Thrill and Fear

Sick days are no fun when you're actually sick. Well, they're a little fun. This horrible cough has given me an extra powerful case of the Mondays that has lasted until hump day and left me lounging in my bathrobe most of this week. I battled my way through it with two gallons of OJ, three different OTC decongestants, and the guilty pleasure of the entire first season of a gritty teen drama. Those British teenage models that make up the cast of Skins can make a guy feel like his erstwhile high school and collegiate days were much lonelier than they truly were. I got plenty of vicarious living done, and of course nothing worthwhile to speak of was accomplished with my time (unless you choose to count my feeble attempt to not cough on everyone that came into the book store these last two days). So, here we are.

2/18 The House of the Devil (2009) DVD, 4/5 stars, RT: 87%

I frighten easily. I can't watch Jurassic Park today without a younger part of me feel the need to let out a high pitched cry whenever the velociraptors are present on screen (more embarrassingly, I continue to have to fight the tiny urge to crawl behind the couch whenever I see Ursula from The Little Mermaid). I know a lot of people fail to see the fun in getting scared, and when I'm being rational I'm usually well entrenched in that camp. I'm fascinated by the artistic design behind that indescribable creepy feeling you get with some movies, though. Forgive me the pretense here, there's really no other way I can begin to explain my infatuation with The House of the Devil. There's something I have to get out of the way here before I go further. Nearly everyone that discusses this movie mentions how deliberately dated it looks. I'm hardly an expert on 1980's low budget horror films (hell, I've never seen a Jason or Elm Street movie in my life) but if you showed me this movie without telling me it was made last year even I would have guessed it was from the decade of big hair. But wait, don't associate this movie with the cheesy quality you more than likely immediately conjure up when you think about the 1980's. House of the Devil has something to say about the fears most Americans had in the decade before the fall of Soviet Union, securing it in the tradition of Satanic horror films from the period. Although, yes, there's plenty of tight jeans and teased hair here as well. The tense atmosphere the director has created here for our lone, every-woman, college student doesn't need to be dated. I've honestly not seen it done much better than it's shown here (excluding Hitchcock, naturally). There's no early tease of something sinister or the seemingly requisite shots of naughty young adults being murdered, the tension is all a product of the slowly building arc of the plot. I found myself more than slightly interested in the plight of the protagonist as I was bluntly shown her dreams for a place of her own in the opening scenes (a dream which I share with her). This issue, and the associated money question, is what leads her into her desperate, demonic situation. It's believable that she's willing to house-sit for the eventual creepy old family because the actress and the rest of the film's creators have illustrated the desire of the character to be independent. The obvious theme of doing something risky now for valued safety in the future is done in a satisfying way. My one major knock against this film is the less understandable actions of the main character after she's been exposed to some big deal breakers soon thereafter. There wouldn't be a movie otherwise and it wouldn't be a horror film if I didn't cringe at the momentary stupidity of the heroine, so I'm mostly okay with it. This allows me to point out that the audience doesn't see the first absolutely shocking event of the film until nearly half way through the movie. The methodical pace of the film is the real joy here, the seemingly overdone story and characters are just the trappings. I know it's hard for most people to give completely unknown movies their time and energy, but I'm really glad I took the chance this time. There's really stellar work to be seen here, even if you're afraid of door-opening dinosaurs and obese, cartoon sea witches.

2/19 Jaws (1975) DVD, 4/5 stars, RT: 100%

I'd never seen Jaws until last week. Pop culture references flew by me while I stood there with a stupid grin on my face. No longer. Bigger boats and bad hats, Harry. I get it now. My life is much closer to being complete. Do I really need to say more? I've got to be the last person alive to see this. Here's the typical: It's cool that it takes so long to actually see the shark, the acting is pretty wonderful, and the story is totally lame.

There's a test coming up next month that's going to be the focus of most of my attention. I don't like the idea that I'm just making excuses to get out of work-- I would like nothing better than to spend more of my time watching movies. This blogger project has improved my writing enough that I have some confidence in my abilities for the exam. I'll be back afterwards, hopefully still in good spirits. There's still room for improvement when I have the time to indulge in this silly little hobby. Thanks to everyone that gave me advice and overly solicited praise. I love you.

A Sea Change

As accurately predicted this past week was much too full of other forms of time wasting for me to view any movies. I feel slightly dirty for this. Let it not be said that I don't prioritize my time. I even managed to get some studying done. Goodness!

There's one movie I saw, though I've seen it many many many many many times before. Many.

The last time was probably when I was twelve.

1/30 Hook (1991) DVD, 5/5 stars, RT: 22%

Okay this is totally a case of looking through rose tinted glasses. It's impossible for me to be objective here. I've already made pretty clear that I've seen this movie dozens of times growing up. Thinking about it now I'm not sure that it was Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, or the story that so enthralled me. It was most likely the Lost Boys. Every scene with the orphans is a picture perfect example of what you wanted to do as a kid but never could. This is what is appealing about Never Never Land and the entire Peter Pan story, but Hook shows the kids skateboarding while playing basketball, getting into food fights with what looks like rainbow-food-colored mash potatoes, and utterly destroying pirates with eggs, marbles, paint guns, and other myriad inspired childlike contraptions. If you're ten years old you're going to love this. Now I have to be the grumpy grown up and comment on everything in the movie that doesn't hold up with my nostalgia. I remember Captain Hook himself being much more terrifying. Dustin Hoffman has grown on me as an actor as I've matured, even as I've realized that most of his roles are fairly standard fluff. He just completely lives inside his characters. It's interesting that he's next to Robin Williams as Peter Pan here since they're similar actors yet Williams is always seen as the oddball goof and Hoffman is considered a serious performer. This view might just be my own skewed angle on the way things are, but it's worth noting because I honestly didn't even realize before this viewing that it was Hoffman playing the titular role here (I also forgot that this was a Steven Spielberg joint). I always remember being bored at points when I was a kid (it's a long movie), but now I pick up on a lot of puns and references I never understood as a youngster. Yet the movie also seems like it might be muddling for a new viewer. If I hadn't known each scene and line before it occurred I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed the pacing. I'm nitpicking, though. I'm going to stop being a critic since I've demonstrated that I'm grasping to find fault with this because of my disclosed bias. I watched Hook with friends that seemed to share my love for the film, and this is really the best way to see old favorites. The movie isn't in my top ten favorites but I'll certainly have more fond memories watching this than any other movie. Bangorang!

I've noticed these getting longer. I'm either making up for not watching as many films this time around, getting a big head as no one's knocked me down yet, or just enjoying this much more than I thought I would when I started. Probably a bit of each. I'll work on being concise. And on watching something new next week.

Until then, friends: to the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning (I can't believe I associated this solely with Star Trek before last night).