Dir - Robert Eggers
Overall: GREAT
The latest from Robert Eggers is a sharp diversion in scope and scale, yet it still adheres to the filmmaker's meticulously researched admiration for myth and long ago cultures. The Northman strives even farther away from horror than the bizzaro world, psychological head-trip The Lighthouse, but it does contain sorcery, hellish visuals, and zombies sort of, plus the material is arguably even darker and as supernaturally laced as his previous two films. Eggers and co-writer Sjón collaborated with professors and scholars of Norse mythology after star Alexander Skarsgård convinced the director to do a balls-out Viking saga. That is certainly what was delivered here as the movie is a ceaseless bombardment of loud, violent, and haunting cinematic components, all of which envelope every frame with fantastical yet period accurate depictions of all things Viking folklore. As testosterone-ridden as any other barbarian epic ever filmed, it is also astonishingly photographed and designed, plus as usual for Eggers, he presents his material in a respectful, matter of fact way. Story-wise, this is deliberately rudimentary and was based in part on the Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which would later inspire Shakespeare's Hamlet. Because the narrative is mostly lacking in overt subtext and complex themes, it allows the movie to become a sensory overload; a bloody, filthy, wet, mystical, deafeningly vibrant and on fire deliverance of Viking porn that is pretty damn glorious to behold.
Dir - Ti West
Overall: MEH
Filmmaker Ti West's return to horror for the first time in nearly a decade is odder than his usual work in its sordid intent, though it is comparatively more tight in the plot department even if there are still a few of the writer/director's trademark logical blunders in tow. Speaking of West trademarks, a lot of patience is required to get things moving in X, yet the themes of ambition, self-worth, and ageism are beaten over the head sufficiently enough. This is not a subtle film by any stretch and is equal parts artful, gaudy, and a tad pretentious. On the plus side though, the performances are quite good and Mia Goth makes an interesting scream queen in a dual role that is presented as two sides of the same coin. It is also beautifully photographed and even if West's pacing is a bit indulgent, he has still created something that is a joy to soak in from a visual perspective. Plus gore and exploitation fans, (which the movie is clearly a throwback for), will quite enjoy when things get comically disgusting for the schlocky sake of it. It is necessary not to take the film that seriously in order for it to work, but it has its moments of deliberate tastelessness with a sincere undercurrent which is certainly worth something.
Dir - Dario Argento
Overall: MEH
A new Dario Argento movie is something that may cause a knee-jerk, excited reaction for fans of the once renowned filmmaker's work. That is until one realizes that simply unleashing something that is not front to back embarrassing will suffice after the bar has been set so incredibly low by nearly everything that he has done for several decades now. Dark Glasses, (Occhiali Neri), is sort of refreshing in some respects. At first, the long break between projects has seemed to tame some of the director's increasingly inept cinematic choices which virtually peaked with 2012's Dracula 3D. Here it is back to straight-faced giallo and an attempt is made to keep the tone more emotionally impactful than cartoonishly absurd. The violence is nasty yet conservatively thrown in, the menacing musical score plays throughout every second of every scene, and nobody on camera seems to be intentionally making a fool of themselves. Yet Argento's career-long weaknesses as a screenwriter, (though this time, both Franco Ferrini and Carlo Lucarelli can share some of the blame), are front and center. The plotting here is just jaw-droppingly abominable and as the movie goes on, it quite convincingly comes off as if they were making it up as they went along while simultaneously trying to do as poor of a job as is humanly possible. It would be nice to say that it is nice that we have another Argento movie at this point in his career, but unfortunately, this only proves that we were better off with him retired.
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