Just Watched Movies (2016)

[slayrrr666]

You know the drill.

Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness-Winning a trip on a commercial space flight, the gang finds the effort sabotaged by a mysterious alien and must rely on their astronaut guides and their own mystery-solving skills to get back to Earth safely. I have to say this one was quite the enjoyable effort which offered a lot to really like about it. The humor comes through really nicely here, with the gang each getting something to do that's truly funny from Fred's quest to win over the heroic astronauts, Daphne's twin-sister vibe with their female pilot, Velma's quest to leave the shallow celebrity judge following her and Shaggy and Scooby's chance encounter with their favorite athlete also on-board makes for a really fine first half that meshes nicely with the jaded, conceited host of their flight who thinks everything revolves around him all managing to make due of the fact that there's not a slightest clue of a mystery needing to be solved here. Once the alien shows up and forces them into the space station, things pick up dramatically with some thrilling encounters, a nice sense of fun and even manages to wrap up all the existing storylines quite nicely. There's a few minor issues, namely once again the fact that Daphne's main storyline is the 'I'm-not-just-a-pretty-face' issue that's been used a few times in other films and doesn't really come off as anything new in their relationship since it's already been done before and just fills up time between them. Likewise, the alien doesn't even enter the picture until the halfway point and the resolution is so easy to guess that the mystery itself is entirely half-baked, but overall it's still a really enjoyable effort.

[slayrrr666]

Blood Moon

[Fenril]

- The Witch. (2015. Dir. Robert Eggers) In 17th century New England, a Puritan family of seven is banished from their plantation and so, under the guide of Patriarch William, they journey to build their own farm in midst of a secluded forest. But barely have they settled in when baby Samuel is abducted. There are all sort of dangerous creatures out there in the dark, like beasts and hags. But even more dangerous are the family's internal tensions, about to explode big time...

Terrific debut from director Eggers. This spooky movie, part period drama, part witchcraft horror and part allegory of repressed sexuality, is well worth a watch for patient viewers. Carefully paced and well, acted, with a successfully gloomy atmosphere. While this is the kind of movie that invites different interpretations about just what is "really" going on (*), the overall effect cannot be denied: a pervasively eerie experience.

(*) = Here be SPOILERS.

Because the supernatural is presented in a mostly subtly way in this movie, there is more than one reviewer who insisted on the old "it's all in the main character's head" interpretation. In this case, that constitutes a remarkably poor reading, given specific events that happen. If some viewers really buy the idea that elder daughter Tomasine is the one behind all the mayhem, how do they explain events like Katherine waking up with a bloody breast after a lurid "dream" where a crow suckles her? Or a corral begin demolished overnight?

No, what is going on here is more, and I use this word again, allegory, more than just trickery. The movie starts with the archetypical conflict of faith versus nature, piousness versus wild pagan lands. But as the movie goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that what is truly tearing this family asunder is not the very real supernatural menaces but, ironically, their rigid faith.

Patriarch William intends to be a pious father, but is undone by his own pride and cowardice: He'd rather let his children be unfairly punished for things they didn't commit than admit that he went behind his wife's back to scrape for food. He claims he will tame the land but proves disastrously inadequate as a farmer. Even when his family's doom is inevitable, his real main concern is the thought that HE somehow brought evil to this family. Deep down, he knows he has failed as a father in so many ways, but up until the last moment he refuses to admit it out loud --even in his final moments he'd rather die comparing himself to Job than actually fight for his family.

Mother Katherine very blatantly favors her sons over her daughters. Even more astoundingly, it's suggested that the only reason her third son, Jonas, is not in as much favor, is because he is in perfect synth with his twin sister. She obsesses on a silver cup that could have been traded for food... but when she finds out that's exactly what happens, she still resents it. It's evident that she never quite forgave William for leading them from prosperity in England to poverty in the New World. And that's not even starting with her massive conflict with her elder daughter.

Pre-teen son Caleb shows a bit of incestuous desire towards his older sister Thomasine. Not, as their mother believes, due to tempting on Thomasine's part, but for the simple reason that he is a boy coming of age in a a closed context with no other people to interact with besides his family. His attempts to question and eventually challenge his parents' authority end with him humiliated in every way. And while his death at the hands of a sultry, tempting witch can be easily linked to sin (notice that the scars he displays look more like the marks of an STD than those of an animal attack), his final words are intriguing. There is some debate, both inside and outside of the movie, about the fact that he dies invoking Jesus Christ, and that sometimes demons can do that in order to deceive. I'd say it's much more interesting that the tone with which he speaks of things like "His kisses all over my mouth!" seem far more feverishly erotic than religiously devout.

The twins, Mercy and Jonas, plus unbaptized Samuel are essentially victims of their circumstances. The movie is deliberately ambiguous about whether the twins were themselves bewitched (or bedeviled!) or if their child's play has been misinterpreted in the most awful way.

Ah, but Thomasine! That she is the singular witch of the title and the one in the poster isn't much of a surprise if you pay attention to the story beats (for all that quite a few people found the conclusion disappointing --apparently, people kept excepting a clear-cut answer from a movie that steadfastly refuses to tell us anything clearly and instead prefers to let the audience fill in the blanks). Her joining the coven at the end is, most viewers agree, pretty much the only choice left to her at the ending, with her entire family slaughtered and the farm in shambles. I am particularly interested in two details:

- She has the heaviest burden to carry in the entire family. As the eldest daughter, she has to help in all chores and practically be her siblings' governess. When her parents notice that she is "becoming a woman", instead of finding her a husband, they immediately decide to "give her to another family to be of service". She is never more than a tool to them to prove how devout they are. And yet when she is tempted by Satan himself, it's not the offer of food or opulence that finally seduces her --it's the simple question: "Would you like to see the world?"

- Throughout the entire movie, she has been almost always stern, only allowing herself the most controlled smiles when playing with the children. It is quite telling then, that at the climax she not only sheds off her heavy (and now blood-soaked) Puritan ornaments --she laughs, much more in relief than in madness, and flies with the rest of the witches in frenzy. And flying, you'll remember, has among many other things a connotation of liberated sexuality.

Is "The witch" a feminist riff about a young woman finding freedom by embracing Paganism? Not quite, given how gruesome the rest of the journey is. After all, her siblings, including little sister Mercy, don't get her help. Instead, they become ingredients of the flying ointment, and throughout the movie it's evident that for all her parent's blaming her about it, Thomasine is never particularly sorry that she lost baby Samuel.

I think the focus of the movie is more on the conflict between nature and will, a conflict that here, Nature wins by a long, long shot, expressed in this family whose arrogance in thinking themselves conquerors led to them paying the worst prize of all.

[Fenril]

Watched three movies over the weekend:

- Minna de Utau.... Ok, the eight PreCure All Stars movie, the annual movie event in which the PreCure of the current season meet all previous teams. If this is indeed the last All-Stars movie they'll do, IMO, it was a very good way to go. It fixed some issues I had with the previous entry --that for a musical, the songs themselves were mostly average (not counting the reprises of already existing themes), the plot was paper-thin, even for this franchise, and overall it just didn't have much charm or imagination. This one has better songs, and this time presented like actual stage musicals; the plot is at least intriguing, and the characters have overall good arcs. They also fixed some of the problems I had with the current season of the show itself. I quit watching "Mahou Tsukai PreCure" about three episodes in, because I found it too poorly written. But here, the writing is definitely better: The leads are far more interesting and likable. All in all a very good movie for children.

- Lights Out. I checked this movie due to being intrigued by assorted friends' recommendations --just about all of them described it as "like PG-13 horror, but good!". And that was accurate -- it's an effective chiller that plays mostly like an episode of the tv show "Supernatural" stretched to feature length, but it is well-made, executed, written and acted. It would make a good companion piece to other recent monster movies like "Mama". Based a short film by the same director, which itself could be seen as a companion piece to this movie.

- Suicide Squad. A pretty entertaining superhero movie (technically this one would be a super villain movie, sort of). Harley Quinn is honestly the best thing about this movie, played by Magot Robbie in a good projection of the character's original cartoon version. Like the Harley of "Batman: The Animated Series", this one is quirky and charismatic, but also violent, manipulative and herself perennially manipulated like a puppet by the Joker -- displays of borderline inappropriate sexual innuendo included, too. So like a superhero interpretation of mutually influenced serial killers.
The rest of the cast ranges from very good to adequate; people who disliked "Man of Steel" and "Batman vs. Superman"... probably won't like this one, either, since it follows the rather gritty ambience of those movies --for all the sparkle and whimsy of this movie, it still has the nominal good guys (Rick Flagg and Amanda Waller) commit the most callous acts of the story, for example. Overall... well, overall, I repeat: It's pretty entertaining.

[Fenril]

- Carlito's Way. (1993. Dir. Brian De Palma). Puerto Rican-descended Carlito Brigante was the king of drug lords --but that was before he got sent to jail. Now, released after five years thanks to his lawyer's maneuvers, he intends to leave behind his criminal ways and instead devote his remaining years to: A. Getting back with his estranged girlfriend Gail, and B. Saving up enough money to move to the Caribbean and end his days there. But the past will not let him go so easily. Hounded by former associates, new kids looking to make a name for themselves and the dangerous game of the person he believes to be his best friend, Carlito will soon discover just how much the streets can change in just a handful of years. His code of honor may not fit his world anymore.

Terrific, once underrated thriller from the fine craftsman of glossy pastiches that is De Palma. Based on the novel "After Hours" by Edwin Torres (and reportedly taking the title of that novel's prequel to avoid confusion with the Scorsese movie), with great performances from a stellar cast. Makes a good companion piece to the same director's "Scarface". Worth checking out for the musical score and the climatic sequence in a train station alone.

[Fenril]

- The Neon Demon. (2016; Dir. Nicolas Winding). Teenaged Jesse, newly arrived to the world of L. A. modeling, is stunning everybody with her natural beauty and near supernatural charm. But the girl has quite a few harsh lessons to learn about fashion. Specifically, about just how savage competition can get --savage enough for people to devour each other, not exactly as a metaphor...

This is one of those highly divisive movies that as many people seem to love as seem to hate. For my part, I found it to be a combination of beautiful cinematography, fine performances, a lovely soundtrack... all in the service of a pretentious, utterly puerile script. The influences are clear, from Alexandro Jodorowsky (some of Winding's movies have been explicitly dedicated to Jodorowksy) to David Lynch, to quite a few giallo movies. In technical terms it's... not on par with those, though close. In narrative terms it is not. What we have here is the most simple, borderline insulting moral as the centre: That the world of fashion is shallow and people involved in it will (literally) kill each other. Then, the movie practically blames Jesse for her fate, by presenting her as a character so increasingly confident in her looks that she becomes vain (because there is no such thing as a person confident in her looks who also has other virtues, of course). The only morally good character is this misunderstood male photographer who does not understand why his horror-themed photos are looked down on by professional fashion photographers (but who is definitely not creepy for lusting after a sixteen-year-old girl, since they never actually get to do anything. No sir). It's not enough that we have the clichéd lesbian villain, she's a deranged necrophiliac witch, too (of course!). And so on. It's such a collection of clichés it actually makes it's exploitative influences (movies like "Blood and black lace", "Nothing underneath" and the like) look positively classy. It does not come remotely close to the likes of "Mulholland Drive", which incidentally criticizes the very type of hollow thriller The neon demon is. It does kind of share Jodorowsky's flair for elaborate images over solid storytelling, and no doubt if asked Winding would defend his movie with Jodorowsky's statement about "El topo": "If you are great, the movie is great. If you are mediocre, the movie is mediocre". Kinda like a child playing "I'm rubber, you are glue", see. But Jodorowsky can get away with that because he's not a filmmaker, he's a plastic artist trying his hand behind a camera. Winding is another story.

[Fenril]

Holidays. (US, 2016. Multiple directors (see below)). Anthology movie, featuring eight short stories each centered on (or at least taking place in) a particular holiday.

Valentine's day (Dir. Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer). A girl with a crush on her P. E. teacher is bullied by her classmates because of it and because of her father's suicide with a box cutter. Consequently, she uses the cutter to carve a heart in a wood bench and to carve out one of her bullies' literal heart to offer it as a valentine. Predictable and rather trite, with the bullying being too over the top to believe (it's interesting to note that one of the girls looks remarkably like one of the kids in "Carrie", meaning that the directors knew what they were shooting for, but missed the mark). Then, there's subplots that would probably add character in a longer production (the suicide of the girl's father, the coach needing a heart transplant), but that feel very much like unnecessary padding in a short like this. Overall a pretty weak start.

St. Patrick's day (Dir. Gary Shore). A kindergarten teacher is dragged by one of her students into a whirlpool of sorcery and monstrous pregnancies. Interesting idea with a mediocre execution; this short tries to mix the pagan atmosphere of "The wicker man" with the suspense of "Rosemary's baby", but doesn't quite channel either. Mainly because those were movies with a slow pace and a very restrained use of special effects, whereas this one is entirely in-your-face and often forgets to sketch it's characters properly. Also, while one is inclined to forgive less than impressive special effects on a low-budget production, it's very hard to take a snake god seriously when it looks like a puppet for an episode of "Fraggle Rock". Overall, the script needed more work, and this is still a weak entry.

Easter (Dir. Nicholas McCarthy). A little girl is frightened by the arrival of the Easter Bunny, having heard that Easter is also the return of Jesus from the dead. Plus, she's seemingly recovering from her father's absence (dead? gone? it's not clear). Showing a remarkable lack of tact, her mother orders her to bed rather than try to sort out the girl's confusion. Consequently, the girl meets the Bunny face-to-face but is met with an horrible sight: Neither the fluffy icon of merchandise nor the image of mass-market calendars, what she meets is a grotesque fusion of her mix-ups. It is a grown man with bleeding wounds, the head of a hairless rabbit, and stigmata that bleeds giant eggs and live chickens. Plus, he gets an erotic thrill from having people fingering his wounds. And punishes children who witness him by making them mutate into rabbits and take his place. In other words, what could have been an interesting treatise on childhood fears and / or religious debates is instead an exercise in poor taste. Three strikes so far, but there's still five more to go.

Mother's day (Dir. Sarah Adina Smith). A young woman is grappling with a baffling and disconcerting medical condition: Every time she has sex, no matter what contraceptives she uses, she gets pregnant. She has had to terminate twenty pregnancies by now. As traditional medicine seems unable to help her, she is sent to consult an alternative medicine group --but it turns out to be a cult. They do, however, determine the source of her problems: There is an entity determined to be born through her, and every time it's stopped it just comes back stronger. Unfortunately, that entity seems useful for the cult, so they imprison the woman and keep her drugged until it's time for the birth. However, they may have miscalculated just how powerful it is...
This is the best entry by far, and the first one where the director seems to understand subtlety. There are a few themes suggested here, such as the evident one of a woman being forced to carry a pregnancy against her will, and that of a new-age cult trifling with forces they do not understand (their melting pot of traditions was no match for actual ancient forces). The only flaw is an exceedingly abrupt ending. This particular entry could have actually been expanded to a longer entry.

Father's day (Dir. Anthony Scott Burns). A woman receives a tape from her father, who left her and her mother years ago. In it, he apologizes for his absence and gives instructions on where she can find him. But this won't be quite the innocent scavenger hunt leading to a reunion that she imagines. Instead, there is something far more sinister at hand. Something involving eclipses and borders that should never be crossed...
Another surprisingly strong entry with subtle intimations and good suspense. And it, too, is almost undone by an unsatisfying ending. Still worth a look, though.

Halloween (Dir. Kevin Smith) . Three put-upon sex workers violently turn the tables on their berating pimp. Textbook definition of good intentions gone wrong, this is the kind of story that intends to be a feminist revanche and is still grossly exploitative, to say nothing of borderline homophobic. The revenge in question consists of the women declaring themselves a coven, then forcibly inserting a vibrator on their pimp's anus and forcing him to castrate himself. Is anybody even remotely surprised to learn that this was directed by Kevin Smith? Not unlike most of his movies (both current and early) and the comic books he's written, he displays an eagerness to tell interesting stories completely undone by a tone-deaf script.

Christmas (Dir. Scott Stewart). A harried family man is so pressed for time to get his son a particular christmas present (a VR visor that displays your best fantasies and memories) that he finally snaps and steals it from a dying man. It works, maybe too well: His son sees an adventure. The man sees his most exploitative fantasies and a replay of his crime. And then he learns that his wife is holding a few secrets of her own...
Generally good entry that could have been an episode of "Tales from the Crypt". Efficient if abrupt.

New Year's eve (Dir. Adam Egypt Mortimer). A blind date arranged by a dating website turns into a frenzied battle when it's revealed that both parties are serial killers --and both are determined to finish their kill before new year strikes.
A predictable yet suitably entertaining entry that ends this movie on an acceptable note.

Overall, then, we have one genuinely good entry, three flawed but passable ones, and four atrocious one. Not very recommended, but can be a good time-passer.