wandercreature

In this ongoing series, we will be sharing brief micro-reviews of all the films i’ve been watching/re-watching since the country went full clusterfuck. Because aside from staving away weight increase, and cabin fever, what else is a die hard film geek to do?

ON WITH THE SHOW!

The Nightingale (Dir, Jennifer Kent 2018) Squirm-inducing honesty is the order of the day with Kent’s bold follow-up to her post-horror classic, The Babadook where a young wife and mother(Aisling Fanciosi), indebted to a monstrous British lieutenant in 1825 , loses everything, only to embark on a voyage of revenge and soul discovery when she enlists the help of an aboriginal man( Baykali Gamanbarr) with his own scars to tend to. Set in the early days of Australia’s colonization by England, Kent’s story makes zero bones about the misplaced cultural invective history has often laid out for nations overtaken by the white man. Pitting a young Irish woman alongside one of the many indigenous lives impacted by the encroachment of entitled patriarchy, we are given an unforgiving portrait of the cost history tends to accrue. Definitely not the easiest film to sit through, which seems par for Kent’s personal filmic course. And yet, there is a feral beauty to it all as both leads come to realize their place in this larger story, even if it means neither of them may live to see the climax. Unsparing beauty that is not for the faint of heart.

Macabre (Dir, Lamberto Bava 1980) About as goofy as a half lucid italian retelling of a true american story about a woman who kept her lover’s head in a refrigerator could hope to be. Worth it if only for the utterly bugnuts opening “origin” sequence, as well as the final stinger scare. Bernice Stegers of XTRO fame gives another performance from outer space, and does so knowing that the entire film is about pushing shock to absurd places everywhere possible. Recommended only to those interested in the younger Bava (Demons)’s other work, as well as people who get a kick out of straight up, “did that just happen?” cinema. Bring a six pack and some friends, and you may get a twisted kick out of this one.

Nighthawks (1981) Hadn't really seen this Stallone, William's, and Hauer action favorite since it was released, meaning I was way too young to fully digest it. And catching it with older eyes certainly makes me wonder how this ballsy piece of R-rated action succeeded despite going through several directors before reaching final cut. In the days before the easily corruptible Department of Homeland Security, international counterterrorism units were harvesting local police to help in what was rapidly becoming a new battlefield. Now hot on the path of a globetrotting mass killer for hire in Wulfgar, played deliciously by a pre-Roy Batty Rutger Hauer, "decoy" detective DeSilva and pals are tasked with cornering and stopping his reign of terror on his local NYC turf. Billy Dee Williams also dishes out some memorable work as a fellow cop who's the voice of reason as matters begin heating up. What makes Nighthawks so effective in its pre-911 bombast, is its willingness to expand 1970s grit into the more nasty, borderline slasher 1980s. In fact, the final product does feel very much like a French Connection sequel, which the project did begin life as. It's a good reminder of when Stallone's career was defined by more grounded characters, even as the world was on the verge of spinning out of control. And Hauer makes for a hard to forget monster.

Starstruck (Dir, Gillian Armstrong 1982) Armstrong’s second narrative film (Her debut is the classic, My Brilliant Career) remains a criminally underseen early 1980s wish fulfillment musical. Packed with memorably quirky moments and characters, the story centers on an aspiring singer on the way to the top with the help of her bright, scheming cousin. The roles played with effortless charm by both Jo Armstrong and Ross O’Donovan. A colorful relic of the early “new wave” era, and an infectious time capsule of Sydney in the very early 1980s. A true discovery.

The Parallax View (dir, Alan J. Pakula 1974) It's shocking how much life and experience can alter one's views on art. Once upon a time, I remember being wildly enamored with this made during the Watergate hearings tale of sheer paranoia as suspicion of the U.S. government was at an all time high. And now, a part of me wonders what it was back then that permitted such feelings. Helmed by the legendary Alan J. Pakula, the tale of one reporter's stumbling upon a deadly conspiracy after several witnesses of a politician's assassination begin turning up dead, feels like half of a great film and a great finale, without that pesky careful laying out of story beats before setting off the fireworks. As it is, the film feels as if it's missing some crucial information in order to better earn what is a deeply distressing finale. Warren Beatty, seems more than game. But the film seems unwilling to go the lengths Pakula would later delve with William Goldman's words a few years later. That said, Gordon Willis' cinematography for that finale is unforgettable.

Destroyer (Dir, Karyn Kusama 2018) I am a total sucker for propulsive, existential neo noir and Karyn Kusama’s turn face first into an industry legend aching for a disheveled makeover, does it with signature grit and at times even grace. Exploring the physical and emotional nuclear aftermath that is the film’s central detective character, Kusama and Kidman explore what it is to redeem oneself in a world that seems completely rudderless and without accountability. Her voyage to at last righting a wrong that took place fifteen years prior when she was a young, idealistic undercover cop, takes her back into hell in hopes of some light toward the end. But what a pitch black place to begin from, as time shifts back and forth where her present self resembles that of a seething, undeterred ghoul eager to retain some semblance of humanity, law be damned. The script by Hay and Manfredi, while feeling underdone in some respects, is enhanced by Kusama’s tense, thoughtful direction. And true to intent, Kidman’s performance is equal parts frightening and heartcrushing as a woman determined to leave this world having done one good thing for those she loves.