Currently Watching : POSSESSION by Andrzej Zulawski SECOND SIGHT Blu-Ray

I’ve seen this movie closing in on a half dozen times in my life. What astonishes you the first time you see this film, is the entire gestalt, the scenario, the performances, the audacity; this completely unhinged experience you are being taken on. It is a harrowing, inexplicable nightmarish journey, to the outer reaches of what it means to love and lust and lose and aspire.

Subsequent viewings, you shift attention to the craft, The simply spellbinding cinematography/camera movements by cinematographer Bruno Nyutten and previous Zulawski collaborator, Camera Operator Andrzej J. Jaroszewicz

The SECOND SIGHT Bluray lets you see this film, finally, in sumptuous quality befitting, what I and others without hesitation, have hailed as a masterpiece. The video quality is arguably better than it was in theaters back in 1981, and beyond how great the picture was, the special features are applause worthy. Not one, but two film commentaries. One with director Andrzej Zulawski, who suffers fools and idiotic questions, not well. No better than any creative person :). And an informative commentary with co-writer Frederick Tuten. Additionally a fantastic documentary on the making of the film, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL is worth the price of the Blu-ray by itself. Add in many other compelling featurettes, and what you have is just hours of both entertaining and informative viewing.

POSSESSION is one of the only Zulawski’s films that is ‘widely’ available. Part of this is – being a Horror genre adjacent film, as well as an English language film, it is far more accessible and salable than the equally esoteric, but not as genre friendly, experimental dramas that make up the bulk of the late Zulawski’s filmography.

Zulawski made thirteen feature films in his career. And each film, as it is for many filmmakers making films under repressive conditions, was a monumental battle for finances, and against the controlling forces of the establishment.

2015 Cosmos

 2000 Fidelity

 1996 Szamanka

 1991 La note bleue

 1989 Boris Godounov

 1989 My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days

 1988 On the Silver Globe

 1985 L’amour braque

 1984 La femme publique

 1981 Possession

 1975 L’important c’est d’aimer

 1972 The Devil

 1971 The Third Part of the Night

I do look forward to viewing, when possible the rest of Zulawski films, but based on the description of those films, and my own taste, it is likely POSSESSION will be my favorite film of his. The genre frame work, I have often found, helps filmmakers who would otherwise get lost in the weeds of their own searching, still tell a compelling story.

Looking at the description of Zulawski’s other films, where his vision was not honed against another writer, Tuten, and other creative people, the films sound like they veer toward the self-indulgent and plotless. Again, just surmising… when I view these films I may be incorrect about that, however if the descriptions and feedback is accurate, based on my own taste with other filmmakers, being over self-indulgent tends not to make for films that appeal to me.

However, POSSESSION for all its strangeness, has a thru-line, a backbone, and an ending, that for me, for all its openness to interpretation, works. And it sports one of the great performances of all time by actress Isabelle Adjani. Who if you look at her filmography made a career giving really astonishing performances, but arguably none as horrific, and potentially damaging as this one.

For all these reasons POSSESSION from 1981, is a must watch, and in my opinion, must own film. Grade: B+.

Get your copy HERE!

 

‘Why do some films have longevity and others don’t?’

‘Here’s my facile answer. Do you want the facile answer? The more facile the film, the less likely it will be to last. Because the audience for facile films will drain away. They are not interested in film, they are interested in mere entertainment. So the easy, the accessible, the convenient, the popular, the flavor of the moment, that vanishes, replaced by another one like that. But something that has some grit to it, emotionally, intellectually, visually, something that seems aberrant at the time… somehow if it can survive by a few people seeing it, knowing about it, writing about it… that’s what lasts.’

Co-Writer Frederic Tuten on Zulawski’s POSSESSION

The last movie that… terrified me : ALONG CAME THE DEVIL II

ALONG CAME THE DEVIL II – I put this film on my Amazon Prime watch-list the other night, never having seen the first film, the poster image on Amazon looked interesting, and the 3.5/5 rating looked promising.

It was late when I watched it, or early.

And first I must admit, I am not now that force that had in days gone by moved heaven and earth, but what I am… I am. To roughly paraphrase Lord Tennyson.

Meaning I am of a milder temperament today, than of my reckless youth. And I am easier moved. I seek now in my old age, in my facts and my fictions, that no one dies badly, and that there always be a hero, to right wrongs.

So take that softness to note, and the hour, when measuring my feelings on this film.

I felt this film, was terrifying.

Much of horror, like in comedy, is setup and timing. And this film is not without failings, as portions of it seems to be telling of that unseen first movie, but those scenes never unhinge the central strengths of the film.

Namely it is well cast, convincingly even passionately performed, and I thought the Director/Writer Jason Devan and Editor Evan Algren masterfully used setup and timing, to create a chilling and effective movie. It is the work of a filmmaker, who understands viscerally the places in us that throb to the quick and the dead.

Is it a masterpiece? No. But not everything needs to be.

It is an effective, impressively made little chiller, that has more genuine chills in it than you’ll find in far bigger budget films, ala SINISTER, etc.

I went into this film, not having seen trailer or review, knowing nothing more than its title, and it rewarded me.

Go in likewise and you too may be, rewarded.

Grade: I’ve seen a lot of this type of film. Most are not very good, this one I hesitate not to call great. It is right up there with THE LAST EXORCISM PART II (far better than the first film); which I think is this type of film done, as well as I’ve seen it done. I guess the best thing you can say of a movie to really sell it, is having just finished watching it a few days ago, I want to see it again. That is in my book, the sign of an entertaining or compelling movie. B+.

 

Ulysses

Alfred Lord Tennyson – 1809-1892

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea. I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known—cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honored of them all,—
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains; but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
   This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the scepter and the isle,
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labor, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centered in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
   There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me,
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

 

Deal of the Day!

NetFlix Movie review : THE EXORCISM OF MOLLY HARTLEY

 

THE EXORCISM OF MOLLY HARTLEY – There’s a very interesting opening to this film, and a wonderful texture that belies this film’s formulaic poster and unoriginal title.

This is a sumptuously filmed, and quite sexy film. Well performed, well directed by Steven R. Monroe, with a score that is reminiscent in places of John Carpenter or Daria Argento scored films. But particularly the look of this film compels… it is gorGEous.

This is a film that is less horror and more a taut thriller and in some ways a muscular but dumb action movie aesthetic, crafted onto the bones of what should be just a formulaic possession film.

I like this film, even though the fourth act is something of a misfire, it is not doing anything exceptionally original, and in many ways it is very trite and yes dumb, (the patient gets to take a trip out of the asylum, gets to go back in with his vestments. Really? The demon voice, and pea soup, spitting, it is all this close to parody. I may be twisted but I found the scene with the scissors and the ear, hilarious. So there are definite tonal issues), however compelling visuals and  a quick moving story keep the film ahead of its flaws, and makes for an entertaining watch. 

So while not in the same league (or hemisphere) as the granddaddy of exorcism films… THE  EXORCIST, it’s head and shoulders above more plodding and dire Excorcism films, such as EXORCISMUS,

Grade: Recommended. B. Not worth a purchase, but worth a look if you catch it on VOD or as a rental. Currently showing on NetFlix.

 

 

SUMMER 2012 Movie Guide! With AVENGERS behind us are there any other films worth seeing in IMAX?

SUMMER 2012 Movie Guide!

With the AVENGERS film behind us, are there any other films worth seeing in IMAX?

That’s the question. It’s a bit of a trick question, in that if there was no uptick in price for seeing it in IMAX I would say go for it. Unfortunately there is a bump in the price, and even for the AVENGERS, which was fake converted to IMAX (post-processed, like every other film coming out for the rest of the year) the quality difference on an AMC “baby IMAX/fake IMAX” isn’t all that great.

Infact, I quite preferred the 2D version of AVENGERS.

It’s a preference thing to a point, but to another point it is about pushing back a little against the studios that want to foist these post-processed IMAX and IMAX 3D films on us, rather than actually filming in these formats, and then charge us like we are at a real 5-story, wraparound screen, 70mm, Science Center IMAX theater. That’s the problem I have with these AMC midget Imax theaters, they over-charge for a compromised viewing experience.

I have no problem with the gimmick of 3D, if priced the same as the 2D experience; the way it traditionally was done. But to pay more?

So, to the point, even the AVENGERS wasn’t worth paying more to see in IMAX 3D. But are any films this summer, worth seeing in IMAX or IMAX 3D?

None of the films… not PROMETHEUS, not EXPENDABLES II, not DARK KNIGHT RISES, not SPIDER-MAN could be bothered to shoot the film in IMAX (tiny portions of DKR maybe), much less IMAX 3D. So why the heck would you bother to pay IMAX or IMAX 3D prices, for the cinematic equivalent of a poor redressing of a set?

So for me, no I will not be seeing any other film this summer in IMAX or IMAX 3D.

[And as an aside, definitely call or web-browse ahead when going to the movies, because this is how they get you: they put 2D showings at inconvenient times so you get stuck with an IMAX or 3D showing. So as idiotic as it sounds you need to pretty much do homework to make sure you’re getting a 2D and not a 3D showing. I hate homework! 🙂 ]

Quite frankly there aren’t many films I’m that bothered about seeing in the theaters this summer, even in 2D. Like I heard one person say, “I like going to movies, I hate the people in the movie theater”.

I mean, do I have a sign-on me that says sit beside me? I either have to tell some old bat and her kid to not sit beside me and talk (I would be more forgiving if people in a theater with lots of seats, didn’t choose to sit right next to me with their foolishness), or I have to tell young punks to keep it down, or I have to tell the valley girls to stop texting and kicking the chairs… and on top of all that drama you want to charge me more for effed up, fake a** 3D?!!!

Heck No!!! Mother HT’s son ain’t having it!!! The studios should be paying me for the aggravation.

ohmmmmmm…..

ohmmmmmm…..

Okay, back in my happy place. Steering this boat back on track…

My take on the remaining summer movies: SPIDER MAN I currently have no interest in. DARK KNIGHT RISES, as I’ve previously stated I’m lukewarm on at best.

Only PROMETHEUS, EXPENDABLES II, TOTAL RECALL, and surprisingly enough ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER (I’m a fan of the Director, I enjoyed his WANTED, A case of a director’s vision trumping the writer’s source material— which I disliked) really have me excited to see them in the theater.

Some honorable mentions that look interesting/fun and I might see in the theater are CHERNOBYL DIARIES, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, THE BOURNE LEGACY, PREMIUM RUSH (the trailer for this looks GREAT, but I’m not sold on the director yet), and POSSESSION (also a phenomenal trailer).

If a movie is not on this list it could be an oversight, but more than likely it isn’t. It’s my way of saying that movie isn’t for me 🙂

Why don’t I tell you how I really feel? 🙂

No, but seriously, if you think I missed a summer flick that you think is going to be great, feel free to send me a comment. I’m always happy to discover another promising flick!

MOVIE TRAILER Review : Is POSSESSION Possessed?!!

I generally look at most possession movies, as what they are, poor shadows/ripoffs of the definitive possession movie, THE EXORCIST. And for whatever reason we’ve had a rash of possession movies in the last few years, and without exception I’ve been uninterested and/or disappointed in all of them.

So after showing the POSSESSION poster on this blog a few posts back, while it made a striking poster, I held out no real interest in seeing the flick.

However I have just seen the trailer for the film, and I am well impressed. It’s a devil movie that looks… righteous. If you excuse the pun.

Really pretty great trailer. I still have issues with putting “True Event” anywhere near what is just a rip-roaring horror movie, but that aside, POSSESSION possesses 🙂 a frigging great trailer! Hopefully the film can live up to it.

Director Ole Bornedal is not a name I’m familiar with, but based on this trailer alone, I’m going to check out his previous films and get familiar with him.

View the trailer for yourself here!.

Movie Poster of the Day: POSSESSION!