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I wish more people understood this simple fact!
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The Americans
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Sordid Cinema Podcast #58
‘Resolution,’ ‘Black Rock’ and ‘Aftershock’
After a considerable gap, Sordid Cinema is back with a triple feature of recent genre fare, from the beloved to the…less beloved. First up is our long-belated take on Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s little indie that could, Resolution, which subverts the cabin-in-the-woods horror flick on roughly one fiftieth the budget of, er, The Cabin in the Woods. After that, Edgar, Ricky and Simon tackle the Eli Roth starrer (!) Aftershock and Katie Aselton’s Deliverance-esque survival thriller Black Rock.
Horror Films of 2013: Sordid Cinema PODCAST #58
‘Resolution,’ ‘Black Rock’ and ‘Aftershock’
After a considerable gap, Sordid Cinema is back with a triple feature of recent genre fare, from the beloved to the…less beloved. First up is our long-belated take on Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s little indie that could, Resolution, which subverts the cabin-in-the-woods horror flick on roughly one fiftieth the budget of, er, The Cabin in the Woods. After that, Edgar, Ricky and Simon tackle the Eli Roth starrer (!) Aftershock and Katie Aselton’s Deliverance-esque survival thriller Black Rock.
Horror Films of 2013: Sordid Cinema Podcast #58
‘Resolution,’ ‘Black Rock’ and ‘Aftershock’
After a considerable gap, Sordid Cinema is back with a triple feature of recent genre fare, from the beloved to the…less beloved. First up is our long-belated take on Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s little indie that could, Resolution, which subverts the cabin-in-the-woods horror flick on roughly one fiftieth the budget of, er, The Cabin in the Woods. After that, Edgar, Ricky and Simon tackle the Eli Roth starrer (!) Aftershock and Katie Aselton’s Deliverance-esque survival thriller Black Rock.
2013, Best Movies of January: ‘West Of Memphis’ leads the pack
Recommended for anyone looking for a new release
Following from the original Paradise Lost film and its two sequels, West of Memphis follows the events of one of the most media-covered American crime stories of the last two decades: The West Memphis Three, a case in which three teenagers (Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin), were arrested for the murders of three eight-year old boys. The case spawned four documentaries, several books, and a campaign from high-profile celebrities such as Peter Jackson, Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins. Much like the Paradise Lost films, West of Memphis chronicles the history of the incarcerated men, all the way up to the eventual release.
Amy Berg’s film is an ambitious mixture of documentation and investigation. Along with co-writer and editor Billy McMillin, Berg selects moments from almost 20 years of stock footage to retell the story of the crime, the trial and several appeal attempts. Throughout, we witness dozens of interviews, conducted with lawyers, judges, journalists, family members, witnesses and some of the activists who fought to get the case retried.
TADFF 2012: ‘Resolution’ has a reach as far as its grasp
Resolution
Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Written by Justin Benson
USA, 2012
In Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Resolution, Michael (Peter Cilella), after receiving a mysterious video, sets out to the backwaters to help save and sober up his estranged crack-addicted friend Chris (Vinny Curran). Finding him in a rundown cabin, Michael handcuffs Chris to a pipe in an impromptu attempt at an intervention. As their relationship also goes into rehabilitation mode, they are confronted by a series of confrontational neighbours and mysterious pieces of left behind information, ranging from old photos to diaries, VHS tapes, film reels, and vinyl records.
Fantasia 2012: Resolution will surprise and confound
Resolution
Directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson
USA, 2012
An exploration of urban legends, examining our eternal relationship with storytelling, Resolution begins as the story of two friends. Michael, whose life is on the right path, receives a disturbing video of his friend Chris, and decides to go to the backwoods in order to take one more chance at saving him.
What sets Resolution apart from other horror films? It is not immediately evident, perhaps because it is not particularly obvious which genre it fits into. Multi-faceted and all too human, the film takes what is essentially the premise of an exploitation film and transforms it into a credible narrative of two young adults battling personal demons. Chris’ problems stand out on the surface, his addiction to crack has crippled his life, and he has alienated almost all of his friends and family. Michael, on the other hand, seems entirely put together but the isolated locale and being in close contact with Chris, it seems as though his life begins to unravel before our eyes.
Instead of relying on typical horror tropes as a means of building tension, the atmosphere is created by distorting the familiar and by crafting interruptions in the narrative flow. Without ever crossing the line of improbability, the filmmakers are able to create a world that is credibly absurd… not quite removed from our reality, but almost a version that exists beyond the looking glass. The characters themselves are disturbed by these instances, but also accepting of them. Early on, when Michael is awakened in the middle of the night by a strange girl looming in the window, he is reasonably disturbed, however when assured by Chris there is nothing to worry about, he goes back to sleep.
Fantasia 2012: Benson and Moorhead Give Us ‘Resolution’ to Tired Horror Tropes
Resolution
Written by Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead
Directed by Justin Benson
It would be easy to compare Resolution to The Cabin in the Woods, both films tackle the horror tropes surrounding the titular isolated cabin in the woods, digging into the meta-narrative that informs the trope, but they come at the text from completely opposite directions. The comparison that felt more apt to me, while I was watching one of the best films at Fantasia this year, is linking Resolution to the H. P. Lovecraft film adaptation The Whisperer in Darkness. Lovingly recreated by fans, The Whisperer in Darkness tries to faithfully adapt Lovecraft’s work by using the media, tropes and especially film style that was dominant, when Lovercraft penned the original short story. In the case of Resolution, Benson and Moorhead tell a Lovecraftian tale, but instead of focusing on one media and style, they use any and all media at their disposal from YouTube to cave paintings and everything in between.
But Resolution is not a Lovecraft tale… except that it could be… only it isn’t.
Confused? I am not certain that seeing the film would make it any clearer. Benson and Moorhead are like movie theatre ninjas, sneaking behind your row, unscrewing the bolts that lock down your skull, flipping your lid and injecting 10 CCs of pure cinematic mind-fuck directly into your cerebral cortex.
The set-up of the film is that father-to-be Michael Danube (Peter Cilella) receives a disturbing online video of his best friend Chris Daniels (Vinny Curran) stoned out of his mind, shooting up the woods. Abandoning his pregnant wife, Michael uses the location tag on the video to track down Chris to a run-down cabin in Northern California, outside a small town so isolated that the only way to get a cell signal is to drive out the highway off-ramp. After surviving the reunion, during which the paranoid Chris keeps trying to shoot the birds who have been “spying” on him, Michael succeeds in handcuffing Chris to the interior wall of the cabin. Michael’s plan is simple, albeit insane: keep Chris restrained for a week until he dries up completely and then check him into rehab.
That’s when the weird shit starts to happen.
Fantasia 2012: Mike Ryan’s Most Anticipated Films
For those that are confused (which would obviously include me) the column that has the url: http://www.soundonsight.org/fantasia-2012-mike-ryans-five-most-anticipated-films/ is actually my column on the five films that I am most upset to be MISSING.
This is my column on five seven films that I am most looking forward to:
1) Takashi Miike (For Love’s Sake and Ace Attorney)
For Love’s Sake (2012) Written by Takayuki Takuma, Ikki Kajiwara, Takumi Nagayasu, Directed by Takashi Miike
You really only need three words to sell For Love’s Sake: Takashi. Miike. Musical.
But here are a few more words…
Takashi Miike is beloved by the Fantasia crowd for pushing the boundaries of genre filmmaking in films like Audition, Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer, but I tend to prefer Miike when he is working in a specific sub-genre where he is forced to subvert the conventions at play in more subtle ways, whether that is in a kids film like Ninja Kids!!! or a Frank Capra movie like Shangri-La or a gangster film like Fudoh: The Next Generation.
For Love’s Sake is actually Miike’s 2nd musical. His first, The Happiness of the Katakuris, was an unlikely adaptation of the non-musical Korean black comedy The Quiet Family – about a family trying desperately to keep quiet the fact that their inn is a destination spot for would-be suicides.
This film looks more like Grease attached to a particularly bloody teenage gangster epic. The Fantasia programmers are excited enough to make it this year’s Official Opening Film.
