If watching the trailer for first-time feature director Parker Finn’s
Smile evokes memories of a particularly disturbing videotape from an, at the time, unknown movie that had the casual horror filmgoing fan cowering their eyes behind their hands for the better part of two hours, it’s because it’s supposed to. I’m referring to, of course, the 2002 classic
The Ring, and the comparison I’m making is the phone call the watcher receives after watching the videotape that tells them they have seven days to live. Likewise, the trailer for
Smile informs us that when the viewer sees “it” (what “it” is, we are uncertain), they will soon die. While there are both similarities and differences between the two films, what is certain is that
The Ring generated $129 million domestically at the box office, which Finn would gladly like to duplicate.
Continue reading Smile (2022) →
The first major letdown of 2023 is, without a doubt, the Adam Driver-led (Marriage Story, Paterson) 65. The trailer was amazing. There is much-deserved credit to those video editors for making a movie that felt bland and like it would be so much more. I really wanted to like a movie. Even as the poor critic reviews started coming in (34% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), I remained hopeful. Sadly, that hope was distinguished throughout a poorly-directed movie that tried too hard to build mystique and tension before failing to deliver.
Watcher is a movie that falls into one of two categories. It is either a movie you’ve never heard of, or it’s one you’ve not only heard of but have probably seen. Chloe Okuno’s (V/H/S/94, screenwriter of Bodies Bodies Bodies) revered, suspenseful stalker film already has a cult following among the “this could happen to you” film buffs. It is undoubtedly a film that needs to be watched in the right environment (dark, quiet, isolated) to hit on one of humanity’s most innate fears, the unnerving feeling of being followed. It also needs time to develop. That’s not so much to say that it is a slow burn as much as it is an “it won’t hit on all cylinders” if you aren’t willing to go all-in with it from the opening credits.
After Christopher Nolan’s fabulous trilogy of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and 
Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde’s (Booksmart) may have been the most talked about movie of the year. While the film garnered much buzz, it was the much-publicized dysfunction between some cast members (most notably Wilde and Florence Pugh) and different versions of why Shia Labeouf exited from his role (he said/she said story from he and Wilde) and how it played out in the reputable news outlets, as well as the tabloids and social media. There was much worry that Wilde’s second directorial effort would be known for the hoopla around the film rather than the film itself. With a production budget of $35 million (compared to just $6 million for Booksmart), I’m sure Wilde felt considerable pressure for her film to succeed.