Movie Review- The Visit

I had low expectations for The Visit, and was pleasantly surprised by how not-awful it was.M. Night Shyamalan has all but ruined his reputation, and found-footage movies are notorious for being garbage heaps masquerading as movies. Surprisingly the combination of washed-up director and cheap horror movies works.

The strongest part of The Visit is lead actors' performances. The two child actors were convincing playing siblings, and were surprisingly charming. Somehow the kid from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day gives a good performance. I thought he was terribly annoying in the aforementioned film, but here his annoying middle school kid attitude brings fairly effective comic relief. The actors playing the grandparents do a good job of playing creepy old people, even if they do go into over-the-top camp by the end. Found-footage movies typically have a reality show feeling to them, so acting abilities are not required. The fact that The Visit bothered to have decent actors is a breath of refreshing air in a stale subgenre.

The Visit is ultimately a horror-comedy, but I wish the film had gone for straight horror. The main characters have some good sibling banter, but the rest of the movie's humor falls flat. The movie is intentionally campy, but the ending goes so over-the-top it stops being funny. It feels like Shyamalan was trying to pass off a weak ending with the excuse of "but it's supposed to be cheesy". There is also a terrible repeated joke where the younger brother is a wannabe rapper. We are subjected to not one, but three cringe-inducing freestyle raps from a 13-year-old during the movie. A movie needs approximately zero rapping middle school children to be truly good.

This being a found-footage movie, The Visit suffers from every problem the subgenre has. The movie requires heavy suspension of disbelief. Why would a sane person still be filming themselves at this point? Why would a sane person be filming banal filler scenes in the first place? That's found-footage logic for you. Strangely, The Visit eschews the subgenre's requisite dropped camera ending in favor of a saccharine ending that drags on much too long. I would have actually preferred the cliche ending in this case.

The Visit is not a great movie by any means, but it is much better than it could have been. It could have been another laughably bad entry in Shyamalan's filmography, but there are some effective elements at work. It is occasionally funny and occasionally creepy, which is more than I was expecting. If you are looking for a dumb-but-fun diversion, The Visit is worth visiting.

Stop-Motion Animation Projects 2011-2015

Selected stop-motion animation projects I created from 2011-2015.

Movie Review- Run Lola Run

Originally written 1/24/16

Run Lola Run  is a fast-paced, blood-pumping action thriller with a smart and inventive story. The butterfly effect element that occurs throughout the film adds a nice element of depth that keeps the razor-thin plot from feeling flimsy. The enthralling, pulse-pounding techno score further accentuates the high-speed tension of the film. I like the fantastical elements throughout the story. You do not see that often in American films, so it is a welcome breath of fresh air. This is also one of the few instances where music video style editing works. That kind of stylization must be fully embraced with a purpose to work well. The film uses it excellently to get you caught up in the mad-dash frenzy. This is definitely a film worth checking out.

Movie Review- Dope

Originally written 1/22/16

            Dope has a lot of good things going for it, but is held back by an overstuffed mish-mash plot. There are three different movies going on here, a raunchy teen comedy, a coming-of-age drama, and a crime thriller. As a whole, these three stories diminish the impact each could have had individually. The teen comedy aspect feels out of place with the film's serious moments. Both work fine by themselves, but as a whole film they do not coalesce together well. It's hard to get invested in serious coming-of-age drama when the movie spends the first half as a raunchy comedy.

            The movie gets so lost in its multiple twists that it seems to forget that its main characters are nerds. The movie largely eschew geeky humor save for repeated references to bitcoin. In an attempt to be relevant and "real" to today's teens there are of course memes and MDMA, references that will age as poorly as all other timely references in teen movies do.  I would have like the movie to either pursue that comedic route further or play it straight. And to avoid the meme references altogether. You can still have funny, relatable characters without delving into flat-out comedy as the movie occasionally does. The three lead actors are all incredibly charming and have good screen chemistry. They could have easily carried the film as a complete drama. Their performances are the anchor that keeps the movie from capsizing. 

            The washed-out Instagram filter looking cinematography gorgeously captures disenfranchised urban California. Even if you can't relate to the youth of today, there are at least pretty shots to look at on screen. The trendy-ass thrift store chic costume design is admittedly nice to look at as well. I am not a fan of the music video style editing in the party scenes. The constant frame rate ramping in those scenes made me think of the drugged out dance scene from Cruising. Music video style editing almost never works, especially when it is done just to look cool.

            One minor thing: The main characters have a punk band called "Oreo". (Get it? Because they're white on the inside. What a dumb pun. Only a teenage garage band would think that was a funny band name.) Apparently Pharrell Williams produced the soundtrack, and his influence is painfully apparent. Oreo is the most vanilla, sanitized car commercial sounding punk band I have ever heard. I like Pharrell's music, but punk rock he is not. The fact that clearly established music geeks would consider their music punk is hilariously dumb.

            Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed Dope. I appreciate the ambition of the movie's twisty story. I like that it is teen movie for poor kids and minorities who are otherwise nonexistent in John Hughes type movies. It is a good step forward for diversity. I hope the three leads get more roles, they were all very likable. Plus the cinematography is pretty and the end credits are done like Pop-Up Video. It has its moments.

Movie Review- Curse of Frankenstein

Originally written 1/18/16

            Curse of Frankenstein is more of a study of Dr. Frankenstein than anything to do with the monster. I appreciate the direction Hammer took with their remake. Rather than retell the same story, the movie instead follows Victor Frankenstein as he slowly descends into villainy as he pursues his dream of reanimating the dead. For a horror movie, Frankenstein's descent into evil is told with excellent care. In a drama it would be a bit too obviously telegraphed, but in comparison to other Frankenstein movies it is graceful. Peter Cushing gives the best performance of his career as Frankenstein. He never delves into camp, convincingly portraying his character's decline into wretchedness. The gothic set design and period costumes are great, as well. I do not care for that era's aesthetics and I was still impressed.  

            While I was pleased with the film's overall quality, the character study did not click with me. A Frankenstein movie really needs more than five minutes of the monster. I was not a fan of the look they chose for the monster, either. The clammy mod rocker look they went with cannot beat the classic Karloff makeup. For the niche audience that likes horror remakes with an emphasis on character study, this is a great film. It is certainly better than the subgenre's sole other offering, the 2003 Willard remake with Crispin Glover. Curse of Frankenstein is slow and talky, and has that staged feel that many older movies have. I know that vibe appeals to some people, but it was not for me.