reviews – Page 4 – Late to the Theater

Film Review: Under the Shadow (2016)

Longtime readers of my blog are familiar with my constant complaint that quality horror movies are few and far between. It probably makes me a snob, but the older I get the less interested I am in spending time watching something for the sake of supporting the genre. I just don’t have the patience for fountains of gore and crying teenagers in their underwear unless there is an intelligent twist on it, such as Cabin In the Woods or It Follows.

Enter Under the Shadow.

The UK’s entry for foreign language film for the Oscars, it was somehow not nominated. I’ve no idea why, and it’s a shame because this film isn’t just a great scare, it’s important. As I mentioned, intelligent horror films are few and far between, and one with such a riveting premise as Under the Shadow is doubly notable. It’s especially worthy of promotion as the world moves into a more xenophobic phase because it is about precisely that: superstitious thinking.

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Guest Post – ‘Real Artists’ Review by Achariya Rezak

real_artists_art

Hi all! Today I’ve got something really special – my dear friend Achariya Rezak, writer for hockey site SB Nation and master of Jungian archetypes, wrote a review for sci-fi short ‘Real Artists.’ Please enjoy! She’s included a link to the original Ken Liu story, too!

Title: Cameo Wood’s Real Artists is a Jungian romp through the politics of creation

When I read Ken Liu’s short story, I was immediately struck by his ability to translate our modern discomfort with the uncanny valley into terms of movie making. His short story is about the meta-process of filmmaking, told through the eyes of a “real artist” (“Real Artists” is the title of the film and the short story) Sophia, who has spent her whole life loving — and wanting to work for — a certain film company. Cameo Wood’s twelve-minute short based on this story adds yet another twist, layering on an additional intensity to this parable about creation.

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Sci-Fi Short – Real Artists

real_artists_3 — Screenshot from the ‘Real Artists’ site

Sometimes I try to help new or independent filmmakers reach a wider audience. I do this of my own choosing and without receiving or expecting any payments or favors in return. I do not do this for everyone, but feel free to ask!

Recently my good friend Achariya put me in touch with filmmaker Cameo Wood about reviewing the sci-fi short Real Artists. I’ll be honest, a science fiction short starring a black woman and an Asian woman, written and directed by a woman, based upon a Ken Liu short story, about a filmmaker who gets her dream job? Take me there!

With that mix of components, it would have been easy for me to just rubber-stamp the movie as ‘Great! This checks all my boxes and you should give the filmmakers money!’ and move on – but I wanted to be sure I gave it a proper, objective look.

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Grumpy Old Men: I Am Not a Serial Killer and The Good Neighbor

Today I’d like to tell you about two movies I’ve watched recently, both starring actors in their twilight years, who put in a hell of a great performance at not being what they seem.

Lately, I’ve been keeping myself busy a lot. Keeping the ship of my mind from dashing on the rocks of despair and disgorging its precious cargo of sanity (and hotpants!) has become my full-time job, on top of my full-time job, and also writing, my other full-time job.

hotpants — Chief Wiggam knows a good deal when he sees one.

Keeping busy can be a lot of things – reading, writing, working out, cooking, seeing friends, and of course, watching TV shows and movies.

Today I’d like to tell you about two movies I’ve watched recently, both starring actors in their twilight years, who put in a hell of a great performance at not being what they seem. There will be NO spoilers today!

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A Night at the Thee-Ah-Tah – Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior At the Enzian

In Which The Author Leaves The House in the Company of Friends, Good Food, and Post-Apocalyptic Cannibal Cults.

[The Enzian did not pay me to write this entry, I just love going there and have for years, and wanted to spread the word!]

Last night I scurried forth from my bolthole for a special occasion: Orlando’s own local independent theater The Enzian was showing Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Rejoice!

Exterior 5

The Enzian’s been around since 1985. I saw my first film there in 1997, Ma Vie En Rose, so right away you can see it has quite a variety. It’s the kind of place for people who just flat out love movies and good stories, like the Alamo Drafthouse. During the Florida FiIm Festival (yes, Florida has a film festival and it’s not just police dash cam vids of drunk people falling down or setting things on fire) the Enzian becomes a nerve center of activities: they show a lot of films there, and they have discussions with filmmakers and actors. Gabriel Byrne and Helen Mirren have attended, and I believe my former Creative Writing teacher Pat Rushin did an appearance as well.

Eden bar

The Enzian has a sweet bar outside with all kinds of drinks from domestic beers to cocktails containing absinthe, flavored whiskey, and moonshine. Inside, they offer a full menu of oodles of goodies, like sandwiches, tomato cream soup, and/or truffle parmesan fries. They also do free movies on the lawn sometimes, or other film events around town. The bar/patio is shaded by gigantic live oaks and has a fountain, so it’s a nice place to unwind.

Films I’ve seen at the Enzian:

Ma Vie En Rose
The Dinner Game (French)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
What We Do In The Shadows
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Aliens (on birthday last year- they do horror movies in October!)
Pumpkinhead
The Host (Korean horror/sci-fi, not the Twilight thing)
A Very Long Engagement
Let the Right One In (Swedish)
Micmacs
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Babe: Pig in the City (I have no shame about crying in front of people during this movie)
Mirrormask
Gone With the Wind
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Oldboy (original)
Big Trouble in Little China
Primer (the science fiction one)
Film festival shorts
The Troll Hunter

And so many more! I can’t list them all!

As mentioned above, the Enzian does horror movies during the month of October – I’m already planning to see Shaun of the Dead and probably Beetlejuice, too.

I met up with a bunch of friends who are movie nerds like myself and we had a damn good time. I thought I saw Road Warrior like 20 years ago but apparently I was thinking of the first Mad Max, when he’s a cop. Ah well!

In lieu of a real review, here are my thoughts:

More in line with Fury Road than Thunderdome, although I still love all three
More feminist than I would have guessed (the female warrior was badass; there was also a chick who had the option to escape and did the honorable thing by staying with her people; women sat on the council and took up arms)
The Feral Kid was the best
Lord Humungus’s thighs needed their own credit. That dude was walking beef.
One complaint – I couldn’t get over the assless chaps the raiders wore. Hell, just wearing shorts in Central Florida summer can get you burned on a cloth carseat, so Australian post-apocalyptic desert-wear should offer more protection from leather motorcycle saddles baked by the sun. Just a thought. Also I imagined the actor playing Wez was having fun as he flashed his cheeks at the camera with joyful abandon. It was a full moon at noon over the Aussie desert, y’all
Jedidiah The Gyro Copter Pilot was also the best

SO! If you find yourself in Orlando, consider taking a day off from a theme park and hitting the Enzian for some REAL Central Florida flavor. I like roller coasters as much as the next person, but sometimes need a break from the sweaty throngs.

[EDIT: It only hit me this morning, the delicious irony of going to a high art movie theater to watch nitro-cannibals ride around on flaming motorcycles in assless chaps. But whatev- they wouldn’t show it if they didn’t love movies!]