is finally released from a psychiatric facility years after his conviction for the murder of their parents, a woman seeks to prove the existence of the malignant and supernatural force she believes actually responsible. Conveniently, the locale of said force is a mirror and therefore easily transportable back to the family home-come-erstwhile crime scene.

Playing out less like the haunted house story one might expect from the outline above, this interesting take on psychological horror initially subverts expectations by presenting us with a brave and capable heroine with a well thought out (though necessarily flawed) plan. Writer and Director Mark Flanagan who later made the derivative and lacklustre Hush (2016)* and valiantly attempted the 'unfilmable' Stephen King adaptation Gerald's Game (2017), has made female protagonists with agency a feature of his work.**

There is some real artistry in the way Oculus employs the storytelling technique of constantly shifting between flashback and present day. Over and above using this device as a clever short cut to character development, it is in the moments where past and present seemingly overlap that the viewer receives the most vivid portrayal of the characters' fraying mental state.

Yet it is perhaps these intriguing elements which become the film's worst enemy. In allowing these glimpses into the mind of the characters, there are hints of a rich vein of storytelling left unplundered and therefore 'setup' without payoff. Rather than leaving us wanting more, the untapped potential of Oculus has the unintended effect of relegating it toward mediocrity.

Oculus is not without gore nor jump scares and most fans of the horror genre will therefore find it serviceable. Yet in setting up something truly unique and promising a subversion of the genre, there is the abiding feeling that the film lacks the courage of its convictions.

* Specifically derivative of the excellent Wait Until Dark (1967). ** Deaf and Mute or handcuffed to a bed though they may be.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Stunt-ed

[6/10 · 10 June 2019]

Adapted from the graphic novel "The Coldest City" and helmed by one-time Stuntman David Leitch, Atomic Blonde (2017) sends Charlize Theron's Badass MI6 agent to Berlin to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Set against the backdrop of the fall of the Berlin Wall the soviet-era spy plot is all but subsumed by a soundtrack of garden variety Eighties Singles found on any mass-market compilation. While the aesthetic is largely true enough of the era, Theron's outfits themselves often seem to leave as little to the imagination as possible without heed for retro trends. The dramatic question of Atomic Blonde is not so much "will Charlize succeed in her mission" as which will win, style or substance.

This film is not without merit, however. Theron is engaging as an action hero, albeit not a British one and the fight scenes are well choreographed and believably perilous for the female lead, standing out not just for the fact that they are mercifully free of music but they are perhaps the only element of the film without a hint of pastiche.

The thin spy plot is would have been serviceable for the film the filmmakers seemingly wanted to make but style 'uber alles' only really works if the style is consistent and the soundtrack builds or at least contributes to atmosphere, rather than containing 'on the nose' musical choices. No prizes for guessing which Nena song plays over scenes in Berlin or which Clash song plays over scenes of London. In the end, the film doesn't quite hang together and is more exploitative than engaging with disparate elements fighting each other for second place behind action set pieces.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Says so much with so little...for the most part

[8/10 · 17 May 2019]

Manchester By The Sea is a naturalistic, character-driven Drama which punches you in the guts and leaves you breathless. It's a film which hinges on its trust in a lean cast to deliver complex emotions with minimal dialogue and, for the most part it delivers.

In a film which conveys so much with so little exposition, the less said about the actual plot the better. Suffice to say "A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies" is about the limit of what you need to know up front.

Describing Manchester By The Sea as a bleak to gut-wrenching Drama is no understatement yet along the way it manages to strike upon moments of genuine comedy which derive naturally and believably from awkward interactions. Manchester By The Sea's occasional missteps are stylistic; Namely, one jarring and unnecessary dream sequence and a strange choice of non-diagetic music which accompanies a pivotal flashback.

Yet thankfully overall, Director (and writer) Kenneth Lonergan and Crew take a back seat to a career-defining, powerhouse performance from Casey Affleck and a more than capable supporting Cast.

The film packs one hell of an emotional punch when it needs to, yet there is universal hope to be found in its portrayal of a set of circumstances so unique that it is testament to Affleck and Co that Manchester By The Sea remains all-too believable.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

Extremely Insipid, Shockingly Banal and Facile

[5/10 · 4 May 2019]

In order to get the most out of Netflix's latest take on the Ted Bundy story, you should do the following:

1. Be born after 1989 2. Be born outside the USA 3. Not watch Netflix's own Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019)

If you fit this criteria, you may just be able to buy the films unusual through-line that Ted Bundy was an innocent man, wrongfully pursued, harangued and harassed by the Authorities due to their own political agendas.

But this is only one through-line of a confused narrative which seems to have forgotten two basic principals of storytelling. That is, the answer to the questions:

1. Who is the intended audience? 2. Whose story is it?

The latter question seems to be answered within the First Act in that we follow the perspective of Bundy's girlfriend, Liz Kendall (Lily Collins). And this could have been an interesting take on a story that everyone but a technology-deprived Millennial orphan knows at least on some level. Yet bafflingly the story jumps a large chunk of time and the perspective inexplicably shifts to the point that we end up with a straight biopic whose mediocrity is reinforced by the tired technique of showing actual footage of the Bundy trial during the closing credits.

Zac Efron is serviceable as Bundy, capturing in particular the charismatic charm of the chameleonic sociopath. Lily Collins' does well with what she's given but the lack of screen time provided for the relationship between Bundy and Liz is a major barrier to the suspension of disbelief required to support a seemingly central premise that Liz didn't know of her boyfriend's misdeeds.

In choosing to keep the details of the Bundy's crimes to a minimum and in shifting between perspectives, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) essentially only serves to portray the least interesting aspects of a sickening yet incredible story.

Director Joe Berlinger's own limited documentary series, Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019) is a much more worth-while watch.

The Highwaymen (2019)

Adept as a police procedural drama but forgets to add jeopardy

[6/10 · 3 May 2019]

The Highwaymen (2019), in which a pair of Texas Rangers come out of retirement to catch the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde is not your typical buddy cop movie. Nor is it your standard Bonny & Clyde fare. In fact, there's a sense the film doesn't quite know what it is.

It is at its best when it is essentially a police procedural with the Rangers relying on experience and instinct, methodically hunting down the ruthless killers. And their ruthlessness is laid bare here, juxtaposed unsubtly yet occasionally powerfully with evidence of their celebrity status.

While this perspective is valid and indeed interesting, Highwaymen at times gets lost when seeking to justify excessive methods used by the authorities. In particular, the more exposition of the Rangers' violent backstories, the more it comes unstuck. Primarily, this is because the Rangers are never setup as anything other than the heroes of the piece.

There are solid performances from Costner and Harrelson as the leads and the film is well-crafted from a technical standpoint yet in the end, The Highwaymen tries to do a bit too much with a relatively simple story and ends up feeling overlong.

Unicorn Store (2017)

Debut Director gets in her own way

[6/10 · 3 May 2019]

Unicorn Store (2017) is an oddity even among oddball comedies. Sitting somewhere between corporate satire and a coming of age comedy, the story centres on Brie Larson's child-like character and her (very late) journey into adulthood.

Working behind the camera for the first time, Brie Larson conjures strong comedic performances from her Cast. Funnily enough however, her own screen time is primarily what lets Unicorn Store down.

Old hands such as Joan Cusack and Samual L Jackson produce some of the best moments of this quirky, fantastical, coming-of-age 'indy' but Larson's portrayal of the naïve-dreamer completely misses the mark. She seems to have drawn too much on her role as Kate Gregson in United States of Tara here and the cutesiness is dialled up to such levels that it is at times excruciating.

Given Brie Larson has established herself as a tremendous dramatic Actor - Room (2015) is testament enough - this misfire therefore gives rise to the question of whether she can actually Direct. Given the inherent and almost tectonic tonal shifts of Unicorn Store's narrative, I'd say we should give her the benefit of the doubt on this one.

American Animals (2018)

Bart Layton is no imposter!

[7/10 · 27 April 2019]

With American Animals (2018), writer / director Bart Layton deploys techniques he introduced in his excellent documentary The Imposter (2012) to create a biopic like no other, one that's actually entertaining. The true-crime story itself is interesting - 4 college boys who devise a plan to steal and sell priceless books from a college library - yet in lesser hands it's easy to see how it may have worn thin.

It's not a documentary. Layton instead takes the opportunity to create a heist movie, revelling in the naïve and inept protagonists' discovery of the genre's tropes. Many an homage is paid to classics of the genre as the protagonists "study" for their heist by watching these films. Comedy ensues.

The technique of intercutting talking head footage of the actual perpetrators and their family throughout the film at first seems gimmicky while setting up a comedic tone. However, the same technique provides for empathy with the characters involved and continually serves as a stark reminder that the events actually happened - and to seemingly ordinary people. It is far less a gimmick that it is a welcome short cut to the necessary insights required to tell a story from the point of view of the anti-heroes.

Triple Frontier (2019)

Morally confused

[6/10 · 24 March 2019]

Focusing on an "illegal" mission to steal a drug lord's fortune, Triple Frontier (2019) initially appears to be more than just your typical heist movie. In setting up an assassination plot against a violent and oppressive criminal, things start to look especially interesting when it is revealed that our heroes' motivations are essentially based on greed.

Yet the promise of an interrogation of the human soul is never truly paid off as the film broadly shirks the moral investigation with which it flirts. This is not to say there aren't numerous situations in which our heroes ostensibly become anti-heroes. However, as much as their behaviour is morally dubious, the filmmakers have taken pains to make the central characters empathetic.

There is some great action and genuine suspense during the second Act amid the heist proper. There are even some would-be iconic scenes which are the result of some genuine craft from all concerned.

Yet with a great cast and a promising setup, the film is ultimately less than the sum of its parts. In the end, Triple Frontier is wholly forgettable.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Withnail & McCarthy

[7/10 · 9 March 2019]

Several of the ingredients of a waste of celluloid can be found in Can You Ever Forgive Me. Namely, a debut feature* from a relatively unknown female director** which is a Biography*** about an author no one remembers, starring Melissa McCarthy****.

Yet by casting against type, Director Marielle Heller has unearthed a performance from a comedic Actress whose genius is evidenced by three magnificent feats.

Firstly, McCarthy's portrayal of literary forger Lee Israel is heartfelt enough that we feel empathy with an alcoholic misanthrope who uses and abuses everyone around her.

Secondly, McCarthy becomes Lee Israel to the point that we forget we are watching Melissa McCarthy. This may seem like damning with faint praise yet, in a reversal reminiscent of Adam Sandler's turn in Punch Drunk Love, the Actress demonstrates her dramatic side with aplomb. This cannot be said of Adam Sandler nor Steve Carrell, Jason Bateman, Will Smith nor myriad other clowns turned consequential.

Thirdly, McCarthy's subdued performance is in no way upstaged by Richard E Grant essentially reprising his role as the flamboyant drunkard from 1987's Withnail and I.

Against all odds, Can You Ever Forgive Me successfully delivers an intriguing story and an engrossing character study.

*Okay not quite, but has anyone actually seen The Diary of a Teenage Girl?

**Of the top 100 grossing films of 2018 only 4% were Directed by females. While this may seem like an alarming statistic, it should be noted that there is no proven link between Box Office success and quality. In fact, it could be argued that the inverse may be true.

***I defy you to name me one great biographical film which isn't a documentary.

****The star of Life of the Party - a truly awful film

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

From the sublime to the ridiculous

[7/10 · 27 February 2019]

Rapper / Producer Boots Riley's directorial debut is evidence of a singular vision, years in the making which is completely unique in style. Ostensibly a Comedy about the moral dangers of greed, Sorry To Bother You sets out its stall early as a kind of dream-like hyper-reality which becomes increasingly twisted. "From the sublime to the ridiculous" may be a well-worn cliché these days but has never been more appropriate.

LaKeith Stanfield (Get Out) takes a telemarketing job out of financial necessity and, discovering his "voice", climbs the corporate ladder and in turn discovers some disturbing truths.

It is perhaps a testament to the Cast that the on-again off-again romantic plot line involving Stanfield and Thompson is the least believable aspect of a film in which voluntary slavery is no longer oxymoronic. Tessa Thompson does her best with the little she has to work with and Armie Hammer is perfectly cast as the antagonistic coke-fuelled captain of industry.

Sorry To Bother You is not a perfect film by any stretch. Yet while its oddness may lose some viewers, it is genuinely funny and utterly different. Why not see something you've never seen before.

Money Monster (2016)

Clooney playing an unlikeable character? This I've got to see...

[5/10 · 23 February 2019]

Money Monster has an interesting premise. The arrogant, show-off Anchor of a popular Financial TV show is taken hostage live on air by a viewer who followed the advice of the show to a ruinous end. Initially it seems there's a chance to see something different here. Chiefly, Clooney playing an unlikeable character. Very soon however, the promise of the premise fades.

The movie seems to want to be many different things and comes up short on all of them. The main problem is that everything about the film is convenient. It doesn't work as a Thriller as the various moments of real tension quickly evaporate through our realisation that characters will have a change of heart for the good or that the show's crew can access any people or technologies they need, just in time.

The ending of Money Monster is 'broadcast' right from the off and none of the pay-offs are truly earned. The central characters don't develop as much as turn on a dime and by the end, what we're left with is a mundane vehicle for Clooney completists.

Stay (I) (2005)

How long have you got?

[6/10 · 22 February 2019]

Hi, Let me take your coat. Sit down, relax. Would you like a glass of wine? So how was your day? Sounds tedious. Yeah, I can't wait to Netflix and chill either. I'm glad you mentioned it actually, I was thinking we might try something a little...'different' tonight. Now it'll be uncomfortable at first, maybe even jarring. Wait, hear me out. That's just the first time, but the next time, the discomfort won't be there because you'll know what to expect and you'll find it rewarding...well I guess I just assumed there'd be a next time... Oh come on, it's only 9 o'clock. Really? You have to go now? Can I call you?

Marc Forster's Stay is a unique and ambitious film which appears to sacrifice narrative coherence and naturalism in service of an exploration of the unconscious. The film breaks conventions of story structure and 'crosses the line' in the cinematographic sense. While increasingly askew framing and scene repetition at times make for an uncomfortable watch, yet if you blink you may miss something crucial to the plot.

This is both the central problem with Stay and the reason it has garnered a cult following over the years. It often seems as if the filmmakers are daring the audience to stay with it but by the end, upon reflection, everything is as it should have been. Everything, down to the most minute detail is there for a reason.

Stay is a difficult film to recommend because its genius is not revealed until its end, or even perhaps until its second viewing. For those who don't make the journey, it's easy to see why it may be dismissed as self-indulgent or pretentious.

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

May contain traces of eel

[6/10 · 11 February 2019]

It's difficult to tell whether Gore Verbinski's tongue is planted firmly in his cheek throughout A Cure For Wellness but given the film's running time of 2 hours and 26 minutes, such a feat would likely require the meddling of a twisted surgeon.

The film is true to its billing as a 'Gothic' thriller with the grand architecture of an old castle come wellness centre explored inventively through myriad camera angles and stark colourisation and a forboding score endlessly permeating the halls. And this is part of the problem. So much time and effort is spent on building suspense through the technical process that the film forgets to actually further the story on several occasions. The pace becomes too ponderous to sustain any tension it manages to build.

In its homage to Gothic horror A Cure For Wellness often strays into pastiche, with trope on a rope seemingly installed in every therapeutic bath. Yet if there is any wryness intended, it is submerged beneath solemn performances and a story which crawls from the sublime to the ridiculous.

There should be much to like in this wildly ambitious modern take on a genre which predates film and almost every aspect of the film-making process is exquisite. Yet the film amounts to less than the sum of its parts and is ultimately a hollow experience.

High Flying Bird (2019)

Small camera, big issues

[7/10 · 9 February 2019]

Soderberg's latest experimentation with the iPhone focuses on a struggling idealistic player agent during an NBA "lockout". You may wonder how so small a camera manages to capture or at least replicate the drama of fast-paced sporting action, particularly the pinnacle grandstand moment of that ole rags to riches sports tale. Without spoiling anything, let me tell you it doesn't. Or more to the point, High Flying Bird is less concerned with the sport of basketball itself than it is with "The game on top of the game".

Instead of an arena, the game is played out in offices and instead of action, there is dialogue. Considering the constrained budget and production schedule, it is a testament to the cast and to the screenplay that the film holds together at all. And yet it does. The performances are naturalistic while the story moves along at pace, generally eschewing exposition.

In keeping its focus narrow, centring on a small cast of characters, Tyrell Alvin McCraney's screenplay cuts to the core of issues of race and power in the NBA without a whisper of melodrama. In fact, considering the wider story it is telling High Flying Bird remains upbeat and inherently promotes a message of positivity.

High Flying Bird will not be for everyone, it could be accused of being a little dry. However it is an intriguing experiment in film-making which finds a new way to tell a story which needs telling.