Daily Awesome #52

Daily Awesome #51

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

The Skeleton Twins

Director: Craig Johnson

Starring: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell

My Rating: Liked It

Don't go into The Skeleton Twins expecting a hilarious comedy. It's occasionally funny but I'd categorize it as a depressing drama. It's about shattered dreams and expectations; you know, the stuff 99% of us have to deal with. And it's such hard-hitting irony that the actors are part of that 1%, but that's so far beside the point. It's about very real people who have a lifetime of baggage to deal with. Not everyone is as depressed as the characters in the film, but everyone has failed relationships and unfulfilled dreams, so everyone certainly can relate to The Skeleton Twins.

The relationship between the twins, Hader and Wiig, is complicated; exactly how a life long relationship really is. From one trying to cheer the other up, to one getting so aggravated they pick that one thing to say they know will cut really deep, it's all refreshingly real. Hader and Wiig both give great performances. I think they're both so comfortable around each other and in their own skin that this movie wasn't really a challenge for them; it all seemed very natural. I wasn't for sure which direction the movie was going to go in, but I'm glad it ended how it did. I'd recommend it. Just remember it's very downbeat and heartbreakingly real.

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Candyman (1992)

Candyman
Director: Bernard Rose
Starring: Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd
My Rating: Loved It!
Budget: $8 Million (estimated)
Box Office: $25.8 Million (according to wikipedia)

I can't believe I put this movie off for so long because it's fantastic. Candyman is a twisted fairy tale from the mind of Clive Barker. The first half of the film sets up the mythology, which leads into a captivating second half of madness and horror. This film has patience. First it makes you think that the candyman is a real person, only using the myth as cover, but then, on a much scarier note, it's revealed that the candyman really is the product of one's imagination. Another intriguing idea is that the candyman only shows up when the people stop believing in him, so he needs to kill to gain his power back.

Some of the things that happen in the latter half of the film may not be too logical, but I forgave it because it's a fairy tale. Anything goes in supernatural territory. For all the horror lovers, there are a few excellent moments of gore and terror in Candyman. Specifically calling the candyman in front of the hospital shrink to prove he is real. I didn't expect what happened in that scene at all! And then, Candyman ends on such a satisfyingly gruesome note; I loved it. As far as the ones I've seen, Candyman is one of the better horror movies out of the 1990's.

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Daily Awesome #46

Tusk (2014)

Tusk

Director: Kevin Smith

Starring: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment

My Rating: Hated it

Budget: $3.5 Million (estimated)

Horror-Comedy? Tusk is neither scary nor funny. I chuckled a handful of times and there was one short moment of decent horror. 50% of the scenes are too drawn out because there is hardly a story there at all. This is the first Kevin Smith film that is boring to watch. Just because you have a goofy idea for a movie doesn't mean you should go through with it.

The whole point was to make a bad movie, I assume, because there is no way Kevin Smith actually thinks it's good. There is a simple message from Tusk: people suck. Yeah, I agree Kevin Smith, people do suck, but so does this movie. The transformation isn't even that cool or exciting. You don't even really get to see it happen, which seems like a pretty key moment to have in the movie. And besides being a little witty from time to time, Michael Parks' character isn't a very good villain.

I do have to admit that Michael Parks and Justin Long both do a great job with the bullshit they were given; that's the only positive thing about the movie. Johnny Depp plays the most interesting character, but even those scenes seemed unnecessarily drawn out.

And don't think I'm hating just to hate. I'm a big Smith fan. Chasing Amy, Clerks, Dogma, and Mallrats are all fucking fantastically funny and entertaining films. This doesn't tarnish his reputation at all to me; I'm just having a hard time understanding why he even went through with this film. I'm sure the cast and makers all had a blast making the movie, but Tusk should've stayed in a podcast episode. Skip Tusk and watch any other Smith film.

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Daily Awesome #44

Filth (2014)

Filth

Director: Jon Baird

Starring: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell

My Rating: Liked It

Budget: $5 Million

Box Office: $8.3 Million (according to wikipedia)

Filth is based on a novel by Irvine Welsh, who also wrote the absolutely brilliant Trainspotting. Filth isn't quite up to Trainspotting's standard, but expect the same kind of drug induced humor and twisted Scottish citizens. 

The story follows a very mentally unstable cop, Bruce (played by James McAvoy), who is in the running for a promotion at work. He stops taking his lithium and cranks up his drug use, and what follows is a truly strange movie experience. A handful of other cops are up for the promotion and the movie is essentially about Bruce trying get one up on the other cops while dealing with his mental problems. While this movie is very funny at times, it's also incredibly demented and depressing. 

The one thing that stood out to me was that every frame, color wise, was incredibly blown out. The whites are way brighter than they should be. And I will admit, it was clearly an artistic choice, because it remains consistent throughout the whole film. I don't know exactly why they chose to do it. Maybe to emphasize the craziness of the main character? I truly don't know. But I do know that it was a little distracting, and a little ugly, honestly. A few of the shots worked with the blown out colors, but I'd say that 80% of the time the whites were too bright. But that didn't ruin the movie for me. 

Besides some truly laugh out loud moments, James McAvoy plays this role perfectly. If you're a Trainspotting fan, Filth shouldn't be missed. It lives up to its name. 

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All Cheerleaders Die (2014)

All Cheerleaders Die
Director: Lucky McKee, Chris Siverston
Starring: Caitlin Stasey, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Brook Butler
My Rating: Liked It

All Cheerleaders Die actually has a lot going for it. The story went in places that I did not see coming; The young actors all dive head first into their roles; It has the energy of a hundred cheerleading squads; and it has a great sense of humor. After the first ten minutes all I could think was, "why, oh why did I watch this piece of crap?" But it gets a lot better as the movie goes on. Honestly, after the first little bit, I thought it was going to be a simple high school revenge story, but good lord, I was very wrong.

A big key to how I rate my movies is simply how entertaining they are. Even though it is a silly B-movie, I still found it more fun and watchable than, say, Paranormal Activity or, more recently, The Quiet Ones. I am totally biased to the horror genre, though, so that may play into why I have given it a good rating; but I genuinely think All Cheerleaders Die is a cult worthy B-movie that is worth a watch.

So many reviewers have claimed that "it falls into the same horror tropes it's trying to mock." Either I missed something or they're completely wrong. I don't think this movie was trying to mock the horror genre at all, at least not in the same outward way that movies like Scream or Behind the Mask do. Nor do I think this movie was trying to subvert any horror genre tropes. I think the makers were trying to make an entertaining, bloody, campy teen horror movie; and in my opinion, they succeeded. At the end of the movie the title screen says "Part I." I will definitely be tuning in for Part II.

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Daily Awesome #32

As Above/So Below (2014)

As Above/So Below
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman
My Rating: Liked It
Budget: $5 Million
Box Office: $40.1 Million

As Above/So Below is a bright new example of why critics scores (rottentomatoes, metacritic) don't really mean anything. I know this better than anyone, yet I was still put off by the 33% RT and the 37 on metacritic. This movie is way better than that. If you're a horror fan, this film will appease your thirst for good horror!

The story follows Scarlett who is attempting to uncover the location of the Philosopher's Stone, a stone that brings everlasting life. Scarlett and her friends figure out that it's somewhere in the caves of the catacombs under Paris. They get more than they bargained for.

The film relies a lot on details from Dante's Inferno, making it the smartest horror movie I've seen in a long while. And it does offer up a couple of scares near the end, mostly taking cues from the brilliant cave dwelling horror The Descent. I found the last half hour very stylish presentation wise and the overall story very original. I was completely invested in As Above/So Below for the whole duration. Some people complained that it didn't make sense, but honestly I thought it made perfect sense.

There were a few very minute details that were funny to me. First, Benji was living in Paris and had never heard of the catacombs before? I've never been outside of America and even I know what the catacombs are. And then on a few occasions the group had to swim under water; which means that big ol' camera that Benji was lugging around wouldn't have survived. But I'm okay with that, the movie had to keep going!

As Above/So Below is the best horror film to come out of 2014 so far. The competition is: Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones, The Quiet Ones, Devil's Due, and Deliver Us From Evil. I've seen the first two and didn't care for them much, and I've heard the last two were crap. I definitely will check those two out for myself, but for right now, As Above/So Below wears the crown for best horror film of 2014 thus far.

Daily Awesome #31

Paranormal Activity (2009)

Paranormal Activity
Director: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
My Rating: Didn't like it
Budget: $15 K
Box Office: $193 Million (according to wikipedia)

All aboard the hype train! Well, it came out five years ago and the series has been thoroughly ran right into the ground, so all aboard the quiet car now. But that's exactly what ruined this movie for me: hype. I was geared up for the scariest film of all time. And what I got were a couple bumps in the night and one slightly scary moment at the very end of the movie. The marketing campaign was the real success of Paranormal Activity.

Don't get me wrong, it's impressive for its budget and it clearly was a massive box office smash, but I was so utterly bored and let down throughout the whole movie. Maybe I'm jaded though, because the crowded theater I saw it in had loads of people screaming at every opportunity. When it ended I was thoroughly pissed off that I had spent any money seeing it, and that rarely happens to me. I'm a movie lover. There are some really bad movies that I adore with all my heart, but there was seriously nothing for me to like about Paranormal Activity. 

If you want good, creepy, low budget horror, I suggest The Blair Witch Project. Even though the two films are similar in many ways, at least The Blair Witch Project has a few entertaining and visceral moments before the final chilling shot; which is way more than Paranormal Activity can say.

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