Recently on our Youtube Channel, we've featured a few Thrift Hauls and DVD Unboxings including box sets, television series, blu-rays, even books on film and VHS. Here's a round up of our affordable finds!
22 July 2022
DVD Video Hauls!
11 July 2022
The Deep (2010)
Superficial The Deep is Disappointing
by Kristin Battestella
After the mysterious loss of the scientific expedition Hermes, her sister submarine Orpheus – led by Frances (Minnie Driver) and Samson (Goran Visnjic) – dives 2,000 feet below the Arctic to continue the renewable energy research. Engineer Clem's (James Nesbitt) wife Catherine (Orla Brady) was on the Hermes and salvage expert Raymond (Tobias Menzies) may know more then he's telling as Russian rivals, underwater dangers, and surprise vessels expedite the race to explore the sea bed in the 2010 five part British serial The Deep.
Archive videos and bleak recordings from the lost Hermes open “To the Furthest Place” amid witch's stone tokens, family goodbyes, and a final toast at the pub before the Orpheus shoves off to the North Pole. The first twenty minutes builds the backstory and the upsetting potential of what happened to the Hermes. However, we shouldn't have seen the Hermes in res prologue if the current crew has their ominous logs, and once we are below in the Orpheus, we should stay amid the isolation, eerie underwater vents, and hydrothermal life possibilities. Automated arms work outside while the people wait with monitors and headsets. They're on a first name basis yet some have a terse, patronizing tone despite oxygen emergencies, trapped submersibles, and ominous sonar signals. Failed wench recoveries lead to alarms, flickering lights, airlock intensity, and crushing disasters. The accident happens fast, with enough disaster visuals but not ridiculously drawn out shock and awe CGI panoramas. Something else is diving above the Orpheus, and again, there's no need to revisit the trawler above thanks to the congested arguments, convulsion injuries, and apparent murders. Desperate repairs, written notes held up to the port hole, low power – the possible killer on board could have been a taut episode unto itself. Unfortunately, The Deep's pace falters with the bloated “Into the Belly of the Beast.” Once again, unnecessary scenes above break the underwater weight versus buoyancy, nosebleeds, and radiation fears. How long has this massive Russian vessel been drilling in this protected environment? The spooky ship is never full explored despite the should be ominous flashlights, bodies, leaks, and bad smells. This episode is much slower moving – redundant rather than horror of the unknown. Bigger issues on UN treaties or industrial pollution disappear alongside lab computers, abandoned equipment, and hissing tanks forgotten rather than used for, you know, information. The lack of a medical doctor shows with autopsies, gunshots, and nuclear dangers, but once again, The Deep must revisit outside perspectives apart from Orpheus. The contrived antagonism already feels silly and superficial, calling the serial's entire structure into question. Maybe there should have been an episode from the Russian perspective, another with the conspiracy depths, and one dedicated family episode rather than dividing the drama between everything but the eponymous submarine.
The motherboards are fried in “Ghosts of the Deep,” but there's no distress beacon, only people arguing whether they're on Russian or Greenwich time while the reactors overheat. Nobody explores who or what is on the vessel, and control rod fixes begat a lengthy lottery contrived for suspense. The irrelevant lethal exposure is not empathetic when the engineer or mechanic could have done their jobs, and repairing Orpheus with salvaged parts is treated as a surprising last minute realization rather than the primary goal. They conveniently find the lost Hermes instantly, and the back up pod's copy, over, roger, repeat interrupts the eerie tomb search with family mementos and pictures in the deceased's locker. An entire flashback hour recounting what happened to the Hermes could have been interesting, but the quiet personal and any intrigue on what happened to the crew are dismissed until a provocative figure seen at the porthole. There aren't any medical check ups, explanations, or debriefings for those rescued, and everything but the last ten minutes of the Third Hour could have been skipped. More meaningless, anonymous technobabble opens “Everything Put Together Falls Apart” before arguments about the pile of body bags and shootouts across the moon pool. Hydrogen producing lava bugs are equated as an organism that eats crap and farts clean fuel, leaving The Deep sorely lacking in a realistic medium between the highbrow gobbledygook and treating viewers like we're stupid. One scientist must deduce what would have been known had somebody turned on the computers found in Episode Two, and another already knew everything but didn't say. The race 8,500 feet deep isn't that interesting despite forbidden pipelines and buckling infrastructure, and this is another half an episode that could have been excised. Each useless excursion and finite maneuver somehow always succeeds despite pressure risks, Nitrogen biproducts, acid, and power drains. Emotions versus research waver, and marathoning The Deep acerbates the uneven motivation flaws and overly dramatic nick of time cheats. Staying alive would have been enough for The Deep without the rival conspiracies as supposedly smart people become foolish to serve the plot in “The Last Breath.” Turnabout shock attempts, multiple traitors, and more shootouts that lead to nothing delay the ruined families and people crying over the deaths they caused. The Orpheus surfaces lickity split to meet generic conspiracy henchman confiscating their research. Oil secrets versus bio fuel discoveries hit the audience over the head yet never address the deeper issues thanks to time wasting technicalities, preposterous survivals, ridiculous deaths, laughable characterizations, and ghosts.
Cold captain Minnie Driver (Phantom of the Opera) goes over all the checks and measures and insists her priority is the crew's safety. However she catches feelings and puts everyone at risk when not calling others selfish for their personal agendas. Frances vows to leave no one behind – after leaving somebody behind every episode – falling back on tired “We don't have a choice!” apologies with each dire failure. She tells others to bury their emotion but is unable to do her job thanks to uneven tears and ineffectual characterizations proving her wrong. Rather than doing what is necessary or surfacing for help, Frances foolishly never considers who really holds the expedition purse strings. Goran Visnjic's (ER) Samson is excited that the Hermes' failure is now his chance to go deep. He thinks he is so cool, but his wife worries he'll cheat – probably because Samson and Frances already knocked boots. Samson only tells Frances how he really feels when she's unconscious yet boasts when he's lifting dead bodies less than a day after being shot in the shoulder. He really doesn't seem like a nice guy and is an even worst scientist. Widower James Nesbitt (Murphy's Law) doesn't actually do any engineering, either. However, Clem's grief doesn't need any other sounding board, and the redundant daughter at home storyline contributes to the bloated problems on The Deep, taking away from Clem's immediate angst and the arguments over family, death, science, and priorities. Flashbacks of Orla Brady (Star Trek: Picard) as his wife Catherine before and during the Hermes mission also waste time, and seeing her through logs or archive research is forgotten because through it all, nobody bothers asking what's been happening the last six months. Of course, we know to be suspicious when Tobias Menzies (The Night Manager) claims to be an outside salvage man who knows nothing about what befell the Hermes, and the stereotypical Black person also dies first. Three secondary diverse yet disposable and undefined crew members on the sub seem too young to even be there. They repeat everything everyone else says a la Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy Quest, fearfully objecting and questioning everything. They never know what to do and are even told to shut up for being so annoying. Translators don't translate, anonymous mechanics never fix anything, chefs never cook, and the bad guys' allegiances change from hour to hour as the wishy washy plot decides. It's almost fascinating to see so many characters embody such frustrating minutia.
Ironically, the ominous blues set the mood well with reflections, ripples, and enough light for us to see the well done underwater effects. Creepy green lighting and choice reds set off the rounded glass, ladders, and hatches while ice, puffy coats, and chunky sweaters keep the chill. Darkness beyond the submarine lights, foreboding hull noises, and neat, if meaningless vampire squid add atmosphere while talk of recycled neon and oxygen accents the congested interiors. Where an American piece is often panning awe and cool wonder, The Deep is largely still until the final episode visually rushes with noticeably jarring handheld action and shaky cam zooms. An onscreen running out of air countdown or duration under water clock would have actualized the timing for the audience as well as anchored the pacing for series director Jim O'Hanlon (A Touch of Cloth) and writer Simon Donald (Fortitude). Unfortunately, the previouslies illuminate how superfluous the middle hours are, and the next week teasers indicate how many apparent calamities amount to nothing. The Deep should have been three parts or two ninety minute movies, for every tangent deflates the contained characters under pressure premise, and the playing at science fiction perils runs aground with derivative politics away from the water.
05 July 2022
Horror Hexes!
Horror Hexes, Oh My!
By Kristin Battestella
These diverse, contemporary scares accent their cultural horrors with hexes, charms, and chills. Read on for protection, warnings, and mistakes from the parables herein.
Evil Eye – Traditional, superstitious Delhi mother Sarita Choudhury (Homeland) worries when her New Orleans daughter meets a too good to be true, suave, wealthy stranger in this 2020 Blumhouse/Amazon tale based on an Audible original. The culture and customs are immediately felt thanks to the styles, music, and protection charms. Old fashioned Mom follows Hindu astrology and warns that it's easy for a relationship to be perfect in the beginning. She's displeased with the whirlwind jewelry and doesn't want them to move in together unless they're married. It's too soon and she loves her daughter too much. Their horoscopes are exceptionally compatible, almost suspiciously, and our father objects to mom's invasive hiring of a private detective. He thinks she is inventing things to worry about, but viewers spot the possessive, fast red flags as our daughter quits her job and moves without telling mom. Video phone calls visualize the bothersome intrusions – differing time zones mean one side is always waking or disturbing the other. Family strife and realistic unease beyond the horror make flashes of mom's prior violent experience unnecessary until we get the whole story in full. Rather than a typical research montage, the right versus wrong argument is refreshing as the upsetting past comes to light in heartfelt dialogue. Are we suspicious because our mothers taught us to be? Children don't know everything about their parents or why they do what they do, and the stalking effects linger – knowing he is always there is frightful enough. Although the ladies bond over crap men, mom's demands about unborn curses and reincarnation sound crazy and controlling. She says she'll drop everything and get rid of the charms in face to face split screens, but chilling evidence and eerie revelations lead to in person confrontations where blood proves stronger than romance or evil. Domestic action rushes an ending that feels more like a straight thriller with no mystical connections, for the supernatural spiritual here won't be esoteric enough for viewers expecting full on horror. Fortunately, the family relationships and cultural drama anchor the supposition.
The Old Ways – A possessed American reporter is abducted by Veracruz brujas in this 2020 Mexican ode with dungeons, chains, herbs, and rituals. Our victim states who she is as if that gives her license to do anything – out of touch with her own culture while the interspersed English and Spanish reflect the miscommunication layers. Despite face paintings, occult drawings, goat milk, and salt across the threshold, she insists she doesn't have the “it” they fear. Cell phones and escape attempts are dealt with swiftly as her local relatives warn her she went where she shouldn't have gone. They will help rid her of the demon, but she still manages to retrieve her bag and shoot the heroin between her toes. After being bound and painted, she pretends, lying to fake her way out of the ritual before snakes slither in amid blood, hair in the mouth, and dead chickens. Arguments with her cousin reveal her twenty year absence, longstanding family troubles, and forgotten protective talismans from their abuela. Occasional diegetic music and a retro fan add flavor and heat while candles flicker and viewers question what we may or may not see in the darkest dungeon corner. Rustic demon documents, a bilingual dictionary, and “psychic surgery” escalate to bulbous sacs with extra teeth, vomiting, and snakes in the stomach. Rather than delays contrived for the audience or drawn out torture porn, the well paced demon encounters are about the possessed coming to believe, ask for help, and understand the terror of looking in the mirror and having something else look back. Healers instead of modern medicine and past exorcisms gone awry are told with personal sadness and lifelong grief – tearful pain with no need for today's whoosh flashbacks. The opening history and brief flash intrusions here are indeed unnecessary – nothing should visually take us from the dungeon congestion – for the suffering turned cleansing experience does better when this sticks to telling its tale without such modern cinema conventions. Chilling demon hints accent the one on one journey and willpower carried by the small ensemble. Serious research and ritual prep begats bones cracking, death whistles, visions in the smoke, Nahuatl demonology, and fatal trades embracing who you are. The ritual is recognizably similar to traditional exorcisms yet stays true to its unique cultural elements for horror viewers looking for something special.
Spell– Pleas, violence, and lingering scars open this 2020 parable starring Omari Hardwick (Power) and Loretta Devine (Waiting to Exhale). Rising above childhood cruelty has led to fancy suits, wealth, and law firm success. The high rise offices are sleek and shiny, but the self-involved teenagers joke about the backwoods past when a funeral summons the family to rural Kentucky. Dad Marquis, however, is unwilling to punish and have his children fear him like his father. He insists on winning with words because it is expected of them to fight and give in to Black stereotypes. Flying his own plane to Appalachia shows how much the elite family stands out at the rusty gas station convenience store with skulls and potions on the shelves. Marquis laughs at the outhouse and doesn't believe in the Mojo bags for protection against conjuring. He and his wife argue over their entitled teens belittling the country folks, ramping up the tension inside the cockpit as a storm brews over the mountains with lightning, maydays, and alarms. Marquis wakes in an attic bedroom, injured but under the care of an old fashioned couple objecting to his cursing yet assuring their hoodoo effigy is the best medicine. Marquis demands to know what happened to his family, for they are nowhere to be found at the out of the past rustic farm house. Vintage sewing machines, candles, and colloquialisms provide a suspicious quaint while calming powders, birds, and boogities invoke the rootwork folk magic. Marquis will pay whatever it takes for an ambulance and proper rescue team, but Ms. Eloise has no phone. Such tools meant to heal or communicate only become dividers among us but salt at the window will keep out the devil. Although he's not actually bound, shrewd filming angles above the bed or through the frame visualize Marquis' incapacitated position. A foot injury that's not what it seems, rainstorms, and revival meetings with animal parts, sacrifices, and chanting make for perilous escape attempts. The foul afoot doesn't underestimate the viewer thanks to suspect food, vomit, and one on ones where Marquis has to play along despite his belief that it's all psychosomatic mumbo jumbo. He's been trying to escape his past but must embrace who he is to cast the bones and beat them at their own magic. Belying use of the color white in the bed frame, locked doorknob, and innocuous pearls accents the eerie close calls in the tight house quarters before flashlights in the woods, ritual carvings, and bloody evidence lead to agony and desperation. The anguish and disturbia is personal – not drawn out viewer shocks. Frantic searches and hysterical digging reveal grimoires with flesh of my flesh spells and boogity doll bindings for and against. Marquis re-injures himself to maintain the ruse as torches and knives help him believe in a little fiery hoodoo of his own. The blu-ray edition features a half hour of deleted scenes increasing the out of touch kids versus Marquis' passiveness – strengthening his later man of action with more isolation. I'm surprised this received negative reviews with complaints about derivative occult cliches that completely ignore the history, cultural subtext, social commentary, and Black experience setting off the blood moon reap what you sow.
A Disappointing Skip
Old – Tropical sand, surf, palm trees, and cocktails set the vacation mood for M. Night Shyamalan's (The Sixth Sense) 2021 adaptation. The resort manager directs our families to a private reserve where beautiful caverns and inlet vistas lead to nosebleeds, chest pains, and bodies in the lagoon. When our guests try to leave the beach; zooms, warps, and blackouts send them back where they started amid knives, arguments, healing wounds, and growing tumors. Unfortunately, the dizzying, frustrating camerawork makes the viewer wonder what's significant. We can't see major action or important developments because the camera is always panning and pointing somewhere else. Although a stylistic choice mirroring the blink and you miss it metaphors, it's a terrible way to tell a story. Clunky, repetitive, simplistic dialogue; precocious kids who unrealistically introduce themselves to every stranger and ask who they are and what they do; disconnecting couples reiterating their relationships; and constantly quoted insurance statistics get...old...fast. Even with emergency surgical incisions rapidly closing, increasing schizophrenia, numerous sicknesses, swift decomposition, expedited youths, and a quickly deceased dog; it takes the group far too long to realize the a la Lost creepy happening. Any commentary on beauty, ageism, wealth, or divorce is never fully realized for most of the violence, wrinkles, rapid eating, even faster pregnancy, and growing young adults still mentally children happens off screen while someone watches from the cliffs as if we aren't supposed to know this is some kind of experiment. There's a lot of math about the hours per aging but we never truly witness the expedited struggle of old age because the interfering aesthetics constantly call attention to themselves. Rather than accenting our aging fears, such audience awareness detracts from the climbing fails, blurred vision, broken bones, and contorted backs. Underutilized doctors and nurses behave stupidly because the plot says so while diverse characters that should represent the social or racist dynamics become superfluous. Contrived childhood answers and notebooks found on the beach lead to perilous swims and an unnecessary meta meta with our director as actor. Seeing the accelerated aging from a pharmaceutical or medical perspective might have been intriguing, but the tacked on comeuppance underestimates the audience. Like low budget horror with a writer/director wearing too many hats, the indulgent M. Night was not the best writer or director for this material. The resort bookends should have been excised for more taut introspection, leaving what should be a provocative concept with no rewatch value.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)