Well, 2017 has definitely become a year that can be described as fucking insane. A shooting occurred in Las Vegas at a country music festival of all places where a bunch of people got killed. In Spain, there is this growing sense of division among the people at the Catalonia region that want to declare their independence. This month, we deal with the passing of Tom Petty and Fats Domino which has been pretty devastating while soldiers were killed in Niger as it’s been made worse that the GWOTUS has decided to insult the family of one of those soldiers who have passed. Yeah, this has been pretty fucking crazy as there’s also reports about sexual harassment and abuse in the film industry courtesy of Harvey Weinstein. I wasn’t surprised that Weinstein would do something like this but the number of women that he did it to is shocking and I really hope he gets a fucking ass-whooping for his actions.
In the month of October, I saw a total of 37 films in 25 first-timers and 12 re-watches. Same as last month but definitely one of the most fun I had in watching films due to immense quality of first-timers that I saw as it was all devoted to the genre of horror and suspense. One of the highlights this month was definitely my Blind Spot assignment in Rear Window which does make it difficult to create a list of these first-timers. Here are the top 10 first-timers that I saw for October 2017:
1. Raw
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. The VVitch
4. Onibaba
5. The Babadook
6. Enemy
7. Jigoku
8. The Innocents
9. Lifeboat
10. Don't Breathe
Monthly Mini-Reviews
An Eye for Beauty
I definitely know the name of Denys Arcand as I’ve only seen one of his films in Stardom and do know about The Barbarian Invasions. This film however despite its visuals and a phenomenal performance from Melanie Thierry as a wife succumbing to depression. It’s a film that doesn’t really have much to offer as it’s about this architect from Montreal who falls for another woman in Toronto where he has an affair and tries to hide it from his wife only to deal with her depression. I found the protagonist to be uninteresting as I was more into some of the supporting cast that include Edith Scob and Marie-Josee Croze.
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Though it does have a few funny moments, this is a film that is just mediocre. While it does feature some decent performances from Gal Gadot, Isla Fisher, and Jon Hamm, the script never really does anything to make it more interesting. It’s about this couple who learn their new neighbors are spies as it involves some kind of drug deal of sorts where it never really does more with its premise. Instead, it kind of rely on cheap gags and a climax that is quite bloated.
From Within
This was a lame horror film despite the fact that it features the likes of Adam Goldberg, Thomas Dekker, and Jared Harris. It revolves around a series of mysterious suicides relating to a small Christian community where everyone is very serious and the few outsiders who aren’t into Christianity are seen as Satanists. The film follows this young woman who starts to question her faith as it becomes increasingly troubled as she turns to an outsider and tries to figure out all of these suicides. It’s just dumb and filled with some over-the-top acting and a lot of caricatures that never really get fleshed out.
Top 10 Re-Watches:
1. WALL-E
2. Aliens
3. Die Hard
4. American Psycho
5. The Devil's Backbone
6. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
7. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
8. Beverly Hills Cop II
9. Toy Story of Terror!
10. Sign ‘o’ the Times
Well, that is it for October. Next month, I hope to see a few more theatrical releases in Thor: Ragnarok and Coco while my next Blind Spot assignment is definitely going to be John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley in which I will make a formal announcement about the Blind Spot Series for next year after I see the film. Along with some films on the never-ending DVR list, I hope to review some recent releases that are available at my local library. Until then, this is thevoid99 wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.
© thevoid99 2017
4 comments:
Harvey Weinstein had too much power for too long, and it looks like heads will roll with other names being called out. That's a great line-up of horror you watched. Raw definitely is powerful and impactful, foreign language films seems to be where the originality is in filmmaking these days. Hope you had a good Halloween.
@Chris-I did have a good Halloween as I'm just now waiting for the Xmas holidays so I can get my Criterion DVDs. As for the names being called out, I hope Michael Bay is next because he's a fucking asshole.
Rear Window is a classic. Fantastic movie making of the highest order. And such a great set up.
@vinnieh-Indeed. A true classic.
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