Review--Huesera: The Bone Woman--Michelle Garza Cervera (2022)

 

   The baby causes grave consequences in Huesera: The Bone Woman (Michelle Garza Cervera, 2022)

First off, a warning:  If you hate the sounds of knuckles cracking, and bones breaking, that snapping sounds that makes one flinch, then this film is not for you.  I'm just pointing out one of the chief ways that horror is produced in Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022).  Pregnancy horror has been a hot horror topic for quite some time, including everything from Rosemary's Baby to the recent 2021 film False Positive, but Michelle Garza Cervera's debut film provides a unique perspective on the topic.  The film has many of the common tropes--unsupportive family members, insensitive partners, tone deaf medical practitioners, a woman alienated from her own body--but it views these challenges in a woman's life through a queer viewpoint.  The film is not only a deeply empathetic character study of its protagonist, Valeria (Natalia Solian), but also mixes in Mexican folklore to create a truly chilling portrait of the ambivalence, depression, and despair many women feel when they are compelled to fit into a heterosexual world and its restrictions--including having a child.

Raul (Alfonso Dosal) only treats Valeria (Natalia Solian) with impatience as the film evolves

Valeria is married to Raul, who works in advertising, and she's trying to get pregnant, with the usual après sex legs-up calisthenics common to this desire.  Their married sex is very perfunctory.  She actually prays to the Virgin Mary with her mother in order to achieve this goal, and lo and behold, she's pregnant. What so few women realize is that in both Mexican and U.S. culture, childbearing and rearing are what women are supposed to do, and they are not fully prepared with the loss of individuality and the push toward conformity that motherhood entails.  In flashbacks, viewers discover that Valeria was once a free-wheeling punk in a queer relationship, preparing to leave town with her girlfriend, Octavia (Mayra Batalla).  With the sudden death of her brother, Valeria makes the choice to stay with her conservative family, instead of escaping the expectations that confine her.  She has made the choice to make her family proud by marrying a man, and conforming to the heterosexual life that her family demands she have.  The tensions around her queer sexuality come across in numerous jabs and insults that her parents and sister hurl at her, reminding her of some babysitting accident in her past that taints her, and just telling her to suck it up as she struggles with her new condition mentally and physically.

                     Valeria's sneaking of a cigarette will soon be punished beyond imagining

As a young, fledgling furniture designer, she makes unique furniture, but is told by her doctor that she should quit, because of the fumes.  Soon she's left home alone, and bored, while Raul is off to work.  One evening, upon waking, she sneaks a cigarette, only to watch a woman across the way, climb on top of a balcony and jump.  Yet, when Valeria looks at the ground, the woman slowly rises, her bones cracking as she stumbles upright, her body unnaturally shifting and moving in a jarring manner.  Raul convinces her that it's all a dream, but it isn't, and watching everyone gaslight Valeria and think that she's crazy is a bit frustrating.  The film implies that watching this death has tainted her, and dark magic must be used to help her escape from the horrors that consume her, and her newborn daughter.

                   Valeria's journey to motherhood and beyond affects her body significantly

The Mexican folklore that the film employs is fascinating.  Here's a summation of the legend from a Nerdist review of the film: "The film’s title itself stems from the legend of La Huesera. This Mexican myth is about a woman who collects animal bones—specifically from wolves—until she has a complete skeleton. She sings life into those bones, bringing the creature back from another realm. It runs free towards an open horizon, sometimes transforming into the shape of a woman. The bones represent the life force within us that doesn’t want to be tamed. And La Huesera seeks to restore what is lost." This folklore translates perfectly into Valeria's despair over her now "tamed" life, for she has chosen to conform to the expectations that Raul and her family have for her.  She repeatedly escapes, to the punk clubs and to Octavia, to experience that untamed freedom once more.  While Raul shies away from having sex with Valeria after she conceives, proclaiming a fear of hurting the baby, she finds someone comfortable with her body and desires when she visits Octavia.  Their relationship is loving, supportive, and buoyed by their shared desires and understanding. 

Valeria goes to some brujeria to help free her from the Bone Woman's influence

While some spectators might be disappointed by the relative lack of blood and gore in the film, cracking bones and writhing bodies are certainly unnerving, and the hallucinatory events that occur once Valeria visits the brujeria are both beautiful and revelatory.  I found myself completely invested in Valeria's emotional landscape, and I also found the ending very satisfying and fair.  Not everyone might agree, but the struggle between her desires and everyone's expectations that Valeria undergoes is concluded without any real plot holes, and is also distinctly sympathetic and supportive of her queer identity and her desire for her daughter's health and happiness.  Huesera: The Bone Woman is currently streaming on Shudder.  I highly recommend it!

Review--She Said (Maria Schrader, 2022)

 

   Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) expose Weinstein in She Said (2022)

She Said, Maria Schrader's stunning 2022 film is a different kind of horror story.  One with which all women might identify.  Working, living, and loving in U.S. patriarchal society tends to play the horror of sexual harassment, exploitation, loss of bodily autonomy, fear of rape and murder, and other systemic inequalities on an endless loop.  I had heard about this film, and have had the book by the two journalists on my "to be read" pile for quite some time, but I cannot believe I waited so long to see this utterly riveting, powerful film.  Also, the terrific Maria Schrader, director of 2021's I'm Your Man, and star of the incredible Deutschland series ('83, '86, '89, streaming on Hulu), directs some gifted actors in this film--Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Samantha Morton, and Jennifer Ehle, to name a few luminaries.  Even though we know the ending of this tale, which focuses on the explosive publication of the Pulitzer prize winning news story that took down Harvey Weinstein, I think you'll still be compelled by this film's strong storytelling.

      

The film opens with a lovely Irish lass heading over to a film shoot, where they are filming some pirate ship on the water in 1992.  Cut to this young woman running through the streets, crying and holding her clothes close as she tears away from something terrible.  The film comes back to this event later in the narrative's trajectory.  Suddenly we're in 2016, and now New York Times reporter Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) is meeting with a woman who plans to come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexual misconduct.  As Twohey moves forward with the article's publication, she gets a call from the Orange Blob himself, calling her a "disgusting creature." Another jump in time has this guy winning the U.S. presidency, starting the "nothing matters" era that seems to be the world in which we're living.  Megan's pregnant with her first child--what a world to bring a kid into--and the film shifts momentarily to her eventual partner-in-crime, Jody Kantor (Zoe Kazan), who's chasing a story on sexual harassment and misconduct in Hollywood, zeroing in on another creepy big guy with too much power--Harvey Weinstein.

                     The painful experience of postpartum depression consumes Megan

She Said focuses on women's experience, whether its at home, in marriage, or in the workplace.  I was both surprised and delighted about the integration of Twohey and Kantor's personal lives.  When Megan returns to The New York Times after maternity leave, her boss, Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson) comes across as both caring and concerned about Megan's physical and emotional wellbeing.  Her support of both journalists seems a little bit "too positive," regarding The Times' position in all this, but I'm willing to allow for it, considering all the time viewers spend at the NY office.  Jody reaches out to Megan, and here again, their conversation about being a new parent, and what a struggle it is, seems incredibly sensitive.  Likewise, the portrayal of their marriages is also thoughtful, really showing the challenges of creating a work/life balance.  Kudos to them both for finding such supportive partners!

                 Jody (Zoe Kazan) holding another heartbreaking interview with a Weinstein victim

Once Megan signs on to help Jody with the story, the rest of the film consists of the two interviewing woman after woman, trying to get each of them to go on the record about their experience working for or interacting with Weinstein.  Just like the journalists, viewers realize how high the stakes are getting, as well as how terrified the victims are, as these experiences become more and more ubiquitous. (Side note: I was lucky enough to be attending the Sitges Film Festival when the news broke, and "the shitty media men" list was circulating as well.  I said to a fellow critic at lunch that I didn't know if any of this stuff would make a difference.  Little did I know! October 2017 was the beginning of a reckoning that still has legs).  Ashley Judd, as one of the only actresses initially willing to put her name and reputation on the line, cameos as herself in the film.  Weinstein torpedoed her career when she rejected his grabby hands, and it's amazing to see these events retold within this film.

      Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) bravely hands over incriminating documents to Jody

The thing that some people do not realize, especially people who have never experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault, is that the experience marks you, stains you, changes you.  Your place in the world feels tenuous and precarious, your worth questionable.  You blame yourself, just as others will assuredly blame you.  She Said not only captures the stories of some of these incredibly brave women coming forward, but also examines the ripple effect that sexual assault creates--everyone whom you confide in or love will likely be touched by these experiences.  These moments do not just "go away", and justice is seldom achieved.  The film keeps ratcheting up the suspense for much of the runtime as repeated women meet with Jody and Megan, but are too afraid to go on record.  That's why when women ] start saying they will come forward, viewers cry the same tears Jody does while watching.  The film is intense, but not in a bad way.

                         Weinstein enters the New York Times offices with his lawyers

By the time Weinstein enters the New York office to confront the journalists crafting the story, with women lawyers to boot, I just wanted him to pay already.  Of course, he denies everything, and bullies Megan as she meets with them, silently listening to their defense, the camera slowly zooming in on her stoic features.  The film emphasizes the team effort it takes to bring this story forward, and the long hours and numerous disappointments that it took to get there.  After reviewing it again and again, the editor of The New York Times performatively presses "publish" onscreen.  The rest we can easily recall.  As just a reminder, in February of 2023, Weinstein would get an additional 16 years added to his 23 year sentence after his trial in Los Angeles.

Thankfully, the film barely shows Weinstein, although his presence looms large.  The film's focus is on Twohey and Kantor, two persistent women journalists who broke a huge story, and pushed a snowball that was big when it started, and is HUGE now as it continues to roll over some of these "shitty men" in its path.  Yet, for all the complaints about "cancel culture," and the fragility of men now in terms of their so-called victimization, plenty of them are not yet canceled--Mel Gibson, Kevin Spacey, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Louis CK, among others. She Said stands as a testament to what holding men accountable looks like, and we should keep doing it, especially for those who think of themselves as potential leaders for the United States.  The film is a triumph, and is available to stream with an Amazon Prime subscription.  I'm excited to see what Schrader does next, and this film should have won a ton of awards and accolades.  Highly recommended.

Review: The Invitation (Jessica M. Thompson, 2022)

 

         Walt (Tom Doherty), and Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) are dreamy in The Invitation  (2022)

Jessica M. Thompson has crafted a really fun gothic Vampire romance in her film The Invitation (2022), and I'm actually really surprised that the film has received so many milquetoast reviews, although I do agree with two complaints: the trailer gives the film away, and it's just not very scary.  Neither of these issues is a deal breaker, and as a critic who hungrily devours trailers, I knew what I was in for.  Further, while the film isn't a jump scare gore fest, I find bullying, microaggressions, and full-throttle gaslighting pretty scary, so if viewers identify with Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), the film definitely has its share of terrors, albeit more psychological than visceral.  Most importantly, in a genre dominated by white women, The Invitation stars a BIPOC woman, who is savvy, funny, and heroic!  Yes!

Evie and her fabulous bestie, Grace (Courtney Taylor) are dodging grabby hands as they cater a posh event.  Evie tries to make ends meet while pursuing artistic work as a ceramicist.  Just keep in mind that this film is all about fantasy, so no need to question why she has a ridiculously amazing apartment--just go with it.  Evie's an orphan, and her Mom, to whom she was close, passed away recently, so when she discovers a DNA kit in the swag bag she snagged from the event, she decides to give it a try.  Why not.  She soon discovers that she has family, and that she's a cousin of the incredibly posh Alexander family, who reside across the pond in London.  Conveniently, her cousin Oliver is in New York on business, and asks if they can meet up.  Over dinner, he invites her to a family wedding in London, in order for her to meet her new family, who are eager to welcome her into the fold.  Noteworthy point: the Alexanders are white, and her line on the family tree is connected to her great grandmother's dalliance with a black footman.  This plot point is also patently ridiculous, but Oliver offers a free trip to London, so Evie decides to--just go with it.

    Evie meets the "lord" of New Carfax Abbey, Walter DeVille--he immediately seems very interested

She observes some staff showing up, and accidentally bumps into a young woman carrying a tray of glasses.  Blam!!  There's a mess, she's apologizing, and Mr. DeVille's butler (Renfield) mistakes her for the help until Walter sets him straight.  The first hour of this film is just gorgeous set piece after gorgeous set piece as Evie gets seduced and charmed by Walter--spoilers, you know he's a vampire, as the film reveals "someone" feeding on the help in the dark.  Sending a maid to get a specific bottle of wine is clearly the mark of death in this film, and if anyone gets out of line, to the cellar they go, or the library, or wherever else Walter is hanging out, alone and hungry.  Interspersed with these moments are Evie's interactions with Walter, her extended family, the Alexanders, and then two other families that have shown up for the wedding.  They have rehearsal dinners, and soirees with fireworks, and each time, Walter gives Evie an absolutely beautiful dress to wear to every function.  As fantasies go, this film has it all--a dishy heartthrob suitor who is fabulously wealthy and absolutely fascinated with Evie.  Grace, whom Evie checks in with daily because "cell phones," is pretty supportive about this

potential Mr. Right, but the fact that Evie's the ONLY POC in the whole film is impossible to ignore.

                Lucy (Alana Boden) is definitely the sweeter of the two other brides (of Dracula)

I really appreciate how The Invitation gives a decent backstory to Dracula's brides, and what their origin story might be.  We meet Lucy (Alana Boden) and Vicktoria (Stephanie Cornieliussen) when they show up for the the wedding festivities.  Viktoria is not pleased by Evie capturing Walt's attention; Lucy is just eager to have a "sister" in the family.  While the film is not explicit, its pretty clear that Lucy and Viktoria are Walt's brides, women from two families to which Walt offers protection, power, and eternal life.  The film opens with the Alexander bride killing herself rather than continuing to live...like a vampire, I guess.  So Oliver sets his sites on Evie as soon as the DNA test results prove a match, however mixed race Evie is.  For vampires, the blood, and the blood line, is what ultimately matters.

                                        Evie is not a happy bride on her special day

When Evie realizes what is in store, and that the wedding is actually hers, she looks pretty disturbed and shocked.  She goes along with it all to a point, but the bloodletting/wedding ceremony is where things go wrong for Walter and his minions, all wearing weird animal masks because???  Some stuff seems to be throwing spaghetti at a wall, but quite a bit does stick.  I found the ending satisfying, but a bit abrupt, with several potential storylines unexplored.  Look for a shout out to Mina and Jonathan Harker, and be prepared to identify with Evie, but know quite a bit more than she does through the whole film.  The Invitation is currently streaming on Netflix, and definitely worth it if you like old school gothic flair.

Review: Soft and Quiet--Beth de Araújo (2022)

 

Ringleader "Karen" Emily (Stefanie Estes) from Soft and Quiet  (2022)

I've eagerly followed Beth de Araújo's Soft and Quiet ever since it premiered at SXSW, but had not had the chance to see it before, as it's just emerged onto Netflix recently.  The film primarily follows Emily (Stefanie Estes), a Gwyneth Paltrow-looking woman and kindergarten teacher, meeting up with some like-minded women after what appears to be a typical school day.  Yes, I had read about the film, so I knew that "like-minded" equated with "Nazis," but I still did not understand for what I had signed up.  Emily cries heartfelt tears in the bathroom as she eyes a pregnancy test.  Is it positive or negative?  Turns out that Emily is not becoming a mother today, something she desperately wants to experience, and as the film unfolds, this viewer felt pretty damn glad about it.

The camera stays close to Emily as it follows her out of the bathroom to a sidewalk, where she sees one of her pupils waiting for his mom. The first hint of horror occurs as a Hispanic female custodian loudly pushes a cart past Emily and the boy, blocking out any conversation they may be having.  The booming sound of the wheels on the pavement, and the blank look on the custodian's face as she goes about her work, highlight the mundane qualities of the job.  Yet, Emily seems inordinately disturbed by the woman's presence, and convinces young Brian to confront the custodian, and demand that she not mop the floors until all the students have left school.  Once Brian's mom shows up, Emily leaves with a pastry box in hand, walking on a winding journey through the woods, ultimately arriving at a local church, where a group of women, friends old and new, are meeting.  Only when Emily opens the box on her homemade pie do we get our first clue--there's a swastika carved into the top, and everyone chuckles.  "It's just a joke," replies Emily, but it's anything but.

This group of white women start to air their grievances regarding the world in which we all live, although their discussion is littered with racial slurs as they lay their victim cards one-by-one.  Marjorie complains that she was passed over for a promotion for a "brown" woman, and dismisses her boss's reasoning--that she does not have the proper "leadership skills."  Jessica, a mother of four with another on the way, talks about her generational membership with the Klan, and that she's now more invested in "Stormfront." Kim wants to put her journalism degree to work by creating a newsletter full of white supremacist talking points.  Alice eagerly takes notes for the group, and Leslie, the youngest and newest member of this coffee klatch, misses being told what to do--much like what she experienced when under the protection of a white nationalist group during her time in prison.  All of these women seem incredibly "normal" on a surface level, but this meeting of the "Daughters for Aryan Unity" is much more than your average suburban book club.  They each, in turn, complain about the insidious spread of multiculturalism, but understand that they must approach distributing their ideas to the mainstream in a more careful way.  Ergo, the title, Soft and Quiet. Emily and her band of bigots are neither.

                                    a confrontation at Kim's market sets the group off

Let me be clear: this film will make anyone with empathy or a conscience incredibly uncomfortable, as it should.  The film is shot in what appears, through the magic of invisible editing, as a 91 minute long take, with events unfolding in real time.  This technique creates some really effective discomfort and dread, for even if viewers think the "Mothers for Aryan Unity," are ignorant, bigoted, awful people, Araújo and her DP, Greta Zozula, never turn away from remaining close-up and tight with these women.  However "soft and quiet" they may appear on the outside, their inner rage is just waiting to find an outlet--a bitter cauldron of resentment and entitlement that gets unleashed on two unsuspecting mixed-race sisters, Anne and Lily.

Significantly, the aggressions that Emily and her gang release onto unsuspecting women are entirely Macro, not Micro.  Anne and Lily unfortunately stop by Kim's market for a bottle of wine while Emily, Marjorie, Leslie, and Kim are also there to do the same.  Tensions escalate quickly, as the women surround the sisters, harassing them verbally and blocking their exit.  They are just about to make it out the door, when Emily turns on them, riling up the other women into a frenzy.  You know things are bad when Emily's husband, Craig, is the level-headed one who tries to calm everyone down.  I won't give it away, but Anne and Emily share a history, and that connection in some ways motivates the women to participate in a petty revenge scheme.  Craig comes along after Emily uses a variety of gay slurs, and makes some serious emasculating comments that would make Tucker Carlson proud.

                                    Emily fights for control with Leslie (Olivia Luccardi)

The rest of the film follows Emily and her gang of angry "Karens" as they decide that a home invasion is the proper next step to take, wanting to mess up Anne and Lily's home.  Marjorie and Leslie repeatedly express envy and disgust that the two women live better than they do, and how their comforts are "unfair"--presumably because they are not white, and therefore revel in a host of multicultural perks and privileges.  I have to give props to Olivia Luccardi as Leslie.  While she initially seems like a woman willing to do anything in order to be accepted by the group, Leslie eventually gives viewers plenty to consider regarding her time in prison, and why she might have been in there.  She is the chief catalyst in escalating events an inflaming mob violence.  Initially, she just seems like a puppy, eager to please and join in the fun, but Leslie has a deep, deep axe to grind--and she possesses an intensely fierce loyalty towards the women she ostensibly just met.  When Anne and Lily return home a moment too soon, all hell breaks loose.  Even cool and collected Emily tearfully apologizes to Leslie several times during the violence unfolding at the house, as she's clearly terrified of Leslie's rage and aggression turning on her.  Leslie spends the rest of the film screaming at everybody, even when she's constantly told to be quiet.

Araújo and Zozula are careful to capture the frenzy of the women as things go increasingly out of control.  While most of the physical violence is offscreen, the implied acts perpetrated on these women of color are incredibly horrifying; yet we are forced to stay with these vicious women until the bitter end.  In many ways, the film reminds me of Sebastian Schipper's Victoria (2015), for as spectators we helplessly witness these women making terrible choices.  I found myself siding with Craig, for he gets out before things go from very bad to even worse.  Nevertheless, Soft and Quiet contains a moment at the very, very end that is oh, so satisfying.  You do have to sit through all the other stuff to get to it, but I think it's a pretty brilliant way to end this truly disturbing film.  A must-see on Netflix right now.

2019 Fantasia Film Festival--The Schedule is Up!!!

2019 Looks to be a Fantastic Festival!!

Summer is here, and that means the Fantasia Film Festival is just around the corner (8 days from now, and a couple metro rides away, but whatever).  As usual, the festival is headlining way too many films that I desperately want to see, so I'll give you my must sees for this year.  The festival is always full of discoveries, and my abbreviated stay last year meant I missed out on some great films--I caught them later (and I'll be posting on some of my favorites), but nothing beats hearing the crowd go nuts in one of the two main screening venues.  Here we go!

Riley Keough is trapped in Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's The Lodge (2019)

In 2015, only my second year of attending the Fantasia Film Festival, I went to a film that was generating a lot of buzz on the festival circuit--Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's Goodnight Mommy (2014).  This stunning and deeply unsettling film blew my mind, and I not only reviewed the film then, but presented on it at a conference and exposed my students to its wonders.  So at the top of my list for films to see this year is their follow up film--The Lodge (2019).  Again, the film follows a stepmom dealing with a couple of kids who aren't thrilled with her, but this time they are snowed in some remote lodge while Dad is away, leaving all kinds of supernatural things to creep around.  Synopses and the trailer suggest that Grace (Keough) is the sole survivor of some suicide cult, so that info puts a spin on things.  I can almost guarantee that this heroine is haunted by some trauma from her past.

The Duchess (Milla Jovovich) keeps her wayward schoolgirls in line in Alice Waddington's Paradise Hills (2019)

I recently read a discussion of Ari Lester's Midsommar (2019) by Charles Bramesco in The Guardian regarding some critical drubbing of the film as "overlong" (at 140 minutes).  Bramesco claims that "Personally, when a horror film gets dinged on the grounds of being “overlong” or “full of bizarre tangents that go nowhere," I take notice and pay attention. The unwieldy, the inexplicable, the ambitious-to-a-fault – this is my cinematic happy place."  For me, a film that draws complaints regarding its gorgeous cinematography and production design "at the expense of narrative" sounds exactly like something I'm going to like.  So Alice Waddington's Paradise Hills (2019) seems ideal.  This dystopian film about a reform school for girls, on a mysterious island, run by The Duchess (Mila Jovovich) has been called "beautiful," "gorgeous," "stunning." As Adi Robertson explains in reviewing the film's Sundance screening, "The film both critiques and revels in an aggressively feminine high-tech aesthetic that’s tinged with eerie surrealism."  Sign me up.

Teens react to the disappearance of Carolyn Harper in Jennifer Reeder's Knives and Skin (2019)

You may be noticing a pattern here, and my frequent readers have already sussed out that the films about which I'm most excited are directed by women.  This predilection is not always wide-ranging, as I tend to avoid horror comedies even if they are women-directed, but award-winning short filmmaker Jennifer Reeder's feature Knives and Skin, touted as a "feminist teen noir," has me quite enthusiastic!  This brief clip not only showcases the stylish imagery, but gives us some Cyndi Lauper love as well.  Reeder will be in attendance as well, so YAY!  I also had to chuckle because one review (written by a man) claims that the film emphasizes "style over narrative."  Yep, I'm in.

Arielle Dombasle is the writer/director and star of the wondrous Alien Crystal Palace (2019)

Speaking of women-directed wonders, I'd see Arielle Dombasle's Alien Crystal Palace (2019) no matter who directed it.  One look at this gorgeous trailer, and I was overwhelmed by vibes from The Hunger, Wim Wenders, with a dash of Liquid Sky.  The film's screening is at midnight at Fantasia.  Honestly, I don't care what time it's showing, I have to see it! Oh, and it's a musical, which would usually send me scurrying away, but if the trailer is any indication of the kind of music on display, I think I'll be fine.

A Mother shoe masquerades as a man in order to raise her daughter in SHe,

One of the more outstanding facets of the Fantasia Film Festival is their animation offerings, and they program innovative animators from around the globe that often use very unique and painstaking techniques to tell their stories.  This year I have my eye on two films that look incredible.  The first, SHe by 28 year old Chinese animator Shengwei Zhou, masterfully employs stop-motion to create a sumptuous tale of a mother (embodied in a red high heel pump) passing as a man (in a leather boot) raising her daughter in a repressive patriarchal culture.  The director illustrates these social concerns with shoes!  Amazing.  The trailer is really opulent.

The Psychedelic Visuals stand out in Son of the White Mare (Marcell Jankovics, 1981)

I know as much about Hungarian animation as I do about Chinese animation (umm, nothing), but after watching a trailer for Marcell Jankovic's Son of the White Mare (1981), I am excited to watch this psychedelic trip.  Seems like the perfect film in which to indulge in Canada's legal psychedelics.

Mia Wasikowska plays Judy, an abused puppeteer, in Mirrah Foulkes Judy and Punch (2019)

Another women-directed project, Mirrah Foulkes' Judy and Punch (2019), has been described as a whimsical and skewed revenge-driven fairy tale; and honestly, Wasikowska's take on characters gives them an extra-special something.  Her role as Jackie in Nicolas Pesce's Piercing (2018) really stole the film from Christopher Abbott's bland murderer wannabee, and I haven't seen Damsel yet, but I've heard that she is magnificent in that as well.  The first time she caught my attention was back in 2008, when she had a major role in In Treatment.  Although I think Burton's Alice films (in which she stars) are just Burton sending his kids to private school (cashing in), she's always riveting, even in dreck.

One wonders what this creepy kid has been munching on in Abdelhamid Bouchnak's Dachra (2018)

This Tunisian horror film, Dachra, has been receiving waves of buzz since its debut in Venice, and the trailer's pacing made me very, very tense (a feeling I quite like).  This film is Bouchnak's first, and I'm excited to fall under its spell, especially so I can figure out what on earth I'm looking at in terms of Dachra's poster.

WTF??

Alba finds herself repeating the same day, less an hour, in Jon Mikel Caballero's The Incredible Shrinking Wknd (2019)

From my very first attendance of Fantasia in 2014, I've noticed that they have a wonderful habit of programming original and innovative "time travel" films.  From The House at the End of Time (2013) to Predestination (2014), Animals (2017), and A Day (2017), I simply love them!  I also teach a Confusion Cinema/Puzzle Films class, and I'm always adding films screened at Fantasia to my list--every single year. This Spanish thriller by Jon Mikel Cabballero, The Incredible Shrinking Wknd, comes across, from the clip, as more of a thriller than a comedy.  Will Ada be able to close the time loop before she runs out of hours in the day?  I must find out.

Is Jade as "crazy" as her boyfriend makes her out to be in Jade's Asylum (2019)

In May of 2018 I flew to Scotland to present at, and attend, a conference on representations of mental illness in cinema--unsurprisingly, there were very few, if any "positive" or thoughtful representations of madness, especially in horror cinema.  I am fascinated by these representations, especially if they are embodied in female protagonists deemed to be crazy--whether "crazy violent" or "crazy and seeing things, aka ghosts."  Alexandre Carrière's Jade's Asylum (2019) is exactly in my wheelhouse--Is Jade having a psychotic episode and delusional, or is the supernatural present?  The film's trailer does not provide any easy answers.  I just hope it doesn't end up demonizing Jade too much.

Super Cool Poster!

After trauma, Luke resurrects his imaginary friend, Daniel, in Daniel Isn't Real (Adam Egypt Mortimer, 2019)

A film that's also getting a tremendous amount of buzz since it's debut at SXSW is Adam Egypt Mortimer's Daniel Isn't Real, which from its title and synopsis, suggests that maybe, just maybe, he is (real.)  Comes as no surprise, dear readers, that a film about a guy is going to attract so much more attention since the link between women and madness is seen by society as normal.  Especially if we get uppity, have opinions, and claim power for ourselves.  Heavy sigh.

I've just touched upon what the 2019 Fantasia Film Festival has in store for us this year.  More to come!!

Fantasia 2018--Under the Silver Lake--David Robert Mitchell (2018)

Sam (Andrew Garfield) is a study in white male hetero entitled voyeurism in Under the Silver Lake (2018)

Well, David Robert Mitchell has squandered all of his accumulated cache from 2014's It Follows with the witless slog of his latest white male fantasy, Under the Silver Lake (2018), which had its North American Premiere at the 2018 Fantasia Film Festival.  The film had earned mixed reviews from its Cannes film festival screenings, and has subsequently had its release date postponed from June 22nd to December 7th after its lackluster reception.  So perhaps I'm not surprised to be massively disappointed by this film that follows grade-A unemployed loser and entitled Silver Lake denizen Sam (Andrew Garfield) as he wanders from apartment to apartment and party to party in search of some mystery girl who he interacted with very briefly, and who disappears from the apartment across the courtyard of his NICE digs in this uber-hip neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Robert Mitchell sets the tone immediately with his latest film by A) having some weirdo animatronic animal (squirrel? beaver? dog?) fall down splat from above, and then briefly animate before keeling over  So, I guess it's QUIRKY!!  Then B) he has Sam laying about on his balcony, with binoculars, watching the topless hippy parrot/parakeet owner across the way.  Very shortly after that, Sam has sex with someone credited as "The Actress" played by Riki Lindhome, because Garfunkel and Oates are not making the big bucks, as they should, and she has to pay the rent, dammit.  May I remind you, that in this film, she is not even given a name.  Granted, other women are called "Balloon Girl" and "Bird Lady," so I guess Riley Keough should be thankful that her manic pixie dream girl "Sarah" actually has a name, although she should just be called "manic pixie dream girl" or "Marilyn Monroe Wannabee" for consistency's sake.

Sarah (Riley Keough) giggles, drinks OJ and eats saltines in bed, and gives Sam some sense of purpose

Sarah catches Sam spying on her from his balcony, and for some very unclear reason, invites him over for a joint, and some OJ and saltines at her place.  She shares one rather chaste kiss before she boots him out of her apartment, planning on meeting up with him the next day.  Yet, when he goes to meet her, he finds the apartment abandoned, uninhabited, as Sarah and her roommates have somehow "poof" disappeared.  This excitement is a bit too much for Sam, who sees conspiracies around every corner, and believes there's some secret message hidden in old images of Vanna White's glances.  Aimless Sam has now got an aim (find Sarah) and neither hipster performance artists (like Balloon Girl) or emo bands such as "Jesus and the Brides of Dracula" will get in his way.  He will journey from hip underground parties, to cool cemetery film screenings in search of the girl he spent approximately 20 minutes with, all in a single-minded stalker quest to find her. 

All the girls want to sleep with loser Sam

My contempt for most of the narrative compels me to skim over some of the more interesting visual and aural touches that Robert Mitchell scatters throughout the film.  The soundtrack is really lush and often echoes noir soundtracks of the past, although no matter how I look at Under the Silver Lake, Andrew Garfield is no Robert Mitchum, nor Bogart, nor even Fred MacMurray.  The film's "ode to Los Angeles" is inconsistent though--are we supposed to be mesmerized by Silver Lake's laid back hipness, or disgusted by its shallow pretension?  Likewise, the film has some striking moments of violence.  One of my favorites has Sam kicking the crap out of two unsuspecting kids, where someone in the audience called out "You get 'em, Spiderman!"  Nice.  Yet, I'm not sure how to interpret this deadbeat nerd-bro's acts of sudden rage.  While they elicited a cheer from Fantasia's audience (look, something's actually happening!), I did not understand what they signified beyond some white male revenge fantasy against petty problems.  How dare you ruin my hero worship of Kurt Cobain, old songwriter dude who laughs maniacally! 

Also, there's this really cool sequence that's a live action motion graphic of a local zine created by Patrick Fischler, who is a lovely presence in just about any film.  But why is this animated sequence in the film?  Cuz it's quirky as fu**.  Lots of questions float around that don't necessarily require answers, but provide motivation for our lame-o detective wannabee to move from point A to point B.  Why is there an underground bunker, and what does it have to do with missing millionaire Jefferson Sevence?  Also, who is the nefarious dog killer, and why are the skunks in Los Angeles so invested in spraying Sam.  I guess, the ultimate question is do we really care?  Nope.

Fantasia 2018--The Schedule is Up!

So many exciting films, so little time

The schedule is up for the 2018 Fantasia Film Festival, and now it's time for some difficult decisions, as choices must be made.  Here I'm adding to my list of films about which I'm excited, updating the films upon which I touched on in the last couple of Fantasia posts.

A bunch of winged demons poking at a pit (of humans?) in Francesco Bertolini's 1911 film L'Inferno

Fantasia often programs some unique events, and a screening of Francesco Bertolini's 1911 film based on Dante's Inferno, with a live performance by Goblin composer Maurizio Gaurini doing the score?!  Wow!!  Italian prog rock group Goblin, famous for composing for Argento classics such as Suspiria and Deep Red, are really what makes those two films utterly terrifying, so to have Guarini accompanying one of the earliest silent horror films is truly a catch.  Cannot be missed.

Stylish murders in a Fashion House never looked so beautiful as in Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace

Speaking of genius works of Italian horror cinema, Fantasia is screening the 4K remastered version of Mario Bava's landmark giallo Blood and Black Lace (1964) at this year's festival.  Last year's screening of Dario Argento's 4K remaster of Suspiria was one of the cinematic high points of my lifetime.  I couldn't even write about it, because...there are no words.  So to see one of my favorite giallos restored is a real gift, and the trailer is so damn cool.  Bava's use of mise-en-scene is entrancing, and the score is Italian jazzy goodness.

On the day before the Apocalypse, four people get a surprise birthday gift in Seung-bin Baek's latest film

While the poster for Seung-bin Baek's I Have a Date with Spring suggests just the right touch of creepy, the film's title (translated) implies a slightly upbeat approach to Doomsday.  A screenwriter is visited by four beings, and this narrative provides the link to the stories of three characters whose birthdays happen to fall the day before the end of the world.  Screen Anarchy's review of the film implies that the film's narrative is a little "lightweight," but the visuals are suitably gorgeous.  Sounds good to me, but I am a lover of the visual over narrative heft any day--My three favorite films are Last Year at Marienbad, Suspiria, and The Double Life of Veronique, respectively.  I also hail from a country that is so unceasingly ugly right now, that the end of the world seems right around the corner, and by our own doing.  Living somewhere devoid of compassion, empathy, and respect for other people, I could use a dose of beauty with my Armageddon.  The director's statement, “The world is doomed anyway, so let’s all go nicely. And if possible, let’s go beautifully,” seems all too appropriate these days--even when it seems impossible to feel more outrage then one can possibly feel.  Check out the trailer.

Lisa Bruhlmann's debut feature Blue My Mind (2017) is a perfect companion piece to Julia Ducournau's Raw (2016)

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am a champion of women directors, especially in the horror film genre. So Lisa Bruhlmann's coming-of-age tale Blue My Mind (2017) hits my sweet spot, and will appeal to lovers of Raw (2016), or The Lure (2015).  I don't want to give anything away, but once you watch the trailer, you'll see what I mean.  This type of film is exactly why I treasure Fantasia--I (sadly) would not likely see this film anywhere else. If it gets released quickly, I can show the film in my Women Directors class this fall.  I'm still waiting for Animals to be available for home viewing, so I'm not holding my breath.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) is the Zombie Christmas Musical Horror Comedy I never knew I wanted

I'm not a fan of musicals.  People spontaneously bursting into song seems stupid to me (that's why The Lure is so exceptional).  I'm also not a fan of horror comedies, except for Housebound (2014) and maybe Game of Death (2017).  Some moments in Tales of Halloween (2015) were kind of funny.  Horror films set during Christmas tend to leave me cold, too.  Yeah, I sound like a killjoy, but horror comedies rarely mix horror and comedy in the right proportions for me.  So why in the world am I interested in John McPhail's Anna and the Apocalypse, a zombie Christmas musical horror comedy??  Well, watch the trailer, and then tell me you don't want to see it a wee bit.  As Rob Hunter from Film School Rejects suggests, “If you’re not smiling during this one, you’re probably an a**hole."  Exactly.

Gigi Saul Guerrero's 7 episode web series, La Quinceanera (2017), is screening at Fantasia this year

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A girl's Quinceanera is an important moment, celebrated as a milestone on the journey to womanhood.  Therefore, when a drug cartel shows up at Alejandra's party, things are bound to get bloody.  Gigi Saul Guerrero has been nourished by the Frontieres industry section of Fantasia, so it's great to see the product of so much of her hard work.  I'm excited to get a taste of her burgeoning talents!  Check out the trailer.

A Rough Draft/Chernovik has Kirill becoming the gatekeeper for a multidimensional portal

Okay, the trailer for Sergey Mokritskiy's 2018 film A Rough Draft looks like the perfect combination of silly and cool.  Killer Russian nesting dolls.  Awesome.  As the Fantasia staff explains, "every frame is an eyeful – witness the magnificent succession of alternate-Muscovite panoramas. Step through the door these two talented storytellers have opened up – but beware the flying matryoshka-doll combat drones!"  Cool.

Gripping Argentinian paranormal horror in Demian Rugna's Terrified (2017)

One of the first people I met when I started coming to Fantasia was film critic Andrew Mack, who writes for Screen Anarchy (formerly Twitch) and regularly writes reviews on the Morbido Film Festival.  He's funny and wicked smart, and I trust his taste.  He highly recommends Demian Rugna's Terrified, claiming that it scared him, twice.  The trailer also suggests that paranormal investigations are not just a young person's game, and like Spoor, takes advantage of some slightly older talent (as I continue to get older myself, I appreciate such things).  My last foray into Argentinian horror was The House at the End of Time (2013), which was terrific, so I'm ready to be "Terrified."

Nicolas Pesce steps into SM horror fantasy in his 2018 film Piercing

In 2016, I was simply stunned by Nicolas Pesce's dread-filled masterpiece, Eyes of My Mother (which I saw at Fantasia, of course). Filmed in black and white, it was full of sick, twisted, and some rather sad surprises, and heralded a unique filmmaking vision.  Two years later, Pesce is back with Piercing, where family man Reed (Christopher Abbott) tells his wife and "cute little girl" that he's leaving on business, but instead hires a prostitute, Jackie (Mia Wasikowska), whom he plans to murder in his hotel room.  Typically, things do not go according to plan, and as the Fantasia staff describe it, "Pesce makes a stylistic 180 with PIERCING, adding a streak of bizarre humour from the opening scene, shooting in vivid colour on hyper-designed sets, using miniatures and visual effects to create a sense of heightened reality, and drenching it all with a soundtrack of music selections that Euro-horror fans will find very familiar."  Sounds like much of the movie takes place in Reed's hotel room, and I like Mia Wasikowska in everything (even those lame Alice in Wonderland films), so I'm looking forward to Pesce's sophomore film.  Fun fact:  he's remaking a version of The Grudge!

Another brilliant female director takes on adolescence and drug cartels in Issa Lopez's Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

The trailer for Issa Lopez's Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) is quite magical--it's no wonder that Guillermo del Toro wants to make a film with her.  This film seems to be a dark fairy tale on par with Pan's Labyrinth.  Of course, Fantasia's Mitch Davis says it best: "In crime-ravaged cities where dozens vanish by the day, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID uses fantastical devices to explore what happens to the many children whose parents suddenly disappear. You will be shaken to tears. Winner of 23 awards (and counting!) on the international festival circuit, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID ranks among the great genre works of our time."  Yeah!!  And look at these badass kids!

Don't underestimate the kid holding the water bottle--he looks innocent, but...

So, here's the dilemma.  Closing night at the 2018 Fantasia Film Festival, August 1st, my last night in Canada, and I have to choose between two incredibly attractive films.

Out crazy-ing the craziest Nicolas Cage films is Panos Cosmatos's Mandy

The film I lean toward is Panos Cosmatos's Mandy (2018), a psychedelic fever dream cum religious cult blood orgy revenge thriller that, after watching its stunning trailer with a really eerie score, looks like nothing I ever have, or will ever, see.  Yet, it's coming out in mid-September in the U.S.  That doesn't mean I'll actually see it then, but I have a chance of seeing it, albeit not on a gigantic screen surrounding by pumped Canadians cheering Cage's every gory moment on full volume.  I know, sounds good, right?  He's hunting "crazy evil" with a hand-forged blade from hell!  A chainsaw duel! Yeah!!

Jackie (Hannah Emily Anderson) seems to be reveling in blood spatter in Colin Minihan's What Keeps You Alive (2018)

Then there's Colin Minihan's 2018 queer betrayal horror film What Keeps You Alive, which screened at SXSW.  Every review/teaser, including Fantasia's, raves about the film, but then refuses to divulge the plot in order to not ruin the film with unnecessary spoilers.  Everyone insists that I should be kept in the dark before seeing it, and the trailer is suitably ambiguous.  This film also may offer up more political and thoughtful representations than Cage avenging his WOMAN in Mandy, even though I've seen some pretty disappointing "queer monster" films (I'm looking at you, Replace).

What is a film critic to do with these choices, and why, why are they playing at times that overlap each other (alas, I'm leaving on August 2nd, when What Keeps You Alive plays again)?  Boo.  I'm still sitting on the fence, but this years Fantasia has much about which to be excited.