Films in Theatres and on Netflix...

"The Hallow"
starring: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Michael Smiley, Stuart Graham, Conor Craig Stephens, Charlotte Williams
written and directed by: Corin Hardy

Here's an interesting take on the whole idea of fairies. These fairies are monsters. Stalking a family.

Adam and his family have moved from London to a remote Irish village, where Adam works as a conservationist. Adam's been warned repeatedly not to go into the forest, but he as to for his work. What Adam fails to understand is the forest belong to the Hallow, and every time Adam steps foot in there he's trespassing. Adam and his family are told, in no uncertain terms, that if they trespass against the Hallow, the Hallow will return in kind.

The film starts off with great promise, but eventually falls apart, which was a bit disappointing because I wanted to enjoy it. There's great setting, atmosphere, and a decent amount of build-up/tension.

The Hallow are monstrous, horrible nightmare creatures that prowl about the woods. And when Adam is infected by the Hallow, he begins to turn. Scratches and puncture wounds sprout roots, and his voice drops an octave become more guttural and animalistic.

All this is great stuff, but the Hallow's other influences, like Alien and The Thing (isolated, siege-type movies) are less well developed. I think part of the issue is pacing. The slow, steady build-up gives way to an intense attack and chase sequence that goes on for too long. Painstaking and deliberate camerawork gives way to jump scares and shakycam. Indeed, Adam and his family are isolated, living in an old house in the middle of nowhere, and they are besieged by the Hallow, but an obvious misdirect and a couple of logic problems defuse the tension. Moreover, when Adam and Claire split up, the film splits in two, and the parallel narratives don't really compliment each other.

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"Annihilation"
starring: Natalie Portman, Benedict Wong, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi, Oscar Isaac, John Schwab, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Sammy Hayman, Josh Danford
written and directed by: Alex Garland (novel by: James VanderMeer)

Alex Garland is arguably one of the greatest visionary directors/filmmakers of the 21st century. He wrote "28 Days Later" which was a fresh take on zombies. He wrote "Never Let Me Go" as well as the remake of "Dredd." And then, he astonished with "Ex Machina" which he also directed. Now, he has written and directed a film that leaves you wondering what the hell you just watched and questioning so many things, least of all, if you actually understand anything you just saw, with "Annihilation" (a film you cannot really put into a category).

What looks like a meteor hits a lighthouse in the opening shots of “Annihilation.” Flash forward, we presume, to a woman being interrogated by a man in a hazmat suit. People watch the interrogation through glass and wear protective masks even though they’re not in the same room with her. Who is this woman? Why is everyone treating her like a biohazard?

Flash back, again we presume, to a time before Lena (Natalie Portman) was possibly radioactive. A successful biologist, Lena seems just about ready to get over the grief of her missing husband—who has been gone on a covert mission for a year and presumed KIA—when he walks up the stairs and into her bedroom. Kane (Oscar Isaac) may be home, but there’s a sense immediately that something is wrong. In a quick flashback, Garland shows us a playful, smiling Kane, so we the viewers can sense along with Lena that something is not right with the dead-eyed man in front of her. Garland is brilliant in the way he parcels out information with a quick scene, line, flashback, etc.—giving us just what we need to process and analyze the action in front of us while also staying one step ahead of us, making us eager to catch up. Then Kane starts spitting up blood.

Before long, Lena is brought to a place called the Southern Reach, a research facility a few miles from that lighthouse in the opening shot. On the horizon, near a tree line, she sees what can best be described as a rainbow wall. Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) informs her that it’s called ‘The Shimmer,’ and that they have been investigating it for three years now. Past The Shimmer, no radio signals have returned, and no manned missions have produced a survivor … until her husband. The assumption is that something in there kills people or people go crazy and kill each other. Lena, Dr. Ventress, and three others—tough-talking Anya (Gina Rodriguez), shy Josie (Tessa Thompson), and sweet Cass (Tuva Novotny)—will venture into The Shimmer, get to the lighthouse, and return. Maybe.

What the team enters is NOT an alien planet, but there is an imminent danger. Garland does a masterful job slowly revealing things to the audience while the women walk around within The Shimmer leaving us quite confused by everything. You are disoriented and engaged the entire film, as you try to figure things out.

Most of all, the artistic success of “Annihilation” comes down to the way Garland metes out information visually. He’ll often show us one thing and then subvert it with the next image, which is an ambitious but perfect way to tell a story about duality and corruption. 

This is one of those films that is very hard to discuss because almost every single person might see it differently. It sort of reminded me of something Maynard James Keenan has said about his songs/lyrics to Tool songs (in particular)- he doesn't want to say exactly what they are about to him, instead, he'd rather each listener have their own interpretation. It doesn't help that Garland has also been quoted as saying this film is an interpretation of a dream he had about the novel and that he wanted to create and tell a sci-fi story with an all-female trope.

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"Ready Player One"
starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Philip Zhao, Win Morisaki, Hannah John-Kramen, Ralph Ineson, Susan Lynch, Clare Higgins, Perdita Weeks
written by: Zak Penn and Ernest Cline
directed by: Steven Spielberg

I read this book one summer a few years ago when it first came out and was blown away by the unbelievable storytelling and the forcing of my imagination while I read the book. That is the great thing about books (especially books that are well written), how the story is created piece by piece, character by character, in your head while you're reading. I absolutely loved the inventive storytelling, the pop culture references, the underlying message.

When I heard that Steven Spielberg was adapted it into his latest project, though, I was a bit skeptical, because he tends to take your imagination away and over-simplifies things with technology and special effects. There are good things about all the latest technology, but then, there are movies where you feel like they've ruined the story. Unfortunately, Spielberg's direction and his own "imagination" ruin the story here. He definitely puts his own touch on the story, but he also makes it another typical Hollywood movie.

“Ready Player One” is the story of a rebellion through the lens of a video game protagonist. In 2045, virtual reality has advanced so far that people spend most of their lives in it. The Steve Jobs of this future is named James Halliday (Mark Rylance), and he invented a virtual world called the OASIS, where you can do anything. You can ski the pyramids, hang out in a casino the size of a planet, or climb a mountain with Batman. Hundreds of people spend their time trying to solve a three-part quest left by Halliday in this virtual world before he died. The first person to find Halliday’s three keys wins it all—control of the OASIS.

Of course, if Apple was handing over company control, there would be competitors at the front of the line to snatch it, and there are some big ones in this future too. Former Halliday intern Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) leads a company that's literally designed to find Halliday’s keys. They send players into the game every day to try and snag them, but no one has found even one yet. Until a poor kid named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) starts to figure it out. With the help of his fellow Gunters (Easter Egg Hunters) including Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Aech (Lena Waithe), Wade finally makes some progress in Halliday’s game, and Sorrento will do whatever it takes to stop him. 

It is a film for the video-game generation, because that is exactly how it plays out. All the secondary characters are not given the opportunity or allowance to flesh themselves out, as they are purely there as vehicles for Wade's quest. You are clearly rooting for Wade versus the giant corporation. The "love" story between Wade and Art3mis is very hollow and unnecessary.

This is entertainment at its best as pure escapism. Or, it is entertainment at its worst, forcing itself down your throat.