When someone opens up and really wants to share themselves with you, it can go fast and deep and become something you never might have expected. In fact, it can be uncommonly lovely and delicate.
(And no, I'm not just talking about the handjob. Perverts.)
"I should have cried too much sometimes I feel like I'm just gonna turn into drops."
Some genre pics are just that. Formulaic horror, action, sci-fi, romantic comedies, etc. give the fans of their genre what they want and to hell with everyone else.
So it is important to recognize a genre film when it breaks the boundaries and speaks to something important to a wider audience.
And "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" has something to say.
Normally, when you see an autopsy in a crime film or in a horror movie, the horror is diluted. There is a protective wall, shielding us from the real suffering that was endured. Not here. Director André Øvredal puts us through so much we can not simply pass these events we are watching off as just another horror film.
The victim is already dead, so there's nothing to prevent. And a mortician does not have to worry about the trickier aspects of murder. It is just how and when. Never why. "Jane Doe" has tunnel vision at first, highlighting only one aspect of a murder: the autopsy.
The first act focuses on the concept of morbid curiosity. The approach is aggressive, but it works.
The film opens with the police making a grizzly discovery. Several people were killed messy and one victim is half-buried in the basement. The cops need to find out what happened to her. It's critical to the investigation.
The head cop brings the body straight to the local mortician, Tommy (Brian Cox.)
Tommy and Austin (Emile Hirsch,) his son/protege, get straight to work.
Like I said, normally, a mortician's job is detached from the story of the crime. They do not have deduce anything. They just report on the science so others can come up to their own conclusions.
But here, bizarre and menacing signs start to manifest themselves. They are not explainable in Tommy and Austin's small, scientific world they spend their lives, in the basement of a funeral home.
But this time, if for no other reason but for survival, they have no choice but to play the role of detective.
This poor woman has suffered, that is clear. There are marks of torture everywhere on her body, on the inside. Burns, cuts and tattoos are all over her body, but there is not a single exterior wound.
Austin realizes something supernatural is happening, even though his scientifically grounded father refuses to look any further than their physical findings.
It is not long before we realize we are watching a possession picture, a widely appreciated sub-genre. "Jane Doe" poses the question: can a spirit possess a corpse?
When you read between the lines, this film is a rather poetic deconstruction of misogyny.
This poor woman is literally being used as an object. She represents dehumanization. To them, she is just a bell on a toe.
She was tormented in life and now, humiliated in death.
The only thing this film lacks is the sly humor from Øvredal's last film, "Trollhunter."
The end of "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" is hokey, cheesy and other synonyms for stupid, but that does not matter. That is not the point. What matters is that an innocent and terrified woman has been transformed into a force of nature and a force of vengeance.
That is how the film rides the genre fence. It is both a horror and an art house flick and God, it works. I felt both self-righteous and terrified.
I can't think of anything worse than discovering that Heaven is most certainly real and then realizing that it is not for you. Sadly, that is the case for every character in "Midnight Special." Except for Alton Meyer, one miraculous child.
And the search for Paradise, or even just happiness is at the heart of Jeff Nichols' film "Midnight Special."
Nichols takes his time as he lets us know slowly what's going on.
The beginning of the movie feels very experiential and surreal.
I knew I was in for a good time when the congregation of a bizarre church/cult started to chant coordinates instead of Holy Scripture. The sequence is so surreal, it gives off a feeling of a hypnotic hallucination.
In the second act, though, the film settles down into a more or less traditional narrative.
It's the story of Alton Meyer who is taken from his church "family" by his father, Roy.
You see, something will happen in the next few days and it's important to Roy that his child be as far from the church/cult as possible.
Of course, his church wants Alton to be with them during this supposedly crucial time.
The rest of the film is a pretty standard race-against-time suspense/thriller.
The Feds desperately want to find Alton. And, like formulaic thrillers, the film slowly pulls the curtain back as we come to understand what's so damn important about this boy.
The leaders of the church/cult also obsessively pursue Alton. The coordinates they recited as Scripture will show them the way to something like Paradise. These people will not rest until they find him and unlock his secret.
It was a great disappointment watching a film with such a promising first act regress into such a predictable and conventional film.
So, come for the delightful and enchanting first act and stay just because you end up curious about what happens to the little kid.
Either resign yourself to an hour or so of relative boredom or stay away from "Midnight Special" altogether. I'd recommend the former.
The first act really is worth the price of admission.
"Loving" is the story of Ruth and George Edgerton, two lovers whose marriage flourishes in the face of a society of hate. This film is a gem from last year that was unjustly overlooked. It follows the story of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving and their battle from their first arrest in Caroline County, Virginia right up the historic Supreme Court ruling that banned laws persecuting interracial couples. Right from the start, we look through a window right into to intimacy and warmth of Mildred and Richard's relationship. It's a very muted opening scene. We see the two of them their faces and bodies just so close to each other. There are only a few sentences of dialogue, but director Jeff Nichols shows us their love rather than ruining the beautiful moment with words. The film takes us through the lives of the Lovings as they fall in love and establishing a family while facing seemingly rock-hard, enduring persecution. Their fight starts when the couple is arrested for the crime of entering into an "unnatural" marriage. It follows the Lovings as the couple turn their romance turns into a solid, devoting family.
But their love comes with a price. The Lovings are arrested by Caroline County officials and ordered to split up or leave the state. They choose to move to D.C. and start their lives there. But more trouble comes when they visit Virginia so she could have her baby there. They are arrested again and when they get back to D.C., their fight begins in earnest. The ACLU hears of their case and of course, they take an interest. Of course, the ending is a part of our history. The Supreme Court made a significant decision during the battle happening across the country for civil liberties. Often, people look back on the 50's with such nostalgia. That era is remembered by many as a wholesome time, just like on "Leave it to Beaver," "Father Knows Best," etc. But "Loving" reminds us that the times were oppressive for so many Americans. I found myself thanking God that kind of institutionalized racism is a thing of the past. Then I remembered that Jeff Sessions is our Attorney General. "Loving" is one of those films that tries to be two things at once. And it accomplishes it beautifully. The film is a wonderful, touching romance and an invigorating political at the same time. You probably missed it the first time around, so seek it out now. This film will be watched and discussed for years and ignoring it would be a desperate injustice.
The concept of "Passengers" is a simple one: Robinson Caruso in Space (Or Gilligan's Island, whichever you like.)
What could possibly go wrong? Jim finds out exactly what could go wrong when his pod malfunctions and he wakes decades before the ship reaches its destination.
So Jim is stuck. He'll die long before anyone else on the ship will wake up and his only source of help or conversation is a robotic bartender.
Then, it occurs to Jim that if he needs a companion, he'll have to deliberately sabotage a pod so a girl he's become enamored with can keep him company.
Yes, he's caught a touch of Space Madness after being alone for more than a year.
Still, his plan is the most cruel and selfish solution to his problem he could ever imagine. So, he wakes Aurora and of course, the two bond.
Then, Aurora finds out that what happened to her pod was no accident.
As the Earth becomes more and more populated, the human race has turned to populating other planets. Jim Preston is a passenger on a ship on its way to one of these planets. It's a 90-year trip and the passengers and crew are in hibernation until their arrival. Jim had woken her. And when he did, he robbed her of her life. She wants nothing more to do with them, which is problematic seeing as how they're the only 2 conscious people on the ship. "Passengers" tries to make a statement about isolation and self-service, but it falls short into a tedious, predictable plot with 2 characters who are simply not believable. The only sequence one could enjoy is the tense minutes in which Aurora, taking a swim, is suddenly trapped inside a water bubble when the gravity shuts down. It's a cool, tense sequence. It's not convincing at all when Aurora decides to forgive Jim. Just as I'm not sure whether or not I'll ever forget Tyldum for making me sit through a two-hour exercise in how to sit through two hours of torture.
Okay, a group of communists kidnap a movie star playing a Roman soldier... Poor Eddie. His only task is to make sure all the actors at Capitol Pictures stay out of trouble. He has to save them from themselves, from each other, from the press and, in this case, from communist kidnappers. Capitol Pictures' prestige movie of the year is to be "Hail Caesar! A Tale of the Christ," a big budget Roman Film and obvious nod to Ben Hur. One day on the set, the film's lead actor, Baird Whitlock, (George Clooney) is drugged and simply carried out of his trailer. Success to the communists, they can now demand a handsome ransom from the studio. Of course there are debates over whether or not demanding a ransom is too capitalistic. You don't realize "Caesar!" is a comedy until after you're started laughing, which when you're critiquing satire, is a compliment. And that's the question: "Do I want to go to all that bother?" But a little bit of that can be forgiven if the story is straight with the audiences and Hail Caesar! is. So yes, I will watch this film a couple more times over the next year or so, when I'll be able to deconstruct it finer. In the meantime, if I were you, I'd find a way to pick this up because in the long run, Coen Brothers' films are usually worth it.
It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it's just one of the many messes Josh Brolin's Eddie Mannix, a professional Hollywood "fixer" has to clean up.
As the film goes on, Mannix ushers the studio singing cowboy into his new career as a dramatic actor, side-swipes a pregnancy scandal, sucks up to religious groups and evades two twin gossip columnists, twins, both played by Tilda Swinton.
On top of these antics, we're also treated to a handful of musical numbers as we follow Mannix around the studio. Most of the jokes in Caesar! won't be recognized as such. I myself will have to revisit it a few times if I want to appreciate all of its humor. I sat here for a while trying to think of the answer to that question and finally, I've come up with my answer: "Yes, it's going to be worth it."
This better than your typical Coen Brothers film. Many of their films can be problematic when it comes to condescending to its own characters, and you see some of that here.
"The Greasy Strangler" is an odd duck of a film that centers on, Big Braydon, a man-child who lives with his father/landlord, Big Ronnie, an old man whose interests are disco and grease. Braydon is a severely socially limited man. To be honest, he made me think of the worst-case scenario of what Napoleon Dynamite could grow up to be.
Braydon's boring life is shaken up by when he starts to suspect that Ronnie is the serial killer known as The Greasy Strangler. At the same time, he meets Janet, played by Elizabeth De Razzo, and falls in love. It feels like the worst thing for his victims isn't death as much as it is having those greasy, greasy hands around their necks. The story follows not only the murders but an insane love triangle between Braydon, Ronnie and Janet. Throughout the film, I kept being reminded of John Waters. It's as if director Jim Hosking was brought up on a steady diet of "Pink Flamingos" and "Hairspray."After one viewing, it looks like he succeeded, but we'll have to wait a decade or so to see if we're still watching "The Greasy Strangler." In the end, this film is as disgusting and hilarious as the title suggests. Everything Ronnie eats is either cooked in, slathered in, or dipped in grease. Yes, you will cringe while watching this movie. Whether you're a Waters fan or like cult films, I highly recommend you watch "The Greasy Strangler." It really is a wonderful, revolting experience.
We, the audience already know that Ronnie is indeed The Greasy Strangler as we've seen him in action. Ronnie's murders are more gross than gruesome.
Of course, these two story lines come together to give us a bizarre twist before its puzzling ending. It's obvious that Hosking set out to make a cult classic. And I think he did. History will tell.
The first act focuses on the concept of morbid curiosity. The approach is aggressive, but it works.
The head cop brings the body straight to the local mortician, Tommy (Brian Cox.)
This poor woman has suffered, that is clear. There are marks of torture everywhere on her body, on the inside. Burns, cuts and tattoos are all over her body, but there is not a single exterior wound.
When you read between the lines, this film is a rather poetic deconstruction of misogyny.
The only thing this film lacks is the sly humor from Øvredal's last film, "Trollhunter."
I can't think of anything worse than discovering that Heaven is most certainly real and then realizing that it is not for you. Sadly, that is the case for every character in "Midnight Special." Except for Alton Meyer, one miraculous child.
The beginning of the movie feels very experiential and surreal.
I knew I was in for a good time when the congregation of a bizarre church/cult started to chant coordinates instead of Holy Scripture. The sequence is so surreal, it gives off a feeling of a hypnotic hallucination.
It's the story of Alton Meyer who is taken from his church "family" by his father, Roy.
You see, something will happen in the next few days and it's important to Roy that his child be as far from the church/cult as possible.
The rest of the film is a pretty standard race-against-time suspense/thriller.
The Feds desperately want to find Alton. And, like formulaic thrillers, the film slowly pulls the curtain back as we come to understand what's so damn important about this boy.
The leaders of the church/cult also obsessively pursue Alton. The coordinates they recited as Scripture will show them the way to something like Paradise. These people will not rest until they find him and unlock his secret.
We see the two of them their faces and bodies just so close to each other. There are only a few sentences of dialogue, but director Jeff Nichols shows us their love rather than ruining the beautiful moment with words.
Of course, the ending is a part of our history. The Supreme Court made a significant decision during the battle happening across the country for civil liberties.
I found myself thanking God that kind of institutionalized racism is a thing of the past.
You probably missed it the first time around, so seek it out now. This film will be watched and discussed for years and ignoring it would be a desperate injustice.
He'll die long before anyone else on the ship will wake up and his only source of help or conversation is a robotic bartender.
Jim Preston is a passenger on a ship on its way to one of these planets. 
It's a cool, tense sequence.
He has to save them from themselves, from each other, from the press and, in this case, from communist kidnappers.
Of course there are debates over whether or not demanding a ransom is too capitalistic. You don't realize "Caesar!" is a comedy until after you're started laughing, which when you're critiquing satire, is a compliment. 
As the film goes on, Mannix ushers the studio singing cowboy into his new career as a dramatic actor, side-swipes a pregnancy scandal, sucks up to religious groups and evades two twin gossip columnists, twins, both played by Tilda Swinton. 
This better than your typical Coen Brothers film. Many of their films can be problematic when it comes to condescending to its own characters, and you see some of that here. 
The story follows not only the murders but an insane love triangle between Braydon, Ronnie and Janet.
We, the audience already know that Ronnie is indeed The Greasy Strangler as we've seen him in action. Ronnie's murders are more gross than gruesome.
