Remy – Stoker
Ah, here we go. Looks like I managed to pick a movie that didn’t suck. In the same breath, Stoker did NOT have the impact on me that I expected, but I can say that multiple viewings help with this movie.
This film is full of hugely symbolic moments, and a story that tells itself very slowly and very subtlety until the very end – but this is Park Chan-Wook. The famed director of Oldboy. Stoker is his first American film, so you can’t really blame me for thinking it would change the game.
Stoker is about an uncle who comes to live with a young girl and her mother after her father passes away tragically. I will say, Mathew Goode as the mystery man himself is rather amazing in this role. He always manages to convey two different feelings at once. The one feeling is that steely look in his eyes, like he is very much in control and in charge. The other is that sly grin he always seems to wear. Like he knows something that no one else does, and that he can use against them.
The real stand out in this movie is Mia Wasikowska though. I will not ruin the key elements that make this movie work (namely, what India goes through and what happens to her as a character), but I will say, give this movie more than one viewing.
First time I watched it, I was less than thrilled, but then I thought about certain moments (like the scenes of the spider climbing the thigh) and the more and more I think about, Stoker is like an Eyes Wide Shut type of movie. It is a movie that may seem unclear at first, but people will be slowly figuring out over time as more and more people see this strange and captivating film.
Nato – The Conjuring
Did James Wan have a killer year or what? I might have been in the minority with my love of Insidious: Chapter 2, but thankfully mainstream audiences embraced the creepy genius of The Conjuring, giving Wan the major props he deserves. Annabell’s story was scary enough to start out with, but once we realize that she is just a sample of the terror to come, there’s no stopping the all-out horror assault that awaits – except while you’re covering your eyes with the closest object.
James Wan creates these brilliantly vibrant atmospheres for his movies to exist in, and The Conjuring is no different. The Warren’s room of evil objects is brightly detailed with dolls, toys, and anything else demons can tie themselves to, but then when we cut to the Perron’s house, the empty, creaky, dusty house projects nothing but pants-wetting horror. The Hayes brothers wrote a magnificent script to accompany Wan’s signature style though, crafting deeply rooted characters that showed depth and poise – acted out by an amazing cast.
The Conjuring wasn’t just a good horror movie – it was a good cinematic movie as well.