Knock Knock

When the name, Eli Roth, comes to mind, I instantly think of the film Hostel each and every time.  Although Roth has had quite a few mild hits in his directing and producing repertoire, I can’t really say anything sticks out as being a film that I can claim as extraordinary or worthy of historic preservation.  Unfortunately—or fortunately...depending on how Roth looks at it—he’ll probably be forever known as the director of “torture porn.”  I don’t know how he feels about that, but I’ve read that he does like to push the limits in his films, so maybe he doesn’t mind the term.  Though I would think he’d like to be known for being a more well-rounded  filmmaker, even if he stays in the horror movie realm, he has the infamy either way.

As an actor, I really think Roth’s got the chops for it, as well as being able to display some good comedic timing in some of his performances.  When I’d first witnessed him acting in a film, I thought he was following in the footsteps of Alfred Hitchcock where he’d just place himself in cameos within his own movies.  In Cabin Fever, that’s exactly what he’d done and I thought it was pretty interesting how he’d kind of showed up there as sort of a red herring, but ended up being just a little humorous throw-away of the story.  Roth’s appearances in film didn’t just stop with roles in his own films, but showing up in some of his colleagues’ flicks, like the small part in Death Proof or the bigger role in Inglourious Basterds—both films by his friend and colleague, Quentin Tarantino.  He’s been seen in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Southland Tales, Piranha 3D, and a few others, so if ever gives up directing, he still would have quite an acting career to go on.

Eli Roth has a moderately large catalog of projects he’s produced since his first hit film, Cabin Fever.  IMDb.com lists about 40 productions, past and future, including one that’s coming up sometime in the future—Thanksgiving.  If you were able to see Grindhouse—A.K.A., the double feature of Death Proof and Planet Terror—then you know about the faux trailer that played during intermission about a slasher which takes place during that holiday.  Like Machete before it, looks like the fake trailer earned enough interest to actually turn it into a real film.

Until that comes about, I’m here to talk about Roth’s 2015 film, Knock Knock.

When Evan (Keanu Reeves), a devoted husband and father, is left home alone for the weekend, two stranded young women, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) amd Bell (Ana de Armas), unexpectedly knock on his door for help.  What starts out as a kind gesture results in a dangerous seduction and a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Now, there was a few things I’d noticed when seeing the credits roll.  Firstly, besides four other people involved in writing and developing the story, Eli Roth is credited as one of the writers.  Seeing what this movie is about, and that it involves infidelity, it must’ve been a tough subject matter for Roth.  Not that he’s ever been unfaithful to his wife, but just the fact that his wife, Lorenza Izzo, is one of the stars of the movie.  In fact, she plays Genesis...one of the two girls that show up in this story.  More on that later.  But the other strange item that came up during the credits was the name Sondra Locke and that she was the executive producer of the film.  If you’re not familiar with that name, she’s an actress, and one most notable as being Clint Eastwood’s girlfriend during the 70s and 80s, even starring with him in quite a few of his movies during that time.  I guess I’m just surprised to see her name, it just seemed like a strange involvement.

So...about the film.

Quite often, when getting my Netflix discs in the mail, I usually don’t mind playing them in our family room, where we have our main TV that we use to watch television shows or family films.  But I’d known the reputation of Knock Knock and it’s not too difficult to see what the movie’s about, even if you haven’t seen the trailer.  The description on the sleeve says it all, so I knew that I had to play this DVD elsewhere and that’s why I have a movie room (one of our spare bedrooms complete with a television and Playstation 4, along with many movie figures, photos, and props) in a separate area of our house.  The comments I would receive from my wife during this film isn’t something I’d care to sit through.  The one argument I can just imagine us having would start with my wife asking me, “What would you do?” and me defending myself, saying, “I wouldn’t do that!”  Of course, she’d react with, “Yeah right, you know you would do the same thing!”  To avoid all that and being as diplomatic as I could, I ventured upstairs to the movie room to sit through this film in peace.

 

So, the movie is a simple story of a family man, Evan (Reeves), who needs to work on his architecture project while his wife, Karen (Ignacia Allamand), and their children, Jake and Lisa (played by real life brother and sister, Dan and Megan Baily), take a trip to the coast for a weekend trip.  Later that night, there’s a knock at the door and as Evan answers, he sees two beautiful girls that are drenched from the rain and explain that they’re lost.  So I’ll stop right there because this is the turning point for the film, the part where, if it was me, I’d say I would call an Uber for them and that they were welcome to sit on the porch to wait for it.  No way in hell would I let them in, no matter how nice they seemed, and I wouldn’t feel sorry for them.  At most, I’d grab a blanket or towel for them to keep warm and dry, but they would not step foot in my house.  Primarily, this is how the argument would begin between my wife and I regarding this story.  She’d tell me she wouldn’t believe me and so on, and so on, etcetera, etcetera.  To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t even open the door. 

As I’d mentioned before, one of the girls is played by Eli Roth’s wife, Lorenza Izzo.  Seeing what she gets into here, having some implied sex scenes with Keanu Reeves, her and Roth must have a pretty good marriage.  But Izzo is the shining star here, even outperforming Reeves (I guess that’s not too difficult of an accomplishment) within this feature.

Now, let’s talk about the acting here in the film.  When the film opens up, we see the everyday-life Evan enjoys with his family.  As playing man and wife, Reeves and Allamand seem to have some okay chemistry together, making me believe that they can be married.  However, the interactions he had with the children seemed a little out of place and forced.  It almost seemed like he’d just met them on the set that day.  For the most part, this is only for mere minutes of the movie’s commencement, so it didn’t take me out of it completely.  Once we get the meat of the story going, it really keeps your attention.

Before getting into this movie, and just the fact that it is an Eli Roth film, I was thinking the movie was going to turn into an all-out horror film.  I was under the impression that maybe Keanu Reeves was going to get tortured by these girls or some people would be murdered...I mean, come on...this is Eli Roth!  But, no, the movie wasn’t made in that fashion.  It’s more of a suspense film, but it’s all about the uncertainty of what these two psychotic girls are planning to do.  Make no mistake, however, because this film is pretty extreme and you’ll really debate with yourself what you’d do in Evan’s position.  And not only the choice he makes to invite the girls in from the cold rain, but about other decisions he makes throughout the story. 

I’m not sure if this was a supplemental extra on the disc or just something that was discovered online, but I guess there was an alternate ending to the film.  I won’t give it away because I’d have to give away the ending of the film as it is on DVD, but I wish Eli Roth would’ve left it in, maybe as an after credits stinger.  After watching it on YouTube, it made me realize that it was something I’d thought the movie might feature.  But then I’d realized that it would change the fundamental message of the story.  Anyway, if you do decide to watch Knock Knock, I’d recommend looking up this alternate ending and see what you think.

So...my final “bit” on Knock Knock?

Overall, the film is enthralling—most of the time making you angry because of the actions of the girls, sometimes cheering Evan on, and a few times you’ll be shocked...a little.  The acting seems real enough, at least enough to make you shake your head at times, but the main crux of the film with Reeves, Izzo, and de Armas is the best part—the interactions are both uncomfortable and absorbing.  Whatever goes on within the story, whether it’s a lull or something uncertain, you’re going to want to see how the film will end.  Without spilling it, I really wasn’t satisfied and kind of wish they’d kept that alternate ending intact.  I’ll recommend this film, but not highly, just dimly.  The film is an interesting subject, but it’s all one note and doesn’t really expand beyond what’s seen in the trailer.

 

That’s it for now...thanks for reading!

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Star Trek Beyond

Before getting into this review, and as a preface to everything regarding the Star Trek cinematic series, I have to say that I’m not really a “Trekkie” or “Trekker” or that big a fan of the whole television and film franchise prior to J.J. Abrams's involvement.  I can honestly say that I’ll be—and have been—looking at this new rebooted series as a neutral movie-goer and won’t be biased in any way, shape, or form.  I am, however, a sci-fi movie enthusiast and consider the genre a close second, right next to horror.  But give me a science fiction film, set in space, with aliens and space ships, with laser blasts and action, all mixed together with tons of visual effects, and I’m all in for the 90-minute ride.

I’ve said it before, J.J. Abrams is close to taking over the mantle where Steven Spielberg is residing.  With his production company, Bad Robot, inheriting the Star Trek franchise as well as Star Wars, there’s no further elevation he can reach.  Yes, he’s got a lot of television under his belt, took over the Mission: Impossible series of films, and has so many film projects lined up for quite some time, so we’re in for years and years of cinematic adventures.

As for the Star Trek film franchise, not to mention the multiple television series throughout the years, I’ve enjoyed some of the earlier films and television episodes here and there.  The first four films I’d enjoyed quite a bit and actually own them on Blu-Ray, watching them occasionally when the feeling arises.  Part five and beyond had really lost me and I’d never decided to venture forth with those sequels, forgetting about them and seeing part four as the final film in that series.  I’ve seen some of the earlier television series of the 60s in syndication when I was a kid, but never felt I was a big fan.  All newer shows were never within my radar and I’d just stayed away, thinking you had to be a diehard enthusiast to watch and understand.

It wasn’t until my first theatrical viewing of Cloverfield that a spark of interest lit up inside me, seeing the teaser for the 2009 film where we see workers welding and laboring on a huge craft, hearing famous recordings of John F. Kennedy and American astronauts, seeing that it was the USS Enterprise as the shot widened out, all of it ending with Leonard Nimoy’s voiceover: “Space…the final frontier…”  I had been sold, right there, developing the desire to see the movie when it was to be released. 

So here we are now, seven years later, with the second sequel to the series…2016’s Star Trek Beyond.  I really like that J.J. Abrams, et al, are going away from the number tagged on each sequel, choosing to add a title after the words, Star Trek.  With the first sequel, the title convention was Star Trek Into Darkness.  No number…not even a colon to separate the title.  With Beyond, it describes what the main characters actually do in this story…they go beyond the reaches of space and that’s how the main crux of the story begins.

The USS Enterprise crew, led by Captain James. T. Kirk (Chris Pine), explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, Krall (Idris Elba), who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

The story here is well told and entertaining, never letting up once it gets going.  I’d been a little concerned near the start of this film where we get some exposition from Captain Kirk as he enjoys a drink with Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban).  The scene was a bit boring, but I had understood it needed to be included to help out the story as a whole.  The men have a drink to quietly celebrate the captain’s birthday, but Kirk only thinks about how he’s turning a year older than his father’s age when he was killed during his Federation service.  At the same time, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is going through a life-changing event as he receives news that Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy, appearing only in a digital photo) has passed away.  Both men contemplate leaving their positions to pursue other roles and these subplots are things to think about for both characters as their story plays out in this movie.

Near the beginning of the film, the USS Enterprise docks at a space station in the vast reaches of the cosmos called Yorktown.  It’s a wonderful creation where one of the characters actually describes it perfectly, like a glass snow globe in space.  But you haven’t really seen anything like this in film, as the visual effects are staggering and incredible.  It’s difficult to explain, but the world within the interior of this space globe defy gravity, having parts of the city appearing upside-down and other right-side-up…all of this with the film giving us the point-of-view of the USS Enterprise flying through this wondrous inner scape.  I have to admit…I felt a little nauseous, getting a bit of motion sickness as I’d witnessed this.  At the same time, however, I had found it fascinating.  Many other scenes feature such minimal attention to detail, with planetary geography and plant life…it’s really so much to take in, but it really gives the film the sense that the characters are on alien worlds and not just filming on some dressed up movie set.

Although Idris Elba does a magnificent job as Krall, I felt it was a waste to have him spend the majority of the movie underneath all that makeup.  I’d known that he was in the film, but kind of forgot about it, not knowing who was the actor playing this villain when I’d first laid eyes upon him.  You’d think that they could’ve gotten a stuntman or lesser-known actor to play the part in this movie, like someone who’s used to wearing a bunch of latex and makeup…someone like…Doug Jones…?

A few things that can’t be overlooked, one of which I’d already discussed a little, is the passing of two actors in this franchise.  Leonard Nimoy, although only in the previous two films for cameo-like roles, is a staple of the Star Trek mythos and will always be remembered as Mr. Spock.  Though he’d been in a lot of other roles (I had particularly liked him in 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers), it’s hard to envision him as anybody but Spock.  The other loss the Star Trek world had faced was the passing of Anton Yelchin earlier this year.  You’ll see in a later review my admiration of this young actor, but he really took the reins of the Chekov role and went with it full force.  It’s a shame, really, that this had to happen to one of the main characters.  I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of the person—or people—that will have to make a choice on whether to replace him or write the character out of the subsequent sequels.  It’s a lose-lose situation, regardless.  But Yelchin’s death is a big loss to the world of film because that kid really had a great career ahead of him.

As I’d said, being that I’m not a big Star Trek fan, I really hadn’t caught a lot of the callbacks that I’ve heard some people talk about.  What I had caught, however, was a few here and there, reminding me of some of the previous Star Trek films that had featured the original cast.  For instance, near the beginning of the film, when Kirk and McCoy share a drink, it reminded me of a similar scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  A deliberate one, but more of an accolade to the original actor—George Takei—who had played Sulu in the television series as well as the original films, was to write in a character development to have Sulu (John Cho) be represented as gay.  Unfortunately, that added  characteristic was not condoned by Takei, citing that it wouldn’t have been Gene Roddenberry’s intention to have the character represented that way.  Another little touch that I’d noticed and have heard other people mention was towards the end of the movie, when Kirk toasts his crew, making mention to the ones that are absent.  At that moment, the camera lingers on Yelchin, giving a nice nod to the late actor as sort of a chapter closing on his character.

The rest of the cast are all pretty much here, but one takes a backseat and doesn’t do much except earn a paycheck—Lieutenant Uhura (Zoe Saldana).  She has a minor role in this sequel, which is too bad, but she does help move the plot along when it comes to an important point in the story.  Interjected in the film is a new character, and one that we’ll probably see again—Jaylah (Sofia Boutella).  Her performance added a bit of levity and played well alongside Simon Pegg’s Scotty.  Just like the television series, the rest of the crew on the USS Enterprise are a series of faces that we’ll never see again, but that’s not necessarily bad.

Star Trek Beyond has quite a few action scenes, though not as many as the previous two films, but enough to keep your blood flowing at times.  Combined with the visual effects, this film will keep even the younger, smartphone-obsessed, crowd into the film during the second and third acts.  Mixed with the effects, there is some incredible work with prosthetics and makeup, giving us some freaky-looking aliens, one of them really using her head for one of the scenes.

Of course, when you have Simon Pegg in the cast—and one of the writers, I might add—you’re going to be treated to some humorous moments.  Pegg’s scenes, as Scotty, keep those moments lighthearted and fun, and that’s where the actor really excels.  Scotty’s little friend, Keenser (Deep Roy), is back as well and had me laughing when a skill is brought to life on screen as he sneezes on a cell lock to disintegrate it, being that his snot is acidic.  I’m not sure if that was a writing contribution from Pegg, but I’m willing to bet it was.

Finally, with J.J. Abrams helming the first two films of this rebooted franchise, he decided to give the reins to Justin Lin (of the latest Fast & Furious films) for this outing.  While watching this, and knowing full well he was the one who was behind the camera, I felt he gave a bit more excitement when it was called for and apathy during the times of the story when things seemed bleak.  Though I think Abrams is a very talented writer and director when it comes to character arcs, Lin does just as well with taking the audience to an extravagant world, and makes going to the movie fun again.

So…my final “bit” on Star Trek Beyond?

Once again, J.J. Abrams, along with Justin Lin, bring us a pleasurable family-friendly sci-fi adventure, with out-of-this-world visuals and action.  The film features a perfect blend of action, science, some scares, and humor, with the Star Trek mythos perfectly in place.  I loved every minute of it, even the little bit of exposition between McCoy and Kirk, and look forward to more of this reimagined film series.  Though it may be tough to go forward without the character of Chekov—though a minor character, but memorable nonetheless—I’m still going to be rooted in the theater’s seat, waiting to see what’s in store for the crew of the Enterprise on their next adventure.

Thanks for reading!

Cinema Bits is on Facebook and Twitter.

Cheap Thrills

I guess you can say I’m a Netflix cheerleader, always mentioning how I get the discs mailed to me every month and the enjoyment I get when I find a good film to watch on their streaming service.  The day I’d discovered this DVD mailing service—jeez, it must’ve been 18 or 19 years ago—I knew it’d be a hit and that the company would grow indefinitely.  Well, I was right on both counts, but I had never known at what rate, and to what extent, the conglomerate would grow.  If I’d really and truly knew, I probably would’ve invested in Netflix stock, enjoying my riches right now.  But, no...I’m a blue-collar worker, taking enjoyment out of writing about films I’ve seen and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So…once again, I found myself itching for some entertainment—something horrific, dramatic, action-packed, or funny—as I found myself plopped on the couch and sifting through the streaming menu.  One such film that had been on the trending portion of the menu (the titles that members had been watching or rating a lot) and saw the title, Cheap Thrills, float by with a rating of over three stars.  But…I thought it was a straight comedy and really didn’t feel like clicking on it at that point in time.  One of the reasons why I thought it had been a comedy was that the title cover featured the main cast, all looking at the camera and smiling, even though one of them had a very bloody nose (take a look at the movie poster and you’ll see what I mean).  Another reason I had thought this was a straight comedy was the inclusion of David Koechner in the cast—which turned into a motive on why I decided to watch it.  Even after reading the synopsis, I still had trouble pulling the trigger on this one, just due to that happy-go-lucky movie poster.

Well, I finally clicked on the play button just the other day and became instantly absorbed by this one.  So, let me break down the plot for you before we discuss…

A scheming couple—Colin and Violet (David Koechner and Sara Paxton)—put Craig (Pat Healy), a struggling family man and his old friend, Vince (Ethan Embry), through a series of increasingly twisted dares, paying the friends excessive amounts of money if accomplished,  The tasks go on over the course of an evening at a local bar—and ending up at the couple’s home—with the challenges becoming very precarious.

At the commencement of this film, I have to admit that I had my doubts, especially when we see the main character losing his job and becoming very depressed, finding himself at a bar and having a beer.  Now I’ve never understood the concept of heading to a bar after work to drink and unwind, feeling it’d be awkward to sit down in the company of strangers and becoming inebriated.  The way I’ve always unwound after work was to go home and watch a ballgame or a movie…maybe I don’t understand the going-to-a-bar philosophy because I don’t drink.  But that was my dilemma as I was going through this introduction of our main character, Craig, until his old friend, Vince, walked in.  At that point, I’d really grew engrossed in this film.

I don’t mean to sound callous, but, man, has Ethan Embry aged!  The first time I’d seen him in anything was the coming-of-age teenage movie, Can’t Hardly Wait (don’t judge me), back in 1998.  At 20 years old, he played the part of a high schooler and it worked.  Now, at 38, he definitely can play the older man, seeming like he partied a bit since that 1998 film.  As a matter of fact, he was recently in a commercial with Christie Brinkley, playing her husband as they were driving in a vehicle for an SUV advertisement.  It was a play on the Vacation movies, since they were playing the theme song from the first film and the reason why, I’m guessing, that they were in this commercial together was that Brinkley was in the first film and Embry was in Vegas Vacation, playing the part of Rusty.  Point of all this?  Even though she’s 24 years Embry’s senior, you can’t tell, as they seem like the same age and believable as a married couple.

Well, that went off the rails pretty quickly, didn’t it?  Anyway…back to Cheap Thrills…

When Vince walks in and sees Craig, sitting with him and catching up on old times, that’s when the movie really gets going and changes gears.  We get perfect character development between these two old friends and it works because these two actors have great chemistry, making you believe they’re truly good friends.  Yet, they have a yin-yang type of relationship once they’ve met Colin and Violet—Craig not wanting to take part in a lot of the dares, while Vince is ready to do anything to get his hands on some easy money.  At first, Craig is the levelheaded friend between them with Vince vigorously egging him on to perform some of the tasks, but as they become more and more violent, both Craig and Vince change their personas dramatically.  It’s a true look at how money can change people.

Cheap Thrills is by no means a perfect movie, as it needs the audience to accept something that drives this story and that’s the character of Colin and his motivation, which seems to be just to have some merciless fun as he takes advantage of the destitute character of Craig.  Also, it’d be hard to believe that someone that has the means to so much money would easily throw it around, taking a chance that the victim he chooses won’t just give up and take the money he’d achieved so far, not choosing to go for more provocations.  If you can set that aside, which is easy to do because your thought process will be working to figure out what Colin’s angle is throughout this whole ordeal, you can appreciate this fun movie.

2013’s Cheap Thrills is E.L. Katz’s directorial debut, only followed up by ABCs of Death 2 and one episode of ‘Scream: The TV Series.”  He’s got a film coming out in 2017 called Small Crimes, and has been a writer on quite a few productions.  However, this story was penned by David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga, an obvious writing team, who have collaborated on a few projects, but this stands out above the rest. 

You know, I’d mentioned Ethan Embry a bit (though maybe not in such a good light), but I really hadn’t gone into Pat Healy’s history in cinema.  Though I didn’t recognize him while watching this film, I still didn’t really know who he was even after reading through his IMDb.com bio.  But the man has been in the business for quite some time with 90-plus productions he’s acted in, from popular television series to a number of films.  Healy was exceptional in Cheap Thrills and I’d enjoyed his performance as the everyman who usually doesn’t get a break, yet finally fights to get one in this story.

Although Sara Paxton was sort of wasted in this film with nothing much to do, David Koechner was surprisingly amazing in this flick.  Usually he plays a funny—yet dumb—throwaway character.  Here?  He’s a likable, but ruthless, individual.  It’s actually weird to see him play someone serious when all you know him as is Champ Kind from Anchorman.

So what’s my final “bit” on Cheap Thrills?

I dug it, man!  From the moment Embry and Healy interact in the bar, I was stuck on this movie and felt the need to see it all the way through.  The further you get in the story, the more you want to stay to see how it’ll end.  It’s strange at times (especially Koechner’s martial arts skills) and will have you guessing on what the outcome will be, and you may even go through a range of emotions as things play out.  But it’s fun to see how each challenge is dealt with by the two main characters and although the ending has a little something to be desired, the end results will stay with you for a while.  Highly recommended.

Thanks for reading!

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The Invitation

More and more, I seem to follow the advice of personal critics rather than the professional ones when it comes to watching films.  I still enjoy reading a review from some quarterly or online magazine, but I tend to lean more on the side of what some Average Joe will have to say about a movie in layman’s terms rather than going through a reviewer’s piece who feels the need to insert cerebral wording as if they’re some kind of artist…uh…never mind.  The point is, I like to follow what the typical crowd likes more than one movie critic.  So I have a habit of going with the given stars on a movie from the Netflix site and it never looks to lead me astray.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m going by a new rule now where I’ll only watch never-before-seen movies with an average rating of 3 stars or more.  I’ve tried viewing a few that had less—only because a web site or magazine raved about the film—but they always seem to let me down.  Don’t get me wrong, however, because I’ve seen some films rated 3 or above that I’d ended up turning off, not liking them.

So, especially when I shuffle through the streaming titles, I want something to grab me and make me enjoy the time spent sitting through a feature, so when I’d noticed The Invitation on the menu, and seeing that it had an average of 3.4 stars, I’d decided that I would fix my movie-watching night with it.  The good movies featured on Netflix streaming are few and far between, but they’re getting better.  For now, there are just too many one- to two-star movies in their list of titles that it gets tiring shuffling through them.

While attending a dinner party at his former home, Will (Logan Marshall-Green), thinks his ex-wife, Eden (Tammy Blanchard), and her new husband, David (Michiel Huisman), have sinister intentions for their guests.

I have to admit, my finger had been hovering over the power button on my remote during the beginning of this film.  In the start of this film, as the two characters, Will and his girlfriend, Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi), are driving to this dinner party and it’s just a boring start to the film as we see them in the car travelling to the get-together.  The acting seemed a bit wooden, but looking back, maybe the director was trying to convey Will’s state of mind as we later find out he and his ex-wife had lost a son.  But until I understood that, I felt that the onset of the story seemed to stand still.  But once the couple reach their destination, I had let up and relaxed my finger, yet I had other issues in which to contend.

So, the crux of the story, as mentioned in the synopsis, is that Will is meeting up with a group of friends that haven’t gotten together in a few years.  But the mystery is alluded to right away that Will’s ex-wife, Eden, and her new husband, David, hadn’t been heard from at all in two years.  Bringing the obscurity even further is why all of a sudden they decided to invite all their friends to their home—a home Will used to share with Eden and his late son, Ty (Aiden Lovekamp, seen in flashbacks)—for a dinner party.  And being there plays a big part in Will’s feelings and state of mind.

So when Will and Kira arrive at the house and greet the friends, making their introductions to Kira, the feeling shown is unease—right away.  Many times during the course of Will catching up with some of the other friends or the strange interactions between him and David made me wonder why he’d even stay at this point.  Hell, even a little accident that Will and Kira get into before getting to the party would be enough of an excuse for me to turn around and go home.

At this point, this is where The Invitation messes with your mind and leaves you constantly guessing as to what’s going on.  On one hand, you see it from Will’s point-of-view, seeing the suspicious actions of a few people and leaving you with the belief that something bad is going to happen, that he and Kira should just leave.  At some points, the movie makes it look like Will is paranoid, especially when he blows up at one point, pointing fingers at some of the others.  The back-and-forth they do in this film really puts you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Not only do things not seem right, even though Will is apparently surrounded by old friends, but two dinner guests, Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch) and Sadie (Lindsay Burdge), add to the unease due to their behavior and background (at least explained by Pruitt himself).  The interactions from these two add to the what-the-fuck moments in the film and continue to leave you—the audience—guarded on what’s to come.

If there’s anything that I'd really liked in the film, one scene that kind of shocked me, was the final shot before credits roll.  It was an “oh shit” moment that I really did not see coming, not to mention the suggestion of a sequel.  Of course, I don’t want to give it away, but it opens up a whole new aspect to this movie and makes the story bigger and less isolated just in those few minutes.

Directed by Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, Æon Flux), she certainly set an apprehensive disposition in scenes when needed, somber at times, fearful as well.  But I think the acting took a hit when setting it all up.  The only time I’d really dug the acting was when Will started to speak up assertively and becoming accusatory…at that time, the movie really started moving for me, but I’d also noticed that this was well over halfway into the movie.  Sure, there’s a lot of character build-up—which you really need to have when you have such a large ensemble of actors working together and sharing a lot of screen time—but just the fact that I had checked my watch during this movie says a little about the average audience member’s possible investment in the story.  The writers, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi—I believe they’re a writing team, as I see they’ve worked on a lot of productions together—really put together an original and intriguing story, so kudos to them.

So my final “bit” on The Invitation?

Like I’d mentioned, the acting was a bit sluggish here and there, the chemistry between a group of people—who are supposed to be all friends—wasn’t really apparent, but as I’d mentioned before, it might’ve been something the director was banking on to help out the vibe of the movie.  The story, however, keeps you involved and wondering how it was going to end, questioning whether or not Will was just going a little mad because of the grief he’d felt back at his old house and reliving a lot of old memories with his wife and son.  It’s definitely a moody piece that’ll make your skin crawl at times, will make you feel sorry for Will—sometimes for the other friends—but pays off by the time the film ends.  I definitely do recommend it and I’d probably see it again if it happened to be on one of the cable channels.  If you’ve got Netflix streaming, you should check it out.

 

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Time Lapse

Though I love to see any style of film (with the exception of chick flicks of course), the horror genre will always be my first choice when deciding on a movie to see, whether it’s something I have in my collection or something I’m going to see for the first time.  In the strange event that I’m not feeling like a horror movie, I usually jump to a science fiction flick, and if it includes some horror elements to it, even better.  Now, most categories of films include a subgenre to it, like horror movies that include the slasher element or action films that interject comedy...you really can’t have a film that is straight horror, sci-fi, action, etcetera…you need to add that secondary component to balance out the movie, especially if it’s a pretty farfetched story.

With that said, and as always, I’ll find myself in front of my television, too lazy to go and pick out a film from my library, but really wanting to see something that’ll move me.  During these times is when I switch on the old Playstation and peruse the archives of the Netflix streaming titles, searching for something with an average of three stars or more. 

One title that had kept on rearing its head was a film called Time Lapse in which the poster included the face of Danielle Panabaker.  I’m familiar with that actress as she was in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13^th as well as having a prominent role in the television series, “The Flash,” so that’s one component that had helped me to decide on this film.  What sold it for me, however, was the description of the story, so let me give it to you right now.

Three friends—Finn (Matt O’Leary), Callie (Danielle Panabaker), and Jasper (George Finn)—discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24hrs into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.

The word, “future,” was what held my attention and made me really think about watching this movie.  Anything about the subject of time travel or witnessing something from the future will always get me, every single time.  I’m a big fan of the Terminator series of films, which contain the concept of time travel and the effects of it on the world, and of the more light-hearted Back to the Future trilogy in which time travel is a big part of the storyline.  I decided right there and then to start the movie, staying with it until the very end.

Another piece of the  puzzle on why I’d chosen to see this film is seeing that the actor, Matt O’Leary, was included in the cast and was the lead male of the story.  In case you don’t know the name, he played Bill Paxton’s young son in the film, Frailty, a favorite of mine (if you haven’t seen that film, you need to do yourself a favor and do so).  I’d always admired his performance in that film, which I’d imagine would be a tough one for a 14-year-old, and was curious to see how he fared as an adult in his acting career.

Time Lapse starts, interestingly enough, as an everyday story of three roommates—the couple, Finn and Callie, and their friend, Jasper—living in a nondescript apartment as they lead basic menial lives. 

Finn works maintenance for the apartment buildings and notices an old neighbor hasn’t been picking up his newspapers or mail, leading him—as well as Callie and Jasper—to believe something bad has happened to the old man.  Inside a back room, they discover a huge steampunk-type of machine bolted to the floor and near a window that faces their front room window across the way.  As Finn, Callie, and Jasper look over and inspect the machine, it suddenly hums to life, swelling in power until a burst of energy happens, and they notice a photograph popping into a chute at the side of the mechanism.  Studying the photo, which looks like one that would come out of a Polaroid camera, they see that they are all in the picture, sitting in their apartment.  Not knowing what it means at first, they become obsessed with the machine, coming back to visit it every day until they realize that the machine is a camera that takes photos one day in advance.  At first, they make use of the concept easily enough to make money with bookies, but it soon comes to a culmination of very bad events.

I won’t go too much further into the plot of this film, but the concept is fascinating once the story moves along.  It’s a pretty smart and entertaining screenplay, which was done by the director Bradley King and writer BP Cooper, because I didn’t see a lot of this coming.  For instance, right after they discover that this machine can take a photograph 24 hours into the future, I just thought to myself, So what?  I really hadn’t seen the importance of that plot point until the characters dove further into it, discussing what they can do to use it.  At that point of the movie, I think I audibly said to myself, Yes…that’s right!  But you can’t have an immoral situation like this without having some bad consequences to mess things up…and that’s exactly what happens.

I probably only have a few complaints with this film and they’re very minor, not really taking anything away from the story.  One is pretty obvious and that’s the setting of the story, taking place mainly in the apartment of the main characters.  Though the director does an excellent job of giving us different angles of the apartment and breaking up the scenes between their place and the old man’s residence, there’s still a bit of claustrophobia at times.  The other minor complaint has to do with the character of Jasper and his behavior throughout the film.  With Finn and Callie, they noticeably change from start to finish, but Jasper seems to start off as a jerk and remains that way until the end.  He doesn’t seem to have any character growth, but then, maybe that’s what the filmmakers wanted from him.  I just find it hard that Finn and Callie would be friends with him during some of his depriving deeds.

Like I’d mentioned, the writing was niftily crafted and stayed a step ahead of me with the predicaments the characters found themselves in.  In that regard, you can relate to them because I think most people would always come to the conclusion on how they would be able to use such a device to gain wealth.  Yes, the message here, although clichéd, is that greed always lands you in trouble and changes you.  The friends go from being close and chummy to hating each other.

Though Bradley King doesn’t have many movies in his résumé, this one film earned him quite a bit of credibility, especially in the awards circuit.  In 2014, Time Lapse, alone, earned him a lot of “Best Feature” awards in such shows like the Thriller Chiller, Portsmouth International, Atlanta Underground, and Burbank International film festivals.  Along with awards in the screenplay category, this is impressive and well-deserved. 

So here’s my final “bit” on Time Lapse…

The story starts off a bit slow, but it’s only for a short period of time.  Once it gets going after the discovery of the FPM (future photograph machine…I made that up), the story gets very interesting and captivates you.  It really takes you on the moral journey with these friends, making you wonder what they’ll do next to utilize their newly discovered “golden goose.”  Very good acting by these young people, especially Danielle Panabaker, and their performances keep everything realistic, regardless of the farfetched plot.  It’s dramatic at times, with a bit of humor peppered here and there, but the concept of that machine keeps you tuned in to see what’s eventually going to happen to these friends.  It’s a very good movie and I’m glad I stopped to watch it on Netflix streaming.

As a post script, I’m realizing how much I mention Netflix in my reviews…maybe they need to sponsor Cinema Bits since I send out nothing but praise for their company.  Netflix?  Are you there?

Anyway, thanks for reading!

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It Follows

In the months prior to the movie’s release, It Follows had started to gain quite a following (pardon the pun) and a lot of attention after it debuted at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.  I’ve got to admit, just the marketing alone had me wanting to see this flick.  One of the posters (which I’ve featured at the top of this review) that had been released reminded me so much of an early 80s slasher movie poster that I was going to see this movie, trailer-unseen.  Let me tell you, I’m still waiting for the 80s-style horror movie resurgence, where we can get a few horror movies a year and have droves of people waiting in line to see who, or what, is the new icon of fright.  I mean, why aren’t we getting another Friday the 13^th?  Or Halloween?  I hear there’s another sequel to Jeepers Creepers that Victor Salva is trying to get released…what gives?

Well, until then, I’ll still try to find a gem within these new horror movies, but it’s a very tough job to do so, to waste my time with a bunch of crap that is marketed to teens rather than to horror fans.  Movies like Unfriended or #Horror…yes, we get it, filmmakers, you’re trying to get the Facebook and Twitter millennials to relate to your movies—it’s not working.

I don’t know how many times I try out a new horror movie only to turn it off soon after starting it.  Usually, it’s because the film will start off with a group of teens in high school, using slang and phrases that exclude me as an audience member because I just can’t relate to the teenagers of this day and age.  Sometimes I wonder, Am I just getting old?  Am I turning into one of those old fogies who is stuck in their own time?  I don’t think so.  Because there are plenty of good horror movies out—although you have to look high and low for them—that I’ve enjoyed and have decided to even purchase to own on Blu-Ray.

Anyway, unfortunately, I hadn’t found time to see this flick when it was released to theaters a couple of years ago, choosing to wait until it was available on home media and having it sent to me from Netflix.  So without further ado, here’s the breakdown of the film.

A young woman, Jay (Maika Monroe), is given a curse by a boy she’d been going out with, Hugh (Jake Weary), after having sex with him.  The curse is having an unknown supernatural force follow her until it will reach her and kill her.  She has to keep moving to stay away from the unstoppable force—which can change its appearance and can look like anyone—but it’s unrelenting and, sooner or later, will eventually catch up to her.

Before getting into the main meat of the story, the opening of It Follows gave me a lot of hope that this movie would be awesome as we’re immersed into what happens to someone who is pursued by the supernatural force.  We’re introduced to a young woman named Annie (Bailey Spry) as she’s running out of her house early in the morning, appearing to be chased by something or someone, though we don’t see anyone.  She’s visibly frightened as she takes her parents’ car and drives off.  The movie sort of fooled me here because I’d thought this was the main character of the film, but she ends up at the beach of a lake and just kneels there, crying and apologizing to her parents.  I say it fooled me since the film soon cuts forward and we see that Annie’s now dead, broken into awful shapes as she’s mutilated, dead.

So that’s our introduction to the subject of the film, still a little mysterious, but we get some explanation in the next scene which is the introduction to our main character, Jay.  It starts nicely enough, seeing her on a movie date night with her boyfriend, Hugh, and they seem to be having a good time.  They start to play a game as to guess who the other has pointed out mentally in the theater.  When Hugh picks out a girl whom Jay says she doesn’t see, his face goes from happy to concerned and they end up leaving the movie.  Ending up parked somewhere, they engage in sex and afterwards, things get weird.  Jay finds herself gagged and tied up in some hollowed out building where Hugh explains that she has just been given a curse that he has passed on to her, saying that “it” will come after her and pursue her until “it” kills her.  The only way to avoid it is to have sex with someone else which will pass on the curse to them.  But if that person dies, the curse will come back to her.  If she dies, back to him.

Hugh drops Jay off in front of her house, date-rape-style, and takes off.  Folks, this is where our main story begins.

Now, I stop there, because…well…it really does stop—well…slows down quite a bit—there.  At this point in the movie, we’re introduced to Jay’s sister, Kelly (Lili Sepe), and her friends, Paul and Yara (Keir Gilchrist and Olivia Luccardi, respectively).  They all live some sort of hum-drum life and we’re shown that fully, seeing them just sit around and discussing menial topics.

I do like the choice of music in It Follows, how they went with the synthesizer score, giving the movie more of an 80s vibe than it already had.  But…it seemed to only have depressing sounds and never went into a light note anywhere in the film.  It didn’t necessarily make this film bad, but I do like some horror films to contain some funny scenes or areas of the film where life is good for the characters.  The movie just had a depressing tone throughout and that kind of put me off, especially when I ask myself the question I usually ask when watching a movie that may or may not be good: Would I buy this on Blu-Ray for my personal collection?  With this film…no.  However, I’ve thought about this movie quite a bit since I’ve seen it and have had thoughts about seeing it again, so I’d say that’s a good sign pointing to this movie being pretty good.

Though there are some lulls within the film, when “it” shows up to hunt Jay, it’s pretty terrifying and intense at times.  The aspect of this hook makes you feel Jay’s despair and helplessness, just knowing that there’s nothing she can do, that the force will never stop until it catches up to her.  So the film continues on this way—some breaks where we see Jay floating around in an outdoor pool or moping around with Paul and Yara—until she decides to track down Hugh, the boy who had passed on the curse to her.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the man only has a few productions under his belt with one coming out next year, but it really showed that he knew what he wanted here in It Follows.  Mitchell definitely gave the film an 80s look and feel, adding a lot of John Carpenter Halloween flair with the slow, yet constant pursuit, by the evil in this film.  You even get a taste of George Romero’s film-styling since the force that comes after its victims looks and acts like an unrelenting zombie.  To add to all this, it appears Mitchell didn’t want the film to have an era easily established in the story; you, as the audience, really can’t tell when this story takes place.  Cars that are present look to be from different time periods, older televisions play into some of the plot, and there isn’t much technology—I like that.  Nothing ages a movie more quickly than including tech of its time—after a few years, that tech looks ancient.

Well, I think I’ve discussed this film as much as I can…my final “bit” on It Follows?

It’s a very interesting and original film, though the plot may seem a bit juvenile when explained—a curse that’s passed around when you have sex with someone.  However, that’s soon placed on the backburner once you get into this film.  The cinematography is interesting, more of an arthouse type of production with inventive ways of shooting certain scenes, and it will capture your attention.  The opening is great, the final climax is awesome, it’s just the middle that you’ll have to be patient and understand that it’s a slow-burn character build-up.  The ending leaves it open-ended and can easily have a sequel, which the director expressed interest in doing so, but I haven’t heard any movement in that respect.  I highly recommend It Follows, especially if you’re a horror fan stuck in the 80s and looking for a shining gem to bring back that nostalgia for you.

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