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with the arrival of its main characters all of whom immediately hit the beach and surf the surfing sequences throughout the movie are exceptional featuring actual surf footage interspersed with rear projection studio shots of the stars paddling out and riding the waves rear projection is never foolproof and seldom looks realistic but it s used better in this movie than i ve seen in others yet just as good as the surfing are the scenes in which jody chase and steamer interact with their new girlfriends jody whose family life has been pretty dismal feels he has something to prove and as waimea s big waves draw closer he gets nervous which makes him lash out at brie chase has always played it safe so augie makes it her mission to help him loosen up a scene between the two in which augie attempts to set off a huge firework specially designed for her and a subsequent scene when a drunk chase threatens to dive from the top of waimea falls are definite high points as for steamer he falls deeply in love with lily who feels the same for him steamer even contemplates moving to hawaii so he can help lily and her mother run the ranch but must come clean with lily s mom about being a surfer before that can happen the surfing scenes are exciting but it s the moments with the leads and their girls as well as the mounting tension of waimea s big waves that keep you watching i found myself so invested in the drama that when a surfing scene suddenly popped up it felt more like a happy bonus than it did the sole reason to watch ride the wild surf which i assumed might be the case when i started it all the actors do a fine job but fabian really impressed me playing jody as a guy you root for one minute and want to punch in the face the next especially late when he begins to lose his temper as for the waimea bay competition that closes out the film it s pretty damn intense and brings one of the best surf movies i ve ever seen to a very satisfying end rating 9 out of 10 at 5 00 am 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest wednesday may 7 2025 2 999 midsommar 2019 the films of ari aster it seems strange to say it now but i was initially lukewarm on ari aster s 2018 debut feature hereditary i think the issue was all the praise that had been heaped upon it by critics and genre fans some anointing it the most frightening horror film they d ever seen high praise indeed so when i finally got around to watching the movie these accolades had me prepared for the horror experience of a lifetime and it was not i liked hereditary it was skillfully made and featured some excessively creepy moments still it didn t even make my year end list of the top 10 horror films so in 2019 i went into aster s follow up movie midsommar with more tempered expectations i also avoided trailers and reviews so as not to be swayed one way or the other it proved a good strategy midsommar absolutely blew me away so much so that it inspired me to give hereditary a second chance i liked hereditary a lot more on that follow up viewing and now acknowledge its standing as one of the great modern horror films midsommar deserves a similar place of honor it is the movie that showed me just how skillful a filmmaker ari aster is how his methodical detailed approach generates dread in a way the average viewer does not anticipate where seemingly random moments move the story forward and simple conversations reveal deep rooted traumas several months after the tragic loss of her entire family college student dani florence pugh agrees to tag along with her longtime boyfriend christian jack raynor and his pals josh william jackson harper and mark will poulter on a trip to sweden they were all invited by exchange student pelle vilhelm blomgren to visit the hegra a spiritual commune he calls home during one of its biggest festivals of the year the nine day celebration of midsommar still reeling from the murder suicide that claimed the lives of her parents and sister dani is hoping this trip will bring her closer to christian who in recent months has been pulling away from her what dani will find instead is an awakening of a different sort where bizarre customs and unusual traditions force her to see her relationship with christian in a new light and embrace the possibility of finding the inner peace she desperately seeks with or without him the pre title sequence of midsommar is as devastating as they come dani reacting to a cryptic e mail she received from her sister as well as the fact she has been unable to reach either her or their parents results in a nervous call to christian christian at the time is at a bar with josh mark and pelle he tries to calm dani reassuring her everything will be fine and that her sister is just looking for attention we see this exchange from dani s perspective as she sits alone crying in her apartment once the call ends the scene shifts to the bar where mark and josh are telling christian it s time to finally break things off with dani they say she is too clingy and has far too much emotional baggage christian defends dani but only slightly as if he feels his friends may be right then the scene shifts back to dani s apartment where we listen in on a call between her and a friend dani herself parrots what christian s pals were just saying telling her friend she may be expecting too much from christian and might be pushing him away it is then that dani s call is interrupted with the terrible news her suicidal sister terri by way of tubes connected to the exhaust of a car flooded the family home with toxic carbon monoxide the authorities found terri and their parents all dead in their beds dani calls christian wailing and sobbing we next see christian walking ever so slowly through the snow covered streets to dani s apartment her distressed screams are heard outside and christian hesitates in no particular hurry to comfort her the actors play it wonderfully especially pugh and in this explosive pre title sequence the characters and their relationships are firmly established dani is a wounded soul now more than ever and christian who grows increasingly more selfish as the film progresses is not prepared to deal with either dani s grief or her emotional needs months later at a party mark lets it slip that he and christian will be accompanying josh and pelle to sweden in a few weeks josh whose thesis is on primitive european religious customs is the reason everyone is going with pelle to the hegra later when alone dani confronts christian asking why he never told her about the trip feeling cornered christian lies and says he was going to surprise dani and invite her to come along as well he wasn t dani agrees to go and only pelle is pleased that she will be joining the group once the setting shifts to sweden during the time of the midnight sun aster continues to explore dani s grief and christian s selfishness by way of the customs and traditions of this seemingly peaceful swedish commune where everyone is looked upon as a member of an extended family of course not all traditions are peaceful the visitors witness the violent attestupa ceremony an extremely bloody ritual involving a pair of the commune s elders this shakes dani as well as two other outsiders british students connie ellora torchia and simon archie madekwe who are so horrified that they demand to be taken to the airport the attestupa forces dani to once again confront her own heartbreak and it is too much for her yet when she too asks to leave christian refuses having been unsure up to that point of a topic for his college thesis christian decides to copy josh s project and study the hegra commune josh is of course none too pleased and accuses christian of academic laziness by duplicating his efforts while dani once again must deal with the fact that christian has no regard for her emotional needs it is a gripping study of a relationship that has gone south even if neither christian nor dani are ready to admit it yet and how dani with the help of pelle and the others in the hegra comes to terms with her current situation while also recognizing the potential for a brighter future that s not to say midsommar is all about dani and christian it is without question a horror film there are moments when the festival is in full swing that will chill you to the bone and the climactic scene proves every bit as shocking as that of 1973 s the wicker man aster does a masterful job combining all elements into a satisfying whole bringing us along slowly which makes the shocks and surprises all the more unsettling and like hereditary midsommar benefits from multiple viewings especially the nearly 3 hour director s cut which provides more insight into the characters and their motivations a study of grief a glimpse inside an ancient culture and its traditions and ultimately a horror film that will rock you to your core midsommar is destined to become a genre classic in fact i d say it already is one rating 9 5 out of 10 at 5 00 am 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest wednesday april 30 2025 2 998 the muppet christmas carol 1992 the muppets when michael caine was cast as ebeneezer scrooge in 1992 s the muppet christmas carol he told director brian henson that he was going to play the part straight and not camp it up in short he was going to treat the role as if he was performing it on stage in london and not opposite an all puppet cast this little factoid piqued my curiosity how would a muppet movie play when the key member of the human cast refused to treat them like the muppets well it worked wonderfully not to worry though henson and crew sneak plenty of muppet family fun into the mix as well making the muppet christmas carol the best of both worlds do i even need a synopsis for this story well maybe for this version i do it s christmas eve and with author charles dickens the great gonzo and his faithful sidekick rizzo the rat playing himself as our guides we are introduced to the most miserly landlord in all of england ebeneezer scrooge caine as the whole of london is celebrating christmas scrooge is where he always is at work finalizing foreclosures so that anyone late with the rent will be out on the street come christmas morning a cruel taskmaster to employee bob cratchit kermit the frog and his team of rat assistants scrooge finds himself beset on all sides by the one thing he despises the most christmas from his nephew fred steven mackintosh inviting him to a party to a pair of good samaritans professor bunson honeydew and beeker collecting for charity scrooge is reminded at every turn that it is the christmas season after reluctantly agreeing to give bob cratchit the next day off to spend time with his wife miss piggy and kids scrooge heads home ready to put the entire holiday behind him alas fate has other plans for ebeneezer scrooge haunted by the ghosts of his dead partners jacob and robert marley the always cantankerous statler and waldorf scrooge is informed he will be visited that night by three spirits all of whom will expose the skinflint to the true meaning of christmas i went into the muppet christmas carol wondering which of the traditional muppets would portray the three spirits christmas past present and future but mirroring caine s insistence to play scrooge as close to dickens conception as possible the spirits though puppets adhere to the original novel s descriptions of them with the ghost of christmas past depicted as an angel like girl and christmas present as a boisterous overly friendly man with a short term memory problem keeping these spirits so close to the original work brought some weight to a story that inherently has its share of dark moments and intense situations especially during the christmas yet to be segment i laughed when gonzo and rizzo who had been taking us through the story to that point announced that this segment was far too scary for them and checked out saying we wouldn t see them again until the finale natrurally the muppet christmas carol is not all grim and serious henson and company pack the film with loads of muppet goodness including cameos by fozzie bear as scrooge s old boss fozziwig sam the eagle as scrooge s childhood schoolmaster and animal doing what he does best playing drums at fozziwig s holiday party even miss piggy reduced to the minor role of bob cratchit s wife gets a few moments to shine in the final act gonzo and rizzo also give us plenty to laugh about as narrators doing their best to keep up with the action their funniest moment has them clinging to a rope flying through the air with scrooge and the spirit of christmas past as with most muppet movies there s music as well written by the great paul williams each tune has its charms though my favorites come right at the beginning scrooge which introduced the character and one more sleep til christmas performed by kermit s bob cratchit and the rats as they close up shop for the night the muppet christmas carol was the first muppet movie released after the death of founder jim henson who passed away in may of 1990 but with his son brian at the helm and the usual cast of voice actors dave goetz frank oz steve whitmire and puppeteers continuing their fine work the muppet christmas carol proved an absolute delight a mostly faithful adaptation of dickens time honored christmas tale that remains at all times a truly muppet affair rating 9 out of 10 at 5 00 am 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest wednesday april 23 2025 2 997 the devil s disciple 1959 george bernard shaw on film based on george bernard shaw s 1897 play of the same name the devil s disciple features the third on screen pairing of kirk douglas and burt lancaster after 1947 s i walk alone and gunfight at the o k corral in 1957 though lancaster is top billed and also served as co producer he stands aside time and again to let his old pal kirk have the spotlight in fact even laurence olivier in a smaller role as an english general steals more scenes than lancaster set in new hampshire during the american revolution the devil s disciple opens with the planned hanging of an alleged traitor to the british crown the condemned man s youngest son christie dudgeon neil mccallum darts into town and interrupts church services to ask reverend anthony anderson lancaster to intervene and save his father knowing full well the elder dudgeon is a loyal british citizen the reverend agrees unfortunately they arrive too late christie s father has already been hanged what s more major swindon harry andrews second in command to general burgoyne olivier of the royal army has ordered that the body remain strung up in the public square to serve as a warning for any potential revolutionaries reverend anderson protests but to no avail later that night a lone horseman rides into town cuts down the body and takes it to reverend anderson s churc...