300 Words on "Halloween" (2018)

The incandescence of the original Halloween has burned brightly for 40 years. Through every sequel, reboot, remake, and countless imitators, the brilliance of John Carpenter’s original masterpiece has not been eclipsed. David Gordon Green’s first foray into the horror genre seeks not to extinguish that flame but preserve it and let it burn.

Jettisoning every franchise convolution of the last four decades, Green and co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley restore their film to the eerily effective, simplistic nature of the original. In tone, Halloween 2018 is the closest that any have come to utilizing suspense and tension to manipulate the audience since the first. There are plenty of scenes in the movie where Michael Meyers lurks just out of focus in the corner of the screen while we wait for him to strike again. It is an intense and visceral kind of horror which has become a lost art in modern movie-making.

But, Halloween knows that its monster is only as good as those fighting it, and to combat evil once more is Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as Laurie Strode. Curtis is the highlight of the film and she delivers a nuanced, carefully-crafted performance, and through her delicate portrayal the audience – like never before – gets to witness the consequences of the terror which horror movie protagonists must endure.

What Halloween does choose to pull from the original’s follow-ups is an increased body count and heavy reliance on blood and gore, but it is hardly a major blight to the film. And, as all the film’s action is underscored by music composed by a returning John Carpenter, even if the squeamish must avert their eyes, the film will still be a treat for the ears.

Halloween 2018 is at once an affectionate homage to its illustrious predecessor and a film which stands on its own. Today in a market which is (happily) flooded with horror, Halloween is unique: a slasher film which feels just as rooted in today as it does in an age which is long gone. 

300 Words on "Bad Times at the El Royale" (2018)

It’s cliché to say that a movie is like a rollercoaster ride. But there are few descriptions which would be more fitting for Drew Goddard’s darkly comedic noir thriller. Few times in recent memory have I been pushed to the literal edge of my seat while watching a film, and even when I have been, being pushed there has never been so exciting.

Bad Times at the El Royale begins intimately but grows ever bigger and grander. What may have on the surface appeared to be a tautly-wound, claustrophobic thriller quickly turned into something else entirely. Some have called the film derivative of Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, or Wes Anderson, but Bad Times at the El Royale is its own breed entirely. And it is confident in that.

Aside from contributing one of the most original screenplays I have seen in a long time, Goddard directs an ensemble cast with no weak links. Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Ervio, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, Dakota Johnson, and Chris Hemsworth turn in absolutely stunning performances, and each is given an opportunity to shine. Their collective screen presence lends weight to some truly phenomenal sequences. The ones which still leap to mind play out almost entirely without dialogue, each ratcheting up the film’s tension until the El Royale seems less like a picturesque, swanky ‘60s hotel and more like a pressure cooker about to burst.

Bad Times at the El Royale is an extremely clever, riveting movie experience. I found myself immediately swept up in each surprising twist and bending turn, gasping as each new revelation was dropped on us, and at the end of the film’s epic 140-minute runtime, I admit to feeling a little breathless. Perhaps not too unlike a rollercoaster ride after all. 

300 Words on "A Star is Born" (2018)

It isn’t hard to forget that this marks the fourth time that A Star is Born has gone before the cameras and going into it, I confess to wondering whether another go-round was necessary.

I was proven that it absolutely was.

The movie firmly grasped the general ideas of its previous iterations and impeccably updated them to the modern day. Never once while watching was I looking for the seams; the story woven by screenwriters Bradley Cooper, Eric Roth, and Will Fetters never felt like it was tired or overdone, leaning on the prestige of its predecessors to survive.

Watching A Star is Born felt like attending a concert. The precise camerawork and choreography of cinematographer Matthew Libatique and first-time director Cooper devised for the film’s rock concert centerpieces placed the viewer directly on the stage in a way which made the music resonate more loudly and the stage lights flash more brightly than one could imagine them on a projector screen.

But for all the glitz and glamor of A Star is Born, it never lost sight of its focus: the relationship between boozing musician Jack (Cooper), and his protégé-turned-love-interest, Ally (Lady Gaga). In their central performances, Cooper and Gaga were simply stellar, assuming their parts fully and totally disappearing into them. I can heap much praise on A Star is Born, but perhaps the greatest testament to its sheer power as a film is in its central performances. Cooper and Gaga may be internationally-known superstars but there were times while watching when I totally forget their existence as performers.

A Star is Born is a poignant look behind the shiny veneer of the music industry and it was absolutely engaging throughout. To put it simply, the film is honestly one of the most powerful movie-going experiences I have had in quite some time.