Alex Haley’s epic television miniseries is one of the many television epics I always meant to watch over the years, but never had the chance to. Finally being given the proper window by Warner, I was not surprised that “Roots” ended up being a very good epic drama about slavery, and the struggle for freedom. “Roots” is one of those great cinematic success stories, where in 1977, network ABC in America didn’t expect the mini-series to do very well. Due to its predominantly African American cast, and very strong content, the network pretty much dumped every episode over the course of eight nights, rather than spacing it out to create an audience.
The Crush (1993) [Blu-Ray]
There are a lot of allusions made to Nabakov’s “Lolita” with “The Crush.” Whether intentional or not, it’s interesting how the film parallels certain themes and scenes. When Nick decides to move in to a sort of run down house as he prepares to begin a new job at a magazine, his first look at fourteen year old stunner Adrian is almost beat for beat when Professor Humbert sees young Dolores for the first time. Rather than walking in on her in her yard, she’s in short shorts, a tee, and rollerblades. When we see Adrian, she’s dressed in about the kind of seductive attire she craftily saunters around in as a mode of luring in potential mates, and Nick is hooked.
Except unlike Humbert, he gains something of an awareness of what trouble he’s walking in to, as Adrian literally begins throwing herself at him. She shows up in his room while he’s showering, and does little to deflect sexual come ons and innuendo she’s not shy about giving him. By the time Nick realizes Adrian has taken their sexually playful relationship one step too far, he becomes his own worst enemy and digs himself in to a massive hole that seems inescapable by the finale.
“The Crush” is a very good look at the destruction of a simple man thanks to the wiles of a young girl, particularly a young Alicia Silverstone. Silverstone gives a very good performance, and handles her sexuality with pitch perfect precision making it an alluring trait, and a remarkable weapon that only hampers every and any attempt Nick makes to push her out of his life for good. Though its never explored outright, Nick almost finds the come ons and aggression by Adrian charming and even erotic.
One scene involving a botched attempt to steal back picture from her room that turns in to a strip tease clearly indicates Nick isn’t completely troubled by her fixation on him. Only when people begin getting seriously injured and nearly killed by Adrian’s manipulation and smart staging of events does Nick eventually have to ensure that he ends her obsession before it becomes all too fatal. “The Crush” is a solid thriller filled with strong turns by Cary Elwes and Alicia Silverstone. It’s also one of the stronger thrillers cut out of the cloth of “Fatal Attraction.”
The Blu-Ray release from Scream Factory includes the two minute theatrical trailer for the film, and a thirty second TV spot. There’s an audio commentary with writer and director Alan Shapiro who is joined by Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson. The pair of hosts trade questions with one another, and Shapiro discusses changing Silverstone’s characters name from Darian to Adrian.
If you watch the original trailer, you can hear Elwes calls the character Darian. “The Doting Father” is a ten minute interview with legendary character actor Kurtwood Smith, who plays Adrian’s father in the film. He discusses his large career and his experience working with Silverstone. “Stung by Love – An Interview with Jennifer Rubin” is a brand new thirteen minute sit down with with actress Jennifer Rubin who discusses how she was hired for the movie, and filming the infamous wasp sequence.
I.V. League (2016)
Patrick Rea has been more committed to dark comedy as of late, delivering horror shorts that are based a lot around deception and pure evil. It’s really interesting to see director Rea working outside of his comfort zone and diving in to new areas of horror and fantasy that are rarely mastered. “I.V. League” is another of his many latest short films where human cruelty is the theme, and Rea delivers a one two punch of plot twists that make the experience very worthwhile.
Creating a ring of lies, “I.V. League” is centered on a man who’s barely survived a car wreck that left him burnt from head to toe. While his new nurse attends to him, she soon meets his wife, and learns that she’s been all too aware of her bed ridden husband’s past with sleeping with young female doctors and nurses around the hospital. Without realization, the two women are embroiled in a secret murder plot against him, with a man named Nico who was sent to murder him. After failing, both women have a bone to pick with him, and soon the suspicions arise among the pair of women.
It’s tough to continue discussing the movie without actually giving away what unfolds, but Rea’s film is slick enough to follow without ever getting too crowded with plot points and twists. The performances from Misty Dixon and Katrina Volonnino are superb (as well as the rest of the supporting cast), with Rea devising a nice web of revenge and spite that culminates in to a really good climax. While I admittedly saw the first plot twist coming miles away, the final twist is really unexpected, and felt very well placed, rather than tacked on. Rea’s film is a strong and clever short thriller, and one that warrants a watch when it becomes available for fans.
Tony Masiello Short Films Round-Up
Shorts can be fun tidbits of film, no matter the genre. Some genres can lend themselves to this format better than others, horror being one of them. So horror shorts with a grindhouse flare should be at the very least interesting. Here are four mini reviews of shorts by Tony Masiello that fall in that sub-genre. All of these shorts are part of anthologies that are out or about to come out.
Hank Boyd Is Dead (2015)
Accused murdered Hank Boyd has died and his mother wants him remembered with a funeral and gathering at the family home. Sarah is hired to work this gathering for the local catering company. As the hours pass, the Boyd family grows stranger and stranger and Sarah must fight for her life.
Written and directed by Sean Melia for whom this is a first full length feature film, the story seems simple at first: A child murderer has died in a small town and his family is trying to keep a minimum of respect for him at his funeral. However, as more and more is discovered about the Boyd family, the more twisted the story becomes. It isn’t only about Sarah’s survival among this family but also about how crazy can one family really be. The story is fairly well written and unfolds at a good pace, never losing the viewer’s attention but also not exactly feeling like it’s doing anything new with the crazy family aspect.
The acting is decent from the leads and supporting cast. Standouts are Carole Monferdini as the aging and slowly losing it clan matriarch, Beverly Boyd, who alternates between sweet old lady and crazy violent bitch. Her performance is nuanced with a touch of bat shit insane. The other standout if Stefanie E. Frame as Sarah Walsh, the outsider who becomes captive and fights for her life. She shows a range of emotions from boredom to stunned surprise to desperation which adds to the viewers’ care for her character.
Hank Boyd Is Dead is a violent film but there is no gore and very little blood, the horror here is more psychological in nature. Yes, there is violence, but what is meant to shock is the story, the characters’ backgrounds, and the family dynamics, not the physical damage made to others (except in a couple of scenes). That being said, it is a violent film with some disturbing aspects, however for a more jaded audience, it’s not quite enough to have much of an effect.
The film has good performances in general, a fairly good story, decent dialogue, but nothing is really shocking or new. At 76 minutes, it’s a fairly short feature which allows it to not overstay its welcome. The twists are interesting but will be predictable to some. Nonetheless, the film is entertaining while not breaking any new ground in the crazy family with major issues horrific drama sub-genre.
Baskin (2015)
Five cops go on a very late night call to the middle of nowhere. On their way, their hit something on the road and crash close to the source of the call, as they head into the property, things take a turn for the very weird. Baskin is based on the short of the same name and is written by Ogul Can Eren, Can Evrenol, Cem Ozuduru, and Ercin Sadikoglu.
The way they built the film with dreams and flashbacks leads to a story that could have been muddled but isn’t as it works with them and integrates them well. Of course, this leads to a story that is not entirely linear and may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The direction by Can Evrenol demonstrates talent with only a few scenes showing that this is his first feature and that his directorial experience is not wide and varied yet. Most of the writers and the director are newer to completely new to making films, yet this shows only very, very scarcely, which is a testament to their pool of talent.
The cast here is also fairly new to the business with two standout performance by Gorken Kasal as Arda, the lead amongst a good group of actors playing cops going on an ill-fated call. Kasal gives a layered performance of a character with a childhood that is still affecting him, while trying to be the best cop he can be, he also shows a good emotional range. Also worth noting is newbie Mehmet Cerrahoglu as Baba, The Father, the cult leader Arda and the cops encounter. Kasal and Cerrahoglu play well against each other. Many scenes in “Baskin” are trippy and visually very interesting, leading to sometimes packing a lot in a quick scene which serves to disorient as much as engage the viewer.
As the film advances, things go from weird to seriously messed up and the gore factor goes through the roof. Blood, guts, everything gets thrown around. The effects for these are of varying quality. For most of the film, the effects are great, done practically and looking quite realistic, especially once put in a darkly-lit, fast-moving scenes. However, a few of the effects, seen in better light and for longer periods, look a bit cheaper, of lesser quality which can break the tension of the scene they are in. Adding to the visuals and the effects is the music which works well here, helping sustain the suspense and raising up the creep factor by underlining the fear felt by the protagonists.
Baskin is a movie once should see as it shows what short film makers can do when expending on one of their shorts such as what happened with Turbo Kid (but much, much darker here). It’s a tense film with scenes to make almost anyone uncomfortable. The story starts off with an effective opening, then keeps things more or less almost creepy until it suddenly amps up the creep factor and then the gore becomes prevalent making for a suspenseful experience with some gross out moments. By the end of the film, more questions have been asked than answered, leaving the viewer to think a bit and come to their own conclusions.
ChicArt Short Films Round Up
Sometimes, a bunch of shorts fall in my lap and I gather them for review under a theme. Like the recent piece on the shorts by production company 2AM Burrito, this group came from one company, albeit a PR one: ChicArt.
The style of the shorts here is very different, so this is where the comparison ends. Without further ado, ChicArt repped shorts.