This Static Age’s spotlight
goes to the 1st (and only) season of RoboCop: Prime Detectives (2000) which is essentially four one hour
and a half movies, and whilst their satire is welcome, its predictions did not
prove very accurate, while the special effects have not aged very well. Often,
the soundtrack is reminiscent of westerns. However, it contains a lot of action
and it is much better than what people have told you.
I also managed to catch up with the following recent shows…
The 2nd season of Peaky
Blinders (2013 – present) find the same-named Birmingham gang and its
leader Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) coming up against with “bigger fish” as
their reputation reaches London.
The 1st season of Narcos
(2015 – present) is about the real-life story of infamous smuggler Pablo
Escobar (played here in excellence by Wagner Moura) who used to make a lot of
money smuggling a variety of goods, but really made millions when he started
exporting cocaine from Columbia to the United States of America. I am a scholar
of the real-life case of Escobar, and rarely have I seen a TV show being so
true to the facts (real news photos and videos from the era are employed as
well, making for a peculiar blend) while also remaining very entertaining.
Witch-hunts are aplenty in the 2nd season of Salem (2014 – 2017) which is better than
the previous one, but there is still not too much story to keep you interested,
so the creators rely mostly on scares, and they are very successful on those.
Lucy Lawless appears as a rather morbid guest star on several episodes, whilst
Joe Dante directs one of them. Still, Janet Montgomery steals the show with her
unmatchable beauty.
The 1st season of French television sensation The Returned (2012 – 2015), created by
Fabrice Gobert, is about a school-bus road accident that left many kids dead,
that several years later return from the dead, much to the terror of the people
that knew them. The beautiful and haunting score is by renowned band Mogway. Aside
from the violence, there is also a lot of nudity and sex to be found here. This
slow-burn subtle horror masterpiece is a remake of Robin Campillo’s same-titled
movie, and it went on to be remade as a series for U.S. television as well, but
we’ll discuss this in a subsequent installment of the present column.
The 2nd season of The
Handmaid’s Tale (2017 – present) is set in a near future, in which women
have been bared of all human rights and are enslaved and forced to reproduce,
because… religion! This is June Osborne’s (Elisabeth Moss) tale of survival
against a totalitarian state of fundamentalist lunatics. By far this year’s
most intelligent show, it raises questions on the dangers of organized religion
and how easily it can turn to terrorism and eventually take control. It also
doesn’t hurt that it is in essence the most feminist series in the history of
the medium.
In the 1st season of In
the Flesh (2013 – 2014) we are introduced to a post-post-apocalypse world
where the zombies have rehabilitated and they try to fit back into the wretched
society. However, trouble is still prevalent as a paramilitary group of
vigilantes is roaming the streets, hungry for the blood of the undead. Severely
British (be aware that it goes as far as having an aunt talking about having
tea, with a zombie, no less), but also quite original, this three-episode
masterpiece will have you rooting for the living dead, rather than the
despicable humans.
But, I also caught up with a few mainstream films…
Director Ryan Coogler’s Black
Panther (2018) is about the titular hero (Chadwick Boseman) who is the King
of Wakanda, a peculiar African country, and his struggles against a very
powerful opponent who seeks for revenge. Groundbreaking for being one of the
very few superhero films in which the male lead is black, it was a hit with
audiences as it grossed more than $1.3 billion, proving that even mainstream
audiences like diversity, even when it comes to race.
A film I fell asleep while watching it was Alfie (1966) directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Michael Caine
in the eponymous role (a pathetic womanizer). It actually reminded me how sad
British cinema is.
Director Johannes Roberts’ The
Strangers: Prey at Night (2018) may be a very good and strong sequel, but
it came a little too late and not many noticed and even fewer bothered. Still,
it is even darker than the previous entry and it must be seen by fans of
realistic horror.
In Gerald’s Game (2017)
middle-aged white yuppie couple Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) and Jessie (the
ultra-gorgeous Carla Gugino) attempt to spice up their sex life by spending a
little time on their own in a secluded house, with the help of Viagra and
handcuffs. Unfortunately though Gerald dies before the act and Jessie is left
handcuffed on a bed in the middle of nowhere, facing death by starvation and
dehydration. However, things are not that simple as paranoia lurks and the poor
woman starts talking with herself and the dead husband. Right now cinema is
going through a Stephen King renaissance, as more and more of the author’s works
are adapted into successful movies, which is stunning, considering that King’s
books were believed to be an 1980s thing, even if he never stopped churning out
product. This is another adaptation of one of his works, this time by
screenwriters Mike Flanagan (who also directed) and Jeff Howard. The
same-titled 1992 book was also thought to be King’s most un-filmable one, but
the filmmakers did miracles here, because although it is essentially a drama
about two actors in one room, what we have here is great material, nicely
delivered. Sure, most of it is an art-house exercise in subtle terror, but the
ending becomes a full-on horror affair. It is slow and even a bit boring at
times, but nonetheless the work of a master.
Director Kevin Philips’ Super
Dark Times (2017) is about a small group of high school students that go on
about messing in the woods with weed and a deadly weapon (a sword, to be
precise), but the fun and games end up with an accidents that leaves one of
them dead. Driven by fear and panic the rest of them cover up the crime, but
paranoia lurks, essentially giving them the message that you can’t get away
with murder and from murder. This is a slow-burn affair that got a lot of love
from prestigious film festivals and critics alike, but other than its expert
cinematography (by Eli Born), I couldn’t find much else to like here.
My Friend Dahmer (2017) by writer/director Marc Meyers is based upon the 2012
same-titled graphic novel by John Backderf and is about the childhood and
teenage life of convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (here played by Ross
Lynch) before he went on a murder spree during which he offed at least 17 young
men. At 107 minutes long I found it to be boring and overlong, without adding
too much to a character that true-crime aficionados already know pretty much
everything. The whole film feels a bit too comic book-like for its own good as
well, making the end result seem awkward. Premiering at the prestigious 2017
Tribeca Film Festival, and gaining positive reviews and audience reactions, it
strangely bombed at the box-office, grossing a mere $1.5 million.
Truth or Dare (2018) by director Jeff Wadlow is about a bunch of American teenagers
that holiday in Mexico during Spring Break, when a mysterious man (Landon
Liboiron) proposes a game of – you guessed it – truth or dare. The problem
though is that the game results in the death of those who play it. What’s more,
even after stopping playing the initial match, the kids are followed back by it
and they are forced to engage in it again. This is a typical meta-slasher, in
the vein of Final Destination (2000)
when the air of doom is a little bit more inexplicable than, say, a regular
serial killer, but the unfortunate fact that the eponymous game itself is
really boring, the outcome couldn’t be a great film. Still, although it is
Blumhouse’s weakest entry in a series of recent exciting horrors, it is way
above the similar films of its ilk from competitor studios. Overlong at 100
minutes, this becomes torturous when some of the ‘truths’ and ‘dares’ have to
do with who slept with who or who loves who. Essentially, this is an actors’
screenplay, but the acting personnel on display is not strong enough. Made on a
modest budget of $3.5 million, this went on to gross an outstanding $94.8
million. Truth or Dare?: A Critical
Madness (1986) was way better.
Kung Fu: The Movie (1986) by director Richard Lang, finds Kwai Chang Caine (David
Carradine) meeting the father of a man he had killed, and who will seek revenge
by using Caine’s son Chung Wang (Brando Lee, in his acting debut). A lot of
so-and-so choreography will be employed in order to solve the conflict, and
much more bullshit philosophy that seems hilarious, now, more than thirty years
after this TV-movie’s initial airing. Also featuring Martin Landau (no
introduction needed) and William Lucking (whose acting skills are lacking).
This is my first foray with the franchise, and although I’m not quite excited
about it, I understand its historical importance in the 1970s and 1980s martial
arts-craze, and therefore I promise to come back soon with a lengthier text in
regards to its television series, via this very column.
John Travolta plays legendary gangster John Gotti in the aptly named Gotti (2018), which is nowhere near as
bad as reviewers have told you, nor is it anywhere near as good as its
marketing department has told you when it went on to attack the critics back in
a surprising if original tactical move. It is simply meh, and quite boring at
that too. As far as gangster biopics go, you should give this one a pass.
Directed by Kevin Connolly.
BH Tilt’s The Belko Experiment
(2016) is about the same-titled social experiment which finds 80 office workers
unwillingly trapped in their job’s yuppie building where they will have to
eliminate each other in order to survive. James Gunn’s screenplay (who also
produced, with Peter Safran) is anti-capitalist at its core, and it comes
complete with anti-corporate irony when it uses relevant signs/messages as a
backdrop for mayhem and cruelty. Director Greg McLean delivered quite the
masterpiece here.
In director Mark L. Lester’s Commando
(1987) a South American gang makes the mistake of kidnaping John Matrix’s
(Arnold Schwarzenegger) daughter along with killing some of his friends from
his time in the Black Ops. Now they will have to face the consequences of the
armed commando who will kill all their peers in an amazing spectacle of
shootouts and explosions. A crescendo of hard-boiled action, probably the best
of its kind.
Writer/director Ari Aster’s Hereditary
(2018) is about the loss of a child (and it echoes the you-know-which film from
the 1970s), but it goes even deeper, when the leading family has to face
séances and the revelation of dark secrets. It is surely the slow-burn horror
masterpiece of the year, and it doesn’t even become tiresome at over 2 hours
long. Another winner from game-changers A24.
In Djinn (2013) Salama
(Razane Jammal) and Khalid (Khalid Laith)
have recently lost their child in its infancy and after a bit of consulting
with a psychiatrist Soumaya Akaaboune)
they decide to move to Ras al-Khaimah, only to get terrorized by their
neighbours that are actually monsters. Or, is the female lead going mad, as
David Tully’s screenplay so cleverly is teasing? There is no doubt that this is
Tobe Hooper’s worst film but it is unfair to expect from a 70 year old
man to make masterpieces in 2013 the same way he did them as a 31 year old
youngster in 1974 – these were/are different times. However, the film is not
without its merits, as when the horror settings become familiar, such as in the
car trap scene, the fear becomes realistic and quite effective too. Produced by Tim Smythe and Daniela Tully on a $5 million budget and shot on location in the exotic Dubai, it was then acquired by Fortissimo
Films in 2011 with a plan to be released in 2012, but this plan was never
materialized. There is a lot of speculation on why the release was held up,
with contradictory information being all over the internet if you are
interested. However, sales were finally launched at 2013’s Berlin
International Film Festival Market. It officially premiered in Abu
Dhabi Film Festival later in the year. To this day, it has only be
released on physical media in Germany (on BD), although it is available on
V.O.D. in the U.S – you can rent it on Amazon, which is what I did.
In Pet (2016), Seth (Dominic
Monaghan) is the usual pathetic loser that is stuck on a dead-end $9/hour job,
feeding animals in a small (and quite seedy) Animal Control facility. Upon
returning home one day he meets gorgeous waitress Holly (Ksenia Solo) at the bus and charmed he tries to start a conversation but she politely
ignores him. Seth has a friend at his job, security guard Nate (Da'Vone McDonald) who gives him advice on how to
approach women, and this just what he does when he visits the diner that Holly
is working, but things still don’t work and he is left disappointed. The
stalking continues, until one day Seth breaks into Holly’s apartment, drugs
her, puts her in a box and drags her to the Animal Control facility’s basement
in which he locks her in a pet cage. As he says, he will try to save her by
keeping her there. The screenplay by Jeremy Slater is centering
on the psycho at hand, but is he the only true nutcase here? Whichever is the
answer (which you’ll not get from me, you’ll have to see this for yourself)
this is still an one-man show by Dominic
Monaghan and contrary to what the poster would have you believe, it is a film
about performances. This goes even further, as the audience is asked to keep an
eye out to the various dynamics and mechanics that are built between the
brilliant cast. If you watch Pet, you agree to be taken on a journey
to a study of the psyche of loneliness, essentially an assessment of how a
paranoid person proceeds with his stalking business (the second half is indeed
about imprisonment, but the first half is about the hunt of the prey – and in
none too adventurous way at that, the mood and the tone here are low-key). The dialogue is kept at a minimum as this is a
totally visual (and thereby cinematic) experience; all set-pieces are
brilliant, and it is made quickly apparent that director Carles Torrens is a true master. As such, the
deeper we go into the concept of how (if we are not too careful) one day we may
wake up in some sort of a jail (and frighteningly it seems that not only the
state has the power to do that). Still,
it is a film about a girl in her underwear locked inside a cage, which may be
too strong imagery for certain audiences, but I take my hat off to the
filmmakers for avoiding to employ the expected by such films rape scene. Produced by Nick
Phillips and Kelly Wagner, Pet after premiering at South by Southwest, was a major box-office
disappointment, as it grossed a pathetic $70 bucks from one theatre; this makes
it the lowest grossing film of the year, which tells a lot about us, as
audience members, and how much we don’t appreciate original material such as
the one under review.
In The Visit (2015) Loretta Jamison (Kathryn Hahn)
is a divorced mom and she decides she needs a little bit of time of vacationing
with her current boyfriend. To ensure her privacy, she sends her young son (Ed Oxenbould)
who is an unprofessional rapper (although I don’t know of any professional
ones) and her teenage daughter (Olivia
DeJonge) for holidays in the middle of nowhere, to their
grandparents’, who they have never met. It is not long before one weird event
comes after the other, in what is essentially one of the creepiest films from
2015, while also managing to maintain a necessary amount of humor throughout. The film’s
original title was Sundowning and it was indeed under
this title that it went into principal photography in February 2014. Shyamalan went to press commenting about the many
different cuts that he had at several stages in post-production that were
totally different among each other in regards to tone, and that the version
released is an amalgam of all of them. The theatrical trailer debuted in April
2015. It was distributed theatrically by Universal Pictures in September 2015.
It was released on disc on January 2016. It grossed more than $98.4 million, making it financially one of the most
successful horror movies of the year. The festival circuit was equally
generous as the film enjoyed a very healthy run.
Leatherface (2017) is set before
the events of the first film and working as a prequel to that this is about a
bunch of mental patients that just escaped from a mental clinic somewhere in
Texas. We follow them on their wild and violent trip towards freedom and
carnage, which is only matched by the similar story arc of a local ranger who
is on a mission to avenge the death of his daughter. In essence there are not
any distinctive bad guys or good guys here, just violent people trying to
achieve their goals. And for once in a modern horror film, yes, the main
characters have goals here and purpose behind their actions. The main mystery
though is, who, among all the escaped mental patients will grow up to become
Leatherface. This also happens to be the film’s greatest fault, as you don’t know
who the focal character or villain is – all of them (including the cops) seem
to be pretty terrible people. The film doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be
either, but for once, again, in a modern horror film, this works on its favor,
as Leatherface is a stuffed salad
that is mixing so many good ingredients that somehow the end result is
delicious. And yes, I used the word ‘delicious’ for a film about a chainsaw
wielding maniac that slays so much raw meat that I may get sued by vegans.
Actually, this – with its Texas BBQ-flavored taste – is the one film you should
not show to a vegan this year. Seth M. Sherwood’s screenplay is not so much
impressive for its ‘coming of age’ sensibilities (this is a piece about a man
growing up from being a maniac to more maniac) but for the research that it is
apparent that was conducted as there is so much attention to detail here that
every little character we have seen before is carefully represented and
accurately portrayed. On the other hand the direction by Alexandre Bustillo and
Julien Maury is so stylish and calculated (in a very raw way) that it less
reminiscent of any recent horror reboots/remakes/whatnot, and more in tune with
the works of Quentin Tarantino or Rob Zombie. It also keeps you on the edge of
your seat at all times and it has you biting your nails as this is the most
stress-inducing modern film I’ve seen in a while. The truth is that it is cruel
for cruelty’s shake (although it never breaks into the so-called ‘torture porn’
territory) but it is also so inventive with its violence (most of the kills or
the overall violence is impeccably innovative) that you can’t help it but love
the material. Sure, its approach is also style over content, but I don’t see
anything wrong with that. Is it the best Chainsaw
film we have seen in ages? Absolutely. Do not fail to see this.
And finally, I enriched my knowledge and bookshelf by purchasing the following books…
Mike “McBeardo” McPadden’s Heavy
Metal Movies is an enjoyable read and a massive tome really (more than 550
pages long) which aside from reviewing pretty much every movie that is about
heavy metal (or any other kind of metal music) it also includes several other
genre films, simply because they are awesome (the word metal here is often used
as a synonymous for being awesome). Buy this and you will learn a lot of
things, but most of all you will be captivated by the writer’s energized prose.
James Pontolillo’s The Unknown War
of Edward D. Wood Jr. 1942 – 1946 is as you might have guessed about our
favorite filmmaker’s time in the army. A lot has been written (and said by
Eddie himself) about how heroic of a soldier he was, but this book proves
otherwise, as documents reveal that Eddie was not much else other than an
office clerk, whose most dangerous stunt was contracting syphilis from a
prostitute. The amount of research that went into this study and the vast
section of scanned documents provided is impressive, but unfortunately the
little prose that can be found within its pages is suffering from the absence
of an editor. Probably not too many would care about what a 1950s schlock
director was doing in the army, but I did, so maybe a few other may too.
Kim Newman’s Video Dungeon: The
Collected Reviews, as its title makes plain, collects many of the renowned
writer’s previously published capsule reviews from his same-titled column that
runs for several years now. As the writer admits in the end of the book, what
presented here is only a small fraction of his output, so I hope we will see
sequel books. Benefiting from Newman’s signature style, this is a blueprint of
how short reviews must be written, wasting no space whilst delivering the
necessary information. In fact, the writing here is so strong that the absence
of pictures (strange for a film book) is almost unnoticeable. 560 pages long
and quite inexpensive for its size, this is a must-buy for genre film
aficionados.
Get books, comics, graphic novels and more at bunny17media.com. Use the code CHC at checkout for 15% off your purchase!
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