The Voyeurs: a guiltless guilty pleasure

Greetings, commies!

You don't have to wait for Halloween to enjoy a creepy treat. For some of us it's been political Halloween for the past 7 months. If you want to take a break from WWIII, consider streaming The Voyeurs. 

Synopsis:

A young couple (Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith), find themselves becoming interested in the sex life of their neighbors across the street (Ben Hardy and Natasha Liu Bordizzo). What starts as an innocent curiosity turns into an unhealthy obsession, after they discover that one neighbor is cheating. Temptation and desire cause their lives to become tangled together leading to deadly consequences.

My thoughts:

"If you see something, say/do something." Right? Not necessarily. Modern culture is filled with mixed messages and moral ambivalences. If you see "something" that "looks like something", what do you do? How do you decide if it's your place to step in? Are you truly following the call of your conscience to expose lies, or are you merely gratifying your idle, obscene curiosity? By the way, there is no such thing as "innocent curiosity" when it comes to other people's sex lives. I felt strangely dirty and guilty myself for watching a movie about voyeurs. I would call it "guilt-free guilty pleasure". 

A few words about Sydney Sweeney. I saw her in "Nocturne". She does a decent job playing a "good girl" with a few pesky demons who suddenly grow on her and take over her life. She has an expressive face and can go from innocent to psycho in a few seconds. 

Alas, the absolutely implausible ending cheapens the movie. If you can cut out the last 5 minutes, you will find yourself much more satisfied. I am not going to dismiss the movie altogether, because it does raise many valid questions in the realms of ethics and social norms. Take it as a cautionary tale about dark impulses masked as good intentions. 

Brimstone: a religious thriller

 

Greetings, commies!

In a mood for a light summer flick? Not a chance! I don't watch or review those. Brimstone is an excellent choice guaranteed to give you nightmares. It's billed as a "A gritty revenge western, about a young woman in a frontier community who must go on the run when she is targeted by a diabolical preacher."

Not every film set in the West qualifies as a "western", and not every plot that contains elements of revenge automatically becomes a "revenge" piece. "Brimstone" is more of a multi-layered religious thriller. It helps to have some understanding of the Scripture to appreciate the structure of the film, all the theological references. If you are a totally secular viewer without any interest in the Bible, you will view this film as yet another attempt to make Christians look bad. If you already have an aversion to organized religion, this movie will not change your position, certainly. But this film is so much more than just another criticism of the hardcore evangelical movement in the US. The cinematography is stunning, horrifying and stern. The plot is blood-chilling. The antagonist is so repulsive, that you forget that he is a minister. You don't focus on his position in society. That kind of fades into the background. One thing that put me off is the idealized depiction of less than ideal women. Of course, they are depicted as agents of compassion and solidarity in this harsh, male-dominated world. I wish there had been more ambivalent female characters, capable of backstabbing and manipulation and cruelty. These acts should not be reserved to men alone. 

The Act: a toxic family drama enough to make you paranoid

Greetings, commies & mommies-dearest! 

As many of you are preparing to send your kids back to school, you are, no doubt, getting all sorts of complaints "Do I HAVE to go back". If your kids accuse you of being "mean", if they wish they had a different mommy/daddy, you can always say: "At least your mommy is not like Dee Dee Blanchard." Based on a real harrowing case of Munchausen by proxy, The Act is a must see for all wholesome (or not) families. As kids, many of us have feigned symptoms to gain sympathy and avoid going to school (come on, own up!) But imagine if the roles are reversed, and it's your parents who are doing the feigning, trying to convince the world that their precious child suffers from a string of mysterious maladies. 

I have to say, having worked in child protection services, I am a little paranoid and prone to scrutinizing certain families. We are trained to see abuse, neglect and toxic parenting everywhere. So it's amazing that the characters in the series had managed to keep up the act for such a long time. Dee Dee Blanchard, brilliantly portrayed by Patricia Arquette, fools the most skeptical and hardened of neighbors. 

A post-menopausal Arquette, is no longer a sex symbol. In the past she had played some dark vixen characters. And Joey King, God bless her, will never be a sex symbol (not that Hollywood needs more of them). She is a few plastic surgeries away from being a generic, mainstream beauty. I hope she never goes the Jennifer Grey route, gets a nose job and loses her quirky appeal. In "The Act" she flipflops between the wounded ugly duckling and a fetish worthy almost-swan. Not many young actresses would have been able to pull that off. 

So, if you think your family has problems, splurge on "'The Act". 

Ammonite: a speculative same sex romance

Greetings, commies! 

It's Pride month, so I thought it would be fitting to review a film featuring a same sex love story. If you are in a mood for a beautifully shot slow burner, check out Ammonite, starring my two favorite actresses, Kate Winslet and Saiorse Ronan. 

Synopsis:

1840s England, acclaimed fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.

My thoughts:

I said it before about the French film "Portrait of a Lady On Fire", and the same idea applies to this review. A same sex love story should not be used as an excuse for lazy writing. Imagine if this was a heterosexual love story. Would you feel cheated out of a richer, more engaging plotline and character development? Some writers think that just because the story is about two women, that alone should carry the weight of the film. 

First things first, the social context. Some may not realize, but in Victorian England, two women in love could get away with much more than their male counterparts. It was not uncommon for women to form romantic friendships, live together for periods of time, and not be suspected of "immoral behavior". A spinster and a young wife spending a lot of time in each other's company would probably not raise any eyebrows. Public hand-holding, embraces and kisses were regarded as tokens of tender affection. Women were believed to be "too pure" for any kind of deviant behavior. So the two lovers in "Ammonite" were not exactly endangering themselves. 

Yes, the cinematography is sublime. The ambience is moody and brooding. But there is only so much the finest of actresses can do with a dull, unimaginative script. There are too many narrative gaps, too many proverbial guns that were never fired. One of such guns is the infamous Mr. Murchison. He is not even two-dimensional - he is an empty shell, a sketch of a character. I can certainly appreciate leaving to the viewer's imagination, but his character was just left in its embryonic form, and that's a shame. He is reduced to a cold, patriarchal talking head. There could've been so much more to him. Why is he so reluctant to engage with his wife in intimacy? Could he be struggling with some same sex attractions as well? I wish he had been developed more. 

Now, the much-anticipated love scenes. I found them a little too ... "expert"? These two women are supposedly unversed in the art of same sex love. It must be new and awkward for both of them. Yet they seem to know what to do right off the bat. 

Nobody expected a happy ending, but its bitterness was a little unconvincing. The main character pretty much throws away her chance at happiness. There is really nothing standing in their way, no harsh conventions. We have Mr. Murchison, who is immersed in his newly found hobby, who has no interest in his wife. Yet Mary harshly rejects her young lover's attempts at building a future together. 

Home: a compilation of religious stereotypes

Greetings, commies!

Glory to Ukraine! (First and foremost). If you want to take a break from the horrific news in the real world, consider killing 90 minutes of your time on Home, a supernatural horror flick from 2016.

Synopsis:

Carrie, a young religious fundamentalist, must learn to overcome her own fears and believes to save her little sister from a haunted house.

My thoughts:

The makers of this C-list clearly had a crude, blatant liberal agenda. It's clear that whoever wrote the screenplay had not bothered to research contemporary Christian beliefs and practices. The protagonist, Carrie, is billed as "fundamentalist", yet she wears a cross and makes a sign of the cross - both practices more in line with Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism. It's a shame that the character is portrayed as a series of Christian cliches, including her self-righteous homophobia. At the same time, her mother and her new wife are depicted as atheists. Newsflash: not all gay couples reject religion altogether. The writing could have been much more sophisticated and nuanced, if not for those stereotypes. The manifestations of the malevolent demonic force are also rather cartoonish. A few times I caught myself laughing instead of gasping with terror. Not to spoil the ending, but the writers took away a few elements from "The Sixth Sense". If you are a film student looking for an example of lazily executed horror movie, give "Home" a go.

Ulster Lament: an Irish tune ... sung by the English

Greetings, chaps!

The situation in Ukraine and the various humanitarian missions have kept me so busy, I somehow missed the release of my own novel. It's not quite as bad as locking your dog in a hot car, but still. Ulster Lament touches upon many topics that are perpetually relevant and near and dear to my heart: nationalism, imperialism, perverted loyalty. 

Ulster, Co. Antrim, 1903

Born with a limp, unsuitable for military service, Peter Greenwood knows that he is an embarrassment to his father, an officer in the British army. At seventeen the youth travels to Belfast to study journalism. New friends help Peter find a job at a conservative newspaper The Empire.

His first assignment is to publish the memoirs of a retired captain Evan Pryce, a veteran of the Transvaal campaign. At the very first meeting Peter recognizes a broken, bitter man, who is not proud of his past. Molly, the captain's feral and uncouth daughter, takes a liking to Peter and shares a few family secrets that do not quite tie with the patriotic spirit of the newspaper.

The Pryce family has a sworn enemy, an Irish nationalist hungry for vengeance, to which Peter becomes a witness. Even though his own life is spared, it now belongs to the rebels. He must use his literary skills to cover up their crimes.

Ulster Lament, a bewitching folk melody sung by the ringleader, infects Peter's thoughts and makes him question his loyalty to the crown. He starts sympathizing with the rebels and believing that their rage is justified. Will he turn against everything he was taught to hold sacred?

Titane: a winsome mix of sickness and sweetness

Synopsis:

Alexia suffers a terrible skull injury and has a titanium plate fitted into her head. When she gets out of the hospital, she rejects her parents and embraces passionately the car that almost killed her. The coming years she has problems with her sexuality and meets Vincent. Vincent is a tortured man who tries to preserve his strength by injecting steroids into his aging body. Will they find a way to deal with their emotional problems?

My thoughts:

We saw this movie on a big screen when it came out in the fall of 2021. "Titane" is sick in a sweet way, and sweet in a sick way. Agathe Rousselle really puts herself through hell to play the role. This actress is no great beauty - but the roll doesn't call for it. Her androgynous angular features really lend themselves to creating this creature beyond gender or flesh. Rousselle creates a whole twisted universe inside herself - and around herself. The film features a whole slew of unique, grotesque, memorable faces. Wounded, twisted, emotionally disfigured people have a way of finding solace in each other, and that's the message of this film.