Right is Right

Well I'm back after a couple months hiatus and it is the haunting little movie to the left that has me excited enough to post. As you may know The Doctor" gave me three movies from my Netflix queue to "push-up" to the top. Movie #1 was "Once" and my brief take on that is somewhere below. Movie # 2 was "Let the Right One In". I'm back once again to give credit to The Doctor for the recommend, but more importantly to say, this movie ROCKS!!!!

I'm a vampire fan. I've read "Dracula" about six times, I've watched good and bad adaptations of the classic story, and I've even jumped aboard the "Twilight" bandwagon. My favorite vampire works will always be "The Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice, but that's a subject for another day. So I'm all in when it comes to the mythology of the immortals.

"Let the Right One In" is a nice little piece of Swedish film making. I had read a couple of brief articles about the movie before I started watching, but nothing that would give away any of the major plot points. I knew there was a vampire, but that's about it. Boy was I in for an experience.

Well the movie starts in almost total silence. The credits are stark white letters on a black background. It reminded me of the original "Dracula" We take for granted so many times in movies music and sound. Loud crashing cymbals, or the shriek of a violin are horror staples, but nothing sets a more eerie tone than silence. This tone is at the heart of the picture. It is beautifully shot, the acting is spot on, and the pacing is deliberate but never boring.

As the movie begins there are just images. A boy standing at the window, a cab dropping off a couple passengers, the shades being drawn. It's unsettling not to know who you're supposed to identify with, who these characters are, and what they are doing. As the movie progresses, this unsettled feeling continues, and I believe is at the core of the experience. Horror movies and thrillers often fall flat once the gig is up. As soon as we realize who the killer is, or who stole the money, we can relax. To me that works directly against the objective of the film. If a movie is to horrify us or thrill us, then that sense of confusion and uneasiness has to remain. What we usually get instead is cheap scare tactics or over the top gore to take it's place and way too often the general populace falls for it hook line and sinker.

So as the movie played on, I fully expected to be let down again. But from one scene right on through to the next, it managed to keep me just slightly off center. I didn't care too much for the young actor that played 12 year old Oskar, but Lina Leandersson that played the vampire Eli was fantastic. Her angelic face and quiet sweet disposition were wonderfully balanced against the things she does and what she is. As these two characters grow closer and closer, I found myself actually routing for them, both individually and as a couple. But every time I thought I knew how it was going to turn out something would happen to turn my expectations on their ear and unsettle me once again. Now don't get me wrong, this movie wasn't one reveal after another. At no point does it resort to the quirky twists and turns we see so often. Instead as we get to know these characters, little by little, we think we are getting to know them. In reality we only know tiny bits about them and their situation. But years of movie going and years of having characters written and acted in caricature have taught us to expect certain things. "Let the Right One In" doesn't allow us to do that. Each action and reaction seems to come organically from the situation and from a place of honest motivation.

By the end, I was hooked hardcore. As the situation slowly unraveled and the end got closer and closer, I was fully invested with the characters, so even if I did see the final scene or two coming well in advance, I didn't care because I felt like the ride to get there had been genuine and true. The two folks I watched it with were less impressed, but for me, it was the best movie I've watched all year. It was quiet, and sweet, and unsettling all at the same time. In a season where we will see one big budget action movie after the next, it was refreshing to sit in the dark for 90 minutes with such an honest and beautiful piece of movie-making. Think about that for a minute and then you can go. When was the last time you heard a horror movie described as "beautiful and honest"?

Walrus Out.

That's Right, I Saw It!!!!

With a little time on my hands and a little jingle in my pocket, I found myself with a free Saturday and looking for a movie to see. I know, I know! After my last post, I'm probably the last person that you would expect to see in the theater on any given Saturday. But in my defense, it was a matinee showing and the theater was hardly occupied. So I settled in for what I suspected would be two hours of mindless entertainment. With my expectations low to begin with, I was not disappointed.

The premise behind Hot Tub Time Machine is right in the title. There's this hot tub, and it has the power to take it's occupants through time. In this case, the unknowing travelers, John Cusack, Rob Corddory, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke find themselves whisked back to the 80's in said hot tub time machine after a night of partying at a once hip ski lodge. It takes our temporal travelers just one trip down the slopes and a walk through the lodge to figure out their problem. Popped collars, hot pink ski boots, and leg warmers all mark the times, but when they see a fellow skier popping a cassette tape in his Walkman it makes it clear just how far they are from where they started the previous evening. So with the problem firmly established, and the ramifications of their presence in the past (See the Butterfly Effect for clarification...) they embark on an hour and a half worth of shenanigans to figure out how to get back home with the least amount of damage.

I don't get too hung up on the silly devices writer's use to put their characters in a given situation. Strange coincidences and gimmicky plot devices are all over the place in the movie world. All I really need is a couple of believable characters, a few laughs, and maybe even some gratuitous nudity, and I'm good to go. John Cusack is his usual self, and Rob Corddory is full of one-liners and awkward moments from start to finish. However, the best thing this movie has going for it is Clark Duke. He plays Cusak's Second Life loving nephew. He's out of place with these guys from the beginning. The old fish out of water role is always good for a few laughs. Add to that the fact that he discovers the identity of his father on the trip and he's got a lot to do for a character that I originally wrote off as pure comic relief. Take all that, and throw in a couple of well-endowed ladies with their tops off and you've got everything you need to keep me interested. But unfortunately that's all this movie really did. It gave me just enough moments and just enough laughs to keep me from either walking out or falling asleep. Sure I laughed, and a couple of times, quite a bit. But for a premise with so much promise and built in humor to be had, the writer's here seemed content to rely on gay jokes, and a steady stream of F*#K and a barely watchable cameo by Chevy Chase to get us through to the end. The ending is predictable, and the payoff is less than satisfying, but I was there until the end. I laughed my fair share, and I was able to sit in the theater awake for two hours. Overall not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. If you're on a student's income, wait for it on DVD, or make sure to hit the matinee. But otherwise, if you've got a couple hours and don't feel the need to fill your brain with heartier fare, check it out. It doesn't suck.