The Straight Story Fall into Autumn... Carnivals of Garbage... the pleasure of interviewing Alice Maio Mackay... a franchise's resurrection... Beetlejuice seeking the Mavis Beacon substance...The Wolf Brigade kills emotions... the Megalopolis bomb.

AUGUST

It has certainly been a stretch since last we met for a roundup. However, that’s mainly due to me being surprisingly busy. In the last several weeks, for no particular reason, I suddenly got a flood of new ideas. As such, I’ve been overly focused on fresh projects. That’s resulted in several new shorts stories, some of which have been sold to publications, as well as a new Beerfinger EP on the way called “Along the Winter River.” All the instrumental elements are done, I just have to do the lyrics and vocals. Work devours hours, especially when some are fun. 

August kicked off with an article about The Straight Story (1999), a film by director David Lynch. For those familiar with his particular brand of weird this movie seems to fall well outside his wheelhouse. However, I put forward it is exactly the kind of film he’s always made, thematically speaking. As such, I got to explore how rarely celebrated directors really step outside their comfort zone, whether that pertains to themes or cinematic stylization. Moreover, researching this article allowed me to utilize my local library. Perhaps because I often work late at night, my nocturnal inclination has led me to forget about any daytime resources readily available. Regardless, it’s an interesting read about a heartwarming film that knows how to say a lot without relying on words.

The Straight Story Covers New Ground | Film Obsessive

Around then I got to see Borderlands. The film is an adaptation of a wildly popular video game franchise. What could have been John Wick Walks the Fury Road turned out to be a complete and utter dud. It is an infuriatingly terrible adaptation that captures nothing from the source material save for a few visuals, and frankly, should be added as a nail in the coffin of Jack Black, who doesn’t need to be cast in anything ever again. But the best analysis on why this flick fails is the review which I tried to make more entertaining than the movie.

Borderlands Is a Waste of Gold | Film Obsessive

Alien: Romulus ended up being my second review of the month. Critics seem to have been mixed, but I personally think the slant towards entertaining is the truth. The movie manages to include easter eggs without making nostalgia bait its sole focus. Meanwhile, there’s enough of an independent story to keep things original. Yes, there are obvious homages to previous pictures in the franchise, but they work well in my opinion.

Frankly, most of the complaints I’ve read about Alien: Romulus tend to be a lament for the loss of the philosophical direction Ridely Scoot took the franchise with flicks like Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). Those are fair critiques. However, my personal opinion is that Scott added some terribly pretentious elements. His philosophical examinations feel like a college 101 course, and their presentation is so overt and graceless they give the impression of someone trying hard to seem intellectually deep. Furthermore, he makes the greatest mistake in horror, especially cosmic horror, by trying to define what the Alien is as well as give it an origin—no longer terrifyingly unknown. Add to that incredibly stupid storylines, and that’s why I found Alien: Romulus a wonderful return to form for the franchise.

For more on those thoughts, check out the review.

Alien: Romulus Resurrects the Franchise | Film Obsessive

No one expected much from my final August film. When the first trailer dropped people largely screamed in vitriolic anticipation of something awful. I suppose a sense of sacrilege will do that. The general public just knew this movie would be terrible. Yet, I went to a viewing of The Crow hopeful something at least visually compelling might happen. Sadly, the movie failed on all fronts. It wasted every possible opportunity to be something special. Though I still think there’s potential for a solid remake, this was not what Hollywood delivered.

The Crow Is a Carnival of Garbage | Film Obsessive

SEPTEMBER

Slipping into September I got a chance to interview an up-and-coming horror director from Australia named Alice Maio Mackay. She’s a wonderful young transgender lady who makes queer fright flicks that aren’t afraid to be shlocky fun. We talked about her career to date, and especially after watching some of her work, I think she’s at the start of something very interesting. Alice Maio MacKay is a name for horror fans to keep in mind, particularly if queer cinema is your inclination. Her characters are unapologetically LGBTQ in refreshing way. Plus, her flicks like Satranic Panic are delightfully unserious.

Alice Maio Mackay Discusses Satranic Panic | Film Obsessive

Shortly after I got a chance to see the ghost with the most return to the silver screen. Although not everything worked perfectly, this sequel is entertaining from start to finish. The story is a little bloated, but most of the gags work across the board. Fans may be the most forgiving, but I contend anyone can enjoy a lot of the humor here. Michael Keaton certainly stepped back into the role with ease. Since he carries huge chunks of the flick, that’s a good thing. However, he isn’t the only reason to see this movie. For more on what works and what didn’t, check out my spoiler free review.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice Gives Ghoulish Grins | Film Obsessive

Originally, I signed up to review this documentary because the titular subject intrigued me. Seeking Mavis Beacon is, at the surface, about the search for Mavis Beacon. Millennials may know the name more casually. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing was a game that taught many of my generation how to type. This meant hammering out words, the correct spelling of which made games function. For instance, one game involved properly spelling a sentence which made a car drive faster, while errors damaged the vehicle—type faster, go faster, error into a wreck. However, the documentary is about more than that.

Seeking Mavis Beacon is a look into the search for identity in the modern era. Image consciousness is a prevalent part of contemporary social interactions; people, especially Gen Z, are highly aware of what it means to present as something. This leads into questions of identity, particularly regarding African American identity, as the film goes along. The power of an image cannot be denied, but do we always control the narrative our face implies?
 
Seeking Mavis Beacon Searches for Identity | Film Obsessive

I don’t always get to bring a plus one to press screeners, but The Substance allowed my best friend Stefanie to accompany me. We could not have had more fun. This outlandish, surreal body horror dark comedy is everything I love about cinema. It’s over the top from start to finish but in a way that sells its story as well as its messages. Some may claim that The Substance is gaudy in an awful, obvious way. I would contend the exact opposite. This is an engrossingly gross picture with relevant observations about society. In many ways, it’s best to know as little as possible going in, so check out my spoiler free review if you’re on the fence then with any luck, it’ll tip you over into checking out The Substance.
 
REVIEW: The Substance is a Splendid Must-See Spectacle - Honesty Is Not Contagious

Around about the middle of the month I got to partake in a live show doing some creative nonfiction. The Show & Tell series at the Writers Theater in Glencoe, Illinois did a feature called Fall into Autumn. It showcased tales of transformation and self-realization. Unfamiliar with this venue, I didn’t get anything on video. Perhaps next time. Suffice it to say, I told the story about how my mom secretly showed me Silence of the Lambs leading me down a path to horror I still tread to this day. Maybe if I’m lucky enough to get into another of their curated shows I’ll record that, but for now, it’s just nice getting back into the habit of doing live performances. In fact, I’ll be performing in Glencoe again shortly before Halloween at a Story Sessions event. Click here for tickets and details. 

Never Let Go promised to be a thrilling new horror film. However, it already started with a premise I’d seen in several pictures. Still, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been better than its predecessors. I will say the movie did quite well when it came to establishing a creepy atmosphere. Never Let Go certainly solidified that notion of the woods being a dangerous place simply by the vibe a forest can give off. The downside is that much of the tension it manifested gets squandered too often to make the movie compelling. For more details on what worked alongside what didn’t, check out my spoiler free review. It’s not an unwatchable horror movie but doesn’t need to be a Halloween priority.
 
Never Let Go Doesn't Hold Tight | Film Obsessive

I closed out September writing about an anime flick from 1999 called Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. Originally, I planned on talking about how this kind of cinema allowed filmmakers to do things that couldn’t be accomplished with effects at the time. Audiences nowadays are used to the marvelous backgrounds and outlandishly extreme action spectacles CGI has provided. However, prior to recent decades, anime was the only real way to get certain degrees of epic visuals within a budget. Furthermore, the stylizations of such films would come to influence several motion pictures, particularly The Matrix, leading to a borrowing of aesthetics that continues to this day.

However, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade doesn’t have a tremendous amount of action, and anything it does feature isn’t beyond the capabilities of moviemakers at the time. So, the focus of my article shifted to a notion of “amplification through simplification.” Essentially, it’s a look at how animation can be more emotionally evocative than live action because characters are drawn with only the details that express their emotions. The myriad ways an organic face can be comprised of multiple features, each distracting or adding to an expression, are gone. It makes emotionally potent flicks like this especially hard hitting while making the case for animation as a serious artform.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade Still Gets the Jugular | Film Obsessive

When I turned in my first review for Megalopolis my editor kindly asked me to do a rewrite. I’m glad he offered me that opportunity. It allowed me to more eloquently make my point about how terrible this movie is. Megalopolis is an obscene failure that too many people are praising simply because it was made by a Hollywood legend. If anyone else had made this movie it would’ve been torn to shreds mercilessly by critics everywhere, but just because Francis Ford Coppola did it, the worst parts get a pass, and everyone admires the audacity of what he tried to do. Even when they acknowledge the film is an abject failure, they admire his willingness to take risks—four stars for the failure who tried hard.

Personally, I think legends should be held to higher standards not given the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, the man had well over fifty years to compose this movie into something comprehensible, and he failed to do so. But overall, I’m grateful to my editor who gave me the chance to more cooly compose a digestible negative review for this pile of junk.

Megalopolis Is Coppola's Biggest Bomb | Film Obsessive

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got some fiction on the way out into the wider world, so more details later on what’s getting published where as well as how to get eyes on them. The new Beerfinger EP “Along the Winter River” is coming together. I don’t have a release date yet, but before the end of the year seems entirely plausible. I really want to tighten this one up before putting it out.
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That said, remember to remain weird, keep crackers on hand to feed friendly raccoons (you never know when you might need their help), and stay safe out there! It’s a mad world that isn’t always as fun as it could be.