Another oldie that can be streamed on the website of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Two ghosts are tired of being ghosts and they learn that when they first travel to Santiago de Compostella and then to Finistera that they might be able to gain a physical body again.
As you can expect, what follows is a slow, minimalist, absurdistic ‘road’ movie in which we follow the two ghosts. One scene has music of Suicide.
Currently, the 2025 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam is runnning and since Covid-19 they also have an online program. A part of the online program consists of films that have been featured on the festival before.
In “A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness” we more or less follow Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. The first third of the film is filmed in some sort of summercamp or commune which appears to be placed in the Finish countryside. Living in wooden cabins, sharing a sauna and having conversations, we follow a group of young adults and some of their children. There are long shots of nature and the like.
The second third focusses on Lowe as he makes a solo walk through nature. It seems that this part is shot in Estonia.
The third part is a black metal concert in a small place in Oslo. Lowe is a guitarist and occasional vocalist in an unnamed band.
Slow, minimalist, somewhat interesting.
And so it came to pass that I saw two horror films in one weekend, while I usually skip the genre. Both films are quite interesting though.
Jack Delroy has a popular late night talkshow in the 1970’ies. After some succesful years, the number of viewers is going down and Jack and his producer are trying to think of ways to win back the attention of the television audience.
On Halloween evening, the show interviews a medium and intents to pursue on that ‘occult path’. Jack knows of a psychologist who treats a young girl who was born, raised and abused in a sect. It appears that the girl is possessed.
The evening that Judy and Lilly are to be interviewed, all hell literally breaks loose and while the film until then was mostly a peek into the 1970’ies television business, horror elements are rapidly introduced.
All in all an interesting watch.
This film had been on my wish list for a while. A horror of Panos “Beyond The Black Rainbow” Cosmatos.
Mandy and lumberjack Red (Nicholas Cage) live in a remote wooden cabin. When a sinister sect moves into a building close by, the leader lets his eye fall on Mandy. His henchman kidnap Mandy at night, while leaving Red nailed to a tree in their garden. Mandy does not conform to the leader’s wishes and the sect set Mandy on fire while Red is watching. Red sets out for revenge.
The first part of the film is a surreal hippy type film with bright colours and a psychedelic rock score not entirely unlike “Beyond The Black Rainbow”. It looks quite nice. The sect brings a bit of an occult tone.
Especially after the kidnap, the film turns into a slasher horror. The tone gets darker, less psychedelic and Cage is allowed to do ‘his thing’. This is not the most interesting part of the film, but all in all “Mandy reminds me that I should perhaps not leave aside the horror genre entirely.
Only picked because I felt like watching an action comedy. I do not think I even saw the previous “Bad Boys” (1995, 2003, 2020) films.
Smith and Lawrence make an amusing couple, a bit screwball hero cops. After an amusing opening scene, a fairly weak story unfolds in which the Bad Boys’ deceased boss is accused of working with the enemy. Mike and Marcus set out to prove everybody wrong.
So your usual car chases, action scenes, shootouts, evil bad guys, drama and of course witty dialogues. The results is a somewhat amusing film.
Between 2021, when I reviewed “Daleks’ Invasion Earth” and now, we started to watch the second incarnation of the BBC series. I still have not figured out what the whole ‘Dr. Who universe’ looks like. There were BBC series between 1963 and 1989 (!). In the meantime several films were made. The series were recreated in 2005 and Wikipedia and IMDb.com do not have an ‘end year’, so I guess the series are still running. There are also movies called “Doctor Who”, there appear to be other series, spin-offs and what not.
The present title was released a year before “Daleks’ Invasion” and is from the same director with the same actor for Dr. Who. I remember the 1966 film to be quite amusing, this 1965 is somewhat amusing, but looks a bit dated.
In the 1965 movie, Dr. Who just created his Tardis and when he wants to demonstrate it, he lands on a desolate planet which proves to be inhabited by both Daleks and “the thals”. We learn that Daleks are creatures that created their robot costumes to prevent themselves from self-inflicted radiation.
With some minor adventures, Dr. Who and three others save the thals from the Daleks.
The stages look good, the acting reminds a bit of old time family television.
In 1996, highschool kid Owen meets the two year older Maddy who shares his obsession with a TV show called “Pink Opaque”. Owen never saw the late night show, but he arranges an evening to watch it together with Maddy and a friend of hers.
An odd relationship between the two develops. Maddy records the episodes for Owen, but the two seldom speak. Then Maddy disappears, the show stops and Owen tries to build a ‘normal’ life.
“Pink Opaque” is some sort of paranormal series and in a bit of a “Videodrome” manner, the show and reality start to run through each other.
The film is quite vague and flashing, a bit too teeny perhaps, but there do not appear many surreal films, so this was a nice one to run into.
Presented as an “erotic thriller” I am sure I am not the only one who had to think of the late 20th century style that was popular at the time, thrillers with sex scenes. “Babygirl” is not really a thriller though. Basically, it is a long string of sex scenes.
The ever beautiful Nicole Kidman (1967-) plays Romy, a successful CEO of a company that she started herself. She leads the life of a powerful woman with a loving husband (Antonio Banderas) and two children. People look up at her.
Even though Romy sees herself as strong woman, for many years she had the sexual fantasy of being dominated. He husband does not get the clues though. A young intern at work perfectly senses Romy’s craving and an odd relationship develops.
The thriller element is of course the fear that the relationship between Romy and Samuel comes out. “Mutual concent” sounds interesting, but even in a relationship between two people, more people are involved. Not in the least place a husband and children. And of course there is work. Samuel pushes boundaries by bringing this larger environment of Romy into their play.
Tossed between her public role and the image she has of herself, the fantasies she has always suppressed and the effect that Samuel has on her, Romy goes from powerwoman to docile sheep within seconds. The film shows Romy as a role model woman, but also one with an inner life and desires. This should not be strange, but it is uncommon to be so visible and I guess that is the reason why the film is applauded. What is more, in spite of everything, at the end Romy is still a self assured woman and she even managed to work things out with her husband.
These series had been on my watch list for a while, but I kept skipping them. Once I did watch the first episode, I wished I had watched it earlier.
“Good Omens” is a very amusing series, created by Neil Gaiman, the man to go to for mythology inspired series such as “American Gods”, “Lucifer” and “The Sandman”.
Aziraphale and Crowley make an unlikely couple. They have known each other since Creation, but when both originally angels, Crowley hobbled along with the great Rebellion and became a demon in stead. The two keep running into each other while both living on earth for many centuries. A friendship of sorts develops, even though this is -of course- not allowed by either “side”.
By now there are two seasons. Just before I watched the last episode, I heard that work is being done on the third season. Season two ends with a massive spoiler, so this is not really a surprise.
Story wise, the first season is the most interesting. Heaven plans on Armageddon. Not that they really know why, but it’s part of “the plan”. Hell looks forward to finally having to do something. Aziraphale and Crowley like earth so much, that they decide to thwart Armageddon.
In the second season Supreme Arch Angel Gabriel stumbles naked into Aziraphale’s London bookshop. It is not like our amusing couple decides to really help him, but both Heaven and Hell do think so and both decide that they have to take possession of Gabriel.
“Good Omens” is full of subtle humour, well-place jokes, an amusing story of a hidden friendship that has the suggestion of being something more, funny inhabitants of Heaven and Hell, the relationship of angels and demons with humans, a bit of critique on modern living, etc. Well written, funny, great looking with with very funny opening titles.
Oh, Crowley is played by a great David Tenant who you may know as twice “The Doctor” in the 2005-2022 “Doctor Who” series.
Recommended.
I had to look it up, but the case here is that in 1922 Murnau wanted to make a film of the novel Dracula of Bram Stoker that has been published in 1897. Stoker had passed away in 1912 and his heirs made claim to the copyright of the book. In order to continue with his plan, Murnau still used the novel, but he changed names. Therefor the story does not play in the British village Whitby, but in the German Wisburg. Jonathan Harker became Thomas Hutter; Mina became Anna, Abraham von Helsing Albin Eberhart von Franz and Count Dracula Count Orlok. When Murnau’s film came out, the Stoker family sued him and won.
Eggers made a new version of Murnau’s film of a century ago, so he kept the names that Murnau used and not those of -for example- Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992).
As we got used to from Eggers’ films such as “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman“, “Nosferatu” became a nice, gritty, old-looking film with great camera work and sceneries. Fortunately he did not turn the film in a modern jumpscare horror (a few useless scenes aside), so what you will watch is a minimalist, slow, moody film with a known story. No surprises, but a descent film.