A Year Without the Drive-In

     My first memory of going to a drive-in theater was the year 2001. The film was A Knight's Tale, directed by Brian Helgeland. I remember watching the film up on the screen, amazed by the fact that the film was being shown outside, amazed at the size of the theater, which in reality was nature. As you can see from the picture above, the Colville, Washington drive-in theater has beautiful nature. It's not really one of those gated-off premises that are the majority of drive-in theaters these days.

     My family has gone to this theater for years, but in the past few years it's become not as pleasant an experience. The images on the screen are foggier. The shape of the screen has become outdated, by the massive move to the more appealing widescreen. And now, due to the move away from film to digital, even the projector is outdated. So, early last year, rumors began circulating that the theater was going to close down. One of the few remaining cinematic landmarks, those wonderful theaters that would combine film with the charm of nature, was going to close.

     Fortunately enough, though, the town of Colville, as well as many surrounding cities rejected this idea, and donated thousands of dollars. The screen is now being replaced, and has been in the process of being replaced for the entire last season suitable for drive-in film viewing. Thus, it has been a year since I've seen a film at the drive-in theater.

     Many people eagerly await the re-opening of the nostalgic theater, including myself. I'm excited to see films again on the screen. No matter the quality of the film, this rather unpopular method of film-viewing adds an odd appeal to the experience, a rarely experienced and deservedly relished theater of the past.

     I hope to see one or two films of 2015 in the Colville Drive-In theater.

Oculus [Film Review]

STORY 

4/5

WRITING 

4/5

ACTING

3.5/5

MUSIC

3/5

CINEMATOGRAPHY 

3.5/5

I almost always hate horror movies. There have been few I've liked (primarily The Shining and Under the Skin). But I have to say... this was one of the most pleasant surprises I've had this year. I was expecting more of the trend that's been going on in horror films - relying on 'boo' scares rather than a horrific story, mistaking slowness for suspense, boring story, badly written script and unstructured characters. Examples of this that come to mind are pretty much every horror film I've been subject to, other than the two listed above. But Oculus succeeds in the ways those films fail.

It took me a while to get into its rhythm, and I of course had my doubts at first. But I was instead subject to an intelligent, genuinely captivating film. Oculus has an excellently structured story with some genuine horror, intriguing characters, an entertainingly written script (with some smooth exposition), and some surprisingly great acting, especially from the shockingly talented Annalise Basso, now one of my favorite child actors. Her counterpart however, Garrett Ryan, was quite the disappointment.

The film features incredibly fluid transitions from past to present. The primary subject of the film is a haunted mirror, with unexplained origins. It seems to alter the reality of the film, and both the characters and the viewer can never really know what's going on. In that way, it effectively uses and nearly transcends the unreliable narrator trope, almost as effectively as this year's Gone Girl.

Mike Flanagan is a name I'm unacquainted with, but I will now work to become acquainted with it... because if this says anything about the rest of his filmography, then I'm hooked. Quality horror films being a norm? WHAAAAAAAAT?!

Haven't Posted in a While

Sorry that I haven't been posting to this site very often. I've still been writing reviews and posting them on Letterboxd, but I haven't gotten around to my blog for a few reasons. First of all, I'm changing computers soon. Second, I have Running Start classes going on now which have added a lot of stress to my life. But I'll begin posting here again soon, starting likely with my next review (which I intend to be 'Oculus'). I'm also going to post some necessary reviews I didn't post here over the past few weeks, such as my review of Gone Girl, Calvary, and Nosferatu the Vampyre. I'll post some ravings and rantings, the first idea of these that pops to mind is how good Gone Girl was. It will be a raving review, meaning that it has no respect for paragraphs, structured sentences or professionalism. Basically I'll be like a lunatic: raving in the literal sense. Because I mean that movie was freaking awesome.

I also may start posting soundtrack reviews... though I'm not very experienced in that field. Any tips?

Snowpiercer [Film Review]

Chris Evans has hardly ever impressed me. Never, apart from this film. He was decent in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but he was doing comedy. Comedy's fun to act, drama's more difficult. Or so I've experienced. And the Captain America performances... I'm sorry but in my opinion he tries much too hard to be the admirable and patriotic hero, and doesn't put near enough emotion into his performances there.

But now... Snowpiercer has shown me a powerful side of Evans' acting that has me hoping for his future. Can't wait to see Puncture (whenever I get around to that...). He's truly amazing here, and he shows some tremendous emotion. Of course he acts well in the action scenes... though I have problems with the Cap performances, he does do well with action (talking up close action, not stunt double action).

Snowpiercer is another one of those post-apocalypctic films, with a bit more of a confined space. The entire thing takes place on board a speeding train which fights off the freezing outdoors. After an unsuccessful attempt to defend against global warming, the world has declined into another ice age, and most of humanity is dead. The remaining living are on board this train that works on a perpetual energy engine.

It's clear from the beginning that through this cultural collapse and consequential dependence on authority/government has spawned a potentially Hitlerian treatment of humanity. Those on board the train have been split into categories: those in the cars near the front, who live in lavish quarters and have wonderful views, and those in the tail end of the train, who don't even have windows and are all jammed together in extremely cramped areas. All of your belongings there stay on your bed or on your person.  When it comes to that part of the film, it feels far too... Hunger Games ish. It matches up with that film in the obnoxious idea that rich people look flippin' stupid, which is totally untrue and ridiculous.

It also reminded me a tad of City of Ember, in that the characters have to climb through authority to get to a place where they can overcome the inhumane and secretive society. There are some plot holes... or should I say unanswered questions... throughout the film. such as what the heck is up with characters cutting fish? Why are people oddly not-pale for not having seen sunlight for seventeen years? Why isn't anyone trying to figure out a way to fix the earth's current conditions? Why weren't any vehicles put on board the train, like a helicopter or something, using a miniature version of the same technology the train runs on?

Of course with a film like this you're going to have unanswered questions. But these probably could have been answered... or even fixed... easily. For example, many of my complaints with the plot as it progressed were answered by the end.

The cast is good... and excellent when it comes to Tilda Swinton. She is a stunningly unappreciated actress, and she always gives a role her best. Here she excellently plays an antagonist character, and it is just so fun to watch her act an eccentric character like this!

Despite the mentioned plot holes and some annoying shaky cam, this film is an absorbing and rather action packed film about a revolution aboard a train.

Once Upon a Time in America [Film Review]

Yeah... I was just expecting one of those classics of cinema that I just didn't completely catch onto. It happens a lot with these greats, and often I just need to give it another go and I find the greatness in it. It usually takes a little while though. I had my doubts at the beginning, but after the first thirty minutes or so, after I finally began understanding the timeline and what was going on (thanks to a wikipedia page...), I experienced a true cinematic classic.

It works rather subtly, but the last hour hits hard. You come to care for these characters, even though they're not even close to admirable and their morals are askew in many MANY ways. It even becomes very difficult to accept the main character, Noodles, as a good main character. But, then again, a main theme of this film is forgiveness.

In some ways, this reminded me of 25th Hour, as the characters dig holes for themselves with crime and examine their lives and how all of their actions have influenced their lives up to crucial and pivotal moments.

Ennio Morricone's beautiful and emotional soundtrack contributes hugely to the film. It accents a large number scenes and gives them a tragic feeling which they did in fact already have, but it emphasizes that feeling. I recognized some of the tracks as at least one had been used in <i>Kill Bill</i>, but the most emotional theme isn't, which made it more new and made its heartbreaking sound more shockingly beautiful.

The two key actors, Robert De Niro and James Woods, are nothing short of excellent. De Niro often has to entertain the audience on his own, especially in the first half hour, but in each scene he's absolutely tremendous. And James Woods gets angry several times, which seems to be the primary or at least the best use of his face. He seriously has a terrific angry face.

You can really get into the rhythm of this astonishingly deep and powerful four-hour long (practically) film. It's about how choices can affect your life... which is a common theme in films (The Place Beyond the Pines, Locke...) but it's still a really great theme, and there are many great films that have been made off of it.

Frank [Film Review]

I knew when I saw the trailer it was going to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this abstract and phenomenal. I mean, the idea of Michael Fassbender putting himself inside of a giant fake head to play heavily independent music with a bunch of mental patients is an insane idea for a film in the first place, but it certainly sounds intriguing as heck.

Michael Fassbender's always been amazing. In all of his performances he shows a ton of talent. He made Magneto more awesome than ever in Days of Future Past, and gave one of his best performances in Shame. Of course, this is now my favorite Fassbender performance. I mean how could it not be? WITH THAT FREAKING FIBERGLASS (or papier mache, whichever) HEAD?!

It's got commentary on a lot of things with its ensemble of amazingly eccentric characters... independence, the positives and negatives of publicity, the virtue of being yourself and making something that you enjoy. It has some immensely dramatic scenes, and it's also consistently hilarious, mostly due to Fassbender. Seriously, he is hysterical. I can not emphasize this enough, Fassbender is pretty much the life of this movie, along with the music.

THE MUSIC. As I said before, it's very abstract, and often it seems like the lyrics are complete randomness, but IT WORKS. I don't know how, but it just sounds fantastic. It's incredibly obscure, hard to go along with, but it's fresh and unique. And of course I must address the song everyone's freaking out over, "I Love You All": It's worth freaking out over. Essentially, it's awesome and amazing, but also is like the music I've described above, obscure, random, abstract, fresh, unique.

The ending also almost made me cry. I was tearing up a bit.

This just astonishingly passed up Under the Skin as my third favorite film of 2014, and it's going on my Favorites of All Time list. I wish I had money for the soundtrack, but as an unemployed seventeen year old, I do not have the money (and I live on an indian reservation so I can't really get a job because people here are freaking racist). You've all got to see this movie though.

300: Rise of an Empire [Film Review]

300: Rise of an Empire has a lot of what its predecessor had, and not in a good way: bad writing is turned up a notch, there are far more hollow characters as there are far more characters, and the blood that 300 shed, is shed in more excessive amounts here.

Seriously, I must first address the blood. It's the worst error made in the CGI department here, which all considered generally does a great job in the film. Except for the blood of course. The blood which is shed in ridiculous amounts is unbelievably thick and comes out in insane amounts from even the most minor wounds.

The action scenes are decent and some good fun, and that's the reason that most liked 300, was because of the insane beheadings and kicking-into-pits (This is Sparta is said in this film by the way). But the film, though divided by transitions with the title 'scene' slapped onto them hastily, is basically one giant action scene. There's barely room for character development at all, and characters abandon their ideals in one scene while standing strongly by them in another.

Oh, and there's a ridiculous sex scene that seems like an action scene, and it is backed by action music. It's oddly violent and angry, and it's just awkward. Almost as awkward as the sex scenes in The Room. ALMOST.

I did enjoy Eva Green's performance overall, and while her character wasn't deeply explored and she mostly just seemed like a typical persistent villain with motives based in an off-the-shelf backstory, she was still an entertaining 'strong' female character (quotations around strong as she is strong-willed and strong physically, but not strongly constructed as a character).

The film is fun if you're looking to sit back and watch limbs and heads get cut off and blood fly around in unrealistic proportions, but as a film to be examined, it's not great. It takes a lot of time from the beginning to understand the timeline it's following (it's not quite a sequel, and it's not quite a prequel...). It's a flashy and gory film.