Weekly visions - week 44, 2024

Shaun of the Dead , directed by Edgar Wright, co-written with Simon Pegg, United Kingdom, 2004 - ⭐⭐⭐½ (down from ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

I have watched Shaun of the Dead four times in the last fifteen years, and this was the first time I liked it a bit less. Probably out of familiarity, but most of the clever bits felt a little more forced this time - which is new, although that’s usually a problem I have with Hot Fuzz instead (which, alternatively, I judge as being either the worst or the best of the trilogy). But this was the first time I understood the reference We’re coming to get you, Barbra!, so, I still have things to discover.

Ghostwatch , directed by Lesley Manning, written by Stephen Volk, United Kingdom, 1992 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s been only five months since I watched Ghostwatch for the first time, but it felt like a good choice for Halloween night - especially since I recently bought the Blu-ray disc. It keeps the four-star rating; rationally, it feels a bit generous, but I found it scarier on this second viewing, mostly because I knew when and where to look for Pipes.

Trick ‘r Treat , written and directed by Michael Dougherty, US, 2008 - ⭐⭐⭐

This would have been a more timely watch for the previous night, but also a much less effective one. As an anthology movie, I was predisposed not to like it, but still I was expecting a better experience. All the characters are annoying (except for Rhonda and Anna Paquin’s Laurie - despite her name deserving an eye-roll), and getting rid of them was more a liberation than scary.

Anora , written and directed by Sean Baker, US, 2024 - ⭐⭐⭐½

I liked Tangerine, and I liked The Florida Project. Despite its Palme d’Or win at Cannes 2024, I can’t say I particularly enjoyed Anora.
It’s an enjoyable film, but the suspension of disbelief about the choices the lead character makes without thinking twice - just because she loves Cinderella’s story - was too hard to keep. The first act feels a rather forced path to get to the ‘inciting incident’, after which everything is very diluted: during a scene that had already been going on for about fifteen minutes, I literally left the room and took a walk around the cinema for five minutes, and then went back in to find characters still in the same place, having the same conversation. Then for the next hour (or what it felt like an hour), the film follows people going everywhere except the one logical place they should be going.
It’s funny, but it also keeps insisting on the same type of humour for too long.,
Mikey Madison was great as the lead character, and I kept wondering, every time the camera focused on her face, whether she was Amber from Scream 2022. She is.

Shikoku / 死国 , directed by Shunichi Nagasaki, written by Takenori Sentô and Kunimi Manda, Japan, 1999 - ⭐⭐⭐½

Well, Arrow Video has just released the J-Horror Rising Blu-ray boxset and I’m tempted. But of the seven films included, I didn’t like the one I already watched (Noroi ). So, before spending €50 on a set of discs I won’t really enjoy, I thought of watching a few more of the films included.
Shikoku has a pleasant story, which covers most of the elements of Adam Scovell’s folk horror chain: rural landscape, sort of isolation of the lead character returning to her village after decades in Tokyo, and a belief system that may look as unusual to her as it looks to this western watcher. It doesn’t have a lot of horror, to be honest, but it covers what a novice would expect from the J-Horror label: mouldy ceilings, rituals, and a long-haired ghost.
And it also features Kill Bill’s Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama).

Isola: Multiple Personality Girl / ISOLA 多重人格少女 , directed by Toshiyuki Mizutani, co-written with Hiroshi Hatajima, Mugita Kinoshita, and Atsushi Kuwahara, adapted from the novel Juusanbanme no jinkaku (persona) ISOLA by Yûsuke Kishi, Japan, 2000 - ⭐⭐

The second film in the boxset I haven’t bought yet, this film’s most terrifying part is its depiction of the aftermath of the Great Hanshin earthquake that hit Kobe in 1995. This is the setting for an unfocused story of women with paranormal abilities and/or multiple personalities, more akin to Akira than to my idea of J-Horror. I can’t say I understood most of the characters’ motivations, and I doubt I would ever watch this film again. Japanese directors must love the idea of paper sheets being blown away by the wind.

Agatha All Along , created by Jac Schaeffer, US, 2024 - ⭐⭐⭐½

Not a film, but in a year with very little Marvel content, this spin-off to WandaVision was much more entertaining on the long term than Deadpool & Wolverine. At least, this one had a plot, a couple of interesting half-hours and a great song.
Maybe thanks to the fact it’s based on the Danish series Wandavisdysen (wink), it’s not really a superhero series, but rather a horror-themed mystery which doesn’t require additional MCU knowledge aside from the series it originates from.
I’m not super happy with the ending, but it could have been much more disappointing.