The first full-length trailer for George Clooney’s Suburbicon trailer features the familiar, repressed, disturbing post WWII suburban landscape… and one extremely pissed off Matt Damon.
This is not unfamiliar territory for dark comedy or drama, but this one has a terrific cast and Clooney behind the camera, so it should be worth your time. Check it out:
‘Suburbicon’ is a peaceful, idyllic suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns… the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that. But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) must navigate the town’s dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence.
George Clooney is clearly inspired by his frequent collaborators, the Coen Brothers because… well… Joel and Ethan Coen wrote this thing. Suburbicon looks like a dozen other films, but told with what should definitely be great style. And the hints of noir are prevalent as well, especially the fact that Damon’s character appears to be increasingly beaten and battered as the story unfolds.
Aside from a super angry Matt Damon, the film stars Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac, and a wonderfully eclectic collection of character actors. It opens October 27.
The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones’ seventh season stays true to the formula. In many seasons, the series saves many huge battles or events for second-to-last. “Beyond the Wall” delivers some of the biggest CGI fighting we’ve ever seen. There’s some things that happen inside the Wall, but most of it was boring. What happens beyond the wall promises insane repercussions for the show moving forward.
Jon Snow and his squad have a fantastical outing against the Night King. From a storytelling perspective, their mission is a little too easy to accomplish. Why did one walker not disintegrate with the rest? Perhaps their was an explanation casually mentioned. But storytelling doesn’t change the fact that their action is fantastic. Watching the Westeros force take on the zombie hordes is exciting. Game of Thrones is delivering some of the finest visual action we’ve ever seen.
Dany entering the fray is also phenomenal. Her argument with Tyrion is a little forced and cliche. Her infatuation with Jon Snow also seems a bit rushed. However, it’s hard to be angry about rushed storytelling when dragons start torching White Walkers. In fact, having one of Dany’s dragons die is better for her character. Dany losing a child adds real stakes to her conquest of Westeros.
An aspect of the episode that falls flat is the Stark sisters’ argument. There’s no dragon action in Winterfell, so the rushed argument between Arya and Sansa is obnoxious. This season, each of the Stark kids have been too smart for Littlefinger’s games. To see Arya and Sansa turn on each other so quickly, considering how much they’ve grown, is a bummer. Their fight caters to the worst aspects of their characters, and calls back a period that should’ve been over a while ago.
Game of Thrones didn’t tell the greatest story with “Beyond the Wall.” The show is clearly sprinting to wrap up all the plot lines next season. But this episode is filled with so much amazing action and fan service. From zombie dragons to Benjen Ghost Rider, so much was so cool. Odds are, the Stark sisters will resolve their argument soon. Getting to see such a crazy zombie-dragon battle is hard to forget.
Rick Teams Up With Jerry For The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy!
After taking a pit stop from the divorce storyline, Rick and Morty dive back into the family drama. This episode plays differently than most though as it focuses on Rick and Jerry’s relationship. There is also more of Beth’s mother problems, but “Whirly Dirly Conspiracy” digs deep into some longstanding Rick/Jerry issues.
Rick’s problems with Jerry stem from Jerry’s marriage to Rick’s daughter Beth, but things got even worse for them during the end of Season 2. Rick blames Jerry for his arrest by the Galactic Federation. His revenge started with pushing the Beth & Jerry divorce. It looks like it goes much deeper than that! Seeing depressed Jerry at the beginning of “Whirly Dirly Conspiracy” is quickly undercut by Rick ripping him out of bed. It mirrored the very first episode where Rick pulled Morty out of bed.
Rick and Jerry start a “pity adventure” that Morty insists. They end up in a restaurant with immortality and attempt to bond. Well, as much as someone can bond with Jerry. That’s until a mysterious man offers Jerry the chance to kill Rick. As soon as Jerry decides to do it, he quickly regrets it. Things go wrong, and Rick turns this pity adventure into a real adventure. As soon as things look good for the two, another attempt on Rick’s life draws a wedge between them. If this happened one or two episodes ago, the outcome of the “Whirly Dirly Conspiracy” would look very different.
Rick pushes through his hate for Jerry to survive. Even Jerry tries to be a hero, though he still fails as you’d expect. As much as viewers are trained to hate Jerry, this episode shows we can have more adventures with these two. They make it out alive and a little closer, but it will still take more to get these men on the same page.
“Mind your own god-damn business, Gene.”
-Morty to Gene, the neighbor
Other than the wild adventure between Jerry and Rick, things are just as insane back home. Beth is feeling depressed, and Summer is having body issues. Those two things collided as Summer becomes a giant due to Beth’s interference. Even when Morty isn’t with Rick, he still has to deal with sci-fi madness like this.
While “Whirly Dirly Conspiracy” isn’t really a direct parody of anything, you can’t help but get a feeling of ‘Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.’ Overgrown Summer is a manifestation of her emotions and the perfect jinx to counteract Rick’s insanity. Beth doesn’t want to involve Rick with this situation to “prove herself, ” and Morty is still the only one who is calm under pressure. If this season is showing anything, it is that Morty is an essential member.
Poor Summer just wants to look better, and she’s inside-out by the middle of the episode. All of that because of Beth’s similarities and blindness to Rick’s errors. Morty points it out, and it will hopefully put Beth on a path to make her a more tolerable human.
Final Thoughts:
Last week’s superhero parody works, but episodes with a focused narrative like this are what makes Rick and Morty shine. The drama between Rick and Jerry is what fans want and starts importantly showcasing secondary characters. Not every episode can solely focus on the misadventures of Rick and Morty, so episodes like this build up characters like Jerry and Beth for their solo episodes.
With Part 15, Twin Peaks finally talks about Judy, resolves a couple of important plot points and says goodbye to a dear old friend. As she once said, “the sadness will end” and it is hoped she has found her rest.
The Case
Hutch and Chantal finally arrived in Vegas and took care of the first of their objectives. For all his planning, Duncan Todd could not prevent death from walking into his office and making his brain go pop. Of course, he was always expendable and Bad Cooper owed him nothing. If you really want to feel bad for anyone, feel bad for his assistant. Then again, he knew exactly what Duncan was up to and continued to work for him.
Did you catch that it has only been five days since Bad Coop and Chantal met up at the motel? The five day timeline comes from Bad Coop himself when he asked Phillip Jeffries (now inside one of those diving bells) if he was the voice on the other end of the line in the Part 2 phone call. Curiously, Jeffries never answers that question as he offers Bad Coop something else: Judy.
Meanwhile, the Vegas FBI fumbled on their part of the case by bringing in the wrong Douglas and Jane Jones. Granted, Headley and Wilson make a great comedy duo. But it once again highlights the charmed life Dougie Jones led even before Cooper took his place. Nothing ever stuck to Dougie Jones.
And speaking of Cooper, he may have finally regained himself. All it took was the right moment in Sunset Boulevard — the very one which inspired Gordon’s name — and some electricity. You knew it was coming as soon as Janey-E expressed her satisfaction with the last five days. Everything is finally going her way, which means she has to lose Dougie forever. No one gets to be happy for long.
The Updates
But if anyone deserves to be happy in Twin Peaks or in the nearby counties, it’s Norma Jennings and Ed Hurley. As readers of The Secret History of Twin Peaks know, their story has been one of terrible timing and outside manipulations. Ed went into military service and his former friend Hank Jennings hid his letters to Norma so he could move in on her. They got married. Ed eventually married Nadine. Ed and Norma almost made it work in the late 1980s, but the fickle hand of fate parted them for another twenty-five years.
And just as fickle, Nadine decided to let Ed go. Although, I half-expected her to whack Ed with her golden shovel. Nadine was never level headed or rational, so to see her so centered was maybe one of the more terrifying things Twin Peaks has ever depicted. It also led us to the most tension-rich scene the RR Diner has ever served witness to. Just as it seemed Ed’s wish would be denied, he and Norman are finally together. I genuinely hope its their happy ending.
Elsewhere, Audrey and Charlie are still arguing. Their fight must be happening on night six for it to take up this much time across episodes. But at least we know she is Richard’s mother now. She also has a pronounced violent streak. We’re left with the image of her choking Charlie. It’s not really what anyone wanted for her, but I can’t wait to see what happens when she finds Billy.
Her reaction might be similar to Bobby and Freddy’s to the Experiment (Judy?). Locked up for clocking to local oafs but good, their stay in the Sheriff’s station lockup may lead Freddy to where the Fireman needs him to be.
Meanwhile, in the woods, Becky’s husband Steven appears to have offed himself. Why Donna’s sister Gertsen ended up in this mess is anybody’s guess.
The Questions
Did anyone ever pick up Jerry?
Did anyone check Billy, er, “the Drunk” for a serious medical condition? He looks bad and none of the deputies seem to care. Well, presuming they’re even aware of him. Maybe only Chad can see him because he’s the worst.
Has it really only been five days?
Why was that young woman screaming at the Roadhouse? Is it a sign of bad things coming?
How is Phillip Jeffries influencing events from inside a diving bell?
Who is Judy? How does either Cooper know her?
What do Margaret’s last words mean?
Not about Judy
I’ll be honest, every week I call this section “Not about Judy” in the thought that it would never really matter. As Phillip Jeffries’ major bit of non-sequitur dialogue, I expected it to be lost like so much red drappery. In early drafts of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Judy was supposed to be Josie Packard’s twin sister. The idea was scrubbed early and yet remains a key part of the Jeffries scene. In college, an acquaintance of mine was convinced Judy was tied to the garmonbozia and the Black Lodge.
Which leads to a new question: is Judy BOB’s mother and the creature glimpsed in Part 1?
It also makes you wonder what the numbers Jeffries offered Bad Coop — 480551 — have to do with Judy. Maybe it’s time to stop talking about Judy. Instead, let’s consider where Bad Coop found Jeffries: inside a motel above the convenience store filled with Woodsmen from Part 8. They also spoke backwards, the tell-tale sign that this is another place reached by a vortex.
Back in Fire walk With Me, Jeffries shouts that he’s been to “one of their meetings … above a convenience store.” Clearly, this is the place he found in 1987. And since it can move around, it’s also reasonable to believe he found it in Buenos Aires; his last known location at the time. And to draw one connection, one of those golden Phantasm balls appeared in Buenos Aires four or five episodes back.
It’s funny how the stuff you think doesn’t matter — Nadine, James, Judy — end up being the most important things in the universe.
Margaret Lanterman
Then the episode stops for one of the most heartbreaking things ever recorded. Catherine Coulson has been with David Lynch from the beginning. She appeared in his 1974 short film The Amputee and worked behind the scenes on the four-year production of Eraserhead. An image of her carrying a log at the time led to Twin Peaks‘ Log Lady. When the show began a second life on Bravo, Lynch brought her in to record cryptic monologues before each episode. So to have her there in a small set — or her home — hooked up to oxygen and shout “I’m dying” was certainly shocking, but also the beginning of Lynch’s strange tribute to both her and the character.
Instead of letting Margaret be cryptic to the end, she finally revealed a true part of herself by admitted she was scared to die. A sentiment one can imagine Coulson shared. Each labored word breaks your heart as both actor and character finish one last task before departing.
The quiet shots in the Sheriff’s station conference room were a perfect way to say goodbye.
But what do you think of this week’s revelations? Did you think you know who Judy is? Did Cooper get his mind back? Let us know in the comments below.
Before we go any further, if you haven’t read any reviews for The Dark Tower, ours called it a “middling 85-minute bore.” Regardless of if you’ve seen or liked it, it is undeniable that the film is a flop. It was the lowest August opening weekend since 1992, and is critically panned (sitting at an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes as of writing).
Yet it’s also true that it was a massive undertaking, a highly anticipated adaptation, and one of the rare survivors of developmental hell. This suggests that it could’ve been a rousing success, let alone salvaged. Nonetheless, it was obviously a tough nut to crack.
That being said, here’s how we would’ve fixed The Dark Tower adaptation. Also, there are significant spoilers ahead for both the film and book series.
Don’t make it a film adaptation
There really aren’t that many sprawling epic works with complex narratives that make it to film. Lord of the Rings is about the only example, and that only succeeded because Peter Jackson was given nearly a decade to create the films.
The Bible, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead: there’s a good reason why these types of stories don’t make it to the big screen. It’s because they’re really, really difficult to tell in two hours.
That’s not to besmirch the creativity or skill of screenwriters. The fact is, these stories contain dozens (if not hundreds) of characters, long character arcs, and complex story devices. These are things that are not often (but not never) told well in the medium of film, largely because of time restrictions.
The Dark Tower is in the same vein of difficult, but turned up to 11. Stephen King, who authored the series, originally set out to make his own Lord of the Rings. Except instead of three books, it’s eight. And instead of easily understood lines of good and evil, Dark Tower has incredibly complex morals and themes, particularly for its protagonists.
This is all to say that a film adaptation of The Dark Tower was always going to be a mistake. It covers far too much ground and time, more similar to Game of Thrones than Lord of the Rings in that regard.
Two hour chunks of one of the greatest modern epics was never going to succeed.
Take it to premium cable/streaming
This should’ve gone to HBO, or a competitor premium cable or streaming service. And that really comes down to money and restrictions.
First, whoever carried the show needs the money to make it work. Game of Thrones kind of money. Luckily, there’s not huge battle scenes, so the money spent on the Battle of the Bastards can go towards the multitude of locations, set designs, and special effects.
Second, the carrier needs to have little restriction on its content. King’s books have never shied away from maturity, and for good reason. The first book alone includes a copious amount of death, some mild sex scenes, and one pretty graphic abortion.
Given these benchmarks, it would have to be HBO, Starz, or Showtime. While AMC, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu lack restrictions, their originals tend to have lower budgets that would make an epic adaptation harder.
Start with the first book
The movie’s biggest mistake was biting off more than it could chew. It attempted to adapt the entire broad stroke of the series into one 95 minute story. It’s just not possible.
Instead, start with the first book, The Gunslinger. It’s much smaller, and is fairly separated from the rest in its tone. It has fewer locations, special effects needs, and characters. The result is a pretty low-risk first season.
Adapt the themes, not the text
One thing the movie did do right: it didn’t directly adapt the books, scene for scene. And that’s smart. Not only does it allow them more creative freedom, it also follows up on the series perfect ending.
If you haven’t read the book series, stop now and go read them. Come back when you’re finished. Seriously. I’m warning you.
Last warning.
So the series ends with Roland finding the Tower, and climbing to the top. There, he walks through a door with his name on it, only to find himself back at the beginning of the series.
Essentially, Roland is living in a loop. The Tower won’t let him go until he completes his journey the right way, or dies trying. It is heavily implied that the lesson Roland still has yet to learn is the recognition of his humanity, identity, and compassion.
Where the movie went wrong, and fatally so, was the complete ignorance of the themes of the story.
The Dark Tower exists to buck the concept of the Hero’s Journey, and the duality of good and evil from LOTR. Here, the hero finds no redemption, conclusion, reward, etc. He is sent back, he must do the journey again. Not because he isn’t skilled, or didn’t learn things, like in most narratives. It’s because he didn’t learn the right things. He can be better.
The strongest underlying thematic is the treatment of good and evil. The film treats evil like most typical, often shallow stories. Matthew McConaheuy’s Man in Black is evil, entirely. He also has an evil mission of blowing up the Tower with a laser beam. Clear cut stuff.
Yet the book series questions this portrayal of what good and evil even are. Throughout the entire story, the Crimson King is built up as a great evil, the destroyer of peace and goodness, the Sauron/Emperor of the story.
When he is finally introduced in person, the Crimson King is essentially worthless. He’s a bumbling insane man, high on his power that has been long-ago ignored.
The “evil” of the story was perpetrated not by this all powerful force, but instead by simple, everyday things. Greedy corporations, human trafficking, corruption, racism, sexism, abuse, neglect. That is what evil is.
In the same vein, good isn’t Frodo with the ring, or Luke in X-Wing, or more recently, Wonder Woman as the god-killer. It’s being a father figure to a child who needs it. It’s placing a cross on the steps of the Tower because someone asked you to. It’s a rose in an abandoned lot.
It doesn’t matter what any adaptation of The Dark Tower did with the plot. With a deft, experienced hand, and a respect for the source material, it would be passable at worst. But respecting and utilizing these themes, completely unique among most of its peers, would elevate it to greatness.
Last week Samuel L. Jackson revealed his production schedule to ‘Glass,’ M. Night Shyamalan’s follow-up to ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Split.’
‘We start rehearsal on [September] 18th and I start shooting on the 25th. (…) I’m anxious,’ said Jackson to Collider.
Now this week, an official synopsis for ‘Glass’ was released:
M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originals—2000’s Unbreakable and last year’s Split—in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.
From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast.
Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.
‘Glass’ will look to Jackson to carry the film as Mr. Glass, and we all know, the greater the villain, the better the hero.
‘Glass’ hits theaters on January 18, 2019.
‘Split’ was an unexpected surprise at the box office in 2017, all eyes will be on ‘Glass’ in 2019. Do you think Shyamalan can handle the pressure? Comment below.
Born in 1926, Lewis was the only child of vaudevillian Danny Lewis. He would make his stage debut at the age of five. In his teens, he did a solo act miming to popular records.
From 1946 to 1956, he was part of the Martin and Lewis comedy team. Dean Martin would play the role of the straight man, while Lewis put his slapstick skills to good use. To audiences and critics, they became “the Organ Grinder and the Monkey.” Lewis’s shtick would be that of “the Kid”, a child in the body of a grown man. They had a string of successful films, including SailorBeware, TheCaddy, and Pardners.
The duo’s fame was akin to that of Elvis Presley or the Beatles. Ultimately, Lewis’ popularity came to overshadow Martin, who put less and less work into their routines. They would call it quits in 1956 after ten years together. Although they did reconcile in 1976, the duo performed once more on Martin’s 72nd birthday.
After splitting with Martin, Lewis continued to act, write and direct movies for Paramount. His biggest hits include Cinderfella, The Bell Boy, and The Nutty Professor. While his US popularity would decline in the 1960s, the French would come to view him as an icon.
When he wasn’t acting, Lewis would also teach a filmmaking course at the University of Southern California. Another venture he ran was Jerry Lewis Cinemas, a franchise which only showed family-friendly films.
As he got older, Lewis did try to venture out into more serious material. The Day The Clown Cried should have been his first dramatic film, but it never got a release due to legal problems. The film is now at the Library of Congress, but it will not be shown until 2025.
Following Clown, Lewis did not act again until 1980’s Hardly Working. By 1983, he got a more adult role as a talk show host in Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy. He made his Broadway debut in a 1995 revival of Damn Yankees.
When he wasn’t performing, Lewis was known for his work as a spokesman and advocate for muscular dystrophy. His annual Jerry Lewis Telethon and charity Jerry’s Kids would raise more than $2.45 billion. He would serve as Emcee of the event, which he did until 2010. Up until 2016, Lewis would do comedy shows in Las Vegas.
He is survived by his second wife and six of his seven children.
Popcorn Frights Film Festival unveiled a host of horror movies on South Florida this past weekend. Monkeys Fighting Robots was there to cover some of the 40 features and short films that featured in the festival. In some cases, these movies are making their North American premiere. One such premiere is The Hatred, a film from Malek Akkad, the producer of the Halloween franchise. The Hatred is about a home cursed by a Nazi treasure and though it’s plagued by a few inconsistencies is still a fun popcorn flick.
Well, it’s unthinkable for regular people, not so much for Nazi.
The Hatred begins with a prologue that introduces viewers to Samuel Sears (Andrew Divoff), his wife, and daughter Alice. The trio lives on a farm where Mrs. Sears home-schools their daughter and other kids. Alice wants to see more of the outside world but father Samuel is not having any of it. Soon after it’s revealed that Sears is a former high-ranking member of the Nazi regime and he’s holding an artifact left to him by the Furor himself. The object, a palm-sized iron cross, amplifies hate. Hitler’s asked Sears to bury it away. Sears does as told, but in an argument with his daughter, the iron cross’ power takes hold, and Sears does the unthinkable. Well, it’s unthinkable for regular people, not so much for Nazi. Soon after, Mrs. Sears learns about the gruesome act and commits one herself then leaves the farm for good.
The film picks up on the house in the present day as four college girls head to the renovated (yet cursed) location. Reagan, played with optimistic, final girl bravado by Sarah Davenport, is watching the home on behalf of her professor. Reagan is an old friend of the family and is also babysitting young Irene (Shae Smolik). Along for the ride are Regan’s friends, Layan (Gabrielle Bourne), Betaine (Alisha Wainwright), and Samantha (Bayley Corman).
The Hatred offers some pure fun.
After the girls arrive and settle into the home, the spirit of Alice and the power of the cross begin to mess with them. One by one the girls are tormented until death. Along the way, Samantha discovers some of the Nazi documents and gives the girls a little insight into what is killing them.
Between jump scares and tense build-ups and releases, one sequence stands out above the rest. Without spoiling it, the moment comes near the end, and it subverts the familiar horror tropes several times before delivering a truly genuine scare.
The Hatred offers some pure fun. However, it does lack a truly solid narrative punch. The characters, aside from Divoff’s stoic Nazi, aren’t very intriguing either. They’re fodder for the story. So, don’t go into The Hatred thinking you’re getting a slasher gorefest because it’s not that and it’s not The Exorcist or a tour de force of psychological terror like Session 9. The Hatred is popcorn horror that keeps the scare-party going.
The new movie Ingrid Goes West is a fun, dark take on social media. The film revolves around Ingrid, who moves to LA to befriend (or stalk) Instagram personality Taylor Sloan. What follows is a crazy tale, as Ingrid changes her life to mimic Taylor. Ingrid’s journey is exciting to watch, and the audience can’t help but root for Ingrid’s crazy plans. Ingrid Goes West is a pretty formulaic film, but its standout style makes it great.
Ingrid’s journey to befriend Taylor is fairly easy to predict. It’s the humor of the film that makes it entertaining. Using Instagram as a framework for Ingrid’s obsessive personality works wonderfully. It’s almost like an episode of Black Mirror, as the film is entrenched in the modern world of technology. However, much like Black Mirror, the movie isn’t really ABOUT technology. It’s about broader themes, like living vicariously through others. The humor and style, particularly the use of cell phone technology, makes Ingrid Goes West feel especially original.
The highlights of the film are definitely the two leads. Aubrey Plaza as Ingrid is a dynamic and funny protagonist. Ingrid is more than just an obsessive cell phone addict. Watching Plaza transform from an insane slob to a West Coast wannabe is hilarious. Ingrid is also relatable in a way, as she tries to live vicariously through Taylor. Elizabeth Olsen, additionally, is great as the entitled social media star. The way these two bounce off each other makes for a compelling core of the film.
Unfortunately, many of the characters are too one-note. Dan Pinto (O’Shea Jackson Jr) has great comedic timing, but his character is flat. Jackson is fun as the semi-romantic interest, but his obsession with Batman gets old quick. Likewise, Nicky (Billy Magnussen) is a fairly basic bro – literally, he’s Taylor’s douchey brother. Nicky is more obnoxious than evil, and it makes him a more boring antagonist.
The ending highlights what makes the film work so well. The darkness that Ingrid Goes West explores makes the film work. The movie is a truly dark satire of modern life. Ingrid Goes West uses Instagram as a way to explore how people fiend for attention, and the need for validation. Ingrid Goes West is a formulaic film, but a stylistic triumph.
STAND-OUT PERFORMANCES: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Thanks to the Popcorn Frights Film Festival, Monkeys Fighting Robots was treated to a host of soon-to-release horror movies that truly personified the broad spectrum of styles that the genre offers. Festival organizers Marc Ferman and Igor Shteyrenberg select every feature and short. And out of combined 40 films, they knocked it out of the park like Hall of Famers. And out of the various selections, Still/Born stood out from the rest. The film is a tense, unnerving horror entry worthy of cult status and many sequels.
Still/Born turns a simple, beautiful wooden staircase into a terror-inducing moment simply by turning on a light.
Still/Born tells the story of Mary (Christie Burke, Twilight Saga) and Jack (Jesse Moss, Tucker & Dale) who have twins but lose one at birth. As the family makes a cozy life in their new home, Mary starts losing touch with reality. She begins to hallucinate the sound of another child and seeing the image of some … thing … taking her baby. Husband Jack tries to be supportive until Mary’s psychosis goes too far. Friend and neighbor Rachel tries to help too, but there’s something about Mary and it’s driving her crazy. Science brushes it off as postpartum depression and treats it all with pills. However, real or not, it’s real enough to Mary and pills won’t stop her sense of impending doom.
As a modest-budget Blumhouse-style horror film, Still/Born takes place mostly in and around the married couple’s home. In real life, it’s the home of Director Brandon Christensen parents, and along with Cinematographer Bradley Stuckel the pair make every corner of the home count. Still/Born turns a simple, beautiful wooden staircase into a terror-inducing moment simply by turning on a light. It’s fantastic work and pure horror fun.
The opening moments of the film are a beautiful combination of director’s vision and actors doing it all without a word.
As a “one-set” movie, the pressure on the actors to carry the narrative tension is on. Christie Burke would be a star in the silent era with her ability to deliver so much with just a look. Her eyes become unnervingly large during moments where she sees what she believes is a baby-eating monster. Moss’ Jack is the right mix of nice guy and maybe a dick too, that adds to the doubt in Mary’s fragile mind.
The opening moments of the film are a beautiful combination of director’s vision and actors doing it all without a word. It’s a subtle visual sequence that gives you all the backstory you need to know without useless, filler dialogue. We’ve seen the familiar image of a woman giving birth. But here it’s done in silence. Just watching Burke and the medical staff go through the process. The camera ever so slowly moving in and the viewers adding in the chaotic sounds of the moment. And when the first baby is delivered, there’s a brief moment for everyone to breathe, before, again in silence, Burke lets us know there’s another on the way.
Still/Born is a horror-thriller that belongs in the same discussion as other modern gems like The Conjuring or The Babadook.
Great horror is patient. It lingers on shots a little longer to force the audience to a point where it’s asking, “What’s going to happen?” Cynics will rush through thoughts of what might happen while those buying into the reality of the film will shrivel. The release of tension is either euphoric for the “shrivlers” or a surprised slap across the face that, for some reason makes the cynics smile. It’s what makes horror so unique as an entertainment form and Still/Born harnesses it with precision.
Still/Born is a horror-thriller that belongs in the same discussion as other modern gems like The Conjuring or The Babadook. It’s horror that’s been honed like a laser. There’s no wasted moment in it, no extra storylines to pad the running time. Everything serves the next scene and the film as a whole which is what filmmaking is supposed to be.
Too often horror movies descend into a video game, “final boss” fight. All that is twisted in on itself here in Still/Born to great effect. The indie film comes together as another horror gem in 2017, and one to look out for as it secures distribution rights.
