It’s too bad that in Wes Craven’s long and storied filmmaking career that “Swamp Thing” is the movie that’s aged the worst. It seemed like a slam dunk for the director, but his approach toward “Swamp Thing” never quite rises above niche horror camp. Even when adapting the source material as straight faced as possible, “Swamp Thing” is really never great as, say, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and that’s probably because the movie itself jumps back and forth in tone and aesthetic. It goes from cheesy monster movie to an attempt at a Beauty and the Beast tale. It garners clear moments of pure camp and then tries to offer allegories on God complex drawing obvious influence from “The Island of Dr. Moreau.”
Tag Archives: Romance
In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no korîda) (1976) [LA&M Film Fetish Forum]
Banned in many countries thanks to its immensely explicit depictions of sex and sexual acts, Nagisa Ōshima’s “In the Realm of the Senses” is an immense movie, and one that straddles the line between erotica and thriller. Although “In the Realm of the Senses” revels in the eroticism of sexuality and sex, it also delves deep in to the darkness of sexual obsession, control, and the appetite for sex (all of the sex scenes are un-simulated) that can consume our lives. I’ve never actually seen director and writer Nagisa Ōshima’s film before, so viewing it now was quite the surprise. The director fancies themselves in exploring the acts of sex along with the behavior between its core characters that result in lust that inevitably becomes deadly.
As Long as We Both Shall Live (aka My Happy Marriage) (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
A young woman who has been abused her whole life at home is sent off to marry an army commander in a world where people have different supernatural powers.
Til Death Do Us Part (2023)
Damnit. Timothy Woodward Jr’.s “Til Death Do Us Part” is a wonderful idea, one ripe for a great horror comedy with a ton of action and what we ultimately got was just… not what I was completely expecting. Granted, the movie does have a wonderful grasp on what it’s trying to do, but the delivery just felt off. It’s a movie that clocks in at almost two hours, and rather than charge in head first with the laughs and action. Instead the movie takes a lot of time, at least twenty or thirty minutes, establishing the initial storyline and back story.
Tokyo Pop (1988)
Opens with a New 35th Anniversary 4K Restoration by Indie Collect in New York at BAM Rose Cinemas on August 4th and in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque on August 11th, followed by national expansion.
Watching Fran Rubel Kuzui’s gave me a mysterious sense of déjà vu as her movie “Tokyo Pop” is very much about a misplaced American experiencing culture shock and alienation in an Asian country. Then I realize that Sofia Coppola pretty much conveyed almost the exact same narrative in her acclaimed “Lost in Translation.” Fran Rubel Kuzui’s “Tokyo Pop” from 1988 was an obvious influence that apparently never really was discussed very much. So much of “Tokyo Pop” is similar in tone, aesthetic and the idea of using media as a means of helping people to connect. With “Tokyo Pop” characters Wendy and Hiro use music as a means of connecting in a world where they’re separated by language and culture.
Haunted Mansion (2023)
I never had the pleasure of riding the famous Disney attraction but I know enough about it to understand the particulars of the story and its appeal. After the somewhat awful 2003 attempt with Eddie Murphy, Disney takes another crack at adapting one of their most iconic attractions. In the end it amounts to a very entertaining and heartfelt horror comedy that I imagine will allow for a good gateway for budding horror fans. I won’t proclaim it as a masterpiece, but when all was said and done, I was so much more satisfied than I was with the 2003 first attempt.
Fallen: The Search of a Broken Angel (2023)
I have to say I liked a lot of what director Alex Kruz brings to the table in terms of a film that’s very much about fate, and purpose, and existence. While “Fallen” can be tough to follow in its first few minutes, Kruz does manage to really catch the audience up. “Fallen” wears its influences on its sleeve, relying a lot on spirituality to punctuate what is in its core a tale about love and finding love.