Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

Beyond the Black Rainbow arrived just in time to be added as the second movie in a Friday Night Double Feature, following The Tall Man.  As usual, I knew nothing about this movie, save for the facts that it was sci-fi, an 80s throwback, and mind-bending--tags added by Netflix.  Thus I expected something trippy and oldschool, but I didn't expect an above-average arthouse-style mind-explosion!

What I took away in terms of the story was that there's a girl who has been held captive in a 2001: A Space Odyssey-esque facility her entire life, and there's her psychiatrist who has been doing some really far-out stuff with her.  That's all one needs to know for the plot, and I think the Netflix envelope says as much.  All of the plot's complexities and subplots and twists will steadily make their appearances, enveloped within a panoply of cerebral, dreamlike effects.  It's safe to say this is a movie most will agree that one must be in the right frame of mind to watch.

The visual elements of this movie are incredible.  Absolutely incredible!  Rich colors à la early Argento--Suspiria, for example.  During sequences of artistic mastery, the pacing is slowed way down, and we are subjected to stunning, stupor-inducing visuals.  At times, you will mutter what the...? but your bafflement, your questioning will trail off because you will be sitting on the edge of the couch, wide-eyed, unblinking, taken hostage by the meticulously edited effects.  There are even a few righteous scenes of bloodspraying that aptly pay that 80s homage.  Even if there wasn't a plot, I would've loved this movie just for the experience it delivers.

The acting is phenomenal.  The cast is minimal: really just the psychiatrist (Michael Rogers) and the patient/captive (Eva Allan).  From start to finish, Rogers shines, albeit blackly, as an obsessive maniac with a violent bent, and Allan shines as the tender, beautiful innocence upon which the former character is subjecting his demented plans (wait till you see the sketches!).  The initial counseling session is properly paced to establish the tense emotions of the two characters that will soon burst forth and send the movie spiraling into a myriad directions.

Overall, Beyond the Black Rainbow is a great movie.  Very well put together; and a great experience for the viewer.  It is, however, one of those movies one must be in the mood for.  I can see it being relegated to boring, confusing, or even pretentious by those not in the right mood--and I don't (necessarily) mean dropping acid.  When you have time and you're not sleepy (because some of the sequences are drawn out in the manner of a Ti West film) and you're in the mood for an artistic, psychological, visually-stunning cinematic experience, just pop this little treat in and enjoy!

Rating: 4/5

Mega Piranha (2010)

Rating: A
Experience Vitals: Netflix Instant on Wii around 2300 on a Saturday night, 2 coffees and 1 Red Bull in, munching on gold fish (not a pun intended for the movie) that taste oddly like laundry detergent. Yes: laundry detergent.

How does one talk about a movie like this except to simply bring up scene after scene between laughter? "How about when...[laughing]?" "Remember how the...[laughing]?" "Can you believe...[laughing]?" And so on! A perfect blend of parody and camp and action--serious, large-scale action--all at a blisteringly fast pace, which is not only welcome but actually increases the comedic value of the film. Mega Piranha has to be seen to be believed, and I might suggest watching the big 2010 piranha-production, Piranha 3D, before watching this one because, in a way, Mega could be viewed as a sequel that picks up where Alexandre Aja left off. Also, the contrast of the two makes for a pleasant experience, too, as I feel they are both fine uses of the subgenre that Joe Dante started (not to discredit Jaws, here; I am thinking specifically in terms of scientifically jacked piranha). There is no possible way this movie could disappoint. Like Aja's take, it accomplishes well what it sets out to do. It is absurd, outlandish, preposterous, nonsensical, wacky, campy--but, above all, it is a blast! Like ThanksKilling, it is one to be viewed annually, with friends, savored over the years.

Bloody New Year (1987)

Rating: C
Experience Vitals: Netflix DVD shipped to house roughly two months back and lost amidst bills and credit card offers, on a full stomach churning from late-night Mexican food, settled into chair around 2345 with, of course, Horror Cup¹.

I thought I'd ring in the new year with a New Year's-themed horror movie. Turns out there aren't a lot out there (please comment suggestions if you know of any), especially compared to, say, Christmas-themed horror flicks. But there was this one, Bloody New Year, and though it didn't stand up to the Thanksgiving-themed flick I had the privileged of checking out over Thanksgiving break (ThanksKilling; yes, that is the title!), it was still a real treat. Yes, it's that type of 80's movie--the one you invite friends over to watch and criticize and laugh at. All the cliché characters and situations are here. We get severed arms but you can see the character's tucked extremity inside their shirt. We get a harrowing sinking boat scene only to find that the boat's (more like the dingy's) terrified occupants are merely fifteen feet from shore! ("You know I can't swim, Tom!") And, to top it all off, this movie is a myriad genres and the "explanation" is well set against the 1959-1960 epoch of government paranoia. At the very least, if you're like me, you'll speak in an exaggerated British accent for the next few days!

[1] Horror Cup is a 16-ounce orange plastic cup with a jack-o-lantern emblazoned on the side, that I have used for various beverages during horror movies for ~4 years.

The Fourth Kind (2009)

Rating: F
This is like watching someone try to be cool and fit in. The movie tries harder than any other film out there in terms of making the viewer understand that THIS IS BASED ON TRUE EVENTS! I get it for cryin' out loud! Actual footage, actual voices, juxtaposition of the dramatization and actual footage here and there with an annoying split-screen. What's the point? This is largely boring with maybe two small flickers of potential, somewhere, I think, maybe.

Pandorum (2009)

Rating: B+
* Audio commentary coming soon!
A movie I've been immensely excited about for months, Pandorum is entertaining from start to finish. Instead of allowing the middle act to sag under the dead weight of inflated exposition, the pace remains intense. I've seen a lot of reviews comparing Pandorum to Event Horizon and Aliens, and while I agree to some extent (space crafts, hyper-sleep, unknown predators) this movie is its own offering to the same subgenres. And what is it that it offers? It's clearly a psychological-sci-fi-horror-action-kung-fu-thriller-chiller-creature-feature!

The only major letdown was the premature unveiling of the creatures. This is the same problem (among many others) I had with The Village. A lot of suspense is built around the unknown predator: What is that noise in the ventilation ducts? What was that dark silhouette that just flashed by in the corridor? If we, the audience, haven't seen the creature yet, out imaginations are free to run wild with the fear of the unknown. Show us the creatures right off the bat and you have a hard time building suspense with one of your movie's main threats. In the vein of The Descent, however, Pandorum does effectively evoke some claustrophobia with the cramped ventilation ducts!

Don't cast Dennis Quaid in this type of movie ever again. Ben Foster was fine whenever he didn't have to interact with Quaid, but together the two were rigid and awkward and only partially excused by their constant reiteration of the fact they had just awakened from prolonged hyper-sleep. Once they parted ways and Quaid took a backseat, the acting smoothed out and stopped reminding me of the two main character in the first Saw movie. But perhaps I'm being too hard on Quaid. It's hard for me to set aside the memory of his character in Undercover Blues (1993)--I was 9 and it was a movie about spies and I wanted to be a spy and I thought it was hilarious and it still lives in my heart even though I didn't become a spy!

So, like I said, it's a good, entertaining film that blends sci-fi, action, and horror. I had the luxury of watching it with the volume as loud as I wanted, which I highly recommend. The movie utilizes sound effects more than it does visual effects (I am not even counting the lame creatures, save for the child toward the end), and succeeds in keeping the viewer on edge with even the most perfunctory of sounds. Forget about Event Horizon, forget about Aliens, forget about The Descent; enjoy Pandorum as Pandorum. Just don't expect anything spectacular as far as effects or anything new as far as psychological probing based on the title of the movie.

District 9 (2009)

Wow. Despite high expectations, this one took me by surprise. I expected the same old alien revolt format, but writer-director Neill Blomkamptook threw some great twists in with his debut masterpiece. The movie is mostly documentary style in the beginning, but don't worry (I'm tired of these documentary style movies), it transitions into a standard POV movie. Plus, you hardly pay attention to the hand held camera style anyway since the movie pulls you in from the start.

I don't want to give anything away, so suffice it to say it's a must-see, especially in the theater. I know ticket prices are out of control, but this movie is worth the extra money. And it's a great date movie--though I didn't take ma femme. There's something for everyone: impressive violence and cuddly alien kids that seem to capture the heart of theatergoers everywhere. Prior to seeing this I can't remember the last time I experienced a refreshingly unique cinematic masterpiece.