David Lowery hasn’t really been my bag in the past (meaning I didn’t think much to Aint Them Bodies Saints) but his emotionally wrought, golden heart sensibility proves to be a great fit for Disney. Pete’s Dragon is quiet and gentle and told almost exclusively from the child’s perspective. Everything glows with a wonder and optimism that would usually be saccharine but works here.
Also Lowery gets bonus points for making me rethink my stance on creepy noises in the woods. Next time you find yourself alone at night and hear some eerie branches cracking or leaves rustling, instead of a deranged murderer or the blair witch it might actually be a cute friendly dragon called Elliott looking for a friend. Here’s hoping anyway.
I don’t know when it became a part of my DNA but somewhere along the line the imagery of the Creature from the Black Lagoon became synonymous with the words “B-movie”, “creature feature” and any subsequent variation. If you said B-movie to me when I was a pre-teen, that image of Gill Man cradling Julia Adams popped into my head. It’s kinda crazy then to think I’m only now getting around to seeing the damn thing.
Following on from other Universal monster classics I’ve recently watched for the first time, Jack Arnold’s seminal “man in a rubber suit” pic definitely stands out as its own thing. Despite being made decades later than the likes of Dracula, The Invisible Man and Frankenstein and achieving only meagre franchise success in comparison to those properties, Creature from the Black Lagoon continues to be included in the same pantheon (the blu I watched is even part of a set containing those other films). Maybe it only feels different because the movie unfolds in a terrain so far removed from those pictures. With the abundance of daytime shocks and swampy underwater photography, it’s a fresh alternative to the gothy nocturnal lab trappings of most Universal horror movies. Instead of thunder and lightning or ominous mist, it’s the sun beating down on our characters that provides most of the atmospheric unease. It’s really effective. The dopey rubber Gill Man even manages to be a worthy antagonist too, eliciting both sympathy and terror to become a downright iconic creation.
The movie begins with a booming voice over and images of the big bang, immediately conjuring thoughts of atomic blasts that dominated America’s subconscious throughout 50s cinema. It’s a striking way to start the movie though not necessarily uncharacteristic of the decade in which is was made. Between this and episode eight of Twin Peaks: The Return it seems that my television is suddenly riddled with imagery of massive explosions. Not complaining though. This was a good movie and fully deserving of the lofty status it has held in my mind’s eye for so long. It also paved the way for an entire sub-genre. Swap Gill-Man with a big snake and you have Anaconda for instance. The lesson? If you gotta go to the swamp, make sure you stay out of the damn water.
A delicious and schlocky B-thriller distilled from Don Siegel’s original film then bottled into Sofia Coppola’s own distinct brand of cinematic perfume. I just love her eye. All of those postcard shots of the women together in their dresses bathed in shadow and candlelight – gorgeous. Atmosphere dripping everywhere. This is a total aesthetic dream-house. And basically Barry Lyndon meets Misery. Gimme gimme gimme.
Nevertheless, I get why a lot of people find this tedious or flat. It can easily seem like very little stretched too thinly. The endless potential of the subject matter – lurid, political and sensational – is mostly ignored in favour of a story completely spared down to its key components. This is a sparse and quiet potboiler, full of loaded glances and hushed dialogue. I actually like that about the film. When it does occasionally jitter into action, dramatics and violence it’s quick to revert back to more hushed tones. For instance: Colin Farrell’s almost-immedately iconic howl of “you vengeful bitches!” from the trailer is actually played off-screen, muffled behind a closed door, while the camera focuses on the women sat elsewhere listening patiently. Coppola clearly tried to spread her wings with something containing more bite, but she can’t help but find pursed lips and subtle smiles more meaningful than bared teeth. Let’s be honest though, Sofia Coppola’s Vengeful Bitches would have been a far better title. Imagine that box office intake too. Blimey, Charlie.
Ofcourse, the entire cast is great. Nicole Kidman continues her winning streak, Elle Fanning indulges in batting her devilish eyelids and Dunst is at her dowdiest and saddest in a Coppola movie. Farrell too is a logical modern-day answer to the Eastwood part from the original. Love all those female gaze-infelcted shots of his lathered midriff (the dude really got rid of that Lobster podge in no time at all didn’t he?) They all work together, as actors and set-dressing for Coppola and DOP Philippe Le Sourd’s southern gothic milieu, beautifully.
I’m always there for new Coppola and I wish people would stop expecting her to make big-deal classics every time out of the gate. She’s building up quite the filmography and we should just sit back and enjoy watching it slowly come together. Maybe that Cannes win set people up for disappointment. Oh well. Just look at that damned poster. How can you resist seeing Coppola dress up this kind of movie in her own textiles? I know I can’t.
Caught this on TV and ended up sitting through the whole thing, and I never watch movies on TV. I thought I saw this enough times in my childhood to last a lifetime but evidently not. From script to casting, this is insanely well put together and designed from top to bottom. Those Rick Baker effects are still incredible. Edgar Bug – what a creation. Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance and the make up, both practical and CG, amount to one of my favourite creature creations ever. I can still hum the Danny Elfman score off the top of my head too. They made this shit look good.
James Whale is my man. This really wasn’t the film I was expecting for some reason. Didn’t expect the snowy town setting at all or the fact that the Invisible Man himself is basically the villain of his own movie. I guess Hollow Man wasn’t as radical a change in character as I thought?
I adore these early optical effects, so crude and clunky but in 1933 they blew people’s minds. Would have loved to have been in the meetings as they tried to figure out how to bring this stuff to life. So much fun. Also Whale always has a really good handle on the larger ensemble of his movies. There are always memorable faces in the frame. There’s a reason you remember the oddball townsfolk with pitchforks in Frankenstein. Even in this film, about a guy with a face you can’t see, you’ll swear you can picture him.
I loved Shults’s previous movie Krisha but this just did nothing for me. A “horror” movie totally embarrassed by the word horror. Luckily I like the cast and, yeah, it’s well made, just so not my bag. I hate this modern trend of trying to elevate the genre with really considered, slow-zoom cinematography and quiet, dread-riddled and practically uneventful plotting. Yes, young filmmakers, we get it. You all love Kubrick and think The Shining is the proper way to make a horror movie. But even Kubrick knew when to have Jack Nicholson swing an axe into somebody’s gut. Get your fucking hands dirty already.
What a blast. After two previously fizzled-out attempts at getting a Spidey franchise off the ground, it should come as no surprise to find this third attempt, finally under the Marvel Studios banner – that Homecoming in the title comes with a serious wink – pretty much nails it. There’s a real sense that the filmmakers sat down and looked long and hard at what worked and didn’t work about the previous films, the missed opportunities and the potential offered by the MCU, and made a conscious effort to get the train on the tracks without repeating themselves. And so they should! Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 still reigns supreme but the comic-book landscape has evolved a hell of a lot since 2004, so this is the modern era Spider-Man movie we’ve all been waiting for.
I was a bit apprehensive about this Spidey after his semi-irritating appearance in Civil War but within his own milieu, I gotta hand it to that Tom Holland kid. He nails it. The design of this Spidey suit is like the gift that keeps on giving. It’s got the articulate eyes, the web armpits, the way it hangs off Peter’s body when it isn’t sealed, it’s perfect! You can tell they studied the most iconic Spidey comic book frames and designed the suit to match. Love the diverse young cast and the youthful, colourful energy that zips throughout the whole thing. The relatively low stakes are refreshing too, to the extent that a scene involving Spider-Man crawling up the Washington monument of all things becomes legit nail-biting. I can’t remember the last time I felt that sense of scale and danger in the MCU before and their characters have scaled much larger heights. Even the potentially wonky decisions – Tony Stark/Iron Man popping in and out of a Spider-Man movie – are actually integrated, both narratively and thematically, really well.
So many little details and moments that captured my imagination. The movie never loses sight of this being the story of a high schooler and tunes its attention accordingly. The fact this movie finds the time to include a beat of Spidey seeing a load of hardened chewing gum under a school bus seat and going “gross!’ amidst a hectic action scene makes me so happy. Alternatively, the moment when a defeated Peter is trapped under a pile of rubble and just starts crying feels so honest and true. Heartbreaking. Damn did I root for that kid. I can’t say enough about Keaton’s Vulture either. Hands down the best MCU villain in a long-ass time. When the movie’s long con wth him is revealed about two thirds of the way through, it lands perfectly. It’s the kind of mischievous, unexpected plotting the MCU could use a lot more of. Bravo.
This really worked for me. Entertaining through and through and just a great time at the movies. Yes it adheres to that tried and tested Marvel formula and doesn’t necessarily scorch new earth but nor did I expect it to. Fun, fresh, all the buzz words. Already itching for a rewatch. Rating could very well go up and up and up.
That wobbly and kinda unnecessary last (fifth?) act keeps this from being a total slam-dunk for me. Kerry Washington’s Broomhilda is disappointingly under-developed too, making this the only QT movie with a relatively lifeless and undistinguished female lead (Reservoir Dogs excluded ofcourse). The excised flashback sequence that fills out Broomhilda’s backstory from Tarantino’s first draft would have done wonders, but I can see why it was cut. I also prefer Tarantino when he’s playing with structure so the A to Z plotting here always feels a bit underwhelming following on from Basterds. All nitpicks though. I’ve still seen this more times than I can count. I always find myself returning mainly for the entire Candyland segment culminating in the James Brown/2Pac shootout where revolver blasts sound like a blitzkrieg and bodies are destroyed with Verhoeven-levels of splashy gore. Damn that stuff gets me going. Love that evil glint in DiCaprio’s eye too and the way he wraps his tongue around the dialogue in that accent (“Hoo-ray Doctor, Hoo-ray!”) D-licious.
As someone only familiar with Blake Edwards through his colourful comedies and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Experiment in Terror was especially surprising. In total contrast to those movies, this film is truly, deeply sinister. The unravelling mystery at the centre is gripping and the faces onscreen – Lee Remick, Glenn Ford, Stefanie Powers, Ross Martin – are just magnificent.
MVP though is DOP Philip H. Lathrop (who would go on to lens Point Blank, Walter Hill’s The Driver, Hard Times) whose monochrome photography is stark, striking and oh-so evocative. One mid-film sequence set in a mannequin warehouse that culminates in the reveal of the film’s villain is aces. Interestingly, a large chunk of this thing is set in Twin Peaks. No, not that Twin Peaks (or is it?) but a Twin Peaks nevertheless. Like many of Lynch’s works, this too lifts the rock on America’s squeaky-clean suburban facade to look into the dirty shadows beneath. Rock solid, if a little too long.
I know this is a “classic” but this is bad. No atmosphere. No sense of threat, tension or peril. Lugosi is hammy as hell. Kinda stupid overall. Even for 1931, this is poor. Look at Whale’s direction on Frankenstein then watch this. The difference is night and day. Such a flat, boring experience, even at 70 minutes. Two stars because, yknow, it’s Dracula.
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"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 