The Amusement Park Review

        It’s been a long while since I’ve talked about George A Romero. I’ve talked about his Night of the Living Dead film, some consider it to be the start of the Zombie genre in horror. And that’s what he’s been mostly known for ever since the release of its sequel Dawn of the Dead. I’ve been trying to find ways to view the movie and talk about it but to no avail. As I was looking at films to talk about this year, one film of his stood out. One that was devoid of any supernatural elements and even considered lost for a chunk of time. I’ve decided to at least give this film some love since it was finally released five years ago. 

1. The Park

        It seems to be a recurring thing for this month that the movies I’ve talked about have about the shortest run times. Now, if the movie is interesting within a good feature length then I’ll give it a benefit of the doubt. Mind you, feature length is an hour, and the film clocks in approximately 53 minutes. What makes it even more interesting is that the film, while an original concept from Romero, wasn’t initially billed as a horror movie. The Lutheran Society hired Romero to create a film that highlights elder abuse and showing respect to older people. 

        What he made instead had frightened the Lutherans. To the point that the film was considered lost. Prior to Romero’s passing, the existing print was presented to him and his wife and charity foundation oversaw the film’s restoration into 4k. While I usually would leave this section in another tab, I feel that it’s important to be upfront that the film has been available for many to see among the Romero fans and horror fans in general. 

        Anyways, the film is interesting since it acts like an education film, with an off kilter vibe that something is wrong. We follow an old man as he enters an amusement park. Inevitably, his whole day in the park gets more weird as he slowly robbed, beaten and bloodied. Now, it’s one of those films where it seems innocent enough, until the man sees a row of old people who are in line with their belongings. From the get go, the park is a very unnatural one where the old citizens are abused in multiple ways. 

        It has a Twilight Zone vibe to it where we have an introduction by one of the actors named Lincoln Maazel. He explains that the movie is a visual metaphor for how the elderly are mistreated. And the overall execution is on point as we see that Maazel goes through the ringer of seeing just how he gets through in the park. Now, it’s not like the rides are horror themed or anything tacky like that. More so that the rides kill or alter the old people riding them. 

        For instance, we see that in the bumper cars rider that the man we follow plays along with an old couple. They bump into a younger couple, to which prompts the couple of losing their license. Now, with how I’m describing the scenario seems very out there. And that’s the thing with Romero is that he while he made his Dead films, he managed to have some level of depth and commentary to them. It would be one thing where it would just be a horror movie and nothing else. 

        The point of the horror in a general sense is to have commentary that helps the horror be effective. Some of the greats utilize it without having it take away from the scarier elements. If a movie is just all scares and nothing else, then it loses its luster as just another schlock that comes out year-round. What makes this one work is we see just how much abuse the main character goes as his humanity is abused, to the point that he gets attacked by outside forces in a place where he supposed to have fun. As an experimental film where it’s not abstract but attempts to be somewhat educational in a loose sense, it manages to be effective by being it true in its existentialism. 

2. Overall

        The Amusement Park is a must watch for the die heard George Romero fans and a severely underrated film of the 70s. 

 

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Review

        You may have noticed that I’ve skipped past the 40s in horror. I’ve decided to trim my reviews so that I don’t feel overwhelmed whenever I get to them after I’m done with my actual job. Rest assured, this isn’t going away by a long shot. There’s so many movies and multiple years of doing it. Best believe that we’ll try to cover all of the best in the decades past and future. Anyways, the 50s offer a different kind of horror, gone was the gothic element and a more sci-fi sense imbued with the public fear of the atom bomb. This is one of those films where it would inevitably create a genre and multiple franchises. 

1. The Beast

        If you’ve been following me, you’d know that I always lean towards the sci-fi horror of the 50s. As I mentioned, there was a lot of them that of course played with people’s fear of the atom bomb. It’s only natural that the studios decide to concoct or adapt a story that tells what would happen if humanity brought back something to life. Based on a Ray Bradbury short story, The Beast focuses on the creature being awakened from it’s frozen state by way of atomic tests. Thus creating havoc when it runs amok. 

        That’s the whole story, and if you’re looking for something deeper, just keep reading. So yeah, this is one of the rare entries of the American Monster movies that predates the Japanese Kaiju movies. And that’s not to say that this one and King Kong were the first to have giant monsters. Other films from the past and from different countries had monsters in them, but only the ones that were released domestically and Japan had made an immediate impact on cinema and in pop culture. I’ll elaborate more since this movie had a way bigger impact than one would think. 

        Anyways, we see just how the movie kicks off as a group of scientists decide to conduct tests in the arctic. One of the scientists named Thomas sees that a creature is roaming around and is knocked unconscious after getting hit from falling debris. We gradually see that Thomas tries to build a case that he did see something but is continually blown off by a paleontologist and his superiors. Only in these movies where we have someone sympathetic to indulge with the main character where they’re not crazy. And we saw the monster as well, so we know he’s not crazy. 

        And I like how there’s at least some bit of paleontology as Thomas sifts through which variety of dinosaur, he saw. When you think of it, we have a vast amount of knowledge that we know that everything we see from back then was just barely scratching the surface. And of course, the one dinosaur is the one that looks like a monster amongst the others Thomas goes through. Jokes aside, having it be an already established dinosaur would’ve been too unbelievable so the idea of a new type is at least apropos for this kind of movie. 

2. Ray Harryhausen

        I should at least give credit to the man that created the special effect. Harryhausen got his start by being a protégé to another stop motion effects artist named Willis O’Brien. The film that O’Brien got famous for was King Kong. The level of meticulous motion to create the Rhedosaurus is something to marvel at. Mind you, computers weren’t a thing yet and the level of patience that had to be applied for every step and motion had to be just right. At one point, the dinosaur was supposed to breathe fire, but it was deemed expensive for the budget. 

        Obviously when watching the film, you’re waiting for it to go on a rampage on New York City. While it’s not to the scope of buildings being knocked over which can be disappointing but seeing it before it became a checkbox for any monster-related movie is admirable. And just before, we see the attacks the dinosaur has that are slowly amped up. From attacking a fishing boat, a lighthouse and then the city is one where the filmmakers had the right idea to slowly elevate just how deadly this thing can be. It’s all great especially seeing someone get eaten where we see that it’s not a raging monster but an animal. 

3. Legacy

        To think, the level of influence this movie had is unbelievable. While it didn’t sway the critics at the time, it was one of the highest grossing movies when it came out. With the release of The Beast and re-release of King Kong prompted a rise of giant monster movies. Some even considered that this one movie helped inspired the creation of Godzilla. This one beat the King with being awoken from an Atomic test, albeit the other was created from the weapon. Inevitably, in a way the first American Godzilla film from 1998 feels like a remake of this movie specifically. 

        Ray Harryhausen would do more special effects work after this film. He would inevitably hit it big with his swords and sandals films like Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of The Titans among others where his stop motion effects would gain fame among the purists. As decades came and went, more monster movies would come out where it would rampage in a big American city. Films like The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Cloverfield would have a dinosaur and monster wreak havoc in a metropolitan area as one would expect. 

 

4. Overall

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is one of the most important horror movies of the 50s, and one of the best monster movies all around. 

The Bride of Frankenstein Review

        The spooky season is upon us once again. There’s something about marathoning horror movies where there’s a level of appreciation to see how far the genre has come. And seeing how it morphs and changes as well as introducing different types of sub-genres. Having been doing this for six years is something else. One would think that there’s a limited number of good movies, but there’s some that are undiscovered or not talked about enough. As always, I’ve collected a list of some of the ones worth talking about. As well as one that was recently discovered which was originally considered lost. We’ll kick it off with another look at the Universal Monsters. 

1. Frankenstein’s Monster Returns 

        Four years have past after I’ve reviewed the first Frankenstein. I still attest by saying that one and The Invisible Man are my personal favorites within the Universal Monsters. It was only a matter of time where I talk about the direct sequel to Frankenstein. I know that it’s disappointing that I’m not talking about another Monster in the franchise. More so that I haven’t even touched The Mummy for as long as I’ve been doing this. For sure I will talk about the bandaged one next year.

        The movie is relatively short so the overall story and plot are mostly to the point as it’s a direct sequel to Frankenstein. How it starts is interesting since it has Mary Shelley, her brother and Lord Byron discussing the former’s story. All of them praise Shelley’s work and saying she has more of the story to tell. I love how interspersed with the brief retelling, we see just a snippet of the prior film to catch up any casual audience member with what happened if they missed it. The choice is odd since the actress playing Mary Shelley also plays The Bride, but I’m getting ahead of myself. 

        The film really starts as the windmill is burned down to the prior film. Henry Frankenstein and his monster manage to survive the infernal. Henry reunites with his fiancé as he vows never to do defy God by creating life. As The Monster roams around, he slowly develops intelligence that makes him more slightly human instead of a mindless beast. Meanwhile, Dr. Pretorius has come to visit Henry as he wishes to recreate what Frankenstein did, but better. 

        From the start, it’s not a cash grab in the least bit. And what I mean is that we get a mostly straightforward approach as a continuing story where there’s more depth to the main characters. And none of it is half baked in the least bit. We have a main character who realizes what he did and feels that he was wrong. More so that he rejects his professor’s tempting offer of helping recreate the project which made the monster. Like, he inevitably relents to Dr. Pretorius demands only after we see him seemingly controlling The Monster. 

        Dr. Pretorius is the main bad guy this time as we see that Henry has reformed. He’s interesting in a sense where he’s the opposite of Dr. Frankenstein. We see his experiments as he made miniature humans to tempt Henry to work alongside him to recreate his experiment. His whole character is campy but not cheesy where it downgrades the film’s quality. What makes him such a character is that he seemingly controls the monster since it sees him as a friend. More so that he unintentionally indulges with what the monster wants. 

        And that’s another thing where Boris Karloff steals the show as The Monster. A lot of people think that the monster is called Frankenstein, but he’s obviously not. Anyways, The Monster is the best part since we see Karloff in full makeup once again and this time he has more to do as he encounter more people who put him on the path he’s on. Most of the time, he tries to runaway from the various villagers. But I like that we have moments where he has a curious nature to show that he’s not just a monstrous brute. 

        One scene in particular highlights this as he spends time with a blind hermit. The Monster wanders into a hut after he hears the man playing on a violin. He enters as the man welcomes him inside. What makes it even work is that the man is blind so he has no idea that the monster is who he is. Just the moments where he shows him the difference between good and bad are sweet since we see a different side of the monster. It’s one thing where we see The Monster just smoking a cigarette was probably something Karloff requested after going through the whole makeup. Inevitably, two hunters ruin what any good will the blind hermit had as The Monster would attack and run away from the hut. 

2. The Bride 

        You’re probably wondering where The Bride fits in. She’s on the title of the film, and it may become a disappointment that she only appears near the end of the movie. You would think that she would be front and center in the movie. And I think it’s smart that she’s saved in the final moments in the film. It’s backwards to think that the thing that people want to see is literally revealed within the final minutes. In a way, I’m glad that the film didn’t take an easy way out, but relying on the overall character drama to make the process even more believable in a story sense. 

        The overall process of her creation is a product of the time. We see the tilted angles that makes the whole scene even weirder since they’re defying God with their experiment. It’s all procedural since we see everything working with the lightning strikes and the assistants lending a hand to raise and lower the body to be given life. We get the tease where they remove the bandages and we see the eyes move. The overall look of The Bride is just iconic as The Monster, with the white flowing cloak and her iconic white streaks on her hair. 

        For as a literal little screen time that she has, she’s the best part. I mean, she’s the reason why everyone would watch this film to see her. She doesn’t say much, and when she looks around it’s like a bird surveying its surrounding as she quickly looks around. It’s one part fascinating and tragic as The Monster sees The Bride. The sad part is that The Monster thinks The Bride is a friend, as he moves closer, she shrieks in fear. 

3. Overall

        The Bride of Frankenstein is one of the best films in the Universal Monster franchise. 

The Wolf of Wall Street Review

        It took a month but reviewing the past movie adaptations of books was something to see. I know that I didn’t talk about one for this year, and trust me, I’ll be reviewing later in December. The past movies have been the ones that I’ve been meaning to talk about but haven’t in the past. Seeing and reviewing them now hopefully gets some potential viewings later down. With this one, I’m pretty sure that everyone has seen it. Considering that it’s a Martin Scorsese movie, and one of the rare ones that has hit the mainstream in terms of audience exposure, I have to talk about it. 

1. Jordan Belfort

        As I mentioned earlier, this is probably the most mainstream film that Martin Scorsese has put out. Among his contemporaries, only Spielberg has enough of a broad appeal that everyone knows who he is and knows what kind of movies he puts out. With the former, a majority are character studies of varying degrees of focus. His most popular ones are the ones that focus on the criminal element, such as Goodfellas and Casino that highlight the ebbs and flows of a gangster. This one is the next in line of his series and probably the most ostentatious. 

        Based on the book by the main guy, we follow Jordan Belfort as he becomes a Wall Street broker. After the events of Black Monday, he starts to work at a small firm that does questionable offers. He manages to morph the company into a pump and dump that rips off clients. We also see just how much level of greed and hedonistic lifestyle that’s at display with Belfort and his associates do. As they manage to look legitimate, Belfort is caught in the eye by the FBI.

        There’s a lot to unpack that I didn’t even get into the specifics. The main point is that what Jordan did is bad, and even the movie has it where he tries to explain what he’s doing and stops short to say that it’s bad and illegal. That’s the sort of thing that makes him interesting since he starts off innocently enough with trying to get into Wall Street. Only after a massive event has it where he has to start over, but go about it in a different way. 

        This is Leo DiCaprio’s fifth movie with Martin Scorsese. They started their collaboration in Gangs of New York, and inevitably would do more in other hits like The Aviator and The Departed. For awhile, it seemed like DiCaprio would be Scorsese’s new De Niro as the former was the most famous actor/director combo. To put it bluntly, this is one of DiCaprio’s best role I think. And it would be a year later that he would win his Best Actor award, all he had to do was eat raw fish and fight a computer generated bear. Anyways, we get his presentation and narration as he’s telling us his life.     

        What makes Jordan interesting is that money isn’t enough for a gratification. He is a dope and sex addict where it’s never enough to get satisfaction. More so that we see early on how he got the idea to steal other people’s money and put it in his. This film qualifies as an epic not in terms of scope but who’s in it. We get a variety of actors that manages to fit well in Jordan’s story that it doesn’t get too stuffed. Such as Matthew McConaughey’s character having a moment as a mentor to Belfort. Having such a small role, shows that what he said to his character stuck with him throughout the movie. 

        Since we have an idea as to who Jordan is, the dynamic between him and his friends and wives are interesting since we see just how much he manipulates people. While this isn’t the first drama that Jonah Hill starred in, he plays Donnie like a total jerk. He’s sort of like a mini-Jordan but doesn’t have the charisma that matches the former. And it’s hard to believe that this is the film that got Margot Robbie her first big role. Robbie playing Naomi is interesting where she isn’t playing Jordan’s consciousness to help him, but grudgingly puts up with his nonsense to have a lavish lifestyle. 

        Lastly, I think the best scene involving Jordan with anyone is when he invites Agent Denhman to his yacht. What precedes it is when Jordan gets subpoenas concerning the company’s finances. He tries to cooperate with the Agent by giving him names and tries to sweet talk him to make the investigation gone. In an inverse, the Agent tries to use his own charm and wits to get info from Belfort where he unintentionally incriminates himself. All of it is great with DiCaprio and Kyle Chandler matching wits with each other. 

2. Greed

        The movie is full of hedonistic greed that would make any poor person want it and making an affluent person blush with the level of depravity on display. Like, there’s so much T&A that it’s surprising that the film didn’t garner an NC-17 rating, although it got trimmed enough to where an R is enough. It’s a sort of thing where the unbelievability aspect in comparison with the reality of it is just mind boggling that it happened. More so that the idea of Greed is permeated in the film that it wears it on it sleeve. 

        What I mean is that the film doesn’t beat you over the head by saying that greed is inherently bad. By just showing just how much of a messed-up person Jordan and his associates is highlights just how much people are willing to go to when making money isn’t enough. Which works I believe when we see Jordan recruit his low-income friends to work for him to make his illegal company look legit. Like the level of debauchery that is on display when we see the floor of the company is insane as there’s loads of obscenities and what not happening. A typical Wall Street firm may look like that, but not as bad as Jordan’s. 

        Lastly, with any Scorsese film concerning any blue- or white-collar crimes, the best part is when we see the downfall. And I love that it starts off small and then it snowballs to a massive degree. I don’t know why I like a good downfall with anything, but I think it’s sort of cathartic where a crime caught up and it blows up spectacularly. And even then, I love the transition of Jordan and Naomi seemingly being happy with Everlong playing, to them having a morning argument. Like, it’s reality that breaks the illusion that shows us just how awful everyone is. 

3. Overall

        The Wolf of Wall Street is one of Scorsese’s best of the 2010s. 

The Devil Wears Prada Review

        We’re halfway through the movie adaptations of the written word. It can be disappointing that I’m not doing a compare and contrast with the books and their cinematic counterparts. While it’s probably fun to compare how much a movie diverges from the source material or elaborate on concepts that the book touched on but not grasp fully. I believe that movies are an entryway to books since if one would do the opposite then the movie would have a near impossible task of being as good as the novel. In any case, for as long as there’s movies, we will always have an adaptation where nobody thought it was a book originally. Aside from that, I’ve been waiting for a long time to talk about this one. 

1. Andy’s Runway Reality

        I’m pretty sure everyone’s first exposure to the movie is the iconic poster. Something about the red high heels with the pitchfork is something where it makes anyone curious as to what it’s about. It caught my eye but I didn’t think much of it when I was younger. Only when I got older and finally got around to watching it where I can say it’s one of my favorite movies that I’ve seen. Of course, I wasn’t captured with the fashion on display nor could I say that I don’t get the idea that anyone could dedicate their whole life to going to Paris. What I can say that when you get down to it, it’s got an interesting story for the most part. 

        Based on the book of the same name by Laura Weisberger, who in fact is the inspiration for Emily, but I’m getting ahead of myself. We follow Andy as she’s recently hired to work at the elite fashion magazine Runway. She finds herself at the mercy with the editor Miranda, while also putting up with the stuckup coworker Emily. Andy finds comfort with Miranda’s assistant Nigel as she goes to adjust to the new life. We see her slowly change to the point that she alienates her friends and boyfriend. I’ll elaborate on that in a moment. 

        It’s hard to think that this was at the peak of Anne Hatheway’s career. She got her big shot when she starred in Disney’s The Princess Diaries. And she was everywhere, let me tell you, and I believe this was the one where she proved that she can do drama stuff that we would inevitably see her in the 2010s and now. Describing Andy is like seeing someone who is the odd one out in a new job. Her introduction highlights that as she prepares for her first day, as we see the other women being dressed in fancier attire. Like, it’s understandable that she gets put through the mental ringer but she was preparing herself for massive humiliation for working at a prestige publication. 

        I think what makes Andy more intriguing is when she starts to become like the other workers. For one thing is that she finds a wardrobe that’s provided by Nigel. Only after she confides to him that she’s not getting any thanks for the work that she’s doing. I like that scene in particular because Nigel is only ever good to Andy by instilling a tough love dynamic to her while not pushing her down like Miranda and Emily. In a way it’s like a calling where she gets the idea to take what she’s doing seriously instead of just coasting through it. 

        Immediately after is when we see Andy go through her transformation. It’s one thing where they doll her up and another where she looks very pretty in the various dresses that she wears around the office and in the streets of Manhattan. More so that she starts to take her job seriously and she begins to alienate her closest friends and boyfriend. There’s been a lot of contention of whether they were bad friends or that the job’s been invasive in Andy’s personal life. I lean towards the latter since it makes sense in this story where the friends are weirded out that Andy is completely different. More so that she prioritizes Miranda than having a personal life. 

        Lastly, the multiple moments between her and Emily is just comedy gold. Emily Blunt plays the character so well that I can imagine that people go to her and say that her character is the best, considering that she’s been other things that are equally noteworthy.  Her attitude is just the right amount of snobbery that she belittles her and it’s never reciprocated back as Andy thinks they’re close work associates. Moreover, when she undergoes the transformation Emily lightens up a bit. I do think it was too convenient that they had to find a way for her to not make it to Paris, but it’s appropriate. 

2. Miranda

        Pretty sure this is everyone’s worse idea of a boss. And that everyone had to put up with someone who is literally demanding and asks for the impossible tasks that are difficult to achieve. Meryl Streep plays Miranda so well. Just her introduction is something else as everyone in the office scrambles to get adjusted. I like the attention to detail when she gets in the building, everyone avoids her like a fish avoiding a shark. Her whole character is intriguing as well since she’s not entirely as she seems initially. 

        One would think that a bad boss would be very loud and stubborn. One that can’t be reason with or challenged by having someone stand up for themselves. Miranda is so interesting in a way where just watching various clips of just her out of context makes it that she doesn’t seem mean or awful. What makes it work is that she has a calm demeanor and knows what she wants in a fashion sense. She doesn’t bark or shout but is very tactful with her words and that her demands are more so tests to see if Andy can accomplish them. 

        I think the best scene involving her is when Andy walks into the room as she and the other experts are deciding a style. Andy laughs as the worker holds up near identical blue belts. Miranda sees that and lays into her without raising her voice. Right there we see that she's a very calculating person in fashion and breaks down Andy's style. Stating that her sweater was specifically picked out years ago as Andy was unaware of it. Making the scene better is Emily in the back just loving every minute of Andy getting her posterior chewed in a brutal way.         

        We get more of an idea as to who she is when Andy and Nigel are together for a fashion shoot. Nigel has it down where he knows what she likes and doesn’t. What makes him interesting in the context of Miranda is that we can interpret that Nigel is the male version of Andy. Where Nigel has put so much time to knowing and doing things with her that he expects a promotion where he can finally be free. Only for that to be quashed when Miranda gives a promotion to another editor. Not only is Miranda controlling but very manipulative. 

        Lastly, there are moments when we see some humanizing moments that shows Miranda in a vulnerable state. It’s not shown a lot, only when Andy goes to see her when discussing a party layout in Paris. The dynamic between them is interesting where we see Andy sacrifice everything to make sure that Miranda is protected. Like, it’s hardly talked about whenever I look up any discussion between the two. I think it shows that Andy dedicated her life to Miranda that she got lost in the sauce of what she was supposed to be doing. More so that, there seems to be a mutual respect among the two when the movie nears the end. 

3. Legacy

        It’s hard to imagine that the movie had an impact just after the release. Just to provide some context, this came out the same time as Superman Returns. One was considered a good dramedy while the other was split among the critics. To think that this film stood the test of time while the Superman film has faded to obscurity as more films with various men of steel would appear in cellulite. I think why this movie has stuck around and made an impact is the fashion angle and the idea of how much a person can sacrifice to please a higher power. Like, we know an Andy and Miranda but we’re fascinated with seeing someone go and commit to a job to the upmost extreme.

        When word got out that a sequel was being made, I was apprehensive to the idea of revisiting the characters 20 years later. There really wasn’t anything to add since everything ended well with how the film wrapped up. Inevitably, nostalgia and cash made it possible to revisit Runway for a second time. I’ve seen it, I didn’t put on my Sunday’s best but it’s weird that people would dress up in their best for 2 hours in a movie theater. As a sequel it’s just okay, nowhere near as good as the original but the dynamic is there with the characters that appear once again. Would there be another movie like this one to make an impact? It remains to be seen, but it’s a reflection of the time and one where it’s timeless. 

4. Overall 

        The Devil Wears Prada is one of the best films of the 2000s, and one of the best adaptations of this century.