Every time there’s buzz around a movie, I promise myself I won’t give in to the hype. And every time I get sucked in.
M. Night Shyamalan’s Split was no exception. No matter what kind of drivel the man has produced since The 6th Sense, it seems like the world keeps hoping that he’ll finally come up with something to equal the well-deserved success of his breakout film.
The problem with tremendous hype around a movie is that, when you finally get to see for yourself what the fuss is all about, your expectations are inevitably sky-high. Having been subjected to rave reviews of the movie, ranging from ‘sleeper hit’ (is it me or is that term thrown around excessively lately?) to ‘best horror picture‘ of the year, I went in fully expecting to be terrified by Jordan Peele’s feature film directorial debut.
What I got, instead, was his particular take on racist America, interspersed with humor and a few instances of horror towards the end of the movie.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Get Out – just not for the reasons I felt I was supposed to. There was very little horror to contend with, and, in the end, its power was diminished by the message.
Warning: what follows is a very long and possibly incoherent rambling post, so read at your own risk.
Few things annoy me more than an over-hyped movie that doesn’t deliver; one of those things may just well be a critically praised movie that partly delivers only to let me down in the end, because it means I am already invested in a premise that appears original… and then Ι get sucker-punched by the most common of horror tropes.
I know I’m probably missing out on a lot of phenomenal films, but I usually steer clear of non-english-speaking films because I find subtitles too distracting and/or annoying. There are very few examples of Asian movies I’ve decided to bite and bullet and watch, such as the original Oldboy and Ringu, Battle Royal and Audition, all most of which I enjoyed (Audition was just too damn weird), but when everyone and their mother tout Train To Busan as the best zombie movie ever, I’m sure as hell not going to let a couple of lines of text get in the way of some good ol’ horror.
And let me tell you, I’m so glad I didn’t. Keep Reading!
There’s the kind of action-adventure movies where one of the most entertaining aspects of the viewing experience is knowing the hero’s lines before he even speaks them; it comes from years of repeated viewings of classic films of the genre, ones that make speaking such iconic quotes as ‘yippe ki-yay, motherf*cker‘ or ‘hasta la vista, baby‘ along with the hero so damn enjoyable, even though there’s zero element of suspense any more.
Then there’s the kind that is so riddled with clichés that every single line of dialogue seems like a throwaway, every character is two-dimensional, every plot twist entirely predictable.
That’s basically Jack Reacher: Never Go Back in a nutshell.
I’ve spent quite some time on this blog – and in private conversations – discussing good movies, awful movies, addictive TV shows and the effects of pop culture in general. So I figure it’s about time we discuss the best worst movie ever made. Sure, there are plenty of contenders for the title, and I certainly don’t claim to have watched every terrible film out there, but in my mind, there is but one true champion.
To be honest, the reason this movie seemed interesting was not its unoriginal premise (guy’s girlfriend goes missing and he discovers she’s not who he thought she was) but its lead actor. I’ve loved Aaron Paul since his Breaking Bad days, and, much like I usually stay away from movies starring actors I dislike, I will watch pretty much anything featuring my favorite TV/movie stars.
Okay. So this one had a decent rating and was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. It had a big-name cast, if not a slightly odd one – Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, the guy who played Jack Bass on Gossip Girl, and the girl who played Joanna in the Hunger Games. It’s got a semi-interesting plot line – young pretty girl tries to make it as a model in L.A. but jealous bitches will do everything to get what she’s got.
I’ve seen movies that had much less going for them this year, but each and every one was better than the utter drivel that was the Neon Demon. I know, I know. The title alone should have tipped me off. But hell, I liked Drive, I liked Bronson, I (kinda) liked Only God Forgives; I thought Refn’s momentum and quasi-cult-following in recent years pretty much guaranteed a decent movie. Boy was I wrong.
