Author: jbg

TROUBLE EVERY DAY (2001)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Claire Denis
Written By: Claire Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau
Cinematography: Agnes Godard 
Editor: Nelly Quettier 

Cast: Vincent Gallo, Tricia Vessey, Beatrice Dalle, Alex Descas, Florence Loiret-Caille, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Raphael Neal

Shane and June Brown are an American couple honeymooning in Paris in an effort to nurture their new life together, a life complicated by Shane’s mysterious and frequent visits to a medical clinic where cutting-edge studies of the human libido are undertaken. When Shane seeks out a self-exiled expert in the field, he happens upon the doctor’s wife, another victim of the same malady. She has become so dangerous and emotionally paralyzed by the condition that her husband imprisons her by day in their home. It is Shane’s chance encounter with this woman that triggers an event so cataclysmic and shocking it might just lead him to rediscover the tranquility he seeks to restore for himself and his new bride.

Not going to lie, the whole reason I wanted to see this film is Beatrice Dalle. Who has had me captivated since her role in Jim Jaramusch’s NIGHT ON EARTH and have been catching up with her roles from the past to the present ever since.

So it was her being in a vampire film before that seemed to become a trend In The 2000s and also Vincent Gallo is in the film and he usually makes whatever he is in a little more vibrant and interesting.

This is a movie that tries in modern times to present a fable connecting vampirism to lust. The character played by Beatrice Dalle is insatiable and seems to constantly need to feed. So much so that she has to be kept locked up and away. As she is a beast that Can’t be contained. Her raw female sexuality comes out while she gets her prey by seeming more innocent yet confident in her sexuality.

She is sloppy, scantily clothed in a nightgown stained with blood like an animal but she still contains beauty.

The longing for blood comes across as more sexual with an extreme fetish the participants only find out about too late. 

Vincent Gallo is her old lover who has moved on and has a younger wife. He has been able to contain his vampirism and come off as a regular Joe. Though he is drawn back to her. Even as she has a husband who never quite knew what he was getting into, but accepts his responsibilities and tries to help the love of his life in his own way. Hoping she will become satisfied and normal. 

The film is brutally violent and contains a lot of anticipation that never quite lives up to the promise. 

However, it does show a romantic side as in the scene where Dalle’s husband is cleaning the blood off of his feral wife after she seduces and attacks another victim. Shows a devotion that goes above and beyond. He loves her so passionately that she eats her partners. He supports her. Even as he knows he can’t be with her intimately or it will be the end of him. He also knows and worries about who will take care of her if he leaves or something happens to him.

As he knows no one will be as devoted. Yet he continuously longs for her and has made his own kind of sacrifice for her. The epitome of a nice guy. Who does everything but doesn’t have that spark and still wants your old lover who you both were bad for each other but still carries a certain bond. 

The film leaves you in the audience to pick up on details and read into the film what you believe may or may not be true. 

We watch as their acts are made attractive and delectable. More part of the act of pleasure that goes along with it.

I’m not going to lie, this was my first time watching a Claire Denis film. So I didn’t know exactly what to expect. So by the end, I was disappointed immensely and a little confused. Since then I can’t say I have watched much more of her work. I believe only two other films. Only one can I say I truly was mesmerized by  35 SHOTS OF RUM

Ultimately the film’s promise seems wasted. As we wait for major parts of the story to move or more action that never seems to come.

Nor is any of the setup really acted upon dramatically. As it is never touching or moving really. Unfortunately, it comes across as boring and like it wants to mean something and say something but ultimately doesn’t.

Grace: C-

EL CONDE (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Pablo Larrain
Written By: Pablo Larrain and Guillermo Calderon
Cinematography: Edward Lachman
Editor: Sofia Subercaseaux

Cast: Jamie Vadell, Paula Luchsinger, Gloria Munchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Stella Gonet, Catalina Guerra, Amparo Noguera, Antonia Zegers

After living 250 years in this world, Augusto Pinochet, who is not dead but an aged vampire, decides to die once and for all.

This film plays like a satirical fairy tale mixed with a darkly comedic gothic horror film.

The film is heavily visual, stylish, and pretty. Though short on story. So that the audience glides upon the ambiance 

The film comes across more as a book as it explores the history of the main character. Through bits and pieces yet more through details and voiceover.

For its vastness, it feels a bit more like a hangout movie. The story is mainly told in the estate of Pinochet. His own kind of Dracula. Seducing, massacring, and falling in love. Proving to be a bastard through and through. A with most of the characters throughout. As we watch and try to predict who is the worst.

It offers some depth but gets by on its beauty. That it tries not to use too much. Overall it feels like a good piece of writing that might have worked better as a book or short story, maybe even a play. The film offers more of a visual feast and those details more play in the background. Yet provide a reason for the beautiful shots.

The film does offer several twists and strangely gets a bit romantic with an overall theme of loyalty. 

The film is filled with creativity filmed in black and white that is a reminder of the timelessness of the character. As well as the world he lives in with a nod towards the classic universal monster horror movies.

If you are looking for action. You have come to the wrong film, unfortunately. It does offer more storytelling than anything with a European feel. 

The film is lived in and filled with older characters throughout and only one true young character. 

Grade: B-

BURY THE BRIDE (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Spider One 
Written By: Krsy Fox and Spider One
Cinematography: Andy Patch
Editor: Krsy Fox

Cast: Krsy Fox, Scout Taylor-Compton, Dylan Rourke, Chaz Bono, Lyndsi LaRose, Rachel Brunner, Katie Ryan, Adam Marcinowski, Cameron Cowperthwaite

Bride-to-be June’s bachelorette getaway turns deadly when her bloodthirsty fiance and his friends show up to crash the party.

This is an entertaining B-movie. It’s a TUBI channel original. So you know what you are going into with this film. You only hope that it offers some surprises. Though much better than expected by a director who actually goes by SPIDER ONE. 

Even when it has its chances to be inventive it doesn’t go where you are hoping. It tries to keep you on your toes but offers nothing that exciting. Even though it stays pretty dark throughout.

Once again women are mainly the victims of men throughout. Only here mix in some old-school rednecks. The problem is that the females are far more interesting than the men. Which helps you feel something whenever anything happens to them. As they raise the stakes. 

Thought the film would be more of a slasher film until it turns a little supernatural.

The film has an interesting premise that could have been explored more, but it sets its own speed. As everything escalated pretty quickly. So that it can’t explain everything. Like many questions, you might have by the end. 

For instance, how was anyone charmed by the redneck groom. She has no need to be that desperate 

Then again that’s what sequels are made for. As Star, Co-Writer, and Editor Krys Fox Seems to have most aspects of this film handled. s it seems a project she built for herself from the ground up

The film is entertaining as long as you don’t think too hard about it and don’t ask too much of the material. 

Grade: C

KIDS VS. ALIENS (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed & Edited By: Jason Eisener
Written By: John Davies & Jason Eisener 
Cinematography: Mat Berkley 

Cast: Dominic Mariche, Pheobe Rex, Calem MacDonald, Asher Grayson, Ben Tector, Emma Vickers, Isaiah Fortune

An all-time rager of a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing two warring siblings to band together to survive the night.

This Is like an R-rated Amblin film, but it seems to lack heart. It gets points for presenting a more realistic at times version of characters and events,  it also seems to have a cruel heart that seems determined to show the worst. Not cynical and humorous, just evil characters at times.

So it lacks a certain Joy and commitment of a film like PSYCHO GOREMAN. As a kid’s film with childish sensibilities. This seems more made for adults and just happens to involve kids as main characters. 

Amblin films put kids in danger with steaks but also provide a bit of nostalgia or make you wish you went on those adventures. This is more bleak.

The film is an extension of one of the short films from V/H/S 2. So it’s coming from a macabre cinematic universe. Where it seems determined to break the rules, be deletions, and go overboard altogether.

You can call it a kids film and an alien invasion film With some drugs, violence, and more. Taken from a youthful outlook. It has a little adult outlook and a more independent version of the film McG’s RIM OF THE WORLD. Though similar this film has rougher edges.

You have kids cursing constantly and some scenes of violence. Where it feels like it could have been made by the kid’s characters in the movie. Only with more skilled production design.

The film offers an ending that is as cruel as the movie comes off at times. Which makes the whole endeavor not as much fun as it seeks. Which is a crucial element in films of this type. As there isn’t quite a mixture that works here.

It comes across as a fashion sense of the times. As short as it is. It stays somewhat entertaining in where they are going with this and how far.

The aliens are basic and look a little better than guys in suits. 

I really wanted to like it, but can only give it a mild recommendation depending on what you Are looking to get out of it.

Grade: C 

PERPETRATOR (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Jennifer Reeder
Cinematography: Sevdije Kastrati 
Editor: Justin Krohn

Cast: Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Lowell, Tim Hopper, Audrey Francis, Ireon Roach, Josh Bywater, Melanie Liburd, Taylor Kinkead 

Jonny, a wild and impulsive teenage girl living precariously in a town where young women continue to go missing, and the power she’s forced to unlock to survive.

This film is quite interesting as it has an amazing amount of ambition. Yet it tries to be low-key about it and treat what happens as business as normal. Even though we in the audience realize that everything is just a little off. Even the so-called normal scenes.

The film comes across as campy but at odd times. As it will go through a terrifying or dramatic scene and then just go off on its own. At first, the film is mysterious, but as it introduces teen characters it gets predictable. 

Especially Alicia Silverstone’s performance and character. She is a delight though she seems like she is in another film which helps keep this one off-kilter. She plays a pivotal role but comes across more as a guest star. 

Just as Christopher Lowell seems game for whatever is thrown at him. His character changes personalities and has varying intensities so often. 

This film floods itself with different stories and issues and it tries to solve as many as it can in its time. While still leaving other mysteries. So that it feels like the first of a series.

One can appreciate that not everything is tied up in the end. Those problems persist, but a new phase has been entered allowing the protagonist to understand herself more. 

That there is a mystery that drags you along and creates others. The film mines small-town weirdness and high school once again. 

Director Jennifer Reeder has a David Lynch-like command of direction. A mastery of soundscapes that are haunting but tend to intrigue the audience. While this has similar beats and owes to Lynchian suburbs and weirdness bubbling underneath the normal.

The film has a great soundtrack that allows for atmosphere and a bit of attitude. It sets a mood. 

Though some details leave you guessing. As in a majority of scenes, it seems like this is an all-girls school, but then there will be a random boy in a scene there. 

Some of the special effects can be lackluster but more so when they are digital rather than practical. 

The film seems to want to say a lot about body image. As even a guidance counselor throughout the film seems to be there to advise the young students but it always seems to be in recovery from one cosmetic surgery or another. This would also explain the constant body horror themes and scenes of various bodily Fluids splattered about. It gets gooey and is disgusting at times.

For all the surreal mayhem though explained at times it never quite comes together cohesively. Though as a film about coming of age and metamorphosis, it does go hand in hand as material. Metaphors themselves. 

After it’s over it does haunt you. as it gets you thinking about it and leaves plenty of questions. Though it is likely to frustrate most. 

Grade: C 

UNSEEN (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Yoko Okumura
Written By: Salvatore Cardoni and Brian Rawlins 
Cinematography: Federico Verardi
Editor: Michael Block

Cast: Midori Francis, Jolene Purdy, Michael Patrick Lane, Missi Pyle, Brett Baker, Nicholas X. Parsons 

Sam receives a call from Emily, a nearly blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. She must survive the ordeal with Sam being her eyes using video call.

At first, this might seem like a gimmick film. A sit is based upon a video call between strangers that ends up becoming a theoretical life for both of them eventually. 

However, it doesn’t stick to the perspective of that being all we see and that being how the story is told. It is not a minor part of the film. This Isn’t a film like SEARCHING or MISSING where the film is told strictly through video devices. 

The film is fun as it goes along. Though it is serious and presents its own challenges for its Characters. It feels loose and experimental but also has style to a certain extent. 

The film gets crazier as it goes along, but it somehow works. As we get to know and like the lead characters. Who are American Asian characters who mainly get bullied and stalked by white characters. Who expects them to be meek and take the abuse. Making it a bit political but more subtle. 

It also serves as an obvious plot point of the film but the title can also be interpreted as how the characters feel in society in A certain way and also unseen as almost invisible

The film feels like a teen movie. Even though the language might be a little too much for a PG-13 rating they are most likely the ones who will enjoy the film the most.

This is mainly a thriller with some dark comedic elements thrown in. It goes by fast and its Running time is under 90 Minutes. So that it makes solid entertainment.

Each story keeps you captivated in different ways that gel together well and each lead character in the tales keeps you caring and wanting to see them survive and succeed. 

You might not take it seriously but you will undoubtedly have fun with it.

Grade: B- 

SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING (2022)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Editor, Cinematography, Written & Directed By: Quentin Dupieux

Cast: Giles Lellouche,  Vincent Lacoste, Anais Demoustier, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Oulaya Amamra, Adele Exarchopoulos, Tanguy Mercier 

A group of vigilantes called the “tobacco-forces” is falling apart. To rebuild team spirit, their leader suggests that they meet for a week-long retreat, before returning to save the world.

I keep watching the films of Quentin Dupieux because I really loved his first film RUBBER and keep hoping that each new film of his will be as good as that one. While I usually love the soundtracks/score I am A fan of the surreal

Absurd dry humor and the ideas used seem to be there. 

The film is never quite seen to rise to the occasion of their potential some are better than others but most end up somewhat disappointing until Now.

As this is one of his films that seemed to have the silliest and most ridiculous plots and I thoroughly enjoyed this throughout. 

Maybe because the wraparound spoof of Power Rangers shows their cheesiness and spreads morale or message and somewhere in there the film becomes an anthology of short stories or ideas the director seems to just pull out and try out with no rhyme or reason.

The tobacco force is where each member represents an ingredient in cigarettes. Together they produce a vapor that makes their enemies explode from the cancer they give them. They also have a robot sidekick and a mentor who gives them their missions shown to be a womanizing rat puppet who always seems to have green slime coming from his mouth. 

That somehow works as you keep wondering where the film Or stories that make half the film that is being told as a group bonding exercise are going, if anywhere 

By the end, I actually wanted more and was disappointed the film was so short. Which Is usually the opposite of the effect some of his films have had. 

The films can be hit or miss thought they are original and Definitely memorable. The film humor tends to be deadpan and dark  

I wish he was still doing the scores for his own films. As he had done when he made his early Films. Which made them a bit more worthwhile overall. 

Viewers beware his films aren’t for everyone and are not  Like anything most have encountered they are experimental, absurdist, and surreal that employ practical effects, and can be a bit disgusting at times they are usually comedies

He is a filmmaker I will always be interested in what he is working on or is coming out but it seems the stars have to align or he has to be on a certain random wavelength for the films to truly work to his advantage as well as the audiences.

Though I won’t lie and will admit Oulaya Amamra being in the cast certainly helped convince me to watch this. 

Grade: B 

ENYS MEN (2022)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Mark Jenkin

Cast: Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Flo Crowe, John Woodvine, Joe Gray

Set in 1973 on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast, a wildlife volunteer’s daily observations of a rare flower turn into a metaphysical journey that forces her as well as the viewer to question what is real and what is a nightmare.

This is a film More about the filmmaking and mood than anything. Truly plot driven it’s definitely full of atmosphere. 

It seems mundane at first and then slowly tightens Its grip. As Like the character it gets more maddening offering glimpses but never quite spelling out how they’ll fit or what they exactly might mean if anything 

The film feels trippy and experimental at times but slowly leads you to figure out It’s pieces.

Though ultimately you will have to come to your own conclusions. It shows the main character who has no name descent into madness while isolated 

Where like her you begin to wonder what is real and what is made up in her head or some kind of fantasy or nightmare she is living through 

Strength of filmmaking only wish it was a bit of a stronger story. 

It’s A challenging film for some audiences whether you are on Its wavelength ultimately or not. It is a folk horror tale that is in turns also psychological

It is quite a ride that isn’t exciting at first but the more you fit into it the more you will get out of it.

It is a film that demands your attention or you will find yourself easily lost. Which you might find yourself even when paying attention 

Grade: B-

MANDIBLES (2020)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written, Edited, Cinematography & Directed By: Quentin Dupieux

Cast: Gregorie Ludig, David Marsais, Adele Exarchopoulos, India Hair, Romeo Elvis, Coralie Russier, Bruno Lochet, Raphael Quenard

When simple-minded friends Jean-Gab and Manu find a giant fly trapped in the boot of a car, they decide to train it in the hope of making a ton of cash.

This film should have worked. One really wanted this one though unfortunately can only point out a few highlights that help the film stay watchable.

It’s a buddy comedy along the lines of DUMB & DUMBER with a little crime narrative of THE BIG LEBOWSKI and involving a gigantic fly that the two friends try to use as a pet and a way to riches.

Somehow doesn’t exactly connect with an absurd plot element that should have been the highlight of the movie.

Instead, the saving element of the film is actually the performance and character played by Adele Exarchopoulos who is hilarious and only in the movie for 30 minutes. Even though the movie is under 90 minutes. Once she arrives she is what the movie needs and once she leaves she is definitely missed. The energy of the film seems to go with her. You wish that the film had mostly been based on her character 

Which shows that the movie’s humor is more character-based. That should be more the inspiration, though that feels like the only genuine spark of originality of that kind. The main characters are boring and the one fantasy element becomes common so fast. That it feels cheapened. 

The film then seems to settle into punchlines of Jokes that were set up earlier.  

You can tell the movies the film was influenced by. As truly the comedic elements here are the more out-there elements such as the big fly and the brain-damaged woman. Who is suspicious of them? Yet the so-called regular characters believe they are stupid but okay.

In the final act, the only true comedy is their delivery and what it ends up being. That feels like much ado about nothing.

Grade: C 

SHIMMER LAKE (2017)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Oren Uziel
Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke
Editor: Blake Maniquis 

Cast: Benjamin Walker, Rainn Wilson, Stephanie Sigman, John Michael Higgins, Wyatt Russell, Adam Pally, Rob Corddry, Ron Livingston, Mark Randall

An inventive crime thriller told backward, reversing day by day through a week following a local sheriff’s quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.

This could have easily been a story for a season-long show BIG SKY.  Even though it takes place over and not a few days.

Written and directed by noted screenwriter Oren Uziel. The film has the originality of his usual screenplays. Only here in a little more serious thriller vein. You can see why it was on the black list of 2009 (The Blacklist is a yearly list of the best-unproduced screenplays voted on by script development executives) 

The story is told backward over a week. As we start with Friday and go back to Monday to see how a bank robbery affects a small town and its citizens.

The film is better than expected especially as a Netflix original film. Before they got distracted by having big stars and budgets and seemed to still care about storytelling.

As the film is an ensemble film. It’s also a thriller with double-crosses, twists, and backstabbings that once you think you have it figured out. It surprises you again but at least as it goes along it gives you more information to see why certain characters act the way they do or why they make the decisions they do. 

It allows for plenty of quirky characters and situations. Though it does rein it in for the seriousness of everything at hand. As well as the overall dramatic implications all over.

We even get to know most of the characters involved in some way. As each day or part of the film that focuses on that day also tends to focus on the character we begin the day with and brings us into the grander puzzle of it all. Half the joy is discovering and witnessing how it all fits together. As well as the reasoning of various characters. 

The cast all rise to the occasion to keep the audience riveted and invested. If you pay attention what happens or will happen is spoken of and told in a certain way before it happens. Even though the ending is a little hard to believe. It still works as long as you believe how cold-hearted the characters can be. Even if they show warmth, humanity, and humor before. 

Stephanie Sigman as a run-down wife in mourning who can be plain one minute, aggressive the next, and sexy out of nowhere and not really having to really try. She is a versatile actress who needs to work more, especially after her dynamic debut in the movie MISS BALA.

While the film has a lived-in quality. It still lacks a certain depth it needs a little more grit.

Can admit to watching it a second time just to make sure I understood everything. It’s not a long movie but it does pack a jab and enough intrigue to keep you guessing.

Grade: C+