Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - Blu-ray Review

Review:

*Originally written September 5th, 2018*

Well, that was disappointing. I'm seeing glowing reviews all over the place for this thing and I just left it feeling cold and disgusted (Which I assume was the intention. As is far from an easy watch). Salo has a reputation as one of the most horrific and grotesque films ever made, and while this is probably true, I found myself mostly just bored and disinterested most of the time. I might just be so desensitised to content like this, but aside from a few moments, I found it kinda... tame?

I'm just having trouble trying to wrap my head around this. The story is so thread bare. A group of 18 teenagers (9 girls, 9 boys) are kidnapped by some rich Italians and force into 120 days of extreme sexual torture and humiliation during World War 2. It's nasty and unpleasant, but it lacks any kind of lead or anyone to hold on to. None of the characters are anything. I can't even remember a single name (If they even did get named).

I give it props for its experimentation and willingness to push boundaries. It's just whatever the film was going for was completely lost on me. I get that fascism is evil. It's at least beautifully shot and filled with great production design. This film has really broken me, even with the forgettable characters, the performances are universally awful. The bad guys are all so over the top and cartoony, although the look of them has an unsettling edge to them.


I don't know, it was Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Experimental art-house horror from Italy that did so little for me. I appreciate it you do like this but, for the experience was lost on me. Will probably revisit at some point.... I am glad I watched this though. It's still interesting to see films that push boundaries and what not, even with how tame I felt it was by today's standards.

2/10 Dans

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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The Florida Project (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 24th, 2017*

"Reality"

I keep saying 2017 might be the strongest year of cinema I've ever lived in. I was born in 1996, so make of that what you will. Films like this are what make me love film. This is pure cinema. The Florida Project is something so special that has come out of nowhere for me. I got to see it at Odeon's monthly or so "Unseen" even where they give you a preview of a film coming out without telling you what it is. I had no clue about this film. I'd heard some festival buzz and that Willem Dafoe was in it, but that's it. I haven't even seen the director's previous film 'Tangerine', but I need to now.

I was floored by this. A dark, sweet and sad film about a group of different people living in a motel on the outskirts of Disneyland Florida. It's like a peek into what they don't want you see around a place that is meant to be magical and child friendly. It all feels so real. Nothing about this felt Hollywood or fake. This could have been a documentary for all I know if it weren't for Willem Dafoe and another actor I recognised (I'm talking about Caleb Jones and his vitamin C deficiency). 

Not that Willem Dafoe wasn't fantastic in this, but he is outshined by non-actors, which is a compliment. Every performance is insanely good. Even the goods, who feel like real kids. Not the usual Richard Curtis bullshit where kids talk like adults and understand things they wouldn't in real life. They're incoherent, confused and easily pleased, but know when something is wrong, making for some of the most heartbreaking moments I've seen in cinema this year.

For a first time actress, Bria Vinaite was a goddamn revelation as Halley, the mother of Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a woman who goes to desperate attempts to provide for her daughter and keep her living in the motel for the Summer. It's a performance of incredible complexion for a first time actress, there is so much depth to her character and performance, I couldn't believe this is the first time she's been on a screen. I can't wait to see her career progression after this.

In many ways this reminded me last years American Honey (Which is also excellent and worth checking out). This is a film I imagine mainstream audiences shrugging off as "Boring" or "Nothing happens", which is fair enough. There's not so much plot, it's more about just watching these people live, living and breathing their world and watching their struggles. Which for me, was so compelling and beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, this is a gorgeous film. I cannot express how much I loved the colour scheme of the faux brightly coloured motel as the backdrop to so much poverty and desperation. Alexis Zabe did an incredible job with the cinematography, there were so many beautiful images that it was impossible to take in on a first watch. That firework scene? I need more of that in my life.

The only big question mark I had about The Florida Project was the ending. Which is up to interpretation for sure, but sadly I was with a jerk-off audience that laughed out loud and verbally shouted "Was that it" when it ended. For me, the ending was beautiful, a piece of a escapism fantasy that could have only been in the mind of a child who was facing the hardest moment of her life. I'd say the change of cinematic technique was a bit jarring and off, but on reflection, the way the scene was presented, so different from the rest of the film, it had to be fantasy. Everything leading up to it though was some of the most brutal and hard hitting things I've seen.


I loved The Florida Project. It's not a film that will show wide, but if you can seek it out and you're open to indie and art-house films, then this will be an endlessly rewarding experience that's equal parts sweet and endearing as it was heartbreaking. Pure cinema. Give me more Sean Baker.

10/10 Dans

The Florida Project opens November 10th in UK cinemas
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 25th, 2017*

"What a trip"

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas isn't a film, it's a trip. In a way, it's pure cinema. Pure unfiltered insanity into the worst place in America. There's no real story, but that's the point. Raoul and Gonzo are just our portal into this world of depravity and filth. You just gotta take a deep breath and take this all in. It's chaotic, messy and disorganised. Like a real drug trip. 

Hunter S. Thompson is an infinitely interesting character (I really need to read the book) and I take no hyperbole here when I say this is the best performance of Johnny Depp's career. I know he's known for his campy, weird roles, but in 1998 he peaked, delivering a never ending quote machine and iconic Raoul Duke. 

Gilliam's a director I've never got on with, but his style here shines. Painting Las Vegas as the centre point of everything wrong with America. It's vile, grotesque and just a bit terrifying. The tripping sequences are handled with pure disorganized chaos and cinema still has yet to see a better portrayal of drugs on screen. Well, maybe 2013's Filth. 

I sound very positive about Fear and Loathing, but as much as I do like it. I find it very hard to digest and sit through. At two hours with no real story, it drags and gets a little on my nerves. You can grapple onto a performance all you want for 120 minutes, but for me, it just gets a little too much.

I do love the ending though and I plan to get a "Too Weird to Live to Rare to Die" tattoo at some point in my life. 

I chose to watch this as a silly little bit of prep to my trip to Reading Festival in the morning, where I hope to be equally as off my head as Johnny Depp in this.


Now get out of here, this is Bat Country.

6/10 Dans

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Inland Empire (2006) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 30th, 2017*

"Lynch Me"

Well, I've now seen every single one of David Lynch's films. It's been a weird, weird, but compelling and incredible ride. One I imagine I'll only appreciate more with each watch.

Inland Empire is by FAR Lynch's least accessible work to date. And that is saying something. The story of an actress losing her mind in an abstract and confusing way (Which is the point with Daddy Lynch). 

I think I might enjoy this more on rewatches (Like I say with every Lynch film), but I'm not really sure how I felt about the look of the film, which was shot on standard definition. It's a weird choice. It made things look very amateur, with an almost documentary, on-the-fly like feel. 

I have to admit, that Inland Empire felt far too long though. I watched this in one sitting and it was a little bit of a challenge to get to the end. Laura Dern was fantastic though, possibly the best performance I've seen from her.

I'm currently going through the Twin Peaks revival series, which is some of my favourite work from Lynch right now (See it, it's awesome). But, compared to Lynch's other work, it feels like a bit of a downer note to end his film career on, but I did like it for the most part.


I do hope to see Lynch return to film once the Twin Peaks revival is over. I'm in dire need of more and new Lynch in the cinema.

6/10 Dans

Inland Empire is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Only God Forgives (2013) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written May 2nd, 2016*

"Time to meet the devil"

I have a weird history when it comes to "art" films. They either rub me the wrong way and I see them as pretentious nonsense, which is what happened that first time I watched this, then I rewatch them and end up liking them more.

I still don't love Only God Forgives, but in terms of art-house films, this is still one of the more simple and accessible ones. Sure, compared to Drive, it's a complete shock in terms of difference, but a lot of elements that made Drive great are still here.

Taking place in the hazy neon lit streets of Bangkok, Only God Forgives is about a family that run Thai boxing club which fronts as a drug smuggling operation. One of the sons decides to kill a young girl and a cop with supernatural powers lets the father of the daughter to get revenge. The brother isn't too upset about the death, seeing as he deserved it, but their mother decides that revenge must be taken.

The story is mostly fuelled by imagery. The dialogue is kept to a minimum. The lead character played by Ryan Gosling only speaks "17 lines" according to the internet, which is probably accurate. His performance was fine though, a lot of his emotion is conveyed through facial expressions, which works most of time, although it can get a bit frustrating.

I will say Kristen Scott Thomas's performance was excellent as the terrifying crime mother of the piece. She gets given the most vicious and horrible lines to say.

There's a lot of background to these deplorable characters that we get hints of through odd throwaway line. It's implied Ryan Gosling's mother and his brother had an incestuous relationship that he was jealous of and something happened that led to him beating his father to death and fleeing to Bangkok.
It's all so strange. The story is very straight forward, but told through such an abstract way. There honestly is not a lot of development out of these characters. The closest we get to this is a change of heart Gosling's character has at the end.

This feels more of a mood piece than an actual story led experience. It terms of visuals, this film utterly shines, we get the red neon lit streets of Bangkok and the backrooms of the city. Honestly, this is reddest film you will ever see, half the budget must have gone on red bulbs. Cliff Martinez' ambient score also bought a lot to the mood, with an almost fairy tale and unsettling soundtrack.

 
The biggest problem is I feel the film thinks it is more deep than it actual is. If you've ever seen an interview with Nicolas Winding Refn, you see he is one of the most pretentious pricks ever to grace this Earth and his filmmaking here shows. He likes to add weird imagery that seem to have some "deep" and hidden meaning, but it's all just actually really simple, just strangely told.

Only God Forgives is what it is. Certainly not for everyone, but if you take it for what it is, an abstract mood piece with a simple story and gorgeous visuals, it's just a bit full of itself.

7/10 Dans

Only God Forgives is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Raw (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written April 20th, 2017*

I really have no idea how to go about reviewing 'Raw' a French, twisted, disgusting, coming-of-age arthouse drama-horror. It's abstract, weird, unique and unlike anything I've ever seen.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this. The screenings in my area were very limited. I managed to see the only one listed, and I'm so glad I did. For the second year running, my favourite horror film of the year might just be about female cannibals.

Julia Ducournau's directorial debut is something of wonder. I went in completely blind and was just transfixed on everything happening in screen. The film runs on a slow, but hypnotic pace, much like The Neon Demon or Under the Skin. The cinematography is beautiful. Among the bleak outdoor shots, there lies scenes with such candy coloured horror, much like Suspiria.

Garance Marillier being forced to eat meat

This takes its cannibilism concept and just runs with out. It takes place in a very strange and odd world. The vetinary school the majority of the story takes place is obviously one of absurd exaggeration. The hazing the lead character goes through is disgusting, harsh and deeply unsettling. It's incredible that not a single teacher at this school hasn't shut it down.

The cannibalism itself is some of the most disgusting things I've ever witness in a theater. It takes a lot for a film to make me feel squemish, but Raw managed to hit a nerve with me due to its graphic nature. Jim Williams wonderfully unsettling score only added to the disturbing events unfolding onscreen, delivering a gorgeous and classic horror-synth score that had shades of It Follows and Maniac.

Garance Marillier gives an incredible lead performance as a shy, oppressed girl who eventually goes on a journey of self-discovery, family secrets and cannibilism. I'd never heard of this actress before, but my god, I cannot wait to see her in more stuff.

Garance Marillier gobbling up

This isn't going to be for everyone, that's for sure. Things are very abstract and weird. The film moves from scene to scene without much explanation. I was left a little confused at times at why people do what they do, but for me, it all made sense by the end.

Raw is one of the most disgusting, visceral and hypnotic things I've ever seen. A beautiful, haunting and transfixing experience unlike any other. If I see a better horror film in 2017, I will be amazed.

10/10 Dans

Raw is out now in cinemas in the UK
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