hudson-todd Reviews

The Mission (1986)

Heart-achingly Beautiful

[8/10 · 8 February 2021]

The Mission is on my list of the top ten most visually beautiful films ever made, but it's emotional beauty and poignancy is also hard to match. Then of course there is Ennio Morricone's haunting score, which is also on my list "greatests." It is beautiful directed and perfectly acted throughout. Irons and DeNiro are sublime. As a cinematic experience, most of the beauty lies in the film's first hour, and it then begins (by design) to lead to its more frustrating and tragic end. The dialogue is often mediocre and minimal, and if I have a critique of Morricone's brilliant score, it is that he blends themes at times to the point almost of cacophony, so that the magnificence of what he composed is often best heard in symphonic performances taken and rearranged. Nevertheless, I cannot hear "Gabriel's Oboe" or "The Falls" without feeling a lump in my throat.

The Innkeepers (2011)

Enjoyable, Tense, and Spooky

[7/10 · 15 January 2020]

First of all, pay no heed to the naysayers who give this film one or two stars and complain that it's boring. These are most likely people who need lots of action, jumps, and special effects. True fans of the haunted house genre...people who prefer atmosphere and spookiness to violence, gore, and cheap thrills...are likely to enjoy this film.

The Inkeepers is a movie that I actually rewatch once about every 2 years. The plot details are just forgettable enough that each time i watch it, I can't remember what happens next. But it is a film that I oddly enough consider "cozy," in that it is perfect for a night when you want to stay up late and watch a ghost story with the lights off, or a day at home alone when it is raining outside and you want to enjoy doing nothing while being pleasantly creeped out.

The film is well-shot, well-acted, and well-paced. I won't pretend to know enough about the craft of cinematography to say how the film achieves its effect, but it makes me feel as though I am there along with the two main characters, passing what may-or-may-not be a quiet, boring night in a nearly empty old inn that may-or-may-not be haunted. Young Sara Paxton brings enough slouching adolescent charm to her character that you enjoy watching her get herself worked up over what may (or may not) be nothing...and she takes you along for the ride. This one effect I do know something about: focusing the camera on the faces of actors convincingly emoting dread building to terror triggers mirror neurons in the viewer so that we feel these emotions also. Costar Pat Healy deserves kudos for this as well; his scene in the inn's basement is pure riveting dread, and it is all done with facial expression and voice inflection.

The director uses these performances, the slightly off-kilter camera angles, perspective shots, a subtle score, and muted sound effects to build great tension. Once built, this tension is easily turned into fright by the smallest sudden event. It is an old and simple technique, but when done well, it still works. The final product is a film that's two parts "The Turning of the Screw" and one part "The Shining."

Eli (I) (2019)

Give it a chance. This one is different.

[6/10 · 22 October 2019]

I am a fan of horror movies, but most of them these days are pretty disappointing. Eli stands above the average horror movie fare one gets these days. It's not great - it's not The Shining, The Changeling, or The Exorcist - but it's a fairly original movie that's worth the watch. The performances are good, the scares are creepy, and the plot twists are unexpected.

The Terror (2018–2025)

Intense, Engrossing, Bleak and Gritty

[8/10 · 27 May 2019]

The story, dialogue, production quality and acting are as fine as anything I've seen. As a story of survival in almost unbearable conditions, it is almost without equal. This series has one flaw, which is that the supernatural element (which I realize is in the Dan Simmons novel) is almost completely unnecessary and, in the end, spoils what would otherwise have been a meaningful sacrifice by one of the characters. Eliminate, or at least minimize, this element and the story would not have been diminished in any way.

Mark of the Devil (1970)

Morbidly fascinating

[6/10 · 20 May 2019]

This film, which I first saw in the 70s, has a remarkable ability to hold a horror fan's attention despite, or perhaps because of, its sadomasochistic content. It is an exploitation piece that is shockingly graphic for it's time and which borders on being torture porn. It appeals to the puerile freak-show lover that hides in the shadows of many a horror fan's mind. Taken for what it is - and for its target audience - it does what it does remarkably well, despite a decidedly wooden performances by Herbert Lom and Udi Kier, both of whom rely more on their striking appearances than their acting talent. This is true of most of the cast, in fact, from the leering clerk to the caricature scar-faced red ruffian, to the various bombshells accused of witchcraft. They make up in appearance and screen presence for what they lack in acting. But at the end of the day, this film belongs in the criterion collection of the serious classic horror movie buff.

The Nun (2018)

Scary Images, Stupid Script

[4/10 · 14 May 2019]

This movie had potential in terms of its setting and its relatively good cinematography. It does accomplish a few scares in terms of some truly ghastly images, namely the demonic nun. Also, Taisa Farmiga gives a credible performance and, let's face it, is adorable as the young mousey novice. However, the appallingly bad script makes some of the dialogue and some of the acting almost worthy of MST3K. (Fr. Burke strikes a pose in one scene that almost made me spew coffee from my nose, it was so cheesy, and nearly every line spoken by Frenchie is moronically misplaced). For a movie in The Conjuring franchise, which takes place in a world steeped in Catholicism as its basis for reality, it portrays a surprisingly weak Catholic Church. It is equally ignorant of Catholic teaching. For instance, they have to retrieve a relic containing the blood of Christ in order to seal a portal, but they seem to forget that, according to the Catholic Doctrine of transubstantiation, consecrated wine literally becomes the blood of Christ, so all the priest in the movie needed to do was consecrate some wine and they would have all the blood of Christ they needed. Ah, well. If you just want some cheap, low-brow horror, this might work for you.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)

Socially relevant yet non-vindictive

[7/10 · 11 April 2019]

You have to take this film for what it is: a low-key exploration of the experience of teenagers in a fundamentalist Christian gay conversion camp. The biggest mistake a movie like this could make would be to overly vilify everything about the camp and it's staff rather then dealing with them as human beings who are the products of their own misguided religious belief systems. The second biggest mistake a film like this could make would be NOT to address the emotional abuse that such a practice delivers. To this end, the film lets the harm of conversion therapy be self-evident without overtly pointing to it in a reactionary, outraged fashion. This is no easy accomplishment. The film is subtle and features solid acting performances by promising young actors, led by the magnificent Chloe Grace Moretz. They managed to portray the realistic ambivalence experienced by LGBT youth who find themselves in such situations. Although it will win no great swards, will be no blockbuster, and will not become a cult classic, this film definitely belongs on your must-watch list if you care about this issue.

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Grimly Beautiful

[8/10 · 10 April 2019]

A film that manages to be grim and violent while being visually beautiful at the same time. Intentionally minimalistic in terms of dialogue, it instead relies on visual storytelling to great effect. Director Lynne Ramsay deserves recognition for this. Joaquin Phoenix is at his charismatic best (he emotes on such a subtle but powerful level) and young Ekaterina Samsonov mirrors him well, both of them portraying the flattened affect of the traumatized with hints of tenderness in their connection with one another. Greenwood's score is appropriately ethereal and contemplative.

The Legend of Cocaine Island (2018)

One or the funniest things you'll see this year

[8/10 · 1 April 2019]

There is so much hilarious real life misadventure packed into an hour and 25 minutes. I love the fact that the story is told as a mixture of documentary and Coen Brothers-style bumbling crime comedy. It would be hard to make up characters like this. Contrary to what some of the negative reviews say, I thought the editing and cinematography were spot-on, as well as the music choice. Someone could have shot the same story in a boring way, but the use of camera angles and clever editing are top-notch and make it all the more entertaining.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)

Slow-Paced

[6/10 · 23 March 2019]

The Inventor suffers from having been beaten to the punch many times over. By the time this documentary was released, most of us knew the story, having seen multiple mini-documentaries on YouTube and from news outlets. The Inventor adds nothing new, and the result is a film that seems redundant and slow-paced.

The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann (2019)

Terribly Slow Pacing

[4/10 · 18 March 2019]

Netflix seems to be trying to replicate such rue-crime series as The Keepers or The Staircase, but working with much less material. The result is a frustratingly slow-paced series that takes five minutes to say "there were a lot of reporters" for instance. The filmmaker follow tangents that seem irrelevant or go nowhere- they frequently take up the character of the lead detective, for instance, or begin a brief history of the resort town only to drop that before we ever see how it was relevant. They frequently cut to footage of quotes and observations by other tourists who were present or by journalists, few of whom have anything to say that adds substance to the story. The entire documentary could have been done in 90 minutes or less, and would have been more effective had it been. It is beautifully filmed and nicely edited, however, which might give the impression, if you're not paying attention, that you're watching a better film than you actually are.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Absolute Rubbish

[3/10 · 16 January 2019]

I was extremely disappointed with this film. An origin story for Oz the Great and Powerful, as a concept, has the potential for a lot of heart; this film delivers none. To start with, the casting is very poor; James Franco does not have the charisma to pull off Oz, even had the character been better written. The three witches are all very dull and flimsy. Some of the actors are capable, if miscast, but it is doubtful that any actors, however talented, could have made much out of so flimsy a script. The animation is poor, and seems to have counted on cheap 3D gimmicks. By comparison, the 1939 masterpiece is far more visually satisfying. Even the Emerald City, with all its potential for splendor, looks like a cheaply painted cardboard model. In terms of continuity with the 1939 masterpiece, there is very little.