24 Frames is the final film of Abbas Kiarostami, an Iranian film director. Kiarostami, a film director, artist, and photographer melded cinema and photography into his final ode to cinema. It was worked on and completed in 2016, however, it did not make it to Baltimore, MD, until June 2018. I am not sure if this was because of editing reasons, or abilities to promote or obtain the film. The premise behind this film, was to take 24 of his still frame photographs and animate them. The idea seemed to be something right up my alley of different, and combining of art forms. Each frame was roughly four and a half minutes, focusing on stark or bleak landscapes.
Many of these frames were black and white landscapes. Snow and water seemed to be central themes in the frames, and I am not sure if this was a thematic choice, or more based on the ease of animating these features. Birds were also a regular theme, most commonly ravens or crows, which again, had me thinking if these were allusion to foreboding of death. There were some cow scenes, and the two frames that the cows were used seemed to be pretty similar animated footage.
The concept behind the film is creative and different, and while I can appreciate the stills for what they were, I felt some of the moments before and after what would be the normal stills to almost tamper with the simple beauty that was included in his photography. Some of the frames, the four and a half minutes was enough, others it seemed like an eternity.
There was music included in some of the frames, and when included, I found those frames to be more of the ones that peaked my interest. While the approach was to get the viewer to be more in the moment, some of the inclusions of animation was a bit too jilted, which made it a bit more of a challenge to be able to fully surrender to the scenes.
While I appreciated many of the water and snow frames, how some of them were spaced in the group was seamless. It appeared to have some that transitioned well. My only complaint with some of the use of birds, and animals in some of these scenes were a bit too surrealist for my taste (a cow sleeping on a beach for one, a wolf rolling in snow while others worked a carcass, a pigeon flying by a window after a group of crows passing by the same stark countryside view, a song bird singing for four and a half minutes as tree work comes to the two trees close by). These images and animations at times seemed like an odd Dali painting in a moving photo, which was a bit too much for me to process as a viewer. Some of these frames I think would have been more effective and achieved the same beauty in the moment effect if they were shorter.
The final frame, was the ideal climax pinnacle of the body of work, and tied the collection together well. I'd be curious to know more about his work, and if any these started their journey in a Chelsea Gallery.
Sunday, 24 June 2018
Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom
While one must have some suspended, non science logical approach to view and of the reptilian world movies, the original, Jurassic Park, had much more of a clever, well written script.
Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom, had far less of a promising script. It tried too hard to please the original reptilian world fans. The premise behind this lackluster film, was Isla Nublar, island home to the Jurassic World Park, is under duress. Three years after the demise of the park, the dinosaurs are left to their own devices. They have overtaken the island, but there is a nearby volcano that is on the brink of eruption. Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) are summoned to rescue some of the dinosaurs from the extinction level natural disaster. While procured to find Blue, the smartest of Owen's pod of velocraptors, the duo and team of interns uncover a cover up corruption ring.
Jurassic Park, the original one, at least despite being science fiction, had some decent approaches to facts, and while it wasn't completely believable, it had some form of potential, and used a reasonable fact based concepts behind it. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, threw all those out the window. There was mixing of trex and raptor blood. There were weird hybrids that didn't have any typical reptile behavior. While I realize that this type of movie is not PhD biology thesis material, and simply trying to be an entertaining mindless summer movie, it tried to hard to reconnect the original, the most recent, and appease science fiction nerds, and restorted to a failure worse than Dune level of what is this rubbish? I had strong inclinations that this was going to be the driving force, and was going merely for the summer blockbuster effect, and honestly if I didn't have MoviePass, I probably would have passed on this one. I'll save my comments for MoviePass for another blog post, but albeit, I had Sharknado sequel standards going into this: extremely low standards, and this movie didn't even meet those, nor do I really think The Rock would have starred in this which is also, not saying much.
While the graphics and CGI premise on the original dinos from Jurassic World were impressive, and the sound of the roars were regular that I envision bad weather drinking games made to this, I'd put this more in the terrible movie category well below Anaconda: not even worth the redbox rental fee. However, I'm sure back in the day, when I lived in the middle of nowhere Minnesota in the dead of winter, this would have been our classic drinking game movie.
The premise behind the movie was trying to take on the whole potential catastrophe and what it could do to the environment and the need to save animals, which is a point I usually am gung ho about supporting, but not when it's attached to a movie that can't seem to have valid plot points or make my science oriented brain hurt. Animal trafficking, was also touched on, as these bandits truck these dinosaurs into a home to then be marketed in hopes to raise enough money to use dinosaurs as a military weapon is such a far fetched idea, that it makes the real animal trafficking issues to also be a a joke, which is a shame, while I'm sure this wasn't the intention, they wanted to take on so much point wise that it ended up being a fizzle.
As I struggled to watch, all I could think of was the cliched plot lines of every other summer and winter blockbusters I have seen in recent years: King Kong (2006), Godzilla (2014) and Jurassic Park (1993). While recent remakes of King Kong and Godzilla were mediocre and good, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, just couldn't seem to live up to the rest of the field. Peter Jackson's 2006 King Kong was a long winded 3 hours, with pretty island scenes and an overly anthropomorphized animal chasing after a girl. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, took on a similar approach, but altered, destruction of a pretty island, overly anthropomorphized animals that eventually chase after girls. And even then the hybrid dinosaurs that they used were as if the CGI team came up with the notion of what if we create a mutt of a dinosaur as if Alien, Predator, TREX and raptors all went to a raging orgy. Even the suspense that they tried to build fell short of the building suspense of the 2014 Godzilla.
Movie production companies seem to be building more of the empire of remakes, adding on to franchise story lines, and blockbusters. I felt that Solo, the prequel of the Star Wars movies worked more in the interest of new fans of the Star Wars Franchise, as well as the old. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom seemed to want to appease to the original Jurassic Park fans, but instead threw in a weird plot line to tie the Jurassic World Series to the Jurassic Park originals. and failed miserably.
Unfortunately, I was hoping for a reasonable summer blockbuster, and instead was given mush that was trying to pass as diamond worthy.
Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom, had far less of a promising script. It tried too hard to please the original reptilian world fans. The premise behind this lackluster film, was Isla Nublar, island home to the Jurassic World Park, is under duress. Three years after the demise of the park, the dinosaurs are left to their own devices. They have overtaken the island, but there is a nearby volcano that is on the brink of eruption. Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) are summoned to rescue some of the dinosaurs from the extinction level natural disaster. While procured to find Blue, the smartest of Owen's pod of velocraptors, the duo and team of interns uncover a cover up corruption ring.
Jurassic Park, the original one, at least despite being science fiction, had some decent approaches to facts, and while it wasn't completely believable, it had some form of potential, and used a reasonable fact based concepts behind it. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, threw all those out the window. There was mixing of trex and raptor blood. There were weird hybrids that didn't have any typical reptile behavior. While I realize that this type of movie is not PhD biology thesis material, and simply trying to be an entertaining mindless summer movie, it tried to hard to reconnect the original, the most recent, and appease science fiction nerds, and restorted to a failure worse than Dune level of what is this rubbish? I had strong inclinations that this was going to be the driving force, and was going merely for the summer blockbuster effect, and honestly if I didn't have MoviePass, I probably would have passed on this one. I'll save my comments for MoviePass for another blog post, but albeit, I had Sharknado sequel standards going into this: extremely low standards, and this movie didn't even meet those, nor do I really think The Rock would have starred in this which is also, not saying much.
While the graphics and CGI premise on the original dinos from Jurassic World were impressive, and the sound of the roars were regular that I envision bad weather drinking games made to this, I'd put this more in the terrible movie category well below Anaconda: not even worth the redbox rental fee. However, I'm sure back in the day, when I lived in the middle of nowhere Minnesota in the dead of winter, this would have been our classic drinking game movie.
The premise behind the movie was trying to take on the whole potential catastrophe and what it could do to the environment and the need to save animals, which is a point I usually am gung ho about supporting, but not when it's attached to a movie that can't seem to have valid plot points or make my science oriented brain hurt. Animal trafficking, was also touched on, as these bandits truck these dinosaurs into a home to then be marketed in hopes to raise enough money to use dinosaurs as a military weapon is such a far fetched idea, that it makes the real animal trafficking issues to also be a a joke, which is a shame, while I'm sure this wasn't the intention, they wanted to take on so much point wise that it ended up being a fizzle.
As I struggled to watch, all I could think of was the cliched plot lines of every other summer and winter blockbusters I have seen in recent years: King Kong (2006), Godzilla (2014) and Jurassic Park (1993). While recent remakes of King Kong and Godzilla were mediocre and good, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, just couldn't seem to live up to the rest of the field. Peter Jackson's 2006 King Kong was a long winded 3 hours, with pretty island scenes and an overly anthropomorphized animal chasing after a girl. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, took on a similar approach, but altered, destruction of a pretty island, overly anthropomorphized animals that eventually chase after girls. And even then the hybrid dinosaurs that they used were as if the CGI team came up with the notion of what if we create a mutt of a dinosaur as if Alien, Predator, TREX and raptors all went to a raging orgy. Even the suspense that they tried to build fell short of the building suspense of the 2014 Godzilla.
Movie production companies seem to be building more of the empire of remakes, adding on to franchise story lines, and blockbusters. I felt that Solo, the prequel of the Star Wars movies worked more in the interest of new fans of the Star Wars Franchise, as well as the old. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom seemed to want to appease to the original Jurassic Park fans, but instead threw in a weird plot line to tie the Jurassic World Series to the Jurassic Park originals. and failed miserably.
Unfortunately, I was hoping for a reasonable summer blockbuster, and instead was given mush that was trying to pass as diamond worthy.
Monday, 16 April 2018
Unsane
Unsane is Steven Sodorberg's 2018 thriller. It was shot mostly with an Iphone and is the story of Sawyer Valentini. Sawyer relocates from Boston to a small town in nowhere Pennsylvania. She relocates as a way in hopes to escape the man whom has been stalking her for the last two years. Once she relocates, she goes to see a counselor, and unbeknownst to herself, she signs papers to have herself committed for 24 hours. The 24 hours then becomes a week, and she then becomes convinced that her stalker is one of the night nurses. She does what she can to try to survive and get out.
While this wasn't the best thriller I've seen this year, I think it brings to light some of the stigmas most of what our society has towards getting help. At the same time, the movie can serve as a hindrance for a lot of people to want or be able to admit or try to get the help they need. While I'm sure that there are psychiatric centers like the one portrayed in this movie that tries to get patients by any means necessary and bill insurance for what they need.
I appreciated the approach of using an IPhone to shoot this movie, however, I think that Soderberg used this method, as this seems to be the new up and coming method to approach film-making. At times, the phone allowed for some new fresh angles. The downside, was in a lot of the dark hospital scenes or forest scenes, the coloration of the shots becomes distracting. The approach fails to have the sheer beauty of Tangerine, the 2015 crime thriller movie that started the iphone approach to filming.
The thriller aspect of the movie, was mostly a sleeper approach, wanting to appeal more towards the "smart people horror movie" crowd. (The Witch, Good Night Mommy, A Quiet Place would also fall into the same category). While the movie had some good seat jumper moments, and surprises and plot twists. I wanted to enjoy the movie, and while the story seemed new to the genre, it still fell short. I had paired this with a double feature with the 12 days documentary. While I think the two served as a good contrast on the topics of self help and care, ultimately it still fell short a bit in being a solid approach for what I was expecting with this film.
While this wasn't the best thriller I've seen this year, I think it brings to light some of the stigmas most of what our society has towards getting help. At the same time, the movie can serve as a hindrance for a lot of people to want or be able to admit or try to get the help they need. While I'm sure that there are psychiatric centers like the one portrayed in this movie that tries to get patients by any means necessary and bill insurance for what they need.
I appreciated the approach of using an IPhone to shoot this movie, however, I think that Soderberg used this method, as this seems to be the new up and coming method to approach film-making. At times, the phone allowed for some new fresh angles. The downside, was in a lot of the dark hospital scenes or forest scenes, the coloration of the shots becomes distracting. The approach fails to have the sheer beauty of Tangerine, the 2015 crime thriller movie that started the iphone approach to filming.
The thriller aspect of the movie, was mostly a sleeper approach, wanting to appeal more towards the "smart people horror movie" crowd. (The Witch, Good Night Mommy, A Quiet Place would also fall into the same category). While the movie had some good seat jumper moments, and surprises and plot twists. I wanted to enjoy the movie, and while the story seemed new to the genre, it still fell short. I had paired this with a double feature with the 12 days documentary. While I think the two served as a good contrast on the topics of self help and care, ultimately it still fell short a bit in being a solid approach for what I was expecting with this film.
12 Days
12 Days is a 2017 documentary out of France. It's US release date was in March 2018, and I viewed it at the Parkway Theater. By law, in France, anyone whom is committed to a psychiatric ward or hospital, must see a judge roughly 12 days after their commitment. This is to deem whether or not they are fit to be released or should continue treatment.
The documentary follows a grouping of patients, some of their time in the hospital, as well as their hearings. They also have many scenic scenes between cases. The scenic scenes help set the tonal, grey and cold rainy or misty scenes of some of the hospitals. The premise of the documentary is fascinating to me, as the stigma of needing to get psychiatric help in the United States is always a challenge. Many in the states can't get the help that they need due to sheer costs, limited insurance or options for that matter. Many of the stories that they portray are heartbreaking. Some don't see the need for their commitments, while others appreciate the help that they are receiving and comment on how they feel the treatment to be helpful. Unfortunately, I'm sure mostly due to doctor-patient privileges, most of the documentary covers only the trials. Some of the trials we see are early in the treatment process, others are later. Everyone that we witness, the patient is told that they need to receive more treatment.
There is enlightenment in seeing another country's process, it's just a shame that we weren't given more information about maybe the hospitals, what allows others to commit certain people against their will, in addition to the court cases. I realize that most families, friends, patients or doctors may not want to disclose everything about why somebody is committed, the healing process, treatment, etc., but there are just so many other approaches that this documentary could have brought forth in it. The documentary itself was relatively short, and like I said, was a string of the different court cases. It also would have been beneficial to see a variety of different rulings, in addition to the variety of judges. Another topic that could have been pursued could have been why these judges chose to hear these types of cases. Overall, I enjoyed the film, I just left wanting to know more.
The documentary follows a grouping of patients, some of their time in the hospital, as well as their hearings. They also have many scenic scenes between cases. The scenic scenes help set the tonal, grey and cold rainy or misty scenes of some of the hospitals. The premise of the documentary is fascinating to me, as the stigma of needing to get psychiatric help in the United States is always a challenge. Many in the states can't get the help that they need due to sheer costs, limited insurance or options for that matter. Many of the stories that they portray are heartbreaking. Some don't see the need for their commitments, while others appreciate the help that they are receiving and comment on how they feel the treatment to be helpful. Unfortunately, I'm sure mostly due to doctor-patient privileges, most of the documentary covers only the trials. Some of the trials we see are early in the treatment process, others are later. Everyone that we witness, the patient is told that they need to receive more treatment.
There is enlightenment in seeing another country's process, it's just a shame that we weren't given more information about maybe the hospitals, what allows others to commit certain people against their will, in addition to the court cases. I realize that most families, friends, patients or doctors may not want to disclose everything about why somebody is committed, the healing process, treatment, etc., but there are just so many other approaches that this documentary could have brought forth in it. The documentary itself was relatively short, and like I said, was a string of the different court cases. It also would have been beneficial to see a variety of different rulings, in addition to the variety of judges. Another topic that could have been pursued could have been why these judges chose to hear these types of cases. Overall, I enjoyed the film, I just left wanting to know more.
Sunday, 15 April 2018
Annihilation
Annihilation is 2018 film from Alex Garland. Garland had previously directed 28 days Later, and wrote and directed Ex Machina. It was released in February and I screened it in March in a Chinatown theater in DC. Annihilation is by far one of the best visually stunning movies that I have seen in years. Certainly a movie made for the big screen, and not one that would have the same effect if you were to watch it at home, especially on a computer.
Annihilation's premise of the movie, centralizes, around Natalie Portman's character, a army veteran biologist. It's sent in a dystopian type world, where her husband returns from the "Shimmer". The Shimmer is the result of an alien asteroid hitting earth. It expands and alters the world around it. While the movie was based on the book of the same name, of the Southern Reach trilogy of Jeff Vandeermer. This is where the movie was a bit shaky. Perhaps Garland's weaker film of his body of work. Ex Machina was pretty well executed, and I'm not sure if it's because of his ability to write a solid script on his own. While I haven't read the book, I can't say how true the movie is to the book, or whether or not Garland ruined the concept of the original book. I am also not sure if the intention is to make the trilogy. As a downfall of the movie, at times the story-line is a bit muddled and inconclusive. It's hard to say if this was an issue, or whether or not there is going to be a follow up and finishing of the series.
Annihilation is visually stunning. It succeeds well in pulling in and captivating the audience with it's visual effects. Much like Blade Runner 2049 and Mad Max Fury Road, the world created in the movie was the driving force, and everything else seemed to fall by the wayside. Unlike Blade Runner 2049 and Mad Max Fury Road, the movie's acting and storyline didn't live up to everything else. While creating these hybrid creatures, the movie is able to stir in the tension thriller aspect I have been craving solidly all season from my thriller movies. The CGI wasn't so overly done to make the Shimmer, creatures, or side effects odd. They all played well and drew the viewer more so into the film. While the team of women explore the Shimmer, the tension is laid on thick and viewers are drawn drastically into determining and learning about what the ultimate causation is, and Portman's story of working through the Shimmer. I appreciated the woman dominated cast, especially portraying roles you don't often see women in: science, veterans.
The acting in the film was a bit short, but I felt it wasn't the mere driving force of the movie. You frequently forgot how the acting was poor in areas, when something visually stunning like deer with flowering antlers prance around the screen. The story line had some holes and was a bit hard to follow at times as it jumped around in time with flashbacks. Despite the somewhat flawed script, this is one of the films I've enjoyed the most this year. The final 30-45 minutes of the film justified the whole movie going experience with this movie for me.
Annihilation's premise of the movie, centralizes, around Natalie Portman's character, a army veteran biologist. It's sent in a dystopian type world, where her husband returns from the "Shimmer". The Shimmer is the result of an alien asteroid hitting earth. It expands and alters the world around it. While the movie was based on the book of the same name, of the Southern Reach trilogy of Jeff Vandeermer. This is where the movie was a bit shaky. Perhaps Garland's weaker film of his body of work. Ex Machina was pretty well executed, and I'm not sure if it's because of his ability to write a solid script on his own. While I haven't read the book, I can't say how true the movie is to the book, or whether or not Garland ruined the concept of the original book. I am also not sure if the intention is to make the trilogy. As a downfall of the movie, at times the story-line is a bit muddled and inconclusive. It's hard to say if this was an issue, or whether or not there is going to be a follow up and finishing of the series.
Annihilation is visually stunning. It succeeds well in pulling in and captivating the audience with it's visual effects. Much like Blade Runner 2049 and Mad Max Fury Road, the world created in the movie was the driving force, and everything else seemed to fall by the wayside. Unlike Blade Runner 2049 and Mad Max Fury Road, the movie's acting and storyline didn't live up to everything else. While creating these hybrid creatures, the movie is able to stir in the tension thriller aspect I have been craving solidly all season from my thriller movies. The CGI wasn't so overly done to make the Shimmer, creatures, or side effects odd. They all played well and drew the viewer more so into the film. While the team of women explore the Shimmer, the tension is laid on thick and viewers are drawn drastically into determining and learning about what the ultimate causation is, and Portman's story of working through the Shimmer. I appreciated the woman dominated cast, especially portraying roles you don't often see women in: science, veterans.
The acting in the film was a bit short, but I felt it wasn't the mere driving force of the movie. You frequently forgot how the acting was poor in areas, when something visually stunning like deer with flowering antlers prance around the screen. The story line had some holes and was a bit hard to follow at times as it jumped around in time with flashbacks. Despite the somewhat flawed script, this is one of the films I've enjoyed the most this year. The final 30-45 minutes of the film justified the whole movie going experience with this movie for me.
Thoroughbreds
Thoroughbreds is a 2018 thriller centralizing around two reunited estranged teen friends. It seems that the 2017-2018 film scene seems to be frothing at the bit for teen drama movies, thrillers, romcoms, Thoroughbreds seems to be one of the better of the crop that's been coming out recently.
The premise behind the movie was that two friends, Lily and Amanda, whom grew up in a suburban Connecticut town, much like the Stamford ilk, rekindle their drifted friendship. Lily is home from her elite boarding school, Amanda is working towards revamping her image. The two hatch a plan to solve both their problems.
I found this to be one of the better thrillers I have seen of 2018, most have been an attempt at thriller, but it seems that Thoroughbreds builds more plot twists and suspense than others that I have seen recently. I found the premise between the two friends to be believable and relatable. While this isn't much of a movie targeted for more the teen audience, but more like Ladybird, where I think most of the audience attending the movie is going to be younger adults reflecting back on their youth. This seems to be a driving theme in approaches to movies recently, and part of me wonders if with Thoroughbreds, the screenwriter and director perhaps wanted to hitch a plan of what they had WISHED they had done growing up. Despite this, it seemed like the ultimate revenge bitchy stuck up teen movie, of girls with nothing better to do with their time than to hatch a plan to get back at a nasty step father.
The music added some good overall tension to the movie, and the lighting and camera angles at times where an interesting approach. While the movie didn't really leave me on the edge of the seat, it was a creative approach to teen angst.
The premise behind the movie was that two friends, Lily and Amanda, whom grew up in a suburban Connecticut town, much like the Stamford ilk, rekindle their drifted friendship. Lily is home from her elite boarding school, Amanda is working towards revamping her image. The two hatch a plan to solve both their problems.
I found this to be one of the better thrillers I have seen of 2018, most have been an attempt at thriller, but it seems that Thoroughbreds builds more plot twists and suspense than others that I have seen recently. I found the premise between the two friends to be believable and relatable. While this isn't much of a movie targeted for more the teen audience, but more like Ladybird, where I think most of the audience attending the movie is going to be younger adults reflecting back on their youth. This seems to be a driving theme in approaches to movies recently, and part of me wonders if with Thoroughbreds, the screenwriter and director perhaps wanted to hitch a plan of what they had WISHED they had done growing up. Despite this, it seemed like the ultimate revenge bitchy stuck up teen movie, of girls with nothing better to do with their time than to hatch a plan to get back at a nasty step father.
The music added some good overall tension to the movie, and the lighting and camera angles at times where an interesting approach. While the movie didn't really leave me on the edge of the seat, it was a creative approach to teen angst.
Saturday, 7 April 2018
Kill Me, Please
Kill Me, Please is a teenage slasher film set in the West Side of Rio De Janerio. It was released in Brazil in 2015, and had a release in 2017 in the States. It made it's way to the Parkway Theater in Baltimore, in 2018. Kill Me, Please, or Mat-me por Favor is a different kind of movie, but I have been a bit underwhelmed by the Brazilian movies I have seen recently, as the grouping I have seen seems to lack a direct story line approach. The movies tend to have a general theme, and groupings of scenes that support that theme without much plot driven concepts. This movie seemed of the same concept, and left a lot to be desired. It was a sex comedy thriller. Unfortunately, the movie was two thirds of scenes of teens making out, which got overly tiresome. I realize that most teenagers tend to be make out kings and queens, the quantity of making out scenes seemed pretty excessive.
The movie, set in Barra de Tijuana in the richer outer parts of Rio De Janerio, a city that is home to a gaggle of usually bored youths full of hormones and living a sheltered life until a serial killer turns up in the neighborhood. Young Bia, becomes fascinated by the killings, more so, when she and her clique of mean girls, find one of the girls in a bush, just prior to her life runs out. Bia, is also equally obsessed with her friends, sex, and her cute boyfriend, Paulo. The two frequently hook up in a variety of settings, however, Paulo is trying to redirect her attentions to the more religious groups at school.
The movie has a solid soundtrack, and decent thriller scenes when they get beyond the takeout scenes, however, the minimal scenes of the thrillers didn't hold my interest, or build enough suspense. While, the movie eventually draws on ideas on how Bia's brother is connected, it ended without really answering any possible questions. While I realize most good movies creates more questions that it answers, this movie doesn't answer any. It just seems to try to mix drama thriller and horror with comedy. With other Brazilian movies I've seen this year, the writer and director, Anita Rocha da Silveria has created a movie similar to other Brazilian movies I've seen this year. She also, mentioned that she drew inspiration on David Lynch, Dario Argento, Brian De Palma, and Claire Dennis. This is evident in some scenes, but overall I wish I had taken a by on this film.
The movie, set in Barra de Tijuana in the richer outer parts of Rio De Janerio, a city that is home to a gaggle of usually bored youths full of hormones and living a sheltered life until a serial killer turns up in the neighborhood. Young Bia, becomes fascinated by the killings, more so, when she and her clique of mean girls, find one of the girls in a bush, just prior to her life runs out. Bia, is also equally obsessed with her friends, sex, and her cute boyfriend, Paulo. The two frequently hook up in a variety of settings, however, Paulo is trying to redirect her attentions to the more religious groups at school.
The movie has a solid soundtrack, and decent thriller scenes when they get beyond the takeout scenes, however, the minimal scenes of the thrillers didn't hold my interest, or build enough suspense. While, the movie eventually draws on ideas on how Bia's brother is connected, it ended without really answering any possible questions. While I realize most good movies creates more questions that it answers, this movie doesn't answer any. It just seems to try to mix drama thriller and horror with comedy. With other Brazilian movies I've seen this year, the writer and director, Anita Rocha da Silveria has created a movie similar to other Brazilian movies I've seen this year. She also, mentioned that she drew inspiration on David Lynch, Dario Argento, Brian De Palma, and Claire Dennis. This is evident in some scenes, but overall I wish I had taken a by on this film.
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