Dir - Panos Casmatos
Overall: GOOD
The second effort from Italian-born/Greek/Canadian filmmaker Panos Cosmatos, (son of director Geore P. Cosmatos), Mandy is about as singular as they come, for better or worse. It may be complete style over substance as the movie is so arcane that deciphering any profound meaning held within is probably a futile undertaking. Yet Cosmatos sure as shit knows how to concoct a certifiable head trip that is downright spellbinding to look at. Practically every shot of the film is a melding of cosmic fantasy and retro, backwoods grime and beauty, all of which is presented in the most cinematically spectacular, anamorphic fashion. The soundtrack is likewise ceaselessly fascinating. Even as characters are mumbling, whispering, or so purposely distorted to not even be uttering human words, it is a cacophony of visually and sonically unique elements through and through. Utilizing the powers of Nicolas Cage for absolute, ideal effect, the now iconically gonzo actor gets to do what he is best suited for, screaming, breaking down, and doing some random ninja moves, one-liners, and drugs to heighten the Nicolas Cage-ness. For bizarre, deliberately paced, and highly challenging art house fare that is also wickedly violent and possibly all-along vacant, Mandy assuredly fits the bill.
Dir - Fritz Böhm
Overall: MEH
The debut from German-born writer/director Fritz Böhm has some earnest performances and visually striking moments, but it is poorly put together in an alarming way. Wildling is set up in a very fairytale manner with a premise that is not altogether interesting, but also not altogether bad. Nearly every plot point though is downright absurd and the rushed editing hugely hinders any potential logic that could be had. At its core, this is a familiar story where animalistic qualities are attributed to blossoming womanhood, but it does not survive on these themes nor suspend the viewer's disbelief when the characters are barely written and the plot holes are borderline incessant. Most of this revolves around Brad Dourif's character who is a mess. Being part of said wildling hunting squad, he decides to raise one in secret, then decides to shoot himself instead of the wildling that he has sworn to kill, then survives and gets another chance to kill said wildling, then yells at a guy who let her escape when he raised her into adolescence in the first place, then hunts said wildling some more, then instead of killing it AGAIN when he has yet ANOTHER chance, he tries to take its baby out to raise one AGAIN. There is no deep dive given to the werewolf-esque mythos in the first place which in and of itself is fine, but the history of law enforcement and townspeople hunting them seems unnecessarily vague as does a number of other details. Too many details really.
Dir - Alex Garland
Overall: GOOD
More inspired by Jeff VanderMeer's first novel in his Southern Reach Trilogy than being a straight adaption of it, screenwriter/director Alex Garland's Annihilation is a bold and ambitious film that owes a lingering debt to many other landmark science fiction dramas that came before it. Every movie that deals with making contact with an alien presence and how it shapes humanity can be directly traced back to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Annihilation is also strikingly similar to Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris and Stalker as well as Lovecraftian themes of succumbing to madness. The film also dips its toes into body horror and has some rather heart-racing, monstery moments as well, but it sidesteps any pandering genre conventions rather efficiently. Judging by the entire cast being a bit aloof and calm about the fantastical scenario that they are presented with, the tone is very interestingly tranquil as if the biologically-morphing spell brought on by the otherworldly aura has seeped into everyone's psyche as well. Despite some very cartoony CGI creatures here or there, it is visually complimentary to its own hypnotizing nature. By dealing with loss, guilt, and inevitability, it offers up virtually no answers and leaves the viewer with an exhausted acceptance of the unknown, just as the characters seem to possess at film's end.
No comments:
Post a Comment