A Show and a Film (A Couple of Weeks Late)
I'm a bit behind here, but who's counting.
A couple of weekends ago, on a Saturday night, I went to see this excellent new band of amazing musicians, Lake Street Dive. They are an indie jazz and soul band, from Boston while attending the New England Conservatory of Music. Honestly, after seeing them live, their sound is so original and unique that I find it hard to define and label, other than saying it's amazing. Rachel Price has perhaps one of the best voices in music that I've heard in a long time. She carries that band's sound, but they also really work so well together. I ran across them while watching an episode of "The Colbert Report"in which they were interviewed and also performed 2 songs.
Here is their setlist from the night before I saw them at the State Theatre. They played in Northampton, MA.
.....................................................................................................
"The Clinic"
starring: Tabrett Bethell, Freya Stafford, Andy Whitfield, Clare Bowen, Sophie Lowe, Adrienne Pickering, Marshall Napier
written and directed by: James Rabbitts
"The Clinic" is another decent horror/psychological thriller out of Australia. Another stellar horror/thriller from Australia is "Wolf Creek" and both movies do a great job of building the story, characters, thrills and scares.
In "The Clinic" we began the film with a young couple on a road trip back home. The mother-to-be is Beth (played by Tabrett Bethell). She absolutely steals and owns this film, since it quickly becomes a vehicle for her to take back control. Her fiance, Cameron (Andy Whitfield) takes quite a backseat as the film is a female-empowerment trip. The couple is tired and avoid a near-accident, afterwards, they decide to spend the night at a sketchy roadside motel that just spells disaster. The opening seems to set up the film as a stereotypical horror genre journey through scary-land, but then it takes a wicked turn.
The film is set in 1979, years before genetic and DNA testing in the science field and once the film gets rolling, you can tell the filmmaker is going to present a controversial subplot. It's definitely a new storyline and a frightening one, to say the least. The thing I like about foreign horror films is that they do not solely rely on blood and gore to scare the audience. No, instead that go for the psychological terror, and the idea that this story could and probably does happen, is terrifying enough.
After the night spent in the motel, Cameron wakes up to find his fiance gone, missing- and she's 8 or 9 months pregnant, at least. Ready to burst. Uncomfortable, I'm sure. Meanwhile, Beth wakes up in an unfamiliar place, cold, dirty, and in a lot of pain. She's in a bathtub filled with ice and discovers she's not only be kidnapped, but her baby has been removed via C-section. What the fuck?!
Tabrett Bethell, a relatively unknown actress, does a fantastic job in this film. Her character, Beth, wakes up in a bath of ice to discover her child has been removed by C-section, and this scene is incredibly emotional. It is very easy to become attached to this character, especially from a female perspective. Losing a child is a mother’s worst nightmare, and for Beth, it has been taken from her and she has no idea what has happened or where she is. Her maternal instinct shines throughout the film, even when she is at her most vulnerable, so it is clear she is willing to risk everything to find her baby.
This film soon explores the idea of ‘survival of the fittest’, and it becomes an intense struggle for Beth as she unravels the secrets hidden within the ‘clinic’. The film is rife with enigma: the Roman numerals cleverly intertwined in the opening credits, as well as being displayed on the jumpsuits that the victims of the ‘clinic’ are forced to wear, is only one example. The jumpsuits themselves call to mind a prison setting, which only serves to highlight the idea of entrapment for everyone involved.
"The Clinic" is a fantastic horror film that shows just how far people will go to save themselves and their child, how far a person can be pushed to the limit. This is definitely worth a viewing.
A couple of weekends ago, on a Saturday night, I went to see this excellent new band of amazing musicians, Lake Street Dive. They are an indie jazz and soul band, from Boston while attending the New England Conservatory of Music. Honestly, after seeing them live, their sound is so original and unique that I find it hard to define and label, other than saying it's amazing. Rachel Price has perhaps one of the best voices in music that I've heard in a long time. She carries that band's sound, but they also really work so well together. I ran across them while watching an episode of "The Colbert Report"in which they were interviewed and also performed 2 songs.
Here is their setlist from the night before I saw them at the State Theatre. They played in Northampton, MA.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(Jackson 5 cover)
.....................................................................................................
"The Clinic"
starring: Tabrett Bethell, Freya Stafford, Andy Whitfield, Clare Bowen, Sophie Lowe, Adrienne Pickering, Marshall Napier
written and directed by: James Rabbitts
"The Clinic" is another decent horror/psychological thriller out of Australia. Another stellar horror/thriller from Australia is "Wolf Creek" and both movies do a great job of building the story, characters, thrills and scares.
In "The Clinic" we began the film with a young couple on a road trip back home. The mother-to-be is Beth (played by Tabrett Bethell). She absolutely steals and owns this film, since it quickly becomes a vehicle for her to take back control. Her fiance, Cameron (Andy Whitfield) takes quite a backseat as the film is a female-empowerment trip. The couple is tired and avoid a near-accident, afterwards, they decide to spend the night at a sketchy roadside motel that just spells disaster. The opening seems to set up the film as a stereotypical horror genre journey through scary-land, but then it takes a wicked turn.
The film is set in 1979, years before genetic and DNA testing in the science field and once the film gets rolling, you can tell the filmmaker is going to present a controversial subplot. It's definitely a new storyline and a frightening one, to say the least. The thing I like about foreign horror films is that they do not solely rely on blood and gore to scare the audience. No, instead that go for the psychological terror, and the idea that this story could and probably does happen, is terrifying enough.
After the night spent in the motel, Cameron wakes up to find his fiance gone, missing- and she's 8 or 9 months pregnant, at least. Ready to burst. Uncomfortable, I'm sure. Meanwhile, Beth wakes up in an unfamiliar place, cold, dirty, and in a lot of pain. She's in a bathtub filled with ice and discovers she's not only be kidnapped, but her baby has been removed via C-section. What the fuck?!
Tabrett Bethell, a relatively unknown actress, does a fantastic job in this film. Her character, Beth, wakes up in a bath of ice to discover her child has been removed by C-section, and this scene is incredibly emotional. It is very easy to become attached to this character, especially from a female perspective. Losing a child is a mother’s worst nightmare, and for Beth, it has been taken from her and she has no idea what has happened or where she is. Her maternal instinct shines throughout the film, even when she is at her most vulnerable, so it is clear she is willing to risk everything to find her baby.
This film soon explores the idea of ‘survival of the fittest’, and it becomes an intense struggle for Beth as she unravels the secrets hidden within the ‘clinic’. The film is rife with enigma: the Roman numerals cleverly intertwined in the opening credits, as well as being displayed on the jumpsuits that the victims of the ‘clinic’ are forced to wear, is only one example. The jumpsuits themselves call to mind a prison setting, which only serves to highlight the idea of entrapment for everyone involved.
"The Clinic" is a fantastic horror film that shows just how far people will go to save themselves and their child, how far a person can be pushed to the limit. This is definitely worth a viewing.
Comments
Post a Comment