Prisoners (2013)

When the unthinkable happens to your flesh and blood

By: JWBM

Years back I used to stay up late to watch "Cold Case Files" and other similar shows about finding a killer after a real-life senseless act. It was never a good idea. The stories often stuck with you, even into the next day. A characteristic trait of these tales, is the search for the truth is often a pull and tug into different directions. Sometimes one path leads to a dead end, other times it leads to the right path—one with a resolution of sorts that is never easy, and one that often doesn't make it any better or make sense to someone with a conscience. Detectives and personnel look as if they're just doing their job compared to the distraught, all-tears loved ones. But after studying and dealing with so many horrific cases, some professionals come to the realization that emotions can blind us; can make us obsessive; can make us convinced about something that may or may not be there. Another thing that rings true, is emotions can bring us together, but also tear us apart in as little time as it took for said act to happen.

It's every parent's worst nightmare. The room is too quiet. You call out your child's name. Silence. You look everywhere. Nothing. It's tragedy in its purist form. All of those plans, dreams, and aspirations are frozen in time. Adults are sprinkled with choices and have ample opportunity to unlock different pathways throughout their lifetime. When something happens to our own flesh and blood—a little one no less—it can bring about deep emotions that would tear just about anyone apart. That is with the exception of a certain breed of predator. Someone whom you will never understand; someone whom you will never firmly step into their shoes. How do you find a monster? Become one yourself? To toss away reason, and replace it with a hurried, fractured logic that makes sense in the now but may be full of regret later. To fully do so, would be to transform oneself and toss away the remaining humanity inside of yourself and replace it with a determination that's as black as the corrupted soul that took said innocent one. Do you have it in you? Should you have it in you?

Two girls during low-key Thanksgiving festivities end up missing with few clues to go on. Dad goes into full protective mode to find them; mom goes full comatose from all the unanswered hows and whys swirling in her head; detective turns over every stone to find them. You've seen this type of drama-thriller before. An exceptional, callous thing happens, a few creepy scenes occur to get under your skin, and eventually the final revelation and resolution of it all is wrapped up into another fava-beans-and-Chianti package. Well, not exactly here. "Prisoners" feels less slick, more moment by moment, more centered on resonating emotions than surface thrills, and more like the characters could be your neighbors and this your neighborhood. It's still gripping and engaging, though it still doesn't feel like your typical cinematic experience for the first half in how it lays one brick at a time to build its story. Take the music for instance. It's all about those menacing tones, than it is about creating a soundtrack to hum on a road-trip. It's like the director wanted to explore complex human emotions to stick with the viewer over just a focus on being aesthetically pleasing.

Another mode to this film that I thought was brilliant is how the characters are tied together with a common theme. When something out of the ordinary happens to us as humans, there are many that attempt to hide their bruised egos. We become afraid to ask for just a simple thing: Help. A share of problems would be solved if we swallowed our pride and reached out to ask for a hand. Especially to someone whom we should ask for help. It's a strange but common set of circumstances that I feel the writer nailed with this story. It's finely layered in how it's done—enough that it didn't hit me till after the fact when I was piecing it all together. I haven't seen too many other films that weave it into their story as well as this did.

As much as "Prisoners" delved into and examined the emotional turmoil of this event, it also wrapped up its loose ends in a rather quick dust of the hands. The movie does have some heartfelt soul to walk away with though. It's not an easy watch—some portions are downright uncomfortable—but it's acted and portrayed well for this harrowing subject not everyone wants to outright talk about. I mean, unless you're John Walsh, or someone like me who wants to examine the more challenging things of this strange and sometimes cruel world.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Denis Villeneuve (Maelstrom, Polytechnique, Incendies)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube

A History of Violence (2005)

Protecting the American Dream

By: JWBM

How much time can go by until the realization sets in that you don't really know someone? Most of us are on our best behavior due to following similar routines and habits. It isn't until a situation falls outside of a person's comfort zone that you notice something unusual that may have been hiding there all along. Getting to know how someone acts is knowing their routines; knowing how someone reacts is knowing the inner person.

Stories such as "Deliverance," for instance, dealt not just with the wild perils of nature, but about bringing out a side of ourselves that we never knew was there if not for a dire set of circumstances that tested our limits and boundaries. "A History of Violence," as the namesake suggests, is an evolution of our complex behavior as human beings with an everyday man who's established the perfect family life for himself—right down to the locally owned diner, and station wagon—until that's threatened to be taken away when backed into a corner. Other movies have scraped the surface of our protective nature as an excuse to get the action going—though this film slowly digs its claws in with more of a subtle look at our subdued primal instincts in the modern day. We're used to seeing animals act out what's natural without batting an eye, but what happens when those things called rules, laws, and safe-guards are taken away from a small town family living the simple life?

The tone has a dark and violent side when it calls for it, though the pacing is played out with more of
a slow burn than a non-stop visceral attack on the senses. For instance, the opening scene is a continuous shot that reminds me of some of Takeshi Kitano films, in how the camera rolls uncut and we're left to read the what-just-happened, what's-gonna-happen on our characters' faces. The story gives a simple build up, and then some layers are intertwined for character development concerning the growing tension amongst this howdy-good-morning family from small town middle of nowhere. This leaves room for the characters to naturally react to the situations at hand without seeming rushed or cut and dry as just a buffer for a John McClane-like action moment. It's not always what's said, compared to how it's portrayed in the face and body language. Mortensen does an authentic job at fleshing out Tom Stall: a man caught between his past and protecting his family in the now. The line "Then we deal with it" about sums up his mild-mannered, spring-to-action demeanor.

This takes a closer look at violence no doubt, though it's also a tale dealing with undercurrents of change, bond, and growth. What makes "A History of Violence" rewatchable, is the filmmaking is more along the lines of a timeless piece—having neither trendy music, catch-phrases, or shameless, I-remember-that advertisements. Cronenberg has a particular directorial style to his films. A knack for conjuring up the surreal and making it seem real when played out in front of your eyes. This is still more rooted in reality over, say, "eXitenZ" of a few years earlier. He's both at the far end of the spectrum of reserved and then effectively point-blank at other times. It can make the experience easy to chew at times, and then hard to swallow at others. What's remarkable is how he can take a basic story about a basic family, and still make it a memorable experience to walk away with.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: David Cronenberg (Videodrome, Crash, eXistenZ)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube

Trivia: Reported to be the last film to be printed on VHS by a major studio (on March, 14th 2006).

The Ninth Gate (1999)

Everyone's trying to get their hands on Satan's autograph

By: JWBM

Adapted from Spain's Arturo Perez-Reverte's historically abound novel "The Club Dumas," the film version is a chapter-by-chapter evolving experience in itself. It gives a taste of how far occult literature extends back for the past couple hundred years, and turns what was once heresy into a modern world of wealthy, shadowy characters shamelessly sipping on expensive bottles of human vice. A place where Latin is alive and woodcuts smell of freshly inked templates; dusty areas start to shimmer, strangers in the back shift to the forefront; quiet libraries ring alarm bells, and exquisite vacation spots for foreigners now cause them to requestion their next travel plans.

A collector of rare books commits suicide only a day after he sells his most prized piece. A wheeler and dealer, Dean Corso, gets hired by another book collector exclusively of the dark arts named Boris Balkan, who has since acquired "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows," and wants him to varify its authenticity to the only other two known in the world. The man who authored them back in 1666 was burned at the stake for his blasphemous spoutings. Now in 1999, strange and tragic things start to happen surrounding those who come into its leather-bound, pentagram decorated path. The lingering question: Is it the cause and effect of the books or the unscrupulous people themselves? Or both?

"The Ninth Gate," from director Roman Polanski--"Rosemary's Baby"--presents a tried and true style of move-making that relies on basic but worked through mechanics to deliver the goods. From the gradual build up that gets more and more involved, to the slowly creeping camera angles, antique furnished sets, and who could forget good ol' distinctive orchestras to solidify the tone around it. The experience feels like stepping out of your door and into a more traditional European lifestyle over, say, a Hollywood affair with modern and trendy aspects of the year it came out. Compare this to a string of the millennia-approaching, end-of-times films back then, and you can see a noticeable difference of which ones aged.

There are some twists and turns to give this momentum and make it a memorable experience. However, a share of it has a purposeful simplicity to give room for believability when something outstanding does happen. In order to break into the idea of black magic cults and Lucifer supposedly being a low-key author, there is also a dry and somewhat playful tongue-in-cheek sense of humor sprinkled about. Depp's role, as Corso, is less eccentric than past films and stays closer to an everyday type of shady businessman. With the help of a tentative partner, Corso ends up from one accented person and scenic country to the next. You can imagine the book has passed hands for hundreds of years, yet it's a perfect way to enact survival-of-the-most-evilest in the current day world by enlisting the most greedy, back-stabbing people amongst us that are capable of taking it solely for their own gain. From lusty gold diggers to sign-the-dotted-line-or-die capitalists, the tale makes everyone who gets in its path a victim of their own lust and desires.

"The Ninth Gate" will make one glance at formerly uneventful places in a darker light: a secretive-like atmosphere that is cloaked in enough shadows that the general person is oblivious as to what lurks around them. It also has a certain amount of mystery that gives room to unlock Easter eggs and hidden theories on additional viewings from not outright handing everything over to the viewer. The story and concept itself is intriguing  enough to anticipate what comes next, though underneath, the momentum is guided by an unphysical, somewhat unlikeable book swindler; you get reactions and mundane habits similar to an everyday person who could be your neighbor Bob if not for a sly characteristic and a penchant for a shoulder bag. It's logical why it's set up that way on paper, though watching the experience play out isn't always thoroughly compelling. It's still a well-done and an esteemed film for its cumulative qualities, though hoping for more layers--such as all the musings and step-by-step thoughts in the book version--from the lead on further viewings comes to a stand still at points.

In one respect, the next secluded mansion, not to mention the next time you pass by an antique book store, there will be a little reminder as to what it conceals rather than the usual yawning words and stiff aristocrats. Something that should be left alone or pursued? Well, I guess that choice is up to you and how far you are willing to push your luck to be just a little bit closer to the world below. If not by you, there's always another that will stop at nothing.

Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Roman Polanski (Chinatown, The Tenant, Death and the Maiden)
Stars: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Emmanuelle Seigner)
Info: IMDB

Trailer: Youtube link

Circle (2015)

Exploring that ingrained sense to exist

By: JWBM

Survival. We've explored this deep rooted human sense in countless entities: from real life encounters; to dramatic tellings of battling nature, and overcoming illness and disease; to just plain entertaining showcases of dressed down younglings fleeing from a homicidal maniac in the woods over a recurring theme song.

Where the spokes of life turn to a different rotation is when someone--or someones--are put into a manipulated game where they must survive in a me-or-you set of circumstances. Unlike, say, "Cube" or "The Running Man," the participants here can't use their feet, solve complex equations or even use hulking muscle to get away--all they can do is use their senses and speak to find out about their surroundings and each other to hopefully come to an understanding, resolution, or just plain save their own skin. As you can imagine, it quickly turns into a bunch of vicious, talking animals in an imaginary cage trying to use the person beneath them to escape to the top, while others are attempting to adhere to a strict moral code to save their sense of humanity and dignity.

Every two minutes--in movie time of course--a buzzer sounds and someone drops to a resonating thud. With the amount of people in one room and little prior knowledge of what's going on it sounds like a chaotic mess, though the filmmakers seem to take a minimalistic approach to balance a specific focus. For instance, a large chunk is dedicated to portraying a tug-of-war with a moral sense and a primal one. It's far reaching, yes, though there's nothing here that is too complex to throw on and get confused by. It feels more like a dramatic stage play than it does a thriller, or, say, a typical survival horror film. There's no nifty camera angles, elaborate sets to explore or explosions a foot. While this does sound sparse, the movie does have its merits and manages to set out in what it attempted to do without too many hiccups.

"Circle" manages to ask some questions and answer a few themselves, though leaves the bulk of them to the viewer to ponder on. Essentially surprises are reduced to who gets taken out/doesn't get taken out, and some hidden truths with participants. In a sense, it makes you wonder what you may have done the same or differently if put in the same shoes. "Circle" attempts to straddle being part entertainment and part psychological/philosophical. Though the movie is leaning more towards the former and isn't something that will peel back layer upon layer each time you put it on. However, it's still worth at least a watch for a bored Thursday night movie with friends over to break the ice and bounce your own theories off each other while it's running. I can see the film also having the potential to be an excellent debate starter. And, who knows, you may learn a thing or two about each other...

Rating: 6/10

Movie info: IMDB

Trailer: Youtube link

Combat Shock (1984)

A slow chip away at humanity

By: JWBM

Some years ago I took a chance on this film when searching out Troma movies to add to the collection that would hopefully be rewatchable like "The Toxic Avenger," "Dead Dudes in the House" and "Class of Nuke 'Em High." All I had to go on was the cover box—which looked like an excessively violent action/war film. As it played out, I realized it stood apart from the typical Troma fare. Yes, the film-making process was just as rough-around-the-edges and still fits in with their line of button-pressing films, though this attempted to take on a somber, psychological approach rather than relying just on dark humor and outlandish characters and situations to guide the way. When something extreme happens, its effectiveness is amplified over just pure shock value going for "Ohs!" and beers-in-the-belly entertainment. This is rather a film that could kill a pleasant Saturday evening—and quite possibly the next days to follow.

If you're one of the lucky ones to have seen the brighter side of life, this film—or rather this shoulders-slumped, head-down experience—is going to seem like a Sunday stroll through Hell. Have you ever walked by something so pitiful and so far gone that it can't help but leave an impact? Something that makes you wonder how it got to be that way in the first place? "Combat Shock" is going to be a point blank, down-and-dirty tour of all the demons that still haunt a soldier of the Vietnam War now back home in the slums of New York. Some folks have an adjustment period, though with Frankie's situation there's nothing in particular to adjust: just a nearly barren, hopeless existence held on by mere threads.

"I can no longer tell where one torture ends and the next begins."

As it plays out, this is on the verge of being horror without outright placing both feet in the muck. It mainly focuses on the drama to get inside your head, collect under your nails and grow on your skin; then manages to crawl on the back of your eyelids and replay nightmarish dream sequences to show where Frankie has been and where he's going to based on his present, deteriorating situation. To give a little tension and release, there is some light humor in a few places. Since the movie is also minimalistic at times and moves at a slower pacing, some catchy keyboard music—also composed by main star Rick Giovinazzo, who's now an orchestrator for well-known Hollywood films—pumps over top like a recurring '80s theme song not far removed from others in the decade. Ambient or inharmonious sounds would have been possibly more naturally flowing, though since the film doesn't have something heart-racing happening every second I can imagine it was on purpose to have a contrasting element to the flow.

Another component of the story that feels just as much a character as our unlucky soldier, are the locations in Staten Island where he's attempting to return to normal life. The apartment where his wife and infant son live at is in such disrepair that I can imagine the roaches have moved on from it; its faucets drip like a deafening pulse to scare anything and anyone away. The bickering arguments they have over their hopeless situation are compounded by the smeared walls lingering in every shot. The surrounding neighborhood looks as if it came back from a war itself with the amount of collapsing and abandoned structures shown. Its scum has grime. If Mr. Clean stumbled through, you can imagine he'd grow his hair out and take on an alter ego of a post-apocalyptic anti-hero to tidy things up.

This is not a polished movie, though where it shines so to speak is it's not afraid to travel to territories others shy away from. It's frankly undershot, underbudgeted, and overacted; this isn't going to be "The Deer Hunter," "Taxi Driver" or even "Jacob's Ladder" that came after concerning a traumatized Vietnam War veteran. Though from what it lacks it makes up for in plenty of atmosphere and raw emotion concerning desperation and someone wasting away from a bad luck of the draw. It's raw storytelling that leaves real scars over just superficial wounds. Walking by a person on the downtown streets slumped in a corner might make you wonder to a degree, though watching a person wasting away fraction by fraction where you can't look away is another.

Maybe with a little more money they could have shown more of his past before the war, or hired method actors to round out the characters more, though if you can get past its hiccups one can still get the idea with what tools they had at the time. Some of its flaws have a certain charm, such as the prosthetics of Frankie's strangely shaped son, to its guerrilla type of cinematography in real locations, and other effects layered together to create ambiance and personality. The film isn't necessarily a piece to show every economic hardship of vets, or to display every side of what this city has gone through up till 1984. Though it puts you in the shoes of this particular situation with enough to go on to feel like you're watching and experiencing a potentially hopeful home movie turned tragic documentary.

Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Buddy Giovinazzo
Starring: Rick Giovinazzo
Site: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube link