The Omen (1976)

Evil has a name

By: JWBM

"This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666."

Looking back, certain films don't always capture the same glory and wide-eyed thrills as they did on, say, opening night or that year to follow. With time and talk, some movies lose their staying power and initial charm. Take the big reveal in "Soylent Green." It ended up being so iconic that the film is not the same experience viewed through fresh eyes. Then there are others with a dark twist—that you've probably heard of off-hand, or have seen imitated in later films—that still hold up even years later from not only being groundbreaking, but bringing to the table a careful measurement to go along. "The Omen" is one such film that can be put on for repeated viewings and still make you keep at least one light on before bed—maybe even going so far as to do a birth mark check on one of your friend's misbehaving kids. It has all of the shocking and sinister staples you'd expect, though this manages to turn an ordinary flame to a raging fire, drawing you closer in with face aghast to wonder the infernal possibilities.

What's great about "The Omen" is the pacing doesn't mess around. It dives right into the dark heart of it and stays persistent throughout. It plays out as a simple tale, but deals with larger subjects that paint a horrific picture of looming apocalypse. It uses deep-rooted fears and instincts related to our children, and combines that with ingrained morals and common-place symbology we'd see at the center of any town church. Throughout the film, Jerry Goldsmith's score manages to slowly creep and crawl, and then engulf the listener by crashing down from all sides. It effectively creates this sense of dire urgency as it all unfolds and goes deeper into the too-late-to-turn-around dark crevices and intricate folds of evil. What's unique, is Goldsmith takes your everyday, long-standing catholic mass and inverts it into a devilish Gregorian chanted black mass. With Latin infusions such as "Tolle Corpus Satani" and "Ave Versus Christus" one can't help but sign the cross and hope for protection.

"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon." 

A share of the story is seen through the eyes of Robert Thorn—played by Gregory Peck. He's your suit-and-tie, dignified U.S. ambassador to the U.K., with loving wife, energetic kid, fancy house, and security detail to keep it all in check. One could argue that his role isn't relatable, though I feel by making him morally sound and an example to look up to, it further demonstrates the breaking of tradition, routine, and shattering the everyday person's dreams and ambitions. If a guy at the top can't make it happen, or is threatened by something as just a "little boy," where's the hope for me as the guy at the bottom? Besides losing a child, the next worst feeling as a parent is to secretly suspect your little one is anything but a sweet peach. Thorn's son—Damien—comes with an innocent glint in his eye and smile: is it all mistake, or is there some truth to this looming threat who can handle a mean tricycle?

We know some children aren't forward thinking in their actions. We call it "growing up" or simply "bad behavior": what ensues is some kind of example or discipline till the child knows better. Though, what happens when a kid does something knowingly bad, bordering on outright maliciousness? "The Omen," like "The Exorcist" or "It's Alive," made us look at our shorter counterparts a little bit differently when considering the backbone of where behavior stems. It also brings to life the Book of Revelations—yep, the one and only book of books—in a way that made you ponder much uglier possibilities over your old woodcuts, stained glass, and paintings of the past going for carefully placed and detailed artistic merit. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But what's more likely to make the hairs stick up on the back of your neck, or look over your shoulder in a real sense of paranoia, but a living manifestation of something that can walk, breathe and strike from all sides and at any time. Maybe even from your own neighborhood... or home.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Richard Donner (Salt and Pepper, Lola)
Actors: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube trailer

Note from Black to Red: This marks the 200th review on this site!

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Behaviorists take note; casual viewers be forewarned

By: JWBM

This is a loose combination of satire and comedy that's as dark as they come. Going in, one's skin should be impenetrable to the point of being armor plated. The main character candidly jokes about thievery and murder—kids, elderly, midgets—then goes out to celebrate after over a round of drinks. It's cold, it's savage, it's everything the 99% of the population doesn't want to grow up to be, though one can't pull their eyes and ears away for what mayhem and devastation happens next. I mean, take the title: the phrase was coined over a hundred years ago and still persists to this day as to what's favored on the local news. Death and destruction gives rise, it creates fear, it establishes an odd sensation that can become obsessive and replayed in loops. It begs the question: Is that what we want to see? It's what sells, right? I'm here writing about it and you're here reading about it. Consider this round on me.

"Man Bites Dog" comes as a cross between a mockumentary and reality TV episode before the popularity sunk in. Instead of listening to a pretty and practiced newsperson reporting the heinous crimes after the fact, you get to experience them one ugly moment at a time and with motivations to boot. A crew of three follows around a charming Belgium, French-speaking gentleman, who has a lovable mother and grandparents, but also happens to be a professional thief and remorseless serial killer. Benoit, or Ben, as his friends call him, is an anomaly: a sort of likable jerk that's looking for some relatability in acts that are ultimately unrelatable.

Benoit is openly caring and giving to those held closely to his dark heart, but also ruthless and blindly hateful to anyone else convenient enough to shoot or strangle. He's always dressed to perfection. This allows him to go undetected—going as far as taking out a postman in broad day light, and a lonely elderly women at your everyday apartment building. He's full of a strange wit, grab-your-attention anecdotes, and a certain code to it all. But like a spider who carefully places his web to the wind, he tends to control the situation and express bullying demands once someone gets snared.

A portion of "Man Bites Dog" feels structured, while the rest feels loosely improvised. The main actor—Benoit, who uses his real name like the rest of the actors—gives nuance to the character and truly pulls off the many moods of this dominating personality that envelopes those around him into a whirlwind of his unorthodox lifestyle. The rest of the cast, let's just say, are typically thrown in front of the camera and have their ups and downs. Like any candid feature, you get it all: whether it's being shocking or entertaining one moment, light-hearted the next, or just "is." To help solidify the mood of a documentary, it has this unrefined black and white quality, not to mention a share of the shots seem to be predominately real locations.

Once the lights are turned on you won't believe it happened, but with its strengths and imperfections combined, it has a certain swaying power while it pans out. It goes beyond just a simple gimmick to sell another video tape; it has a developed nature to it, and tends to innovate within itself. This is a truly unique venture that came and went with its black magic, but managed to leave a memorable mark behind still being transcribed to this day. It's depraved, it's eye-opening, it's hilarious, it's everything you shouldn't be admitting to being captivated by. But here we are basking in its dark aura. Another round, please. This one is on you.



Rating: 9/10

Director: Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, Benoit Poelvoorde
Actors: Benoit Poelvoorde, Remy Belvaux, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)

A hero with disregard for hierarchy

By: JWBM

This is the definition of perfectly-imperfect. It's the kind of film that is endlessly entertaining for all of its over-the-top and outlandishly excessive setups. It's like one of those friends that compulsively exaggerates everything they do enough that they grow a knack for it. You don't believe what you see or hear, but it fits the mood to be overlooked as another outlook. "Story of Ricky" knows no bounds, and has few limits to get a reaction and a rise from your senses. It's laughably cheesy and badly acted in every sense, but, man, is it inspiring in some far-out, demented kind of way. Some wish they could be him. Others wish they had him as a friend in grade school.

So who's Ricky? He's a buff, super-human, morally-steadfast guy in the near-future that gets locked up in a privately run prison for a crime he may have been justified for committing. Let's just say little is made in the way of looking like the future, but who's paying attention to intricate details here? He's surrounded by scum, and is incidentally a bully pulverizer with extraordinary strength they talked about in whispered legends to actually do something about it. I mean, going toe-to-toe with the Gang of Four—or Four Heavenly Kings in Chinese mythology—might be a statement in itself. He also cries for the lower man who can't help himself while throwing shadow punches at nothing in the rain. It's just the kinda complex being he is.

This has a simple set-up for any typical martial arts film to give an excuse to show off some fancy moves. Except this raises the bar not just a few notches, but makes a leap to the skies—which incidentally are pouring out red droplets in buckets. It's where Hong Kong kung-fu influence meets late '80s/early '90s Japanese levels of excess. Other manga source material has rivaled it in violence—think "Baoh," "Violence Jack," "Fist of the North Star"—though it's a one of a kind feature for being one of the goriest live action/martial arts movies out there. "The Street Fighter"—with Sonny Chiba, of course—gave it a push. "Story of Ricky" gives a shove down the most unforgiving of escalators and punches your head clean off for good measure.

Like an SNES or Genesis classic, such as "Final Fight" or "Streets of Rage," the film keeps you busy with an assortment of goons, gangs, and end-bosses. There's a hierarchy that should matter and is something you should be afraid of breaking. Though, this doesn't stop a guy who can literally punch holes in people and play tunes in key with nothing but a leaf. Instead of over-the-top Chuck Norris jokes, we should instead have them about Riki Oh: the man who's got the chiseled back muscles and high kicks to back it up.

The acting has that characteristic Hong Kong charm where we have to not only say what we're doing but over-gesture what we're doing as well. It's like they're trying to communicate with both the hearing and hearing impaired at the same time. Either purposely or by mistake, there's never a lulling point here. The filmmakers always seem to top themselves scene after scene. So much so, I haven't seen another film like it since. One could look at the story as one man's unconscious mission to clean up all the bad people in the world. They just happen to be locked up in one building trapped in there with him, not the other way around. Their do-anything-I-please egos—that got them in the slammer in the first place—are about to get checked in some of the most creatively violent ways. Break out the bleach and popcorn, because it's gonna be a messy, though entertaining ride.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Ngai Choi Lam
Actors: Siu-Wong Fan
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube

The Road (2009)

We're more than the things we surround ourselves with

By: JWBM

In essence, our life can be broken down into a series of moments and stages. The situation now is just a state of time. It can define us, it can strengthen or weaken us; that, or it may even enlighten us, depending on what we're capable of, or how much power we have to persevere. The transitions from one stage into the next are the most challenging aspects we go through. One moment we have both hands free to kiss our loved ones, while at other times we have both hands behind our back and a splinter in our eye to see fully ahead.

In everyday life we are surrounded by other people and opportunities. The sun rises and sets, we can get jobs, and go to the supermarkets on the way home. When something upsets that balance, we must battle our minds still stuck in the previous stage to move ahead. Now, imagine you're in the worst of the worst situation that anyone will ever experience. The World as we know it is slowly crumbling. You look outside and uncertainty for humanity is on the horizon. Who do you turn to? How do you put one worn and unstable foot in front of the other? There's no crutch out there that will fully balance out your next journey. But here we are to live out our next—or last—days.

Over the years, I've seen my fair share of post-apocalyptic films. Even hung around with buddies and talked about how neat the what-ifs would be. "Dawn of the Dead," for instance, made abandoned buildings, brain eaters, and broken dreams kinda cool. It was scary and intense at moments, but you were free, you could shoot off guns, and life was a strange, new adventure. Once the credits finished, you could go back to normal. "Mad Max" had the awesome rides, plus the outfits you could never get away with wearing—well, that is until things turn into a free-for-all. You could be a hero, or join a gang. Both equally cool.

"The Road," however struck me in a different way during and after. It's genuinely bleak, it's nearly hopeless, it's not something you want to happen, even in playful thoughts at the back of your mind. It plays out more in a, "Wow, so that's what it would really be like?" kinda way. You want to vigorously shake the filmmakers and original author by the shoulders and ask them why they took this genre to this extreme. The movie does have some other qualities to it—more grave and serious thoughts to ponder on versus the typical backbone of an entertaining experience.

The premise is simple: a man and his boy hit the roads. Their hazy plan is to head south to get away from the cold, search for food and shelter along the way, and carry a bullet or two just in case they encounter someone who's not one of the "good guys." Hard to tell these days. This takes place when shit has hit the fan, and then trucks with reenforcement shit have shown up to pile it on more. There's also crazed lunatics that are saying screw the fan and just throwing it everywhere. But, guess, what? Who cares anymore? Who's to stop them? It's the equivalent of taking your average family and making them a seasoned homeless person for life with shopping cart and all. The only people left are those that are willing to do just about anything to survive. Anyone who's comfort level, such as the my-food-is-too-cold crowd, did not make it. Anyone who hesitates or puts their guard down for even a few seconds, did not make it, or will not make it for long.

Where the film excels, is it does a great job at self-reflection of what you have and where you're going. It's not outright said, but I couldn't help but feel that way. It's an odd experience watching it unravel as you look around and have adequate shelter, food/water, and security. Take it all away and what's left to fight for? Most of the story is about as depressing as a once happy family dog on its last leg, that just gets worse and worse, and you watch with pity and helplessness as all of the good memories start to fade and are replaced with the present deterioration. The man—as he's plainly called—still reminds the boy, "We have to just keep carrying the fire... The fire inside you."

This is humanity at its darkest hour: from loneliness, depression, murder, suicide, to cannibalism. It's not for the faint of heart. Though sometimes it takes some ugliness to see and appreciate the light. "The Road" has a certain dark poetry to it: from the actors that breathe life into these beaten down characters to the point of seeing them as none other than—Mortensen, as the Man, replaces the dimple-chin charm with a bearded, broken man in tatters—to the cinematography, which expertly shows settings that were once full of people and purpose, but are now just a series of lifeless machinery and wasting away material things. As humans we're more than the things we surround ourselves with. Some of us give up, others take the easy route, but the film—as dark as it is—seems to inspire a sense of near impossible challenge that few other stories come close to.

Rating: 9/10

Directed by: John Hillcoat (The Proposition)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube

Deliverance (1972)

What happens in the woods, stays in the woods

This is the grandfather of backwoods films. It's an adventure/thriller/drama but one that would be an inspiration for a number of horror films about country folks who now look all but merely simple. It has a basic plot but what makes it so iconic is a powerful and memorable delivery that has the capability to get stuck in one's head whenever thinking about the great outdoors, never mind trekking 'em. The film creates one of the most uncomfortable scenarios for any man to find himself in with villains that can't be shaken from one's mind with neither look nor their over-the-top lines. Not to mention anytime someone sees a banjo they might mention "Deliverance" out of habit, possibly without even seeing the film. The characters experience nature minus all of the distractions of technology from paddling in canoes to hunting and sitting around a fire and bonding, though it gets turned into a treacherous tale that even when seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the recollection of the dark side that they went through to get there never truly goes away.

A group of anxious guys from Atlanta go out for a once-in-a-lifetime weekend to experience the Cahulawasse River before a dam is built across it. They get an awe struck peek at the landscapes and its strange inhabitants who look like they lived unspoiled from the outside world for generations--same DNA, reused supplies and all. The lead of the group is Lewis: a hobby outdoorsman who tests limits and pushes buttons. His confidence is the size of the river itself but he also has a philosophy he abides by to fine tune his survival sense in case the modern machine society's built up fails. Ed looks up to his buddy but falls short of his staggering shadow, while the two other friends, Bobby and Drew, are straight city slickers in a far removed world that take the brand new adventure in stride.

Ed and Bobby split up with their canoe and take a break to the side of the river when they meet two demanding locals who have more knowhow of the loaded shotgun they're pointing than how to operate a toothbrush or subscribe to soap. Instead of the usual "You're trespassing" they get a "Now let's see you just drop them pants" from one of the crusty toothed men with a deviant look in his eye that's usually given to a girl on lover's lane. They get violated and thrown around but then gain the upperhand and kill one of the captors in self-defense while the other runs away. A debate ensues about what to do with either reporting it to the local law, who are probably in relation with each other, or burying the body in what's to be the new dam area. They want to put the horrible and humiliating situation behind them but their real issues have just begun: from pretending to be in survival mode in the beginning turns into the real deal from not only the unfamiliar wild but the escaped hillbilly who got away and knows the lay of the land better than any visitor could hope.

The structure doesn't follow a strict platform like other pictures. It starts out on a high note with fun and adventure, jumps right into its climax midway through, then slows down to make room for the dramatic as you get to know more about these men's lives with some emotional scenes. One could say the filmmakers put all of their energy in the beginning but another way of looking at it is what we represent on the surface isn't always who we really are. Usually it takes a stressful situation to put someone outside of their comfort zone to see their real personality come out: hence giving the usual proper introductions might have been fake anyway. The film did that so well that it even surprised the characters at what they were capable of doing due to switching to a primal state in the stark wilderness from living cooped up in the city and suppressing who we really are as a species. This gives a share of interaction with the audience in that it presents a number of "What would you do questions?" Your answer might not be any better than their's but it still creates an engaging experience to get wrapped up in. One that's both dangerous and enlightening and shows who really has it in them when the going gets rough. What would you sacrifice for your friends? Would you go outside the law? Commit retaliation?

Burt Reynolds has a sense of command with his role as Lewis, in that he rarely lets his guard down or lets it be known what he's thinking or going to do next. Jon Voight plays the middleman of Ed who's in between places but is forced to make the transition to the next level. Ned Beaty, as Bobby, represents the average me or you character in the way it's so much to handle that it hasn't even fully hit him. The filmmakers are capable of putting the viewer in the then and now with some authentic scenery, genuinely odd inhabitants to regular Joes who found themselves in the midst. There's some beautiful moments, tense situations and some surprises about the experience. What stands out is how nature can remain immobile when there's human turmoil amongst it. It's not judgmental, yet we seem to do what we want with it, when we want.

Rating: 9.5/10

Director: John Boorman (Point Blank, Hell in the Pacific, Leo the Last)
Stars: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney, Herbert Coward
Link: IMDB

Straw Dogs (1971)

Avoiding life's issues can boil over

Revenge films that questioned justice became prevalent in the '70s, though "Straw Dogs" was more than just a simple excuse for vengeance or carnage. The darker side of human nature is no doubt shown from multiple angles but it isn't exploited or all that it has to offer. This drama/thriller is a deep examination of a couple from different backgrounds and personalities who escape to a remote area to get away from the chaos ensuing back where they lived in a more populated area in the States. The logic is to completely avoid a problem before it becomes an issue, but what happens when one gets cornered when there's nowhere left to turn? Wherever any humans dwell, human nature becomes inescapable.

David Sumner is an American academic that recently moved to his wife Amy's original home town called Wakely in England for the perceived quiet country life and to comfortably write a book from teaching mathematics prior. Or so he thinks... Like sheep with a pack of wolves patiently standing by for any shred of weakness or slip up, they're both timid, too polite and passive aggressive in character instead of stating outright what they really feel or mean. Amy desperately wants to be desired by her sometimes aloof husband to the point of acting immature towards him and a tease to a few locals working on their property. One of them is Charlie: a recent hire that was a former love interest of Amy but now a distant reminder to her past. She's at a crossroads of a former loose lifestyle to now trying to settle down. There's a give and take of both sides that adds some struggle and development to her character's flawed but human personality. When she actually realizes the position she's put herself in, it's already too late.

The couple's situation looks fine on the surface but underneath there is an air of animosity creeping up from the moment they arrive. There's a genuine feeling of uncomfortableness portrayed by the performers that carries over to the audience as well the way things never quite settle in. It can be subtle with a sly grin here or a tongue-in-cheek greeting there. The film is gradually paced with enough room for the transitions to feel fluid and the events to steadily and believably escalate to a boiling point of no looking back. How it got to there wasn't just a single situation that can be pinpointed but a series of little unsolved dilemmas that were swept under the rug till a solution would hopefully appear. When one does emerge it looks more like patchwork. The film examines violence and shows some of the causes and effects, then leaves enough breathing area to let the viewer decide if it was justified or not. If David should have spoken up to begin with or put in place preventative measures, only to let it build and build and take a desperate, amoral solution out. Or that David was minding his own business and was only pushed into a primal protective mode by an unruly bunch. There's even some other positions that come about from the experience about his manhood and if it's his wife he's protecting, his ego or the house, or even if he picked the right moment to do so with a questionable town person they took in.

"Straw Dogs" has an equal balance of ambiguity to unravel. The power of the film lies in the direction and script in the way they keep it all together and from getting muddled, despite being filled with multiple layers, not to mention with distinct and purposely flawed situations and characters. There's even enough material and insight to return back and see it from another mode. For one, there's no clear cut so called "good guy" or "bad guy" by the time it comes to a roaring, climactic conclusion. The movie looks at traditional roles of family in the early '70s, while modern outlooks might look more progressive. David picked his corner and stuck to it, which lead to shirking his responsibilities as master of the household. Amy, on the other hand, irrationally craves affection from not having a sense of independence or a feeling of comfortableness in her own skin. Who's right and who's wrong all came down to both their lack of communication and a true sense of togetherness as husband and wife. There's also the slow character in town who can't control himself when it comes to young girls (he's an anomaly in the story in that he's the only person incapable of making a rational decision, while everyone else around is making bad choices left and right), to the prosecutor not doing his job of locking him away, to the family members being outraged and wanting to take their anger and frustration out on someone--anyone--despite their own misgivings and hypocrisies. That theme can be traced back to "Frankenstein" and possibly even further back. It's an intersecting domino effect that eventually gets down to the last connective, tumbling row and piece. Whoever is caught in the vicinity when it falls: Watch out for its wrath!

Rating: 9.5/10

Director: Sam Peckinpah (Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughn, Del Henney, David Warner
Link: IMDB

Ravenous (1999)

When your dinner walks, talks and breathes

The studio didn't give this the promotion it deserved back in the day. I remember seeing a preview early on by my guess to test the waters, but then some time later this passed by theaters without even warming the seats. Needless to say I caught this on a rental, and thought it was an effective film that got lost in the shuffle due to not having an established movement to back it up. It also might be that it didn't come with powerful filmmaking names. This was only the second film made in the US by the director--who had to take over after another dropped out--apart from a dominating list of TV projects in the UK. It also comes from a first time scriptwriter. The lead, Guy Pearce, didn't have impacting star power at that point for American audiences. Then it was shot in Europe about a time period in the U.S. that usually comes as either a western, adventure or period drama. It seemed like people--promoters included--weren't taking a chance with this irregular film at first. Though what makes "Ravenous" worthwhile after the fact, is it wasn't trying to fit into horror or even the time period it focused on. It was a somewhat unique film that dodged what you'd expect.

A Lieutenant named John Boyd (Guy Pearce) during the Mexican-American War in the 1840s pretends to be a goner while his men are dying left and right. Despite at first being a traitor, something awakes in him when he gets the taste of blood and he gets the courage to capture the enemy command. He's promoted to Captain but his superior is still disgusted at his initial cowardice and sends him to a place called Fort Spencer in California. There are seven others of various abilities to accommodate travelers passing through. Boyd doesn't quite fit in as he's quiet and contemplative about the traumatic war experience that originally caused him to freeze in his tracks and then afterwards rear at the sight of blood. A man named Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) suddenly arrived in bad shape with a story to tell about a previous adventure gone wrong that involves six laid up in a cave during a run of bad weather and it resulting in cannibalism for lack of anything else to eat--shoes and belts included. They form a party to go investigate, but not before George, the native American, explaining about the Weendigo (Wendigo): a myth that when resorting to cannibalism, a person can gain another's strength and spirit, only to become even more hungry--or ravenous.

People turn into something else, traps are in place and Boyd has to make a decision to muster up more courage to beat the tempting desire to feed and a competitive force out to consume more flesh on people's backs. With less dialogue and outward personality, Boyd seems to be a character that the filmmakers speak through with morality to put in perspective all the conquering people around him. What's effective here is he can be viewed as either weak or strong depending on where your perspective lays. Since he's always bloodied or bruised up, he can be seen as a martyr that stands up for a cause--or even a weakling that's unable to adapt and conform to a new situation. It's left in the eye of the beholder. He's playing a mental chess match with a madman who is willing to do what it takes to feed an enormous appetite that never ceases. That's the other character in the equation that seems to mirror not what's necessarily happening in the 1800s but rather how far we've taken our drive since. Not to mention our search for easy solutions at the expense of others. That need-for-more message is delivered a little more subtly than turning it into a let's-all-get-along experience. The film can be point blank at times. There are some bloody scenes, though it doesn't always go for broke to put the grizzly subject matter in the audience's face. Shocking, but not to the point of going for superficial sensations to miss out on the contemplative portions. This has a strangely humorous environment in that it's not always laugh out loud as it's just a satirical play on situations that could have been otherwise stiff, grim or gray. Some of the characters carry a more serious tone, while others provide direct amusement or even deadpan humor that gives it a somewhat black comedic taste.

Sometimes this has off-beat, somewhat abstract music that partially carries a tone of the times but in a much more tainted way that would still seem alien to someone in the 19th century. Occasionally it can be loud, to imperceptive in volume or even missing for awhile altogether to let the visuals and dialogue take a turn. It makes it that much more harder to pin down, with anticipation of what will be played next with its unguessable sounds that are a foreign matter on the first passing. The sets and outdoors look like the Americas despite being filmed in Czech Republic. Nature is captured as well as the harsher times of the 19th century without looking too polished and with formal actors in unfamiliar situations. The subject matter is handled rather effectively in that it flows from one transition to the next without jumping into the proceeding portion of the story too quickly. This is a thriller at heart, but it still moves at a steady pace to get a feel for the situation and surroundings. It makes it feel less inevitable than other films like all the revised slashers at that time from "Scream" to "Urban Legend," which fortunately makes it dodge being formulaic, though it still comes with some irony to give it that horrific touch in the face of morbid curiosity.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Antonia Bird (Priest, Face)
Stars: Guy Pearce, Jeffrey Jones, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette, Neal McDonough
Link: IMDB, history of a Wendigo

Historical questions from the Black and Red (Answers below, don't cheat!):

1. In which state did the Oregon Trail begin?
2. What were the people nicknamed in the California Gold Rush?
3. Between what years did the Mexican-American War last from?
4. What was the name of the party in the 1840s that participated in cannibalism on their way to California?




------------

Answers:
1. Missouri 2. Forty-niners 3. 1846-1848 4. Donner Party

I Am Alive (2010)

Like ants placed in the middle of an ice box

Since two motion pictures, A & E, PBS and National Geographic have jumped in after the newspapers and best selling books, The History Channel gives it their turn surprisingly with a formative take even after all of the documentation before it. This time around the main perspective comes from Fernando "Nando" Parrado who played a key role in the Andes plane crash of 1972. The Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 involved 45 passengers, including a team of rugby players called The Old Christians and other family and crew, who were on their way to Chile with no danger in sight until the pilot makes a grave error that caused everyone involved to make impossible decisions to hang on for survival in a weather stricken region with no wildlife or vegetation in sight.

A share of the tone of this documentary is somewhat calm and relaxed and more text book at first than other mediums that have concentrated on putting the audience in the now from a dramatic side. Towards the latter half with Nando and Roberto going through the mountains, they can't help but tell the story with straight feelings, as that's all they had to back them, apart from their skin and bones which nearly gave out. Both of the segments from A & E's "Minute by Minute" from 2002 and National Geographic's "Trapped" from 2007 tried to do the subject in under an hour by concentrating on the main portions of action, but still didn't give a completely thorough approach or show exactly how they got to each one of their motivations apart from jumping dot to dot. Those served more as introduction pieces to further the ambitions of upstarting TV shows and point to another medium. Though "I Am Alive" stands on its own by being thoroughly researched, even if you've seen the other documentaries on the subject. It doesn't seem forced with distracting poetic license or snazzy filmmaking. While they still give some brief reenactments, this focuses on getting a clear perspective from facts and fine details with passionate interviews from the survivors and related experts who still find the experience endearing and engrossing this many years later. This includes mostly spoken English with some overdubbed Spanish.

"I Am Alive" unfolds like a picture book with a share of information and visual representations of the accident and the 72 days that followed. While moving "Stranded" documentary from 2007 focused on the spiritual bonding of friends and how they viewed their situation from an emotional context, this is by far out of the documentaries that I've seen the one that gives the most clear and concise technical understanding. For instance, precisely how and why the plane crashed. There are even diagrams with historians telling their track record. "Of the 78 Fairchild FH-227s built, 23 crashed, and there were a total of 393 fatalities." There are real life pictures of where they hit the mountains, and then CGI graphics to show how lucky they were to land just so to have not made a sudden impact and disintegrated. The surrounding area is shown of exactly where they ended up on the side of Argentina, not in Chile like the pilots anticipated.

As the events come up, the experts give facts about head injuries, starvation, avalanches, inventing devices from supplies, traveling through the Andes and mountaineering. A climber and a team went back to cover some of the same distances Nando and Roberto did, which took them 10 days and 37 long and hard miles till they seen green. Photos were taken of the road that Roberto saw from the top of the first summit that they argued about at the time if they should head that way, but at that point being lost, unsure and hungry and then making the wrong move could have been life or death. I found it interesting that they discussed if they went east towards Argentina instead of west towards Chile if their chances would have improved. In the after author Piers Paul Read talks about his book "Alive" and the fear from the survivors of how it would be written after all of the sensationalist press around the globe.

What's mostly effective about "I Am Alive" is they weren't frequently making justifications for their actions after the fact. Nando carries the bulk and speaks somewhat unscripted as if he knows the story like the back of his hand. At times they still speak their piece, such as Nando calling what they did "anthropophagy" rather than cannibalism, since it didn't follow murder. At other times he speaks rather candidly, such as explaining that the avalanche saved the remaining people's lives due to it covering them from further storms, and then incidentally taking 8 more bodies that they used for food for the remaining days till they could trek out when weather conditions improved. It says a lot for him and the 15 others, but not so much for those that didn't make it out. It does state some facts a little directly and somewhat coldly as a result, though, on the other hand, it leaves room for the viewer to decide their stance. What makes this work is it's capable of uncovering more answers from stepping back somewhat and not making this completely a heavy hitter that "Stranded" already did so well.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Brad Osborne
Link: IMDB

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

A series of wrong places at the wrong times

The first peak I had of "From Dusk Till Dawn" was when attempting to sneak into the theater back in '96 and seeing the words "Titty Twister" on a sleazy bar front but then being kicked out right after. Soon enough a kind--or demented--neighbor leant the tape without alluding to the plot or genre. Being just excited that it was a "movie," not to mention with two guys and guns on the cover, I put it on without even reading the back and was surprised to find that not only was the beginning a cursing and violence filled crime adventure but then the latter half switches locales and turns into a kind of action/horror with monsters running amuck. My ignorance doubled when special make-up effects wizard Tom Savini--only known to myself before reading horror mags and dialing up to Internet access as that actor with the crotch gun--came to town to the local hobby shop and signed "my snot rag" (napkin) I had in my pocket--all for free! Good times.

Two men who live by their own rules make a mark on small town middle America by breaking every law in the book when they end up at a rinky-dink gas station in Texas. Fingers get itchy on their triggers and before you know it everyone's dead and a massive explosion ensues. "Low profile. Do you understand the meaning of the words "low profile"? Seth says to his brother Richie who ended up with a bullet hole through his hand. Richie (Quentin Tarantino) is the violence prone, perverted brother who constantly needs an eye looked after him. Actor George Clooney, as Seth, would get somewhat typecast after this as not the criminal, but the confident leader type that he does so well with a dead-set stare and words that command. This builds up to a kind of twisted redemption from a low life that is only out for himself--bank robber, cop killer, escaped felon--to unlikely antihero to protect his fellow man when something greater comes into the picture that jeorpardizes everybody's life.

From hotel rooms with one hostage to an RV with three more--including a former minister named Jacob (Keitel) and his two children Kate and Scott--they make it across the Mexico border and the Gecko brothers await a rendezvous with another criminal to make a score. That place is the Titty Twister: a Mexican bar that houses some of the rowdiest scumbags with neon lights and every vice offered to lure them in. Cheech Marin doubles as the boarder patrol agent and over-the-top host at the door selling prostitutes to bikers and truck drivers that layover in that seedy part of town. He puts a hand up to the Geckos and they return the favor with a beating. The brothers bring their captives inside and find strippers, loud rock 'n' roll, fist fights and hard liquor--their kind of place. Soon enough the incident outside and Richie's hand injury comes full circle to bite him where it counts when the host comes back in and the main table top dancer Satanico Pandemonium (Selma Hayek) can't help herself when it comes to the bloody wound. Within a split second all of the employees turn into something else and the patrons inside either run or fight for their lives by quickly using methods learned from other horror films. Yep, sometimes these things can be survival guides.

What's different about this picture compared to a straight horror film is that there isn't any foreshadowing. Though it's more action than horror by causing the characters to leap into making decisions on the fly, instead of slowly creeping up. Replay value is a blast, since you essentially have two differently toned movies in one with the same cast handling both sides. This is going for the full cinematic experience and escapism rather than truly making the environment authentic. Some of the mechanics are sacrificed for entertainment value over being thoroughly sound, so some things happen at opportune times, such as certain infected people turning faster than others or one monster having one ability and another doesn't. What makes that work is there is a decent amount of purposeful tongue-in-cheek humor, along with room left over for timed out suspense.

The beginning half of the film isn't all flash and fancy talk as they don't always hold back in what's said or done, whether it be racist comments to raping an innocent woman. Savini as "Sex Machine" and Williamson as "Frost" aren't the best actors but they still possess an onscreen tough look. This has some cool special makeup effects by KNB EFX Group that would later go on to do other big pictures; despite when CGI started to rear its head just after 2000 as the norm rather than utilizing it in a few areas. For instance, this uses some CG for transformations from normal to monstrous but the rest is prosthetics, giving it that unmistakable physical presence. There are facial masks, as well as full body casts. Not to mention some grisly gore, with anything from the straightforward brutal to the downright inventive. Most of the music feels more hip and flavorful than scary, apart from some choirs. Time just flies with this movie, from one captivating scene and piece of catchy dialogue to the next, it's hard to take your senses off what the next thing they have in store. It's one of those rare films that you'll wish didn't have to end.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini
Link: IMDB


Writer's note:

This is the first time I've seen the casual walking away from an explosion in the background. Since, it's been done from here to the moon.

Black Swan (2010)

She's a maniac...dancing like she never danced before

Like the "The Wrestler," this is a deeply woven character study that paces as a dark drama with a young woman named Nina (Natalie Portman) at the center attempting to push herself at the expense of personal relationships and her own physicalities when a once and a life time role comes her way. You get an intimate look at the behind the scenes of a ballet dancer, from routine stretches, make-up, feet taping, auditions, music rehearsals, to the make-it-or-break-it competitive inner circle that surrounds it. The bigger the role, it's stress and then some. Some have the strength of character to make it happen, while others let the make-believe character take over too much of their personal lives.

Nina's self-conscious and emotionally fragile when confrontation and criticisms come speeding at her. She ducks, hides and is afraid to express how she really feels in front of others with the exception of her live-at-home mother who is a shoulder to cry on but is overprotective of her to the world at large. To Nina, the world is Ballet and nothing more. It's on her mind when waking in the morning to conversations on the phone and when meeting outsiders. She's a woman who's partly still a little girl due to her tunnel vision and this causes her to cower away and misinterpret actual meanings as something else. She was riding on a thin slope to begin with and now with the role of Swan Queen--where she has to pull off both of the opposites of White Swan and Black Swan on the same stage when it's normally just one--being presented to her she loses all perspective and starts to slowly dream up and hallucinate.

Mila Kunis plays Lily, which represents a wild card amongst the conformity that usually comes from the traditional background of stage dancing. She's the rebellious, spontaneous one that's able to rebound from the unexpected. Nina is a perfectionist who practiced exclusively for the role of the delicate White Swan and now that she has to learn how to also play the dark and seductive Black Swan without a hitch in between characters, she starts to look at Lily's temperamental personality as both an inspiration and a threat due to the Black Swan coming to her naturally instead. Winona Ryder's character Beth--who was a former lead who stepped down--was impressionable to Nina but now can see the after effects of how much it takes a toll. Though at that point she might have traveled too deep on a downward spiral to turn around.

"Black Swan" takes an artful, niche subject and etches a darker shade onto it. There's no glamor here and you have to wonder if anybody is having fun or they're just doing it compulsively due to losing the spark but still having the talent left over. It uses ballet as a backdrop for a character expose and how something can be taken so far without seeing the forest through the trees. With the exception of a few exaggerated hallucinations that nail the point home, the film was subtle and not so direct, though without being vague either due to its progressive nature. A balance was struck without analyzing the character like a garden variety lay-down-on-the-couch shrink session, but rather an unhealthy breakdown that a viewer can see unfolding before their worrying eyes. The flow is gradual, the cinematography only comes with so many effects compared to other modern pictures, and the traditional stage music is frequently used to get the feel and atmosphere of the world they've encapsulated you in. This eventually builds up to a thrilling finale to show the final act of lost innocence during the big opening night that everyone's been anticipating.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain)
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder
Link: IMDB

Misery (1990)

Gives new meaning to I'll scratch your back you scratch mine

The idea behind "Misery" involves a pretty basic story about fixation and survival after a well-known serial writer crashes his car during a blizzard and a local nurse pulls him out and harbors him in her house till his injuries improve and things blow over. This is a psychological chess match of an encounter that's a thrilling, cinematic journey that might get you rubbing your legs afterwards or just plain ashen at the sight of a snow storm on the rise for reasons other than nature at its fiercest.

The film has a certain building flow that escalates as it progresses. Annie Wilkes, Kathy Bates' character, starts out as an eager care taker and a bashful fan of the writer's work but as time creeps on she reveals a Jekyll and Hyde persona with one side being a polite small towner and the other a troubled women with a few skeletons in her closet. Paul Sheldon, played by James Caan, keeps his wits and emotions in check with a sense of dark humor despite the impossible situation he's found himself in. It's imperative that he plays along to her demanding personality as with the extent of his injuries he can't prepare his own food, never mind emptying the bladder. Though even when the weakest animal gets pushed or cornered: Watch out.

"Misery" carries distinctive traits of a Stephen King story as it starts as small as a seed, concentrates on character development and keeps you in the moment instead of worrying about technical jargon. Kathy Bates seems like she was made for the role of Annie Wilkes with her good-natured appearance and aura, but then what clenches it is there's just something you can't put your finger on, as if she's too welcoming. She's capable of pulling off both the pleasant and insane sides as if they were one and the same. This is a tale of circumstance: if two strong personalities intersect and how they ultimately interact with one another. When they first meet they have something in common on the surface, though as some find out personal information about the author or celebrity they so admire or that friendly neighbor or employee who appears normal on the outside, nothing could be farther than the truth. It's easier to fill in the blanks in our minds about others without really getting to know them...or their darkest secrets.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Rob Reiner (This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride)
Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
Link: IMDB

Unfaithful (2002)

Where's your partner right now?

Would you jump at the chance of having a sex-based fling on the side if your romance was dwindling with your established spouse? That's just what UK director Adrian Lyne stirred up heated conversations about with his go at another erotic thriller back in 2002. "Indecent Proposal" gave away the million dollar question with feelings of resentment, "Lolita" hinted at regressive middle aged men and impulsive nymphets, and "Unfaithful" looks at the human relationship again this time through the eyes of the average couple with one kid, house and their priorities in order. Quite possibly your everything's-fine neighbor or the employee-of-the-month person next to you at work.

Little did you know that being a mature, hard-working individual wasn't always enough, but letting out the inner Casanova or Don Juan once in a while, with irresistible accent and all, to spice up your unspontaneous life might be, or possibly might not be, all it takes. Though that's just what temptations and deeper, reflective feelings are all about: sometimes they're impossible to resist and can eventually turn self-destructive if left unchecked. Can I go through with it? Is this what I really want? What if I get caught? All questions that might or might not go through one's head depending on which road is chosen. It's a can of worms that some leave unopened, while others attempt to handle the growing mess from their in-the-now, overpowering desires.

"Unfaithful" makes you feel like you're there as you get to see little, realistic details that are usually glossed over in the typical hot and steamy stimulating film. It also takes on different angles about the provoking question. Essentially it isn't a thunder-storming morality story where everything is shadowed and grim with hovering dark clouds wherever it roams. A viewer gets a tone from a drama on the surface but also tads of light fun and humor at points, though most importantly real characters reveal themselves during the expertly paced and shot film that's capable of hinting at hidden meanings even when words aren't spoken.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Adrian Lyne (Nine 1/2 Weeks, Fatal Attraction, Jacob's Ladder)
Stars: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Oliver Martinez
Link: IMDB

Downloading Nancy (2008) - 3 of 3: Internet Death Fetish Trilogy

At wits end

When the printing press was invented it spread media quicker and farther than ever before. Fast forward to the information age where written documents as well as ways of communicating went digital from the invention of the computer and then a way to connect them to others: The Internet. Writing letters turned into e-mails and inked articles went way of text on a blog. This story uses the modern way of communicating and connecting to others but as an outlet for darker reasons rather than opportunity or forward outlooks. And what makes this tale so haunting is that is was inspired by real events with some cinematic liberties altered from a 1996 case about a woman named Sharon Lopatka who went by the name of Nancy over the computer.

"Downloading Nancy" is about a down-on-this-world woman, played by Maria Bello, who searches for someone on the Internet that would take her life as she's tried herself with scars to show for it. Not to mention going to therapy sessions to resolve her long list of deep-rooted issues without any substantial luck. She's married and unable to have kids due to being abused and suffering physical pain as a little girl. Her husband Albert, played by Rufus Sewell, doesn't understand her need for infliction during intercourse, and after 15 years of marriage is fed up with her immature and selfish ways of dealing with problems. He has golf and other hobbies to keep himself distracted, not to mention they sleep next to each other, yet are worlds apart. Nancy finds her guy, or so he says, and takes off with only a nondescript note left over to her husband. The newly met man from online seems the perfect match to give her the rough stimulation she feels she needs. Nancy has her highs and lows, from emotional to withdrawn, giving a torn decision to the man who's now infatuated with her.

Slow, serious, subtle, "Downloading Nancy" builds up by showing rather than telling how this woman got to the desperate, manic, end-all state she's at. There are loose, hand-held camera shots that put you there. Sometimes hiding behind something to give the point of view of witnessing and experiencing it first hand. The settings are dulled with drab colors and neutral furniture to give an oppressive tone without overdoing it and trying to be creepy. Maria Bello does an excellent job of playing a pessimistic woman with more than one troubling issue to contend with. Her impulsive ways make her unpredictable and unlikable, though there is a feeling of pity as she can't even help herself.

This doesn't have the typical amount of hope or resolve that you see in Hollywood pictures, but it's filled with real feelings of emotion that radiate from the screen. The film doesn't have any good guys or bad guys, and it isn't a horror tale as it won't happen to you due to both individuals being willing participants. It just unfolds this strange tale of how the Internet brought these two together, who would have otherwise never met as they're several states over. Though Nancy had stacking problems that were becoming too much to handle, and this was her way of finding an answer to solve it all by including this man to take charge of her life without question. The amount of blind trust she put into him might say more about herself than him. (If you missed 'em see my profile and click chronological for first review "Grimm Love" or the second "Cannibal.")

Rating: 9/10

Stars: Maria Bello, Rufus Sewell, Jason Patric, Michael Nyqvist
Links: IMDB Real life story