Film Review: April 2024

The Films I Watched Over April

I am a huge fan of movies.

Some people don’t like them as much as they might like a series, which I understand, you get so much information and exploration in a series. Sometimes films can leave you a little unsatisfied, especially if they’re based on novels and try to cram everything into a couple of hours.

However, I like to think of most films as short stories (except the onslaught of film sequels), the creators have such a limited time frame, which allows so much room for interesting story telling.

I love seeing what creators do to tell a complex story in around an hour or two.

When I choose movies I rarely fixate on the release date, I don’t keep up with most of the cinema selections and I don’t really await the release of anything.

The stockpile of films is ever growing, and I will never have a chance to watch everything, so I go with the vibes, I go with the flow.

Sometimes I end up with random recommendations, sometimes my housemates insist on something they’re excited about, and sometimes I just find something on the internet by chance and derail everything I’m doing just to watch it.

The month of April was a busy one, so I only got to watch 4 movies.

·       Dune 2021

·       Tremors 1990

·       Late Night with the Devil 2023

·       Pleasantville 1998

All four were wonderful movies that I’d definitely watch again, despite how much they differ in content.

But…was there a favourite among them?

Dune (Part 1) 2021

Originally a series of books written by Frank Herbert, Dune is a story spanning eons, but for the majority of the fiction, we follow one boy who may potentially be a sort of “chosen one”, being the only son born of a Bene Gesserit, a very powerful group of only women with intense psychic abilities.

Dune is considered to be one of those epic Sci-Fi’s, having influenced many other works of the same genre such as Warhammer 40k, and most likely the film I will be discussing after this one.

The film itself has a very unsettling atmosphere, the different groups of people each have their own aesthetic and each one feels a little more threatening.

The colour palette is cold, even in hot climates like the desert, and everything feels like its on a knifes edge of chaos.

Based on aesthetic and atmosphere, and the sheer beauty of this cinematography, I would suggest anyone give this one a decent chance.

For those who have read the book, my housemate who is an avid reader explained that considering how much happens in text, the film has so far nailed almost every component of this part of the story, even down to the dialogue and the little pieces of foreshadowing.

My favourite part about this movie is how it made me feel.

I was engaged the whole time, I noticed I was in a specific position most of the movie, sitting literally on the edge of the couch with my head leaning forward, sitting in my hands. I felt sick at some of the scenes, even though they were honestly gentle hints at what might be going on in the different cultures (I’m speaking specifically of the Harkonnen and their blood draining practices).

As someone who was only slightly familiar with the plot going in, I found it difficult to interpret some of the things happening in conversation or in certain contexts, which is why the subtitles proved very important and helpful to my personal understanding of the story.

Also, the killer worms are just sick, we all wanted them to be awesome, and we got exactly that.

Once I watched Dune, I couldn’t stop thinking about watching Dune.

Tremors 1990

Moving onto a film most likely inspired by Dune, we have Tremors.

Tremors was the first horror movie I ever watched, my sister introduced it to me when I was 13.

I had barely remembered it, apart from a few scenes, so I suggested it to my housemate who had been reading about it on reddit (likely because we had just watched Dune).  

Essentially, the story follows two bachelors who are sick and tired of living in a tiny dirt town doing laborious chores for money. The day they crack and decide to leave, they pack all their things only to discover a string of mysterious deaths along the road leading out of town. Eventually they also discover that the way out of town is closed off with boulders, they ain’t getting out of here yet.

Meanwhile a student from a nearby college has been sent to the isolated town to investigate strange seismic activity….so mysterious…

This is a fantastically gory and fun monster movie about killer worms and a community that refuses to be wiped out.

It even has a sorta cute romance, memorable characters, hilarity and a truly amazing set of mechanical killer worms.

The prop and set design is excellent, the characters are lovable (my person favourite is the rootin tootin gun couple who have an actual bomb shelter), and the story begs questions from the audience without being unsatisfying.

Something wonderful about this film, is it ends with plenty of room for a sequel, or 3, or 7…. so we may visit those in the future. For some reason number 2 is an enigma, I can’t find it on any streaming platforms, so…..we will see how that goes.

Definitely worth the watch if your friends don’t want anything too spooky, but fair warning, it is a little gross and a lot funny.

Late Night with the Devil 2023

Now THIS is a modern horror movie.

Late Night with the Devil is about a talk show host and his difficulty sustaining his air time after a string of unfortunate events and dropping audience attention.

Frustrated and at the end of his rope, the host comes up with the idea to do a Halloween special, inviting a string of guests meant to entertain the idea of ghosts, the devil and paranormal phenomena. And one guest maintains a belief that such things can be debunked as simple psychology and manipulation, making the back and forth between guests thought provoking.

Is it all a ruse? Are these guests just stunt actors ripping people off in times of emotional crisis?

The film is visually spectacular, with fun camera techniques and some genuinely great special effects.

The story appears in a range of different angles, when characters are back stage or going through an ad break, the screen is in black and white and the camera splits into two angles of footage.

When they go on air however, we experience full colour.

In a string of crazy events, it becomes more and more clear that something or someone is haunting this television studio, and everyone is in danger.

From the way this was filmed, to the dialogue, and the way they chose to present otherworldly ordeals, this film was very entertaining and refreshing.

The more modern setting is a much needed relief from the typical Victorian house that has an old-timey lady that chases you around.

The film puts us, instead, where we feel safer, with a large group of people watching something together in a somewhat normal and safe environment.

I had some issues with the ending, it was a bit complicated and I didn’t love the “twist” they presented (I won’t go into detail here because part of the enjoyment of the film is ruminating on what might be happening).

Then again I think I have an issue with the way most horror movies end, there’s issues in the horror genre with rushed endings, inconsistent endings, or endings that feel unsatisfying because instead of creating something thoughtful, they went with shock value instead. I’m not saying any of the examples I’ve listed is specifically what happened with this story, but I will give it the credit of being a horror movie, and horror movies are notoriously difficult to end in a satisfying way.

But the journey was just as good.

Especially with those fantastic special effects.

Pleasantville 1998

I love a good creative concept, anything that involves interesting film tactics and lots of colours.

Pleasantville nails that vibe of just wishing you away down the wild rabbit hole.

The story is about 2 siblings, a half brother and half sister.

When their mother decides to go away for a night, they each have something they desperately want to watch on TV. The brother, wants to watch the Pleasantville marathon, an old 50s tv show, where people get along and everything is pleasant. His sister wants to watch the MTV concert and make out with her date.

They end up fighting over the remote and several plot beats later, we watch as they are sucked into Pleasantville, replacing the main two children Bud and Mary Sue as the main characters. The whole world is in black and white, and the characters are left with no choice but to live their lives in this wacky new place. 

When they introduce foreign concepts to the people of Pleasantville, the black and white of the world begins to change, and suddenly colour begins to appear.

This film tries to make itself an analogy for social issues, imitating issues such as racism, fascism, and generalised hatred towards that which you do not understand. In that way, it is a little preachy.

With that said, it is its own “social experiment”, and it draws on the same issues the real world faces.

What I love most about this movie is the expression, one of the main characters discovers a passion for art, something that really got me in the heart strings as he flips through a book gifted to him about the history of art.

It’s a visually beautiful film with very engaging story beats and characters you want to cheer for.

Is there a Favourite?

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the films I watched this past month, choosing a favourite is hard.

I think the best film for its atmosphere and the intense emotional response I had to some scenes has to be Dune.

As much as Tremors was funny and entertaining, it wasn’t near as hilarious as Pleasantville, or as impactful as Late Night with the Devil, but it has its own quirky charm and its intention is definitely on the more campy side.

I think Late Night with the Devil was the most entertaining, Dune was the most intense and engaging, and Pleasantville was the most emotional, with a conclusion that cheers happy good feelings.

Tremors was a bit of a laugh, and sometimes that’s all you want for 90 minutes.

Each of these films gave me a lot to think on.

Deserts can be something that feels colds, even if it looks hot.

The way people react to a monster can come in a variety of flavors, I never thought of how a town would want to be responsible for naming a new type of creature even if its murdering your neighbours.

Is it scarier to think that the devil, or similar entities exist outside or inside our minds? Which representation holds more power?

And finally, why do we hate things that can be seen as so beautiful, why do we fight change when so much of it is for the better?

But what do you think?

Have you watched any of these films?

How do you measure the metric for a good movie?