VELVET BUZZSAW (2019) - Film Review

I've been excited for this film since Gilroy's mishandled drama Roman J Israel Esq. Re-teaming with Gyllenhaal and Russo seemed to be a safe yet strong choice, and yet after having seen the film, I feel a little underwhelmed.

If you haven't seen the trailer, whatever you do, do NOT watch it before you see the film. Most of the biggest moments in the story are put on full display, and I would love to know how I would have reacted to the movie if I hadn't seen the trailer months before.

But as to the quality of the film itself, I am left underwhelmed but I still found it enjoyable. Jake Gyllenhaal is always at his strongest when he plays it weird, and his performance is delicious here. I wish we had ten times more of his Morf Vanderwalt and all of his eccentricities. The supporting cast is solid, some are better than others but overall I have no complaints there.

My real issue Velvet Buzzsaw is that it felt safe and didn't take enough chances. While I enjoyed (almost) every kill and the glib interactions between the characters, I felt that Dan Gilroy could have gone even weirder than what we got and it would have strengthened the film. Many people are complaining that it's silly and campy, but I just wanted more. We live in a post-Sorry To Bother You world now, and you've got to be more risky if you want your dark horror satire to really lift off.

SUSPIRIA (2018) - Film Review

My last review of this film was a bigger brain dump than the Star Wars prequels, so I'm going to try to be a little more articulate this time around.

I've always said that my favorite films are the ones that get me to elicit a strong emotion response. Shawshank gives me hope. Zodiac makes me obsessed. Blade Runner reminds me to respect the people and things I don't understand.

With Suspiria 2018, I was repulsed, and yet seduced.

This film reminds me of the vampiress scene in the early chapters of Dracula, with all of the temptation and carnality of those pages stretched into a two and a half hour epic ("They gave me things; perfect balance, perfect sleep..."). Only instead of running from it and fighting it like Jonathan Harker, Susanna Bannion embraces the nightmare. But it's more than that, she is the nightmare. "The smear upon the world."

While Dakota Johnson delivers the performance of her career, she is completely eclipsed by Tilda Swinton. She is the catalyst (the force that first awakens Mother Suspiriorum inside Susie), the "antagonist" (the doctor who is determined to expose the coven), and the literal monster in the basement (Mother Markos). Sure, Guadagnino could have found three different people to play the roles, but the fact that he gave it all over to Swinton and she knocks it out of the park and into next Tuesday just goes to show what a masterclass she is. Without her, I don't even know if I'd care about this movie. She isthe movie.

The cinematography, while being controversial to some people, had a delirious effect on me and really added a lot. The camera moves in the way that Guadagnino wants you to feel, from the Tarentino-esque snap zooms to the low frame rates in the climactic ritual scene. Another point of controversy for some was Thom Yorke's score and songs. While some might say that Guadagnino likes to overuse his indie rock/electronica artists (like Sufjan Stevens in Call Me By Your Name), I like to think of it as his way of telling the audience "What you're about to see is...pretty unsettling. Here's some Thom Yorke to soothe you and keep you sane."

The last aspect of the film I'd like to touch upon is the general atmosphere. Aside from Tilda Swinton's performance(s), this is my favorite part of the film. I love the muted color scheme as opposed to Argento's neon extravaganza, and using the backdrop of the Cold War and a torn Berlin to compare to the real cold war going on between members in the coven. It worked so well for me and really helped me enjoy the "normal" scenes in Acts III-V.

Very few films work for me in every conceivable way. Even many of the films I give five stars still contain a nitpick or two that I'm willing to overlook. I wasn't planning to adore this film when I first saw it in the theater back in November, and I was terrified it wouldn't hold up on a second viewing. But what can I say? Suspiria '18, for me, is a perfect film. A nightmare and a dance that I can't wait to experience again.