November 2023 – MOVIESMARKUS

Passages

Posted on November 24, 2023 by moviesmarkus

One of more beautifully shot films of the year (one of those where every frame could be a painting), filmmaker Ira Sachs builds a story centered around a narcissistic filmmaker named Tomas (Franz Rodowski) who is married to Martin (Ben Whishaw) before impulsively sleeping with and then falling in love with a woman named Agathe (Adéle Exarchopoulos).

With a premise like this, Passages could’ve quickly turned into a film focusing all of its attention on the idea of sexual fluidity in a less than charitable way. But early on Sachs establishes his story as entirely a character study of a narcissistic individual and those he chooses as his partners. While there are many well filmed sex scenes, nothing in this is sensationalized or in poor taste in a way one may suspect from the premise. Sachs does well to establish every moment of every sex sequence as solely an extension of Tomas’ larger manipulation. Furthermore, the world established contains only brief mentions of labels such as gay, straight, bisexual, husband, girlfriend, etc. The idea behind this (coupled with an absolutely enchanting performance from Rodowski) appears as a deliberate way of devaluing established ideas about what constitutes a relationship, as well as continuing to keep the focus not on the sex itself, but on seducing one into spending ninety-six minutes with a curiously destructive man-child protagonist.

The issue with constructing a movie in this manner with a character this unlikable as the focus, may unfortunately mean that some will find Tomas so intolerable that they may not make it through the full runtime. While others may simply find disappointment in a film that is lacking a level of exploitation the premise may have alluded to.

Final Thought: Sachs knows how to present his unpleasant protagonist in a way that while we may never outwardly sympathize with him and may downright detest his abusive tactics, it is difficult not to find Tomas fascinating to the point of attractive. This balance is the most interesting thing Passages has to offer.

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Movie Review

When Evil Lurks

Posted on November 24, 2023November 25, 2023 by moviesmarkus

This Argentinian horror written and directed by Demián Rugna has been touted by some as one of the best horror movies of 2023, for reasons I don’t fully understand.

When Evil Lurks tells the story of two brothers living in a remote village who find themselves having to stop the spread of a demon who has possessed a local man. The man has been infected by said demon for so long his body is distended and morphed into a bloated mass of boils and puss. It is discovered that the demon spreads like a virus if shot (or killed improperly?). As the story moves forward, we find that at times both humans and animals can become contaminated by merely coming in contact with an infected person or someone who has been around an infected person. For example, at one point a dog becomes possessed by simply sniffing the clothing of someone who came in contact with a possessed person. Yeah, the rules here are a little murky, and because of this the rules are explained and reestablished throughout the movie up until the very end. And even then, I feel like I needed more time with these people in order to fully understand the lore behind a form of possession which was new to me, but that so many of the townsfolk seem to have extensive knowledge on.

The hysterical delivery/nature of this movie is confusing as well, as this is not a comedy. I caught myself laughing at scenes that in retrospect I don’t believe are played for laughs. This has something to do with the smattering of telenovela-level acting within the film, but also, I can only imagine how much better this movie could’ve been as a dark comedy. Rugna’s decision to play this entire thing straight allows for many visuals (specifically the vomit and snot eruption sequences) to come off as confusing.

That said, I have to believe the primary draw of this film are the kills and the scares, because all of that stuff is quite good. The setups may not be the greatest, but the actual point of impact is consistently gasp-inducing. As a horror film, there are things to admire here. It’s the in-between moments that only serve as a distraction from the director getting to show off.

Final Thought: Watch this for the visuals, I guess. Again, there are many superbly designed horror sequences, with some wonderful use of practical effects. If you are into horror visuals specifically, Rugna is as talented and creative as they come. It’s simply difficult not to become increasingly disinterested in a plot that becomes more cumbersome over time. And paired with its tonal issues, When Evil Lurks is an overall disappointment due to how intriguing the setup was.

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Movie Review

The Nun II

Posted on November 24, 2023 by moviesmarkus

In a continuation of the first movie, the demon nun is back and she has so many more dark hallways and corners to emerge from.

Unsurprisingly The Nun II (directed by Michael Chaves) isn’t scary as much as it is repetitive. The bulk of this movie we spend watching characters stand still in dimly lit areas, patiently waiting as the Nun performs long-winded reveals and loud bangy “scares”.

There are a couple of cool kills and the final thirty minutes is thankfully a bit bonkers, including the appearance of a devil-goat-demon thing who runs super-fast (clearly the best thing in the film). And if you can get to that point, it will be enough to carry you to the finish line, as the story itself doesn’t matter at all. But what did I expect from one of the weakest spin-offs in the Conjuring cinematic universe?

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Movie Review

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2023 by moviesmarkus

Known more for his torture porn aesthetic than for making traditional slasher films, I went in fingers crossed that filmmaker Eli Roth (Hostel, The Green Inferno) would present a movie of the latter and not containing as much of the former. And honestly, Thanksgiving isn’t as gory as I expected. It’s also shockingly underwhelming and simply not as fun as it needed to be.

Synopsis: A year after a Black Friday trampling incident/riot, the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts is terrorized by someone in a pilgrim mask, seeking revenge.

It’s technically a feature length version of a fictitious trailer Roth created for the 2007 movie “Grindhouse”. So, hoping for something full of over-the-top B-movie slasher camp shouldn’t have been out of the question. But Roth is simply the wrong director to make this work in any kind of memorable way. Sure, there are over-the-top kills, but Thanksgiving never leans into this aspect as much as it could’ve. Instead putting more emphasis on a story that had potential, but ends up being your standard “killer comes to town, bumps off citizens one by one until the mask comes off and the killer is revealed” movie you could watch at home.

Side Note: I do enjoy Rick Hoffman (Suits, Hostel) as an actor. He just gets nothing to do here. And nobody else gives a performance worth talking about, so let’s get back to the review.

Another thing Roth is known for is his clunky dialogue. And his constant attempts at humor. I laughed once. Lazily, most of the humor centers around the use of New England accents, which is funny for all of ten minutes. The lack of funny moments could’ve been forgiven if the movie was at all scary, or fun or held a semblance of anything that would allow the impact of Thanksgiving to be remembered after the credits rolled.

Final Thought: I’m in no way a Roth fan (if you couldn’t tell), but I know he can deliver a better product than this. On the other hand, who cares. Let’s focus on the violence. Is this the violent gorefest the trailers promise? Again, it’s not as gory as I expected, but what Roth does well he does well here. That is, every sequence of practical effects works in the way they were intended. Most of the kill sequences elicit a visceral response. Every time someone’s head explodes on impact or someone’s intestines lie hanging from their stomach, it’s engaging in a way Roth clearly understands. Unfortunately, there isn’t nearly enough of that stuff to make up for the one-note comedy, dull characters and a script which I liken to an unseasoned Thanksgiving feast.

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