I won’t say I was pleasantly surprised by The Conjuring, but I will say I was pleasantly satisfied, because every trailer and promotional piece I saw for James Wan’s smash-hit paranormal story had me super-duper excited. I’ll admit, I went into The Conjuring with heightened expectations, which usually ends in heartbreak for me, but thankfully James Wan conjured up (see what I did there?) one of the spookiest, creepiest, hauntiest, and most beautifully crafted horror films of the year. The Conjuring wasn’t just “horror good” – The Conjuring stacks up against this summer’s best.
Atmospherically, James Wan adapts a very weighty script by the Hayes’ siblings with sharp focus on his usual flair for musty, dirty, skin-crawlingly unnerving settings, which Wan has become a master at. Whether you like his films or not, there’s no denying Wan has developed into one of the most visually pleasing horror directors of our generation, and The Conjuring is a prime example of the scares he’s able to achieve simply through his vividly unique imagination. Don’t get me wrong, there’s also brilliant performances, highlighted by equally admirable chemistry between lead actors Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, but Wan’s style shines through as he provides long-gestating scares that don’t cheaply pop out at you, instead generating an uncomfortable, uneasy feeling that even seasoned genre veterans will have a hard time shaking.
In the battle of Wan’s two 2013 films (with Insidious: Chapter 2 having just been released), The Conjuring walks away with the Championship title.
[h2]Limited: The Spectacular Now[/h2]
While every part of me is a horror nut, it’s also impossible to ignore a proper piece of cinema, and The Spectacular Now may just be this year’s most emotionally impacting film, as written by the duo who gave us (500) Days Of Summer, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. We’re once again treated to a film that pulls at our emotions, strips us down to a naked vulnerability, and then sucker-punches our already weakened psyche with one powerful blow after the next. I know that doesn’t sound too appealing, but the fact that a movie can invade your mindset in such a way is absolutely astounding, and the ride itself is equal parts enlightening, self-reflective, and oh so beautiful.
Hats off to our young stars Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller too, because without their immersive performances, the emotionality and gravity of “the spectacular now” would have been lost. Teller plays the title character Sutter, a boy all about living in the now and not taking life seriously, but there are deeper and darker reasons to his thinking. Woodley is just as phenomenal in her role as the nerd next door who gets involved with Sutter, as we watch nervously, almost as a big sibling not wanting to see their little sister get hurt. Both actors immerse themselves in the larger themes, and as layers are peeled away, we see that they have created new and different personalities that are always evolving.
However, the ultimate testament to everyone’s work, including director James Ponsoldt, is how much we care about our characters. We realize that it’s just a movie, that it’s all fantasy, and yet it’s impossible not to recognize the genuine humanity of The Spectacular Now, and for that, it becomes far, far more than just a simple movie.
— Matt Donato
