Out of this World

Movies: Nope

General spoiler warning for this blog entry

Jordan Peele may have shot himself in the foot by setting the bar so dang high with his first film, Get Out. Get Out is such a great, culturally important, nearly *impeccable* movie that whenever a new film of his comes out, much of the conversation is about how it stacks up to his first. 

At the same time, having seen Get Out, Us, and Nope...I gotta say...the man just keeps making EXCELLENT movies! Yes, I could rank them in order of my personal favorites, but even my least favorite Peele movie is leagues above the majority of movies I watch, period.

After months of waiting with bated breath, I finally saw Nope. And, although it has a few flaws, it's a beautifully shot, genuinely scary film. There were some scenes in Nope that made me feel a visceral terror I don't often feel in horror movies. Not a "jump scare" type horror, but an Eldritch horror. 

Nope follows siblings OJ and Em Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer), who inherit their family's ranch after their father, Otis Sr. (Keith David), dies when a coin falls out of the sky and through his eye socket. The Haywood Ranch specifically trains horses for Hollywood films and apparently the financials aren't doing so hot. OJ rents out horses to Ricky "Jupe" Park (Steven Yeun), a former childhood star who now runs a ranch-themed amusement park called "Jupiter's Claim". 

Jupe has an entire subplot which at first seems disconnected to the larger plot, but upon closer inspection fits right in with the themes of the film. When Jupe was a child actor, he starred on a TV show called Gordy's Home, which was about a family that adopts a pet chimpanzee, Gordy. One day while filming an episode, the chimp who played Gordy loses control when some balloons burst on set, causing the chimp to react violently and kill/maim several cast members. Jupe was unharmed and the chimp was shot. We see a flashback to this scene and it is absolutely terrifying. 

Meanwhile, in present day, OJ sees what appears to be a UFO hiding among the clouds above the Haywood Ranch. Once Em sees the mysterious object, she insists that they invest in a bunch of high-end cameras to get "the Oprah shot" so they can make a ton of money by proving that UFOs are real.

...But it's not a UFO. Turns out, the mysterious object is no object at all...it IS the alien. And it's hungry.

In one of the best scenes of the film, Jupe hosts a special event where he plans to sacrifice a horse to the alien in front of a crowd--a crowd that includes his wife and children. Instead of simply sucking up the horse, the alien sucks up the entire crowd and we even see the people trapped in the alien's gullet, shrieking with fear. This was the primal, Eldritch horror I was talking about. 

When Em and OJ realize that they are unable to use regular cameras to capture video of the alien because electricity shuts down when the alien is near, they hire an acclaimed cinematographer, Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), who--sure enough--has a non-electrical camera. Additionally, Angel (Brandon Perea), the electronics salesman who sold them the cameras (which ended up not working) is along for the ride to try to film the alien. 

My biggest issue with Nope is that the final third of the movie drags quite a bit. Even with the excitement of these people trying to film the alien without being sucked up and eaten (OJ theorizes that if you don't look at the alien, it won't hurt you...but that's kind of hard to do when you're trying to take a picture of it), the last part of the movie feels slow and repetitive. Although I do plan to see Nope a second time in the theatre (it really does benefit from being seen on a big screen), I don't think I will rewatch it as often as I rewatch Get Out, which feels like a very "easy to rewatch" movie--the pacing is better, the acting is a little better, it's just "sharper". Nope definitely has some bloat.

What I loved about Nope was how scary it was on multiple levels. It has traditional "jump scares" that absolutely scared the shit out of everyone in the theatre, plus the "Eldritch horror" stuff. The alien itself is so utterly massive that you feel this sense of awe when the camera pans up. The being resembles a huge, terrifying sea creature--like a stingray--but in the sky. It feels so wrong. It gives me the willies just thinking about it! Plus there's the whole Gordy subplot which manages to be utterly terrifying without excessive gore. 

How does Gordy the chimp relate to Jean Jacket the alien (Em and OJ nickname the alien Jean Jacket after one of their horses growing up)? Well, Nope is about a lot of things, and one of those things is exploitation of animals for human entertainment. The Gordy incident is based on a real life incident where a chimp attacked a woman. Humans attempting to domesticate potentially violent non-human animals as pets, exploiting them for financial gain, or just generally using them is par for the course for most of human history. Peele seems to be making a statement about how Hollywood specifically exploits animals without giving those animals the proper respect they deserve. In one of the first scenes of the movie, OJ takes Lucky the horse to the set of a commercial and snobby Hollywood types ignore his warnings to give the horse space and it eventually rears up and kicks. Luckily (heh), no one is hurt--but OJ is blamed for not "controlling" the horse.

Likewise, OJ is the only person in the movie who makes any attempt to understand the alien and learn how to keep himself safe and alive in its presence. The rest of the characters--Jupe, Antlers, and Em in particular--are straight up foolish when it comes to the alien. All they care about is the money or fame to be gained and they don't even consider that the alien might fucking kill them. 

Nope is also about spectacle and how we, as a society, not only go to dangerous lengths to get that "perfect shot" or make a video that will go viral, we also turn other people's pain and tragedy into entertainment. Jupe's character is a truly interesting one. He was a child actor who experienced a life-changing tragic event first hand. Now he's basically washed up and lets people pay him money to be around memorabilia from Gordy's Home. Hollywood exploited him, too, and now he exploits his own painful memories for monetary gain. He also plans to exploit this alien being for money and fame without thinking about the deadly consequences. It's Gordy all over again.

To sum up: Nope is an ambitious, imperfect film. It's trying to squeeze a lot into one movie, and still feels overly long. But the cinematography is gorgeous, the monster is truly terrifying, and the movie just feels epic. It's also original, which given the never-ending churn of Marvel movies, remakes, reboots, etc, is something rare and special. Especially for a summer blockbuster. I definitely recommend it and am further convinced that Peele is one of the best and most original filmmakers working today.

Grade: A-

Multiverse of Gladness

Movies: Everything Everywhere All at Once

General spoiler warning for this blog post.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (a directing duo that goes by the name "Daniels") last directed a film I found pretentious and offensively silly, Swiss Army Man, which is more colloquially known as "that movie where Daniel Radcliffe plays a farting corpse". I REALLY didn't like Swiss Army Man, so when I heard that Daniels had another movie in production, I was skeptical.

However, Everything Everywhere All at Once (EEAAO) struck like a bolt of lightning. Both critics and audience members were praising this movie to the rafters. Too bad I broke my leg right when it came out! But I finally rented the film and am happy to report that EEAAO is as good as everyone says it is. The film is funny, yet heartbreaking, overwhelming, yet simple. It's definitely a movie that I'm going to have to see more than once because it is so jam-packed with details, I surely missed something the first time around.

Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, a first generation Chinese-American who owns a laundromat. She has a loving, yet goofy husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan--returning to acting after 20 years!!), and a lesbian daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu) whom she alienates by, well, basically being a Chinese mom. Evelyn herself was alienated by her own severely critical father, Gong Gong (James Hong), who is visiting the Evelyn's family in America for the first time in years.

On top of family stress, Evelyn is being audited for possible tax fraud. Her papers and receipts are a total mess and she has a history of writing off her hobbies as business expenses. But as she and Waymond are headed to see Deidre (Jamie Lee Curtis), an IRS inspector, something happens. Waymond appears to completely change personalities and tells Evelyn to do a series of strange things (put her shoes on the wrong feet, imagine being in a janitor's closest) and then press the button on a headset he gives her. Even though Evelyn is confused, she follows Waymond's instructions and finds herself transported into a parallel universe. 

In this universe, Waymond--who is actually Waymond from another universe--explains to Evelyn that there are an infinite number of universes. Every time we make a decision, no matter how small, an alternate universe is created. In the universe this version of Waymond is from, people have learned how to jump from universe to universe (it requires doing something strange and unexpected to create a "jumping pad"--hence, putting the shoes on the wrong feet). This version of Waymond--Alpha Waymond--has been searching for a version of Evelyn who can defeat Jobu Tupaki, a young woman whose mind was broken after universe-jumping too much and became able to see, well, everything everywhere all at once. Because of this, Jobu can no longer experience a single moment of peace and quiet. So she wants to destroy all the universes. Also, Jobu is a version of Joy, Evelyn's daughter.

At first, Evelyn is incredulous. When she begins to experience different possible versions of herself, she realizes that in each version she has a special skill: in one version, she is much like the real Michelle Yeoh--a marital arts expert and movie star. In another version, she is a hibachi chef. But in the "regular" version of her life, she has nothing but unfulfilled potential. Something that she blames Waymond for, since in most universes where she doesn't marry him, she achieves great things. 

But Waymond convinces her that the "worst" version of herself is the only version that can stop Jobu Tupaki from destroying the multiverse. Because she has unfulfilled potential, she has *unlimited* potential. And with the tools from Alpha Waymond's universe, she can slip into the skin of any other version of Evelyn and use that version's skills to fight Jobu.

Hahaha, are you still following? Even though EEAAO is admittedly chaotic, I found it pretty easy to understand the basics. The film, to me at least, is less about the scientific aspects of how all of this is possible, and more about the philosophy and spiritually behind the idea of multiverses. Who among us hasn't wondered "What if I had gone to a different college? Married a different person? Had kids? Never had kids? Moved to Albuquerque? Taken up the oboe?" Our decisions in life, especially when we're young, feel endless. And as we get older, we become more aware that our choices are drying up. Our time is running out. It's enough to make some people suicidal. I'm serious. There was an author named Mark Fisher who wrote a book called The Ghosts of Myself, which delves into the concept of "hauntology"--the idea that our own poor choices and unfulfilled potential will haunt us until we die. And in Fisher's case, death came by his own hand.

This is some serious shit. Being haunted by what "could have been" is a real thing. Especially if you can clearly see mistakes you made along the way. But the Daniels take this idea and mold it into something beautiful. By the end of the movie, Evelyn comes to see things differently. Because of the love and optimism of her husband, Evelyn gathers the courage to accept her daughter just as she is. In doing so, she breaks the chain of critical parent-child relationships passed down to her from her father. She tells Gong Gong, "I no longer care whether or not you are proud of me, because I am proud of myself." And she tells Joy that even though she could be anywhere else, she will choose to be "right here with you" every time. 

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a movie about choosing life, warts and all. It's about mindfulness and being present in the moment with the ones you love because, whether you like it or not, you're here. The option is to keep moving, keep loving, or die. EEAAO is deliriously optimistic, yet not at all saccharine. It's an especially timely film given that we're "living in the worst timeline" (or so it seems sometimes!). 

Is it a little cliche for a movie's thesis to be "love conquers all"? Sure. But the idea that love is the most important thing in life, though cliche, is true. The fact is, love can't save us from cancer. It can't save us from a military takeover. It can't save us from heartbreak. But still, there is something about the human desire and capacity to connect that persists even in the absolute worst times. Love fuels hope, and hope fuels love. And even if--well, when--we die...if we've loved, then we've lived well. 

There's a lot more I could say on that topic, but I'll hold off for now and just say--go see Everything Everywhere All at Once. It lives up to the hype, and is an important movie for these hard times.

Grade: A-

Stuff I watched in...July 2022, pt. 1

We're All Going to the World's Fair

Jane Schoenbrun's slow burn horror film is a little too slow burning. The film follows teenager Casey (Anna Cobb in her film debut) as she records and uploads videos of herself after taking "The World's Fair Challenge"--an internet phenomena where people, after ritualistically declaring their intention to take the challenge, document changes happening to their bodies. 

We're All Going to the World's Fair is not scary, nor is it gross. It's actually quite boring. It's a movie that's more about loneliness and isolation in an age when we're (supposedly) more connected than ever, given how big of an audience we can reach via the internet. But despite that larger message, I didn't find it particularly profound or deep either. 

Casey begins communicating with a man who goes by the name JLB and expresses concern for her, but never shows his face. The scariest part of this film was wondering if this guy is a predator. But ultimately, he's just a very lonely man who assuages his loneliness by becoming invested in strangers' lives. 

Despite the very naturalistic performance by Anna Cobb, who looks like and acts like a real teenager (because she is!), We're All Going to the World's Fair was just too slow with too little plot for me. 

Grade: C+

***

Flux Gourmet

Peter Strickland is one of my favorite directors. His films feel like adult fairytales--filled with sex, violence, and a general sense of otherworldliness. His latest is Flux Gourmet, which follows a group of "sonic caterers"--basically, an art collective whose art comes from making sounds by using food. The collective is composed of Elle di Elle (Fatma Mohamed), Lamina Propria (Ariane Labed), and Billy Rubin (Asa Butterfield). They accept a residency at an artistic institute where they are expected to create art and perform on a regular basis. They are followed by a journalist, Stones (Makis Papadimitriou), who documents everything they do and even sleeps in their quarters.

Elle is the dominant and narcissistic leader of the group, and whatever she says goes. She clashes with Jan Stevens (Gwendoline Christie), the director of the residency. Meanwhile, Stones is dealing with severe stomach problems that make him incredibly gassy and terrified of farting in front of all these glamorous art people and embarrassing himself. 

Despite the bizarre premise, Flux Gourmet is Strickland's funniest and most accessible film to date. It lampoons the art world while also showcasing the genuine beauty of the art itself. Strickland clearly has a thing for strange sounds, as one of his earlier films, Berberian Sound Studio, is about a foley artist who often uses--you guessed it--food to create sounds for films. In fact, Flux Gourmet may be lampooning Strickland's own art. His films are bizarre, could be considered pretentious, and often have ridiculous premises...yet, they are filmed with gorgeous cinematography, have striking soundtracks, and are very interesting and appealing in spite of (or maybe because of) their weirdness. 

If you haven't seen anything by Peter Strickland, I recommend starting with my favorite of his films, The Duke of Burgundy. But really all of his movies are worth checking out. 

Grade: B+

***

The Hunt

Ah, the infamous The Hunt. This is the movie where liberals hunt down conservatives and the marketing tried to milk the supposed "controversy" surrounding it. It turns out there is nothing particularly controversial about this movie except for the fact that it tries to "both sides" it where it should have fully embraced the concept of liberals murdering conservatives (not a new idea, by the way: 1995's The Last Supper had a similar conceit). I guess if I want to watch a film that says "it's fully ok to punch Nazis", I'll watch a WWII movie. 

Despite the very silly "liberals and conservatives are equally bad" whataboutism of the film, The Hunt is actually pretty fun and entertaining film. A group of very rich, privileged liberals (to be clear: NEOliberals...these assholes are all for sucking capitalism's dick) lose their jobs when a joke they make about hunting conservatives in a private group chat is leaked. So they decide to...actually hunt conservatives.

But one of the people they kidnap fights back, and fights back hard. Where most of the MAGAts die pretty quickly after they wake up from the cocktail of drugs they're given, Crystal (Betty Gilpin, excellent) has survival skills that bring her face-to-face (and knife-to-knife) with the rich bitch leader of the murderous liberals, Athena Stone (Hillary Swank). And guess what? It turns out that Athena doesn't really "care about the facts" either. She just wants to take her frustration out on other people. 

Acolytes of Horror, a YouTube channel I love, did a great video essay on horror that resists politics, and The Hunt is heavily featured in it. But even though The Hunt's take on politics is milquetoast at best, it's still a funny, entertaining movie with a few surprises. 

Grade: B

***

God's Own Country

Call it Brokeback Mountain, only set in the UK. In modern times. And no one dies.

God's Own Country follows Johnny (Josh O'Connor), a very lonely Yorkshire sheep farmer who lives with his grandmother and disabled father. His grandma and dad are up his ass all day, constantly berating him and condescending to him, even though he does most of the work on the farm. He takes out his aggression through binge-drinking and anonymous sex with men.

When Johnny's father hires Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a Romanian migrant worker, to help temporarily with the farm, Johnny is at first quite hostile to the young man, calling him a "g*psy" over and over again. The two men are tasked with camping out in the pasture for a few nights to be closer to the flock since it's lambing season and sheep are giving birth left and right. Just like in Brokeback, those lonely, cold nights inspire some interesting ways of keeping warm.

When Johnny and Alec first have sex, it's rough and Johnny refuses to kiss Alec. But Alec encourages more tender intimacy the second time they do it. It's clear that Johnny desperately needs some warmth and intimacy in his life, and when he gets it he becomes a different person. He's less likely to turn to binge-drinking and is gentler with his father and grandmother. He wants Alec to stay on and even move in with him. When Alec expresses skepticism, Johnny slips back into old habits and nearly destroys their relationship. I won't reveal the ending, but like I said above--no one dies! This is not a #BuryYourGays movie. 

God's Own Country was good, though not the most memorable of all time. Definitely recommended as a tender, gay romance. 

Grade: B

***

Summer of 85

(Spoilers in this review)

I really wanted to like Francois Ozon's film about two teenage boys who engage in a passionate--and doomed--love affair in Normandy, France during the (you guessed it!) summer of '85, but there was something incredibly shallow about this movie. 

Alex (Felix Lefebvre) meets David (Benjamin Voisin) when David saves Alex after Alex takes his friend's boat out and a storm causes him to capsize. David is incredibly charismatic and by the end of the day asks Alex to work in his family's store with him and his mother. The two teenagers (Alex is 16 and David 18) engage in an intense relationship for about 6 weeks before David gets bored and ends it. 

Immediately after David breaks up with Alex by telling him he's boring, a tragedy occurs and David dies in a motorcycle accident. Alex is not able to properly mourn because David's mother blames him for David's death and doesn't allow him to attend the funeral. But Alex finds David's grave and--honoring a pact he and David made--dances on the grave. Only to be arrested. He then has to explain why he was dancing on a grave to the court.

Summer of 85 is just not good. It *sounds* like a movie with a lot of depth--I mean, it has young love, tragedy, crime! But everything in the movie happens so rapidly. Alex and David fall into a relationship so quickly, and then after just a couple scenes of them together, they have a blowout fight. And then David dies. And the rest of the movie is Alex trying to process what happened. Nothing in this movie--not a single emotion--is given time to breathe. No character is allowed to truly develop, but David is an especially thin character. He comes off as capricious asshole, which is par for the course for an 18 year old, I guess. But it doesn't really help the movie, in which you're suppose to sympathize with a 16 year old losing his first love. If the first love is a dickhead, it makes it a little harder to connect. 

I checked this movie out because I like movies about gay men, but I'd say skip this one. What a better gay movie, like the one I reviewed above!

Grade: C-

Gazing Into the Abyss

Movies: Martyrs, Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom

Preface:

What up, what up, what up, y'all! Jenny is coming in here with some EXTREMELY DARK SHIT. The movies I will be discussing in this review are really fucked up and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM unless you're the kind of person who is already inclined to watch such horror and filth. Further, I want to assure people that I AM OK. Hopefully, at this point, everyone who reads this blog and/or knows me in real life knows that I like horror/spooky/dark/violent/transgressive shit and that this isn't some kind of call for help. I mean, I'm not ok in the way that everyone is not ok right now, but I'm not, like, extra not ok. Just the regular amount that is appropriate for *gestures broadly* all this. So please, enjoy this review about movies that most people don't want to watch. I watched them for you. You're welcome!

***

Back in October, I wrote a blog post titled "Why Horror?" which explains why I love horror movies. It basically all comes down to the desire to face the dark side of life in a safe environment--to explore those crevices many others would just as soon ignore. Well, I'm back at it again with two movies that are technically classified as horror, but are far more layered than than your typical slasher film. These movies are about the very depths of human evil and suffering. They ask their viewers to take a leap of faith into the abyss of the human psyche.

My therapist would be horrified to know that I decided to watch Pascal Laugier's Martyrs on the evening that Roe vs. Wade was overturned, and to rewatch Pier Paolo Passolini's Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom the following day. She would probably worry that on a day where I felt so much despair, what could watching such films be other than an act of mental self-harm? Well, I don't see it that way. I see this as the ideal time to really dig into two films that are utterly, terribly nihilistic. In fact, I was sitting at home wondering what the fuck to do with myself on the evening that reproductive rights were dealt a deadly blow and the idea of watching a light-hearted film felt perverse. But the thought of watching something that doesn't look away from human cruelty felt not just appropriate, but oddly comforting.

There are just times where I need what I'm watching, listening to, or reading to match what I'm feeling inside. It's not about feeling better, it's about honoring my emotions. And the only thing to do on that terrible evening was to honor what I felt.

And so, after years of preparing for it, I put on Martyrs, a new French extremity film that came out during the torture porn wave of the aughts and decided to be deadly serious about it. Martyrs isn't fucking around. This film does not use violence to entertain. If anything, Laugier is directly responding to the Saw movies, the Hostel movies, and other movies of that ilk by saying "You want to see torture? I'll show you what torture really looks like." 

The films opens with a young girl running away from her captors. The girl's name is Lucie and we find out that although she has not been sexually assaulted, she has been starved and beaten. She is placed in an orphanage and becomes friends with Anna, who serves as her protector.

Fifteen years later, Lucie shows up at the home of the seemingly normal Belfond family and proceeds to murder the entire family, teenage children included. Lucie believes that the parents were her captors and tormentors. She calls Anna, who is horrified at what Lucie has done. Lucie was motivated to kill the family not for revenge, but because she is literally haunted by a naked, bloody woman who attacks her on a regular basis. We surmise that this ghastly figure represents a girl Lucie left behind when she escaped. When the woman again shows up to torment Lucie (Anna only sees Lucie harming herself), Lucie realizes that killing the family will not relieve her of her guilt, and she kills herself.

Anna then discovers a secret passageway in the Belfond home. A naked, horribly mutilated woman is chained in an underground chamber. It turns out that the Belfonds were part of a cult that captures young women, tortures them into complete submission, and tries to get them as close to death as possible without actually killing them because they believe that such women will become "martyrs" who will be able to see what lies beyond this life and communicate what they see to the cult. Anna learns all this after some thugs show up at the Belfond home and capture her. She is to become their next martyr.

For about 20 minutes of the movie, we see Anna chained, beaten, force-fed, and beaten some more. There is no creativity in these torments. There is nothing personal about it. It's just what has to be done to get Anna into a state near death. And once she is at that state, she is flayed alive. Now, close to death, she can see beyond this world. But when she whispers what she sees to the cult leader, Mademoiselle, the leader's response is to tell the followers to "keep doubting" before she puts a gun in her mouth and pulls the trigger. Fin. We never know what Anna saw and why Mademoiselle decided not to relay that information to her followers and instead immediately take her own life. The point of the movie, it seems, is that there is no point. Much like cruelty...the cruelty is the point.

Now, I can see why people would not exactly be lining up around the corner to watch a movie that includes so much intense violence against young women with no clear "reason". People are willing to watch funny violent movies (Kill Bill) and they're willing to watch serious violent films that have a clear purpose (Schindler's List), but they're not so eager to watch an absolutely humorless film that doesn't have the comforting familiarity of a war film or a film about historical atrocities which can be slotted into our pre-existing beliefs about the world and the heroes and villains that live within it. Such movies allow us to acknowledge that evil exists, but still feel that things will turn towards rightness in the end. 

But what if things aren't right? What if Martyrs asks us to sit with the feeling that many of us shove down during hard times, using Mr. Rogers quotes and pithy sayings posted on social media with floral backgrounds. The feeling that creeps up and whispers "things are not ok." What we see in Martyrs actually does happen in real life. Not the whole "cult trying to discover what happens after we die" aspect, but the simple and systematic torture of innocents. That shit happens all the time. And it's not ok. People who commit such acts often have families of their own, whom they treat very well. Evil is banal. And it's not ok. When people escape abusive and violent situations, like Lucie does, they are often haunted by what happened and often continue to suffer, especially in a world that can be so uncaring. And it's not ok.

But you know what is ok, at least in small doses? Sitting with the feeling that it's not ok. You can't sit with it forever, and trust me when I say that I'll be watching some palate cleansers soon. And I'm not recommending that people watch this film specifically--not by a long shot. I'm only asking that people understand why films like Martyrs exist and that art which explores the darker aspects of humanity is as valid and as important as art that tries to express a more hopeful message. I firmly believe that we must be able to look at, talk about, and think about these darker truths if we want to have a fair shot at doing anything about them. Something that cannot be thought about can also not be defeated. 

The other film I watched, or rather re-watched since I saw it over 10 years ago, is Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Passolini's final film, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. This is one of the most infamous movies of all time. Any time you see a list of "the most disturbing movies of all time", Salo will be on it. And for good reason. The film is based on a novel by the Marquis de Sade. In the novel, four French libertines capture 18 teenagers and whisk them away to a secluded villa where they torture and rape them for 120 days. FUN! It's a great beach read, guys, trust me. 

The movie takes the same basic idea and plops it in fascist Italy near the end of WWII. Four men--the Duke, the Bishop, the President, and the Magistrate--who are proudly fascist and have absolute power decide to engage in a debauched ritual that involves them marrying each others daughters, kidnapping 18 teenagers, and whisking them away to a secluded villa where...well, you get the idea. 

Salo is totally outrageous. It actually strikes me as funny at times because it is so over the top in its depravity, especially given that it was made in the mid-70s. I mean, look, this movie has shit-eating in it. A LOT of shit-eating. Don't worry--the shit was actually chocolate mixed with marmalade! But it's very hard not to gag while watching a bunch of people literally have a ritualistic meal made of shit.

So you might be wondering "what in the actual fuck??" right now. Well, let me tell you: Salo is a masterpiece. It is one of the greatest movies about fascism ever made. Passolini was murdered very soon after the release of this film and though it's never been proven, it is possible that he was killed because he made this film, which mocks and criticizes Italian fascists--some of whom were alive and living in Italy when Salo was released. So you can imagine how a fascist would react to a depiction of fascists raping children and eating a bunch of shit, right? Salo is both political art and a bold statement that shows what happens when authoritarianism is taken to its logical extreme.

Salo is actually the perfect film to watch in the United States right now. I believe that conservative politicians are fascists. I think there is enough evidence to see how the GOP is using the playbook of 1930s fascism to bring about a wave of white supremacy and domination of women, queer people, Black and brown people, and poor people (oh, by the way, did you know that the Nazis actually took inspiration from the good ol' US of A about how to treat people they considered subhuman? So, really, it's all just coming back around again). I mean, Mitch McConnell and Clarence Thomas might not being eating shit alongside 18 kidnapped underage teens quite yet, but...

Salo is a movie about how unlimited power is never a good thing. We all know that even good people often change for the worse when given power. Just imagine what people already inclined towards sadism and cruelty can do when given power over vulnerable people. And it's those very people--people who find it easy to be cruel or dismissive--who end up with power since they're willing to step on people to get to the top. This is something that I believe transcends gender, race, religion, etc...I truly, truly believe that having unchecked power over other people makes monsters of us all. It doesn't matter if you're white, Black, a man, a woman, queer, straight, whatever...if you're given control over someone else...there is a point at which you will abuse that power. 

Now, clearly, sometimes people gotta have a certain amount of control over other people--for example, parents need to set rules and boundaries for their kids. In fact, kids who grow up without boundaries often suffer because of that. So there is a gray area here. I'm talking about unchecked power. And what is the SCOTUS ruling on Roe v. Wade? It's unchecked power used to harm others. The lie that this ruling will "protect babies" has been swallowed, like so much shit, by people who desperately want to believe that. The masses have been thoroughly propagandized to, demoralized, and brainwashed into believing that either these decisions are good ones or that there is nothing we can do anyway. They want us to give up. 

What happens at the end of Salo? Well, that just might be the most controversial aspect of the entire movie: the bad guys get away with it. They murder most of the children and then dance around happily and then the movie ends. Much like Martyrs, there is no punishment awaiting the torturers. There are only more people to capture, dominate, rape, and murder. 

So what is the point, you may ask? Why watch these films that show the nadir of humanity, the extremity of violence, the shit-covered face of absolute power? Because...you have to understand that this is real, and that there may not be a god who can save us. There may not be a hell for the bad guys to go to. It's on us. Maybe there is a god, maybe not. But one thing we can be sure of: we exist. So you can have your little thoughts and prayers, and you can make jokes on social media about women rising up like Xena. But if you don't take action, it really is all for nothing. And you might say "but what action can I, one person, take that will make a difference?" Well, there is no single action one person can take to make a difference, but you are still morally obligated to act anyway. Because when we all take action, we can change things...even if they change slowly and even if they only change for some people. 

I'm going to end this review with a super cliched parable. A bunch of starfish had washed up on the beach one day. They were drying out and would surely die if no one threw them back into the sea. A little boy was walking up and down the beach, throwing starfish back into the sea. An older man came up to him and said "what are you doing? Look at all these starfish. You can't possibly save them all. You can't make a difference." The boy picked up another starfish, threw it back into the sea, and said "it made a difference to that one."

We're all we have in this fucked up world. Are you going to throw a starfish back into the sea or aren't you?

Martyrs: A

Salo: A

Stuff I watched in...June 2022, pt. 2

Pleasantville

Gary Ross's 1998 film about two teenagers who get transported into a black and white 1950s television show is a good movie to watch during these trying times. Tobey Maguire is David and Reese Witherspoon is Jennifer. They play two are siblings (twins!) who couldn't be more different. David is an introvert obsessed with a "Leave it to Beaver"-esque show called "Pleasantville" and Jennifer is a gum-snapping popular girl who just wants to date hot guys.

When a fight over the TV remote breaks out, the siblings are magically transported into "Pleasantville", where they are now known as Bud and Mary Sue and have to figure out how to get back to the real world without screwing up the black and white universe they're currently living in. 

But when Jennifer/Mary Sue introduces sex to Pleasantville by taking Skip Martin (Paul Walker, RIP) to Lover's Lane...changes start occurring in the otherwise boring town. For one, things start to show up in color. But it's not just sex that changes people. Anger, passion, and curiosity all have the same effect. David/Bud works at a diner with Bill Johnson (a very sweet Jeff Daniels) who, it turns out, loves to paint the windows of his diner during Christmas. Bud encourages his love of art and even brings him a book of famous paintings, which blows Bill's mind.

But, as you might expect, the more "traditional" members of the community (mostly old men and angry male teenagers) are uncomfortable with the changes Pleasantville is going through and try to segregate the "colored people" from the people who are still black and white. I mean, the symbolism is pretty on the nose here, but it still makes for an effectively emotional film.

The United States is currently in a downswing of equal rights and the forces that be want us to stay "civil" and "pleasant" in the face of loss of rights, environmental apocalypse, and the rise of neo-fascism. But even though many of us are suffering and scared right now (I know I am!), it's important to remember the impact we can have on other people--and the importance of having not just love and joy in our lives, but anger and sadness too. These feelings make us just as human and make life just as meaningful as the "good" emotions. Pleasantville is about the inevitability of change. It's also (as directly stated by the director) about how personal repression leads to public oppression. What people don't like in themselves, they project onto others and then try to exert control over them. 

Pleasantville came out during a hopeful time in the US. Clinton was president, 9/11 hadn't happened yet, and America was almost as innocent and optimistic as the denizens of "Pleasantville" the show. Although it may feel cheesy to watch the film now, I really do recommend it. It will remind you of the power of sex, art, literature, and love in the face of horrible repression. Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Grade: A

***

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey

Well, here's another piece of media that is very appropriate for Everything Happening Right Now because it's about the systematic oppression of women and rape of little girls in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). And while you might not be a fundamentalist Mormon, you can be assured that you almost certainly know women and girls who have faced what the women in this four part documentary have faced. 

The documentary follows the rise of Warren Jeffs, the "prophet" of the FLDS church. It features interviews with people who have left the church, including women who were married to extremely old men at a very young age. It's a VERY difficult documentary to watch. There are women interviewed whose children were taken away from them and sent to a compound where they were groomed to become wives to older men at ages as young as 14. And the mothers basically "allow" this to happen...although we can't really say they are consenting since they've been part of an abusive cult since birth and are thoroughly brainwashed. 

It culminates in audio of Warren Jeffs assaulting a 12 year old girl in a room with older women who allow it to happen because, well, the "prophet" is never wrong. It is absolutely devastating to listen to. 

It's cold comfort know that Jeffs is now in prison for life, because that doesn't rewind the clock and remove the damage he, and others like him, have done. And he's just one guy. Rape and abuse are common all over the world and in every community on earth. But there's something unique about religious communities in that they encourage obedience and blind faith, which really allows for abuse to flourish. I hate religion, guys. I don't hate spirituality or God or the teachings of Jesus, but I hate religion. Religion is where humans step in and create a list of rules and hierarchies so that they can dominate others. And then they just say "it's God's will". It's basically the inverse of "the devil made me do it": "God told me it was ok to fuck a 12 year old". 

I do recommend Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey but only to those who can handle it. Honestly, I recommend it even if you think you can't handle it because it's something we should all face and acknowledge to some extent. But, obviously, it will be incredibly traumatic for some people, especially people who have been abused themselves, so proceed with the utmost of caution.

Grade: A

***

The Empty Man

The Empty Man is an interesting, though overly long and ultimately forgettable horror film about this thing called "tulpas". I used to think that tulpas were some dumb Tumblr bullshit, but I guess some people out there take them more seriously that I thought? Basically, it's this idea that if you create a being and think about it for long enough it becomes "real" and can have thoughts of its own separate from yours. It's like creating your own imaginary friend only you think about it so hard and for so long that it becomes real.

I gotta say, this shit freaks me out. Not because I think a tulpa will be created out of thin air and attack me, but because I find that the capabilities of the human mind to compartmentalize and basically fool itself into believing impossible things really freaky.

The Empty Man follows former detective James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) as he helps investigate the disappearance of his neighbor's teenage daughter. He discovers that the girl got involved with a group called the Pontifex Institute that is basically a cult that believes in creating these tulpas. The deeper James digs, the more mysterious and confusing it gets--he even finds files on himself within the Institute's records. 

Even though this film has a lot of stuff I like--cults, urban legends, research/detective skills--I ultimately struggled to pay attention to it and had to rewind multiple times because I zoned out or got distracted while watching it. Maybe I just wasn't in the right head space? Maybe I need to create a tulpa to watch movies for me and report back. Har har. In any case, I think this movie is not terrible and many horror fans will probably enjoy it quite a bit. 

Grade: B-

***

Antlers

Now, this was a horror movie that REALLY didn't do it for me. Directed by Scott Cooper, it follows a 12 year old boy, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas) who appears to be impoverished, malnourished, and even abused. His teacher, Julia (Keri Russell), is very concerned about him. She was a victim of child abuse herself, at the hands of her alcoholic father, and so she has a strong desire to help Lucas. 

Well, it turns out that Lucas' dad was attacked by a mysterious creature and now he is slowly turning into that creature. Lucas keeps him locked in a room in their house, along with his younger brother, Aiden, who is also infected. Lucas kills small animals and collects roadkill to feed to his ravenous father and also gives food to his brother. But all of this is unsustainable since Lucas barely has the money or ability to feed himself. 

Spoiler alert: the dad was attacked by a wendigo. A wendigo is a creature from indigenous (Algonquin, specifically) lore that is known to be ravenous and cannibalistic. Antlers is a film directed by a white person and starring mostly white people, but they bring in an indigenous actor (Graham Greene) for a few scenes to explain what a wendigo is. What I would really like to see is a movie made by and starring indigenous people about the wendigo. That would actually be really cool.

Antlers is not cool. It's a joyless, humorless slog about the abuse of children and the devastation of drug and alcohol addiction. And how trauma is passed down through generations. Don't get me wrong--these themes are important and should be explored in film. But Antlers ain't it. It's one of those horror movies that isn't good enough to be this traumatic (unlike, say, Hereditary, which is super traumatic but actually good). I stopped watching Antlers 15 minutes before the end. 

Grade: C-

***

8mm

8mm is a 1999 thriller directed by Joel Schumacher and starring the one and only Nic Cage. Cage plays Tom Welles, a private investigator hired by a wealthy widow to uncover the identity of a young woman who appears to be killed in a film that was discovered in her husband's safe after his death. Yes, folks, the movie in the safe is a snuff film! We got a Nic Cage snuff film movie here and it. is. fantastic. 

Welles delves into the seedy underbelly of EXTREME BONDAGE PORNOGRAPHY which I'm sure I know nothing about! His companion into this journey to hell is Max California, a tattooed punk who works at an adult bookstore played by the incomparable Joaquin Phoenix. Confession: I first watched 8mm when I was like, 15 or 16 because I had a huge crush on Joaquin. There's a scene where he's tied up by some bad guys and young Jenny was like 😍 🤤. 

He wears leather pants in the movie too!

Tom and Max visit underground pornography exchanges where Tom acts like a total idiot, straight up asking about "snuff movies" and getting kicked out of every establishment they visit. Eventually, they discover that the creator of the film is one Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare). The film was produced by Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini) and stars a man in a leather mask who only goes by the name "Machine". 

Of course, the closer Tom gets to figuring out who is responsible for this young woman's death, the more danger he finds himself in.

I won't spoil the ending, but I will say I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this movie. It's fucking hilarious and entertaining. I can't in good conscience give it a rating in the "A" range because it's not "good" in the traditional sense, but it is very good in the entertaining sense. I mean, come on, it's got a guy named "Dino Velvet" who makes snuff films. 

Grade: B+

This is what I thought was hot was I was 15. Still do.

***

Let Me In

This was another rewatch for me, and I actually may have reviewed it in this very blog years ago. I really need to come up with a better way to tag and archive my reviews. 

Directed by Matt Reeves (who directed The Batman most recently), Let Me In is a remake of the Swedish film Let the Right One In, which itself is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by horror author John Ajvide Lindqvist. It follows Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a 12 year old boy who is severely bullied at school. He lives an incredibly lonely existence until he meets Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz) a girl who seems to be about his age who moves into the apartment next to Owen's.

Abby is actually a vampire who is hundreds of years old. The man she lives with, Thomas (Richard Jenkins), is not her father but her familiar. Owen and Abby develop a friendship which deepens after Thomas kills himself. But there is a very gentle insinuation of sinister intentions--is Abby only befriending Owen to groom him to become her next familiar?

Let Me In is a very dark horror film. It's not outrageously violent, but there is a feeling of moroseness to it. A feeling of crippling loneliness which brings Owen and Abby together in their shared isolation. Unlike Antlers though, the movie earns its bad vibes. I'm not sure I can explain why Antlers--a very sad, hopeless film--is worse than Let Me In--also sad, and hopeless if you read it a certain way. Only that Let Me In is simply better. It's more interesting, the emotions are more nuanced and authentic, the acting is better. I definitely recommend it, as well as Let the Right One In (which is on my docket to rewatch as well).

Grade: A-