FF+ Smile with Director/Writer Parker Finn

Smile is the psychological horror feature film directorial debut from director/writer Parker Finn. In this conversation, he talks about what it’s like having a $200 million plus box office smash, his inspiration for the story, his love of practical effects, and much more.

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Music: Upbeat Party – Scott Holmes Music

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Episode 345: Barbarian

Genuinely surprising movies are not all that easy to come by, but this directorial debut tries something new and the result is a somewhat thrilling, somewhat campy, somewhat thought-provoking merger of horror comedy that is a blast to experience with others. We had a great time discussing our reactions to it and hope you enjoy listening.

* Note – full spoilers in effect for entire episode *

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Episode 281: A Quiet Place Part II

It’s finally back to the theater for us, along with many others, and we are thrilled to have such a fantastic sequel to one of the most wonderfully unique thrillers in years to talk about. Yes – spoiler alert – we loved what John Krasinski came up with for how to move the Abbott family’s story forward in an interesting, gripping way.

A Quiet Place Part II Spoiler Review – 07:06

The Connecting Point – 1:10:14

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Episode 265: Anna and the Apocalypse

Sneaking in a Christmas episode right before the calendar turns over to 2021. This is a fitting end for the year we’ve just experienced. Like Anna sings, “I will believe” that things will get better. Enjoy this gushing over a fantastic musical zombie comedy. We hope it makes your day a little brighter.

Anna and the Apocalypse Spoiler Review – 10:35

The Connecting Point – 55:29

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Support us on Patreon & get awesome rewards

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Rate/Review us on iTunes and on your podcast app of choice! It helps bring us exposure so that we can get more people involved in the conversation. Thank you!

Episode 256: The Lost Boys

For this year’s October Donor Pick, we gave the Patrons a list of vampire movies to choose from. The winner takes us back to the 80’s for a teen horror comedy spin on blood suckers that helped to shape what the sub-genre would look like in the future.

The Lost Boys Spoiler Review – 06:32

The Connecting Point – None

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Rate/Review us on iTunes and on your podcast app of choice! It helps bring us exposure so that we can get more people involved in the conversation. Thank you!

Episode 255: Frankenweenie

This week begins a stretch of episodes celebrating man’s best friend, in honor of Aaron becoming a first-time puppy parent. We start with the perfect dog film to discuss around Halloween, as it is filled with homage to classic monster and horror films of the past, but still has a sweetness to it that all pet owners can feel.

Frankenweenie Spoiler Review – 05:35

The Connecting Point – 49:11

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Rental

Rating: R / Runtime: 1 hour and 28 minutes

The shift in technology has made the world more connected but has rendered the concept of privacy obsolete. There is no place on Earth that can remain hidden from the all-seeing eye of a camera, cell phone, drone, or other tools of video surveillance. Forgive the paranoia afflicted prose of these opening sentences but it would be a lie to sugarcoat the truth. Outside of birthday party recollections and vacation memories, the idea of recording can carry a dark undercurrent of sadism when left in the hands of unsavory characters. “Somebody’s Watching Me” is not just a slice of 80s pop music cheese; it’s the spine chilling predicament of four friends embarking on a mini weekend getaway in sunny California. 

Dave Franco’s directorial debut, “The Rental,” sticks a flag in the ever-increasing field of thrillers dealing with the negatives of technology gone awry. What was supposed to be a vacation in the space of a luxurious beachfront house filled with smiles, drug experimentation, and couples bonding closer gets turned sour into a game of survival. Survival not consisting of just life or death but also the ability to keep secrets and deception from reaching the surface. Charlie (Dan Stevens), Michelle (Allison Brie), Mina (Shelia Vand), and Josh (Jeremy White) represent our group under the watchful eye of a mysterious peeping tom who stalks and lurks unknowingly. Unfortunately, only one character (Josh) out of the four subjects has their own personality, fears, and desires fleshed out while the others are simply empty vessels.

Notwithstanding the lack of interesting characters, the story plays out like a kid not knowing their limitations when it comes to eating candy. Franco has a road ahead of him that could lead to a competent career behind the camera but he has some lessons to learn. His handling of the narrative elements is to carry different subplots that could all work as one film on their own; instead, they are jumbled together leading to an illogical cinematic clutter. One subplot provides the stakes of keeping a love affair hidden while the other wrinkle follows the predicament of the homeowner himself that feels untrustworthy. One of these plots could have carried all the way home but this is a case of doing too much when simple would work better. 

Good can be found in the short 88-minute runtime, specifically when the characters are forced out of their cocoon of comfort having to match wits with the unseen villain in new major twists. The main thing that decreases the level of enjoyment is found with character flaws that reek of a lack of common sense. There is nothing worse in a horror film than being treated to a lack of character intelligence. People still not realizing that they can’t commit perfect murders or solve uncomfortable dilemmas by calling for help is laughable in the bad sense of the word. By the end, it is not a shocking conclusion that lies waiting for the characters.

“The Rental” is a horror/thriller mashup that carries the ethos of a decent film but exits the room with a mark of incompletion. 

Rating:


Caless Davis is a Seattle-based film critic and contributor to the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He loves any discussion of film and meeting new people to engage in film discussions on any subject. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hunt

Rating: R / Runtime: 1 hour and 29 minutes

Political satire, when done correctly, can be very effective in showing the volatile and idiotic manner of government, serving as a form of humor that calls attention to itself but does the duty of sparking compelling thoughts in your mind about the state of democracy. Humor is a subjective phenomenon just as the opinions floating in your brain are; the same joke can cause different reactions based on how it vibes with the person’s idea of what’s funny and what’s not. If “The Hunt” is an exercise of satire, then it’s better off labeling itself a spoof film because it plays down its impact with self-referential humor akin to the “Scary Movie” series of the 2000s. Adding nothing to the current political discord between Democrats and Republicans, the blood and guts raining down from the mayhem-infused violence do nothing to cover up the woeful writing and flimsy cheapness of its execution. The fierce performance of Betty Gilpin doesn’t carry the imposing muscles needed to carry this feature out of the dungeons of disappointment,

Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse, the two men who lit up last year with the greatness of HBO’s “Watchmen”, stand as the architects of this new thriller. A group of Republican loyalists find themselves fighting for their lives in a location filled with secluded woods and Democrats with an itch for hunting down so-called “Deplorables”. This sadistic game takes a sudden turn when a woman named Crystal (Betty Gilpin) becomes the predator instead of the prey. Laying down a can of you know what, Crystal fights back against the dire onslaught of progressives while uncovering the blueprint for this event labeled as “Manorgate” which has been widely circulated as a theory on online forums and social media accounts. The twisted discourse of favoritism politics wears its mask loud and proud but yet doesn’t do anything noteworthy to warrant all of its controversy.

From the onset, this story immediately comes off as anything other than the butt of its own joke. Some moments engage with dialogue that feels lifted from a comment section underneath the tweet of any political figure or pundit. Terms such as “snowflakes”, “rednecks”, “crisis actors” and disposable monologues are used and represent a lack of cleverness and reek of a style reminiscent of a tone-deaf social media user that wants to sound smart but comes off painfully lacking in awareness. Was the research of this film done by siphoning from the wide and jumbled world of social media apps? The narrative doesn’t know what direction it wants to go, opting for a misshaped “equal opportunity” offender angle that aims to disarm any harsh labels this film may receive from either side of the political arena. Does the film want to make fun of the vast conspiracy theories and stereotypes the parties lob at each other or the right’s fear of a scenario involving the left attacking them draped in some legitimacy? Maybe “The Hunt ” wants to make fun of both sides trying to be the high and mighty winner of an unwinnable dispute, but the film makes it very hard to figure out what the purpose entails. For a misguided and clunky screenplay to come from Lindelof is the most shocking piece to take away from this trainwreck.

Violence is as vicious and full-frontal as the MPAA allows it to be with limbs, guts, heads, and eyeballs being taken down or disintegrated with bullets, blunt objects, and any weapon that can be found usable. On par with a Jason Vorhees gorefest, this is the primal center of human conflict with a slapstick comic book aesthetic. Some of the CGI can be iffy but these passages of mainstream action aspirations do add some jolt and curiosity. Director Craig Zobel’s manner of using so many quick cuts and erroneous angles that leave the audience missing out on the impact of hits and final fatalities is a bummer to watch on the big screen. If there was one thing that could conjure me to give this film a watch recommendation, it would have been the selling point of action sequences. Sadly, that is far from the final results.

Shock and disbelief serve as my final words for this fail of a satire. All of the anticipation and excitement has been for naught because the resulting film is a frustrating disappointment that is baffling by the fact of having writers and actors with trustworthy track records behind the helm. “The Hunt ” will be forgettable once the uproar about its subject matter cools down and what will stand in my memory is how much of a farce it makes of itself trying to lend an opinion to the American political climate.

Rating:


Caless Davis is a Seattle-based film critic and contributor to the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He loves any discussion of film and meeting new people to engage in film discussions on any subject. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Episode 219: The Invisible Man

This week we’re discussing director/writer Leigh Whannell’s sci-fi/horror modern remake of a Universal Pictures Classic Monster movie. With a stunning performance by Elisabeth Moss, incredible visuals and sound, and a plot that fits perfectly in our current times, this intense perspective-switching story is ripe for a conversation about trauma, abuse, and how to relate to those who’ve experienced them.

The Invisible Man – 0:02:41

The Connecting Point – 1:05:45

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Invisible Man (2020)

Rating: R / Runtime: 1 hour and 50 minutes

Going back to its original roots as a novel by H.G. Wells and one of the original Universal Pictures Classic Monster Movies, the story of “The Invisible Man” involved a man whose experiments make him unseeable and eventually lead to a descent into madness and violence. For this modern reboot of the film franchise, writer/director Leigh Whannell brings the character crashing into the #MeToo era by centering this story on not The Invisible Man himself, but rather his primary victim. Whereas previous entries have been all about how a person deals with the effects of a strange new ability, Whannell’s film focuses on the perspective of those who suffer from a maniac’s abuse of power and control.

The film opens with an absolutely stunning night-time sequence of Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) suspensefully escaping the gorgeous, isolated home she shares with her brilliant, extremely wealthy, Optics scientist partner Adrien (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Right from the start, Whannell lays out the kind of experience this film is meant to be, relying on skillful precision in cinematography by Stefan Duscio and a powerful, terrifying score by Benjamin Wallfisch to always keep the audience intensely on edge. Cecilia is a woman who we immediately understand is the victim of awful and frequent abuses. She is clearly terrified and we hold our breath while silently praying she gets away from a man we literally know nothing about yet. And this is merely the beginning.

After living in fear for a few weeks, Cecilia learns that her ex has committed suicide, and she is free to begin healing from the horrible domestic and sexual abuse we learn he committed. But she doesn’t really believe it, and it isn’t long before mysterious things begin happening, signaling to her that someone, or something, is stalking her from outside her view. It should come as no surprise to anyone that’s seen much of Moss’ filmography that the actress is as good as they come, and her performance here ranks among the best she’s ever given. For most of the film, she is in a growing state of panic, slowly losing her sanity, and displaying every emotion one could possibly imagine a victim of these evil crimes might experience. Her ability to convey fear, distrust, and deep deep pain via facial expressions and voice inflection is incredibly impressive and also extremely difficult to watch. 

Despite support and assistance from loved ones like her sister, a childhood friend who is conveniently now a police officer, and his teenage daughter, Cecilia struggles mightily when no one believes her claims that an invisible man is out to get her. The terror he eventually begins to reign on her is some of the best supernatural horror you’ll see. It’s minimalistic for so long in a way that makes the special effects extremely impactful when they do happen, and the same can be said for the film’s reserved use of physical violence. For most of the film, it’s emotional and psychological abuse that Cecilia faces the most, but you can always feel the intensity building to something. Eventually, there are a few spots where brief outbursts of bloody action occurs, often in rather shocking fashion. The film is never too gory, though, so viewers fearing an all-out slasher flick need not worry much. 

I can’t express enough just how wound tight “The Invisible Man” is from start to finish. This is a pressure cooker of a thriller where your body is constantly clinched as you are made to feel as if you know where this hidden assailant is at all times, just waiting for the moment when something extreme is going to happen. Sure, it’s got its share of jump scares, but most are effective and play very well with an excited audience, as does the action choreography, a continuation of the great work Whannell did in 2018’s “Upgrade”. Fight sequences with The Invisible Man are especially wonderfully crafted and very memorable.

“The Invisible Man” puts a new spin on a classic horror property with a sci-fi twist, plenty of surprises, and an all-too-real story from the perspective of someone who is tormented by her long-time domestic abuser. It is not always easy to watch, and trigger warnings definitely apply, but for those who can stomach the painful brilliance of Moss’ exceptional traumatic performance, catharsis and a genuinely unnerving but entertaining experience is to be had. Universal has finally figured out what a new line of monster movies can look like, with truly evil and unredeemable villainous fiends and social metaphors delivering a contemporary vision all their own. Let’s hope this is the start of a great franchise and not just a splendid flash in the pan.

Rating:


Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on the emotional experience he has with a film. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.