Midnight Special: Sunset Boulevard

'I am BIG; it's the pictures that got small.'

Sunset Boulevard marks my first venture into Billy Wilder's work since I've heard from many film fans of his reputation. The film also written by Wilder had players like Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim. It tells the story of an aging film star of the silent era; Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) who forms an uneasy relationship with a desperate screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden), Desmond is looking to make a comeback in the film industry and asks Gillis to re-write the script of her comeback feature. Gillis, desperate for money and a break reluctantly accepts and soon becomes Desmond's confidant and kept man but when he starts seeing one of Paramount's readers she becomes jealous and paranoid. Erich von Stroheim plays Desmond's former husband Max von Mayerling who returned to her to become her butler who still sends her fan letters to make her believe she still has fans. This was very well-made for a film of it's time, and I put it up there with In A Lonely Place as one of those films where the studio took a chance on making a film that doesn't sugar coat the flaws of its characters or their actions. This is easily one of older Hollywood films that have made it's way to my top 100 films of all time.

Review: Parasite

A comedy of errors you say?

It's been a long time since we've had a film as well crafted, engaging, darkly hilarious and meticulous as Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho and even won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of the Kim family who's misfortunes take a sudden turn for the better when a friend of family's son Min (Park Seo-joon) pays the family an unannounced visit and gifts them a large rock that is said to grant material wealth to families before breaking the news to his friend Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) that he will be studying abroad and suggest that Ki-woo take over his job as an English tutor to the daughter of the wealthy Park family. Ki-woo reluctantly accepts despite not having studied at university, he forges his academic records before arriving at the Park residence for the interview. When Mrs. Park (Cho Yeo-jung) says she doesn't need any documents since Ki-woo was already recommended by Min in the first place she asks to observe he's teaching style while she observes. On his way out of the house and approved as her daughter Da-hye's (Jung Ji-so) new tutor she shows Ki-woo a painting by her young son Da-song (Jung Hyun-joon), it turns out that Mrs. Park is also in search of an art tutor for Da-song and Ki-woo tells her that he knows of an art tutor 'Jessica' who was a classmate of his cousin and can get children into good art schools. The next day, 'Jessica' arrives in the form of Ki-jung (Park So-dam), Ki-woo's sister. Soon, the Kims hatch a plan to get the other members of the household staff fired and replacing them with their parents.

Review: Midsommar

Dani! May Queen!

Midsommar is the latest film by director Ari Aster who gained everyone's attention in 2017's Hereditary and produced once again by A24. The film tells the story of a young American couple who are on the brink of a break-up but remains together when Dani (Florence Pugh) suffers the loss of her parents and her sister's suicide. Christian (Jack Reynor), Dani's boyfriend and anthropology student decides to go on a trip to Sweden with his friends Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren), Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter) where Pelle's small commune is about to hold their once-in-a-lifetime fabled mid-summer festival. The idyllic summer getaway takes a turn for the worse when the festival increasingly becomes violent and disturbing. Whenever we speak of horror we immediately think of supernatural forces attacking us from the outside like Hereditary which Aster says is absolutely a horror but in the Midsommar trailers we are led to believe that the terror lies within the Hårga cult that lives in the rural Swedish village but once we view the film, the real horror is Dani and Christian's relationship. Dani often worries herself about what Christian thinks or that's she's leaning too much on him when he never really showed any vulnerability in their relationship, predictably it's Dani who apologizes to her boyfriend for the most part while Christian uses their relationship as an excuse as to why he doesn't have his anthropology thesis set in stone.

Western Wednesday: Sweetwater

Originally titled 'Sheriff  Jackson'.

Sweetwater may feel like a senseless, pointless movie for many film fans but it's a refreshing western due to the main characters and the actors playing them. The film starring January Jones, Ed Harris and Jason Isaacs was directed by Logan Miller and Noah Miller (who went uncredited). Sweetwater tells the story of three different characters in Sarah a former prostitute who is now married to Miguel (Eduardo Noriega) and runs a farm with him while trying to live a normal life, there's Cornelius Jackson a lawman in search of two men, brothers who went missing, and then there's Prophet Josiah the sadistic leader or a religious sect. The three later collide in a blood triangle in the rugged plains of New Mexico. The film was based on a story by Andrew McKenzie and was sent to the Millers via their Touching Home DVD distributor and were later hired to re-write the script. Sweetwater, originally titled Sheriff Jackson has the makings of a cult classic and even though the film might be dodgy at times for some viewers due to its tone, it's nonetheless entertaining and worth watching for anyone who's a fan of westerns that are under the radar. That being said it's not a perfect film by any means, but the Miller twins are capable filmmakers in their own right and also appear uncredited as the two missing brothers.

Review: Ad Astra

I'm pretty sure 20th Century Fox could come up with a better poster.

Ad Astra is the latest space drama to hit the big screens this year. Directed by James Gray starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and Liv Tyler while also produced by Brad Pitt and his own production company Plan B. In the near future, a devastating power surge strikes the Solar System, threatening all human life. After surviving an incident caused by what the public now calls 'The Surge' Maj. Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is informed of the situation and that the source that caused the surges have been traced back to the Lima Project base. Roy is the son of famed pioneering astronaut Dr. H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), head of the Lima Project who was tasked twenty-six years prior with finding intelligent life form in the outer reaches of space and who's disappeared along with the members of the Lima Project sixteen years into the mission. Roy is told that his father may still be alive and is tasked with a mission to travel to Mars and to try and establish communication with him. Unsure of what to do when he finally faces his father, Roy  accepts the mission and is briefly accompanied by his father’s old colleague Col. Pruitt (Donald Sutherland).

Western Wednesday: Death Rides a Horse

Death Rides a Horse was among the westerns I've been looking forward to watch for quite some time now, it was directed by Giulio Petroni and starred western icon Lee Van Cleef and John Philip Law. The film tells the story of a young man who's family got murdered by a gang of outlaws on a rainy night fifteen years ago. Now an adult, Bill (John Philip Law) seeks to take vengeance on the men who killed them and cross paths with an outlaw named Ryan (Lee Van Cleef) who's just gotten out of jail after fifteen years of incarceration.

Review: Paradise PD (Season 1)

Paradise PD is a new animated series on Netflix, set in the fictional city of Paradise and focuses on it's police department which doesn't have the manpower to stop crime. The first season concentrates on Kevin, a young man who looks up to his policeman father Randall who understandably hates him for shooting off both his testicles when he was younger, Kevin always dreamed of becoming a cop and applies to become one and because of the lack of personnel his father reluctantly accepts his application. Kevin then begins a long investigation on the drug king pin who is distributing 'argyle meth' which doesn't get it's own resolution until the 10th and final episode, and even so it even gives us something to look forward to.

Western Wednesday: Warlock (Spoilers)

Warlock was directed by Edward Dmytryk and starred Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda Anthony Quinn and Deforest Kelley. First I have to say that I've heard of this film often mentioned while I was searching for westerns to watch earlier in the year and finally decided to sit down and watch the film on a Sunday afternoon.

Review: Ready or Not

Ready or Not is probably one of the most fun and entertaining gore films I've ever seen, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and starring Samara Weaving, Adam Brody and Andie McDowell. It tells the story of Grace (Samara Weaving), a woman who marries Alex (Mark O'Brien) and becomes the latest addition to the rich Le Domas family who made their fortune out of board/card games, but before she officially becomes part of the family she must participate in their tradition of playing a game at midnight. Tony (Henry Czerny), the patriarch of the family tells the story of their great-grandfather Victor Le Domas who made a deal with a Mr. Le Bail (who is like the devil figure in the story), who promises to help create fortune for the family if Victor establishes the tradition. Grace draws a 'hide and seek' card and believes for the game to be harmless, the family (minus Alex) then arm themselves with weapons and firearms to hunt her down within the house.

Review: Call Me By Your Name

Call Me By Your Name is based on a book of the same name by André Aciman and was directed by Luca Guadagnino starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. Set in 1983 in Northern Italy, it tells the story of 17-year old Elio Perlman who is on summer holiday with his family when they take in a doctorate student, Oliver who is working as an intern for his father.

Midnight Special: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Welcome to my first entry to a series of posts I call Midnight Special, this series will be exclusively reserved for films that I recommend viewing during midnight and they will likely be films that are shot in black and white. I have come across this film many times but never really thought to actually go and see it for myself but it wasn't until I was casually obsessing over its composer Bernard Hermann when I finally pushed myself to sit down and watch and I was so happy that I did!