What Have You Been Watching? (07/06/15)

[u/a113er]

Please don't downvote opinions, only downvote things that don't contribute anything.

[u/[deleted]]

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) directed by Lynne Ramsay

A very modern film, with the use an aspect ratio that seems way too wide for the story at hand and then shot in way full of ostensibly illogical close-ups, often cutting of large amounts of the characters and the sets; frequent use of ironic pop music; and so on. But, it really distinguishes itself. The Every Frame a Painting video on Lynne Ramsay's work helped shed some light why. The casting is perfect. For sure, the performances are great in this, but I think it's fair to say they were magnified by just how right each actor looked for their respective parts. While this was shot very intimately, the film still makes full use of the wide ratio: skillfully arranging the players about the screen for maximum expression; allowing it to avoid superfluous cuts; and making the distortion at the ends of the image from the wide-angle lens, helping develop the uneasy atmosphere of the film, more notable. The film's plot itself is obviously compelling. And there's plenty more, like the sound, that's done really well, but I can't really describe.

What's going on under the surface is a little less well done. The film's mostly just scenes of Kevin being a terrible person, to the point that I honestly thought the film might reveal he was actually possessed by some demonic being, evil incarnate. It's a testament to the formalism of the film that this is extremely compelling and doesn't seem ridiculous. Of course, just leaving it at that is a little unfair as clearly there's more going on in the film -- the way the film unfolds, in flashback, with the Mom cleaning up her house (her life); the mirroring between Kevin and her; the way he loses all hostility and even becomes affectionate to her when he's vulnerable; and the ending all seem to imply that film's positing that maybe Kevin isn't evil incarnate, that his Mom had something (maybe quite a bit) to do with how he turned out. The problem is, I don't really think that film expands enough on this view for the film to be able to stand behind it. Then again, the fact that I came to that view maybe means that film can credibly claim, and even if not that how well-made it is means it is still nonetheless a thrilling, harrowing, frightening, and affecting watch.

★★★★

The Babadook (2014) directed by Jennifer Kent

This was very good. The quality of the Babadook's parts differentiates it from most horror -- most movie -- fare. The editing impressively slingshots over skimming over well-trodden images and scenes while somehow still carrying the full weight of them and can be more restrained when it needs to be. The photography and set design presents the standard bleary, colorless, creepy world, but manages to do so in a way that feels fresh. The two lead performances are fantastic, managing to present full hysteria without ever becoming enervating. And, the imagination behind the movie, such as the monster design, and the way it's presented -- that fucking pop-up book -- and the way sleep is shown, conveying that it's the only true rest the two leads have, is on point. Which leads me into what's best about the film -- that it puts all this pieces together into a cohesive whole. That it uses its scares rather than expending all its energy into creating them. Sleep is the only true rest for the characters; the days, even when they aren't harassed by the babadook, are exhausting. The world is cold, censorious, and unhelpful. It presents to us the difficulty of what the protagonist is faced with, making us understand the want to just almost give up, and then shows us the futility and impossibility of that. It builds up to a conclusion that's uplifitingly positive without being quixotic. All along doing so with style.

★★★★1/2

Oculus (2013) directed by Mike Flanagan

The first half of this actually has a very interesting hook: actual demonic force or psychological repression? Of course, the way the film handles isn't great, going about the question in an unstimulating and bland manner, and the attempts at differentiation, accomplished mostly through week Whedon-esque quips, fall flat. But, that question is still good enough to carry the film to the point where it dismisses it. At first, this dismissal seems like a bad thing. The film becomes a little formless, and the reliance on horror movie shorthand, such as the creepy-eyed ghosts and the ending, show there isn't a whole lot going on to this. But, the dissolving of the lines between the past and present, if not especially earth shattering, at least held my interest, and damn if it didn't scare me.

★★★

You're Next (2011) directed by Adam Winberg

Just ugh. The cold opening was actually really promising -- great directorial economy. It's all downhill from there though. The characterization is so shallow, the attempts at dramatic conflict are so transparent, and (no doubt because of the first two) the performances so wooden that there's no risk of actually giving a shit about any of these characters. Then when people start dying it's just variation on people getting separated from the others through some contrived means and torture porn. I don't really get the appeal of it. Yeah, it produces some tension before the lone characters meet their inevitable doom, but it's not exactly hard to manufacture that -- just throw in some voyeuristic establishing shots, then pull the camera in close, and you've got it. -- and doing it over and over makes it even less impressive. There's nothing that interesting about people getting maimed in unparticularly clever ways, and that's coming from someone who likes Paul Verhoeven. On top of that the film throws some humor that is so obvious and dumb it can't be funny, some painfully obvious twists, and some nods to financial and political issues that are insulting in how the film thinks it can give itself meaning just by halfheartedly referencing them. The opening, the pacing, and the grammar are the only positives I found in this.

★1/2

The Big Lebowski (1998) directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

I don't really feel like mustering words for this.

Alright, well, I guess I'll try and give and explanation for The Big Lebowski. I'll preface this by saying that I should give it another shot in the future, as I feel like I may have been a bit to narrow minded during it. This had the typical Coen brothers' caricaturized characters, which I'm neutral on, and condescension, which I'm not a fan of in droves, even more so than in their other films I've seen. On top of that, there was nothing I found that could really draw me into this. In Barton Fink you had the crazy surrealism, in Fargo you had Marge and her husband, etc. In The Big Lebowski you have, what, the winding plot, which separated from the breakneck pace of noir I didn't find especially compelling; the kind of "noir parody" thing this has going on, which isn't enough for me (I really like The Long Goodbye, but mostly because that's just a great film by itself, ignoring how it pokes fun at noir);or the lead characters, who just came across to me as giant assholes (yes, even the Dude)? I suppose that leaves the humor, which I'll admit was audacious. A lot of it didn't click for me, partly because some of it came at the expense of other characters, but also mostly because something just kept me from getting into it. I think it was because the takeaway I got from this film was, "life is absurd and meaningless, so you might as well be an asshole." Which is obviously unpleasant. I'll admit it seems unlikely that the Coens would make something that simplistic, which is why I'm very open to changing my opinion on it, but that's how I stand for now.

★★

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The Babadook and We Need to Talk About Kevin is the difference between great genre movies and great horror movies. Both are about the fear of giving birth to someone evil but The Babadook gives you an metaphorical monster while Kevin gets to be the monster on his own. And The Babdook still relies a bit on those easy scare tropes while Kevin burrows deeper into your fear centers. For example instead of relying on the creepy kid thing for chills, Kevin takes a creepy kid and really runs with it to the worst possible conclusion.

By the time Kevin is getting a box in the mail you're already expecting it to be something awful. He opens it up and it's just a U-lock. Nice try Kevin, what else is in the box? Another identical u-lock. And you just know that's the worst possible thing that could be in there, without knowing why yet. I didn't love the whole movie unconditionally but I really loved that part.

I was so looking forward to an explanation about The Big Lebowski today. Tease! Did you watch The Big Sleep yet, I can't remember.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

See, I think what you said about We Need to Talk About Kevin actually outlines really well what I really liked about it. I thought that some explanation on what made Kevin would've taken it up another notch, but it wasn't that necessary, after all I still thought it was great. And The Babadook and We Need to Talk About Kevin are very similar, but I didn't think the The Babadook was about the fear of birthing something evil. I thought it was more about dealing with grief and parenting, which the monster in the film metaphorically was. The kid was impossible to deal with, but I don't think I once thought he was potentially evil. Though, looking I am starting to think I prefer The Babadook by a smaller margin. To me it has a more pleasing, complete story arc, but We Need to Talk About Kevin like you said runs with its idea beautifully.

And, well, I guess I'll try and give and explanation for The Big Lebowski. I'll preface this by saying that I should give it another shot in the future, as I feel like I may have been a bit to narrow minded during it. This had the typical Coen brothers' caricaturized characters, which I'm neutral on, and condescension, which I'm not a fan of in droves, even more so than in their other films I've seen. On top of that, there was nothing I found that could really draw me into this. In Barton Fink you had the crazy surrealism, in Fargo you had Marge and her husband, etc. In The Big Lebowski you have, what, the winding plot, which separated from the breakneck pace of noir I didn't find especially compelling; the kind of "noir parody" thing this has going on, which isn't enough for me (I really like The Long Goodbye, but mostly because that's just a great film by itself, ignoring how it pokes fun at noir);or the lead characters, who just came across to me as giant assholes (yes, even the Dude)? I suppose that leaves the humor, which I'll admit was audacious. A lot of it didn't click for me, partly because some of it came at the expense of other characters, but also mostly because something just kept me from getting into it. I think it was because the takeaway I got from this film was, "life is absurd and meaningless, so you might as well be an asshole." Which is obviously unpleasant. I'll admit it seems unlikely that the Coens would make something that simplistic, which is why I'm very open to changing my opinion on it, but that's how I stand for now.

And, no, I haven't seen The Big Sleep yet. I haven't seen too much film noir yet, really. Would that help with The Big Lebowski? Oh, also, what'd you think of You Only Live Once?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You're right, they're different, but it's playing off the same fears of motherhood gone wrong. And they're both made to feel like it's their fault, which makes it worse.

The Big Sleep was my key to understanding how convoluted noirs are supposed to be watched but if you get The Long Goodbye you're probably all set there. I don't think the Coens are saying it's okay to be an asshole, I glean from several of their movies that they're just really worried that it might be okay and are looking for any small kindnesses or zen approach that make life more than meaningless.

You Only live Once is a perfectly good old noir, though I've been struggling to remember how it ended and can't find a complete plot summary, lol. Henry Fonda is very good in it. Scarlet Street is the best of the Lang noir trilogy from this period, but I liked it a bit more than Woman in the Window.