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  • In Fabric (2018) My podcast review of this visionary horror film.

    My podcast review of this visionary horror film.

    Transcript auto generated

    please listen carefully
    this is my review of in fabric I’m so
    glad I’m so glad I finally saw this
    movie I’ve been wanting to see it for
    several years I want to say this goes
    back as far as 2014 I’m not sure and I
    don’t see the date in front of me but oh
    2018 so it doesn’t quite go that far
    back
    I think us old guys we reach a certain
    age and we just think
    we’re not old
    and some of us are more than others I
    guess I like to think I’m young at heart
    but anyway this was 2018 which was
    really not that long ago but
    the reason I thought of 2014 is what is
    my ultimate Arbiter of where I am in the
    universe when I saw Tusk that’s right I
    saw a desk 2014. but we’re not talking
    about tests we’re talking about in
    fabric
    directed by Peter Strickland who
    apparently has made a name for himself
    this film is the different it’s like
    people have called it Lynch meets Dario
    Argento yeah there are moments like that
    it definitely is simplified which I like
    a lot
    for example I was just watching last
    night in SoHo yesterday and a bunch of
    friends were telling me that it was so
    good my friend Charlie Ray was telling
    me it was so good and it was pretty good
    it was better than I
    had prejudiced about it because I when I
    saw them doing the dancing with the
    finger dancing in the 60s and all that
    the fingers on the eyes and stuff I was
    like no thank you don’t really want to
    watch a whole movie of this and baby
    driver was kind of like that so the
    director kind of does that and I guess
    for me that was kind of a hangout
    everybody has Hang-Ups right you have
    something you can’t get Beyond
    for some people it’s an actor
    for a lot of years I didn’t really like
    Jon Voight but I forced myself to watch
    his movies and I just ignored that I
    didn’t really like him as a private
    person
    and I love him as an actor so it can
    happen he just gotta look at yourself as
    an artiste and an appreciate excuse my
    language today I appreciate her I don’t
    mind my tongue there I am appreciator of
    movies and I hope you are and I know
    most people who listen to this are so I
    would just say hey
    couple things actually I figured
    something else out too
    if you
    look at this movie
    you’re gonna find something quite
    different than what you probably suspect
    so do not be prejudiced toward this
    movie do not be prejudiced toward any
    movie
    but especially those of you that don’t
    just hang on the latest greatest four
    out of ten
    film for high school kids drinking beer
    which maybe some of you are like that I
    have a few in that age range that listen
    at least they used to hopefully they
    still do hello out there
    the point is there’s a lot to be
    prejudicent about with this movie and I
    can’t tell them today for some reason I
    need to get myself a nice route here
    but before I do that
    please see this movie it’s excellent
    you’re gonna find a lot of creepy things
    going on that you’re not really going to
    understand you’re going to see a lot of
    things that
    I think come from like sort of the Blade
    Runner time when films were being made
    at that time there’s like a lot of that
    kind of a feeling there’s a kind of a
    fee — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/damien-riley/message

  • My Review of “Old” – Horror by M Night Shyamalan

    This film succeeded with me in presenting a background in front of which I can see a personal connection. It failed a little in preaching what the background would do for the close up characters, who we are invested in, maybe too much.

    It’s safe to say this guy’s films are spoiled from their release. Even the title here carries a summary. Through peripheral unintentional spoils, I knew it was about people on a beach who either get old or discover people there who got old prematurely. Without spoilers, there’s something undefinable on the island and the film does have to do with that process.

    I’m a high achiever so I know people will vary in their reactions to growing old. I would have drawn conclusions for characters that hadn’t been clearly lined out in the film. Why is the best ending _______? I like a more open ended film when it comes to It’s a Wonderful Life conclusions. Maybe he doesn’t want her back? As an example? 

    In conclusion, if you are introspective about life, this could be a good place to go. Don’t look for moral truths but use your imagination to marinate the troubles and mixed blessings in your life. For introspective fans of M Night Shyamalan, I recommend “Old” to you.

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  • The BBC Frankenstein is One Way to Look at it

    Helen McCrory fans like myself were likely shocked and excited that the lovely actress was to play a female Dr. Frankenstein.

    We know this only from the title however since her name is not mentioned as such. Along with the change of gender, this “incarnation” of the mythic monster film is highly protean. The things I liked best about it were: 1) The persona of a mother to the being, 2) The hideous yet credible creature, and 3) the veer away from reanimation in place of creation at a cellular level, like cloning it would seem.

    You could correctly say that there is a motherly-like connection between Frankenstein, the novel monster, and his scientific creator. For that reason, this aspect is not a stretch. Still, it’s developed so well the horror is palpable and relatable to any parent. Every parent can relate with the situation in which the Dr. attempts to bring her child back to life. This film is supposedly modern so it doesn’t have the ghoulish charm of the old ones. At the same time, this scenario of the doctor as a mother to the monster speaks new volumes we could talk about. I recommend it on that aspect alone but there are other great attributes of this film.

    The second thing to love about this film is the creature. It looks scary. There are shots where he’s moving where you can really believe the actor looks like that. If you’ve seen Tobe Hooper’s “Funhouse” film, you might compare the two creatures. What’s weird about it is it formed through cellular division and mutation as opposed to the Dr. digging up a corpse and reanimating it. In the tender shots with mom, the eyes are quite expressive. I have to admit I didn’t expect such a well formed creature in a BBC movie. I was wrong, it’s insanely cool looking. For the third thing, I want to share further about the angle of the film regarding cellular fusion and cloning.

    Have you ever seen the “Dolly” lamb that was cloned? It’s creepy as all get up. The idea of a living thing that was born in a lab to me is terrifying. In the same breath I will say however it’s fascinating from a scientific perspective. It would have been cool to see the traditional path of these movies run its course but they made something new work. The more modern movies do that and as a result many have been made and have held the public’s full attention and praise. There is a sequence of images of amoebas and paramecium under the microscope. I loved that so much. The idea that life is relentless and will fight to live and even evolve.

    In conclusion I highly recommend this film. It’s streaming now on Amazon Prime. I hope you’ll subscribe to my podcast and blog to get the latest monster movie I review in this series.

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  • Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

    Can I call this charming? A friend who is mentally disabled is cute in a way. We have the protagonist, the monster, We se the monster in this early incarnation desiring a friend. The mad scientist has grand plans. We get to see the monster develop language. We also ss he is sort of capable of making another human happy. I’m thinking of the blind man who gives him food and shelter to heal. In this epic blockbuster horror film, we see a human undead monster and he’s still got the drives for companionship.</p>It has the usual mob trying to kill the monster. Through this exciting segment of about 1/2 way we see him as a flawed, even brain damaged human. I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for the monster. Bela Lugosi is a prefect actor for this human creature (or is it?). Some of my favorite scenes are the ones with the blind man. They are kindred spirits in that each wants a friend. I got the impression one would get watching a toddler find something shiny and becoming enraptured with it.

    Putting the monster through torture is what had me glued to the screen. I’m not into torture but I find myself relating with the yearning, longing, and even lusting after a woman or otherwise partner. They are such fine and wonderful creatures those partners. I also related with the block of communication that is present throughout. Did you know the Bible teaches the Tower of Babel was why God confused language for all humankind. It tried to be higher than God so God humbled them. The monster illustrates how horrible it would be to not be able to communicate.

    There are not many scenes of the actual author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The film however does open with she and Lord Byron commenting on the lovely ghastly storm outside. We see clearly based on the title and the plot, she is to be made into a female monster, for the creature. I love the way they weaved the real life couple into this. Is raises the verisimilitude and leaves us actually wanting to see them together.

    Unfortunately we don’t see much of the female. The latter portion of the film is where we see only her transformation but not much detail. She looks just plain freaky, I like that. I get from her character that she too is unable to communicate. She is quicker moving than the monster.

    <p>In conclusion, this is to date one of my favorite classic series films. I really enjoy the writing, especially the writing of Byron and Shelley, The film is a delightful hodgepodge of suspenseful orchestra music and top shelf acting. The result is a mind ride to understand why we should never bring the dead back to life. This is an incredibly atmospheric class A horror film. I can give it no lower than a 10/10.

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