THE VISIT: Va-ca-tion Had to Get Away

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn
Runtime: 94 mins.
2015

This is truly a momentous day.

M. Night Shyamalan has made a new movie. Already this sounds like a very bad idea. I don't like to dogpile on easy targets, but I feel uniquely qualified to do so in this case. M. Night Shyamalan was my first ever favorite director. In the budding years of my cinephilia, I discovered the value of choosing a "favorite director" at the same time I was discovering Shyamalan's body of work. The Village was the first scary movie I'd ever seen, and the shocking moments of blood red imagery are still imprinted on my memory. From there I worked through The Sixth Sense, Signs, and Unbreakable, and I loved them all. Shyamalan's deliberate pacing, eye for the unsettling, and twisty plots all had significant appeal to my adolescent brain.

Then came the downfall. I eagerly awaited Lady in the Water, only to be a bit baffled and disappointed by the circlejerking peculiarity of the narrative. After that The Happening was announced. M. Night finally makes an R-rated horror movie! It's about mass suicide! My interest was piqued and I was rooting for it so hard.

We all know how that story goes.

MANIAC: Cover Your Eyes

Director: Franck Khalfoun
Writers: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Cast: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder
Runtime: 89 mins.
2012

This movie. . .

Let me first say that Maniac combines my discussion of found footage in my End of Watch blog post with my discussion of slasher films in my Scream blog post.  It is a found footage slasher film, without actually being as simple as either one of those things.

Let me second say that if you are squeamish, or don't appreciate being made to feel profoundly uncomfortable, you probably shouldn't watch this movie.  Note that I said "appreciate" rather than "enjoy."  Either way, there is no enjoyment to be had here.

END OF WATCH: Foundering Footage

Crimefighting is delightful.

Director: David Ayer
Writer: David Ayer
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick
Runtime: 109 mins.
2012

I want to talk about found footage.  Let's talk about this movie more generally first.

End of Watch is a boots-to-the-pavement police thriller that follows the everyday lives of two patrolmen, partners Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Peña).  They aren't corrupt, and they aren't saints.  They're just a couple of good dudes.  The film is rather plotless, or at least the plot operates covertly.  These characters eventually get bound up in Mexican drug ring shenanigans, which is the sort of thing that tends to turn out poorly for everybody involved.  But for most of the film, this pair is just cruising about their day, and we feel like we're along for the ride.