Reviews

  • Gretel & Hansel (2020)

    Gretel & Hansel (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) Big shrug on Gretel & Hansel—I can go either way on style-over-substance films, but on this one I’m going the way of the thumbs down: Exactingly directed by Osgood Perkins to come up with striking visuals, it’s a film that, ultimately, doesn’t have much to say: languidly paced to the point of stark boredom, it feels like a pretentious attempt to replicate The Witch without even bothering to understand what it is that people liked in that film. I suppose that the visuals save it from complete failure, but it’s still thin and unimpressive gruel in matters of substance—let along entertainment, which this film doesn’t really care about.

  • The Gallows Act II (2019)

    The Gallows Act II (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) I barely remember anything about The Gallows, and chances are pretty good that I eventually won’t remember much about its sequel The Gallows Act II either. A soporific teenage horror film in which teenage drama club people battle a curse or something more directly dangerous, it’s hampered by the get-go from inferior execution from writers-directors Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff. It’s undistinguished throughout most of its running time (although, thankfully, it avoids the first film’s found-horror conceit)—familiar tropes used without vigour nor cleverness, wrapped in near-amateur filmmaking. There is a bit of a twist ending, but it’s the kind of twist ending that makes the entire film worse, as it makes a mockery of much of the plotting and throws the film into a confusion of genres that doesn’t serve it well. It also requires an implausible conspiracy, but you don’t need anything more to figure out that The Gallows Act II is not a good movie at all—it’s a blend of clichés with a dumb twist, the only thing worth remembering about being that it’s not worth remembering. No wonder it was held back from release by two years—even its producers were embarrassed about it.

  • Haunter (2013)

    Haunter (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) Canadian writer-director Vincenzo Natali hasn’t directed enough movies. His output isn’t flawless, his endings are not ideal, and it’s not as if he hasn’t been productively employed directing prestige TV shows—but films like Haunter show how interesting he can be on a longer leash. It’s a time-loop film crossed with teenage horror, as a young woman (a baby-faced Abigail Breslin, quite good) and her family endlessly relive the day before their murder. Fortunately, she gets to realize the loop, and then the plot moves into much weirder territory. The best thing about Haunter is the atmosphere—the house in which this is all taking place is isolated in the middle of a foggy nowhere, and Natali can portray even an ordinary house with considerable foreboding. The second-best asset of Haunter is its initial mystery—but that soon dissipates as explanations crowd out the enigma. As it goes along, Haunted does lose quite a bit of interest—silliness and convention replace mystery, and the narrative becomes more contrived to accommodate all of its disparate elements. But for a while, it’s promising and even effective. At some point, Natali may eventually produce something great.

  • The Quiet Ones (2014)

    The Quiet Ones (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) I dislike horror films that attempt to pass themselves off as “inspired by actual events” for at least two reasons. First, obviously, because it’s bunk—the supernatural always ends up being a bunch of hooey blown out of proportion by hucksters selling to the credulous. But also because inspired by actual events usually means limited by actual events—the supernatural phenomena and scares portrayed in the film usually turn out to be smaller in scale, and less impressive than in a film that has the creative freedom to go big. So it is in The Quiet Ones, which purports to be inspired by actual events of ghostly possession, but turns out to be a snooze fest of low-octane spookiness. While the idea of a 1970s-set film starring Jared Harris had some potential, the execution is so by-the-numbers that it only reminds me of other films I can’t remember the name because they were so immediately forgettable. While there’s some better material very near the end of the film, it’s far too late at that point to make up for the way director John Pogues barely gives the film any specific identity of its own. It’s all a big mush of undistinguished blandness, and it ends just as it maybe could have become interesting. But, hey: inspired by actual events.

  • Outrageous Fortune (1987)

    Outrageous Fortune (1987)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, October 2020) Whenever Bette Midler is on-screen, it shouldn’t be surprising if the result is loud messy comedy. The premise of Outrageous Fortune is simple enough to qualify as high-concept: When two women with opposite personalities discover that they’re dating the same man and he disappears, they go chasing after him and discover that he’s a spy. Cue the arguments, the chase sequences, the cross-country scenes and the shifts from comedy to thriller to action and back. It’s all handled with a veteran’s professionalism (but not energy) by director Arthur Hiller. The highlight here is clearly Midler with a typically brassy, brash performance that clearly outshines that of co-star Shelley Long who must settle for being the straight woman of the comedy duo. In many ways, Outrageous Fortune is a disappointment—it’s overly familiar in places, and not audacious enough in others: the ending is a bit of a deflating balloon, and the supporting stereotypes it perpetuates have not aged well. But there’s Midler, always Midler—it may not be worth re-watching, but she’s worth watching at least once.

  • The Prophecy (1995)

    The Prophecy (1995)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2020) There are a lot of things about The Prophecy that are undercooked, bland, or otherwise disappointing… but it also has Christopher Walken as fallen angel Gabriel, and Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer licking Walken’s face, and a great-looking Virginia Madsen. How can I be mad at all of that? Writer director Gregory Widen handles his angelic civil war narrative in uneven but often high-key fashion, sometimes going for expressive visuals and special effects. It works often enough to raise viewers’ expectation that this is all going to be much better than it is. Instead, the film frequently loses itself in dull material, narrative lulls, not having anyone equal to Walken in an opposing role, and being inconsistent in how it seriously takes the material. (To be clear: this film is fun when it doesn’t take itself seriously, and considerably less fun when it does.) There’s a much better version of The Prophecy locked inside this film, but it was never allowed to get out.

  • Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)

    Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, October 2020) Halle Berry was clearly making a bid for respectability in made-for-HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, so closely was she trying to be Dandridge in this feel-bad biography. As an observer of Classic Hollywood and a confirmed fan of Dandridge’s rare but precious appearances on the big screen, this film was a bit of a sour treat for me—While it often delivers a credible portrait of Classic Hollywood on a modest budget, it also portrays a few beloved figures with scorn for what they did to Dandridge… and it’s hard to disagree. First up, though: Berry is magnificent as Dandridge, one of the first black actresses to earn some renown in 1950s Hollywood. It certainly helps that director Martha Coolidge goes out of her way to re-enact as much of Dandridge’s highlights as she can—watch these scene comparisons for proof. As one would expect, the film does confront the racism that Dandridge encountered—both overt and more pernicious. The film’s biggest criticisms are reserved for two figures that I respect a lot for their film work—Harold Nicholas (of the Nicholas Brothers dancing duo) for abusing and cheating on Dandridge, and director Otto Preminger for taking Dandridge as a mistress and giving her terrible career advice. All of this is factual—but not exactly glorious for both men. More annoyingly, the film definitely takes a “Dandridge never did anything wrong” approach that closely espouses its progressive values… but seems unsatisfying in explaining Dandridge’s progressive fade and untimely death. Still, buoyed by Berry’s performance, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge is a film well worth watching—after all, it’s the closest we’ll ever get to seeing a new Dandridge performance.

  • The Remaining (2014)

    The Remaining (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, October 2020) While I think that there’s a good movie to be made with the idea of the Rapture as a prelude to horror, this good movie is definitely not The Remaining. The first of its problems is budget; the second of its problem is taking any of it seriously. The setup does have an admirable simplicity to it, as guests to a wedding are horrified to see some of them getting the ultimate upgrade of being uploaded into the Rapture. If you remember your wackadoodle fundamentalist theology, this means a Time of Troubles for the rest of us, and so the remaining characters are soon engulfed into extreme weather and demons sent to torment the unworthy. This really isn’t the only horror film to deal with religious themes, but it’s one of the rare ones to seemingly believe in what nonsense it’s spouting. When the Rapture rejects the faithful based on factors as dumb as dancing to hip-hop music, it’s perfectly all right to look askance at writer-director-producer Casey La Scala and ask, “Really? Are you that dumb or targeting idiots who are actually that dumb?” Considering that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder if the rest of the film is painfully stupid. (Also: how can you make a horror film feel scary when being carried to heaven is said to be the desirable fate?) To that, you can add the production difficulties on operating on a very low budget: While some scenes carry their point home, a lot of the rest is just unconvincing, with equally awkward actors, staging and cinematography. Once you’re past the first few minutes, there’s less and less to The Remaining worth a recommendation. Unless you’re trying to see what a Christian-targeted horror movie would look like, in which case you won’t wonder twice.

  • Snatchers (2019)

    Snatchers (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) While teenage horror-comedy Snatchers is far too heavy on sex and gore to be considered a feel-good movie, it is far more fun than expected. The plot is set in motion when an alien parasite brought back from Mexican ruins starts affecting students in a small-town high school. Debauchery leads our heroine to become nine-month pregnant the morning after a one-night stand, and things just escalate from there as she gives birth to an alien parasite that goes off to slaughter a good number of the small-town residents. I know, I know—this all sounds like horror so far and this horror/comedy hybrid is far better suited to jaded audiences. But within that subgenre, Snatchers is clearly in command of what it’s doing: Fast pace, frequent gags, tasty dialogue and clever direction from Stephen Cedars and Benji Kleiman make this a compulsively watchable film once it gets started. The film’s biggest assets are the likable characters: Mary Nepi is quite good as the protagonist, but as usual for many high school films, the best friend character (played by Gabrielle Elyse) is funnier and more striking. Clearly genre-aware to an uncanny degree, Snatchers combines body horror and high-school comedy from a female viewpoint to deliver something that’s clearly not fit for sensitive natures, but will reach a devoted audience in tune with its twisted sense of dark humour.

  • House II: The Second Story (1987)

    House II: The Second Story (1987)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, October 2020) As much as I was unimpressed by 1985’s House despite its good reviews, I’m sort of amused by House II: The Second Story despite its humdrum reviews. What certainly helps is that this sequel completely abandons any serious attempt at horror scares, style or atmosphere and goes all-out on the comedy adventure potential of a house with portals to other times and places. Weird house, sure, haunted house—not really: the tone is all jokey, upbeat and adventurous as the two protagonists explore the house, go on time-travelling jaunts, make new supernatural friends and see their girlfriend leave them without it bothering them. It’s profoundly silly, with very little to hold the plot together other than some sort of rule-of-cool. The links with the original House film are tenuous at best, and if the first film had any psychological profundity, it’s completely gone here. But House II does leave a stronger, or at least funnier impression than the first film.

  • Bombardier (1943)

    Bombardier (1943)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) There were so many WW2 propaganda films about the branches and sub-branches of the American armed forces that TCM could have a monthly spotlight on them and still not run out of material by the end of it. At least it’s easy to guess what Bombardier’s all about—the creation of a school to train a new kind of soldier—the specialized bomber tasked with releasing the bombs over their target while the pilot brings them there and back. (This was a real innovation at the time—the alternative being the “dive bombers” where the pilots themselves released the bombs.) Much of the film is set at bombardier school, with the characters getting into trouble of various kinds (academic, romantic, espionage…) and making mistakes from which they learn their trade. Then, once the war begins, they get to show what kind of living hell they and the US Air Force are capable of delivering. Surprisingly enough, the ending isn’t all triumphs and smiles. Reportedly rewritten on the fly to reflect real-world events, Bombardier does have an undeniable documentary value—even filtered through Hollywood directors and cinematographers, the film captures footage of bomber planes at the beginning of WW2 and a rough depiction of the training program needed to make use of the American “bombsight” device that eventually proved so successful. What’s less fortunate is that the film doesn’t really distinguish itself in more traditional filmmaking qualities—actors, script and direction aren’t anything noteworthy, although the romantic subplot can be lively. In other words—another splendid addition to TCM’s themed collection of WW2 propaganda films—just pick your favourite branch of the Armed Forces and there’s sure to be one for you.

  • Gui mi 2 [Girls 2: Girls vs Gangsters] (2018)

    Gui mi 2 [Girls 2: Girls vs Gangsters] (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2020) Ummm. Urrr… OK. Um, what? Chinese gender-flipped The Hangover (or should we just say Bridesmaids?) derivative Girls 2: Girls vs Gangsters features three young Asian women waking up in another country after a wild night, with a new tattoo, a mysterious suitcase, and no memory of what just happened. If the similarities aren’t big enough, consider the Mike Tyson shows up later for a brief role. Fine, so no conceptual originality here. What about the rest? Well, again, Ummm. Urrr… Under writer-director Wong Chun-Chun, the film struggles to either come together harmoniously, or have something like a female-centric point of view. Having Tyson show up, considering his checkered past with women, isn’t exactly a progressive mark of honour. Other crude jokes and sequences sometimes feel more akin to male fan service than a film by and for young women. Maybe that’s interrogating the film from an unsuitable angle, but even then—this young women’s comedy is often awkward, laborious and scattered. Now, I won’t exactly call it terrible—the three leads are cute and bubbly enough that the film does earn a few chuckles and sympathetic smiles. Absent too-pointed questions, Girls 2: Girls vs Gangsters is all quite silly—not particularly good, but likable enough to get a bare pass as pure entertainment.

  • Moby Dick (1956)

    Moby Dick (1956)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2020) Considering the central place of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick in the American literary canon, any film adaptation would be an ambitious undertaking, roughly akin to Captain Ahab’s maniacal quest for the Great White Whale that maimed him. It’s hard to imagine a better director for that gigantic endeavour than a middle-aged John Huston, considering the ways his directorial style has been described. In some ways, this adaptation is quite good: With novelist-screenwriter Ray Bradbury cracking the case of adapting a very long book into a movie, the script is not bad. Some very good production means (for a mid-1950s movie) have gone into recreating the world of a whaling ship and the gigantic animal they intend to fight. Where Moby Dick doesn’t do as well is in a small but crucial detail—casting. Specifically, the casting of Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab—look, no one ever dislikes Peck, but he is far too well-mannered to be an effective Ahab. You want someone able to spittle around their grandiose rants, with crazy eyes and stabby hands. In other words: Not Peck. It’s not that he’s bad, it’s just that he’s not close enough to the ideal version of the character. This is driven even deeper with the knowledge that John Huston was right there, behind the camera rather than in front of it. Or that Orson Welles shows up briefly for a cameo but not as Ahab. Too bad—with a fresh coat of CGI paint and another lead actor, this Moby Dick could be much, much better.

  • Living in the Future’s Past (2018)

    Living in the Future’s Past (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2020) As its remarkably evocative title suggests, Living in the Future’s Past is a high-level, large-scope mediation on humanity’s place in its environment, how to think about a sustainable future, and what kind of world we create by our large-scale actions. Actor-producer Jeff Bridges narrates the film in addition to having had a substantial impact on its themes, and his gravelly voice is a joy to listen to. But better yet still is the sharp high-definition cinematography, reaching into nature footage and CGI to present a visual soundtrack to the narration. The editing is often too rapid, but it’s a nice change of pace from the film’s many talking heads. Alas, Living in the Future’s Past has many of its qualities’ flaws: it’s unfocused, shallow, a bit twee at times and unable to settle on a clear approach. But for its faults, I still found it irresistibly optimistic, hopeful and energizing—it’s not a documentary per se as much as an essay about tackling challenges.

  • Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

    Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) Years after the disappointing release of Land of the Pharaohs, director Howard Hawks admitted that he had taken up the job for the opportunity to work in widescreen CinemaScope. He did have a point—it’s impossible to watch the film and not be impressed by the sheer large-scale cast-of-thousands scope of the entire production. The story takes us to the construction of the pyramids, and it practically recreates the effort at scale: the making of the film involved official cooperation from the Egyptian government to unearth the foundations of an unfinished pyramid, and secured the cooperation of the army for the in-camera recreation of sequences with up to ten thousand extras. It’s a mind-boggling production story, one that will never be repeated considering CGI economies of scale, and an effort that is immediately visible on-screen. And yet, despite Hawks orchestrating such a production, Land of Pharaohs feels like a miss—by itself, but also as a piece of Hawks’ filmography. Gone is the whip-fast dialogue, the competent heroine and the sense of urban sophistication: this is a film that, in keeping with the sweeping historical epics of the time, deals in arch fake-profound dialogue, a very conventional role for the heroine, and a weird sense of historical recreation that never feels too far away from Hollywood’s sense of history rather than any real effort to commit to the historical era. The plot, about the pyramid’s architect trying to find a way to make the pyramid robber-proof while escaping being executed to keep its secrets, is fine without being as good as the setting. The eye-popping presentation of the pyramid’s construction far outshines anything in the plot, which doesn’t give as much weight to the rest of the film. The best-known star here is Joan Collins as the female lead, and while she’s very attractive, she’s not that good of an actress. While you can easily justify watching Land of the Pharaohs for its visual aspect, the rest of the film is a disappointment, and perhaps even a double disappointment considering the rest of Hawks’ filmography. This being said, I did find one aspect of the film amusing: as someone whose day job consists of managing “architects” of sorts, I had a load of fun passing on some of the film’s most pretentious lines of dialogue: “I do not intend to punish you, architect, but to reward your skill,” “Work swiftly, architect,” “Well, architect, you sent word you had a plan,” “I did believe in you once, architect,” “You have served me well, architect,” “I will not bargain with you, architect,” “Architect, I understand that you’re ready to start work on the inner labyrinth…”…