SquidFlicks

Category: Reviews

  • Nope

    “I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt
    and make you a spectacle.”

    Nahum 3:6 (NIV)

    Spectacle is the key word here in Jordan Peele’s latest foray into the horror genre. Nope features a real shift in tone from previous films US (2019) and Get Out (2017), moving from the realms of a shadow state and slavery to more subtle finger pointing at greed and the consequences of taking nature for granted.

    I don’t want to spoil anything in this review as this film has the same hallmarks as M. Night Shaymalan’s legendary Signs in that once the antagonist of Nope is revealed, everything makes more sense. The first watch is incredibly powerful to take that revelation in, and you should have the opportunity to experience that first hand.

    What I will talk about is how ingenious the premise of this film is on the thematic level. It’s going to take more watches to really tease it all out, as with Peele’s other two films, but what I have after just one viewing has had the wheels in my head spinning and inspired me to pen this review so quickly after the watch. I just can’t stop thinking about Nope. What has really captivated me is the unraveling of what a “miracle” is. Now in the Christian and Jewish faiths, based on events described in the Bible, miracles are almost always thought of and conveyed as positive and powerful manifestations of supernatural power and might. Moses and the burning bush, Jacob’s Ladder, The Walls of Jericho, Jesus and Lazarus, etc. However, miracles can be negative in nature too. They can be a manifestation of supernatural wrath, a rebalancing of nature – the plagues cast upon Egypt, the razing of Sodom and Gomorrah, the serpent in the garden of Eden, the great flood that prompted Noah’s building of the Ark.

    What those negative miracles are is spectacle, referenced in that powerful verse of Nahum, an old testament book written by the eponymous minor prophet. It is a largely overlooked section that tells the story of the fall of the great Assyrian empire circa 615 BCE, but Peele has used this deep old testament text to great effect in telling a modern horror parable.

    There are three stories that move in different directions – one of the Haywoods, a family of black ranchers and horse trainers known for their legendary work providing animals for Hollywood productions, but with the recent and freak death of patriarch Otis Haywood Sr, son Otis Jr. and Daughter Em are left trying to salvage their family legacy. The second thread involves the traumatic past of child actor and star Ricky “Jupe” Park, who rose to fame in a 90’s kid’s western film and then went on to star in a sitcom that was marred by a traumatic accident involving an on-set chimpanzee cast member. In the modern day, he has capitalized on his child stardom by building a kitschy western theme park on the property adjacent to the Haywood Ranch, and his fixation on burying the past instead of learning from it intertwines the destiny of both his theme park and the Haywood ranch.

    I think there will be a lot of nay-saying and punching down on Nope because it is not subtle in many of it’s themes and mechanisms. I think it was an ambitious story that hit a lot of marks and why I thought Nope was such a departure from previous works.

    • The major commentary on modern Hollywood:
      • disrespect of live animal welfare and trainers
      • industry shift to CGI instead of practical effects
      • pretentious and grizzled art directors
      • wannabe livestream superstars
      • Hollywood hustlers
      • child stars
      • the paparazzi

    In addition to the thorough roasting of Hollywood’s folly, there is an intentional recurrence of visual elements that key on the “spectacle” and focus – framed by spectacular cinematography of day and nighttime vistas. There’s an uneven but unsettling pacing in this film, a quick first and final act with an intentionally slow middle. There’s the actual full reveal of the antagonistic entity after dancing around the issue in the first two acts. As the goals of the Haywoods seem to shift from making money to exacting revenge, it marks an evolution from greed to principle, and their freedom from oppression both seen and unseen. Prophetically and Literally.

    One day I will write about the spoiler-y parts. Take this as a down payment and catch Nope for yourself. I’m seeing way too many hot takes about Peele being the next M. Night. An unfair assessment of both director’s careers. I think Peele’s ambitions are still playing out fine on the screen. Shayamalan’s career and box office swoon was more of a product of poor production influence more so that trying to sell movies that no one can understand or wants to. I think he gets a bad rap, sure there are some stinkers but a lot of his ‘real’ work still holds up.

    Trailer:

  • The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It

    Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga team up again as the fun and wholesome on-screen version of the legendary (and with recent rumors coming to light, possibly more infamous and insidious) Ed and Lorraine Warren, demonologists and paranormal investigators.

    While the real people they portray have a lot of allegations over their careers and work and personal dealings, I think it is important to draw a distinction between reality and fiction. The Conjuring film series has taken some of the most sensational cases of the Warrens and make them into fun, watchable thrillers, regardless of what you actually think was real or hoaxed in our world. I personally feel like there is a lot more gray between the black and white people want to box things like the supernatural and paranormal in. /rant over

    Part 3 in the mainline entry starts with the exorcism of a young boy, David Glatzel. The process takes a sinister turn when the boyfriend of David’s older sister begs for the demon to possess him instead of continuing to hurt the boy. All seems well, until a few days later Arne loses control and kills his landlord. The “true story” of this case focuses on the murder trial of Arne Johnson, who famously used demonic possession as a submission of a not guilty plea in the murder of his landlord. The real story and the film version begin to diverge pretty markedly after this part in the film, partly because there was a need to add an underpinning story to drive the narrative. In the film, this became the hunt for some mysterious and powerful user of witchcraft to summon the demon and cause it’s possessed victims to kill.

    Ed suffers a massive heart attack during the events of the exorcism and is left with serious mobility issues, having to rely on a cane to hobble around. As a result, Lorraine becomes the lead investigating force and really shines without Ed, to his dismay. That change in the dynamic seemingly strains their relationship but ultimately makes them a stronger on screen couple. Lorraine is able to connect some other mysterious cult activity and triangulates the location of the magic user. The couple is desperately trying to break the tether of control that the witch has on Arne so he won’t die before he is able to make it through the legal process and attempt to clear his name.

    In the end, they find the altar of evil from where the curse was created, and cleanse Arne from his control in the nick of time, culminating in his real life court ruling of a lesser manslaughter charge. In the ‘real life’ story, his charge was reduced but the demonic possession plea was determined to be too shaky to hold up in a court of law.

    This entry in the now 8-film deep Conjuringverse continues to build on the fantastic on-screen portrayal of the Warrens by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga – there were a lot of heart felt and subtle relationship moments that felt authentic and touching despite the horror of the supernatural threat they were dealing with. Some iconic scenes at a morgue and a haunting water bed also stick with you from the moment you experience them. Unfortunately, the diversion from the real accounts of the story do end up taking away some ‘cool’ from this film in my opinion. It is certainly a worthy entry in the series, but it is not as powerful as the previous two mainline titles.

  • A Quiet Place: Part 2

    After the COVID pandemic shuttered theaters and delayed theatrical releases throughout 2020, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s surprise horror/thriller smash hit from John Krasinski landed in May 2021. I marked the celebration of a year of quarantine and boredom by enjoying QP2 in the glorious setting of a theater, the first film I have watched in person since the pandemic. That weird dynamic of a mostly empty theater even after mass vaccinations and the lowering of restrictions only added to the spookiness of the apocalypse in the Quietverse.

    Quiet Place 1 did not give us any prologue – we are dropped right into day 472 of some kind of vague global calamity, which is revealed through the story to be some sort of invasion by a blind, highly aggressive and predatorial alien species that hunts by sound and has wiped out a lot of the population (as people are quiet noisy in a modern life). QP2 starts with Day 1, and actually shows the initial destruction of the population from the beasts, which we all know to be sound-based predators, but Day 1 folks find that out the hard way (or not at all). After that intro, we are dropped back to moments immediately after the end of the first film. The cut is seamless, and no doubt was filmed at the same time for continuity. It is an awesome cinematic move and immediately transports you back into the gravity of the situation as you recall what just happened (in 2017) and wonder what will happen next.

    QE2 answers that “What will happen next?” question – the family, now one member less strong but now understanding a rudimentary way to defeat the monsters, decides to leave the homestead and search out another group of survivors. What follows is the exploration of a world that is physically larger but still a still feels as claustrophobic and empty as the farm in part 1, rife with new elements like a safe refuge and raider gangs. It is a logical step in the world building of the Quietverse, and there aren’t many missteps.

    One qualm you could have would be in the pacing at times – the movie seems to move in uneven intervals but I feel as though that may keep you from expecting the next jump around the corner. Additionally, the monsters didn’t really add any new moves to their repertoire, which means that the methods to deal with them are remarkably simple to a certain degree, taking some of the fear out of facing them. There is an added wrinkle to the water element that was introduced in the first film, but I won’t spoil that detail. Overall though, the lack of change in predation by the stalkers contrasts with the doom and dread you feel in part 1 when they are seemingly invulnerable. We have become ‘used’ to the threat of them, as have the other survivors, and complacency can kill in these situations. To the movie’s credit, some complacent survivors do not make it.

    Overall, QP2 is an excellent continuation of the story, and has a satisfactory closing while still potentially allowing for a part 3. I know John Krasinski was hesitant to write part 2, but I feel like as long as he maintains the level of control he has on his IP, this series can continue to make a big impact. Here’s to hoping if there’s a part 3, he’s going to remain at the helm and not farm it out.

  • Dragon Ball Super: Broly

    The latest cinematic entry in the extensive Dragon Ball universe revamps the origin story of the isolated and tremendously powerful Saiyan Broly, and it does not disappoint.

    This was a huge coup for domestic cinematic releases of anime franchises – the last Dragon Ball film, Resurrection F (2015), was a financial and critical success. Dragon Ball Super: Broly broke even more records, landing to a top 5 box office debut with a fraction of the screens other movies like Glass and Aqua Man had. This has pushed Toei animation and distributor Funimation to continue to invest in English dubs and domestic releases of Dragon Ball (and by extension, more ambitious ports of other massively popular foreign stories and franchises). In short, this is only the beginning of what seems to be a culture shift in the acceptance and prevalence of Japanese animation in American culture.

    The movie itself is a blast. It was a non-stop, action-packed Dragon Ball episode that lasted 101 minutes. You can come into this movie blind, with no knowledge of the franchise, story, or characters, and come out a new fan of the franchise. Of course, it is much more rewarding for those life-long fans who have been following Goku’s journey from Dragon Ball, to Dragon Ball Z, and most recently the revival of the serial animated franchise in Dragon Ball Super. Remember, Dragon Ball GT is non-canon and does not exist. Don’t @ me. Forget anything you know of it.

    The film is well laid out and carries a quicker pace than traditionally the serial installments of the show have had. There is a generous prologue segment that covers massive origin stories of major characters in the long-running series: The exile of Broly, a Saiyan with massive ‘latent ability’, the decision to send young Goku away from planet Vegeta before its impending destruction at the hands of the sinister mega-villain Freiza, and the adventures of young prince Vegeta and Goku’s older brother Raditz. In summary, and what is already known to any Dragon Ball fan is that the Saiyans, a race of powerful ape-like warriors, have their planet wiped out by an evil alien emperor who ruled over and despised them. Not all Saiyans were caught in the ambush, as many were off planet and continue to serve as a foil to Freiza and his schemes in the ensuing years.

    After the prologue, the film focuses on titular heroes and often time rivals, Goku and Vegeta. The film occurs immediately after the conclusion of the Tournament of Destroyers in the Dragon Ball Super TV series, the highest-stakes conflict the Z fighters had ever faced and resulted in a narrow win for the Universe 7 team (the obliteration of their reality if they lost the tournament).

    Everyone is content to train and enjoy a period of peace and quiet in the universe, but that doesn’t last long when the great conqueror Frieza announces his intent to gather the Dragon Balls and make a wish – one many presume to be to make himself immortal and no longer be susceptible to defeat from Goku, who has his number. The Dragon Balls become a macguffin for two opposing sides – Bulma, who wants to look five years younger, and Freiza, who wants to look five centimeters taller. Broly becomes a welcome distraction for the ever-scheming Frieza, who stirs the pot in classic fashion and sets off a fight unlike any Goku and Vegeta have faced before.

    The film has a lot of classic comedic relief in the Dragon Ball vein, and does a pretty awesome job of re-telling the story of Broly and painting him in a better light, as he is not just a mindless war machine. Goku of course, to a fault, wants to assume the best out of every foe he ever faces, and in this film, Broly will now get a second chance to learn how to control himself thanks to the quick thinking and help from some unlikely allies. Classic enemy Freiza himself returns to his normal, pretty scummy form after his conciliatory tone set when teaming up with the Z fighters to save their own universe 7 in the Tournament of Destroyers. There’s a canon appearance of one of the greatest fusion fighters ever (I won’t spoil it). Really, its got a little bit of everything, and that’s what makes it so fun.

    Go see this movie. Definitely if you are a Dragon Ball fan and moreso if you’ve been enjoying the revitalized Super series.

    Official Trailer for Broly
    This movie is featured in Episode 3 of the Reel Talk Podcast!


  • A Quiet Place

    John Krasinski (venerable character Jim Halpert from The Office) makes his screenwriting and directorial debut with a sound-based thriller. The year is 2020, and for the past 472 days, the planet has been terrorized by fearsome monsters that hunt completely by sound. The survival of one family, the Abbotts, is linked completely to their ability to adapt to this terrible new reality – staying as quiet as possible, using sign language and non-verbal cues to communicate, and creating silent walking paths through the use of sand and paint (to avoid creaky spots in wooden floors). The clever ‘solutions’ to a normally noisy human world are inventive and make you realize how much the family has changed to survive – they are no strangers to the brutal nature of this harsh new world, having already lost a young child to the ravenous predators that stalk them.

    The story is told over three days, all happening after the initial appearance of the ‘attackers’, whose origins are never expanded upon. The film opens on Day 72, highlighting the Abbott family’s search for medicine and supplies in an abandoned pharmacy. All appears to be going smoothly – the scene impresses the viewer that something is not quite right with the world, and the Abbotts take all precautions to avoid making noise. This strategy falters when the youngest Abbott son finds a toy space ship and proceeds to play with it, sound blaring – thus introducing us to the monster they were all trying so hard to avoid. The final two acts of the film occur over two subsequent days, 472 and 473. It has obviously been a painful year since the attack on Day 72, but life finds a way to soldier on. Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is pregnant and expecting soon, while Lee (John Krasinski) spends his time researching how to fight the monsters and reach out to other survivors. He also tries to impress the urgency of survival on the two older children – oldest daughter Ragen and younger son Marcus – but tends to favor Marcus, which strains Ragen’s relationship with her father. When the time comes for Evelyn to deliver her new child, no one is around to assist, and the noise she accidentally makes attracts the wrong kind of attention. The rest of the day is spent trying to survive and protect all that the Abbott family has left – each other.

    Sound (or more aptly, the lack of) plays a huge role in the film. The oldest daughter is deaf, and has a non-functioning cochlear implant, something that her father has been laboriously trying to repair with no success. There is a strong feeling of survivor’s guilt that is shared by all living members of the Abbott family, and since there is never really a ‘safe’ time to talk about it, they all assume each other is bearing the burden alone, leading to a strained dynamic. It is a silent, painful agony – a problem you know can be solved if you could just have a good cry, a deep conversation – but the danger of making any sound and the consequences for doing so are too great. The minimal score by Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark) and sound design paint a nerve wracking and unsettling world.

    Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I’m not sure how ‘rewatchable’ it is, but the first run through is absolutely terrifying. One of the strongest points of this film was the subtlety and nuance needed to communicate in a silent world. The decision by Krasinski to cast a deaf actress in Millicent Simmonds as daughter Regan made her role and the interactions in sign language between the family seem genuine, which was critical to make the viewer feel connected and invested in seeing the Abbotts survive. The monsters – creepy, scary, and you don’t get a good look until they are far to close for comfort. The set design was creative, the world that the Abbott family surviving in is interesting but sparse on details or explanation. The only background about the monsters that you get is from newspapers and magazine articles that Lee has tacked on a corkboard in his basement command center, along with security cameras and a shortwave radio setup from which he has been searching for survivors across the world to no avail. The plot suffers from a some of weak spots, but this isn’t a film focused on the details – it is the story of a family trying to survive against all odds, and finding strength from what many would consider a weakness. Regan Abbott, the deaf girl in a world where unintentional sound can get you killed, becomes the humanity’s greatest hope. If that isn’t a moment of triumph, I’m not sure what is.

    This was a great work from Krasinski and I look forward to his next project – and I will be ever more vigilant about keeping the nails on my stairs flush and free from the foot stabbing anarchy they caused in this film. The whispers are indicating there could be more films set in this quiet universe, possibly including a prequel that could shed more on the attackers. Count me in!

    4/5 Gold Squid Rating

    Trailer:

  • Ready Player One

    From the dystopian source novel by Ernest Cline and the 80s pop culture master director Steven Speilberg, Ready Player One is a futuristic dash through all things nerd, set in an encompassing virtual world known as the Oasis. When James Halliday, the ‘Willy Wonka’/Creator of the Oasis passes away, a scavenger hunt to locate three keys and the chance to control all of the virtual worlds. Will Parzival, the avatar of Wade Watts, be the rightful heir to the Oasis – or will the corrupt practices of competing company IOI ruin virtual reality for everyone?

    (more…)

  • Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

    Nobody was going to give this movie a chance because we (America) aren’t familiar with the source material that this Sci-Fi Epic is based on. Valerian is a long-running series of Sci-Fi comics in France from 1967 to 2010. Writer-Director Luc Besson took this cinematic endeavor under his wings because he grew up reading the comics and was a huge fan of the franchise, which is popular in Europe but never quite took hold across the ocean.

    Luc Besson is perhaps best known for giving us The Fifth Element, which also was considered a commercial flop in theaters until it grew legs upon release to home video, and is now widely considered to be a classic. Valerian may be destined to the same fate, although it certainly lacks some of the charms that Besson’s previous hit held. Perhaps it’s just the difference in the late 90s grungy CG vs today’s high-level effects, but I think it comes down more to differences in casting and acting performance.

    The movie is set in a late stage of the comic series – an intentional move after a lot of backstories has already been created to create a compelling action-filled film for audiences unfamiliar with the Valerian saga (think Star Wars dropping us in at Episode 4 instead of going in chronological order). Set in the 28th century, Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are a duo of special operatives tasked with keeping human affairs and relations intact alongside the multitude of other sentient beings that co-exist across the galaxy. The mission takes them to Alpha, a conglomerate space station that has grown exponentially to serve as a galactic ‘united nations’ over centuries, nicknamed “The City of A Thousand Planets”. A sacred, world-building device has gone missing and must be recovered before it falls into the wrong hands. Throughout the chase to regain possession of the ‘pearl’, the duo stumbles through the underworld of the station, meeting new friends, making new enemies, and revealing deep-seated rifts of bigotry and mistrust between humankind and other species. It turns out that the sides aren’t quite as cut and dry as they were made out to be in the beginning – Valerian and Laureline will have to choose between duty and honor.

    Visually, this movie was incredible. Beautiful vistas, realistic technologies, fantastic alien designs, and concepts. The entire setting had a distinct “lived-in but still futuristic” feel. Luc Besson created a fun, colorful, and frantic future fraught with danger but also full of whimsy that helps drive the story and emphasize the wondrous properties of the ‘Alpha’ station and its many diverse inhabitants.

    Where Valerian fell short was in the acting and storytelling departments respectively. I personally didn’t hate the acting, but Cara Delevingne & Dane DeHaan are relatively new actors and haven’t really found an audience in Hollywood yet. They are paired as Major Valerian and Sergeant Laureline, both partners in fighting crime and corruption for the Human Federation as well as love. Rhianna has a gem of a role as the shapeshifting and seductive alien, Bubble. The movie is playful and silly but lacks some teeth when it comes to making a statement. There are a lot of good veins to tap in the story – government corruption, the covering up of genocide and collateral damage of galactic warfare, the need for empathy and understanding, a strained dynamic between serial dater Valerian and Laureline’s desire to be something more than his latest ‘girl’ – but somehow the film just doesn’t seem to cash in on some emotional checks it writes.

    It’s a stunning visual experience, with some holes in the story and some soft acting from the lead roles. I would love to see more from the franchise, but thanks to the lackluster response from audiences, this story is all but over – which is a shame.

    Trailer:

  • The Dark Tower

    One of the largest-scale works in Stephen King’s massive catalog has received a proper, feature length film treatment with real star power – but is it enough to win over franchise fans and create new ones in the process? The results are mixed.

    “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

    Unfortunately, the writers and production staff weren’t paying attention.

    I am a Dark Tower and King fan. I do need to refresh my knowledge of the series as it has been some time since my initial read through of the source material, so I am by no means an expert on the ‘Tower Universe’ but I will say that I know more background than the average theater-goer will have about The Dark Tower.

    On paper, this was going to be a tough one to sell to audiences. I think it was cast phenomenally well, with Matthew McConaughey as the antagonist ‘Man in Black’ and Idris Elba as his rival and only true match, the protagonist ‘Gunslinger’

    The premise of the books pits the Man in Black, an evil sorcerer who is trying to acquire enough ‘shine’ to break through the supernatural barrier that keeps inter-dimensional evil out of the plane of the living. The books underpin the dimensions that connect a lot of King’s other works in a complete universe. The problem with this movie is that it faced a tough choice – adapt from a set of dense, mythology-heavy novels that would almost certainly be an incoherent mess, or attempt to create a new story for the screen based on the events and characters from the books. Unfortunately, the attempt fell flat, and the series probably cannot be recovered.

    In summation, there are seven novels in the Dark Tower saga, and this movie managed to skip a lot of great material. It cut out so much in order to create so many convenient shortcuts that it crippled the potential stories that could be told in future movies. I think this hampers the audience’s ability to appreciate how truly impossible the task that the Gunslinger faces to protect all realms from the evil of the Man in Black and his boss, the Crimson King. The movie focuses and combines elements from the second and last three novels, essentially lifting the climax of the saga out of the source material and re-configuring the plot to make it fit in a linear fashion.

    I really wanted to like this, and there was a lot that I did enjoy – particularly the casting. I think Elba and McConaughey are perfect opposing forces in this fantasy epic. The series is just so difficult to translate from novel to screen, and that’s nobody’s fault. It is a thankless and nearly impossible task for writers, and they get disparaged more often than praised. I don’t want to come off as jaded toward their efforts because of the nature of this story doesn’t lend itself well to brevity, and that usually means it wont translate well to the screen. With the resounding commercial failure of this jumping off point, we aren’t likely to see another attempt with this universe for some time. I’m hoping they find a way to salvage this story, because a lot of King’s works have made incredible moves on to film – IT (both the original TV movie (1990) and 2017’s smash-hit R-rated reboot), The Shining, Cat’s Eye – just to name a few.

    The problem with The Dark Tower is that they tried to reformulate and truncate a compelling and deep source material. While the casting was strong, the effects were excellent and the movie is watchable, you aren’t left on the edge of your seat waiting for more, and for someone who knows how far the Gunslinger’s story goes, it’s disappointing. There’s an excellent article on i09 that describes the changes in greater detail for those who are inclined – spoilers within.

    It would seem that the folks in charge have forgotten the faces of their fathers, to borrow a phrase from Roland, the lone gunslinger. Objectively the movie is passable but as a fan I am not pleased.

    3/5
    Squid Rating
    A missed opportunity but watchable epic

    Trailer:

  • The Babadook

    the-babadook

    When you experience loss, it is important to let yourself experience grief. It is a natural emotion and for many, it is just a part of life. If grief is left to its own desires, however, it can tear a person apart. The Babadook is a psychological horror film that tackles this concept head on, to great effect.

    The movie focuses on a widow, Amelia, and her young son, Samuel. The movie opens to a slow motion nightmare of Amelia’s, reliving the car wreck that claimed the life of her husband when she was in labor with Sam. The viewer is quickly acquainted with what has become of Amelia’s life as a single mother with a whacked-out son – a stressful slog with no real help or end in sight. Sam’s behavior is incorrigible, taking apart items in the house to construct elaborate weapons to vanquish the various monsters he claims to encounter.

    Amelia is clearly miserable and has not moved on from the loss of her husband, keeping his belongings locked up in the basement and reacting violently to anyone who mentions him. She suffers from tremendous depression and sleep deprivation – I’d wager to call it melancholy. Sam’s behavior has driven her to wit’s end, and it shows. The final straw comes when Sam brings his weapons to school and is consequently expelled. Amelia is stuck with Sam at home and it’s not helping either one cope with the obvious emotional issues they possess.

    Amelia lets Sam pick a book for his bedtime story – problem is, it’s not one that Amelia remembers putting on the shelf, much less buying. With the title ‘Mister Babadook’, you immediately know this is the beginning of the end. What follows after opening that book is the culmination of a possession – or psychosis. It appears as the metaphorical opening of a door that can’t shut because of a lack of proper emotional/spiritual latches.

    That’s the beauty of this movie – it works on multiple levels. At face value, the Babadook is an evil demon that feeds on children and wants nothing more than to inflict misery on all who let him in to their homes. If you dig a little deeper, you can see the symbolism and manifestation of Amelia’s grief, causing severe psychosis and sleep deprivation. This one-two punch leads to Amelia’s wholesale abuse and neglect of young Sam, who acts out because he is powerless to handle the situation he’s stuck in.

    Amelia has internalized the abuse of her son and conveniently packages it as the fault of a boogeyman – The Babadook. Subtle hints are scattered throughout the film, but the one that led me to the realization that things weren’t as they seem came when Amelia admitted to writing children’s books in the past. She created ‘Mister Babadook’ during one of her manic episodes, and doesn’t realize it when she normalizes. The ending is about as ambiguous as you can get, (I think she’s dreaming and actually ended up doing something horrible to Sam) and the entire ride is well worth it.

    The Babadook was one of the best horror/thriller films I’ve seen. I really appreciated the lo-fi, practical effect approach (being more reliant on lighting and obscured shots to build tension and fear without resorting to incessant jump scares. Excellent execution throughout – the movie seems concise and every scene plays a role in building the larger story, and really build that age-old lesson that our own monsters are far worse than anything we can conjure up. Additionally, the book and illustrations were very well done, and would make an awesome reproduction prop. They really should produce and sell that to kids. That’s just some good, clean fun for all ages. =D

    It’s a must watch!

    5/5 Reels
    Platinum Squid Rating
    Let it in! Let it in! Let it in!

    Trailer

     

  • Rogue One

    Now that Disney owns the Star Wars franchise, they are rapidly ramping up the production schedule for new film entries – this should come as no surprise given this is the exact same way the Marvel movie universe has expanded almost exponentially over the past few years. As a Star Wars fan, I am excited with the prospect of more frequent entries in the universe, but that can be a double edged sword. December 2015 was the first big test – Episode 7. The main story line has been progressed and the story arc had a distinct vintage feel to it despite some new faces and places. It truly felt like Episode 4 (A New Hope) was reborn, kick-starting the final trilogy in the saga of the Skywalker clan. Following up on that nostalgic effort (and box office phenom) is Rogue One. This is the first ‘spinoff’ in the ‘new’ Star Wars cinematic universe, a place where more experimentation and tweaking of the traditional format is to be expected.

    Rogue One focuses on the lead up to the events in A New Hope, the incredible story of how the plans for the Empire’s great weapon, the Death Star, fall into Rebel hands. It features the tale of Jyn Urso (Felicity Jones) and her journey to reconcile the fact that her estranged father, Galen, was the reluctant but willing master architect of the Empire’s engine of genocide. The silver lining is that he also intentionally designed it’s greatest vulnerability, leaving a chance for the Rebellion to strike a painful blow to the tyrannical war machine. She was a rebel without cause, a true renegade neutral actor who decided to find personal redemption and purpose when anyone else would have just given up and sulked. (more…)