In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, M.G. Poe examines the complicated issue of gun control in America.
In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, M.G. Poe examines the complicated issue of gun control in America.
Critics and audiences are divided on Alex Garland's Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman in a very Natalie Portman role. Also, we take a look at other fantastical movie settings and give some final Oscar picks in this episode of Drunk Monkeys Radio!
Brian O’Malley’s (Let Us Prey) sophomore effort cements his reputation as a horror director with old school tendencies. Like Ti West’s The Innkeepers, The Lodgers relies heavily on character, deliberate pacing, and atmosphere, even though the payoff is poorly executed. Set in 1920s Ireland, twins Rachel (a standout Charlotte Vega) and Edward’s family estate is haunted by a presence which imposes three rules upon them: be in bed by midnight; never let a stranger enter; don’t try escaping, otherwise the other’s life will be endangered. Viewers demanding visceral, bloody thrills will be disappointed; others, like myself, may be briefly entranced.
It’s a miracle how effective The Housemaid remains after being at the mercy of Vietnam’s film censorship board. Set on a 1953 Indochina rubber plantation, a young woman named Linh is hired as a housemaid but falls in love with the owner, Captain Laurent, whose dead wife haunts the plantation. Some writing and pacing issues thankfully don’t detract from its strong acting, set design, and chilly atmosphere. Currently, director Derek Nguyen is arranging a remake set in America’s Reconstruction-Era Deep South, which will potentially feature an entire African-American cast and crew. Now that is a remake I want to see.
It pains me to imagine how many great sci-fi movies we'd have from writer/director Alex Garland if he escaped Danny Boyle's grasp sooner. Ex Machina set the standard, but Annihilation is a much more ambitious beast. The film's genetic makeup is all kinds of screwy. It's H.R. Giger fused with Joseph Conrad. For each intellectually stimulating sequence, there’s a terrifying one closely on its heels. It’s a thrilling ride that hits a few bumps towards the end, but Garland deserves massive praise for bringing this much audacity to the mainstream. It’s hard-nosed, adult Science Fiction with a capital "S".
Ryan Coogler's Black Panther is a sensation - is it the best Marvel film yet? We discuss that, and the worst Oscar picks of all time in the latest episode of Drunk Monkeys Radio!
Ryan Coogler has proven time and time again that he understands the delicate relationship between a black man and their son. An otherworldly connection, sharing both the strengths and demons throughout the bloodline. This aspect of parenthood is explored in Black Panther. Aside from the nuances, amazing plot twists, and sheer entertainment of the film, there are several call backs for the trained eye: a brief Lion King moment, Angela Basset giving us Storm vibes, and jokes that only the Black community would appreciate. Surpasses all expectations. History in the making. Top five Marvel film of all time. Wakanda forever.
All the dead unworthy
of a vigil because of
the place where they died
There’s a reason why The Cloverfield Paradox, the third entry in the Cloverfield franchise, was dumped onto Netflix. It’s not that The Cloverfield Paradox is necessarily awful, either. This sci-fi adventure about a team of scientists trapped in another dimension is simply too forgettable, employing a bag of sci-fi tropes and moments of “unexplained weirdness” to fill its hour-and-42-minute runtime. The Cloverfield Paradox does have moments of competency, but it strives to go nowhere. Once the bag of tricks runs out, so does the film.
I believe it was Virgil who once said, “Beware of [movie producers] bearing gifts.”
Winchester commits the ultimate horror movie sin: it’s boring. So, so, so, so, so boring. I walked out at the end of the climax because I couldn’t bare to sit through any more of the film. Nothing can save it, not even Helen Mirren herself. I’m not going to talk about the movie anymore because it’s terrible and I feel asleep trying to write the synopsis. Go read about the Winchester Mystery House on Wikipedia, then watch any other Helen Mirren movie (except RED2) and pretend Winchester never happened. You’re welcome.
there in this muddled breathing was learnt
takes a paintbrush more than bulging biceps
a fountain pen instead of a saw, hammer, and boards
i didn’t have anything appropriate
to put in a scrapbook
can you see where this is going?
M.G. Poe braves the mire and muck of Fire and Fury, Michael wolff's gossipy exploration of the Trump White House.
The boy held the note as long as he could, hardly noticing the heat burning his fingers, then he let the scraps fly out into the air like the flaming wreck of a paper plane. He watched until the flames were pinched out by the night and the note was no more.
... the first time he saw her was the last and this grief slowly grew inside him and began to replace the old grief, until, eventually, the loss of both people settled in Jack’s stomach and he thought only of the first, wearing the memory like a layer of skin, tucked away just beneath the surface.
He was reading something. He was at the bottom of the paper, but he didn’t remember what was in the middle or at the top. They were important, these letters on paper. His job was a letters-on-paper kind of job so he guessed that made him important.
Alice looked at Henry for one long moment before nodding, and when she did he could hear her teeth clicking against the barrel of the gun and he shivered at the sound. He closed his eyes for a second and forced himself to swallow. He opened his eyes and looked at Alice. “Do you know why you want to do this?”
What does it cost, sixteen years old, to fly?
On ground such price for sanctuary, sky.