Damien Riley HQ

“Rosemary’s Baby.” “The Omen.” “The Visitor.” Three examples of old school scares. This film is crafted after that time and not as much after today’s films. This film will do well, I have no doubt. In the mire of bad films being made this year, it has no competition. But I have issues with its convoluted plot and overly busy storyline. It could have had better impact with a simplified approach.

Hereditary (2018)
R | 2h 7min | Drama, Horror, Mystery | 8 June 2018 (USA)

When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.
Director: Ari Aster
Writer: Ari Aster
Stars: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne

The director is 31. He has done a couple of movies. As I understand, this is his first horror. I watched an interview with him, he seems like someone who will continue making good movies. This film had a few really creepy images that I will forever treasure. Too bad the story was way too complicated for my simple horror loving mind.

When the son comes downstairs and sees a naked man standing there, it reminded me of the final scene of “Rosemary’s Baby.” Loved that! I think if he would have had a simpler story and whittled down the story a bit to a narrow focus, it would have fared better with me. I really wanted to love this film but it was boring at times. I give it a 7/10

When 2 artists separated by over 30 years decide to go on the same project, touring the country seeking people to let them make murals of their faces, funny stuff happens. It’s also a touching film with depth and sadness that appears to spring up with pure spontaneity despite its profundity.

Faces Places (2017)
Visages villages (original title)
PG | 1h 34min | Documentary | 28 June 2017 (France)

Director Agnes Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.
Directors: JR, Agnès Varda
Writers: JR, Agnès Varda
Stars: Jean-Paul Beaujon, Amaury Bossy, Yves Boulen

The film was written and directed by its costar duo, JR, and Agnès Varda. Both are professional artists willing to take chances with the film’s austere concept.

The first art is done on a set of town homes that have belonged to old mining families. They get permission to enlarge old photos into wallpaper posters and paste them on the houses. The people are blown away by the compliment and the woman we first meet who has lived in the houses all her life breaks out in sobs. The thankfulness of the people is truly moviing and thought-provoking to watch.

They go on several other places asking the denizens the same permissions. They also plaster photos on trains and boxcars stacked in a ship yard. The resulting effect is highly lifelike and definitely makes you look twice. I can only imagine the power these murals had on the actual local areas. There is some talk of composition in photography, especially by Varda since she has been an actress/film maker/artist for over 80 years. She gives him a lot of shit for not ever taking off his glasses (and he never does).

The film ends on a somber note when they aren’t able to meet up with her friend and colleague Jean Luc Godard. It brings the fame problem to the surface. The movie is about regular people and a famous person can’t be bothered to meet with him. Varda calls him a dirty rat. This film is a bit hard to watch but as I ave been reading lately, those can be the ones most worth getting through. It’s more of the same as far as art realizations go but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded. We are all just temporary faces on the backdrop of time. I give this film a 7/10. Charming, thoughtful, & certainly worth your time.

Big dog lovers will probably enjoy this film more than anyone. I’m not talking Saint Bernards but rather pits, bulldogs, Rottweilers and others bred for fighting that hold a dear place in their owners’ hearts. Heist movie fans will probably be let down.

Bullet Head (2017)
R | 1h 33min | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 8 December 2017 (Lithuania)

Three career criminals find themselves trapped in a warehouse with the law closing in and an even worse threat waiting inside – a nigh unstoppable killer dog.
Director: Paul Solet
Writer: Paul Solet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Antonio Banderas, John Malkovich

Our director is Paul Solet. He has made an accomplished looking film with only a few flaws which I will get into in the body of my review. This is his first feature-length film as far as I can recognize from his IMDB page. I respect the hell out of him for getting his BA in film. So many young film students bypass that, thinking they know it all without any humility whatsoever. Besides that I’m an age-old fan of education in general. It enables you to make better stuff. Of course there are exceptions. I hope to see more from Paul Solet.

Summary: By the nature of this section, there may be spoilers. There are some robbers and a dog fight in the same warehouse. The film focuses on when the twain shall meet. The three robbers are played by Rory Culkin, John Malkovich, and Adrien Brody. The dog fight leader is played by Antonio Banderas.

A noticeable tool the director uses is the flashback technique when a character is telling a story. He even includes their modern day visage in the clip, telling the story. For example, Roy is sharing a truly touching story about how his father put a dog down in front of him as he is standing in the barn modern day watching it with his younger self. This is a cool technique but I felt it might have been misused to tell dog stories when we have a heist going on. What I found out later is that this violent heist tale is really a sentimental “tough guy” dog tale in disguise. Notwithstanding, the flashback stories are enlightening and entertaining. My favorite is Malkovich’s story about his first heist stealing fish out of a fish store. An important one is when Brody’s character shares his true love left him and that he would meet her on a beach one day when he had himself together.

Rory is an addict and in the middle of the heist in this warehouse, he od’s. And then there were two. They begin to realize they are in this warehouse with a dog fighting racket and there is at least one dog in there who has lost and is yet to be put down. There are some truly violent dog scenes that may affect dog people. If it’s not shown, it’s inferred.

In the end, Malkovich’s character ends up shot and it’s a standoff between Brody’s character and Banderas’. The last 30 mins are really unnecessary back and forth between these two. At the end the wounded dog shows up and kills Banderas supposedly out of spite for making him fight. The final scene is Brody’s character walking toward his true love on a beach with a puppy pit.

Final Thoughts

This movie had my attention about 3/4 of the way through and that was when it got way too nursery-rhyme for me. I expected it to be a bit about dogs but not this much. It was a little misadvertised I think. Still, it showed good chops by a new director, no pun intended. I think dog lovers and teens will find this a fun movie. The acting is so so. Rory Culkin seems the most believable and that’s sad. I have to blame the writer mostly for tha though, the actors did the best they could with a sub-par script. Once again, I do want to compliment the director. I expect great movies from him in the future. Perhaps a clearer singular focus would go further next time? I give this film a 6/10, which is an ok score. Worth checking out.

Listen to this episode on The Damien Riley Podcast

This is Knoxville doing his stuntwork all the way to the bank. Between he and Chris Pontius, my sides hrt from laughing. Check out my audio as usual and video review I tried my hand at this time. Tell me what you think. Would you like to see more video experiments from me?

Action Point (2018)
R | 1h 25min | Comedy | 1 June 2018 (USA)

A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.
Director: Tim Kirkby
Writers: John Altschuler (screenplay by), Dave Krinsky (screenplay by) | 5 more credits »
Stars: Johnny Knoxville, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Susan Yeagley

from The Damien Riley Podcast of Movie Reviews https://thedamienrileypodcast.com/ep-103-action-point/
via IFTTT

This film is an extension of the Mad Max movies but one that extends far out into an eccentric rock and roll style and demands the attention of its viewers. Listen to my podcast on this handy player!

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
R | 2h | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi | 15 May 2015 (USA)

A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in postapocalyptic Australia in search for her home-land with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper, and a drifter named Max.
Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy | 1 more credit »
Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

On the director front: George Miller is one amazing dude. His first big movie was Mad Max in 1979. That movie really kicks ass even to this day. It’s an apocalyptic vision that would soon become developed further and more wonderfully that audiences would have ever imagined. Let me just pause for a moment and list the many films he has directed up to now:

2015 Mad Max: Fury Road
2011 Happy Feet Two
2006 Happy Feet
1998 Babe: Pig in the City
1997 40,000 Years of Dreaming (TV Movie documentary)
1992 Lorenzo’s Oil
1987 The Witches of Eastwick
1985 Tina Turner: We Don’t Need Another Hero (Video short)
1985 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie (segment “Nightmare at 20, 000 Feet”)
1983 The Dismissal (TV Mini-Series) (1 episode)
– Episode #1.1 (1983) … (part one)
1981 The Road Warrior
1979 Mad Max

What range! “Babe: Pig in the City” to Mad Max: Fury Road. How are they related? Talk amongst yourselves.

So, now back to Mad Max: Fury Road. A tyrant has risen. He is the evil one in this film, denying the people water they need to to survive. As usual, Max our hero sets out to first escape and second destroy this evil ruler. What follows are my notes taken while watching it today. I hope they amuse.

Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller film

Mad Max Tom Hardy

Obstacle course/Physical role

Evil leader, controls the water supply

It’s a long way from Starbucks

Wide open spanse of desert

Their rich delicacy is breast milk

They took his blood for water?

The electric guitar jamming fire

For being bled these guys are all in damn good shape

CGI combined with real stunts makes for an amazing show

Its him and the girls now. The misfits. They need each other.

“I live I die I live again.”

Drums are powerful.

Like a rock concert

You might call these tactics, assertive warfare

Jumping onto cars

Before they are martyrs, they dpray paint in their mouth

Here comes religion again