I remember hearing about this movie when I was growing up, but everything I’ve heard about it was terrible. It seemed like nobody liked it, and that feedback discouraged me from wanting to watch it. And it wasn’t until a few years ago, where this film “crept” back into the conversation. But this time, people would say that this was a misunderstood gem that got wrongly paired with all these dumb teenage comedies from the late 90s/early 2000s. One evening I discovered Not Another Teen Movie on one of my streaming services, so I have decided to pull the trigger and see it for myself. To see once and for all what this is all about. And let me tell you, I was shocked by how much fun I had alongside my girlfriend, who at first didn’t want to watch it but ended up watching the entire film with me. And not only that, she laughed throughout it, at some points harder than me.

Not Another Teen Movie honestly reminded me of one of my favourite movies of all time, Airplane! (1980, my review here). And before I go any further, let me clarify something before I lose any shred of credibility I might have had at some point. It’s not on the same “playing field” as Airplane!, as that is clearly the superior film. But the reason it reminded me so much of that film is simple – this might be the last parody film that plays it straight. Almost every single parody film we’ve gotten starting mid-90s and (unfortunately) continuing with the “infamous duo” Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, and their filmography was, to put it mildly, fucking horrible. And that was my main worry coming into this film that it will be full of awkward jokes, mostly naked/semi-naked people “because funny” and they would just take scenes from famous movies, and overact in them. Because that is what parodies have been known for and “evolved” into, unfortunately.

But not this film. There is a story that quite simply takes advantage of all the teenage films we’ve known from mainly the 1980s and pokes fun at them. But, and this is important – it never seemed to be mean spirited. You can feel the love; coming from the people behind this movie while they acknowledge that films they grew up on might have been a bit silly at times. And (this is where the Airplane! comparison comes in) they rarely wink at you. Everybody here plays it straight. And maybe that is why people didn’t respond to it as well, thinking this film takes itself too seriously?

It’s insane to think (knowing what we know now and how big he’s gotten) that this was Chris Evans‘ first role. Because he is one of the biggest reasons, this movie works as well as it does. His character dances on this fine line between dumb and charismatic while playing everything straight but not “Shakespeare” straight. As mentioned prior, it is not just him, but pretty much everybody involved. They all understand what they are doing here. It felt like the director told them not to be afraid to have fun with it but don’t have too much fun; otherwise, it wouldn’t have worked.

I can’t lie to you, I have laughed a lot, so I guess you could say this movie has worked for me. Whether it was the making fun of horniness of teenagers by having Cerina Vincent be naked for the entirety of this film (and her name being Areola) or the jab about having the one token black guy, who is only there to say things like “Damn!”, “Shit!” and “That is whack.” as said by him in the film. And here’s the thing about that – we laugh because we know it’s funny, but at the same time, he does more than that in this film. He isn’t just the stereotype, even though that’s his primary purpose here, to display it.

Overall, Not Another Teen Movie is funnier than I expected. And dare I say even more clever? Yes, I do dare to say that. Because this film has moments, it could have easily fallen into the same traps as the “parodies” of the late 2000s and went overboard with everything. But this film never does that. Every time it gets a bit crazy, the film always tries to balance it out with “a story”, even though it’s your typical teenage film story. I would say give this film a chance if you’ve never seen it and if you have and it’s been a while, I would suggest a re-watch. You might be surprised how much you will laugh, as long as you know teenage comedies, mainly from the 1980s.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

As with Ari Aster’s previous movie Hereditary (2018), Midsommar is… wild. And that is still underselling it. But unlike Hereditary, this is one of the rare horror/thriller films set (mostly) during the day in the light. And it doesn’t make it any less effective or creepy. Ari Aster has quickly become one of the directors to watch both of his films I really liked.

Midsommar is an acting vehicle for Florence Pugh. She’s had a few other movies in 2019 (when this movie also came out), so it’s hard to say this was the film that launched her into the stratosphere. But honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised as she is front and centre in this uneasy film and she needs to make some brave choices for her character as… it’s hard to describe her journey. Her character Dani starts the movie being almost a doormat due to a family catastrophe. That sequence, by the way, was the reason Ari Aster is somebody to watch out for – from the first moment he sets up the tension, and you know something is wrong. And he starts to slowly reveal just how much everything is way worse than you thought. And this defines Florence’s entire character for most of this film. She needs to deal with a lot; she’s trying to do her best and could really do with a pleasant Swedish holiday without getting tangled up with a local pagan cult, you know?

I think this film works mainly due to Ari Aster’s mind. Not to discount the performances by all our main actors, but here’s the thing. While watching Midsommar, he drops many hints throughout the film, and you know they will matter. A lingering shot here on the ominous-looking wooden hut that’s “off-limits” a glance at a disfigured member of the cult there, and we all know something is going down. But with Ari, it’s truly not about the destination; it’s all about the journey and how he gets you there. His tension building is off the scale. I have been thinking about this film for a while now, and that’s when it hit me. He isn’t “reinventing the wheel”; he’s thinking about the wheel in his way. We’ve seen thousands of “there is something wrong with these people” films, and let’s face it, some of them are not great. That’s because those films focus on the “weirdness” too much. But Ari almost embraces it. You never feel like he’s judging these people (even though they should be judged); this film almost feels like a documentary feature. But without the complete detachment from the people of this community, that wouldn’t have worked either.

The main thing I also appreciate in both Midsommar and Hereditary is how sparingly he uses jump scares. Both films have some, but they are justified, and they aren’t your conventional jump scares. And that’s due to the simple fact that he knows how to get you. Ari Aster knows that often we aren’t terrified of the dark rather than what is lurking in there. And if we are scared of that, it would be terrifying even in the daylight. You just need to spend some time building the uneasy atmosphere, where you can cut the tension with a butter knife. And have all your protagonist sitting on the metaphorical powder keg full of dynamite, while in the distance, we can see a faint figure approaching with a lighter.

The other thing that made this film memorable – the horror/cult stuff is almost a B plot because the movie is all about toxic relationships. Whether it’s our main duo that shouldn’t be together or the toxicity of cults and how you can justify anything, as long as you have somebody around you who will agree and support you, but it’s not just about that, the movie is about many other things. I think Midsommar is definitely one of those “the more you watch it, the more you can read into it” kind of movies. The only question is, would you want to watch this multiple times…?

My only thing about this film and why I am not giving it the absolute rating was simple – towards the end, I felt so overwhelmed by the runtime (2 hours 28 minutes) and thought the length wasn’t justified. The film did drag at times, albeit slightly, and that’d take me out of this otherwise masterfully built atmosphere. I think you could have easily lost around 10/15 minutes and still have the same impact, and the film wouldn’t have suffered, on the contrary.

Overall, Midsommar is a film that it’s hard to watch. It deals with many heavy/uncomfortable topics set against uncomfortably sunny Sweden. It’s a unique experience where I almost guarantee you that you won’t see many movies like this (at least not mainstream ones). It’s also a great “Hey world; here I am” acting vehicle for Florence Pugh. If you haven’t seen her anywhere but MCU and want to know why she will be one to look out for in the future, watch this film, and you will see her immense talent on full display. This role was risky and could have easily gone wrong, but Florence said no and delivered one hell of a performance. Even if you don’t like creepy horror films, this film is worth watching for Florence’s performance alone.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

When comes to older films (and let’s face it, this year Cape Fear will turn 60 years!), you sometimes need to “excuse” certain things. And among one of them is acting. I always say I love any films, so it doesn’t bother me that much. But let’s just say mainly in the acting profession, we’ve had a revolution as I believe a decent actor today is probably better than 95% of actors from the 1950s. I know some people will argue that, and I invite them; I love discussing anything movie-related. Anyway, I also believe that this acting revolution slowly started in the 1960s, and this film is the perfect example.

When you say Cape Fear today, many people would know exactly, what you are talking about, the Martin Scorsese film, right? From 1991, starring creepy Robert De Niro, that Cape Fear? Yeah, I’ve seen it. I would be willing to bet you most people nowadays don’t know that it’s a remake of this film. And why would they, since it is one of the best remakes. Scorsese was going strong, one of the best De Niro performances… but it is a shame (a bit) that people don’t talk about the original version that much, especially when it holds up surprisingly well.

While watching this film, you immediately realise how the times have changed. Robert Mitchum straight-up bullies Gregory Peck‘s character at times, but since he’s got no proof, he needs to be more cautious than ever. And everything slowly builds up throughout the film. And both of these men are excellent in their roles. Especially Mitchum is enjoying his role of… well, you can’t even call him a bad boy/man. Because he is straight-up obsessed with ruining Peck’s (and his family’s) life. I enjoyed his diabolical performance, even though, towards the end, there were scenes where you could argue he was “hamming it up” just a tiny bit. But that doesn’t take anything away from him.

Throughout the film, I thought the fact this film is in black and white adds to the creepiness. To the point, I was surprised that Scorsese’s remake wasn’t also in black and white. There was something about the “scruffy” nature of this film that added to the overall uneasiness of everything. There is this lingering uneasiness throughout the film that culminates in the swamp (as the remake). In a way, it’s a genius move – the film makes you feel uneasy and almost dirty while you watch it, just for its finale to take place in a literal muddy swamp.

While writing about this movie and thinking retrospectively about it, I’ve come to a realisation – modern films don’t do this kind of thing anymore. Sure, they set up things, so they can pay them off later on, but there is something about these older (or classical if you wish) movies that makes them seem like much more thought was put into most of them. That is why I am often willing to see past weaker performances or some things that wouldn’t play well today (whether it’s “casual” racism, attitudes towards women, you name it, old Hollywood got it). But obviously, there are exceptions to every rule.

The only negative thing I would have against this movie is the pacing, especially towards the end. Because for the entire film, we are building up tension, building it up even further and then when the “action” happens in the swamp, it takes some time. And once the tension building is gone, you start to look at the clock to see how much time the movie’s got left. In a sense, it almost felt anti-climatic. But I need to repeat myself – that was only towards the end and, that would be my only complaint. The rest of this film, for me, held up well.

Overall, Cape Fear is almost a perfect film. The performances are (especially for its time) superb, the tension/sense of desperation is palpable, and the movie lets you almost bathe in the uneasy atmosphere it so masterfully creates. If you only know Cape Fear from 1991 and you liked it, give this movie a chance; as I would say, this is almost as good as the remake. One of the rare instances where the remake is as good, maybe even better than the original. But not because the original film would be bad. And that’s what makes it so much more impressive.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Over the years of watching movies from every genre, decade, country, you name it… I’ve gotten used to the fact that sometimes you “discover” a film only a handful of people talk about. So you watch it and then you wonder, how come it’s not more famous? How come this particular film slipped through the cracks of… well, everything? Not only “slipped through the time”, but even at the box office, this movie flopped hard. And the only reason I can think of is… people didn’t get it at the time?

Drop Dead Gorgeous might, on the surface, look like your run of the mill comedy about a beauty pageant in a small, rural community. But it’s so much more. It pokes fun at everything, including the very fact how these pageants can put so much pressure on the women competing in them, even though at the end of the day, they don’t matter. Plus the mockumentary approach they chose to go with… talk about being ahead of the curve!

I think that is this film’s biggest strength, this (at times) mockumentary approach because it works wonderfully. It’s so clear, what is happening, who is behind the “sudden” death of most of the contenders, but nobody does anything about it. How some town folks are portrayed as being… let’s say simple-minded…? I thought the choices worked brilliantly for this film. But it’s impossible to discuss this movie without admiring the “about to be a big star” cast alongside some well-established ones!

Let’s start with these three “about to be big” names Kirsten Dunst, Brittany Murphy and Amy Adams. All these actresses had the best ahead of them at the time of the film’s shooting. Well, almost all, as Brittany tragically died in 2009. And this movie serves as a reminder she also could have been great. Just take a look at Amy Adams in this film. She plays the dimwitted character so perfectly; would you have guessed she would be one of the most admired actresses of her generation? If I saw this film back in 1999, I wouldn’t, that’s how good she was in convincing us. Kirsten is the only one out of this cast who is the most down-to-earth and is a great protagonist we can all root for. Her reaction at the end of this film, where something happens, and that something prevents her from competing, is simply priceless and drives the point home even further about the meaninglessness of this competition. And it was in these small moments the film won me over. Yes, some of this comedy stems from being in your face, but then, you have subtle moments that only pay off if you pay attention.

If you weren’t (somehow) impressed with these three ladies, let’s talk about the rest of the cast – Denise Richards, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Kirstie Alley! What I loved about these actresses; they all brought something different to this film. Denise was already a recognisable name and looked stunning. Ellen was great as Kirsten’s mum, same with Kirstie as Denise’s mum, but… Allison Janney yet again steals everything for herself. And proves, we should have been paying attention to her way, way sooner, as she can truly do it all, from playing serious roles to being a sharp-witted and funny character. In a movie like this, that is the definition of an ensemble cast, where everyone gets their chance to shine; she outshines them all, somehow.

And maybe, this was the movie’s problem…? Maybe people thought, given the film is mostly female cast and it’s about pageant show, it won’t be any good…? Well, they were wrong. I honestly hope because of the internet, we could all do our bit to make this movie into a cult classic that could be admired, for what it truly is. A great comedy with little to no flaws that is surprisingly ahead of the curve; when comes to the style of humour. It’s insane to me that a movie like this, with so many great actresses, exists, and people don’t bring it up often (enough).

Overall, Drop Dead Gorgeous is a funny, clever and star-packed movie that I can’t recommend highly enough. My only “complaint” would be it drags a bit too much towards the end, but even that isn’t anything significant that would spoil the rest of the film or my memories of it. If you are looking for a comedy with many great actresses that has something to say without being too condescending about the topic of pageants, look no further. I will 100% re-watch it at some point.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke