
ObsessiveCinemaDisorder
Joined Jun 2017
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ObsessiveCinemaDisorder's rating
Heretic features a philosophical conversation I'd dream of having: a deep-dive discussion about religion and faith between a religious person and an atheist, without either side getting upset and debating fairly towards the truth.
What's perversely funny in Heretic is that a horror movie villain hosts this conversation. Everybody remains civil and debates fairly... out of mortal fear.
Heretic's story centers on Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, two Mormon missionaries, who visit Mr. Reed at home to discuss recruiting him to Mormonism. In a surprising turn of events, Mr. Reed traps them in the house and forces them to play a deadly game of cat and mouse to prove their faith.
Produced by A24, Heretic continues the company's streak of producing conceptual horror films. The theological discussion is intriguing and tense, wonderfully built up by Hugh Grant's creepily polite villain. Like watching a great debate, the film intellectually engages the audience to think about the nature of religion and faith within themselves.
Currently enjoying diverse character actor roles, Hugh Grant relishes his sinister role with a devilish delight, employing British politeness, pushing the line, and invading social boundaries. It's nerve-wracking to wonder what Mr. Reed, seemingly polite and intellectual, will do next.
Once the horror begins, Heretic loses steam in its set pieces and falls short of its diabolical promise. They fail to match the intellectual discussion built up in the first half, even reducing Hugh Grant's villain to a mere slasher villain. I would have suspended my disbelief for something more elaborate underneath the basement.
Most disappointingly, the film offers no answers to its thematic question. Should Sister Barnes keep or let go of her Mormon religion? Or hold onto pure religion-less faith instead?
I honestly wouldn't have minded any answer as long as it had the gull to choose one.
What's perversely funny in Heretic is that a horror movie villain hosts this conversation. Everybody remains civil and debates fairly... out of mortal fear.
Heretic's story centers on Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, two Mormon missionaries, who visit Mr. Reed at home to discuss recruiting him to Mormonism. In a surprising turn of events, Mr. Reed traps them in the house and forces them to play a deadly game of cat and mouse to prove their faith.
Produced by A24, Heretic continues the company's streak of producing conceptual horror films. The theological discussion is intriguing and tense, wonderfully built up by Hugh Grant's creepily polite villain. Like watching a great debate, the film intellectually engages the audience to think about the nature of religion and faith within themselves.
Currently enjoying diverse character actor roles, Hugh Grant relishes his sinister role with a devilish delight, employing British politeness, pushing the line, and invading social boundaries. It's nerve-wracking to wonder what Mr. Reed, seemingly polite and intellectual, will do next.
Once the horror begins, Heretic loses steam in its set pieces and falls short of its diabolical promise. They fail to match the intellectual discussion built up in the first half, even reducing Hugh Grant's villain to a mere slasher villain. I would have suspended my disbelief for something more elaborate underneath the basement.
Most disappointingly, the film offers no answers to its thematic question. Should Sister Barnes keep or let go of her Mormon religion? Or hold onto pure religion-less faith instead?
I honestly wouldn't have minded any answer as long as it had the gull to choose one.
Profound and bold, The Monk and the Gun boldly deconstructs and pokes fun at democracy, specifically American democracy, with a razor-sharp wit. It is the funniest movie I've seen this year, despite not being a straight-up traditional comedy.
Set in 2006, readying for Bhutan's transition from a monarchy to a democracy, the government stages a mock election as a national training exercise. As the locals express concern over the upcoming changes, an old lama instructs a monk, Tashi, to acquire a rifle for the upcoming election.
Meanwhile, Ronald Coleman, a sketchy American tourist and gun collector willing to bend the law, is also competing to buy the same antique rifle...
Throughout the film, I thought about how political systems are cultural. A country's governing system is intimately tied to its history, cultural beliefs, and way of life. Abandoning and changing a system of government seems simple in concept and perhaps even logistically simple, but what's difficult is people getting used to it.
The most profound scenes were the mock election portions, the Bhutanese government officials schooling the citizens on the different parties, and how they represent opposing ideas and trying to rile them up to argue with one another. The citizens are perplexed by the notion of being forced to argue with their neighbors.
What the film then becomes is a poignant look at humanity itself. Democracy is truly an idea expressed together by all its citizens. It requires their understanding, compliance, and belief for it to work.
It's hilarious seeing American ideals forced onto the Bhutanese citizens.
Is democracy a better idea than a monarchy? Most likely.
Is there nothing to be learned from the Bhutanese monarchy and the old ways? Not exactly. Bhutan is one of the last countries to get television and the Internet. There's an innocence and simplicity to the Bhutanese way of life that is forever affected.
Is political freedom and the right to vote more important than inner peace and harmony? Who knows.
There are no easy answers. Pawo Choyning Dorji doesn't venture one, either. He gets you thinking about what we think we know. We assume too much.
Set in 2006, readying for Bhutan's transition from a monarchy to a democracy, the government stages a mock election as a national training exercise. As the locals express concern over the upcoming changes, an old lama instructs a monk, Tashi, to acquire a rifle for the upcoming election.
Meanwhile, Ronald Coleman, a sketchy American tourist and gun collector willing to bend the law, is also competing to buy the same antique rifle...
Throughout the film, I thought about how political systems are cultural. A country's governing system is intimately tied to its history, cultural beliefs, and way of life. Abandoning and changing a system of government seems simple in concept and perhaps even logistically simple, but what's difficult is people getting used to it.
The most profound scenes were the mock election portions, the Bhutanese government officials schooling the citizens on the different parties, and how they represent opposing ideas and trying to rile them up to argue with one another. The citizens are perplexed by the notion of being forced to argue with their neighbors.
What the film then becomes is a poignant look at humanity itself. Democracy is truly an idea expressed together by all its citizens. It requires their understanding, compliance, and belief for it to work.
It's hilarious seeing American ideals forced onto the Bhutanese citizens.
Is democracy a better idea than a monarchy? Most likely.
Is there nothing to be learned from the Bhutanese monarchy and the old ways? Not exactly. Bhutan is one of the last countries to get television and the Internet. There's an innocence and simplicity to the Bhutanese way of life that is forever affected.
Is political freedom and the right to vote more important than inner peace and harmony? Who knows.
There are no easy answers. Pawo Choyning Dorji doesn't venture one, either. He gets you thinking about what we think we know. We assume too much.
I winced, cringed, and laughed nervously throughout The Substance, the arthouse body horror film from French director Coralie Fargeat. Even covering my eyes at its most cringing toe-curling moments of dread and disgust, I loved every moment of it.
Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading film-now-turned-aerobics TV star, is fired by her producer, Harvey, due to old age. Desperate to stay in the spotlight, Elisabeth injects an underground illegal substance that creates a copy of her younger self...
The film's opening shot, which I will not spoil, is the perfect visual exposition, showing how the Substance functions. Immediately, I nervously giggled, dreading all the horror that was about to unfold. What an opening...
To follow the adage "good artists copy, great artists steal," The Substance is Ocean's Eleven, pulling the perfect heist in glorious style, simultaneously stealing from Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, and Requiem for a Dream.
I wonder how different the film would have been if it used an original style. The lack of an original style is perhaps the reason that it won Best Screenplay instead of the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. But no, that's not Coralie Fargeat's primary concern.
These combined visual styles act as a shorthand, punctuating the moment with established cinematic language efficiently, rip-roaring through its long list agenda of shock and awe.
Writer-director Coralie Fargeat destroys the male gaze, delivering endless gratuitous fast-cut pounding close-ups of the female body until it's nauseating. There's no subtlety to speak here. Supertext is subtext.
The film brilliantly dramatizes the surmounting pressure women (I'd argue everybody) go through as beauty standards become increasingly unreachable from make-up, diet, cosmetic surgery, and now AI filters... It's increasingly difficult to accept one's looks as they are.
Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid deliver great performances, each equally physical and daring, and are committed to taking things up to eleven. If the awards trends blow in its direction-and the Golden Globes indicate so, I suspect Moore and Quaid will receive award nominations.
Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading film-now-turned-aerobics TV star, is fired by her producer, Harvey, due to old age. Desperate to stay in the spotlight, Elisabeth injects an underground illegal substance that creates a copy of her younger self...
The film's opening shot, which I will not spoil, is the perfect visual exposition, showing how the Substance functions. Immediately, I nervously giggled, dreading all the horror that was about to unfold. What an opening...
To follow the adage "good artists copy, great artists steal," The Substance is Ocean's Eleven, pulling the perfect heist in glorious style, simultaneously stealing from Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, and Requiem for a Dream.
I wonder how different the film would have been if it used an original style. The lack of an original style is perhaps the reason that it won Best Screenplay instead of the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. But no, that's not Coralie Fargeat's primary concern.
These combined visual styles act as a shorthand, punctuating the moment with established cinematic language efficiently, rip-roaring through its long list agenda of shock and awe.
Writer-director Coralie Fargeat destroys the male gaze, delivering endless gratuitous fast-cut pounding close-ups of the female body until it's nauseating. There's no subtlety to speak here. Supertext is subtext.
The film brilliantly dramatizes the surmounting pressure women (I'd argue everybody) go through as beauty standards become increasingly unreachable from make-up, diet, cosmetic surgery, and now AI filters... It's increasingly difficult to accept one's looks as they are.
Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid deliver great performances, each equally physical and daring, and are committed to taking things up to eleven. If the awards trends blow in its direction-and the Golden Globes indicate so, I suspect Moore and Quaid will receive award nominations.