What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Anna & The Apocalypse

Ahem. Glee style zom com. Even Paul Kaye's beard (and song!) couldn't save it. That'll teach me!! Back to the Sidarisverse post haste!!!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Anna & The Apocalypse

Ahem. Glee style zom com. Even Paul Kaye's beard (and song!) couldn't save it. That'll teach me!! Back to the Sidarisverse post haste!!!

Well, I really like it!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

The Missing ★★★½

When rancher and single mother of two Maggie Gilkeson sees her teenage daughter, Lily, kidnapped by Apache rebels, she reluctantly accepts the help of her estranged father, Samuel, in tracking down the kidnappers. Along the way, the two must learn to reconcile the past and work together if they are going to have any hope of getting Lily back before she is taken over the border and forced to become a prostitute.

I found it very difficult to watch this and not compare it to the far superior narratively similar The Searchers, John Ford's celebrated Western, or The Homesman, another film which team Tommy Lee Jones with an Oscar-winning actress.

This is a film with fine central performances, a good story, good cinematography and music, but it's not one which, though I wouldn't classify as a great film, it's one I would call 'good' and happily watch again.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Bumblebee ★★½

On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary yellow VW bug.

Bumblebee is at its most interesting and enjoyable when it is a fourwheeled version of ALF (which it references early on), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial or Short Circuit, and becomes tedious when it becomes an action-dependent Michael Bay-type movie with John Cena – a huge casting misstep – on screen.

It is a film with some charm, humour, and likeable characters, but one that doesn't sit naturally as a character-driven drama and, more's the pity, once to become an all action Transformers movie. I was happiest when it was just Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) playing music and grieving with the childlike titular robot.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Sorry to Bother You ★★★★

In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.

Boots Riley has made something which is often brilliant. This is an incredibly ambitious, funny, provocative, and thought-provoking film. It drifts a bit in the third act and I'm not sure the fantasy elements entirely, but the satirical promise and scattergun humour makes this a fascinating watch which will probably lead to conversations about difference, communication, and employment.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Paganini Horror ★★★

A female rock band acquires an infamous composition by Niccolò Paganini that was used in satanic rituals. When the band decides to record the song and film a video in Paganini’s old mansion, the spirit of the deceased composer is summoned and the band unlocks a portal to Hell.

The commentary by Troy Howarth on the 88 Films Blu-ray is a good lesson which begins as he describes it as a "schlocky horror" which is "endearingly goofy". He recognises it's not a great horror film, but likes it all the same, giving plenty of information about its production and other aspects of the film industry which are tangentially linked to this film.

This is a really well delivered commentary track with plenty of information and opinion, so it is well worth a listen if you have the Blu-ray release.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Well, I really like it!

Each to their own. The zom part was lacking something. Next!!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Star Time ★★★★

A confused misfit becomes suicidal when his favorite TV show is cancelled. An agent promises to make him a TV star if he kills certain people, so he becomes “The Baby Mask Killer.”

This is a strange serial killer film, one where the protagonist, Henry, is in frequent conversations with a mysterious agent, Sam Boone, to the point where you realise that his sanity should be questioned. Further conversations and interactions, which become distressing and violent in nature, lead you to question how much of these events are grounded in reality and how much is completely imaginary.

I'm not sure how much is designed to be a commentary on violence in the media or, like Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy, whether Cassini was exploring the danger of'what happens when someone develops an obsession with TV and the messages people are taking from television and other media. Either way, it's a really interesting film to watch and you can take from it what you want.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Personal Shopper ★★★★★

A personal shopper in Paris refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.

This was the first time I have felt that Kristin Stewart delivered a performance befitting that of the lead actress, portraying a three-dimensional character with real depth and someone with whom I was both mentally and emotionally engaged.

The premise of having someone facing their own mortality while grieving the death of their sibling, desiring some form of communication, and for it to be done in a way which is serious about grief, about spirituality, and about how smartphones (and technology in general) have become an integral part of everyday life.

Olivier Assayas has made a psychological horror which doesn't look like a typical genre piece, making the supernatural sequences all the more affecting and unnerving. It's a film which benefits from Stewart's career-best performance, an excellent screenplay and interesting, assured direction.

I thought it was brilliant, a mesmerising film which I hope to buy soon and think will be amongst my favourite films of the decade in years to come.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Escape Room ★★½

Six strangers find themselves in circumstances beyond their control, and must use their wits to survive.

Escape Room is like a remake of Cube, something which has all the feel of a B-movie maid with a much bigger budget.

It has very impressive production values and there are sequences with palpable tension and dread, but others where it drags as if the director is unsure whether to focus on spectacle or character development, ultimately doing neither.

By the end, it was unfortunate the film moved away from the escape scenes which, in themselves, were exciting and sometimes tense and it was as if there is too much effort being put into setting up a sequel rather than naturally ending the third act.

This is a film with some really good moments, sequences which are physically involving but it can't maintain that suspense and sense of danger over longer periods and eventually becomes silly.