Director Kate Dennis doesn't get Preacher. Please don't let her direct another. It may be based on a comic book, but that doesn't mean you throw away all suspension of disbelief and empathy for the characters. This HORRIBLY DIRECTED EPISODE includes multiple off camera fights which defy logic or sense, offensively uncharacteristic behavior from the "protagonists" and horribly stilted, sit-com level acting. It puts a bad taste in your mouth for continued viewing, and I read the comics and love the story. I hope they learn from this foul entry in the series and course correct. Where is the story I read? Why not use it as your basis? NONE OF THIS IS IN THE GRAPHIC NOVELS. Get back to the roots.
Reviews
5 Reviews
Jeannie Berlin is the first misstep in a brilliant new series
20 July 2016
I love "The Night Of" so far. The flawless casting lends so much to the story, but Jeannie Berlin's performance in "Subtle Beast" WAY pulled me out of it. Perhaps this is insensitive to working stroke victims, but I couldn't get past the slurred, mumbled, flat delivery of her lines. When the camera gave a clear look at her face, she seemed completely drugged out, propped up and puppeteered. Jeannie Berlin's interpretation of district attorney Helen Weiss ripped me right out of the moment and ceased to suspend my disbelief. I even had to look her up on IMDb to see if there was a story behind her casting and perhaps it has to do with her mother Elaine May, much like her daughter, resurfacing on television after decades retired from the industry. I appreciate Elaine May is an award winning Hollywood legend, but her daughter, Jeannie Berlin, is Ishtar level bad in an otherwise note perfect cast.
The Purge: Election Year
(2016)
Excellent End to the Trilogy
5 July 2016
James DeMonaco, the Writer/Director of The Purge Trilogy, expands his nightmare vision in brilliant fashion. Somehow, he manages to bring back the personal stakes from the first film and incorporate them organically with his nihilistic world building in the second. The acting was solid and cinematographer Jacques Jouffret continues to paint the scenes with his odd palette of American Gothic and gaudiness.
Be warned: There is a clear political stance held by all three films designed to rattle the Evangelical Right and the One Percenters, so expect much nay saying from reactive trolls in thrall to the like.
The Purge: Election Year wins my vote by bringing an unpredictable and unsettling end to a violent and thought provoking series.
Be warned: There is a clear political stance held by all three films designed to rattle the Evangelical Right and the One Percenters, so expect much nay saying from reactive trolls in thrall to the like.
The Purge: Election Year wins my vote by bringing an unpredictable and unsettling end to a violent and thought provoking series.
Minority Report
(2015)
Tarnishes the Memory of Minority Report the Movie
28 September 2015
If you loved the movie, you may be mildly amused with the pilot's special FX and sci-fi predictions, but you'll hate the horribly clichéd writing. This is cop procedural dreck, including such moldy oldies as the miss matched partners comprised of a "fish out of water" white guy (with all the answers)paired with streetwise black female cop. I could live with the procedural elements, if they captured some of the tension and suspense demonstrated in the open of the movie with Tom Cruise's character stopping the domestic murder/suicide. Unfortunately the writing is so trite and unimaginative you'll see every twist coming.
Everyone in the cast does an OK job with the limited parts their given except Megan Good, who is anything BUT good. Her performance is completely broad and two dimensional. Good delivers her character like she just stepped out of a sitcom. She shows no depth, comes across completely unbelievable as a detective and demonstrates such limited emotional range she comes across like corporate spokesmodel.
All in all Minority Report the Series tarnishes the memory of the movie, which, though entertaining, was no Spielberg classic to begin with. After the TV blandness of Terra Nova, The River, Smash, Falling Skies, The Whispers, Extant and Under the Dome maybe Mr. Spielberg should get out of television productions all together and focus on directing great movies.
Everyone in the cast does an OK job with the limited parts their given except Megan Good, who is anything BUT good. Her performance is completely broad and two dimensional. Good delivers her character like she just stepped out of a sitcom. She shows no depth, comes across completely unbelievable as a detective and demonstrates such limited emotional range she comes across like corporate spokesmodel.
All in all Minority Report the Series tarnishes the memory of the movie, which, though entertaining, was no Spielberg classic to begin with. After the TV blandness of Terra Nova, The River, Smash, Falling Skies, The Whispers, Extant and Under the Dome maybe Mr. Spielberg should get out of television productions all together and focus on directing great movies.
Absentia
(I) (2011)
More Lovecraft than most films based on actual Lovecraft stories
25 July 2015
After suffering through the vast majority of low-budget indie horror films whose only motivation seems to be to make a quick buck on distribution deals, it is truly a delight when you stumble on to something wonderful like writer/director Mike Flanagan's Absentia. Building on a cast of unknowns, with the exception of an incredibly creepy cameo by genre favorite Doug Jones, Flanagan weaves a web of creepy, atmospheric horror in this effective low-budget chiller.
This is a film that would be hurt by spoilers, so my synopsis will remain succinct. Tricia's (Courtney Bell) husband, Daniel (Morgan Peter Brown), has been missing for almost seven years. Pregnant with another man's child, Tricia remains in a state of flux, packing to move out of the home she shared with Daniel, but never quite bringing herself to find another place. She struggles with signing the application for death in absentia, but longs for the closure it might bring her. Enter her little sister Callie (Katie Parker), a recovering junkie who shows up at Tricia's doorstep after being estranged for several years.
When Tricia begins to suffer horrifying visions of a spectral Daniel, her therapist reassures her they are nothing more than lucid dreams due to her guilt and conflicted emotions about moving forward with obtaining a death certificate for her missing spouse. Meanwhile, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house. As her investigations possibly link the tunnel to other mysterious is appearances, she begins to suspect that Daniel's fate may be far worse than anything previously imagined.
This is slow-burn horror at its best. Take a dash of Val Lewton, toss in some Asian horror style creepiness and finish with a touch of indie film psychological character drama, and you have Absentia. There is only one "gore" scene and no nudity, but plenty of atmosphere and dread. Apart from a few clunky lines between the sisters in the first third, it's a tight script with naturalistic dialog and excellent twists, but the genre elements are not center stage; it's about the characters first. Flanagan's script doesn't pander to the audience, he respects their intelligence. As the story unfolds one starts to realize multiple possible interpretations to the events, which keeps the viewer unbalanced and unnerved.
The chemistry between sisters feels lived-in and real. The story is strong enough to stand on its own without the genre elements, which is a test of a truly great horror movie. Best of all, everyone in the film behaves like a normal person. For example, when Callie discovers some strange items, last seen in the tunnel, mysteriously under the covers of her bed, she calls the police to report a break-in.
The greatest hindrance to this movie is the lack of budget, but in some ways it heightens the movie's raw minimalistic impact. This probably shows most in the 99% naturally lit cinematography, shot on a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera, combined with the desaturated color palette to achieve an appropriate bleakness.
Since the audience is left to question how much of what is going on is possibly psychological or drug-induced, the elements that may or may not be supernatural are frustratingly barely glimpsed leaving you wanting more. This actually works in favor of the creepiness, letting your imagination do the heavy lifting.
This is a film that would be hurt by spoilers, so my synopsis will remain succinct. Tricia's (Courtney Bell) husband, Daniel (Morgan Peter Brown), has been missing for almost seven years. Pregnant with another man's child, Tricia remains in a state of flux, packing to move out of the home she shared with Daniel, but never quite bringing herself to find another place. She struggles with signing the application for death in absentia, but longs for the closure it might bring her. Enter her little sister Callie (Katie Parker), a recovering junkie who shows up at Tricia's doorstep after being estranged for several years.
When Tricia begins to suffer horrifying visions of a spectral Daniel, her therapist reassures her they are nothing more than lucid dreams due to her guilt and conflicted emotions about moving forward with obtaining a death certificate for her missing spouse. Meanwhile, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house. As her investigations possibly link the tunnel to other mysterious is appearances, she begins to suspect that Daniel's fate may be far worse than anything previously imagined.
This is slow-burn horror at its best. Take a dash of Val Lewton, toss in some Asian horror style creepiness and finish with a touch of indie film psychological character drama, and you have Absentia. There is only one "gore" scene and no nudity, but plenty of atmosphere and dread. Apart from a few clunky lines between the sisters in the first third, it's a tight script with naturalistic dialog and excellent twists, but the genre elements are not center stage; it's about the characters first. Flanagan's script doesn't pander to the audience, he respects their intelligence. As the story unfolds one starts to realize multiple possible interpretations to the events, which keeps the viewer unbalanced and unnerved.
The chemistry between sisters feels lived-in and real. The story is strong enough to stand on its own without the genre elements, which is a test of a truly great horror movie. Best of all, everyone in the film behaves like a normal person. For example, when Callie discovers some strange items, last seen in the tunnel, mysteriously under the covers of her bed, she calls the police to report a break-in.
The greatest hindrance to this movie is the lack of budget, but in some ways it heightens the movie's raw minimalistic impact. This probably shows most in the 99% naturally lit cinematography, shot on a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera, combined with the desaturated color palette to achieve an appropriate bleakness.
Since the audience is left to question how much of what is going on is possibly psychological or drug-induced, the elements that may or may not be supernatural are frustratingly barely glimpsed leaving you wanting more. This actually works in favor of the creepiness, letting your imagination do the heavy lifting.
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