Backrooms Review

Screaming ghosts and roaring monsters are all well and good, but while they can be fun, there’s a sense of comfort in that you know for a fact they’re not real. Freddy Krueger is a silly, cartoonish figure, so no matter how much blood he splatters against the ethereal pavements, you can never really feel you might run into him even in your wildest nightmares.

In a sense, it’s like the typical fairground funhouse. Walking into a room that spins or where the furniture is on the ceiling would be a bewildering thing to happen to you, but these funhouse rooms are always given airbrushed cartoon characters or Dr. Seuss-esque architecture to enforce the idea that they’re pretend. Now, imagine that funhouse painted with mundanity, if that upside-down furniture was the type you have in your home and that spinning room had the wallpaper you’d expect from a waiting room, and this funhouse was not among candy floss stalls and dodgems, but in your workplace.

Backrooms makes the titular location a truly bewildering and bizarre labyrinth, where Wonderland-esque tiny doors sit beside buzzing light fixtures and a tiny town lays beneath a ceiling. It is something of an inverse of the aforementioned Freddy, a horror that takes every uneasy dream you’ve half-remembered and allows it to flourish in reality. It is worth a watch for the dread it induces and the nightmarish confusion that sprouts between the floorboards of the corridors. True, it does allow for some more orthodox horror-movie frights near the end, but it feels like a setting that could and shouldn’t exist, waiting for its latest victim.

Be sure to also check out more of the director’s work:

https://www.youtube.com/@kanepixels/videos

Project Hail Mary Review

Comparison is the thief of joy, they say, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the world of fiction. That show you liked as a child doesn’t hold up because you’ve exposed yourself to more mature media. You hate that remake because you watched the superior original. And then there are those four, often-said words: “the book was better”.

I bring this up because when reviewing Project Hail Mary, I am tempted to say simply “I would have liked it better if I hadn’t read the book beforehand” and call it a day.

Don’t get me wrong, the story of Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a schoolteacher finding himself alone in space desperately trying to prevent the destruction of humanity is still very enjoyable, and the hours fly by. Rocky (James Ortiz) was the best part of the book, and he is the best part of the film, an alien also working to save his people that comes off like a painted pet rock granted sentience, going on the adventures a child imagined for him. He feels both inhuman and real, and would make the most stone-hearted (no pun intended) person wish for a soft toy or figurine of him to place on their workdesk.

The acting and visuals are wonderful, and the story is fast-moving, so one is almost guaranteed not to be bored, but there is a sense the story moves too fast. The danger Grace sets out to defeat threatens the world, and yet there barely seems to be a sense of peril, nor does the sense of isolation and melancholy that comes from being years away from Earth come off as well as it did in the book. Granted, a book has more time to flesh out a story and its world than a movie does, and the format means the protagonist’s psyche could be explored more thoroughly. Yet as entertaining as Project Hail Mary is, there’s a sense of something missing.

Like the book, the film goes back and forth between the present and the past, yet the latter of the two is less prominent in the film, so moments in the present lose context, and of course, there is less of that humourous contrast between scenes from a disaster movie and Grace’s misadventures with his wacky alien pal. Still, if there is one reason to watch this film, it is its sense of humour and joy, but even that is lacking compared to the source material.

Wicked: For Good Review

The most common criticism of Wicked: For Good, and the second act of the musical it’s based on, is that it is at its weakest when trying to tie the story with The Wizard of Oz, and I regret to inform you that I will share in delivering that criticism. Part of the charm of this emotional, political story is how such an emotional, political story intersected with a silly fairy tale, but the origins this film give for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman – origins that were present neither in Baum’s The Wizard of Oz nor Maguire’s Wicked novels –  mar the experience somewhat by how forced they are.

What makes them more intrusive is how the film attempts to be specifically a prequel to the MGM Wizard of Oz movie without being an official prequel. The magic shoes are silver as in Baum’s original, but briefly glow red, and one scene begins with Glinda (Ariana Grande) waving Dorothy farewell as the latter begins her quest; the way it’s filmed and written open up the possibility that Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was here earlier, most likely threatening Dorothy like Margaret Hamilton before her, and she returned for a private moment with her late sister.

There still exists the sad irony that Dorothy is skipping into a poor persecuted woman’s story, with Dorothy even being faceless to emphasise how, despite her being the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz, she is relatively insignificant in the lives of both the Good Witch and Wicked Witch. Indeed, both Elphaba and Glinda’s stories are told well here, with both actors beautifully portraying the characters and their conflicts.

Elphaba is still fighting for the rights of the talking Animals in Oz; the opening of this film even echoes the typical superhero movie, where a group of innocents’ suffering is brought to an end via the protagonist swooping down to their aid. Despite her best efforts, however, she remains shunned and feared, even by a certain one of the Animals she once rescued. Despite the magnificence and glory of Oz, realised through the film’s marvellous visuals, prejudice and hate still slither out from between the yellow bricks, reflected by the contrast between Glinda’s extravagant wedding and Elphaba discovering the Wizard’s secret plot in a dingy dungeon. The song “No Good Deed” is a frustrated lament regarding Elphaba’s many failures, but with the apocalyptic oranges and the setting of a cold castle, the visuals are more fitting for a typical “villain song”.

Elphaba is reviled due to the machinations of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), who make sure Glinda is beloved: a Disney princess complete with animal helpers. When they say Glinda is the Good Witch, they mean she is good for the wretched status quo they revel in. Glinda, however, has her own demons to overcome, and it makes the perfect compliment to Elphaba’s story, best portrayed through a scene where reflection becomes reality and vice versa.

Both parts of Wicked are an utter treat, boasting great music, immersive scenery and unforgettable characters. One of its main themes, exposing the truth behind something familiar, does turn out to be its greatest strength and weakness.

Nosferatu Review

Not to say Nosferatu isn’t horrifying, but due to the familiarity of the source material – an unofficial adaptation of a book every horror movie fan has seen at least one version of – it’s less the discordant nightmare that The Witch or The Lighthouse was. Even Willem Dafoe seems to be channelling Anthony Hopkins in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula somewhat.

Some dreamlike quality remains, as evidenced by the many scenes of characters awaking, and the world and the story’s main antagonist feature a mixture of reality and unreality. Bill Skarsgard as Count Orlok looks just as much a fearsome ghoul as Max Schreck did in the original movie – except sporting Dracula’s often-forgotten moustache – but we see his features less as he is kept out of focus or hidden in the shadows for a good portion of the film, making him more of a mysterious bogeyman. When he is seated in front of a fireplace, he truly resembles a demon atop a hellish throne, and when the shadow of his hand stretches across the town like a giant vulture looking for prey, there is a sense he is in control.

What also enforces this notion is the chill felt in the setting and tone. Several scenes are set in snow, and this film reminds of how snowy days can be as still and silent as the grave. While Nosferatu isn’t black and white like its predecessor was, there is still a lack of colour throughout, as if the Count’s very existence makes the world as grim as he is. A viewer could truly believe that, not only through Skarsgard, but Lily-Rose Depp, who gives a truly frightening performance as the Count’s victim Ellen Hutter.

Dracula and vampires have been in so many movies and portrayed so many different ways, it’s hard to imagine them being threatening any more, but this film succeeds in making a pseudo-Dracula a cold and unpleasant demon one can’t help but engage with.

Wicked Review

How fitting that a film starring one of literature and cinema’s most famous witches should work some magic of its own. Many worried about the film prior to its release due to how it was said to only adapt the first half of its theatre predecessor and yet would be two and a half hours long, the same length as the play it was adapting (and the 1939 film it took inspiration from ran only an hour and three quarters).

And yet? The time flew by. The glory, the energy and the power of the musical play, its story and the world it was set in is perfectly adapted and then some. One can tell the people behind the film understood the differences between the stage and the screen, and brought forth everything good about the former to make it work for the latter.

On stage, the Wicked Witch’s death was heralded by a crowd deflating a large piece of Halloween headgear. Here, we pan over the aftermath of Dorothy’s victory over her foe, an overturned bucket and a wet hat placed against a gloomy and empty backdrop, seeing tragedy in triumph.

The guards in the 1939 film may have cheered after Margaret Hamilton screamed ‘I’m melting!’ but here, the so-called Wicked Witch, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is a person with a story, emotions and wants, who experienced heartbreak and compassion. She was shunned for her green skin and Carrie-esque powers, and had a complicated relationship with future Good Witch Glinda (Ariana Grande). She is a multifaceted, realistic character and she is played extravagantly by Erivo, who also delivers many of the film’s songs fantastically.

There is also the Land of Oz in one of its finest on-screen depictions, a world that feels magical and unfamiliar, yet like something that could have people living there and even one where the audience could travel to. In fact, watching Wicked feels like a journey and leaving the theatre will make one feel like they’ve actually explored the world where the characters live. What sets it apart from something like the forgettable Oz The Great and Powerful is how fully realised the characters are and how they and the world work in tandem to take the audience on travels.

One thing to note is that this is not the book by Gregory Maguire. More time is spent on certain elements and scenes than the musical, but you won’t see the many religions of Oz and Dr Dillamond isn’t murdered (and yet again, Fiyero is unfortunately whitewashed). The movie still delivers a message that is certainly relevant to what is going on today, showcased through Jeff Goldblum’s slimy and manipulative Wizard and Grande’s performative and selfish Glinda.

Don’t be put off by the length and the fact this isn’t the complete story; Wicked will certainly leave you looking forward to its conclusion.

Hundreds of Beavers Review

While watching Hundreds of Beavers, there came the creeping feeling that I would finish the film and say ‘That was too long.’ Take, for example, Weird Al’s pseudo-biopic Weird, which I still would recommend. Plenty of hilarious gags and the biopic genre certainly has plenty to mock about it, but the film overstayed its welcome, especially since the finale was a story done better through The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Hundreds of Beavers aims to take the archetypical cartoon plot – a human hunter against crafty anthropomorphic wildlife – and not only transplant it to live-action (even though there are plenty of animated elements) but make it feature-length.

The beginning of Hundreds of Beavers was a blast, The Grey meets Willy’s Wonderland meets Tom and Jerry, with plenty of imaginative pratfalls befalling our protagonist Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) as he battles against the forest and its denizens. There comes the same sort of joy one would get from watching their sibling play an amusing video game, with the protagonist upgrading to bigger and better weapons to battle his fur-bearing foes.

Hundreds of Beavers is an apt title, but there’s plenty of other animals as well – rabbits, skunks and wolves (hence the earlier The Grey comparison) – all played by actors in sports mascots costumes. This was an inspired choice, not only adding to the entertaining silliness of the world and its atmosphere but showing how more advanced special effects don’t always help verisimilitude. Compare how artificial the average modern superhero movie feels compared to The Wizard of Oz. Throughout the movie, it feels like the protagonist is fighting against anthropomorphic beavers, beavers as they are in another world, and not a group of humans dressed for a birthday party, and not just because when beavers are killed, entrails are pulled from an empty costume. Bugs Bunny was drawn by humans, animated by humans and voiced by a human, but while watching him outsmart his quarries, we never saw him as anything other than a rabbit with a life and personality, and the beavers follow suit (no pun intended).

There is that small drag in the middle, however, where the novelty of seeing live-action humans thrown about and quickly fall into holes seems to wear off, and the viewer may very well be tempted to at least take a break from watching to get some snacks. ‘How long can they keep this up?’ one might ask, and then, with the inclusion of one of the oldest cartoon standbys that is still unexpected, the answer arises. From there, the story picks up, not only feeling like a goofy comedy but at times a surreal dream, which keeps the story engaging in spite of its ridiculous action and makes one want the protagonist, despite his bloodthirstiness, succeed.

Abigail Review

Well, one thing Abigail certainly has in its favour is that it stars Melissa Barrera, who was fired from the latest Scream for pro-Palestine views (don’t forget to do your daily click).

I would say it’s best to go into Abigail blind but the marketing is mostly based on one major spoiler: the title character (Alisha Weir) is a vampire. The first moments of the movie play like a typical crime drama, where a group of criminals including Barrera as “Joey” kidnap a young ballerina, but since the house they move Abigail to looks like something between Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion and Casper’s Whipstaff, the appearance of a vampire isn’t as bizarre or jarring as it infamously was in From Dusk til Dawn.

Everybody’s familiar with the typical horror movie set-up. A group of people, usually young adults, gather in a scary setting and are picked off one-by-one until the main character remains. Abigail gives us a big haunted house and a cast who will meet their ends there, but the fact that these people are criminals looking for a score and forced to surrender their phones so as not to be tracked is a different take on the scenario, plus the characters have plenty of fun interactions with each other. A movie with this cast on a more orthodox crime caper would still be entertaining, vampires or no.

That is not to say the main vampire in this isn’t entertaining, for Weir is wonderful as the title character, but to talk about her performance would be to give away too much. People have pointed out how strange it was for 1931’s Dracula to use Swan Lake as its title theme, but here, that piece of music is used to great, horrifying effect.

If you want a horror movie with a fun haunted house and gory setpieces, here’s one for you. If you want a crime movie where a group face something they weren’t expecting to, this is a good film for that. This is a film with plenty to offer and plenty to recommend about it.

Robot Dreams Review

Robots and anthropomorphic animals have quite a bit in common when it comes to fiction. Not only are they more prominent in animation and live-action, not only do they have physiques that allow them to do what humans cannot, but they can also be used to say something about humanity when we are allowed to see it through their eyes.

The main character of Robot Dreams, a dog named Dog may wear nothing but a collar and sniff after what is lost, but he lives in a flat, plays Pong and microwaves macaroni for his dinner. While he isn’t simply a human drawn differently, he comes across as human enough to relate to and emphasise with. The main strength of the movie is how he can be related and emphasised with despite the absence of any spoken dialogue, for this is a movie that takes advantage of its animated medium. Not only do we get some nice gags that come from a world of anthropomorphic animals, with a frilled lizard bearing said frills to show excitement and a bat’s festive greeting, but visuals are primarily used to showcase a relationship and the relationship is shown well.

The title character – the robot named Robot – is just as relatable and sympathetic as his companion, and finds himself in a situation arising from his “species”: after rusting due to a swim, he is stranded on a beach, and cannot be reunited with Dog until the beach reopens in June. In most other animated movies where a character is trapped somewhere, the other characters work together to enact a plan to free them, but all Dog gets when he tries to break in is a mugshot. The story is more mature than one would expect from a colourful cartoon about a dog and a robot named Dog and Robot, with fittingly slow pacing to reflect the frustrating wait before Dog is allowed back on the beach.

Things aren’t as simple as either Dog waiting it out or the reunion coming early, and that element is reflected through the use of dream sequences, for the title is truly a fitting one (no electric sheep, though). There are a lot of them, yet they never feel excessive and one Wizard of Oz-inspired dream offers some eye-catching animation. The world of Robot Dreams is one that feels lively and alive, one that can shine even without a word being spoken save those in a certain song that is utilised well.

Robot Dreams is worth a watch for any admirer of animation, for the two main characters and the world they live in. There are no humans in the movie, but it’s a very human story.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Review

To quote a Coca-Cola advert, “so many movies, so little time.” And there’s been so many movies made, it seems that there are little storylines that haven’t already been made into (several) movies, so why not make movies about that? Movies about movies are nothing new, given that Last Action Hero was released almost thirty years ago, but it seems we have been getting a lot of them recently, given that it’s the direction Disney are going with their Rescue Rangers reboot. Recently released is also The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a movie starring Nicolas Cage about Nicolas Cage, or rather, about the meme Nic Cage has become.

Here we see a fictionalised version of Nicolas Cage considering quitting acting and worrying about his relationship with his daughter Addy (Lily Sheen) when he is hired to appear at the birthday party of a fan of his, Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal). However, Cage is brought into the plot of an action movie when CIA agents Vivian (Tiffany Hadish) and Martin Etten (Ike Barinholtz) tell him that Javi may have organised the kidnapping of a politician’s daughter and Cage will have to go undercover to find where she’s being kept.

If this sounds like a meta movie, it very much is. When Nicolas and Javi are bonding, one might think of Donnie Brasco, and indeed, that movie gets mentioned not long after. Shades of Adaptation are present, down to Nic Cage playing another character, but incorporated in a more playful way. Javi has a large collection of Nic Cage memorabilia, but since that collection includes the infamous sequin pillow, it feels more like being in on a joke rather than sycophantism. It also helps that Cage and Pascal work well together, making up their own little movie scenes and brainstorming. The whole film could have just been them discussing the type of movie they’d like to make and it still would have been entertaining.

Hardly the best piece of metafiction out there, and it could probably could have done a bit more with its “action movie about an action movie star in an action movie plot” but The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is tremendously enjoyable, and might give you a new appreciation for Paddington 2 as well.

The Batman Review

Spoilers May Follow

Another superhero film flies into our radar, and it’s a Batman one, too. The Caped Crusader has had many reboots and reimaginings over the years, and through those, he has proven himself more flexible when it comes to genres than most other superheroes. Chris Nolan brought us a trilogy of psychological crime thrillers, Joel Schumacher directed two light-hearted summer blockbusters and Tim Burton brought us one film that was gothic yet triumphant, and another surreal and fantastical. All with their own clear identity, and Batman seemed to slot naturally into all of them. With so many of these films, and so many of them so well-remembered, The Batman has the task of staying true to the character while not feeling like a rehash of past films.

True, there are elements of previous Dark Knight stories in The Batman, as this Gotham seems to have the dinginess of Burton’s and the realism of Nolan’s, and even Paul Dano’s Riddler takes as much glee in his work as Jim Carrey took in his. However, it doesn’t really feel like a repeat of what we’ve seen before. True, Riddler, Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz, reprising her role from the wonderful Lego Batman Movie) and Penguin (Colin Farrell) have been on the screen before, but they’re different enough from previous incarnations without forgetting what made those characters tick and are worked into the story organically. It never really feels like they were just shoved into the story to appease fans, though the same cannot really be said for a moment at the end.

It also helps that, unlike most Batman movies, Batman (Robert Pattinson) really feels like the main character here, lending the story some narration and his work on the case leading him to discover more about his family. Again, he differs from previous Batmen while not being unrecognisable as an adaptation of the funny pages character. His character is beautifully reflected in his new theme song; previous Batman themes have been triumphant and heroic, but Michael Giacchino creates something that sounds like The Telltale Heart, something appropriate for a monster in a horror movie. This is a Batman with a dark side, which Pattinson naturally pulls off.

I would certainly hesitate on saying that this is the best live-action Batman movie so far, but The Batman is still an effective, atmospheric adaptation.