Nacho Cerdà's shorts III: Genesis (1998)

Life is uncertain

By: JWBM

We often find ourselves in routines, taking for granted the love ones around us: conversing, joining in dinner, and sharing a bed are basic guarantees in our minds. If an accident were to happen, many of us would be unprepared and might end up traveling down a spiral of despair and uncertainty from all the memories and joined moments. If there was a glimmer of hope after the fact, I feel some would go through with it no matter what the consequences would be. Those truly in love often strive for each other's happiness after all.

Apart from dealing with death, the subject matter of Nacho Cerdà's "Genesis" is far removed from his two earlier works "The Awakening" and "Aftermath." The only exception to that is how this film is paced and shot compared to "Aftermath." "Genesis"—sharing the same rich-in-the-eyebrows lead, Pep Tosar—is likewise methodically driven to squeeze every bit of ambiance out of the room. Apart from some nightmarish flashbacks, this feels more a drama and fantasy than it does an outright horror or thriller: deep rooted emotions and some fantastical ideas are at its core rather than shocks or surprises. Instead of having dialogue or a voice over, it's fueled by a haunting classical score, eerie sound effects, and hovering wide-angle camera angles. These seem to slowly chip away and shed light on the inner happenings of a sculptor who lost his wife and now finds a way to bring her back while at the same time slipping away himself.

This was a well put together 30 minute short. It comes with its own unique mood with the artists's studio presenting an escape to a place of sadness and solitude. It creates a certain level of relatability for anyone who's felt powerless after a sudden loss. While not the perfect fantasyland outcome one would ultimately want, it instead delves into what love and sacrifice actually mean and how some of us interpret them when presented with the impossible. The film relies more on how you feel towards it rather than writing in between the lines of every action or motivation for you. With some more length to it, I feel it could have expanded even further on its themes and could have possibly been even more of an emotional force.

Rating: 8/10

Director: Nacho Cerdà (The Awakening, Aftermath)
Actors: Pep Tosar, Trae Houlihan
Info: IMDB link

Fallen (1998)

Some things aren't meant to be noticed

By: JWBM

Many of us have seen or heard of some bad things in our time—often dabbling with revolving questions as to the whys or hows. As terrible and backwards as these actions may seem, there is always some kind of motive or basis. However, fewer have encountered pure evil, or outright morally reprehensible actions that defy general reason or logic. The head scratchers: till your head starts to bleed from its nightmarish implications. These actions are predatory and purposeful, and executed by a higher than average intellect than your typical goon. As if a lion grew a conscious outside of basic instincts and started to look at anything beneath him as an object to toy with. When these dark and questionable things occur, we wonder how any human-being could have been behind them. Is that individual actually flesh and blood like you or I? You'd think this was primarily a question for a priest, but many detectives lay witness to scenes that the average person's eyes would come unglued from.

Detective John Hobbes is feeling on top of the world. He's done caught and bagged the infamous serial killer Edgar Reese, and is now about to watch his execution with a smug grin. Except soon afterwards more murders start to crop up that look suspiciously close to Reese's handiwork. At this point, nothing makes logical sense when the connections or evidence doesn't line up. The detective soon finds out that he may be in over his head when it deals with a power far beyond what he's capable of stopping as just a mortal man with a badge and gun.

The film employs a voice over narrative to give some further thoughts from Hobbes. At times it gives perspective, but at other times they should have scaled back and did a little more show than tell. Denzel Washington—as John Hobbes—gives the role some command and a natural flow in how he delivers his lines in real-speak. He's not just going for what's on the page, but brings to the table little subtleties to make the character feel like a real guy with an on-screen presence each time the camera is fixed on him. He portrays him as a man who was on top of the world—ready to take on any challenge—until he's slowly pulled down by its weight. Though not willingly. Elias Koteas gives a short, but memorable role as Edgar Reese: the emotionally disturbed man about to be executed, but has the enthusiasm of someone who just won a weekend trip to Disneyland for serial killers.

"Fallen" is a thriller bordering on horror that mixes a little bit of "The Exorcist III," "The Prophecy," and "Seven" with its own flair. It does a great job at balancing down-to-earth subject matters with others that may be normally looked at as far-fetched or out there. Those into "The X-Files"-like themes, might make a smooth transition into this story likewise from the '90s. "Fallen" takes them in stride and examines them one moment at a time. By keeping it basic, it flows with some finesse even after 20 years of hitting the big screen. The movie does add some dynamic to its pacing by sprinkling in bits of mystery, drama, and suspense. Though there are times where the film plods along; versus keeping your mind searching, or capable of examining deeper ideas beyond the ones shown. Then again, the story doesn't have the intention of being a race to the finish or biting off more than it can chew. Take that for what it's worth.

This makes for a simple tale, but a well-deserving experience due to the natural interactions between the characters, the real life looking settings, the memorable tones of the soundtrack, and the cinematography that gives another perspective besides what would normally be right in front of your eyes.

Rating: 7/10

Director: Gregory Hoblit ("NYPD Blue," "Primal Fear")
Actors: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, James Gandolfini, Elias Koteas
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Arrival II (1998)

Aliens and maple leaves

This time around Zane's Canadian step-brother--who's a wizard of a computer geek underneath that '80s looking hairdo--must pick up the pieces from where his distant, paranoid relative left off in a similar DIY investigative fashion for, that's right, humanity's sake. Except he's laid back, shows late for work and would rather run from a situation than get his hands dirty, especially about theories concerning covert extraterrestials. Yeah, those guys...and now gals.

The pacing is along the lines of a made-for-TV mystery with a few thrills to grease the wheels. Production expenses are tighter, so in turn, there are a number of scenes that are overdrawn. The acting isn't expected to be award winning but with the flow being at slower speeds than its predecessor, it makes what comes out of their mouths forced and far from giving the believable sense of actually being there in this state of looming danger. Not to mention the one-dimensional villains that are just shy of being animated over and turned into cartoon characters.

The first film, while not mind-blowing, was fresher with ideas. "The Arrival 2" retreads similar mechanics and the story meddles on with superficial attempts to personalize the experience with little quips, along with token love interests and by-now dated gizmos. Overall, this feels straightforward, anticlimactic and, aside from a few redeeming qualities to keep it afloat, a waste of a sequel.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Peacemaker, Pinocchio's Revenge)
Stars: Patrick Muldoon, Jane Sibbett
Link: IMDB

The Dentist 2 (1998)

Our favorite dental sociopath's back!

This is basically a continuation with the doc unleashed onto a smaller country town. It still mirrors the template of the first as it starts out somewhat innocently and then builds up and escalates the scenarios instead of going right for the throat. Which would be fine because it doesn't make this as predictable, however, the movie takes too long to switch gears between substantial scenarios and it can feel like it coasts at times. This doesn't feel as provocative or controversial with what he gets away with like in the first either. Feinstone says he doesn't remember the original events during therapy. He gets partly rehabilitated, escapes and then gradually the other evil persona starts to come out of him. As he explains: "He is me, I am him." And then the clincher, "No Dr., it is not over. It will never be over. Every second of every day asleep or awake, I see her face."

He attempts to make a measly but comfortable living a few states over in Paradise, Missouri where he's known as Lawrence Caine. But things keep on luring him back to work on patients: a misplaced cap here, a cavity of a friend and growing love interest named Jamie there. He has to fight the demons like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, including cutting himself and clearing his head from the piling visions of corroding teeth and gums. The only dentist in town falls to his death and with some convincing from the people, he takes over the practice. He keeps up the nice guy act till someone recognizes him as Feinstone, also a private eye hired by his all-gums ex-wife is getting close, not to mention Jamie catches another side of him when he starts to suspect something is going on with another blue collar worker.

"The Dentist II" tries to play it straight and somewhat legitimize itself beyond its B movie trappings, but as a result it takes too long to dig into the juicy stuff that a viewer is just waiting to see. There are some flashing scenes when he hallucinates that attempt to lend a hand to atmosphere. Though for a good chunk of the picture it seems somewhat reserved and the tone feels more a drama. By the time he goes full throttle with the carnage, the level of anticipation is through the roof, which makes everything detrimental to having to sit through him find his place in the town. The wife coming back was fairly anticlimactic for the amount of time built up to it and could have been edited out. He delivers with some drilling, teeth prodding and poking, not to mention quotable condescending lines, but the reasons are just that he needs to interrogate the people rather than the variety of angles and fears he capitalizes on in the first.

He's an opera listening, poetic phrasing, self-inflicting lunatic...who does do his job from time to time. The reason he doesn't always take it to the hilt, is because it's playing on a little bit of perspective and sympathy as he can't always help it himself, which leaves him tortured between both sides, and the audience not sure whether to love him or hate him. "The Dentist II" made an attempt to personalize the story and take itself a little more seriously--still with some dark humor in places--but even then it wasn't able to make this a moment-by-moment experience and that can cause the audiences' focus to waver more than someone under laughing gas.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Brian Yuzna (Return of the Living Dead III)
Stars: Corbin Bernsen, Jillian McWhirter, Jeff Doucette
Link: IMDB


Quotes:

Dr. Caine/Feinstone: "Drill 'em, fill 'em, bill 'em, that's your philosophy, huh?"

Dr. Caine/Feinstone: "You know, you and your ilk, Doctor Burns, make dentists the boogeymen of medicine. Something to be feared, to be avoided at all costs. I've worked my entire career to change all that."

Dr. Caine/Feinstone: "Sir, sit back down. I cannot leave that tooth untreated. I took an oath."

Dr. Caine/Feinstone: "Oh sure. You come in here under false pretenses, nose through my files, you sit there asking all your wheeling questions. And then you beg me not to hurt you? What world do you live in, Bevie?"

Dr. Caine/Feinstone: "This is how we bond our teeth in Hollywood, Bevie. Bonding in bondage. It's all the rage."

Dr. Caine/Feinstone: "New game, Bevie. Truth or tooth."