Independent Films and Such

"Downloading Nancy"

starring: Jason Patric, Maria Bello, Rufus Sewell, Amy Brennan, Michael Nyqvist
directed by: Johan Renck

This deeply dark and torturous indie film is an actor's favorite because it explores the depths of the human psyche. It's an excruciating film, though, as you travel down the rabbit hole of s/m sexual pleasure and release with Nancy, although she is not even attempting to learn anything or change who she is. She craves torture, sex, and death at the beginning of the film and none of that changes, as she never really matures given the circumstances she finds herself in throughout the film. When you think someone's dark journey will have them come out a different, changed person, you are sorely disappointed with Nancy's lack of growth or changed mindset. She ultimately wants release and relief from her drab life (which she seems to be the only reason for, by the way, so she comes off rather unsympathetic to the viewer).

Nancy meets a stranger in an s/m chat room online named Louis "Deep Pain" Farley (Patric) who has promised her all the torture and sex release she is yearning for. So, off she goes, leaving her husband and their loveless marriage (of 15 years) with a simple note that says she's staying with friends in Baltimore. She meets up with Louis at a bus or train station and we are then taken to experience their brutal sexual transactions until Louis ultimately wants to back out of his promise to kill her when she asks for it (finally- even having brought him along to purchase her dress for the final occasion), because Louis falls in love with her. Ah, isn't that always the case for us poor guys!

But, nothing will get in the way of Nancy's dream death, least of all, love. She thinks she's unworthy of it. She thinks she's incapable of feeling it, ever again. There is obviously something deep-seeded within Nancy, something dark from her past that has made her believe all of this about herself. Everything about her screams, abused.

The film is ultimately carried by the three actors who carried out the complex stories in harsh portrayals and performances of people deeply tortured by themselves, people who cannot seem to escape their worst enemies- themselves. But, the question is why subject an audience to this kind of pain? What is the filmmaker's goal? Who knows.

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"Insidious: Chapter 2"
starring: Rose Bryne, Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Steve Coulter, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Hank Harris, Jocelin Donahue, Lindsay Seim, Tyler Griffin, Garrett Ryan
written and directed by: James Wan (and Leigh Whannell)

Perhaps we can forgive the dynamic filmmaking duo of Wan and Whannell for their original ideas (re: "Saw," "Insidious" and "The Conjuring") which have spawned many sequels that are seemingly unnecessary and made for the sole purpose of cashing in on a good thing and just "take my money" ways. They can certainly be credited with the resurgence of the goregasm films like "Saw" and the "gotcha!" horror films (re: "Insidious" and "The Conjuring"). But, much like Oren Peli's "Paranormal Activity" we are left to ask "why? why more and more of the same thing?"

 Insidious: Chapter 2 is all smoke and mirrors – with a confusing paucity of the shadows therein. It's effective at times, but utterly overbusy, setting up plot points for future films and tripping daisies over an afterlife which is, at best, difficult to decipher.

Speaking of which, Wilson, Byrne, and Simpkins return as the haunted Lambert family. Whannell and Sampson also crop back up, to comic effect, as paranormal investigators Specs and Tucker. And Barbara Hershey, channeling the recently departed horror icon Karen Black, re-manifests as well. Hershey is the most thrilling, human thing about this film. 

An evil spirit from that realm has now possessed Josh and is causing him to physically decay, lazily denoted by a few of his teeth falling out. In less of a nod than a flat-out rip-off of The Shining, the affliction can only be cured by the wholesale slaughter of Josh's family, as his own soul is stuck wandering the afterlife. Ghost hunters Tucker and Specs (Angus Sampson and screenwriter Leigh Whannell) are still on the case, studying the origins of this evil spirit with help from Josh's mother (Barbara Hershey) and Carl (Steve Coulter), an erstwhile colleague of quasi-exorcist Elise (Lin Shaye), but their doings stir up only pedestrian scares.

Though the title suggests a continuation, Chapter 2 is mostly backstory, an elongated succession of derivative explanatory nonsense that allows for a host of familiar set pieces and tired gags. Wan's influences have always been pretty clear, but they've been delivered in a hearty hash of genre know-how, some more obscure choices mixed nicely with the more recognizable touchstones. Here, Wan goes strictly name-brand, mashing up Psycho and The Shining into a dull narrative slop that derives nearly all its scares from its audio design rather than visual invention. The great sense of anxiety and motion that Wan masterfully built to a boil in Insidious now seem like nothing more than means to an end.

The backstory seems to serve only as a vehicle to showcase Jocelin Donahue and expose her to a more mainstream audience. I love her in the indie films I've seen her in, recently (look back at my other reviews). And Rose Bryne has proven a solid actress thanks in large part to her role opposite Glenn Close in FX's "Damages," and here she knows how to play a scream queen, but I want her to explore other avenues like her recent stints in comedy like "Neighbors."

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"Autumn Blood"
starring: Sophie Lowe, Peter Stormare, Maximilian Harnisch, Annica McCrudden, Gustaf Skarsgard, Samuel Vauramo, George Lenz
written and directed by: Markus Blunder (with Stephen T. Barton)

This is actually quite an incredible film, in that it accomplishes so much even though the characters speak very minimally. In fact, there is no dialogue for the first 40 minutes of the film. Instead, the viewer is treated to the Austrian mountain range scenery, facial expressions and body language relying anything that would otherwise need to be said. For the first-time director, this is a bold statement kind of film, because it sets the bar rather high for him (Markus Blunder). This is a revenge film, with a strong female as the lead character, and played by Sophie Lowe, you can really sense that she is a stellar actress (given that her only dialogue is crying and pleading with her vicious stalkers to leave her and her younger brother alone). As "The Girl," Sophie Lowe owns this film and almost takes the accolades away from the cinematographer and and director. The revenge she sets out upon is really brought up after she is brutally raped by several tough-looking villagers who seem to work under the table for the mayor, who himself is a shady character, running the town.

The plot is really as follows, simply:
A family of four live high in the mountains near a small village. The film opens with the father being shot dead and now the mother is left to raise the girl and very young boy on her own. A few years pass, and while the girl is laying in the sun nude after a swim, one of the local men out hunting (The Hunter) sees the girl and brutally rapes her. The mother dies and the kids are now on their own but two friends of the hunter and he decide to visit the girl again, where she's subjected to another attack. After the postman sees the state the girl is in, the social work are contacted and when the rapists find this out they decide to cover their tracks by killing the boy and girl.

The film quickly becomes an interesting game of cat and mouse, where the three men paid by the Mayor are the cats and the two kids (brother and sister) are the mice. The game takes place in the Austrian mountains, since the kids live in a rural house/farm by themselves after their parents die. There is a social worker looking for the kids as well, which really propels the cat and mouse game. The third act of the film kind of happens in more of a "let's wrap things up" kind of way, as opposed to a more exciting approach, especially given the terror of the hunt and chase the two kids just endured, which we witnessed.

The silence throughout the film really becomes a character in and of itself, as well as an effective way to set the tone for the entire film. It plays into everything we see and witness. The rape and violence is terrible to watch, of course, but it is also done in a cinematic way that isn't cheap or degrading, like several other films I've watched.

This is definitely a film to watch and pay attention to, especially at the beginning, because of the connection between the father's death and the young girl and the Mayor. It all comes together nicely at the end.
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"Curse of Chucky"
starring: Chantal Quesnelle, Fiona Dourif, Jordan Gavaris, Danielle Bisutti, A. Martinez, Maitland McConnell, Brennan Elliott, Summer A. Howell, Adam Hurtig, Brad Dourif
written and directed by: Don Mancini

Like many horror franchises that begin with the intent of continuing with several/many unnecessary sequels, here we have "The Curse of Chucky," the latest installment in the "Child's Play" franchise that wore its welcome out rather quickly, perhaps I'm a little bias because I hate puppets/dolls of any kind, but for some reason can absolutely make it through any of these films solely because of how ridiculous they are; but that's also what makes them "fun" to watch. You also have to go into them with low expectations and standards and want to solely be entertained as much as any cheesy horror films can entertain.

I guess the interesting factors in this addition is that the original creator, writer, and director of the "Chucky"- Don Mancini- is back, directing only for the second time ("Seed of Chucky" is first attempt, which starred Jennifer Tilly and was every bit cheesy as you could possibly imagine). He brought back Brad Dourif (who was the original voice of Chucky) and even gives him some acting experience in flashback scenes that help explain Chucky's origins. Brad Dourif's daughter, Fiona, actually plays the lead character, Nica (a young woman in a wheelchair that has a connection to Chucky which is revealed to us).

It certainly has its horror film faults, like poor attempts to startle the viewer, and killings that are creative but also rather WTF-inducing. The acting is as good as could be expected and the technology of CGI and animatronics has obviously gotten much better over the decades from when the first film was released. There's also some great one-liners and the writer/director knows how to laugh at his own work.

If you really need to know the plot, here it is.

The premise: Chucky arrives at a house by Fedex (possibly delivered by Jordan Gavaris from Orphan Black), where mother and wheelchair-bound Nica live alone. Chucky murders the mother, and now Nica's sister Barb, along with husband Ian and daughter Andy come to stay for a while. With them is a priest and also Andy's babysitter, Jill (played by the sexy Maitland McConnell). Ian has an eye on Jill, which leads to an interesting scenario. The priest is the first to die, (by inventive decapitation), but the rest quickly follow, as Chucky has a night of mayhem (and no one realises they can simply kick Chucky out of the way at almost any point). We get to see Brad play Charles Lee Ray, as he originally was, during an excellent flashback scene. The finale sets us up perfectly for the next installment in the Child's Play franchise.

I guess the question is, does the world really need another film.
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"The Girl is in Trouble"
starring: Columbus Short, Wilmer Valderrama, Alicja Bachleda, Jesse Spencer, Paz de la Huerta
written and directed by: Julius Onah

I was intrigued by the fact that this was a film produced by Spike Lee, when it appeared on Netflix that I decided to take the hour and a half it took to watch it. It's an interesting new take of the film noir genre that explores another underbelly of New York. It's a stylistic film in how the director chose to present the story, but unfortunately it lacks substance to really connect with the audience and draw you in for long enough to be interested and intrigued by the story.

August (Columbus Short) is a down-on-his-luck DJ, desperately in need of a job after a series of circumstances have led to his recent unemployment. His sleep is interrupted late one night by a beautiful, Swedish chanteuse, Signe (Alicja Bachleda), wandering around New York in slippers and an ill-fitting shirt. She’s been turned away by her ex-boyfriend, who throws her guitar out at her, along with several other friends and acquaintances it seems Signe has been rather short with. August is the first person she can reach, and he agrees to meet her at the bar, seemingly not too put off by her shoddy attire. She needs a place to stay; he agrees to let her crash. They have sex; he wakes up and finds her rifling through his wallet. Confronting her, he grabs her phone and accidentally sees footage of a drug dealer, Jesus (Kareem Savinon), being smothered to death by a billionaire’s son, Nicholas (Jesse Spencer). It turns out August knows Jesus, which explains why Jesus’ vengeful brother, Angel (Wilmer Vilderrama) is suddenly knocking on August’s door, in search of his brother.

The lead actor, Columbus Short, is apparently on "Scandal" and the rest of the main cast has a fixture in television as well. Wilmer Vilderrama is perhaps most recognizable since he played Fez on "That 70s Show," but there's also the main actress, Alicja Bachleda, who is a Polish actress and is supposed to be the reason you are intrigued into the story, because she is "the girl in trouble" (named Signe) that connects with August for a one-night stand that turns into something more of a girl-in-distress, help-me kind of thing that drives the rest of the film. The trouble here is the Alicja is playing a Swedish singer-in-distress but she doesn't really succeed in exuding what the film's story is asking for. The reason she's on the run is that she has some incriminating evidence of a murder she witnessed on her cell phone, which the perpetrators are after, in order to erase. Nothing about the story is compelling enough to really garner your attention for very long and the characters are rather one dimensional.