Your Daily Dose of Jack: Bite-sized reviews for each day of the week
Editorial March 29, 2019, Comments OffThe following is an editorial from Your Daily Dose of Jack. All thoughts and opinions are solely the author’s and do not represent those of the Drury Mirror.
Throughout 2019 I’ve made it my mission to watch at least one film a day in order to broaden my horizons in the art of film making. I invite you to join me on this journey, as I both watch and share my thoughts, through bite sized reviews, on the vast array of films the world has to offer. My goal is to introduce you to a variety of films, some you have heard of, others you might not have, watching them throughout the weeks as I do from the comfort of your own home. Enjoy!
“Friday the 13th” (2009)
“Friday the 13th” is a 2009 horror remake/sequel of the classic 80s slasher, directed by Marcus Nispel and follows a group of teens as they are slowly killed off by the famous masked killer Jason.
The opening sequence isn’t great, recapping the events of the original film in a black and white style but as it is done in post it doesn’t look great, especially with the obvious fake storm in the background. The editing in general isn’t great, with lots of cuts which makes the action hard to follow which is a shame. There are also quite a few shots are out of focus and is quite distracting.
All of the acting is bad, with all of the characters acting extremely obnoxious and annoying causing me to hate them immediately. The writing is also terrible, and doesn’t ever sound natural at all, but is pretty laughable at times which makes it quite enjoyable to watch.
“Friday the 13th” is incredibly trope heavy, using a well-known formula that has been done a million times before but is ultimately still satisfying. Jason is great in it, easily the best part of the film, a massive hulk of a killer that gives off an incredibly intimidating persona who runs fast and hits like a truck, a force of nature that the protagonists have almost no chance of defeating.
Overall “Friday the 13th” is a film with a lot of glaring issues, such as bad acting and editing, but I always found myself enjoying it throughout. Decent watch with friends.
“Blue Ruin”
“Blue Ruin” is a 2013 crime drama directed by Jeremy Saulnier and follows a man who goes to exact revenge on the family who killed his parents.
The main actor is pretty great, not saying too much but still manages to convey a lot of emotions through body language and facial reactions. “Blue Ruin” is like this throughout, with little dialogue whilst still managing to stay engaging throughout, with an intriguing, if a little slow start, with the plot being shrouded in mystery at the beginning, and the lack of dialogue complements this mysterious nature.
Once it gets going a bit it is quite tense at times, and due to its very realistic nature, I never knew exactly how a scene was going to play out. Music is mostly very minimal, only really using diegetic sound, but this complements the realistic style the film is going for.
However, the soundscape often felt empty without it, with many scenes lacking any kind of music at all. The ending is also not a particularly satisfying conclusion, and feels very abrupt.
Overall “Blue Ruin” is an enjoyable film that often feels too realistic for its own good, with a minimal soundscape and an abrupt ending. Despite this, the lead actor and tense atmosphere still make this worth a watch. Enjoyable enough.
“A Patch of Fog”
“A Patch of Fog” is a 2015 thriller directed by Michael Lennox that follows an author/TV celebrity that has a tendency to shoplift. When he gets caught the security guard lets him off so long as he agrees to be his friend, which starts a downward spiral due to his lack of boundaries.
“A Patch of Fog” uses lighting very well, and characters are often shrouded in darkness, which creates a great ominous and moody atmosphere. The music reflects this atmosphere, and whilst it is quite subtle, it manages to be quite chilling at times, keeping me on edge.
The film is always very tense, as you never know how the security guard is going to react, is he going to continue to be nice? Or will he snap at the slightest provocation? Both main actors are great, giving convincing performances that feel realistic. Stephan Graham as the security guard gives a chilling performance and always feels creepy and off putting, acting suitably awkward in situations. Conleth Hill as the author reacts to him well, and is constantly unnerved, much like the viewer.
The film can also have some really nice symbolism at times, with the two leads having more in common than first appears. However, certain scenes broke my immersion when the characters wouldn’t act in a sensible way, which took me out of the realistic atmosphere the film had created which was frustrating.
Overall “A Patch of Fog” is a very tense thriller with some great performances and lighting, but the immersion breaking decisions the characters sometimes choose makes it frustrating at times. Recommended.
“Doom”
“Doom” is a 2005) sci-fi action film directed by Andrezej Bartkowiak following a group of elite soldiers as they are called in to investigate a security breach in a science facility on Mars.
“Doom” has constant cuts throughout its many sub-par action scenes, highlighting the awful editing, which places entire scenes at random points that make the whole film seem disconnect and incoherent. The music is incredibly bad, sometimes not fitting the tone of a scene, and is extremely generic and forgettable, whilst still managing to annoy me with how good it wants to be.
The writing is very cringe worthy, with eye rolling humour that is incredibly bad, and is very expositional with no finesse, treating the viewer like a child that can’t work out anything on their own.
The acting ranges from average to awful, with even Rosamund Pike not giving a worthwhile performance, and every character being a cardboard cut-out with no personality past their assigned stereotype, with all of the soldiers having hilariously bad ‘edgy’ code names like Destroyer or Reaper, which made me laugh every time a character said one seriously.
Despite all of this “Doom” has a certain charm to it, and tries to take itself seriously when it is anything but that, which only made me laugh at it, managing to achieve ‘so bad its good’ status.
Overall nothing is good about “Doom” but I still found myself enjoying it for how bad it is, perfectly encapsulated in the first person sequence at the finale that, although unique and fun, is still not particularly good. Take a look if you’re bored.
“Most Likely to Die”
“Most Likely to Die” is a 2015 slasher film directed by Anthony DiBlasi following a group of high school friends who are meeting up for a ten-year reunion whilst a masked man kills them one by one.
The acting isn’t very good and seems like it is many of the actors first feature film, not complementing the awful dialogue, where the characters will talk to themselves which sounds terrible and very unnatural, randomly spouting exposition out of nowhere that just highlights the lazy writing.
The lazy writing makes itself apparent throughout with characters often making incredibly stupid decisions and finding any excuse to split up from the group which is just laughable at times. Despite this, the opening is surprisingly tense considering it takes place in the day and gives off a good first impression of the film.
There is a good amount of nice long shots that, although showcasing the bad acting, is still respectable that they attempted them. However, the editing is awful, with a lots of unnecessary shots inserted for no reason, often focusing on the wrong person in a conversation, and for far too long.
The kills are very uninspired and boring, which are normally the highlight of a slasher film, with no creativity or proper thought put into them. The killers design looks very stupid, using blades in his graduation cap to kill which just looks hilarious, even if it is incredibly stupid.
Overall “Most Likely to Die” is an enjoyable enough slasher film, and even if almost everything about it is bad, it still remains enjoyable enough to laugh at. Enjoyable enough.
The Addams Family
“The Addams Family” is a 1991 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and follows the titular Addams Family, when a man disguises himself as Fester, Gomez’s long lost brother in order to claim the family fortune.
The comedic scenarios throughout the film are all fun and entertaining whilst still managing to keep with the darker tone of the film, but never got more than a chuckle out of me. The set design is great, with lots of little details in the background that show a great attention to detail, and set a suitably dark tone for the film.
The acting is all pretty good, not anything amazing but they all seem to act as the as the classic characters would and the writing again is decent but the constant dark puns and little jokes can get a bit much at times, and after a time can get a bit boring.
The overall plot can also get a bit boring, and is quite a generic and formulaic 90s comedy plot, despite the interesting setting of the of the house and the family. This causes many scenarios to be diluted to try to appeal more to families and kids, and will shy away from showing anyone getting hurt or killed, (but the copious amounts of blood at the play hint at what the film could have been) and coupled with the slapstick sound effects that don’t fit with the darker nature of some of the other scenes, it culminates into quite a muddled film that wants to be a light 90s comedy, but chose a darker subject matter and the combination doesn’t work that well.
Overall “The Addams Family” can be fun at times, but it often feels held back by trying to appeal to families, with only a few hints remaining of how much of a better film it could have been. Decent watch with friends.
Hercules
“Hercules” is a 1997 animated action film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker and follows the titular Hercules as he grows up with god like powers, which he uses to defeat mythical beasts in order to get back into Mount Olympus.
The animation is great, with nice fluid motions and plenty of character in everything people do, with bright colours and stunning visas that make it a pleasure to look at. The backgrounds are full of little details that bring a nice believability to the setting.
Hades is a great villain, perfectly humorous whilst his character design is still suitably intimidating, with the fire on his head flowing nicely which always looked great. “Hercules” has some great humour, with a nice amount of slapstick that is to be expected from a Disney animation. This is only helped by the great voice actors that help to deliver the humour, with Danny DeVito easily stealing the show, playing the satyr that trains Hercules.
The rest of the writing however, can be pretty hit or miss, with a lot of lines pandering to a younger audience, and whilst I appreciate they are the target audience, it also feels quite obnoxious to have exposition told to you as if you are a child. This is also the case with the plot that, whilst serviceable enough, is pretty boring and generic.
Overall “Hercules” is a good film, with charming animation and great voice acting that is brought down by a lacklustre plot and obnoxious exposition. Enjoyable enough.
Scoring System:
- Highly recommended
- Recommended
- Enjoyable enough
- Decent watch with friends
- Take a look if you’re bored
- Not recommended
Article by Jack Goodman.
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