Drag Me To Hell (2009)

An employee of the lending department in a bank refuses to approve a mortgage for an old woman of Roma descent just to prove her boss she can make harsh decisions and this triggers a series of negative events due to the subsequent curse.

After flirting with other genres, in attempts which are more (see A Simple Plan) or less (the Spiderman series) successful, Sam Raimi returns to the genre that launched and forever propelled him into the cult authors category. With his taste for gore pushed to the extreme to almost bad taste, yet so brilliantly combined with irony and dry humour that you manage to forget and dismiss that (or not, but you still love it: D), with well-dosed and unexpected suspense, with grotesque and somewhat caricaturistic fantastic elements, brought to life through special effects that might seem a bit rudimentary but are not just because they come hand in hand with the said irony and are part of what the appeal is, Sam Raimi made use of his strongest weapons and managed to deliver a horror-comedy worthy of his reputation. I'm looking forward to The Evil Dead in 2010 now that I see that he has returned to his old self.

As for the performers: Justin Long is a regular in the comic genre, although here he is more of a background character, but what I find more surprising is the choice of Alison Lohman as the main character and her agreement to appear in such a role, which is not always flattering and is quite a risky one.  However it proved to be a winning ticket, because she played her part honourably.

Direction: Sam Raimi

Writing: Sam and Ivan Raimi

Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Adriana Barraza

This is the translation of an older post, see it here

Venom (2018)

A failed journalist comes into contact with an alien life form that can survive on Earth only if it manages to establish symbiosis with a compatible host. Eddie is of course the perfect host and incredible adventures begin for him.

This film has had many negative reviews and I honestly do not know why. The CGI is well developed, there are fantastic heroes and enemies, and Tom Hardy delivers a delightful performance in portraying a neurotic possessed by a superpowered entity. Even if only this last point is taken into consideration, the film deserves more attention and praise. It's fun, funny now and then and visually impressive. Plot holes have been seen before and did not bother anyone then.

Venom (2018)

Un jurnalist ratat ajunge in contact cu o forma de viata extraterestra care poate supravietui pe Pamant doar daca reuseste sa stabileasca simbioza cu o gazda compatibila. Eddie este desigur gazda perfecta si aventuri incredibile incep pentru el.

Acest film a avut parte de nenumarate critici negative si sincer nu stiu de ce. CGI-ul e bine pus la punct, exista eroi si dusmani fantastici, iar Tom Hardy ofera un spectacol delicios in portretizarea unui nevrotic posedat de o entitate cu superputeri. Doar acest ultim punct luat in considerare si filmul merita mai multa atentie si lauda. Este fun, funny din cand in cand, si impresionant vizual. Intriga cu ceva gauri s-a mai vazut si nu a mai deranjat pe nimeni. 

Regia: Ruben Fleischer

Cu: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

Also read in English

Time Lapse (2014)

Three friends discover a camera that photographs the same window every day, 24 hours in the future and decide to use it for personal advantage.

Low budget film, quite interesting, in the style of Primer trying to emphasize the human aspect of the consequences of trying to control time. The characters become greedier and more paranoid by the minute without actually having a strong enough reason, for the sole reason that the most recent picture taken shows them in a particularly intriguing circumstance. The cause becomes the effect and vice versa. The actors manage to make the transitions as credible as possible and the screenwriters manage to introduce some unexpected surprises. The film shows very little science and a lot of human weakness.

The ending reminds me of the common confusion during daylight saving time, when your mind can't adjust properly and you can't decide whether you need to wake up earlier or later.

Directed by: Bradley King
Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn

Rating: 8/10

Time lapse (2014)

Trei prieteni descoperă o cameră foto care fotografiază aceeași fereastră zi de zi 24 de ore în viitor și hotărăsc să o folosească pentru avantaje personale.

Film de buget redus, interesant, in stilul lui Primer care încearcă să pună accent pe partea umană a consecințelor încercării de a controla timpul. Personajele devin tot mai lacome și paranoice fără un motiv de ajuns de puternic, doar pentru ca fotografia cea mai curenta îi arată într-o anume circumstanță intrigantă. Cauza devine efectul si viceversa. Actorii reușesc să facă tranzițiile cât de cât credibile si scenariștii reușesc să introducă și surprize neașteptate. Foarte puțină știință, multă slabiciune umană. 

Finalul îmi amintește de confuzia comună din ziua cu schimbarea orei, când nu poți judeca dacă consecința e că te trezești mai devreme sau mai târziu.

Regia: Bradley King

Cu: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn

Rating: 8/10

Also read in English

Winchester (2018)

Un doctor blazat este însărcinat cu diagnosticarea capului companiei ce produce arma Winchester, act necesar pentru a face posibilă preluarea puterii de către asociații acesteia. Pretextul folosit este ciudatul obicei al doamnei în cauza de a construi într-una noi camere în casa sa, camere ce nu urmează prea des normele vremii.

Interesant până la un punct, și asta deoarece Sarah Winchester a existat cu adevarat, și pare-se a fost pasionată de arhitectură în așa fel încât și-a folosit propria casă pentru experimente arhitecturale, experimente pe care le abandona fără a le demola oricând o idee nouă o pasiona și necesita o alta schimbare.

Între timp moștenitorii ei au schimbat narațiunea încercând sa facă bani din povestea ei transformând casa rezultată într-o așa zisă casă bântuită. Lucru la fel de tras de păr ca și filmul de față. 

Helen Mirren apare într-un rol slab și neverosimil, ceva ce nu prea o caracterizează. Singura persoana care se simte ca acasă este Sarah Snook, deja veterană a genului, aici în rolul firavei (sau nu?) nepoatei mamă. 

Slăbuț, neconvingător, încearcă să sperie prin clișee horror.

Poate fi potrivit pentru maratoane horror cu un grup de prieteni care adoră să râdă împreună.
Pe Sarah Snook ați văzut-o în Jesabelle, Predestination și Black Mirror

Regia: Michael și Peter Spierig

Cu: Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Jason Clarke

Rating: 5/10

Also read in English

Den brysomme mannen/ The Bothersome Man (2006)

A man has doubts and asks too many questions in a town/world where everyone else seems weirdly happy and content.

An aggressive look into the mirror of today's consumer society. Obsessed with being fit, fashion trends, showing off the marks of one's socially achieved/desired level, people tend to bypass the pleasure of simple things, they take shortcuts to what's easily accessible, avoid what's not trendy, and they implicitly educate their senses in such a way that they can only detect and react to that which has society's stamp of approval.
This amplified tendency leads to the numbness of real senses and of deep feelings to such an extent that it gives the superficial impression of real happiness and of reaching Nirvana - a thing that could not be more false, a fact of which the main character seems well aware from the start, at first in a shy and doubtful way, reacting to the cold and tasteless surrounding reality with a feeling of some sort of alienation from what he sees around and does not recognise, mixed in with a fear of rejection.
However he gradually becomes more and more convinced that the alienation was in the opposite direction, and the rejection came from him, directed at the unrealistic, plastic and unimpressive society.
The so called awakening happens in a brutal, but actually natural way nevertheless when comparing the lack of a meaningful reaction to anything which characterises this so called society to the aggravated and urgent desire to reach the world of real experiences, whether that's the taste of a simple pie in the oven or the terrible stings of frost. That desire is ever so strong even as that world is barely perceivable through a small and insignificant ... crack in the wall, a mere symbol of the flaw that was so difficult to detect in that which seemed perfect to everyone else.

This is a translation of an older post, see it here