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When a movie picks up best director and best picture at the oscars it's normally a good bet that the audience will enjoy it. Right? More likely the answer is no. 'Labels' as the film points out, can only describe this film as the plot will likely bore you to an early grave. Good? Great? Well crafted? Overacted? Underacted? Performances wrapped up inside performances? Have fun trying to keep up with this piece of art. The plot unravels at a snails pace in front of your eyes as it is revealed who the main characters are. The underlying messages about society and the actors place in it are a breath of "ball scented air" (inside joke). This film was worth watching once, however I would never purchase it in any other medium. In fact having popular culture thrown in our faces near the end of the film was almost an insult. In fact, I believe it was intended to be an insult. As spoken by Birdman himself "Look at these people, at their eyes... they're sparkling. They love this shit. They love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit". And yes Birdman is talking directly at the audience, confirming what we already know. The fact is we as the audience love action/adventure films. Over the top action sequences and super extraordinary characters is what we as today's low attention spanned audiences want. Most audiences go to the cinema to relax and turn off. We tend to bore easy when it comes to the philosophical underlining of films. The movie acknowledges the fact that we as the audience have been taken advantage of. It also suggests that over the years we have been studied by marketers and the result is the film makers directly encouraging us to empty our wallets in cinemas to watch films that are almost always predictable. But what can we as the audience say? We love it! We love seeing the good guy win, we love a good under 'bird' story which is exactly what Birdman attempted to be. Does he win? No real clue. The plot is a bore. A man (Riggen aka Birdman) who was once a world wide celebrity has taken a turn towards the more theatrical side of acting. Instead of giving the audience his predictable Birdman performance in yet a forth instalment of the Birdman series he decides to try and convince people he truly is an actor worthy of being praised by the blood thirsty critics of New York City. As a stand alone film it is an absolute marvel to behold. As a source of entertainment it fails in many places. At times you feel as though your head is caving in from trying to keep up with the script which is heavy and yet also top shelf material. The conversations that arise in the movie are enjoyable to listen too, the actors are all giving top performances for a movie that required them to act terribly as part of the film. Yep, that's right, at times the movie requires the actors to underact to show the audience that the play is developing as any good play should. Michael Keaton gives an amazing performance,as does Emma Stone, Edward Norton and Zack Galifanakis. Birdman, as a film, also gives the audience a glimpse at the workings of a broad way production which is both insightful and interesting. Watching the actors acting as actors behind the scenes of a production helps put everything into a more gritty perspective. Putting on a play is more then just the act of acting. People clearly have everything to lose and everything to gain. It also appeared to have given the film critics exactly what they have been asking for for years. It was a toy for them, something to chew on and regurgitate. No doubt there were many deep conversations about the inner workings of this production, including the inner workings of the production of which this entire 'film production' was about. As an art film, it was very creative. Almost the entire film took place in one shot, there were little to no cuts scenes speaking depths about the condition of the lead actor. The sound track was provided by the play production and also the street music outside of the theatre on Broadway. There is no doubt that as stand alone film it was extremely clever. As a piece of entertainment I found it not directly in my interest. This is defiantly not saying it was a bad movie, it just wasn't directed at me. Hollywood is where this was directed. Made for the actors, directors, producers and critics. It's these people that can relate to the subject matter in Birdman. The conflicts between the lead and his daughter, the lead and everyone. It also highlights the struggles a character actor has of breaking out of a role and making an attempt at more serious roles. It's brings to the surface the fact that the populaces option of you as an actor is ultimately more powerful then that of the critics pen. Birdman suggests many things one of these is that in the city that never sleeps actors are tearing themselves to pieces over things that matter only to one person and to no one else. Themselves.
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Watching Nomadland hurt the soul. I’m not going to say it was enjoyable, as a matter of fact, in parts it was simply downright depressing. But enjoyability doesn’t make a movie great anymore than special effects do. What makes a movie great is whether or not the audience can be impacted by what they have just watched. Nomadland is like been doused with a bucket of ice cold water which also happened to be filled with pointy rocks.
What this film as to say about modern civilisation is simply dreadful. The visuals throughout the film of Amazon packaging plants is mind boggling. I found my mind yawning at the boredom of it all. And the dry cold vastness of the abandoned town visualised towards the end of the film leaves the viewer feeling empty and helpless. It is a tale of modern day survival, but ultimately it is also a story of cycles. Economic cycles, weather cycles, human cycles and surprisingly bowel cycles. This film takes the viewer on a ride throughout America revealing many of the ins and outs of life on the road. It is mostly about the cycle of life, living, loving and death. It’s simply sad to watch and what it has to say about the future of the western world should be a warning that is taken seriously but I doubt most people will even take the time to watch it neither alone learn something from it. From the crap we put into our mouths to the crap that comes out we are all in this together and in the end one day it will be the end. Modern human liberty pivots around love and when that centre is broken liberty becomes confusing, neglected and wasteful. There is a saying “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”. And that’s about all we can hope for. Damn. At the end there is barely a glimmer of hope on the horizon. However, it is also the story of perhaps a new way of living. Somehow the entire history of humanity is has found itself full circle, like that of a snake eating it’s own tail. From the Indians who once lived a nomadic lifestyle across the plains of America to the new nomads who are more and more frequently finding themselves on similar trails across the country it is hard to ignore that perhaps this is how a lot of humanity may have to sustain itself in the future, not only in the states but in many western countries around the world. On the road, continuously moving from place to place in search of food, perhaps this may just become the new normal for how people get through. The film is brilliantly acted by Francis McDormand and is superbly put together by director Chloé Zhao who has planted a subliminal message behind all the visuals of the film. Everything says something and the whole story is easily assembled by the viewer making the experience seamless. We know what she is saying without having to have it rammed down our throats. Is it well worth the watch? Yep. No doubt. But I do believe that this films impact will depend heavily on the viewer themselves. From other reviews I have read some people are finding things in this movie that I simply over looked. I guess that’s what truely makes this a good film. The fact that the viewer, no matter who they are or what their attitude is towards the modern world will find something of value to be consumed in the wastes of Nomadland.
The Mosquito Coast
Episode 1 Now I’m going to shoot straight. Some TV series simply feel as though they have been written directly for me. The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV plus is one of these rare series. On the rare chance that I do experience this uncanny phenomenon I am often quick to realise that I have finally found something worth watching. Now….I know this comment may seem selfish and somewhat delusional but hey, I’ll gladly accept my faults as a person if you the reader can accept my somewhat biased television recommendations. The truth is simply because of the shear volume of TV experiences now available world wide of course I was eventually going to find something that played into my Confirmation Bias. In fact knowing that it was playing into my confirmation bias has given me the opportunity to enjoy it more. After all, when all is said and done I am the viewer it was written for and I enjoy that fact that someone else in the world recognises the important issues raised in this TV series. Watching it gave me a good helping of vindication and personally I believe that vindication is the sweetest and most useful variety of pride there is. So, what did I enjoy about this show the most? Well, that would the following. It’s the system that’s the problem. That’s the message I got from episode one of The Mosquito Coast. Which, as it surprisingly turns out is actually a brilliant reimagining of the same namesake film originally released in 1986 which starred Harrison Ford while he was in his prime. Many societal themes run throughout the entirety of the episode. Amongst these themes are many of the most debated topics of the current age. The various topics touched upon include homeschooling vs government sponsored system education. Enforced Authority vs parental authority, enforced coercive family behaviours and of course the big one, climate change. Chaos and it’s impacts also plays an important role throughout the episode and is brilliantly represented on screen by the presence of a single butterfly. Underpinning the entire episode is the story of one mans consistent struggle to break away from the invisible prison of the modern first world civilisation we find ourselves in today. Painted against this some what desperate backdrop is also the secretive story of this particular mans reason for avoiding first world life at all costs. One quote, mentioned by Mr Fox’s own daughter early on in the episode is particularly poignant. It is as follows. “Do you ever wonder? If dad is so smart how we got to be so poor” This quote alone opens up a world of mystery and forces the viewer to ask why Mr Fox lives the way that he chooses. Another question the viewer soon asks is Why is Mr Fox and his family in hiding? These questions help to pique the viewers interest and creates a TV experience that is genuinely exciting and something worth looking forward to. In fact after watching episode one I careened directly into episode two. Something I have not done since watching Mr Robot. It has been some time since I have been as captivated by a television series such as this. Ultimately The Mosquito Coast TV series is a perfect blend of the previous best TV had to offer. While watching it you will encounter moments of brilliance that have not been seen since Breaking Bad or Mr Robot. The team behind the production have taken the time and care to produce a dramatic TV series that is of top caliber entertainment. You may also unintentionally learn something useful along the way. Which is unironically one of the themes deliberately imbedded within the storyline of the series. It is fair to say that I finally I have another reason to watch Apple TV+. And for that matter, so do you.
X-men Apocalypse. Also known as How the Professor lost his hair.
The only time I had heard anything about Apocalypse was when I was recording another podcast I once hosted. The podcast was called Offtrack’s Podcast and my fellow cohosts and I were living up to the namesake, we were thoroughly Offtrack. Somehow we had ended up on a discussion regarding the after credits scene of X-Men Days of Future past when my weakness was revealed. I had never heard about Apocalypse. And that, my friends is the only time I have indeed heard of Apocalypse… I got berated for my lack of knowledge, lost some serious geek creed and have since never lived it down. As such the only reason I want to watch X-Men Apocalypse is so I can learn who the fuck Apocalypse is. It’s a little late but better late than never right?!? It should be mentioned that my expectations have flatlined for this one. I feel as though this could be a good waste of two hours of my existence. But anyways, it’s time to press play. The man loves his Egypt. Anyone who knows me knows this. I love Egyptian History, especially Ancient Egyptian History. So the opening scenes to this film were a pleasant surprise. They were also jam packed with clever action sequences and booby traps. I love booby traps, the unseen mechanics of these hacks of sand and earth have always fascinated me ever since watching Raiders of the lost Ark and golden afternoon sessions of Ducktales. Straight up this film gave me enough to satiate my desire for adventure, I thus decided to hang in there for the ride just to see where it would take me. First up it must be said that Apocalypse is one unfortunate looking fella. Not sure how he got his head but he should have left it in the sand whence he was born. However! Head aside, he does have an interesting back story. Legend has it that he’s s as old as humanity and has links to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Yep, he’s that Apocalypse…. As a mutant of the old earth he had the freaky ability to be able to transfer his consciousness from one person to the next so just as he is about to cark it he transfers into a new body and whammo! He’s good as new. However somewhere along the way he figured out that if he simply transferred his consciousness into that of a mutant he would take control of their powers thus inheriting them as he went. So technically speaking over time he become a mutant collector harvesting powers as he ventured across the landscape. Interesting fellow, no doubt about it. So what happens when this talented mutant gets unleashed upon the earth in the 1980’s? Well, that’s what this movie is all about. Well that and the back story regarding the underlying divisions that run deep throughout society of the 1980’s. This film works well as an analogy of the numerous divisions that exist throughout the world today as well but basically put, this is the story of one mutants quest to press the refresh icon on his search browser. Now I’m not gonna lie, the film is a little hyperactive. It sadly suffers from the same faults that a lot of recent super hero films do but as hyper active as this film was in places there were a couple of enjoyable highlights. The first highlight, truthfully also a welcome comic relief to the darkness of Apocalypses very presence was the Quick Silver scene. This was simply an absolute joy, as they nearly always are. So was the Quicksilver reveal. Turns out he’s got daddy issues. All I know is that one day he’s gonna work out that he is indeed the only X-men who is able to time travel and than the shits really gonna get knocked into 12th gear!!! Another highlight is when The Wolverine makes a brief appearance and leaves his mark on the world and on everyone he encounters who didn’t friend him on Facebook. Simply but, they deliberately let Wolverine lose… weapon X is lose…Why Wolverine was at the Dam compound to begin with remains somewhat of a mystery, though I do believe it was something to do with Major Stryker injecting andamantium into Wolverine’s veins inadvertently making him stronger and angrier. So? Is this snippet technically a missing piece of the first Wolverine Film? Yep… Ultimately this is the story of how the X-Men become the X-men and how Professor X lost his hair. Overall the film is decent but far from great, it is however machined to perfection and fits like a jigsaw piece into the puzzle that is the X-Men timeline. The credits rolled, we were treated with what some might call a stinger regarding the Weapon X program and than Apocalypse and his four horsemen came for Singer…
The many expectations of Mandy.
Prior thoughts. Well, the cover of the DVD certainly makes me interested. The inspiration it draws from the Sam Raimi’s Evildead is uncanny and I like it. It also stars Nicolas Cage so that’s a bonus, the film will therefore have at least a spark of hope to it, in fact this film has my expectations higher than usual. I was actually looking forward to watching it! Fleshed out review. The entire movie was dream like even somewhat nightmarish. The use of colour is interesting to say the least. The colour palette is that of the cosmos with different shades of purples which does a great deal to help direct the psyche of viewer to feel as though they are indeed watching a nightmare. And for good reason. The use of story telling is of particular quality. One story, shared earlier on in the film has a tendency to stay with you. In fact, the story is so detailed, peculiar and horrific that one has to wonder if it was indeed a fictional story or if it was perhaps something that had happened to the author of the film Pano Cosmotos as a child. The underlying fear of cultism that existed throughout 80’s rings true within the film with many hints at satanism peppered throughout. To top off the uneasiness of the movie the villains of the film ride around in a creepy Scooby Doo van typical of the time period. The use of clever trick photography makes the films visuals trippy in places. But it’s not enough to save the film, especially earlier on. Than as quickly as the story develops it falls short. In fact, around half an hour in I was considering pulling the pin on the entire film. After a giant yawn I decided to hang in there. As did Nicolas Cage. It should be noted that this man will do just about anything for a pay check! After a series of insults were exchanged between the villains of the story and Cage a realisation suddenly dawned upon me. I had heard this story before. Some parts of it were drawn from actual events that took place in the heartland of the United States. The original story goes as follows. A couple of switched on fellas had built their own house in the forest. They than invited some strangers in and shared their home with them while inviting them to stay and celebrate. The strangers accepted and than turned on their good hosts, murdering them. The perpetrators were eventually caught and brought to justice. Yes, I have a strong feeling that some of this films ideas were perhaps drawn from these actual events. Anyways. The films heart relies on the viewers needing to harvest a strong sense of revenge. If the viewers flames of hatred are not fanned than the film doesn’t work. And the flames are only ever so briefly fanned at all. Cage has an Evildead moment while scaunching on the toilet. That was somewhat amusing. This is followed by an awesome forging scene where Cage creates his own badass battle axe, this is than followed by another couple of evil dead inspired scenes some of which were actually quite enjoyable. Then it gets weird, real weird, than Cage powders his nose and that’s when shit gets knocked into 12th gear.... I’m not going to lie, I actually started to have fun with this film. But in the end the films enjoyability somewhat falters. Was the film well made, yes, I would have to say that it was. Was this helped in part due to having access to Nicolas Cage, yes I would have to say so. Were there original filming techniques? Yep, there was a couple of those as well. However, did the film make a lick of sense? Nope, sadly not. Did it leave me wanting to solve the mystery of why nothing really made any sense? Nope not really. Overall it had its moments, a sword fight with chainsaws was amongst one of these highlights however it was over shadowed by the sense that perhaps the director was simply making the story up as he went. Could I have made a better film. Fuck no. I can barley make a decent cup of tea. Was the director inspired by past ideas and did he use these well. Yes, of course. The flow of the story is off, some parts could have been trimmed to pace the story better. Do my thoughts really matter? Fuck no. It is best to remember that there were tremendous amounts of work that went into making this film. I appreciate that, without question. Was it a bad film. Nope. Was it a great film. Nope. Will it become a cult classic? Possibly? Was it trying to become a manufactured cult classic? Yep. No doubt about it. And I think this is where the real problem lies. Recognising that the director loves cult classics is interesting but eating the member berries didn’t make the Evildead and it certainly didn’t make Donny Darko. These films were cult classics because they were fresh, timeless and displayed new talents. Would I have jumped at the opportunity to have Nicolas Cage in my movie if I was making one, fuck yeah, of course I would have. Should I have? Probably not. Could the lead role have been played by a rando unknown actor? Yep, no doubt about it. Would I have picked up the DVD if it did have a rando actor on it? Nope probably not. Was Pano smart about his selections for his actors and actresses, undoubtably. Can we expect big things from Panos next film? Yes and that is the biggest expectation I got from viewing Mandy.
After much deliberation I finally decided to bend the knee and watch Servant on Apple TV+ And what can I say other than it has its claws in me deep.
I have always found M Night Shyamalan’s work interesting and this is no exception. It is dark, gloomy, broody, atmospheric and very entertaining. The production value is blatantly obvious from the opening credits through to the end credits. Time and care have been taken to extract the most entertainment from each frame. The mystery surrounding this show is enduring and it’s clearly more than enough to keep me seated for three straight episodes. I must say, this is a rarity these days indeed. The synopsis must be summed up with utmost care. It is as follows. A wealthy couple hire a mysterious girl to help care for their new born boy. The job is not without its perks which include being able to live in the impressive home the couple own as well as cash in the hand payments and food. The husband is a chief to chiefs while the wife is a news anchor on the local Television station. Wealth and the wealth gap is a clear theme in this show from the get go. So is servitude. As the story unravels the viewer is left questioning everything. One of the more prominent hooks of this show is its ability to make you question who is playing who. The shear brutality of it at times is its other. The photography is superb, visual evidence would seem to suggest that the cinematographer has worked in the food industry at one time or another. The way in which the story is kept in the dark is another trick that is well utilised throughout the show. Darkness seems to be trying to consume every frame displayed. The underlying story rests on the frailty of each of the characters back stories. Each characters history is as deep and mysterious as the next. Story telling has always been one of M Nights Shyamalan’s strong suits as had his grasp of what a great idea is. This is what makes this show carry itself so well. A great idea with a great story, filmed well and presented with care equals a great viewing experience. Servant is simply highly recommended viewing. When I was 14 years old the local video shop in my home town went up in flames. Fortunately, the video shop was saved but many of the videos sustained 'smoke' damage and therefore the shop closed. The video shop itself soon become an Urban myth. The myth was as follows. Apparently if you knew where to look there was a way into the shop. It wasn't legal but it could be done with minimal effort. Before too long the the legendary VHS collection was beginning to be stripped from the shelves. Eventually the owner saved what was left by housing the collection in a storage unit. Many years later, while I was the owner of the local Cinema I was given an opportunity to come and collect the remaining VHS collection, my love for the format was well known in town and I guess the previous owner of the collection thought I would be the one to look after the collection now that he'd decided to pass it on. He was right, I did love the format and I still do. It was through obtaining this urban legend status VHS collection that I come about a forgotten gem, a diamond in the smoke damaged rough you might say.
The movie was titled The Good Son. If you haven't seen it and your a film fanatic than you should, it is however a piece of the darker side of cinema history. As of writing this it is currently available to watch in digital format on Google Play but unavailable every where else. Luckily for me I had the VHS copy that was salvaged from the great video shop fire of the 1996 and luckily for me I had a projector that I could play the film on. So with a cup of Farmers Cottage Hot Chocolate I climbed onto the couch and pressed play on this sadistic little film. As the credits began rolling memories of having first experienced this film came flooding back. The first viewing happened purely by chance. We were on a family trip to Toowoomba, the closest city to my home town and when we arrived we decided to visit the local cinema to see what was playing. Fortunately for us there was a film starting within ten minutes of us having arrived and since we were pressed for time we decided to watch what was available within our time limit. And thats how it happened, thats how three sibling children were exposed to the evil that was The Good Son. It had only been a couple of years earlier that we had all watched Macaulay's Culkins more famous films Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. And to be honest we all had high hopes of watching another enjoyable experience. We were however warned by the lady at the counter but we did not listen. All I remember from watching the movie all those years ago was that Macaulay Culkin played a sadistic little shit who deserved what was coming to him. It made me dislike the Home Alone kid and this evidently was not only dangerous to the Home Alone franchise but was dangerous to Macaulay Culkins future as an actor. If you want to see what has happened to his career since the release of the Good Son, click here. Don't get me wrong his Youtube comedy session was funny as hell but still a little weird right? Anyways we are getting off-track... The plot to The Good Son is simple enough. Boys mom dies, boy goes to live with Aunty and Uncle while Dad goes off to work. Boy fits in well with new family at first but before too long the true nature of his evil cousin, played by Macaulay Culkin is soon revealed. Staring alongside Macaulay Culkin is a young Frodo Baggins aka Elijah Woods and both the boys are superbly acted. Macaulay's younger sister Quinn Culkin also stars in this film as his tormented fictional sister who's life is nearly always threatened by the demonic little shit that is her brother. This film has it all, a bolt gun, a dead dog, a well, a bridge, an evil little shit and one hell of a cliff hanger. It is extremely well acted , in-fact it is so well acted you will soon forget that Macaulay Culkin was indeed the little boy from Home Alone. Viewers beware, this film is dark and a little over the top and totally off the cliff. When a one armed sales assistant recommends you watch a movie, you should probably listen to him. Especially when he tells you that the movie is about Harry Potter waking up with guns bolted to his hands. “Watch the movie if only to see him try and put pants on,” said the sales assistant from behind his counter.
I knew immediately that I could trust this mans recommendation. It was clear that he had some unique insight into the screen hero’s plight and after watching the movie I knew exactly why. Having hands is a privilege and losing the ability to use both of them is clearly an eternal struggle no one should ever need to experience. It is for this reason along with others that makes Guns Akimbo a movie with many a message. Screen violence is the main frame of the film while internet trolling is the binary pulse. From keyboard warrior to warrior who can’t use keyboard because of the weapons his hands have become. Guns Akimbo is worth viewing. It’s fresh, funny and full of subliminal messages. For this reason Guns Akimbo is not unlike the message boards of a trending YouTube video minus all the memes that don’t make a lick of sense. Having been stationed in Narrabri, New South Wales for work purposes I have been taking full advantage of the local video shop. Yep, that’s right, in 2020 there is still a video shop in Narrabri. Upon learning this fact my level of respect for this town went stratospheric. I mean, I come from a town with a higher population of people than Narrabri and we don’t have a video shop. Yes, much respect is deserved for a town for holding onto its video shop and even more respect is due for managing to keep its doors open. Trying to find this elusive video shop was an experience on its own. At first I simply googled Video Ezy Narrabri and I was given an address and phone number. I wasn’t game enough to simply call, I have been lead astray many times before, especially because I still did not fully believe that this mythical video shop actually existed. So, in true exploration fashion I decided to go on an adventure to find the shop on foot. Sounds easy, right? Well, actually, no. The first night in town I simply could not find the store, even with google maps open. Turns out, I was on the wrong side of the street and the store itself was no longer a Video Ezy, it was a nameless video shop without any signs indicating that it was a video shop at all. In fact, to complicate things further still, the video shop itself was a shop within a shop. The name of the shop it was enclosed in was called Shop 2390, turns out this is the postcode of the township itself. Eventually I asked a checkout attendant at the local Coles supermarket for directions. She replied “we have a video shop, but it’s not Video Ezy. It used to be. It’s down next to the Tatts”. What ever the hell that means I thought. I travelled back down the street and I finally found it. It was a multi faceted buisness which sold lottery tickets, scratch its, tobacco products and a variety of gifts. This immediately explained how they had managed to keep their doors open. There’s nothing quite like knowing that the reason your local video shop is still open is because of gambling and tobacco. Whatever the case, the video shop section itself was at the back of the shop and it was the stuff of my dreams. (No joke, I have actually dreamed of going to the video shop...many times). The store provided a good variety of new releases and a well stocked library of weekly rentals with all the classics, except for Psycho which I soon discovered had sadly been moved to the ex-rental section for $3.00, what a travesty...The shop also sold video game consoles, controllers and games. PS4 and Xbox were both well supported, the Nintendo Switch however was sadly neglected. Surprisingly I did find a Nintendo Wii U game hidden in the used games section that I snapped up for a neat $5.00. The game was Kirby and the Rainbow Curse or as it is known in Australia Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush. Turns out it was well worth the five dollars. I will write a review for this game soon. I have always enjoyed the experience of visiting the video store. During the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s it was simply one of my favourite past times. I would spend hours walking amongst the shelves trying to search for the perfect movie for the mood I was in. Side note - Mood is how I mentally classify movies. The emotion different films draw from me allows me to categorise them. As you may have already guessed, video shops meant and still do mean so much to me. Therefore having a video shop within walking distance was simply something I could not pass up. I have been sure to walk down each evening to rent a movie while I still can. I’m even content with paying the over-dues if I need to. I am simply delighted to be able to experience the video shop again. With all of today’s streaming internet services video shops have become a rarity indeed. With the way things are going there’s always a real chance that this could be the final experience of the video shop that I might have the privilege of enjoying. Thanks must be given to Shop 2390 for giving me a chance to soak up the video shop experience once more! So, with having said all that, on the second night after arriving I rented The Lighthouse, I have also posted a review for this that you can find further down the blog entries. I kept this film for two nights, which resulted in the over-dues I mentioned further up. On the fourth night I decided to rent the sci-fi thriller Underwater. This is finally the point of the article where I will review the movie as mentioned in the title of this entry. If you’ve made it this far into the article, good for you :) I went into the film Underwater having heard good things. I have friends who have watched the movie and they gave very excited reviews. After having watched the film it was clear that these friends of mine were simply content that someone had pieced together a flick reminiscent of the films they grew up with. When I first watched the preview for Underwater I was instantly reminded of such classics as The Abyss, Alien, and Sphere and I figured Underwater would be very similar. I wasn’t far wrong. Turns out the Director William Eubank was born in 1982. While the screen writers were also born in the late 70’s and 80’s. It is clear from the films storyline that they were exposed and inspired by these genre specific films. And that’s a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with making a good sci-fi thriller that pays homage to past classics and this was Underwater’s strongest hand. It’s budget was it’s other strength. The storyline was interesting enough. An ocean floor oil drilling station experiences an earthquake and as a result begins to implode under the pressure of the deep waters surrounding it. The lead actress Norah played by a cleverly disguised Kristen Stewart races against the forces of pressure to escape the imploding station. Along the way she meets up with the stations captain Lucien and several other well formed and some times eccentric characters. Norahs plan is to get to the escape pods and leave the depths before herself and her fellow crew members are swallowed up by the ocean. The story from this point leads the viewers through the wreckage of the breached station, this is perhaps the films weakest hand. The claustrophobic atmosphere that made The Abyss such an enduring thriller failed to materialise. More pressure is added to the storyline when the group has a realisation that there’s something in the darkness of the murky ocean bottom that happens to be picking off the crew members one by one. Disaster film to monster film. Underwater was entertaining fun, although it did manage to become confusing at times, especially when the survivors were in the murky sediment of the ocean floor. This tended to leave the viewer unsure as to what exactly was going on. Whether this was the intention or not remains to be “seen”. Underwater did manage to make a sea story feel like a space story and that was, I believe, the creators ultimate goal. The film lead the viewer to compare the immensity of the ocean to the immensity of space. A realisation for the viewer occurs while watching the film that if alien life does indeed exist somewhere out there than why couldn’t it already exist on earth, on the ocean floor? While viewing the movie it becomes obvious that the deep ocean is indeed an alien landscape to us humans. Put simply humans do not belong in the depths of the ocean. But perhaps Cthulhu does? 6 octopi arms out of 8. Underwater can be purchased online here. |
Micheal FarmerOnce upon time Micheal Farmer owned a cinema. So you can trust that his passion for film is truly immense. Archives
May 2022
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