Hereditary

2018’s Hereditary, written and directed by Ari Aster.

Starring Toni Collete, Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, and Mallory Bechtel.

What is it about?

Hereditary is a horror film about a family dealing with the loss of their maternal grandmother. Mother and miniature artist, Toni Collete, Father, Gabriel Byrne, Daughter, Milly Shapiro, and Son, Alex Wolff, need to sort through their feelings of grief and trauma. Buried deep underneath the loss, are the shadowy secrets of the family. As the revelations burrow upwards, so too do supernatural elements. Will these things coalesce into horror for the family?

Why is it worth seeing?

Hereditary is the astonishingly confident feature debut of writer/director Ari Aster. Much like the dollhouse miniatures that Collete’s mother character creates, it’s a disturbing metaphor for the dysfunction that can live within beautiful American homes with seemingly normal inhabitants. Aster uses this setting to show off some hypnotically unsettling imagery.

Here, Toni Collete gives the performance of a lifetime, and leaves no bases untouched as a flawed mother who needs to grieve and untangle her relationship with her mother, be there for her kids, and therapeutically come to grips with expressing her inner demons through her disturbingly true to life dioramas. Her role is the key element in turning Hereditary’s tone from merely strange to seriously anxiety provoking.

It is so easy to be cynical and bored of modern horror movies and their tired techniques. But the journey Aster takes us on, relies on a confidence of vision that jaggedly leaves us dreading that next corner, that next barely lit image, that next resolution we didn’t ask for. We are helpless victims to a parade of horrors- like any good sadist, Aster takes his time in watching us squirm.

In the film’s quieter moments, the nuclear family possesses a quiet that betrays the unspoken words that they share. There are secrets, horrible ones- and they will come to light. These revelations, shared sometimes with breathless anger, are a refreshing change from cliched jump scares of horror movies past. It’s Ordinary People, but with the supernatural. Or The Exorcist, in that we straight forwardly watch loved ones go a different way.

Some will undoubtedly find the material too unsettling, or merely too slow, for the patient approach to clinical dysfunction here. It’s their loss, as Hereditary shows its true colours in honouring horror classics that have come before, while creating something new and fresh that is difficult to unweave from the collective unconscious. Some things just run in the family.

Rating:

4/5

Trailer: Click Here.

The Death of Stalin

2017’s The Death of Stalin, directed by Armando Iannucci.

Starring Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin, Olga Kurylenko, Jason Isaacs, Tom Brooke, Paddy Considine, Justin Edwards, and Adrian McLoughlin.

What is it about?

The Death of Stalin is a political satire about a group of Russian senior officials in 1953, whom are tasked with running the country after their despot, Joseph Stalin, dies. The head of the secret police (Simon Russell Beale) attempts to seize power, but senior official (Steve Buscemi) would rather the socialist state be run by him. With plenty of officials (such as Jeffrey Tambor and Michael Palin) and Stalin’s children (Rupert Friend and Andrea Riseborough) to be batted about in their game of thrones, who will come out on top to run the superpower?

Why is it worth seeing?

Director and co-writer Armando Iannucci (known for fare such as TV’s Veep and the film, In the Loop), brings his political satiric barbs to the setting of mid 20^th century Russia. It’s a winning combination, his elevation of the politically absurd to the schizophrenic setting of a fascist state being wrestled over by clever and extraordinarily petty men. The results are hilariously black comedy at its finest.

There’s nothing funny about the nightmare of living in a state where citizens are indiscriminately put on kill lists. It’s the kind of situation that throughout history has produced the phenomenon of gallows humour. In all of its grinning skull horror, blacker than black, we see the entitled callousness and sheer incompetence of the ruling class. While their poor citizens scurry about in confused terror, they plot and bicker for power like scheming children.

While the characters attempt their godless pretzel shaped machinations, the script repeatedly points out the absurdities of living in such a situation. One character comments, “I’ve had nightmares that make more sense than this.” Watching loyal subjects, trying to avoid consequences such as death from a terror machine perpetually changing its loyalties and rules, leads to slap stick scenarios.

Behind the amusing absurdities, lies a drum tight game of snakes and ladders. Iannucci drops his typical mockumentary style, opting for something more cinematic. Refreshingly devoid of trying to be “authentic”, Stalin doesn’t do the Hollywood tradition of having actors inconsistently speak with Russian accents (Enemy at the Gates anyone?), nor speak in Russian with sub titles. Instead, the actors speak as they normally do, leaving us to focus on what the movie is about: the sometimes hilariously ungrounded world of politics where you don’t know if you should laugh or salute.

Rating:

4/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Top 5 Lamest Villains of All Time

Something your parents never told you is that being a villain is just so much more fun than the hero. Disregarding society’s rules, there’s nothing quite like a good villain that you love to hate.

This list isn’t about that. These are the villains that make you desperately pine for something of Darth Vader, Hannibal Lector, or The Joker calibre. Perpetually short of expectations and giving the hero little to overcome (or care about), here’s some the lesser villains come across in my travels:

 

5. The depiction of nature in The Happening.

M Night Shyamalan's film asks the question: what's a better casting for a villain than nature? With the exception of the 4 entries below- almost anything. While the idea of mother nature exacting vengeance on humans makes sense to some tree huggers, Shyamalan's direction forces us to watch various characters grovel to houseplants for forgiveness. In between, we're left to struggle to understand how and why the invisible airborne spores released from the antagonists actually impact suddenly suicidal human beings. Unthreatening while being confusingly vague, the chlorophyll content makes you reach for the chloroform.

4. Gary Oldman’s crew from The Professional.

While Oldman’s psychotically over the top performance as a corrupt New York police officer at least has menace and villainy to it, his police subordinates are hilarious- with their best quality being their bizarre diversity. Their lack of authenticity comes across as something between affirmative action and the hackey sack division of their law enforcement precinct. It’s unclear, how in a make believe movie about an adolescent orphan girl who’s taken in by a hitman to become a trained assassin, that these clowns are the one element that is impossible to take seriously. Are the dirty dreadlocks, leather vests, and hemp sweater covered by their extended benefits?

3. Topher Grace as Venom in Spider Man 3.

Venom is the one of the cooler comic book characters ever, his symbiotic bio organism suit a pulsating manifestation of bulked up human partner Eddie Brock’s rage. At the time of part 3's release, we’d just watched Alfred Molina rock it as a the Doc Oc villain in Spider Man 2, not to mention Thomas Hayden Church’s underrated work as the Sandman in this very movie. So imagine my surprise when the nebbish and petulant Topher Grace was miscast as one of Spiderman’s greatest foils, Venom. Grace has great difficulty coming across as anything but juvenile, petty, and consistently non threatening- I guess Bronson Pinchot or Yahoo Serious weren't available.

2. Eddie Redmayne as Balem Abrasax in Jupiter Ascending.

In a movie featuring a half dog half human alien with flying inline skates, things really go off the space rails when Oscar winner Eddie Redmaine's emperor character enters the fray. Alternating between speaking in an effeminate whisper and incoherent screaming, it's a stilted performance for the ages that is both strange and hypnotically awful. Redmayne's false gravitas feels like it belongs in a different film, creating a push-pull tension with the rest of the Wachowski siblings' unique brand of science fiction pulp set against the performance's peculiar oddities. Bizarrely unforgettable.

1. Taylor Negron as Milo in The Last Boy Scout.

#1 with an impotent bullet, Taylor Negron’s role as the right hand man for a typical National Football League franchise owner is about as menacing as a poodle. With a haircut that resembles Anton Chigurh if he suddenly thought he was hip, Negron’s character even has the perfect name: Milo. It’s difficult to imagine where this guy came from- Carrot Top’s prop box after it went through a Euro trash factory? Negron’s take on the character, is completely unthreatening, and ensconced in lavender inspired faux civility combined with cocaine fiend producer Joel Silver’s closet. Hysterically difficult to take seriously, and eager to convince you he’s a European force to be threatened with (at least to helicopter cleaners), Milo is one of the funniest villains in film history- who doesn’t crack any jokes. We’re laughing at him when we’re not laughing with Shane Black’s script. Memorable in all of his impressively fake infamy.

The Wrestler

2008’s The Wrestler, directed by Darren Arnofsky.

Starring Mickey Rourke, Marissa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens, and Ajay Naidu.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Marissa Tomei) and Best Actor (Mickey Rourke).

What is it about?

The Wrestler is a story about a middle aged man (Mickey Rourke) who’s glory days of professional wrestling are behind him. No longer a headliner, Rourke ekes out a living wrestling at community centres on weekends and part time work at a grocery store. With fried hair, a hearing aid, and a heart that is threatening to quit on him after years of bodybuilder abuse, time isn’t on his side. Rourke has feelings for an exotic dancer (Marissa Tomei), and a daughter that he hasn’t been in contact with for years. Will Rourke be able to prioritize so he can stay alive- and win outside of the ring?

Why is it worth seeing?

The Wrestler is a different take than usual from typically intense director Darren Arnofsky. Freed of time travelling spiritual epics and public service announcements about the dangers of addictions and ballet absorption, he saves the intensity for the depth with which we get to know Mickey Rourke’s Randy 'The Ram' Robinson wrestler character.

Arnofsky’s sober penetration of Rourke’s character at times is like that of a documentary, as we watch a man struggle to get by in the margins of New Jersey. Previously celebrated for his theatrical heroics in the ring, he has to adjust to the realities of a body that can no longer compete in a world that seems to have passed him by. In a film featuring performers who design physical acts of theatricality while looking like glamorous rock stars, few takes are as blessedly grounded.

With a sparse script by Robert Siegal, conversation and exposition are minimized for maximum effect, as we follow Rourke on his journey. None of this potency is possible, without a career defining performance by Rourke. Even without an Oscar to show for it, it is an Oscar defining performance- a role impossible to imagine another actor portraying, as Rourke himself is a Hollywood monument to squandered potential. Rourke is nicely flanked by Marissa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, no slouches themselves as they aide our flawed hero in his resonant journey.

Wrestling is an entertainment I adored before hitting double digits- previous to the days where it felt inauthentic in all of its tight wearing hyperbolic macho miasma. Its intentions were always clear, and as the soap opera continued, the stories would grind themselves to a pulp filled conclusion. But The Wrestler isn’t about a man who wrestles other warriors- but one who grapples with his own demons.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

The Big Lebowski

1998’s The Big Lebowski, written and directed by the Coen Brothers.

Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Peter Stomare, Flea, Jon Polito, Ben Gazzara, David Thewlis, Tara Reid, and Sam Elliot.

What is it about?

The Big Lebowski is shaggy dog comedy starring Jeff Bridges as a burnout hanging out in 1990’s Los Angeles. Bridges, who’s character is named Jeffrey Lebowski but goes by the more informal, “The Dude”, is wrongly accosted for money that a different Jeffrey Lebowski owes. The real problem, is that the misinformed thugs who are looking for cash- urinate on his rug. Over the next (almost) 2 hours, the Dude ventures on an odyssey to replace said rug- as it really tied the room together. Aided by his trusty bowling associates, Vietnam vet Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and perpetually confused Donny (Steve Buscemi), The Dude gets pulled into a series of misadventures that involve kidnapping, porn magnates, German nihilists, questions into whether the Eagles are a decent band, performance artists, car thefts, and a lot of bowling. Will The Dude be successful in his quest to replace his rug, or it will all be for a thread count of naught?

Why is it worth seeing?

Not to sound like a real reactionary, but The Big Lebowski is not the best film in the Coen Brothers filmography- just their most re-watchable. Hysterical but drum tight in its ramblings, it’s a hashish soaked journey whose side trips and digressions are the journey itself. In a world where everybody is constantly trying to figure out how to communicate and understand WTF is going on, even the narrator loses track of where he’s at.

When Lebowski was released, the Coen brothers had won an Academy Award for their screenplay in 1996’s Fargo (and since have been nominated and won several more times), but Lebowski could be their most impressive feat of writing. It takes some serious mojo to make such a stupid project be so entertaining, so vulgar, so borderline profound, and so endearing. In all seriousness, its script is pitch perfect, a free flowing stream of consciousness that when examined has a perfect circularity to it. Phrases often are repeated as the characters sputter into hilarious nirvana-like nothingness amongst their chaotic environments.

Immersed in dopey silliness that’s grad school level Cheech and Chong, what makes the film worth caring about, are the portrayals and chemistry of the characters. While at times they’re ridiculous, they’re real people. Bridges and Goodman have never been better, as unlikely friends (one who protested against the Vietnam war, and one who fought in it) who bowl and constantly bicker (alongside poor Buscemi). They are friends who constantly argue- but are there for each other should they be attacked by desperate sword carrying German nihilists. They exist in a world jammed full of capitalist fat cats, porn magnates, pedophilic bowlers, pretentious artists, desperate private eyes, and sycophantic butlers- it’s a fool’s errand to pick one’s favourite performance from the cast’s embarrassment of riches. But it always comes back to Bridges’ The Dude- he abides like no other.

The Coen brothers continue to flex their immense talents, proving themselves some of America’s greatest film makers. In the middle of a trojan horse stoner comedy, they conjure amusing fantasy sequences that are far better than they need to be. Aided by yet another killer soundtrack compiled by T-Bone Burnett, The Big Lebowski is a cult classic near masterpiece that if you don’t like, well, that’s just like, your opinion man.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.