Another Month Another Challenge
Last year I participated in the Timewaster Challenge , a 50 prompt movie scavenger hunt that took me on a gamut of different genres. This year I did another Movie Challenge for three reasons.
- I'm a glutton for punishment.
- I wanted to start my watchlist challenge off right by knocking a few films off my list.
- I just went through a breakup and I needed something dumb and self indulgent.
- Crash(2004), the film that beat out Brokeback Mountain(2005) for best picture and the one that Ta-Nehisi Coates called the "Worst Film of the Decade".
- Midsommar(2019), A incredible popular A24 flick. Also the only film that I've heard someone use the terms "girlboss" and "white supremacy" in to describe.
- Run Lola Run(1998), a super cool German Experimental film that utilizes the technique of Flash Forwards, y'know like that one chapter of the Green Mile.
American Pie(1999)
Referenced: Russian Doll
"THERE’S NOTHING LIKE YOUR FIRST PIECE.
At a high-school party, four friends find that losing their collective virginity isn’t as easy as they had thought. But they still believe that they need to do so before college. To motivate themselves, they enter a pact to all 'score.' by their senior prom."
If there is one type of film that I am always apprehensive of it is the sex comedy. Now I enjoy a good dick joke as much as the next person but there's a lot of times that "Sex Comedy" is just an excuse for tired cliché sexist tropes or proto-incel propaganda. As we all know the female orgasm was discovered in 2009 after the shake weight was introduced on Ellen. American Pie from a distance looks to be the same ilk as the 80s films that came up with more and more creative ways of finding dubious consent if not outright sexual assault but this film both confirmed and exceeded my expectations.
On the one hand this film surprises me, becasue even through each of the boys start outs as the newest members of r/braincels they manage to realize that these femoids are actually real human people with feelings, (except for Jason Biggs but I'm watching OITNB rn and I think all of his characters are like that). This film actually treats the women in it as people with sexual agency and those women call out these sexist tools on their misogyny. Iconic.
On the other hand this film literally got a woman deported after Jason Biggs filmed her without her permission which is *checks notes* some kinda rapey. Also while I absolutely am vibing for the MILF energy in films like Nightmare Alley(2021), (please step on me Kate Blanchett), dear lord Jennifer Coolidge, he is a child, do not fuck these fucking teenagers.
Overall, this film had its good moments, some moments that aged like unrefrigerated milk, and some "The Talk" scenes that were almost as uncomfortable to watch as it was trying to watch my own father explain how straight people have sex. so points for realism I guess.
Rating: Meh/Alright Film
Sphere(1998)
Referenced: The Haunting of Hill House
"A THOUSAND FEET BENEATH THE SEA, THE BLACKEST HOLES ARE IN THE MIND…A spacecraft is discovered on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the Habitat, a state-of-the-art underwater living environment, to investigate."
I am an avid fan of Michael Crichton, so it actually comes as a surprise that I've never watched this film adaptation. Unlike other Crichton's work Sphere is one of his few novels that actually dip into the realm of horror. Its difficult to translate Crichton's work at the best of times. He has a talent for incredible technical detail which while enjoyable for a reading experience is lost in translation when moved to a purely visual medium. The only film for me that elevates his work is Jurrassic Park(1993), whose more action oriented style lent itself to the big screen. Sphere as a novel had so many interesting moments, the details discussing the technical aspects of the ship and the sea lab, the philosophical ideas that the titular sphere talked about, the creeping horror that for a Crichton novel bordered on the supernatural. It is definitely one of his more unique books.
Sphere for me while not a bad adaptation by any means had to cut out a lot of the depth, (pun intended), of the original novel. For instance, there were multiple attacks on the station from various entities, Norman Johnson has a rather Clarkian exchange with the Sphere that was completely scraped, as well as just a lot of the rest of the plot that had to be cut out for the run time. What remains in the film certainly works and certainly feels like a Crichton work but for me it is a pale shade compared to one of the few sci-fi novels that have ever scared me and also awaked a deep love for waterpunk/sealab settings. This is mostly me waxing poetic at this point but there needs to be more Crichton adaptations perhaps a 70s inspired throwback of The Terminal Man with just a bunch of running or a heartfelt mini series of Airframe in the spirit of Terminal(2004).
Rating: Great Film/Personnal Recommendation
Straight Outto Compton(2015)
Referenced: 11 Shows I'm Excited To See On Quibi
"THE STORY OF N.W.A.In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today."
While I have spent some time listening to N.W.A, the complexities of Rap music, especially gangster rap is lost on me. Which is a pity. Rap like many music genres created by Black Americans is a form of protest and its impossible to separate the complexities of hip-hop culture from the reality of the systematic racism of the 1990s. While both still persist today there's really no way I can truly understand how important Niggas With Attitude had on our cultural landscape. Reality is messy and unfortunately too many people, (specifically us whites), write off music and other forms of art as vulgar, obscene, or some other snobbish bullshit. It also becomes more insidious when those various same people who previously derided work by black artists suddenly find it acceptable when that same format is adapted by a more socially respected, (read white), creator. There's a scene where a bunch of white teenagers scream "this isn't real music" as they smash records under their feet. Their outrage would be comical if for some reason it didn't immediately remind me of the sneering faces of the segregationist from the 1950s or the fact that society uses these ideas of obscenity as a scrapegoat even nowadays. As proponents of the "thinkofthechildren" club try to ban the works of Toni Morisson and other Black authors underneath the canard that literature that doesn't subscribe to a sanitized white history is automatically "Leftist Indoctrination". That's the rub isn't it. Life and history is messy and sometimes the most subversive truest art is vulgur and obscene and visceral but the people that most need to hear truth to power are the ones that expect you to subscribe to patronizing respectability politics.
I am glad this film exists for a variety of reasons but mostly because in the same way that Straight Outta Compton(the album), didn't subscribe to white society's "Respectable" idea of music, Straight Outta Compton(The Movie) doesn't subscribe to the persistent "Oscar-bait" ethos. Hollywood revels in this idea of flaccid psuedo-subversive political films, full of centrists platitudes that for the neo-liberals gives them some bullshit about learning how we're all just people and its only that one racist cop and for the Neo-Conservatives they turn around and wink because there's a reason why this Gay or Black man dies a sad tragic life. It would have been so easy for this film to go the route of so many other bio-pics before it, give us some dry staid tale of tragedy porn and then go straight into awards campaigning. Fortunately this films creators, gave us a story that both its subject and audience deserved.
Rating: Great Film/Personal Recommendation
Tangerine(2015)
Referenced: The Sinner S1
"MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE, BITCH.It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity."
While we're on this Academy hate I wanna mention this film lost out to The Danish Girl(2015), which many critics have derided as being deeply transphobic. Also it's another film where they decided to give awards for a cis-man playing a trans women, a conversation that I already went into exhaustive length with my review of the truly awful Dallas Buyers Club(2013). Enough about how much I hate the Academy lets talk about some good shit by which I mean Tangerine. First off Nani? transgender people exist and they don't look like a discount Pagliacci in some mummers play. imagine that. Its almost like directors like Vallee could have cast actually transgender people this entire time. Representation is a fucking parched desert in Hollywood and the fact that Baker managed to cast not one but two actually transgender actresses in his film blows my fucking mind.
I absolutely loved Tangerine. It was funny, the characters felt real, and this shit was shot on an iphone and they made that shit work. It's not easy to film on your phone, trust me I'm a Youtuber I would know. I'm sure somebody on the internet is mad at this film because the trans characters in this story are sex workers but that critique for me is beyond classist. Tangerine is absolutely a story set from the perspective of the lower cast, it features people who are struggling to survive and on the way they ilk out any small amount of happiness they can find. What I love about this film is that there is absolutely no shame in these characters. Of course there are secrets, regret, some truly evocative scenes at the end that make you want to cry, but none of the shame these characters may feel revolve around the fact that they trans or sex workers or barely scrapping by. This film is a celebration so Happy Pride Bitch.
Rating: Were Watching This Right Now.
The Exorcist(1973)
Referenced: Marianne
"SOMETHING ALMOST BEYOND COMPREHENSION IS HAPPENING TO A GIRL ON THIS STREET, IN THIS HOUSE… AND A MAN HAS BEEN SENT FOR AS A LAST RESORT. THIS MAN IS THE EXORCIST.
12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith."
"SOMETHING ALMOST BEYOND COMPREHENSION IS HAPPENING TO A GIRL ON THIS STREET, IN THIS HOUSE… AND A MAN HAS BEEN SENT FOR AS A LAST RESORT. THIS MAN IS THE EXORCIST.12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith."
When reading contemporary accounts of The Exorcist its interesting to read how controversial and more importantly novel the concept of exorcism was to a horror audience. Now the idea of exorcism existed in film priory but it was mainly in ecclesiastic fashion. When Fiendkins seminal film reached audiences in 1973 it was at a point in which the dichotomy of skepticism vs belief could be fully realized as America was beginning to become more secular. This dichotomy is a beyond favored trope for me and finds its way into many of my favorite storys whether that be the Exorcism of Emily Rose(2005), The Black Tapes Podcast, or a recent favorite Paramount's Evil, (I haven't had time to finish season two through so no spoilers).
It's always difficult to have expectations when a film is credited as a progenitor of a sub-genre. Do you expect it to be the best there ever could be or are you saddled with the creeping worry that the films that came after it have turned what was once innovative into the cliche. Blair Witch for me is a prime example of that later worry through there is still an ethos and aesthetic to the film I love. Fortunately for me this worry was unfounded, Friedkin directs with his near Kubrickion style, building up layers of mythos, atmosphere, and character building while also being scary as fuck. If this film has aged, it is that of a patina, it feels timeless but the parts that show its age are the parts that distinguish the period.
This film absolutely deserves all of its hype and it is absolutely a classic for a reason.
Rating: We're Watching This Right Now
The Ring(2002)
Referenced: Friend Request
"BEFORE YOU DIE, YOU SEEIt sounded like just another urban legend: A videotape filled with nightmarish images, leading to a phone call foretelling the viewer’s death in exactly seven days. As a newspaper reporter, Rachel Keller was naturally skeptical of the story, until four teenagers all met with mysterious deaths exactly one week after watching just such a tape. Allowing her investigative curiosity to get the better of her, Rachel tracks down the video… and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring."
Oh my goodness why is everyone so hot in this and why is it so ... green?
The Ring started the craze of American Remakes of popular J-Horror films. The Japanese's Invasion was in full swing at the time and while most of us weebs would be getting into the works of CLAMP, Bisco Hatori, Tite Kubo and Rumiko Takahasi, the more horror-driven would be stumbling across Japanese Urban Legends(kamen shinin ma) and Ghost Story's and the image of the onryō would be burned into their collective memory.
To start this review I wanted to contextualize the remake by discussing a similar film that was also directed by Hideo Nakata and based off of a story by Koji Suzuki. Dark Water.
The original Dark Water is this atmospheric gothic tale that underlines the external forces against the mother both in regards to her divorce and the ghost encroaching upon her. Salles' Dark Water is more internal where the main conflict is the mothers mental state and whether or not she's being gaslit by the people around her. Both are cinematically beautiful, both have deep emotive characters and for some reason people hate one and love the other. The main difference I really see between these two films is that both are very endemic of their countries. I love both of these films and honestly can't imagine the story without both of these interpretations.
Hot take: I like the remake better. I really enjoyed Nakata's version of Dark Water and when I saw Ringu(1998) which was made a few years prior it just left me disappointed. Where was the atmosphere and subtle tension, where were these beautiful surreal visual moments that made me fall in love with his cinematography. then I compare it to the absolute vibes that Gore Verbinski,(side note: he also did Cure for Wellness), gives off that the original just starts to feel like a pale imitation.
To elaborate my thoughts there's this one shot early in the film where the main character shows the tape to her Ex to prove she's not going crazy, she goes out on the balcony to have a smoke and stares across the street as you do. In Nakata's film you see a non descript shot of a apartment building in the distance, in Verbinski's version it's a POV shot as the camera pans over a much closer high-rise as she notices all of the televisions tuned into different stations and your suddenly feel the new found danger that Naomi Watts is in.
Its clear that Verbinski lifted a good portion of Nakata's storyboarding to create this film but at the end of the day, Verbinksi pulled off a much more cleaner, tenser product then Nakata and this is probably one of my favorite movies by the director.
Rating: We're Watching This Right Now
The Strangers(2008)
"LOCK THE DOOR. PRETEND YOU’RE SAFE.After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive."
"In the episode the sadism and ambivalence of the home invaders, who have some very strong The Strangers(2008) vibes, is replaced with the sad reality of the American immigration system." (sic)
I referenced The Strangers not necessarily do to their senseless killing but to the fact that they where masked. This was an egregious error on my part or at least an example of my limited knowledge. People a bit older then me would have been to point out that the invaders costumes in this film where homages to Alice, Sweet Alice(1976) and its spiritual predecessor Don't Look Now(1973).
Homages, send ups, and references muddy especially when many 2000s directors took a lot of inspiration from 70s horror from the giallo-esque brutality of its slashers to its further emphasis on more realistic intense gore. What truly separates something like Last House on the Left(1972) with House of a 1000 Corpses(2003) in regards to pointless brutality?
While my reasons for referencing this film where flawed my desire to watch this film wasn't. There are so many things I enjoy about this film, from how vivid, (and hot), the main characters are, the scene where the Man in the Mask is watching her, the cinematography and framing. This movie is tense and it manages to make an enjoyable viewing experience despite the genre blindness the characters may occasionally have.
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