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Favorite Movies of 2021

Leave a Comment / 2021 Movie Awards / Mark / February 13, 2022

So we conclude our recap of last year’s movies with a traditional top 10 list of my favorite movies of 2021, only a month and a half (or so) late! This marks the sweet sixteenth year in a row that I’ve posted a top 10. For reference, previous top 10s are here: [2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006]

It’s traditional at this point to discuss themes of the year. A tricky endeavor even in the best of times, but while 2021 wasn’t quite as tumultuous as 2020, we’re still living through a pandemic sprinkled with political and social strife. With the rollout of vaccines, a long, slow, sometimes halting march towards normalcy commenced. Movie studios attempted to cope in numerous ways with various experiments in the realm of streaming. Particularly notable was the HBO Max program of simultaneous releases online and in theaters for the entire slate of Warner Bros. movies, but other streaming services tried their hands at various attempts to reestablish a revenue stream. Near as I can tell, these streaming gambits were all well and good, but could not make up for what movie theaters used to represent. People might have signed up for HBO Max to watch Godzilla vs. Kong or something, but we’re starting to see some indications that people are much more fickle about maintaining a given streaming service long term (and will often cancel quickly). This is maybe good news for theaters? Only time will tell.

In terms of the movies themselves, I’m definitely gravitating towards more genre fare than ever before. Not sure if that’s just a “me” thing or if the industry as a whole is also going there. Box office results do tend to emphasize this sort of thing, perhaps due to the demographics of the audience willing to go to theaters (i.e. mostly young and mostly male), but there were lots of things that should have appealed to that group that did not catch on, so who knows?

One theme that seemed to emerge this year is stories surrounding various forms of grifters, hustlers, and con-artists. Sometimes this results in a sense of catharsis as we see such characters get their comeuppance, but sometimes the fallout of their actions is still unescapable and occasionally they even just get away with it. Another theme that was big this year was coping with trauma, though in at least some cases, that might be due to an audience or critic projecting their own feelings on a movie. Still, the movies this year were darker and more depressing than usual, and that’s reflected on my list. Finally, in accordance with the “Everyone Gets a John Wick Act of 2014”, there were a solid 5-10 movies with varying degrees of Wickian characters and plot points.

As usual, there were tons of good movies in 2021, if you were willing to seek them out. The pandemic has certainly thrown marketers for a loop, and generating awareness and excitement can be challenging these days, what with new Covid variants and releasing delays and whatnot. Once I got vaxxed up, I did manage to see a hefty amount of movies in the theater this year, but I’m obviously not back at pre-pandemic levels.

As of this writing, this top 10 list is pulling from a total of 102 movies I’ve seen that could be considered a 2021 release. This is less than your usual critic, but probably much more than your typical moviegoer. Standard disclaimers apply, and it’s always worth noting that due to release schedules (especially in these plague years), some movies from 2020 that didn’t become available until 2021 qualify for this list. That’s enough preamble, let’s get to the show:

Top Ten Movies of 2021

* In roughly reverse order

Malignant – James Wan’s schlocky nonsense is certainly not for everyone, but as a shot of pure genre adrenaline, it was the most fun I had during the Six Weeks of Halloween horror movie marathon. It took a bit to acclimate to the tone, but once I was locked in, I found myself cackling with glee, especially during the final half hour.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Review] [Kaedrin Arbitrary Award Winner]

Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography is sprinkled with unconventional romantic comedy sequences that might make you wonder about his love life, but this is probably his most accessible and direct foray into the much maligned sub-genre. It’s still got its odd components, but the way the characters find each other and themselves in the course of this episodic hang-out movie is hard to deny, and the excellent performances from the young leads bring the whole thing home.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

The Trip – This Scandanavian thriller about a couple who take a vacation, each plotting to murder the other, was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. The comedically violent hijinks that ensue from that basic setup are fully put through their paces and the over-the-top elements always keep things moving briskly. Great soundtrack, a twisty plot, stylish visuals, and excellent performances, especially from Noomi Rapace, who’s having a lot off fun.

More Info: [IMDB] [Netflix] [Kaedrin Review] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner]

Pig – This Nicolas Cage flick where he plays a truffle hunter tracking down his kidnapped pig seems, at first, like it will be one of the many “Wick Act” recipients, but as it slowly unfurls, it reveals itself to be a more restrained and thoughtful movie than you might expect. Cage can be great when he wants to be, and this movie has these exceptional sequences that basically amount to quiet conversations. It works better than you’d expect.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

Dune – Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the classic Frank Herbert novel somehow finds the perfect balance of tricky elements. Visually spectacular without feeling like a boring CGI-pixel stew, thoughtful without being insufferable, dense with information without going too hard on straight exposition. It’s only half of the story, which is a drawback, but it’s so much better than previous attempts at this story that it doesn’t matter.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Review] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner]

The Card Counter – Paul Schrader’s entire filmography tends to pull from the same Bressonian DNA, but as he remixes and splices different elements together, he sometimes discovers a new angle. Schrader’s visceral anger at systemic abuse is palpable, and the use of Poker as a backdrop is metaphorically apt, in that it’s a game that’s more about the people than the cards themselves.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

Nightmare Alley – Guillermo del Toro’s neo-noir carnie epic is one of the few remakes that compares favorably to, and in some ways even surpasses the original. It’s maybe a hair too long, but that extra time fleshes out the blind spots of the original, and the bitter, sardonic ending is far more effective here in the remake. Everyone’s a grifter and everyone’s lying to you, and to themselves. There seems to be a lot of this going on in the world these days…

More Info: [IMDB] [HBO Max or Hulu]

Riders of Justice – A well calibrated, darkly comedic reflection on acceptance and forgiveness and the patterns in the chaos of life. Another Scandanavian thriller, this one a bit more meditative about looking for meaning in the random events of life, with a bit of (much needed, given the rest of this list) optimism in the end.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Review]

No Sudden Move – I love it when Steven Soderbergh tosses off a zippy crime thriller out of nowhere and somehow crafts it into one of the best, most entertaining movies of the year. It’s got a twisty mix of genre elements; heists, gangsters, and double crosses galore. There’s deeper themes here if you want to explore them, but the movie doesn’t lecture at all, which is the right way to do this sort of thing.

More Info: [IMDB] [HBO Max]

A Glitch in the Matrix – Ostensibly about simulation theory, director Rodney Ascher’s modus operandi of focusing on a few personalities and letting them talk at length takes this documentary in a very different direction by the end. It’s the best metatextual examination of The Matrix in a year in which there was an actual Matrix sequel that was trying to do the same thing.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

The Last Duel – Ridley Scott’s Rashomon-esque medieval me-too movie was overlooked and underseen in theaters, but seems to have garnered a second life on streaming. Exceptional performances all around, but Ben Affleck, of all people, steals the show as a privileged, blond-haired Count. The titular duel is brutal and uncompromising, and it’s so effective because the underlying conflict is so aptly established before the fight. Even though you see the same story from three differing perspectives, I suspect there’s much to be gleaned from subsequent viewings…

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Review] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner] [Kaedrin Arbitrary Award Winner]

Honorable Mention

* In an order I dare you to discern

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar – Probably the funniest movie of the year, this Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo vehicle very nearly snuck into the top 10 (indeed, I think you could say that this movie and Malignant were the two best comedies of the year, even if one isn’t labeled as such). Wiig and Mumolo’s comedic deliveries are so thoroughly in sync that they almost represent a singular performance, and the silly, ridiculous nature of the whole endeavor is perfectly calibrated.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner]

The Beta Test – Jim Cummings’ acidic takedown of Hollywood and social media culture might be a bit on the nose, but it’s still trenchant, relevant, and it’s all tied together and harnessed in an interesting way. This isn’t quite as good as Cummings’ previous (The Wolf of Snow Hollow), perhaps because it wasn’t quite able to balance the uncomfortable elements as well.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Arbitrary Award Winner]

Copshop – Joe Carnahan has this sheen of macho posturing that somehow always sucks me in. Great performances from Gerard Butler (in full Den of Thieves dirtbag mode), Toby Huss, and Alexis Louder anchor this twisty crime story. It could have snuck onto the top 10 if it managed to stick the landing in the final act, which feels a bit choppy and rushed. Still, I rather enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner]

The French Dispatch – Wes Anderson’s brand of weaponized quirk is a bit inconsistent for me, and this anthology film is a good example of how I can go hot and cold on his work. I absolutely loved a couple of the segments here (and the connective tissue between segments), but some didn’t work nearly as well.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Review]

The Green Knight – Interesting and gorgeous spin on Arthurian legend from David Lowery, who is perhaps a bit too ponderous and deliberate with the way he lays this out (and thus the runtime is a bit too long). Still, I found myself more taken by this than I thought I would be, and the style kept my attention even when the plot was flagging…

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner]

Happily – This under the radar flick is something more folks should catch up with, as it’s got a winning combination of genre elements and comedy, and a great ensemble cast. The ending sours a bit, but the journey is still pretty great. Weird, dorky fun.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

The Harder They Fall – Jeymes Samuel’s stylish western featuring a mostly black cast is the best Netflix movie of the year. It looks great, it has an amazing ensemble cast, and there’s enough twists and turns and action to keep it moving briskly. It’s still a tad too long, but it’s hard to fault it for that, because there’s so much good stuff here, even when it does drag.

More Info: [IMDB] [Netflix] [Kaedrin Review]

I’m Your Man – This German android gigolo movie got snubbed at the Oscars, but I’ll be including it on my Hugo Awards ballot for sure. It’s a well observed drama about the awkwardness of romantic relationships and conflicting human desires, and it could probably use a bigger audience.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

Nobody – Bob Odenkirk is not the first guy you’d think to tap for a Wick Act flick, but that unconventional choice is part of what makes this work so well as its own thing, even if it does wind up being a bit on the derivative side. Still quite entertaining and one of the better Wick imitators out there…

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

One Shot – Scott Adkins stars in this action flick that is made to appear as one, single, continous shot. Yeah, it’s a gimmick, but it’s a pretty impressive and effective gimmick, and it’s one of the more thrilling action flicks of the year.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner]

Spider-Man: No Way Home – Marvel seemed to be losing their way this year, but they got back on track with this latest installment of the Spider-Man franchise, which is far better than I thought it would be. I’m still a little annoyed at the Marvel Spider-Man movies for being so focused on the broader Marvel universe and characters. That being said, there’s always that base level Marvel competence, and then you occasionally get something like this, which finds a better register. It was also probably the most raucous theater experience I had this year, which may color my thoughts a bit.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

The Suicide Squad – A massive improvement over the last installment, mostly due to James Gunn’s sensibility and humor. It certainly retains the violence and cynical elements of the first, but there’s actually some heart and dark comedy at its core that really shine through, even when the group fights something as silly as Starro…

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Movie Award Winner] [Kaedrin Arbitrary Award Winner]

Werewolves Within – Bouncy little horror comedy that probably deserves a bigger audience. Its politics are a bit ham fisted, but Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub are great together and really carry the movie. Both deserve more lead roles like this, and I could see this being a somewhat regular revisit during future Six Weeks of Halloween marathons…

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon] [Kaedrin Arbitrary Award Winner]

Wrath of Man – Guy Ritchie is at his best when he’s working in the Brit crime genre, and his collaborations with Jason Statham are all pretty fantastic, this one included. Interestingly, this does feel more like a 70s inflected version of Brit crime than Ritchie’s usual more modern take, but that’s all the better.

More Info: [IMDB] [Amazon]

Just Missed the Cut

But still worthwhile, in their own way. Presented without comment and in no particular order:

Should Have Seen

Despite having watched over a hundred movies made in 2021, there are plenty that I probably should have caught up with. Sometimes they weren’t readily available, sometimes I couldn’t muster up the will to get to the theater in the midst of Omicron, sometimes I just didn’t wanna watch (because reasons, that’s why). I will almost certainly end up seeing some of these and loving them, which is why the Kaedrin Movie Awards always has a category about the previous year’s movie…

Normally, at this point in the year, I’d be talking about Oscars, but while the nominations just came out, I don’t feel like I have that much to say about it, other than that I hope it gets back on track after last year’s rudderless show…

2021 Kaedrin Movie Awards: The Arbitrary Awards

Leave a Comment / 2021 Movie Awards / Mark / January 30, 2022

The 2021 Kaedrin Movie Award Winners were announced last week, so its time to get arbitrary. The idea is to recognize aspects of films that aren’t reflected in more traditional awards or other praise like a Top 10 list. However, any awards system will fail to capture all the nuances and complexity available; hence the Arbitrary Awards, an opportunity to commend movies that are weird or flawed in ways that don’t conform to normal standards. A few of these “awards” have become an annual tradition, but most are just, well, arbitrary. These are always fun, but in a year as weird as 2021, they are also necessary. Previous Arbitrary Awards: [2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006]

The “You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else” Award for Worst Dialogue: Halloween Kills. From the chants of “Evil dies tonight!” to people opining about the true curse of Michael Myers being fear or “the anchor that divides us” (that’s not what anchors do!) or just absolutely excusing an angry mob murdering some random guy, claiming that the fear of Michael Myers made them do it… this just has the most memorably bad dialogue of the year.

The Proximity to Jason Vorhees Award for Heroic Stupidity: Halloween Kills. Might as well rename the award to be Michael Myers instead of Jason. The people in this movie are so damn stupid that I was basically rooting for Michael by the end. When he finally turns the tables on the mob, it was actually kinda, sorta satisfying. But it’s not supposed to be? Like, are we supposed to care about the main characters in this movie?

The “Weiner” Award for Unparalleled Access to Documentary Subjects: The Beatles: Get Back. Copious amounts of lovingly restored behind the scenes footage of The Beatles as they rehearse and refine an album, they captured a lot, including George Harrison quitting the band temporarily, some hidden microphone candid stuff, the rooftop concert, and boatloads of jamming on songs they’re trying to figure out. I don’t know that it needed to be 8 hours long, but they captured some amazing moments. Runner up is Val, which has some great behind the scenes footage from movies like Top Gun and the notorious The Island of Dr Moreau, amongst lots of other moments from Val Kilmer’s career.

The Garth Marenghi “I know writers who use subtext, and they’re all cowards” Award for Achievement in Didacticism: Don’t Look Up. This movie is many things, but subtle is not one of them.

Best Running Gag: Don’t Look Up. Early in the movie a three star general charges the scientists for snacks while waiting to warn the president of an impending disaster. It turns out the snacks are actually free, which blows Jennifer Lawrence’s mind and she keeps bring it up throughout the movie. It’s just a perfectly deployed joke that somehow doesn’t wear out its welcome.

Best Video Game Adaptation: Werewolves Within. Based on an early VR game (that leverages the mechanics of Werewolf/Mafia style games), this movie retains only the “one of us is a werewolf” premise, which is a pretty solid conceit to anchor a movie on… The movie probably qualifies for the Garth Marenghi award above, as they really stress the obvious political metaphor with some cringingly dated ideas, but the movie overcomes that thanks to the delightful duo of Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub, who are both very funny and have great chemistry together.

Achievement in the Field of Gratuitous Violence: The Suicide Squad. It’s easy to forget because there’s comedy and even a little heart buried in this rated R gorefest.

Best Badass/Hero (non-Human Edition): Godzilla from Godzilla vs. Kong. I guess it could also go to Kong, but I kinda like the way Godzilla handles himself in these recent Hollywoodified movies. Also of note: King Shark from The Suicide Squad (he’s great, but the part is maybe a tiny bit too small).

Best Badass/Villain (non-Human Edition): Starro the Conqueror from The Suicide Squad. It’s such a ridiculous, tonally weird concept that they somehow managed to pull off perfectly.

Best Motion Captured Performance: Caleb Landry Jones in Finch. In the movie, we see a robot quickly grow and learn, and this is all demonstrated through Jones’ excellent motion capture performance (and I’m assuming he did the voice work too, which also gradually morphs throughout the film as he matures).

Best Duel: The Last Duel. Duh. I mean, yeah, it’s in the title, but the actual depiction of the eponymous duel is some of the best filmmaking of the year. It captures the absolute brutality of the fight, made all the more effective because the underlying conflict is so aptly established before the fight.

Best Meltdown: The Beta Test. Writer/director/actor Jim Cummings knows how to meltdown onscreen. He’s done so in all his movies, and while The Beta Test isn’t as good as The Wolf of Snow Hollow overall, the meltdown scene is better and more intense and cutting here. (This movie is another strong candidate for the Garth Marenghi award, but it still works pretty well.)

Should Host the Oscars: Gabriel from Malignant. I’m not sure I thought this one through.

Best Monster Who Likes Hunky Boys: Psycho Goreman. Despite protestations to the contrary, PG likes hunky boys.

Best Bond Girl: Ana de Armas in No Time to Die. I liked the movie overall, but the best parts were when Ana de Armas showed up as a superficially inexperienced agent who ends up kicking all sorts of ass when the shit hits the fan. Spoilers, I guess, but it’s great. I’d watch a spinoff with her character…

Stay tuned, moar 2021 movie commentary incoming, including the traditional Top 10 list and, probably, some Oscars commentary…

2021 Kaedrin Movie Award Winners

Leave a Comment / 2021 Movie Awards / Mark / January 23, 2022

The nominations for the 2021 Kaedrin Movie Awards were announced last week. The overall awards season is in a bit of a shambles these days, for numerous reasons. The pandemic certainly plays a role, with numerous publications and even the Oscars delaying their ceremonies. The Golden Globes has nearly disappeared from the zeitgeist, though that’s at least partially due to numerous controversial scandals and corruption. But the Kaedrin Movie Awards chugs along on the same, slightly delayed schedule that befits my status as “not a critic with access to screeners”. January is generally a time when I can finally catch up with poorly distributed movies that only received qualifying runs at the end of the year, and so on. Also, I’m sometimes lazy and/or have other things going on in my life. I know, I’m sorry. Anyway, that’s enough preamble, let’s get to the winners!

Best Villain/Badass: Bob Viddick, played by Gerard Butler and Anthony Lamb, played by Toby Huss in Copshop (tie). Yes, it’s a cheat, but the way this sort of thing usual goes is that movies with multiple nominations in the same category split the vote, leading to something else winning. Since there’s only one vote that matters here, I figure I can get away with this pretty easily. Copshop was a movie that sorta fizzled at the box office and it has that Joe Carnahan sheen of macho posturing that will turn off some viewers, but I greatly enjoyed it. And the best part was the villainy.

Gerard Butler is swaggering around in full Den of Thieves scumbag mode, while Toby Huss steals every scene he’s in as a gleeful lunatic rival dirtbag. The movie falters a bit towards the end, but it’s quite entertaining.

The other nominees are all well and good, but this wasn’t an especially accomplished year in villainy. Tony Leung in Shang-Chi was a possibility, but I didn’t love the way that plays out. Similarly, Michael Myers is an accomplished villain, but I genuinely disliked Halloween Kills to the point where I was kinda rooting for him (a win here would be more like a “lifetime achievement” award, the sort of symbolic gesture common in the Oscars that I’d like to avoid).

Best Hero/Badass: Sam, played by Karen Gillan in Gunpowder Milkshake. In accordance with the “Everyone gets a John Wick” Act of 2014, this last year arguable saw 5 to 10 examples of this sort of thing. Indeed, three (arguably four) were nominated for this award. I’m giving it to Gillan because she’s great and Gunpowder Milkshake has three memorable action set-pieces that are fantastic. The movie is a bit flawed in its self-conscious copying of Wickian ideas, but Gillan and the rest of the cast (including Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, and Angela Bassett) are absolute badasses that carry the day.

Runner up goes to to fellow Wick Act nominee Bob Odenkirk in Nobody, which is also excellent. Honorable mentions to Daniel Craig’s send off of James Bond in No Time to Die (who won the very first Best Hero/Badass Award back in 2007) and Alexis Louder in Copshop (it turns out that good villainy breeds good heroism – if the heroic competition wasn’t so strong and villainy so weak, we could have had a reverse situation…) All in all, an excellent year for heroics, which given the state of the world, is probably a good thing.

Best Comedic Performance: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. One of the challenges of this award is that comedies are so often reliant on interactions between an ensemble for the laughs, and nothing exemplifies this concept as well as Wiig and Mumolo here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this pair of performances… Indeed, they are so in sync with each other that it almost becomes a singular, joint performance that single handedly justifies this win. The movie itself is a weird, silly, insane delight that requires those core performances.

There are a couple other pairs in the nominees that are worthy, but the real runner up is a sole performance, and that’s Eric André in Bad Trip. Dude is really going for it and largely succeeding in a Borat-like farce. Other nominees are also worth checking out, but either I didn’t seek out enough comedy this year or people aren’t making enough comedies… Ideally, this category would have more nominees!

Breakthrough Performance: Jodie Comer in Free Guy and The Last Duel. She’s had quite a year, and these two performances are excellent and distinct, requiring different things in each case. This demonstrates an impressive range, from the subtlety of The Last Duel to the bombast of Free Guy, and she succeeds admirably. Strong, agonizing runner up from Alana Haim, who put forth a remarkable performance in Licorice Pizza. Overall, it’s a pretty solid list of nominees, and here’s to hoping they all pan out with great careers…

Most Visually Stunning: The Green Knight. This is one of those movies that is so gorgeous that nearly any shot, even any frame, is worthy of recognition. The movie is a tad long and episodic, but it’s never boring and visually impressive.

The other nominees are no slouches either, whether it be Dune‘s desaturated but still effective palate or Wes Anderson’s trademark quirkiness in The French Dispatch or Edgar Wright’s manic camera in Last Night in Soho, there were a lot of visually nifty movies last year…

Best Sci-Fi or Horror Film: Dune. After two quasi-failures in adapting Frank Herbert’s epic novel, it was tempting to claim it was an unfilmable story. And now we’re proven wrong, or at least, half-wrong, as this is one of the best first halves of a movie I’ve seen all year. Director Denis Villeneuve sometimes has a tendency to become overly ponderous and slow, but he struck an almost perfect pacing and tone with this movie. Here’s to hoping that he can stick the landing. Runners up all worthy, especially Malignant, which I get will rub some folks the wrong way, but I kinda loved. Another category I feel is kinda light this year, this time almost certainly due to my own viewing habits. I need to catch up with a bunch of other stuff…

Best Sequel/Reboot/Remake: The Suicide Squad. I can’t get over the gulf between this movie and its predecessor. Dark but still fun and just ridiculous enough to match the premise. Obviously Dune is the strongest contender here and probably the better movie, but I wanted to spread the love, and technically you could argue that Dune is more of a new adaptation than a remake or reboot, but whatever. Also of note: Zack Snyder’s Justice League was also much better than expected, though obviously it’s still indulgent and far too long. That said, it almost justifies its choices and is clearly far superior to the original cut.

Biggest Disappointment: Without Remorse. This movie had so many factors going for it. A screenplay by Taylor Sheridan, based on one of the better Tom Clancy novels (that isn’t Jack Ryan centered), starring Michael B. Jordan? This should have been a great action thriller, but the whole thing feels fumbled and sloppy. The other nominees are all mixed bags that aren’t necessarily terrible, but nevertheless scored poorly on Joe Posnanski’s Plus-Minus Scale. I suppose part of that is a me thing, but Without Remorse really took this award by the largest margin.

Best Action Sequences: One Shot. Call it a gimmick if you like, but it’s a pretty impressive gimmick. This is another one of those movies that is made to appear as one continuous shot. There have been a few of these, but none that have incorporated anywhere near this much action. And it’s not small scale stuff either. The action ranges from large scale gunfights and explosions to stealth missions across the compound to martial arts battles. Scott Adkins stars in his fair share of DTV junk, but a few of those really stand out, and this is one of them. He’s a great action star and it would be nice to see something like this on the big screen someday. Tons of great action to choose from in 2021, a really solid slate of nominees here (one that I caught up with this week that would have made the list: The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill, which has an exceptional set-piece on scaffolding that works incredibly well.)

Best Plot Twist/Surprise: The Trip. As usual, just noting that these movies have twists and surprises in them is a bit of a spoiler, so read on at your own peril. But this Scandanavian thriller doesn’t just rely on one big twist at the end or something, instead favoring a steady stream of surprising developments throughout the entire movie. One of my favorite discoveries of the year, and well worth checking out (it’s one of those foreign flicks that Netflix has that you will never stumble on because algorithm or something). Lots of other good twists in the nominees, and even some better overall movies, but when looking at just the twists, The Trip has it.

Best High Concept Film: The Last Duel. What appears to be a spin on Rashomon turns into something that distinguishes itself quite a bit by the end of the film. It’s a great film, and the concept of telling the same story through three different perspectives seems like one thing that somehow still manages to pull the rug out from underneath you in the end. It’s a remarkable film and one we’ll be seeing more about in the top 10. The other nominees have their moments, ranging from a high concept you have still probably seen before to things that are still pretty unique.

2021’s 2020 Movie of the Year: The Empty Man. I was really taken with this horror flick that got dumped due to being the last movie produced by Fox before it was gobbled up by Disney and also the bad timing of the pandemic. I’ve already said my piece on The Empty Man so I’ll leave it at that for now. Of the other nominees, I was really quite taken with The Kid Detective and annoyed with myself for not catching up with it last year. It would have certainly made my Honorable Mentions, if not the top 10…

So there you have it, please congratulate all the 2021 Kaedrin Movie Award winners! And stay tuned, for next week the awards get arbitrary!

2021 Kaedrin Movie Award Nominees

1 Comment / 2021 Movie Awards / Mark / January 16, 2022

Welcome to the 2021 Kaedrin Movie Award season, which we’re kicking off with nominees in our standard categories! The idea is to recognize films for achievements that don’t always reflect well on top 10 lists or traditional awards. There are lots of formal award categories and nominees listed below, but once those are announced, we’ll also leave some room for Arbitrary Awards that are more goofy and freeform. Finally, we’ll post a traditional top 10 list (usually sometime in early/mid-February). But first up is the awards! [Previous Installments here: 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020]

Standard disclaimers apply: It must be a 2021 movie (with the one caveat that some 2020 films were not accessible until 2021 and are thus eligible under fiat) and I obviously have to have seen the movie. As of this writing, I have seen 94 films that could be considered a 2021 release. This is a tad below where I’m normally at by now and below what many critics have seen, but probably a lot more than your average moviegoer and certainly enough to populate the awards…

The pandemic is obviously a driving factor here, though things were a lot better in 2021 than in 2020. Streaming services stepped up, including some major releases (notably Warner Bros. entire slate being released on HBO Max), but theatrical seems to be experiencing a slow rebound. This will most likely take a hit as omicron variant works its way through the US, but I started returning to theaters after being vaccinated and look forward to the coming year. But I digress, let’s get back to awards talk:

Best Villain/Badass
Not the greatest year for villainy, though the category did round itself out nicely enough. It’s just that standout villains were rare, and in some cases, I found myself kinda rooting for the villain, which isn’t usually a good thing. In accordance with tradition, my picks in this category are limited to individuals, not groups (i.e. no vampires or zombies as a general menace, etc…) or ideas. I’m kinda expanding this to include creatures, even individual creatures (we’ll get to those in the Arbitrary Awards).

Colonel Clive Ventor, played by Mel Gibson in Boss Level
Jakob Toretto, played by John Cena in F9: The Fast Saga
Varrick, played by Woody Harrelson in Kate
Xu Wenwu / The Mandarin played by Tony Chiu-Wai Leung in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Lyutsifer Safin, played by in No Time to Die
Michael Myers / The Shape, played by Nick Castle, James Jude Courtney, and Airon Armstrong in Halloween Kills
Emily May, played by Annabelle Wallis in Malignant
James Sullivan, played by Richard Armitage in Space Sweepers
Bob Viddick, played by Gerard Butler in Copshop
Anthony Lamb, played by Toby Huss in Copshop
Hakim Charef, played by Jess Liaudin in One Shot

Best Hero/Badass
A better year for heroism, with plenty of good choices here. Even in situations where I nominated a movie to have a best villain and best hero, it still feels like things were balanced towards heroism this year, which given the state of the world is probably not the worst thing. Again limited to individuals and not groups/creatures.

Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo in Boss Level
Sam, played by Karen Gillan in Gunpowder Milkshake
Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel in F9: The Fast Saga
Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie in The Suicide Squad
H, played by Jason Statham in Wrath of Man
Kate, played Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Kate
Hutch Mansell, played by Bob Odenkirk in Nobody
Shaun / Shang-Chi, played by Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Blind Man, played by Stephen Lang in Don’t Breathe 2
James Bond, played by Daniel Craig in No Time to Die
Markus, played by Mads Mikkelsen in Riders of Justice
Valerie Young, played by Alexis Louder in Copshop
Jake Harris, played by Scott Adkins in One Shot

Best Comedic Performance
This is sometimes a difficult category to populate due to the prevalence of ensembles in comedy movies (this year being no exception). As such, I’m kinda breaking with tradition here by including some nominees with two names/performances. In both cases I could technically break them out into separate noms, but their interactions with each other are a key part of the humor, and so I’m including both in one nom.

Milana Vayntrub and Sam Richardson in Werewolves Within

Eric André in Bad Trip
Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub in Werewolves Within
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Wesley Snipes in Coming 2 America
Kerry Bishé and Joel McHale in Happily
Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy
Jonah Hill in Don’t Look Up

Breakthrough Performance
This used to be a category more centered around my personal evaluation of a given actor (rather than a more general industry breakthrough), but it’s trended more towards the youngsters breaking through as time has gone on…

Sam Richardson in Werewolves Within and ‎The Tomorrow War
Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Thomasin McKenzie in Last Night in Soho
Jodie Comer in Free Guy and The Last Duel
Alexis Louder in Copshop and ‎The Tomorrow War
Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza
Cooper Hoffman in Licorice Pizza

Most Visually Stunning
Sometimes even bad movies can look really great… but this is actually a pretty solid list all by itself.

Best Sci-Fi or Horror Film
It’s always nice to throw some love to genres that don’t normally get a lot of recognition in end-of-the-year lists. As an avid SF fan, it’s sad that the genre usually has to be combined with Horror in order to come up with a well rounded set of nominees.

Best Sequel/Reboot/Remake
Always an awkward category to populate, especially given my normal feeling on this sort of thing.

Biggest Disappointment
A category often dominated by sequels and reboots, but the pandemic and delayed releases means that some original stuff has to pick up the slack. Note that these movies don’t necessarily need to be “bad” in order to be a “disappointment”. Basically, these movies scored poorly on Joe Posnanski’s Plus-Minus Scale.

Best Action Sequences
This award isn’t for individual action sequences, but rather an overall estimation of each film. This has been a pretty great year for action movies, and there’s a fair chance I’m going to catch up with even more action movies before next week. Will we get the rare (but not unprecedented) win by a movie that wasn’t nominated? Only time will tell.

Best Plot Twist/Surprise
I suppose even listing that there is a twist is a bit of a spoiler, so I guess we’ll just have to risk it.

Best High Concept Film
A bit of a nebulous concept for this one, but I think the category fills out nicely, with a couple of standouts.

2021’s 2020 Movie of the Year
This is a weird category that is sometimes difficult to populate, but apparently not during a pandemic because this is a fantastic crop of nominees. Some of this is due to the weird way movies were released during the pandemic – an exclusive theatrical release pre-vaccine was not going to due well. Others were just things I neglected to catch up with. I don’t know that any of these would knock something off my Top 10 from last year, but definitely some honorable mentions here. There are some years when I think this award should be removed, but it’s obviously a banner year here…

So there you have it, please congratulate all of the 2021 Kaedrin Movie Award nominees. I realize most publications have already done their year in review stuff, but we like to take our time here at Kaedrin and hey, at least we’re more prompt than the Oscars. Er, during the pandemic at least. Stay tuned for the winners (probably next week, but you never know), followed by the Arbitrary Awards and Top 10 list. I’m still catching up with various flicks, because as usual, those 9 and 10 slots in the top 10 are a little difficult to fill (not, I should add, because there aren’t worthy candidates, but more because there are so many vying for those slots)…

2021 in Movie Watching

Leave a Comment / Movies / Mark / January 9, 2022

2021 was an odd year in all respects, and my movie watching was no exception. Since time continues to march on, I figure it’s time to take a look back at the year that was… in movies. I know that this sort of navel gazing is perhaps too trivial given that we’re in the midst of a pandemic and assorted social strife, but that’s what makes it sort of fun. In accordance with tradition, we’ll be doing a much deeper dive on the movies of 2021 including the Kaedrin Movie Awards and the usual Top 10, but it’s also instructive to take a look at overall movie watching for the year.

I keep track of all my movie watching on Letterboxd, so if you’re reading this and are a member, we should be friends there. They also provide some stats, which I’m going to dive into below…

Overall Stats

This is what I watched in 2021:

384 films watched
725.2 hours watched
32 movies a month on average
7.4 movies a week on average

Breaking that down by decade:

While this is a lot of movies, it is basically returning to pre-pandemic numbers. Last year’s record 445 movies watched is great and all, but it was set while the world was fighting a pandemic with lockdowns and social distancing. In other words, ideal conditions for sitting around and watching a bunch of movies. I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised to see these numbers continue a decline, though it might be nice to see an uptick in pre-1980 movies…

This year did see the conclusion of the 1978 project, but I only watched 11 of those movies this year (the bulk of that project was covered in 2020). Not sure if I will be embarking on another effort like that this year, but they are a good way to provide structure to the media diet. I’ve considered doing a 50 from 50 (watch at least one movie from 50 different countries), but I probably come pretty close to that without even particularly trying (more below). I could do another year, or perhaps a companion to 50 under 50 that would be for movies between 1950 and 2000… but again, I kinda do that already. Well, there’s no requirement to start this at the beginning of the year (the 1978 project was started mid-year and lasted nearly 2 years, for what it’s worth), so we don’t need to keep speculating about it now.

More variability by week than last year, but pretty consistent throughout the year. A few spikes driven by various events throughout the year (like The Six Weeks of Halloween), but pretty much on par with pre-pandemic levels of viewing. In terms of day of the week, Tuesday and Wednesday continue to lag behind the rest of the week (at least partially due to a group of friends and I maintaining a remote RPG game night over discord). The biggest divergence from previous years is that Saturday dips below Friday and Sunday. I suspect this is partially driven by a halting return to normalcy and a bit of a social life on Saturdays. Go figure.

Genres, Languages, and Countries

The usual dominance of US and English language presents itself here, with a solid showing from other anglosphere countries like UK and Canada. South Korea and Spain make the top 10 in countries, while Australia and Hong Kong fall off the list (the latter probably because the 1978 project concluded, and thus the inexhaustible supply of Hong Kong martial arts movies made in the 1970s was temporarily skipped in favor of other stuff). The top 10 genres are basically the same, but the ordering is different (comedy stumbled from the top spot in 2020 to #6 in 2021)

The map this year has pretty good global coverage, though obviously the number of movies from each country is relatively small. The map is also a little odd in that there are lots of movies that have broad financing and that you wouldn’t necessarily think of as a movie from that country (i.e. a large proportion of Chinese movies are co-productions with Hollywood, etc…) That said, the grand majority also have real movies made in that country as well.

Ratings and Other Patterns

24.2% of my watches were a 2021 release, a big increase from last year (which was 16%). This is partially due to last year’s higher volume of movies watched, but also because studios held back a lot of releases until this year, which sorta gave me a double bump this year. This number usually hovers around 20%, so the variance isn’t that high, and I certainly still have a lot of movies to watch before I do my top 10, etc… but anecdotally, this year felt more packed with new releases, even during the pre-vaccine times…
24.2% of my watches were actually rewatches. Not a typo – same number of rewatches as 2021 release (93 movies). A minor decrease over last year, but pretty much on par.
Ratings continue to resemble a bell curve centered on the 3 out of 5 star rating. Slightly lower than the past due to an increase in 3.5 star ratings, though the numbers are surprisingly even above and below 3 and 3.5. I suspect part of the higher rating bias has to due with rewatches (i.e. I tend not to rewatch low rated movies, though there are certainly some!)
Letterboxd has a watchlist where you can add movies you want to watch (or at least, not lose track of). This year wasn’t so bad – almost parity between movies added to that list and then subsequently watched (though at least some were added long before this year). The list continues to grow. Some of this has to due with availability – I might want to watch a movie, but it could be out of print or only available via physical media, etc…

Stars and Directors

Keanu and Tom take the top slot this year, mostly driven by rewatches (particularly of the John Wick and Mission Impossible franchises), though there were new watches from both. I did go on an Eddie Murphy kick earlier this year, which was really a lot of fun and recommended if you haven’t seen his early movies recently. Jamie Lee Curtis is the lone woman on the list, something that has been sadly prevalent in these year end roundups. It strikes me that a lot of the people that show up on this list are there more because of franchise rewatches, which is fine, but doesn’t really capture the breadth and depth of what I watched over a year.

In terms of directors, I’ve tended towards white and male in the past, but while still plenty of white dudes, there’s a woman this year, and a few men of color too. Not going to claim I’m the most diverse dude out there, but I’m moving the in the right direction I think. As with last year, I followed along with the Blank Check podcast a bit this year, so some of these folks are certainly there because of them. Onwards and upwards.

Highs and Lows

Welp, the highest rated movie I watched all year was… a tv show. A glorious tv show, but still. I know it seems a bit tacky to track tv shows as movies on Letterboxd, but there are a handful that make sense and this is one of them. Lowest rated was actually an MST3K watch, but before that it was Abduction, a not so great thriller with a surprisingly good cast that was directed by John Singleton. Again, not good, but also almost certainly not the worst thing I watched all year. Knives Out takes most popular for the second year in a row. I don’t know why, but I’ve rewatched that movie quite a few times the last few years. Finally, the most obscure is actually a short film about a real-life 1996 tornado which hit a drive-in movie theater that was playing the movie Twister.

So there you have it, 2021 was a fun year in movie watching here at HQ. Not record setting, but again, that’s probably a good thing.

2021 Movie Catch-Up, Part 3: The Unseen

Leave a Comment / Movies / Mark / December 5, 2021

Around this time of year, I usually make up a list of unseen 2021 movie releases I want to catch up with in preparation for the annual Movie Awards and Top 10. Last year was an odd one due to that whole pandemic situation, which has obviously bled into this year. Recent activity has accelerated (for me, at least), and it seems like theaters are starting a long, slow rebound. As of this moment, I’ve seen 76 movies that could be considered a 2021 release – a significant increase from last year at this time. While this is mostly lead by more accessible streaming drops, the recent glut of theatrical releases has been heartening.

After a quick look around, there are still quite a few movies I’d like to catch up with. Lots of movies haven’t come out yet, but others are things I just never caught up with from earlier in the year. Standard disclaimers apply: I consider some 2020 movies a 2021 release if it didn’t get distributed in the US until 2021. This list is not comprehensive. I probably won’t watch everything on this list. I will probably watch things not on this list. And so on. Let’s goooo:

Blockbusters

West Side Story – I must admit that this does not tick many of my boxes. I’m not a big fan of musicals, I tend to be stricter when it comes to remakes (especially when the original is a classic), and the casting doesn’t do much for me (even before Ansel Elgort’s rumors, I wasn’t a huge fan). But it does tick one rather important box, which is that it’s Spielberg and I always want to watch what he puts out.

Spider-Man: No Way Home – I’ve been good at keeping up with Marvel, and this looks like it’s going to be a huge hit, but I’m somewhat guarded about it. For one thing, it seems like all the Marvel Spider-Mans involve more franchise service than I’d like (i.e. prominence of Iron Man in the first two movies, Dr. Strange in this new one, etc…) For another, it looks like they’re venturing into the Spider-Verse, which is something that’s already been done well and recently. I’m sure this will still be fun.

Nightmare Alley – I know very little about this other than that it’s Guillermo del Toro, which is basically enough for me.

The Matrix Resurrections – I guess it’s enough of an event that I’ll check it out, but my expectations are not especially high. This might work in the movie’s favor! But there’s a very real chance that my expectations are still too high, which is concerning.

Streaming Exclusives

To be fair, many of these will have some sort of theatrical qualifying run… that probably won’t be widely accessible unless you live in NY or LA, so I guess I’m using the term “exclusive” loosely.

The Beatles: Get Back (Apple TV+)- Peter Jackson’s 8 hour long documentary about the Beatles is one of those annoying TV/Movie hybrid things people love to argue about. I’m not entirely sure it will justify the runtime, but it seems to be garnering lots of buzz, so I’ll at least give it a shot.

Oxygen (Netflix) – Small scale genre thriller that doesn’t sound particularly great, but Alexandre Aja always manages to pull more out of tired premises than I expect, so I’ll certainly give it a shot.

The Power of the Dog (Netflix) – Jane Campion directed this Western drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons, seems interesting.

Don’t Look Up (Netflix) – Adam McKay, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, the lunatic who did… that… to Jennifer Lawrence’s hair, and a premise involving a comet that could destroy earth… could be fun!

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Apple TV+) – Joel Coen sans his brother Ethan, adapting Shakespeare with Denzel in the lead? I’m in.

Space Sweepers (Netflix) – This Korean Science Fiction movie came out earlier this year, but for some reason I never caught up with it then. But it’s been on my radar…

Independent & Art House

Licorice Pizza – New Paul Thomas Anderson, always an event (at least, amongst film dorks).

Pig – This Nicolas Cage flick came out in limited release earlier this year and got great reviews, but is now available on Hulu so I’m going to give it a run. Update: I have seen it, and lo, it was good.

Benedetta – Paul Verhoeven’s already infamous “horny Nun” movie has certain segments of film dorks quite excited. Seems like it could tread similar ground to The Devils, but maybe I’m just being pessimistic.

Agnes – Another Nun movie. It’s all Nuns, all the time in 2021! Seriously though, this seems like one of those horror movies that critics call “elevated”, whatever that means. I’m looking forward to it (honestly, probably more so than Benedetta).

The Humans – Another A24 elevated genre thing, but it looks interesting.

‎The Beta Test – Jim Cummings co-wrote and co-directed this skewering of Hollywood. I don’t know a lot about it, but Cummings is always unusual and interesting…

The Green Knight – Definitely want to catch up with this gorgeous looking fantastical retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight…

Titane – I don’t know much about this French flick other than that it was directed by Julia Ducournau, which might be enough!

Miscellaneous, Genre, &c.

Stillwater – Tom McCarthy and Matt Damon quietly released this crime drama early in the year, but it’s something I’d like to catch up with.

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain – This documentary about Bourdain garnered some notoriety due to a weird CGI recreation or somesuch, but I definitely want to catch up with it at some point.

Copshop – Joe Carnahan directed and Gerard Butler (in what appears to be full Den of Thieves dirtbag mode) stars in this crime thriller. Not expecting anything crazy good, but for whatever reason, Carnahan always entertains me (and often adds some uncomfortable bits that make you think).

Well, that’s 21 movies, which is probably enough for now. Again, I almost certainly won’t see all these, and will probably watch other stuff not on the list. It’s been an interesting year, and there’s plenty of interesting stuff coming (or that I need to catch up with)….

2021 Movie Catch-Up, Part 2

Leave a Comment / Movies / Mark / November 28, 2021

Just continuing our catch-up of 2021 movie releases seen in theaters and streaming.

2021 Movie Catch-Up: Theatrical

The French Dispatch – Wes Anderson deploys his particular brand of weaponized quirk in service of a tribute to magazine journalism. Structured as an anthology of articles with a wraparound story about the editor, it suffers a little from the usual anthology problem of unevenness. The first big story, about an imprisoned artist, was my favorite. It’s odd in a way that is complemented by Anderson’s fussy style, and Benicio Del Toro, Léa Seydoux, and Adrien Brody are giving great performances. The second article, some sort of revolutionary nonsense, didn’t work for me at all. Timothée Chalamet and Frances McDormand give it their all, but it fell a bit flat for me. The third story rebounds a little. It represents the classic New Yorker article trope of a story that starts out about one thing, but quickly morphs into something completely different. In this case, a simple profile about a chef transforms into a whole kidnapping plot. I appreciated it for what it’s doing, though it didn’t entirely connect.

In reading and listening to reviews of this movie, one thing I found interesting is that the editor character, played by Bill Murray, strikes a chord with a lot of critics… because they are writers (or editors themselves), and can appreciate the dynamics at work here. There are a couple of smaller segments throughout (like Owen Wilson’s short travelogue), and Murray’s editor ties all of this stuff together, much as you might expect. Anderson’s style is in full effect, and while I get that some people find it tiresome (sometimes I do too), I enjoyed it quite a bit here. In this age of generic Netflix mush and grey sludge color correction, a truly distinct but still formalistic style like Anderson’s is a welcome change of pace. It’s not Anderson’s best or my favorite, but I’m glad I saw it in a theater. **1/2

Eternals – I’ll give it points for ambition. For all the discourse around Marvel, they have always taken chances around obscure properties like this. For the most part, they paid off… until now. I can appreciate what they’re going for, but there’s almost too much going on here. Too many characters, too many subplots, too much worldbuilding, too much Marvel continuity service and sequel planning, far, far too long. Not entirely unusual for a superhero franchise, to be sure, but Marvel can usually offset any deficiencies on those fronts with charismatic actors who have chemistry with each other.

Gemma Chan and Richard Madden are ostensibly the protagonists, but there’s just nothing there. A big part of that is writing, but their performances and chemistry (or lack thereof) don’t do it any favors. Another part of the problem is that there’s, like, ten Eternals. Even with the bloated runtime, they couldn’t find any focus or depth with the characters. Some of them work… by themselves. Kumail Nanjiani and more importantly his valet played by Harish Patel are shouldering the comedic burden and mostly succeeding, but it feels like they’re in a different movie. Angelina Jolie and Ma Dong-seok seem to actually have some level of chemistry (moreso than our leads, that’s for sure) and I wouldn’t mind seeing them go on adventures… on their own. As it is, we get about five minutes with them sprinkled throughout. Other Eternals get more or less screentime, but none of it feels cohesive.

It doesn’t help that the story kinda paints the Eternals as villains. Spoilers, I guess, but even as they seek to reject their role in Earth’s fate, it all seems morally muddled. This sort of ponderous morality play is the sort of thing DC has tried and intermittently succeeded at, and Eternals feels like it has similarly mixed results.

As with any Marvel production, there’s a base level of competence here that makes it enjoyable enough while you’re watching. It is definitely too long, but director Chloe Zhao knows how to frame a shot and she’s really good at the nature photography and the requisite landscape shots that come with this glob-trotting story. The action is far less effective. I suspect this is not Zhao’s fault because Marvel has that whole assembly line of pre-vis action choreography and effects houses that were probably already in motion before Zhao even signed on (but who knows – this sort of second unit action speculation is a common Marvel criticism, but I’m not entirely sure how valid it is.) Regardless, the action comes off as generic and weightless, and the story can’t quite justify what’s going on anyway, which just means the stakes are also somewhat lacking (this is one of those things where the stakes are so high that they paradoxically become meaningless). So yes, it’s a fine watch that doesn’t hold up to any level of scrutiny and sorta gets worse when you realize how well Marvel was able to do similar things before (the Guardians of the Galaxy movies do a lot of this stuff much, much better.) Marvel has had misfires before and will no doubt bounce back… **

Venom: Let There Be Carnage – There’s not really much to say about this sort of movie. If you liked the first movie, you’ll like this well enough. Neither movie is particularly good, but there’s just something magnetic about Tom Hardy and the weird bickering odd couple relationship he has with Venom. So while a lot of this movie comes off as just a sorta garden-variety superhero flick, Hardy’s almost unhinged performance elevates things well enough. It definitely won’t convert anyone to start liking superhero flicks, but it’s more entertaining than I expected. **

Ghostbusters: Afterlife – I went into this with the lowest of low expectations. As such, I was mildly surprised that I enjoyed the early proceedings as much as I did. Then there’s this scene in Walmart, after which the movie falls off a repetitive cliff. I tend to be much harder on sequels than most folks, especially blatant nostalgia grabs like this one, so your mileage may vary.

Still, there’s plenty to like here. Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon are having lots of fun. Young Mckenna Grace gives a great performance, even if the script doesn’t really have an arc for her. Logan Kim is actually doing well considering that they saddled him with a character named “Podcast” (not “Twitch” or some newfangled platform young people actually use), but heck, I chuckled a few times. The early nostalgic bits are fine – some of them aren’t even stressed much (like, I didn’t need to see the stack of books, but they didn’t make a big deal out of it either). There’s this bit with a chess board that I really liked, even if it was almost immediately abandoned in favor of more clunky sequences.

But all of that curdles in the final act as everything grinds to a halt so we can watch something we’ve already seen before happen again. It makes a sort of sense, I guess, I just am so sick of beat-by-beat retreads like the end of this movie. They try to do something more heartwarming and I can see it working for folks, but I was so out of it by then that it didn’t really matter (and there’s something to be said about CGI characters who probably shouldn’t show up at the end). Ultimately, it’s kinda harmless and makes you appreciate the original all the more. **

2021 Movie Catch-Up: Streaming

CODA – This is a coming of age weepie about a family of deaf people and their daughter, who can hear and loves singing. A sorta reverse Mr. Holland’s Opus, while this does feature unconventional character dynamics involving family connections and dependencies, it is extremely formulaic. You can see all the beats coming before they happen and yet, all the clichés are harnessed and executed extremely well. I may be hard on sequels, but original movies that are formulaic and cliched still work for me if they’re really well executed, and this one absolutely is well executed. I’m not sure about the movie’s history, but it feels like a stereotypical Sundance sale, and now it’s on Apple TV+. Worth a look if you’re into this sort of thing. ***

Red Notice – Generic Netflix programmer elevated slightly by the sheer starpower and charisma of its three leads: Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot. I only saw it a few weeks ago, and already the details are fleeting. There’s a few jokes that land and while it’s shot in the flat, digital Netflix house style there are some visual flourishes that worked for me. The camera sometimes swooped around in longish takes, almost like one of those drone demo shots (though perhaps not quite as impressive as that – someday someone will really leverage drones to make a great action movie, and this isn’t that, but it seems like it can be done). There are some twists and turns, but it’s all aggressively mediocre. That’s a death sentence to most critics, but I mostly enjoyed it for what it was. **1/2

The Trip – Another Scandinavian thriller (this time out of Norway) that I really enjoyed. A couple take a trip to their isolated lake house. Each of them is planning to murder the other. Hijinks ensue. I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, but this is stylish, with good performances, a great soundtrack, and a very well plotted story.

It’s made by the guys who did the Dead Snow movies, and while this doesn’t quite reach the ridiculous levels of those Nazi zombie flicks, it does have a similar darkly comedic sensibility that sometimes veers into gratuitous violence. This might end up being one of my favorites of this year (it’s on Netflix). ***

The Sparks Brothers – Edgar Wright made this documentary about Sparks, an influential band most are not particularly familiar with. It’s mostly talking heads and archival clips or well edited montages of movies, but Wright approaches this sort of thing with much more style and wit that you might expect. The opening of this film encapsulates this approach really well, and I was fully onboard from moment one. It ultimately settles into a checklist format as we proceed through each album in Sparks’ long career, so the sheen wears off a bit by the end, but it’s still better done than most of this sort of thing. At 141 minutes, it is far too long, but it’s also hard to find fault with that. Certainly worth checking out (It’s on Netflix). **1/2

The Harder They Fall – Stylish western featuring a mostly black cast that is far better Netflix fodder than you normally get. At its heart, it’s a heavily plotted revenge story with a likable cast, some bravura filmmaking from director Jeymes Samuel, a menacing villain in Idris Elba, and a pretty great script. I feel like we’ve seen the whole anachronistic use of modern hip hop music in a western before, but this approach is very well executed here. The dialogue has a similarly anachronistic but well calibrated mixture of modern patois and old fashioned frontier gibberish.

It might be a teensy bit too long and the middle drags a bit, but it’s always entertaining and the action is well done, especially in the finale. The plot hints at some deeper themes that are perhaps not fully explored, but that’s a minor complaint. I really enjoyed this and look forward to seeing what Samuel does next… ***

There’s a lot of interesting stuff out there these days, but only if you’re seeking it out. Interesting movies like The Harder They Fall tend to fade into the Streaming ether rather quickly. Anywho, maybe one more post on the usual catch-up plan (of things I have not yet watched)…

2021 Movie Catch-Up, Part 1

Leave a Comment / Movies / Mark / November 21, 2021

The theatrical movie experience has suffered under the strain of the pandemic. Many theaters were simply closed for a while, and even once opened, box office receipts were way down, followed by delayed or limited releases with almost no marketing (if those movies were distributed to theaters at all). Media corporations were already shifting towards streaming, which has only accelerated. Even would-be blockbusters were being released on streaming, sometimes included in a subscription (witness: Warner Bros. entire 2021 slate released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max).

That said, I think we turned a corner about halfway through the Six Weeks of Halloween. All the sudden, there were exclusive theatrical releases. Long delayed blockbusters finally hit theaters, new indie fare made it to multiplexes, and crowds actually started showing up. We’re not back to pre-pandemic numbers, of course, and marketing efforts have not served some films well, but theaters are back. My Regal Unlimited account is suddenly becoming a good investment again.

As such, after the aforementioned Six Weeks of Halloween, I started to catch up with all the non-horror movies released in October. This involved a lot of theatrical, but the shift to streaming is real, so we’ll cover both here. While my normal media diet consists of a healthy mix of old and new, I’ve spent most of November catching up with 2021 movies, so this will be spread out across multiple posts.

2021 Movie Catch-Up: Theatrical

The Last Duel – Ridley Scott’s overlooked and underseen Rashomon-esque medieval me-too movie didn’t get a ton of play, which is a real shame because it’s quite good. A story told from three differing perspectives, this sets itself up like it’s going to be a spin on Rashomon, but then it pulls that rug out from under you when it goes and labels the third and final perspective as “The Truth.” The differences between the three stories are surprisingly minor, and they do a good job of not being too repetitive. Still, the details that change are exactly that; perhaps something a simple as shoes falling off during a pursuit rather than shoes being taken off. The story is touching on more modern concerns, and there are clear references to, for example, Bill Clinton’s controversies. Also, one can’t help but wonder if Affleck and Damon are grappling with their association with Harvey Weinstein by telling this story (they wrote the script along with Nicole Holofcener).

Matt Damon and Adam Driver in The Last Duel

Of course, the film looks great, and while I wouldn’t characterize this as an action movie, Scott’s eye for action serves the story well. The titular duel that caps off the movie is a real corker, much more brutal than you’ve probably ever seen such an event portrayed. I know that Game of Thrones fans might argue against that, but perhaps because the stakes here are so well established, I found it effective. Performances from the three main leads, Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer (she’s having a good year and will certainly be nominated in the Kaedrin Movie Awards for Breakthrough Performance), are excellent, but Ben Affleck, of all people, steals the show as the privileged, blond-haired Count. It’s not a happy-go-lucky blockbuster type of movie and the runtime is a tad long, but it is worth checking out and may find a place on my top 10 list at the end of the year. ***

Last Night in Soho – 2021 is turning into a year in which someone makes an interesting and weird little film, and people start calling it Giallo-inspired, and I’m sorry, but I just don’t see it. This Edgar Wright jam is filled with his usual craft and leans heavily on music-inspired sequences, and while there are some murders at the core of the story, this ain’t Giallo. I don’t get why people keep doing this (the other big one was Malignant, also not remotely a Giallo). If you want to see movies that influenced this, you’d be better off with Repulsion or Carnival of Souls.

Sadly, while it’s well made, I just don’t think this is my kinda thing. This isn’t meant to take away from Wright’s skill, and I can respect what he’s doing here, but there are a few things that hold me back. One is that I’m just not as inspired by the music as a lot of fans of this movie are. I can respect the way Wright deploys visual and audible components to achieve something that’s more than the sum of their parts, but it just doesn’t inspire me as much because the story at the heart of this is a bit muddy. Second is that I really couldn’t get over just how passive our protagonist was. As a psychic medium (or whatever), this passivity is sorta baked into the plot, but even when she tries to go active, she doesn’t accomplish much.

Thematically, I like the whole beware nostalgia or don’t view the past with rose colored glasses vibe, but for whatever reason, this packaging of those themes didn’t quite work for me. I have a ton of respect for what Wright is trying to do here and I don’t hate it or anything, but there are some missteps here that are holding it back. **1/2

Dune – It’s a pretty great first half of a movie, which is the only real complaint I have here: it just sorta ends (with a character literally saying “This is only the beginning.”) That said, the gamble paid off, and it looks like we’ll be getting the second half of the movie soon enough. Dune is one of those books that feels unfilmable due to the large amount of weird worldbuilding and made-up jargon needed to tell this story. Director Denis Villeneuve has a tendency towards overly deliberate, ponderous style that I didn’t care for with Blade Runner 2049, but are much better calibrated here. I can’t get over how well he balanced the various difficult components of telling this story. Visually spectacular without feeling like a boring CGI-pixel stew, thoughtful without being insufferable, I’m really looking forward to the second film. ***

2021 Movie Catch-Up: Streaming

Finch – Tom Hanks in a post-apocalypse world building a robot to take care of his dog when he inevitably dies. Well balanced sentimentality that never crosses over into an overly saccharine or maudlin mode, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Hanks kills it, as usual. I mean, this is so obviously an exercise in acting (not quite as much as Cast Away, but still) and yet, it still works. Perhaps because despite what the premise might imply, the motion capture performance by Caleb Landry Jones as the robot is surprisingly effecting. His performance is filled with subtle grace notes that indicate how quickly his learning robot is maturing. Plenty of special effects here, but they’re not the weightless spectacle you get from superhero movies, and are much better deployed here. (Available on Apple TV+) ***

Riders of Justice – Danish revenge flick starring Mads Mikkelson as an army vet who befriends three computer nerds to take revenge on a motorcycle gang who caused a train accident that killed his wife. A well calibrated, darkly comedic reflection on acceptance and forgiveness and the patterns in the chaos of life.

You can drive yourself crazy looking for meaning in random events, whether you’re doing so explicitly or building an algorithm to sift through massive amounts of data. It’s unconventional, but really interesting and quite entertaining to boot. Worth seeking out (it’s on Hulu). ***

The Guilty – Set entirely at a police dispatch center, this tells the story of a demoted police officer trying to help a woman in an emergency situation. By the numbers stuff, and apparently it’s a remake of a much better Danish film, which I didn’t realize when I started this. Antoine Fuqua and Jake Gyllenhaal deserve better, as does Riley Keough, who does amazing voice work as the woman on the other end of the line. It’s fine, but I’m guessing it doesn’t play particularly well to American audiences after the last year. **

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this 2021 Movie Catch-Up, and it appears there’s plenty more films coming to theaters soon (looking forward to Licorice Pizza!)

Halloween Reading Roundup

Leave a Comment / 6 Weeks of Halloween, Horror / Mark / November 7, 2021

We watch a lot of movies during the Six Weeks of Halloween, but there’s also a fair amount of spooky season’s readings to cover as well. As with this year’s movie watching, our Halloween reading pace has also slackened somewhat from the pandemic-fueled record set last year. I still ended up getting through eight books, which actually isn’t that far off the record, though a couple were shorter and I was still chiseling away at one even after the big day. I used to interweave some book posts throughout the marathon, but we’ll just have to do this one big roundup at the end of the season. We’ve got a lot to get through, so not all will be particularly in-depth analyses, but let’s take a looksee:

The Six Weeks of Halloween: Reading Roundup

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King – At this point, it’s almost a cliché to read Stephen King during the Halloween Season, but after reading Night Shift last year, I resolved to explore more of King’s short fiction. As it turns out this was the first book I started and the last book I finished during the season. Short Story collections tend to be, by their very nature, uneven affairs. But when you’ve got a stack of seasonal reads, a book like this makes for the perfect transition between larger works. As such, I was continually dipping into this collection throughout the entire marathon, only finishing it off yesterday (almost a week after Halloween). Clocking in at around 700 pages, that’s not too surprising, I guess, but it was an overall enjoyable read.

“Dolan’s Cadillac” kicks off the collection with a bang and it’s one of the best in the entire collection. More of a horror inflected crime/revenge story than anything else, I appreciated the procedural attention to detail and care with which King constructed the story. “The Night Flier” is a neat little modern (er, for the 80s) spin on vampires, and I very distinctly remember enjoying the movie adaptation that probably won’t live up to my memory (but it’s conspicuously absent from streaming and I’m not willing to spend $65 for a used VHS or DVD to test that theory out). “Home Delivery” is my kinda zombie story. “The Ten O’Clock People” is great, reminiscent of Carpenter’s They Live, but to my mind, better and more horrific (perhaps less pointed or angry in political terms, but creepier in execution for sure). “Crouch End” features the obligatory Lovecraft homage, and is pretty well done iteration of those tropes.

As expected, some stories didn’t really strike a nerve with me (like “The Moving Finger” or “My Pretty Pony”) and one thing I noticed in comparison to Night Shift is that these newer stories all seem longer and more verbose than the earlier ones. When it comes to the good stories mentioned above, that’s not really a problem, but there are a fair amount of stories that I thought were decent but dragged a bit (like “Sneakers” or “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band”). Finally, there are some things that don’t especially fit at all, notably “Head Down”, which is non-fiction about King’s son’s little league baseball team (which, oddly, is also the longest story of the bunch). All in all, though, it’s a pretty solid collection, and while it sags at times, it feels like it got stronger as it went. I will probably continue this trend of a Stephen King short story collection next year, as I kinda enjoy having something to slip in and out of throughout the season.

Winter Moon by Dean Koontz – I know Koontz takes a lot of heat, especially from Stephen King fans, but he’s always been a favorite. That said, he’s extremely repetitive and I’ve never quite managed to rekindle that initial burst of enthusiasm I got from his stuff when I discovered his books in high school. Part of that may be because I’m older and wiser now (haha, right – ed), part of it may be that I’ve already read his best stuff, but most likely it’s that Koontz is very prolific and tends to repeat certain tropes over and over again. That said, there was a period in the 80s and early 90s in which he was really on fire. I’ve actually had some luck earlier this year reading Mr. Murder and The Bad Place, both of which were quite fun (especially the latter, which I found surprisingly entertaining and weird).

Winter Moon was apparently a rewrite of one of Koontz’s earlier works, published under a pseudonym. Supposedly the rewrite used very little of the original text, so it was kinda considered a new novel at the time. Anyway, it’s a fun little alien invasion flick, with the usual sprinkling of Koontzian tropes. Great opening shootout with our police officer protagonist, after which his wife becomes a little paranoid (but not without reason), and the precocious child does his best, etc… Then there’s a parallel story in set in Montana that’s a little more unusual, but you eventually see how the two stories will dovetail. There’s some time spent just kinda waiting for the pieces to fall into place, but it’s easy-going page-turner stuff. Certainly not one of Koontz’s best and not something I’d recommend starting with, but it was entertaining enough.

Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror by W. Scott Poole – The premise of this nonfiction book is that the devastating violence and bloodshed of World War I planted the seeds of all modern horror. Poole is a historian, so it’s not surprising that a fair proportion of this book is spent chronicling various factual aspects of WWI. He’s good at capturing the outrage and senselessness of the war and even if you’re more interested in the artistic side of this premise, the historical details are still engaging and interesting.

These details are then applied to the emergence of various horror trends of the era, particularly given the prominence and influence of German filmmakers on the genre. He briefly sketches out the lives of several prominent authors and directors, including the likes of F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, James Whale, H.P. Lovecraft, Franz Kafka, and several others. Biographical information is relayed in addition to the prominent works of horror they produced.

Unfortunately, it does feel a bit like he’s stretching to make the details fit his thesis, rather than truly developing it. As a result, the book feels narrowly focused, like Poole was only concerned with a small part of what makes a lot of these works great. There’s also not much in the way of tracing this influence far beyond the war. It seems obvious that art produced during the 20s and 30s would be influenced by the war, but how does that influence expand beyond those works through the subsequent decades (even up until today).

None of which is to belittle what the book is doing here. If you’re already interested in the horror stories of the era, it’s a pretty good overview (if you’re not, then it might not hold interest – as mentioned, it doesn’t do much connecting those works to contemporary horror, so there’s not even an in there). I suppose if you were a history buff who never had much interest in the horror genre, it might be eye opening. I liked it well enough, though again, I do feel it was stretching to fit the thesis.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix – I feel like I should like Hendrix’s work more than I do. I really enjoyed the nonfiction Paperbacks from Hell, and We Sold Our Souls was a nice spin on some specific tropes that I found diverting enough (if not amazing or anything). This book, chronicling the travails of real-life final girls as a killer starts picking them off one by one, should really be up my alley.

To be sure, there are a lot of interesting elements here. In the world of this book, all the slasher franchises we know and love from the eighties were based on real stories with real final girls. They have slightly modified names (i.e. our main protagonist is the basis for the Slay Bells series of movies, which are very obviously styled after Silent Night, Deadly Night), but they’re all there. Of course, this sort of exposure comes with its own challenges. There’s a whole seedy and exploitative side to the situation that Hendrix covers aptly. Some of the girls handle it well, others do not. Twenty years later, they’re mostly a group of basket cases. This is perhaps not unrealistic, but it’s also no fun at all. Which I get. The trauma of such events should not be minimized. But you have to make up for that somehow, and Hendrix seems to think having a main protagonist be utterly and completely incompetent is compelling, and it’s not.

I really, really disliked our protagonist. It’s excusable that she did dumb stuff as a teen that wasn’t expecting to be hunted buy a Santa killer. Twenty years later, being paranoid and supposedly prepared, it turns out that she still constantly makes dumb decisions. Perhaps this is more of a “me” thing than the book’s fault, but I really had a hard time rooting for her. The reason we like final girls in horror movies is that they aren’t generally dumb and are capable of fighting back and even defeating the killer. I get that this story is supposed to be more based in realism, but the precept holds: competent protagonists are much more likeable than stupid ones. She even admits, late in the story when she did something tremendously stupid and underestimates a suspect: “I am stupid. I am dumb.” Right, but self-awareness does not inoculate the author from having a stupid protagonist. The worst thing is that she doesn’t need to be incompetent for this story to work. You could make a commentary on how paranoia and preparedness are sometimes not enough and maybe even the price of such precautions is too much… without having to make the character a total dunce.

There’s arguably too much weight on realism in this story, but otherwise, there’s a skeleton of a good plot here. Even some of the realistic stuff represents interesting extrapolations on a world where final girls were real things, and the various explorations of each final girl’s story and the franchises they spawned are great. As mentioned above, though, Hendrix chose perhaps the least likeable of the bunch as his main protagonist – the others all seem much more interesting and active. I listened to the audiobook for this, which probably didn’t help. It’s read by Adrienne King, who was the final girl in the original Friday the 13th. She’s not the worst reader I’ve heard, but it still comes off as more of a stunt than a great choice. I found a lot of things grating about the book, so maybe it’s hard to separate that from the performance, but whatever. I really did not enjoy this book, which is a shame, because it should have been up my alley. One of these days I’ll find a slasher novel that works for me…

Last Days by Brian Evenson – Evenson is my favorite discovery of the year. There’s something of a cult status being built up around him, and after having read a couple books during this Halloween season, I can easily see why. He’s got a simplistic, straightforward style that is deceptively cerebral in nature, and deeply unsettling.

This story of this novel concerns an amputation-obsessed cult that hires a detective (who had his hand chopped off during his last case – and thus is considered trustworthy by the cult) to solve a murder. Naturally, all is not what it seems. What starts as a detective procedural with a Kafka-esque bent, eventually turns (or perhaps curdles) into something more odd and violent than you might expect.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t spend much more time on it, though I guess that implies the story has more surprises and gotcha twists than it really does. I mean, our detective certainly makes deductions I wasn’t expecting and there are twists, but they’re hard to describe and unlike your usual mysteries. I really enjoyed the weirdness though, and while it’s subtly stylish stuff, it’s still page turning material. Worth seeking out if you’re not scared of strange stuff off the beaten path…

Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson – This collection of short stories might be a better place to start than Last Days, but they’re both pretty short books. I found it interesting reading this in contrast to King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Where I found King’s stories to be relatively long (approximately 30 pages with small type/spacing) and verbose, Evenson’s are generally very short (approximately 10 pages, not as densely printed), stripped down, and simple… but no less disturbing.

Stories range from the straightforward horror type, to more adventurous blends of genres, even including a few science fiction tales. You’ve got the obligatory Lovecraft homage (one of the aforementioned SF stories), and there are multiple stories about filmmakers that delve into the horrific.

I liked the initial entries in the book, but either the stories got better as it it went or I simply got on Evenson’s wavelength, because my opinion of this book kept rising as I read (an unusual experience with a short story collection, which is typically more of a wave of ups and downs – I suppose that’s also true here, but the stories are short enough that the amplitude of said waves isn’t that high). If Evenson’s brand of weird and disquieting horror sounds like your thing, check it out. I will most certainly be revisiting his work next year.

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar – A serial killer story with a metafictional twist, this novel is essentially a fictional true crime novel. As such, you don’t get the bombastic serial killer tropes here, only the difficult to reconstruct details of each murder scene and a little about the victim’s life. It’s a fascinating exercise and a premise that mostly delivers what it promises, though I will say that I’m not exactly an expert on true crime.

It did feel more like a memoir than true crime at times, but again, I’m not sure how much of this is a departure from true crime or not (i.e. are a lot of true crime novels also sorta memoirs about the author’s life too?) Either way, the story works well enough for what it is. Again, don’t expect the exciting, pulse-pounding tropes of more trashy serial killer narratives. But it’s not a hollow, overheated stylistic exercise either. It’s a sorta sober examination of a series of murders in the author’s hometown. Unlike a lot of true crime, this one is eventually solved, and the book takes the form of a second edition, with some additional chapters at the end (because the fictional crimes were solved long after the fictional true crime book was fictionally published, so the fictional author was approached by the fictional publisher to revise the fictional book for a fictional second edition – everyone got that?) It works as a story, but also as a metatextual narrative, which is pretty interesting.

Danse Macabre by Stephen King – And so we return to Stephen King, this time working in non-fiction mode as he examines what makes the horror genre tick. Writing in the early 80s, he’s mostly covering older works from his childhood, though he does spend some time on contemporary (i.e. late 70s) horror as well. That part represents an interesting time capsule to see what horror movies resonated at the time, versus the ones that have survived the test of time and are still well known today.

He covers literature and movies, with some time spent on radio and the pulps and whatnot. There’s good overviews of a lot of what makes the genre tick, and he traces things back to originators like Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (the latter of which King posits as the origin of modern werewolf stories, which I’m not sure I’d ever heard before).

It’s always interesting to get some perspective on an author like King and how he understands his own work, but I’m guessing there’s a lot to quibble with too. If you’ve ever read King’s column in Entertainment magazine back in the day, well, it’s perhaps not quite that lightweight, but sometimes he strikes off in a direction that seems a bit more flimsy than you might expect. Still, if you’re interested in horror’s evolution through the 50s and 60s, with a little of the 70s, this book will be most interesting for you. Personally, it feels like he might have written it a few years too early – the 80s were an interesting time for horror, and most of that is elided here simply because of when he wrote the book. Hard to blame him for that, so this is definitely another me problem, but the horror heart wants what it wants. I’d recommend King’s On Writing much more than Danse Macabre, but they’re also very different takes on non-fiction, so make of that what you will. King’s always interesting though…

Another Season’s Readings in the books. I’m allready thinking of things I’m going to watch and read for next year’s Six Weeks of Halloween marathon, which is always a good sign…

The Six Weeks of Halloween: Speed Round

3 Comments / 6 Weeks of Halloween / Mark / October 31, 2021

In accordance with tradition, we finish off the Six Weeks of Halloween with a Speed Round of brief thoughts on films I watched during the marathon, but haven’t otherwise covered. Usually because it didn’t fit with a weekly theme. Or maybe I just didn’t have much to say about it. Or I had too much to say about it, but the moment and/or inspiration has passed. Or it’s a rewatch of an all time classic (or, uh, a non-classic) and you don’t need anyone, let alone me, telling you more about it.

As of this writing, I’ve seen 56 horror (or horror-adjacent) movies during this Halloween season (likely to jump up to 58 tonight). This is a welcome dip from last year’s pandemic-fueled record pace of 71 films and much more in line with pre-pandemic viewing patterns. Still plenty of stuff to cover in this Speed Round though, and we’ll have another post next week to cover Season’s Readings (which experienced a similar dip from a record setting pace last year).

Hard to believe it’s already the big day. As per usual, time flies when you’re terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. Let’s finish this marathon off:

The Six Weeks of Halloween: Speed Round

The Thing – An all timer, and one of those movies I watch almost every year. Practical effects still hold up and the sheer creativity on display is still impressive, even on this umpteenth viewing. ****

Escape Room – All in good fun, the sort of thing I could see spawning a long running franchise (I meant to catch up with the sequel, but never got around to it). Still, I quite enjoyed the puzzles and execution of it all. Maybe a bit derivative, but it puts enough clever spins on the familiar stuff that it never gets boring. **1/2

The Craft – The oh so 90s answer to The Lost Boys , entertaining enough for what it is. I’m positive I saw this on cable back in the day, but I remembered almost none of the twists and turns, even if it was still a bit on the predictable side. **1/2

Christine – Another revisit, partially inspired by the Black Check Carpenter mini-series, but also I just really like this movie, apparently a lot more than most. At a certain point, the film starts to feel rushed, but it’s still one of the better Stephen King adaptations and there’s lots of great visual bits scattered throughout (the car rebuilding itself, the flaming car chase, etc…) ***

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark – I watched this because Shudder is single handedly trying to keep the idea of horror hosts alive and did an Elvira 40th Anniversary special with four movies. I only ended up watching two of them (I’d seen the other two before), including Elvira’s own, which is still quite amusing in a nostalgic way. **1/2

The City of the Dead – The other new-to-me flick from Elvira’s Shudder special, this has a wonderful atmosphere, just boatloads of fog all over, really quite spooky. I quite enjoyed it. **1/2

Deathtrap – This Sidney Lumet drama (adapted from the theater) might be my favorite discovery of the marathon, even if it barely skirts the horror genre. Certainly some creepy stuff here, and very suspenseful with a tremendous amount of clever twists and turns.

Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve in Deathtrap

Michael Caine and Dyan Cannon are great, as usual, but Christopher Reeve is the real surprising standout here. Just a delightful little film. ***1/2

Willard – Interesting and weird tale of a meek loner who befriends the rats at his mother’s dilapidated mansion and eventually grows the ability to command them to take revenge! Neat idea but it’s ultimately a bit slow and more than a little silly, though it picks up towards the end. **

The Silence of the Lambs – Another annual rewatch, I’ve already said my piece on this, but it remains a classic standby. ****

The Black Room – It seems that Boris Karloff programmers are starting to become something of an annual tradition around here. This one has great atmosphere and a few clever twists that I quite enjoyed. Karloff is great, as always, and can even make something as mundane as eating a pear into something compelling to watch. **1/2

Night Key – Another Karloff, this one distinctly less horror-focused, but he’s sorta approaching the mad-scientist-out-for-revenge territory that he excels at, though it never quite reaches horror levels. **

Angel – Part of Joe Bob’s Halloween Hoedown, this serial killer flick about sex workers in Hollywood is a weird one. Trashy but not as depraved as it could be, with a colorful supporting cast (especially Rory Calhoun) providing an almost sweet street family vibe. **1/2

Terror Train – The other Hoedown pick, I watched this during the 6WH over a decade ago, so it was nice to revisit. My thoughts on it haven’t changed much though – surprisingly tame, but ultimately entertaining and a nice spin on the slasher. **1/2

House – After the success of the first few Friday the 13th flicks, producer Sean Cunningham got the band back together for this haunted house flick. Steve Miner directs and Harry Manfredini provides the score. Then they went out and cast several sitcom stars, giving the whole thing a slight comic edge that does differentiate it from the throngs of other haunted house flicks. They do get pretty good performances out of William Katt and George Wendt, which I guess shouldn’t be surprising. Decent practical effects and some interesting designs make for an entertaining time, if not especially accomplished. **1/2

Unmasked Part 25 – What if Jason got sick of murdering amorous teens, fell in love, and settled down? Neat idea, and the opening of the film sells that premise well… but unfortunately it then descends into lots and lots of talking and whining before picking up again for the finale. The costume doesn’t have much going for it, though I guess there’s something parodic about the whole thing that glides us past the low budget. Some decent gags and a couple of laughs, but not especially a classic or anything. **

The Wolf Man – The Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection, which features 4K remasters of four Universal Classics. The perfect excuse to revisit these. The Wolf Man looks fantastic, really cleaned up since the last time I saw it and the story remains as effective as ever. There’s an almost unintentional quaintness to the sincerity with which it goes about explaining werewolf lore. While the concept has been around for thousands of years, much of what we think of as modern werewolf lore is established (or at least popularized) by this movie. And it helps that Lon Chaney Jr. gives a pitch perfect performance. ***

Halloween Kills – I was mixed on the 2018 Halloween reboot, but I found this sequel downright disappointing. Some stuff still works. I like that Michael Myers is portrayed as a force of nature, like a shark, always moving, always killing, always crafting ironic, elaborate dioramas out of his victims’ bodies. A scene where Myers keeps stabbing a guy with different knives walks this perfect line between funny and creepy and is just perfectly executed. There are some other bits and pieces of business sprinkled throughout. David Gordon Green is clearly a talented dude and the film looks great and has some interesting ideas. That said, it’s disappointing that Jamie Lee Curtis spends most of the movie laying in a hospital bed (and, like, not in the good way of Halloween II).

Then you get to the the whole out of control mob situation. It’s a ripe target for our times and it kinda makes sense even in context of the film, but it has really glaring execution issues. First, it makes me not like anyone (there are times when its ok to cheer for the slasher villain, but not to this extent). I know the movie isn’t trying to endorse mob justice, but the whole thing just comes off as obnoxious posturing. The over-reliance on legacy characters riling up the mob also feels kinda tacky and desperate. Second, multiple characters, including Laurie Strode, attempt to monologue away responsibility for the mob, attributing it wholly to Myers, as if it was his six-dimensional-chess plan or somesuch. It’s one thing to reflect on what we’ve become in the face of Myers, it’s another to say “look what he made us do”. The mob killed an innocent man and even when they eventually caught up with Myers, they did an awful job, hurt themselves, and didn’t know what they were dealing with. It’s sort of reactionary, but again, there’s a monologue that tries to reckon with this and it’s absolutely awful. “Michael Myers is the anger that divides us” is an actual line, delivered with a straight face. Just dreadful stuff. There was precisely one character I liked in this movie, and she was killed in a weirdly unceremonious kinda way (I’m still not sure how it happened).

I guess you could write some of this off as middle-of-a-trilogy struggles, but being self-aware that your movie is disappointing doesn’t inoculate you from the disappointment. I’m not especially excited to see where this is all heading. **

House II: The Second Story – I can’t decide if the punny subtitle is the best or the worst. Anyway, this is one of those weird 80s phenomena where a movie is successful so they greenlight a sequel, but because the first movie resolved all its issues, they end up just finding another haunted house script that’s completely disconnected and making that instead. They also reprise the whole sitcom casting strategy, this time with different folks. Don’t get me wrong: I actually tend to like this approach (Prom Night II, anyone?) That said, this is a weird movie in that it’s barely horror. It leans way more heavily into a sorta adventure story. Yeah, there’s ghosts and dead people and monsters, but none of it is played for scares. It’s entertaining enough, I guess. **

Vampire Academy – Look, this is not a good movie, but there’s the bones of something decent in here somewhere. It tends to collapse under the clumsy exposition needed to establish the worldbuilding so common in the boom of self-serious YA adaptations that was occurring at the time. However, some of the bitchy teen high school DNA from the writer and the director (who worked on stuff like Mean Girls and Heathers) sneaks in, and perhaps some polishing or budgetary help would have made this work a little better. Zoey Deutch is great, and the rest of the cast is trying, at least. Not really something I’d recommend, but I seem to have a thing for really bad modern takes on vampires. **

A Bay of Blood – Revisiting Mario Bava’s lakeside proto-slasher, I can’t help but continue laughing at how the Friday the 13th movies cribbed from the kills here (something I’ve always thought funny about this) and the absolutely bonkers ending always gets me, even though I know its coming. Worth watching for fans of Italian schlock. ***

In Search of Darkness: Part II – Basically more of the same, this sequel just goes deeper and more obscure, which is actually pretty cool. We’ve all seen the talking heads discuss the classics of 80s horror, what about obscure schlock like Nightmare? They try to break up the checklist format with quick dives into directors or actors or makeup artists, but it’s ultimately just a list of movies with talking heads commenting on them. Which is fine for what it is, and it’s actually pretty cool to dip in to this a little at a time (which you kinda have to do, given the 4.5 hour runtime). It’s solid if you like that sort of thing, which I guess I do because I watched the whole damn thing… **1/2

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown – Perfectly cromulent documentary about the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft. A little weird that so much of the movie is focused on filmmakers inspired by Lovecraft, but there’s actually pretty decent access here, and they do spread it around to writers as well. Folks like John Carpenter, Guillermo Del Toro, and Neil Gaiman all show up, which is better than you expect from something like this. **1/2

Dracula & Drácula – More from the 4K boxed set mentioned above, both versions of Dracula have been upgraded to 4K. A lot has been made out of the contrarian opinion that the Spanish language version of this movie is the superior effort, but I don’t think I fall into that camp. Sure, there’s a few camera moves and shots that are better, but not as many as I was expecting given the hype. Lupita Tovar as Eva/Mina is an improvement over Helen Chandler from the English language version. She’s more energetic and seductive (this is emphasized even in the costumes, which are more risque), which fits better than the more chaste portrayal in the other version.

However, I still find that Tod Browning’s use of atmosphere and negative space are more effective and subtle than most of the Spanish version adherents give it credit for. Also, it’s hard to beat Bela Lugosi’s otherworldly affect and piercing stares. I was also struck by how much I liked Dwight Frye’s over-the-top Renfield portrayal. Anyway, the 4K looks great, and I think the English language Dracula is probably the better of the two (also significantly shorter), but it’s nice that the Spanish language version survived and got the 4K treatment too. *** and **1/2

Lake Bodom – Stylish slasher pastiche from Finland, this turns into something different as it goes, but it makes up for the lack of slasher gore with good cinematography and tons of relatively clever twists and turns and revelations about this or that. More like All the Boys Love Mandy Lane than a typical slasher, but that’s probably a good thing. **1/2

Ghostbusters – Why do people keep trying to capture lighting in a bottle when the original did it so well? I mean, I know why, but they keep failing and boy does the new one coming (a month after Halloween for some reason) look awful. The original remains classic horror comedy comfort food. ****

Spiral – From the Book of Saw, which I guess is a thing now. This Chris Rock fronted installment comports itself well enough and compares favorably to the middle tier of the series. Not as bad as the reviews would have you believe, but it’s not really the shot in the arm it promised for the franchise either. **

Sisters – I really enjoy early De Palma, even though he’s mostly just aping Hitchcock. I mean, if you’re going to copy something, copy from the best. I first watched this almost a decade ago, and it holds up reasonably well. The split screen approach utilized a few times is really quite well done, and the Rear Window vibes are real. It kinda loses its way towards the ending, but it all works well. ***

Frankenstein – Always my favorite of the Universal Monster movies, this holds up. Maybe a little more talky than I remembered, but incredible atmosphere and a great performance from Karloff as the monster. Looks great in 4K too. ****

Halloween – I’m cheating a bit because I’m going to watch this tonight, but you don’t need me to say anything about this all time classic. There’s a reason it took top honors in the 1978 Project, and I expect this rewatch to put Halloween Kills in stark relief. ****

I’ll probably also watch Trick ‘r Treat, as I do most years, but again, you don’t need me to say more about that (it’s worth a look, though it’s perhaps not as universally beloved as the original Halloween).

It’s been a fun six weeks, and don’t worry, even though the grand holiday is passing, I’ll have one more post next week covering the Season’s Readings. Otherwise, I’ve already got some ideas for weekly themes for next year, just so you know where my head’s at. Happy Halloween folks!