Crimson Peak: del Toro's visual feast unfortunately lacks substance

Today, another review of a Halloween film out in October.

Crimson Peak:
Aspiring young author Edith is the daughter of a successful businessman in Buffalo, New York. She is courted and wooed by the mysterious baronet Sir Thomas Sharpe, and his sister Lucille, and she is married to him and taken to his England estate. However, Edith can also see ghosts, and they begin to warn her of a place called "Crimson Peak". Edith tries to forget these warnings, but as her new husband and sister-in-law grow increasingly distant and suspicious, and these nightly ghost appearances grow more frightening, she realizes there may be more to this estate and her new husband.
    Guillermo del Toro, whatever one's opinion of him is, cannot be denied to have a keen visual eye. He is a master of lighting, impressive sets and costumes, and of cinematography. The look of this film evokes memories of Hammer Horror and Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1992. It even matches the idea from those films of having romance take priority over the horror aspects. However, in terms of quality, this film comes nowhere close to those. The primary color palate is green, red, and black, which is funny, considering there's a scene which talks about color blindness and its' lack of reds and greens, almost acknowledging that people with color blindness will not fully see the best part of this movie: the imagery.
    The special effects are pretty good, even if the CG is overutilized. Some of the ghosts are menacing, others feel a little silly.
    Mia Wasikowska is a decent lead, but feels a little wooden at times. Tom Hiddleston, while good to see him get away from the Loki character, starts strong but slowly his character becomes way too  predictable. Jessica Chastain is laughably over-the-top evil, and there's, again, no mystery for her character despite the film supposedly being a mystery. She's obviously a villain from the start. Charlie Hunnam, Burn Gorman, and Jim Beaver are strong supporting characters, even if they are, also, pretty cliched. Doug Jones has some roles as ghosts in the film. It's cool to see del Toro still casting his buddies in small parts when the part fits them.
    The plot starts pretty strong, and the first half was investing. But the middle tries to build slow tension, but ultimately feels like it just drags on, as it quickly becomes evident of what's going on. The climax packs in a completely cliched and predictable twist, but the final confrontation is entertaining, if not exactly scary. There's some brutal kills/attempted kills in the movie that just look like they hurt and make you cringe. Guillermo always seems to pull off those moments better than most directors, at least in the mainstream. One particular stab had one man in my theater screaming "Jesus Christ!" completely out loud in my small, and mostly empty screening.
    Crimson Peak isn't exactly what I would call a scary, or even really suspenseful movie, bu it's a solid and mostly entertaining one with some chilling imagery and excellent period sets, costumes, and vibrant colors. There's some pretty violent scenes at the beginning and the end to keep things from getting too dull and to keep the stakes high, but ultimately, this isn't as good as del Toro can be. 6/10 stars.

Edit- November 11, 2015: the ghosts in the film were accomplished using mostly practical effects, not CGI as I had thought, though they look like it.

                                                         (Image: Wikipedia)

Goosebumps: R.L. Stine's children's series finally gets the big screen treatment

For Halloween, I figured I'd review two new horror movies I saw. Well, this isn't much of a horror film, but is a perfect fit for the Halloween season.

Goosebumps:
Shortly after moving into a small town in Delaware, teenaged Zach becomes infatuated with his next door neighbor Hannah. However, Hannah's mysterious and reclusive father doesn't want Zach around and warns him about leaving them alone. One night, Zach and his new friend Champ break into the home, thinking Hannah is in danger from her father. They discover her father is author R.L. Stine, who has every Goosebumps manuscript locked in his study. Upon opening one of the books, they discover opening them unleashes the monster from each book upon the world. Unfortunately, they unleash Slappy the Dummy, who begins opening and then destroying the manuscripts, preventing the monsters from being contained. With every monster Stine ever created wreaking havoc on the town, Zach, Hannah, Champ, and Stine must find a way to stop the monsters and recapture them before they destroy the town and move on to the rest of the world.
    Now, despite being a fan of the books and TV show as a kid and therefore having a nostalgia for it, I find them to be just ok now. The books are leagues above the TV show, which is downright hilarious most of the time. Now, this movie didn't blow my expectations out of the water or anything. It was exactly as good as I expected it to be. Jack Black was decent as Stine and had some funny moments, and Amy Ryan and Jillian Bell were good supporting actresses. Black also voices Slappy. The main three kids, played by Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, and Ryan Lee, were decent leads and I think kids will enjoy them. R.L. Stine has a little cameo near the end as Mr. Black (get it? Because Jack Black plays him in the movie? Yeah, nothing too clever there.)
   But about the kids, I think that's the best way to view this movie: remember that it really is made for kids. However, because of this it still can't be fully enjoyed by me. One of the worst parts was as nice as the huge monster fight at the climax was, it was way too tame. The Cabin in the Woods had a similar sequence, but because it was rated R, it could go all out with the violence and it was awesome. This movie keeps it PG and therefore the violence is comical and no one ever feels in genuine danger, and the monsters never get to do anything truly scary, and Stine's insistence about not having death in his books keeps the movie from having any balls. Also, there's a reveal in this film that provided the opportunity to really have kids face the reality of death in a mature fashion, and it almost did, and then they soil it with a forced happy ending. The ending "twist" also makes little sense at all. The scariest monsters are the zombies which are just slightly creepy, and Slappy's weird thing about him and Stine being one in the same made no sense to me and seemed like trying to force more of a relationship between the two into the movie. The best part of the movie is the credits sequence whose animation style mimics that of the Goosebumps book cover art. It was really a treat to see.
    Goosebumps captures the spirit of the original books, and is leagues better than that 90's TV show (at least in terms of quality; funny wise, it doesn't hold a candle). The cast is good, the special effects are hit-or-miss (Slappy being a real dummy was cool, but some of the CG was so-so), and the story was a clever way to work in all the monsters from the books in one place. It's definitely the perfect Halloween movie for families to go see. 6/10 stars.

                                                                  (Image: Wikipedia)

Sicario: Denis Villeneuve delivers another taut and disturbing thriller

Today, a look at the latest film from the director of Incendies and Prisoners.

Sicario:  
    I didn't really have much of  clue as to the plot of this film going in, so each new twist was a complete surprise. I won't give a plot summary, because I feel that's the best way to experience the movie.
    Emily Blunt is really great as the lead heroine. She's a good mix of toughness, but also naivete and vulnerability that makes her relatable. Benicio Del Toro was fantastic, and Josh Brolin was equally effective. Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan, Victor Garber, Maximiliano Hernández, Rauol Trujillo, and Julio Cedillo are recognizable faces who have smaller parts than you'd expect, but were terrific.
    The plot, much like Drive, is essentially a simple plot done in an arthouse style. The entire atmosphere of the film is almost eerie and the movie has some fairly disturbing segments, as do all of Villeneuve's recent projects. The music by Jóhann Jóhannsson is moody and subtle, and never overwhelms the action or made me feel like I was being told how to feel via music cues, which is something many modern movies do as an easy emotional trick.
    The cinematography by Roger Deakins is beautiful and flowing and clever. Deakins knows how to emphasize the power of a scene by using a huge wide-shot, or maybe focusing in on something smaller (one key scene never shows what actually happens, merely showing a drain on the floor of the room with the audience hearing some vague altercation, whereas others show the huge scope of the landscape the characters inhabit).
    Taylor Sheridan's script is smart and is a new spin on a classic story arcs (revenge, betrayal). I was impressed even more so when I found out he's an actor, not a screenwriter.
    But most impressive is the fact that Villeneuve is able to churn these projects out year after year. He's released a film every year for three years now: Prisoners in 2013, Enemy in 2014 (though technically a 2013 release in film fests), and now Sicario, and they've all been really great.
    Sicario may not be as great as Villeneuve's other works, but it is an unvarnished look at the war on cartels, and an incredibly tense and suspenseful thriller, much like Prisoners. 7/10 stars (perhaps this will become an 8 on further watches).


                                               (Image: Wikipedia)


Side Note:
R.I.P. Maureen O'Hara

September Movies: The Visit and Black Mass

Today, I look at two movies I've seen recently.

The Visit:
Two young kids, a pretentious teenaged girl who likes making movies, and an idiotic boy who thinks he's a rapper, go for a week to visit their estranged grandparents and reconnect with them. However, spending more time with them, they realize something is very wrong with their grandparents...
    M. Night Shyamalan has been the laughingstock of Hollywood for the past ten years. A pariah, who is despised by critics, and whose fans have even grown tired of his constant churning out of garbage. Suddenly, this film, which looked ridiculous and stupid, was getting good reviews. People were saying he was turning his career around at last. I went in knowing this movie would be bad. No matter what people said, I knew it, deep down. And it was gloriously bad. It's supposed to be this found footage horror comedy, but the parts that I could tell were supposed to be scary were hilarious, and the parts that were supposed to be funny just cringey and awkward.
    The found footage angle doesn't work at all because it's essentially unnecessary except for budgetary reasons. There's still opening credits despite the "real" style, and the equipment being used by the main character is way too good for a teenage girl to have. The camerawork is so crisp and clear, it's like a professional camera. And the webcams being pretty much perfect, with no delay or bad audio is another pet peeve of mine as of late.
    Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould are the two annoying main characters. The girl spouts movie equipment explanations and terms to the audience like we're stupid and talks in an incredibly condescending voice. The boy is just plain irritating. I do admire the two actors, who are Australian, putting on such convincing American accents, but the material they were given is just awkward. Peter McRobbie and Deanna Dunagan play their grandparents, who are some great scenery-chewing villains. They are without a doubt the best part of the whole movie. Kathryn Hahn appears as the kids' mother, who is fine, but for a found footage movie, it's distracting to see such a recognizable face.
   The Visit is packed with jump-scares and unintentionally hilarious moments (grandpa's poop is used as a plot point and a scare), and is just painfully awkward at times in a way only Shyamalan can do. While I was thoroughly entertained, I feel it was still a failure as a horror-comedy, and should be seen as an all-around comedy. The only remotely suspenseful scene is the final confrontations with the grandparents, which are ruined by a poop scare and with a callback to football earlier in the movie that is absurdly forced. Overall, see it if you want a good laugh, or put it on at a Halloween party. This movie is a prime example that these day, Blumhouse will produce anything to make a quick buck. 5/10 stars.




Black Mass:
Telling the story of infamous Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger (a criminal whose exploits have inspired many other films), this movie follows his rise to power, family struggles, and the controversial alliance between Bulger and the FBI.
    Johnny Depp has been in a bit of a career rut lately. Being typecast as the eccentric oddball for the past twenty-or-so years hasn't helped. In this movie, he gets to actually be an actor again by portraying a character who is different than is others, who has a semblance of depth to him. His portrayal of Bulger is the crowning achievement of the film. He's empathetic at times, but is mostly cold, intimidating, and other times, disgusting and skeevy. The makeup job on him was excellent, with some subtle touches like a bad tooth and pock marks, and more noticeable ones like his receding hairline and icy blue eyes. Johnny still looks a little too handsome to be the real life Whitey (who had big teeth and looked much older), but his performance makes up for it.
    The rest of the cast do a fine job. It's too lengthy to list all here, but I will say Joel Edgerton was a good tragic hero character, who had moments of idiocy.
    My main problem with the movie was its' often repetitive nature (if Bulger is alone with someone or with just him and his guys and someone else, it's a guarantee that he's going to either kill them or do something creepy, it's like a formula). There's also no suspense in certain scenes after awhile because you can predict how it's going to end based on the information above, plus obvious music cues, so it's not great a suspense thriller. Even as Bulger story, it's a lot more boring than most. The Departed has more leeway because it was a fictional story, so they could do more with the story to make it more investing, but here, it's all facts, so after awhile it gets quite dry. The first act definitely felt more intriguing and fast-paced than the second, which dragged its' feet too much.
    Some of the camera angle choices were cool (in one death scene, they pan away to leave it kind of unclear what exactly was done, which was somewhat unique.
    I know it's the title of the book this was based on, but I don't know exactly why they decided to call this film "Black Mass". I mean, it's an eye-catching title, but it really has nothing to do with the film's content.
    Regardless, Black Mass is a decent gangster biopic, but nothing to write home about. It's essentially a straightforward telling, with little visual flair. I was disappointed, because director Scott Cooper has had a fairly good track record. Depp's performance may be enough to save this movie from pure mediocrity, but it's nothing compared to the other films based on Bulger's life. It's also a  bummer when the dinner scene from the first trailer was done better in that trailer than in the actual film. 6/10 stars.

                                                                (Images: Wikipedia)

Sinister 2: I don't even know what to say

This is a long-belated review because I honestly just had to gather my thoughts.

(Spoilers for "Sinister")


Sinister 2:
Some time after the conclusion of the first film, the young deputy from that film is traveling the United States, trying to destroy the demonic influence of Bughuul. However, after discovering a single mother and her two boys have moved into one of the houses where Bughuul killed a family, he realizes he must protect this family from the evil forces ready to consume them.
    Now, I saw this film opening night, and, being a fan of the first film, was quite excited for it. I was growing more and more skeptical of the trailers as the date approached, but I went with my friend with an open mind. I was absolutely bedazzled by this film's ability to fuck up the mythology of a character and just general common sense in regards to character behavior. I won't go into too much detail, I am planning on making a more elaborate video review one day, because literally to explain the wrong that is this movie would require breaking down almost every single scene.
    James Ransone is a criminally underrated actor, so it was sad to see him trying so hard in this movie, and being dragged down in this mess. Shannyn Sossamon did a fair job with the material, but her and Ransone's romance was highly predictable if you've seen any movie ever. The two boys in the film are pretty bad. One is bland, the other is tongue-in-cheek pure evil, which is odd considering how normal he was at the start of the movie. Tate Ellington and John Beasley have small roles, and Lea Coco has one of the most gloriously over-the-top douchebag dad roles in cinema history. I mean, Jesus Christ, the lack of nuance is kind of an art in itself with this guy. Lucas Jade Zumann is amusing as Milo, one of the evil ghost kids in the movie. He's like a mini-Bond villain, he's so hammy.
    The scares in the movie are all cheap, pandering jump scares, and there's no real build-up or genuine sense of dread like there was in the first film. This movie's soundtrack is even subpar in comparison, using blander tracks or just recycling music from the previous film.
    The biggest problem with the movie is the Super 8 films. The concept of the kids killing their own families was already a slight stretch, but the amount of reality bending in this film is absurd. I know Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill have defended jump scares before, but their overuse in the film borderlines on self-parody.
    Speaking of overuse, Bughuul himself is way overexposed in this one, having no longer a sense of terror surrounding his sporadic appearances. Here, he's everywhere constantly. And the lighting they chose really emphasizes the ridiculousness of his attire, whereas the original kept him shrouded in shadow.
    The deaths are also far too elaborate this time around. Much like a slasher sequel, it suffers from focusing too much on having cool-looking kills, without keeping in mind realism, or actually being scary.
    There was no mystique this time around because we, as an audience, already know Bughuul exists and that the kids are killing their families. There's no longer a sense of a mystery killer. I can't even believe this was written by the same people.
    This is not, in any sense, a scary movie. However, if you enjoy some unintentionally hilarious lines and ridiculously overblown death scenes, as well as some light melodrama, this is a film for you. As bad as it is, and as much as it soils the name of the original film (a film I really enjoyed), it is an extremely entertaining movie, a movie me and my friend have quoted and referenced since it came out. Sinister 2 is a disaster of a horror film, but still can be appreciated for the silly dark comedy it turned out to be. 5/10 stars.

                                                                     (Image: Wikipedia)

Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation: A review so late this movie will probably be on Blu-ray soon

Sorry for the extreme delay on reviews, I'll be pumping out more in the next few days and probably do another "Top 10 Horror" list for Halloween.

Mission: Impossible, Rogue Nation:
Ethan Hunt is on the run from the CIA, after the Impossible Mission Force is shut down completely. Not only that, but he is trying to single-handedly unravel the conspiracy surrounding The Syndicate, a "rogue nation" of sorts that is essentially an evil IMF dedicated to advancing its' own goals and goals of its' investors through strategic terror attacks made to look like they are connected to other groups. Hunt must team with mysterious newcomer Ilsa and his old teammates Benji, Luther, and William Brandt to clear their names, avoid the CIA, and prove to the world that The Syndicate is real.
    Now, this was originally scheduled for a December release, like the previous installment Ghost Protocol, but was pushed forward to avoid box office conflict with Star Wars VII (smart move). This is a film that feels like a rushed release. Released with little publicity for a summer blockbuster in late July, it just felt forced and unnatural. This is also obviously similar to the upcoming Bond film Spectre, in that both focus in on the heroes fighting an evil organization that is a dark reflection of their own agency, and both evil organizations in the films are iconic enemies of their respective franchises.
    Tom Cruise is still a very entertaining and formidable action star and is able to put his absolute all into every scene and stunt, which is very admirable; it's amazing how few of his films use stunt doubles. Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, and Rebecca Ferguson make up a strong supporting cast with Rhames and Pegg being the best of them, with Rhames having a smaller but still pivotal role. Ferguson makes a decent newcomer to the cast, but there's something so cliched about her whole femme fatale mystique that detracts a bit from the performance.
    Sean Harris plays the film's main mystery villain, whose identity I won't spoil. He is the leader of The Syndicate, and is fairly slimy and creepy, almost reminiscent of Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark or Le Chiffre from Casino Royale. However, he is nowhere near as strong or memorable as a Bond villain, but is an improvement over the previous installment's slightly underwhelming villain.
    However, this is the only thing that Rogue Nation improves on. Despite some impressive set-pieces such as the opening plane sequence (which was spoiled in the trailer and felt rushed in the film, as well as feeling like too much too early), Ethan's escape early on, the fight with an assassin in a theater, the motorcycle chase, and the final confrontation with the villain, the action feels lackluster when compared to the unpredictably excellent sequences in Ghost Protocol. This film just doesn't feel as grand or investing as Ghost Protocol, and feels closer to a run-of-the-mill Hollywood sequel, unlike the last two films.
    Christopher McQuarrie has done some good work in the past, especially with Bryan Singer, but surprisingly he doesn't feel as prepared for this as Brad Bird did last time, despite Bird never directing an action film, or even a live-action feature.
    Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation is an entertaining and worthwhile spy thriller, though it's not as enthralling or slick as the last two in the franchise, and probably won't be as intriguing or artful as Spectre. 6.5/10 stars.

                                                     (Image: Wikipedia)

Fantastic Four: I think this is a great example of how superhero films are hitting another dark period

Today, I look at the latest failed attempt at making an adaptation of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's classic superhero team. (Sorry this review is almost two months late.)

Fantastic Four (or Fant4stic):
Reed Richards, a young genius who has recently discovered the secret to interdimensional travel, is enlisted as a help on a research project at the Baxter Institute in New York by Dr. Franklin Storm and his children Sue and Johnny, and is also assisted by his childhood best friend Ben Grimm and Sue;s former flame and genius computer scientist Victor Von Doom. When a trip through their portal goes horribly wrong, the five of them end up with strange and horrible superpowers, and the government begins training them to be biological weapons.
    I actually didn't get the hate behind this movie. I thought it was a decent, surprisingly dark and moody superhero film, with the occasionally bad-looking effect. I actually enjoyed it a fair amount -- until the last twenty minutes, when I realized how rushed the finale was, and cliche, and totally uninspired and worthless and dull. And it made me resent the rest of the movie.
   Before I heard the bad news that this film bit the big one, I had no interest in seeing it. After hearing the stories about young director Josh Trank's completely unprofessional behavior on set, and his getting kicked off the new Star Wars spin-off as a result of this film, and hearing about the bastardization of the main villain, I couldn't wait to see this epic bomb.
   But when I saw the film, I didn't mind it for the most part. The main cast (Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Reg E. Cathey, the latter two being Wire alumni) were fine, and although Toby Kebbell was a little over-the-top (and came off like a more serious Gilfoyle from Silicon Valley) he was a decent interpretation of Dr. Doom. Speaking of which, let's get the positive out of the way: from what I heard, the original premise for the film was supposed to be a David Cronenberg-esque body horror film that would show the real ramifications of the type of powers that the Four have. There are still elements of that film in here, especially in the scenes immediately following the cosmic accident and a scene with Dr. Doom at the end blowing up people's heads with telepathy (which I found shockingly violent and awesome).  Certain updates of the story (interdimensional travel instead of space storm. Johnny being black) stayed in the script, others didn't. In the original script, Dr. Doom's name would be changed to Victor Domashev, something a little more realistic to fit he tone of the film. Fanboys didn't like this, and bitched so much the producers made Trank change it back to Von Doom. I wouldn't have minded the change, and felt it would have been appropriate. The Thing's CG work looks good and fells like a good use of digital effects.
    Now for the problems: the climax has no fucking build-up... at all. They build up this plot about the government trying to make the heroes into weapons, and then they just drop that plot, make the heroes reconcile their differences, and introduce a brand new villain in the last fifteen minutes! The new Doom was pretty cool I thought... until he just opens up a blue laser portal for NO reason and is defeated like a bitch in ten minutes. Not to mention the whole second half moves way too fast compared to the pace of the first half, all the character motivations feel like they move too quick and there's no build-up. Say what you will about the Tim Story films, but at least they BUILT to something. In my opinion, this film could have been vastly improved by the plot being stretched an extra forty minutes, building up the team's bonding, and played up the slimy government agent as the villain, eventually reintroducing Doom in the finale and having him take over Latveria as a stinger ending.
   Fantastic Four is a shameless cash-grab, and a poor example of when a director has bold ambitions and a big budget, but not enough experience to handle it. The ending soils a pretty decent superhero film with potential, and if the sequel proves to be anything like this, I see no future for adaptations of this superhero team. It's like the brand-name is cursed. 4/10 stars.



(Image: Wikipedia)