The Wailing, a Korean film clocking in at over two and a half hours is not homework. I have been meaning to watch this film since its release last year and brief run at Film Scene downtown. Now that it has been staring me in the face on my Netflix que for a week, I knew the time had come.

I watched it twice in a row, back to back. Not because I wanted to write about it. It is just that engrossing. The Wailing, directed by Na Hong-jin, is most easily defined as a horror film. But like many successful films in the genre, it is great at bending and twisting itself to fit many different labels.

At its heart, The Wailing is a terrifying thriller following a small town policeman, Jong-goo. He investigates a series of mysterious crimes that all seem connected in the form of a strange illness that all of the perpetrators share. All of these incidents begin happening after an enigmatic Japanese man moves into the village, and become more personal once Jong-goo’s daughter appears to become infected with this dark malady.

Horror is hard to sustain for a long period of time however, and the movie is well served by an injection of other genre influences. The first forty-five minutes take on a very comedic tone, bolstered by Do-wan Kwak‘s performance as Jong-goo.

Jong-goo may be a policeman, but he is an everyman in the mold of Homer Simpson more than John McClane. He is constantly late to work, gets berated by his boss, and seems to be quite bad at his job. This performance serves to endear the audience to the character and makes the latter part of the film where his daughter is in danger all the more affecting.

As far as horror goes, The Wailing runs the gamut from body horror to zombie movie to demonic possession. It is amazing that with all of these aspects the film at no point seems overstuffed or jumpy. Many movies try to cross genres but with varying levels of success.

Where the film makes serious gains though, is in the second half revolving around the mysterious Japanese man in the village and a shaman that Jong-goo eventually hires to help cure his daughter. This large portion of the film appropriately dumps most comedic undertones and cuts viewers straight to the bone, in more ways than one.

There are gory scenes that wil strike more sensitive movie goers, while appeasing genre buffs. A constant conversation involving ghosts and whether or not certain characters are actually real also serves to keep the audience on their toes and guessing until, and past the end of the movie. After two viewings, I am still not 100% certain as to the exact sequence of events in the film.

Director Na Hong-jin did purposefully end the film with an air of ambiguity. While I do have a fairly definite structure in my head on what was happening, other viewers will have wildly different interpretations of what was actually going on from the middle of the film to the conclusion.

This uncertainty that the film is willing to plant in the viewer’s mind does not undercut the primary message or theme of the film. Indeed, the film is most powerful when viewed as a parable of faith. There are numerous religious overtones and references in the film, some more obvious than others. The conclusion, while somewhat logically perplexing, takes viewers to the edge of an emotional cliff and dangles them over the abyss.

This question of faith is incredibly powerful, and I am not a religious person in the least. The Wailing is an undeniable triumph of horror, tone, and theme. And now that I think about it, I may need to go watch it again.

The Movie Dude reviews limited release films, smaller movies, and independent releases.

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While certainly entertaining in an overtime Super Bowl, “Holy crap” sort of way, this ultimately serves to take away from Moonlight‘s stunning victory. Sadly, it is entirely plausible to think that this whole controversy will be better remembered than the film itself. Taking away how it won though, the victory is nothing short of the largest Oscar upset in memory.

La La Land was set up in every way possible: it is a film about Hollywood, it is a fairly easy watch (which means the Oscar voters are far more likely to open their screener and watch it), and it actually made money. In short, it is popular.

Moonlight is a million dollar budget movie that is a hard watch for some. A coming-of-age journey about a gay black man in Miami would have seemed out of place as recently as last year’s Oscars. Remember #OscarsSoWhite? Moonlight‘s victory marks a David vs. Goliath strike against heavy Oscar favorites, and is a huge step forward for film awards on the whole, as Moonlight is the first Best Picture winner with an all black cast.

Best Picture controversy aside, 2017’s Oscars were fair in terms of the distribution of awards. La La Land did not really deserve a clean sweep in thirteen categories, but it did have great musical numbers, a very Hollywood look, and fantastic direction. So it won in the music categories, cinamatography and production design, and in direction (Emma Stone also took best actress). Moonlight had great performances, was well written in its elegance and simplicity, and was an overall important film. It won its awards accordingly.

Seemingly every major film nominated won in an appropriate category. Fences and Manchester by the Sea were propelled by profound acting, and won Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor respectively. Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge even won some well deserved praise in various technical categories. The major awards on the whole were not too surprising.

Of course everyone has their own picks and predictions that may have been upended by the Academy. I for one would have liked to see some love for Lion and Hell or High Water, two movies that went overlooked by most Academy voters as well as movie watchers on the whole. And as much as I enjoyed Zootopia, I will fight anyone who tries to convince me it was a better movie than the morally deep and visually stunning Kubo and the Two Strings.

The drama and the disappointments are part of what make the Oscars enjoyable. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Best Picture mixup had happened the other way around? No doubt, Twitter would have imploded from all the Hollywood haters coming out to bash La La Land. But you can’t deny it would have been something to see.

Either way, it is another Oscars in the books. Good movies were fairly awarded. Jimmy Kimmel did a serviceable hosting job. No one will ever forget Moonlight winning Best Picture. Hopefully this will draw more viewers to Moonlight and the other nominated films, as the stories they seek to tell are far more important than the media stories surrounding them.

The Movie Dude reviews limited release movies, independent films, and smaller theatrical releases.

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That is not to say that Paterson is by any means a poorly-made movie. Frankly, this is the best film of the year so far. Paterson follows a bus driver named Paterson, played with silent and pensive effectiveness by Adam Driver,  and highlights the city of Paterson, New Jersey, a setting that certainly would not plant the word “poetic” into anyone’s mind. On its face, a movie about a bus driver in a small New Jersey town would not make for interesting material. Jarmusch though, in his signature style, breathes life into an otherwise uninteresting story.

Paterson (the bus driver) lives a rigidly regulated life, waking up, no alarm necessary, between 6:15 and 6:30 each morning Monday through Friday for work. He gets home, eats dinner, walks the dog, and goes to the same bar each night to drink one beer. His wife, on the other end of the spectrum, fills her days with whatever projects pop up in her head in a sporadic nature that would make her a polar opposite from Paterson if not for her calm nature.

The most entertaining aspect of Paterson’s life, as well as the movie, are the unique personalities he runs into throughout his everyday life. College students discussing the history of anarchists in Paterson, the local bartender who captures the soul of the city of Paterson on his wall of fame, a pseudo boyfriend-girlfriend pair that is one part Romeo and Juliet, one part Abbott and Costello. The interactions and observations Paterson has with and of these people is the easiest entertainment coming out of the film. For everything else, the audience has to work a lot harder.

Perhaps I can attribute it to my aversion for poetry, or maybe I am a little too lazy when it comes to filmgoing. There are multiple sightings and discussions of twins in the film, and I am sure it is meant to say something profound about the duality of something, I just could not figure out what that something is. Similarly, the film takes much of its time actually reading aloud bits of poetry, which simply put, is not what I want to be seeing or hearing in a movie.

Aside from being a bus driver, Paterson is an aspiring poet, keeping a secret notebook filled with passages he writes about simple everyday objects and concepts. One poem is dedicated to a box of Ohio Blue Tip Matches sitting in his kitchen. Along with these poems, which admittedly are pleasing to the ear in Driver’s one-of-a-kind voice, the film has a lot to say about a lot of things. I’m just not sure what these things are.

Again, this is more a knock on me than it is against the film. A movie about a bus driver in a seemingly bland town, I can handle. Indeed there is a lot to admire and learn from in Paterson. Combining these with poetry just makes it a little bit of a jagged pill to swallow.

The Movie Dude reviews limited release movies, independent films, and smaller theatrical releases.

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Movies have a powerful ability to emphasize parts of the world that may not get the most attention. Following this directive, Jackie takes one of the most infamous events in American history and puts a spotlight on an often overlooked figure in the story. Jackie Kennedy was famous for her youth, looks, breathy accent, and seemingly inherent put-togetherness.

Director Pablo Larrain‘s film shows a far more vulnerable humanity that was never seen in the First Lady during her numerous historic television appearances. Natalie Portman, the vehicle through which we experience this contemporary version of Jackie Kennedy, gives a performance that proves to one-up her gonzo effort in Black Swan.

Jackie begins one week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Jackie Kennedy is giving an interview to a reporter, albeit what she ensures will be a carefully edited one so as to protect both her and her late husband’s public image. The movie switches back and forth between the tense discussion between the two and the events of the tragedy as they relate to Jackie herself.

The film pays due diligence in terms of American iconography; shots include a surprisingly kinetic view of the assassination, little John John during the funeral procession, and of course Jackie’s pink suit. The only difference is we see these in a far more personal light.

We see Kennedy’s injury in grisly detail, we witness the conversation where the children learn about where their father is, the suit is scored with blood marks. Larrain knows the strength of his film lies in showing these recognizable images and casting the stark light of Jackie’s reality over them.

Natalie Portman portrays her character’s struggle with believable agony while the actions she takes to ensure her husband’s legacy elevate the character to near-mythic proportions. We are shown that the First Lady was far more complex than the restrained elegance she was often limited to in her public interactions.

While attempting to ensure her husband will be remembered for more than just being killed, we see Jackie struggle with what even constitutes a legacy. In a moment of bitterness she asks strangers if the names Garfield or McKinley mean anything, referencing previous presidents who were assassinated.

Jackie finds her own legacy in searching for her husband’s. The movie goes to great lengths to ensure our understanding that her efforts to elevate the White House in terms of cultural relevance and style were more than just mere vanity projects.

The film occasionally gets heavy-handed in its delivery with select moments that seem to preach directly at the audience. Those segments do not detract from Portman though, as she is the vehicle through which we experience this affecting struggle for remembrance. While the role certainly delivers some showy moments, Portman shines in the less flashy sections; her portrayal tops mere imitation and seeks to create a wholly new character that had not been discovered until now. The late John Hurt also makes an appearance as a priest close to the family, and it is in their discussions we see Jackie wrestle with many of the the opaque conflicts crashing through her mind.

The film is worth it simply for Portman, who has a legitimate shot at a second Oscar. Its import in strengthened further given that it follows the trend of recent movies that provide insight into lesser seen or understood facets of well-known stories. This is especially important in an America that is finally giving credence to many points of view that were previously ignored, misunderstood, or forgotten entirely.

In Iowa City, Jackie is playing only at Film Scene.

The Movie Dude reviews limited release movies, independent films, and smaller theatrical films. 

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The one good thing about selling all this stuff is that people also tend to buy a lot more movies! Every night we receive multiple boxes of Elf, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone and tons of other holiday classics. No boxes of Die Hard though, and Die Hard is a Christmas classic. I will fight those who say otherwise. Knowing that people are taking these movies into their homes not only gives me a little injection of much needed holiday cheer, it makes me wonder why movie going has become such a steadfast tradition for many families across different communities throughout the holidays.

I often hear of people who only go to movies once a year on Christmas. That sounds like a mild form of torture to me, but is an exciting tradition for many. Then there are people like yours truly who have multiple holiday traditions when it comes to movies. My brother and I watch Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights (the singalong version, duh) every year on the first night of Hanukkah. If that weren’t enough, every year that my family can get together we catch a movie on Christmas in the theater. Others binge on their favorite film series, the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings franchises being popular favorites. My wife looks back fondly on watching Marley and Me and sobbing all through the ending. My friend’s grandma has given him every new Fast and Furious movie over the years for Christmas. This time of year after all, is about family.

So why all the movies? Kids are off from school, parents may get a brief reprieve from work, and college students make their semi-annual pilgrimage back to wherever it is they came from. What else are we going to do? When Uncle Don wont shut up about becoming a branch manager and Aunt Kaity keeps going on about her newest diet that you know won’t last, it can be a challenge to make it through the holidays with your sanity intact. Gathering all that family in one place is not always a pleasant task. It is no wonder many of us pop in A Christmas Story, load up on the ‘nog and float through the holidays in an inebriated bliss.

A more cynical man would be happy with that explanation, but my semi-soul crushing job hasn’t fully obliterated my yuletide spirit just yet! Christmas is about coming together and gathering around the fire with family and sharing our most precious resource: time. Even if it is just sitting on our butt and watching a screen, the fact that we do it together during the holidays makes it an important time. Everyone isn’t off in their own world, on their own screen, absorbed in whatever normally seems so important. The exception being anyone who gets a VR headset for Christmas. Shame them and call them dumb because they look dumb.

Writer David Foster Wallace once said that the television was becoming the new fire place in our homes. While he meant that in a negative sense, I think that gathering around for holiday movie viewing is a positive force. It helps defend the idea of a common living room, which seems to be one of the last bastions of real family time. So gather your loved ones together and watch some movies over the break. Continue the traditions you have and start new ones with people who are important to you. Worst-case scenario, you just have to watch a crappy Adam Sandler movie every year…

Watch and Talk is a column about movies. They are not necessarily reviewed, but simply talked about. Watch and Talk looks at the cultural aspects and impacts of all manner of films.

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If you, like me, had never heard of Conrad before you may think him a bit strange upon first watching the movie. Indeed I definitely thought and still find myself to wondering whether or not Tony Conrad is insane. As a minimalist film maker, musician, and artist, Conrad’s works are about as minimal as it gets. His musical works involve holding long, half-step dissonant notes for periods of time that are meant to make listeners somewhat uncomfortable. One of his most famous movies, The Flicker, is just a black and white flickering screen for feature length.

If you find these things to be real art that takes actual skill, that is fine. Many people, as evidenced by the film and the good sized crowd that turned out, would agree with you. I just couldn’t help but laugh at the crazy qualities of Conrad. While this may seem like a bad thing, it actually helped to get over some of the less inspired film making choices. The movie goes into standard documentary fair, consisting primarily of talking heads interspersed with shots of Conrad’s music, films, and art.

And while I found myself chuckling at nearly every endeavor of Conrad’s, there were sections of the movie that were undoubtedly meant to be humorous. As Conrad walked around Lincoln Center bemoaning the composed dominance of the New York Philharmonic, he sighed and said “I hate it here…it’s so depressing.”

Conrad’s hatred of so-called high culture is shown in every single one of his projects. Just as a way to one-up Andy Warhol’s 24 hour movie, Conrad wanted to make a film that would last 50 years. The problem he ran into though, was that no film could be able to perpetually run and remain intact for 50 years. Conrad gets around this issue by creating Yellow Movie. To me, Yellow Movie is just a large painting made up of the color yellow. To Conrad and his fans though, the fact the the painting fades throughout its 50 year “run time” makes it a slow changing, minimalist-inspired film.

The minimalist sensibilities hit a peak at the end of the film, when Conrad is standing in the middle of traffic, directing the passing vehicles. One woman walks by him, sees him talking to himself and asks “Are you ok?” Yes, I think Conrad is fine. He just has a different way of looking at the world. Some of us just think he is a little bit strange.

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Poetry is not something I have ever taken a particular interest in. Whenever I read or listen to it I find myself unable to connect to any deeper truth that the author is trying to convey. Romeo is Bleeding changed my outlook on poetry completely. The documentary film follows Donte Clark, a young man living in Richmond, California as he uses poetry to lift himself from the gang war that threatens him and those he loves on a daily basis.

Before discovering the spoken word, Donte and many of his friends aspired to be one of the highest positions one could ask for in Richmond: a dealer. In a neighborhood where the north and central sections of town are constantly attacking each other, the most anyone could ask for is to stay alive. When Donte meets a high school English teacher named Molly Raynor, he discovers his skill with words is something that has the potential to positively impact his reality.

Donte and Molly, along with other members of the Richmond community, move forward with the plan of adapting Romeo and Juliet to portray and bring attention to the gang violence happening in their town. When speaking of the play, Donte first felt disconnected from it. But when reading it from a very personal lens – the conflict between northern and central Richmond gangs – he saw his story in Shakespeare’s.

The film establishes Richmond using wide overhead shots that lend the landscape an almost fictional quality. These shots are accompanied by a score that helps to blend the reality of the documentary with the fiction of the story Dante and his friends are adapting. Romeo is Bleeding services the standard aspects of a documentary as it introduces new members of the group and shows the bright aspects of their character while being careful not to gloss over the pain that these people go through in their day to day lives.

Topical issues such as gun violence, use of police force, and economic inequality are also covered briefly as each plays an important role in the urban ecosystem of Richmond. The most powerful parts of the film though, are the various spoken word and poetry slam performances given by Dante and his poetry group. The words alone are powerful, but combined with the rhythmic stress that Donte in particular is able to use the poetry takes on a life of his own. As much as I feel that the story of Richmond is an important story to tell, I would have been just as happy watching a 90 minute movie that consisted solely of Dante’s poetry.

As a special treat for viewers, Dante, Molly, and the director of the film Skyped in to chat with the audience after the film. We were then treated to one more poem as Donte proved to us he is just as talented live as his is on film. Romeo is Bleeding is an important film that takes on many issues that affect The US urban population today. It is also deeply resonant on an emotional level, as one could tell from the screening audience’s somber attitude when the lights came on. Hopefully this movie gets a wider audience, as Donte’s poetry, and in it his own truth, need to be heard.

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As we get closer to the witching hour of October 31 (and also the Witching Hour festival in Iowa City), my search for scary movies has been ramping up. At first I was satisfied with seeking out unique horror fare that may have delivered in terms of film quality while skimping on the fright factor. Now I am looking for pure terror. What I have found does not necessarily read like a greatest hits of horror films. There is no Exorcist, Halloween, or Rosemary’s Baby.  

These movies and many more have been clearly recognized as some of the scariest movies of all time largely because of their undeniable influence on the horror genre. The films I want to share with you are some slightly grittier gems. A couple are among the most well-renowned recent horror movies, but most should be an enjoyable new find for horror buffs and newbies alike.

Last Shift is a relatively standard horror film. It involves a lone female protagonist stuck in an isolated location. She is a rookie cop working the last shift of a closing police station. There is a sufficiently fleshed-out plot with a few intruiging twists and turns. Most importantly however, once the scares start coming they do not stop. At all. This is the most relentless horror movie I have seen in recent memory, which acts greatly to its benefit.

Other movies try to beat the viewer over the head with jump scares so frequent they act as more of a reflex test. Last Shift earns your attention and drains your stamina with terrifying imagery, suffocating dread, and yes, a few well-executed jump scares. Because Last Shift is so straight forward in its setup, it does not earn a spot in the pantheon of great horror films. It works amazingly however, if all you want to do is make you and your friends terrified to go to sleep after watching it.

There is a well-worn horror rule that no matter how long you keep the monster behind the door, eventually that door has to open. We humans are great at conjuring up the worst things possible in our minds, which is why films like Jaws work so well. Eventually we do have to see the shark though, or the audience loses interest.

There is one movie in recent history, however, that breaks this rule. The Blair Witch Project, the found footage masterpiece that has now spawned two “meh” sequels, was a masterclass in minimalist horror. Its power was in letting the viewer’s mind think up the most spine-tingling things possible. Seriously, the scariest image we get is a guy standing in a corner.

When The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999 it was accompanied by one of the first viral ad campaigns for a movie. The ads were launched to convince the audience that the events depicted in the film were real. Many audience members went in believing that these film students actually went missing while searching for the infamous Blair Witch. This realism serviced the film greatly and let the audience craft the horror in their mind, a feat many films still try but fail to achieve.

The VHS series has been steadily progressing through three iterations. This helps to explain how the absolute best entry of the series, Safe Haven, which is smack in the middle of VHS 2, was seemingly forgotten. The thirty minute movie follows a film crew that is documenting a modestly creepy cult located in Indonesia. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve never seen a movie featuring a cult where the whole organization didn’t go off the rails by the end. If this sounds like a familiar horror plot trope you may be asking what exactly makes this movie so fantastically frightening. First, the progression the film takes from slight unease to genuine shock to utter despair happens so rapidly that as an audience member, you barely have time to react to one event before the plot turns deeper into darkness.

Also, the segment is filled with what I call “Holy shit moments.” While not necessary to a great horror film, “Holy shit moments” are those brief scenes so gut-wrenching that it causes an almost involuntary utterance of the words “holy shit” by the viewer. Bad movies try to fake these by having characters in the film say “holy shit” to try and convince you that what you are watching is indeed crazy as hell. Great movies just show you the goods and let you react. And when a film can pump in three or more of these moments into thirty short minutes, you have something special.

Finally, my search for the most spine-tingling movies brought me back to my own history with horror, specifically when I worked at a movie theater in high school. During our breaks we were permitted to sit in on any movie we wanted, which was a boon to me as I could think of no better way to pass the time. One lunch break I decided to sit in on a movie I hadn’t heard much about: The Descent. It is safe to say that fifteen-year-old me had not yet built up the proper fright threshold for watching such a film.

The Descent follows a group of women on an expedition into a remote cave system. This setup alone could be, and has been, good enough for many different movies. The constant claustrophobia and lack of vision on the screen torment not only the characters but leave the viewer short of breath as well. If that weren’t enough, there also happens to be a race of nasty humanoid creatures that wander around in the tunnel system. The group soon realizes that the reason the cave is so isolated is because no one who had previously attempted the trek had ever escaped. The final act of the film descends deep into a gory abyss of body parts, blood, and viscera that is sure to make its mark deep in your brain.

I hope you are are as terrified of these movies as I am. If not, go find what scares you. Remember, they are just movies. Happy scary movie month!

Watch and Talk is a column about movies. Movies are not always reviewed, they are simply talked about. Watch and Talk discusses the cultural aspects and impacts that movies can have.

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I began branching out into what I discovered to be the nearly infinite amount of different genres of horror films: Italian horror, psychological horror, horror comedy, splatter gore, invasion horror. These different movies offered a very unique take on the horror genre and really opened up what the term “scary movie” actually meant to me. Don’t get me wrong, these movies can be terrifying, but they do offer a lot more than simple scares in their storytelling.

Bone Tomahawk (2015) – There are even Western horror movies! Except for some choice scenes, this film is a true Western in every sense of the word. The film follows a group of lawmen led by Kurt Russell who are on a mission to rescue some peaceful townsfolk from prehistoric-appearing cavemen.

There are gorgeous wide open shots of panoramic western plains that make you almost forget you are watching what is classified as a horror movie. Indeed, after the somewhat brutal opening scene the movie eschews nearly all standard horror elements until the film’s finale. The movie is not titled Bone Tomahawk for nothing though. The title object features as the tool of destruction in all of the films grisly bits. These include one scene that, without exaggeration is the single most physically graphic moment I have ever witnessed on film. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Violence aside however, this movie is still worth a watch for both horror fans and seasoned western watchers alike. Just skip the above mentioned scene.

Deathgasm (2015) – Ah yes, the old metal-splatter-horror-comedy subgenre. As its name implies, Deathgasm is a movie not to be taken too seriously. As crazy as it may sound, a movie about two metal heads from New Zealand who accidentally summon an entity from Hell is actually quite silly, and even sweet. Oh yeah and there is a lot of blood. It is called Deathgasm after all. The core characters play well off of each other for occasional dialogue and story-driven moments, but the majority of the film is driven by a kinetic energy reminiscent of, well, a death metal track.

They Look Like People (2015) – This low budget pyschological horror film plays the most like a straight scary movie, but is also incredibly emotionally affecting. It followes a young man named Wyatt who believes that the people around him are turning into monsters that (name drop!) look like people. At the core of the movie is the relationship between Wyatt and his best friend Christian. As Wyatt struggles between his paranoia and preparing himself for the coming invasion, he must decide whether or not to help his friend even though Christian may be a monster himself. The film is very quiet and decisive in its scary moments, which amplifies their effectiveness and builds to a climax that is as heart stopping as it is heart wrenching.

Spring (2014) – What do you get when you combine low-impact yet high caliber dialogue with body horror reminiscent of The Fly? You get Spring, a romantic horror film. Yes, romantic horror films exist. Imagine crossing this year’s Sundance Festival hit Southside with You with John Carpenter’s The Thing. Stretching into even more adventurous territory is Spring , the story a man named Evan who takes a winding vacation to Italy. In his travels, he meets and eventually falls for Louise, a student studying in the field of genetics. That genetics major comes in handy for Louise because it turns out she has bouts of turning into horrific monsters every so often. Other than that, she is a total catch. The movie earns its points in the genuine relationship it builds between Evan and Louise. The viewer completely understands why Evan would stay and offer to help Louise near the end of the film rather than go back home and run away from the challenges she presents.

Holidays (2016) – Anthology horror films are notoriously unbalanced, which should surprise no one. If you get multiple directors together for a film there are sure to be some masterful segments as well as a few floppy duds. Holidays contains eight short films that pay homage to some of the more disturbing elements of our favorite times of the year.

The standout segment is Anthony Scott Burns’ Father’s Day. In the short film, a young woman named Carol receives a cassette tape from her father who she previously thought was dead. The tape contains directions from her father on how to find him as well as an explanation for why he had to leave. Jocelin Donahue gives an emotional and nearly silent performance as a daughter who is simultaneously stunned, grieved, and hopeful at the prospect of finding her father.

Likewise Michael Gross is a standout talent as the perfectly pitched dad, lending an air of fatherly love as well as morbid longing to his voice portrayal of Carol’s father. The conclusion of Father’s Day is left ambiguous, but this does not lessen the impact of the segment as a whole.

I absolutely hate when people get down on horror movies. With such a tremendous variety to choose from, everyone can find one that matches their taste. If none of these worked for you, don’t worry. I’ll be back with more choice horror gems later this month. Happy scary movie month!

Watch and Talk is a column about movies. It seeks to not only review movies, but to simply talk about them. Watch and Talk looks at the various cultural impacts and aspects that movies can have.

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My assignment of watching a movie each day this year has taken a serious blow. Professional football season has begun. I enjoy just about every major sport including college football, but when the NFL season starts, it seems that all I have time to do is either watch football, analyze football teams, or watch talking heads overanalyze football teams. Still, this movie thing has got to get done.

I could have just watched a bunch of football movies, but any of the ones worth watching are about high school or college ball. God knows I am not wasting my time writing about Draft Day. So instead I decided to look at my list of movies and see which ones resemble which teams in today’s NFL landscape. I am a bit of an asshole when it comes to football, so if I go hard on your team, sorry. Just keep in mind I’m a Detroit Lions fan.

The Dallas Cowboys are the entire modern DC Comics film franchise. America’s Team. Not a great nickname considering most people you know probably find the Cowboys and their fans to be insufferable. Year after year, the Cowboys come out of training camp as one of the most hyped teams in the league. Even when their quarterback breaks his back in the preseason and they have quite literally no defense, they are still supposed to win it all.

Just like Man of Steel, Batman Vs. Superman, and now Suicide Squad, it seems impossible for the Cowboys to live up to the hype. These movies (and the Boys) always come primed and ready to become financial successes, but no one really made sure to bother that they would be good or even entertaining. Yes, I am very excited for 2017’s Wonder Woman, and yes I still think the Cowboys will suck next year.

The Baltimore Ravens are director Ridley Scott. Both have celebrated and storied pasts. Both won their respective industries’ highest honor in early 2001 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl and Scott’s Gladiator won the Oscar for best picture. Most important of all, no one has any idea what to expect of their next effort. Scott’s last movie, The Martian, won awards, made tons of money, and was hailed as an unmitigated success. He is also responsible for instants classics such as Blade Runner and Alien. Recent flops however, like Prometheus and Exodus, have shaken viewers’ confidence much like the Ravens’ last season. Much like Scott’s recent films, the Ravens could go 6-10 with a sluggish season or 10-6 with a playoff berth or better.

Finally, my Detroit Lions are the film Requiem for a Dream. Year after year I find myself coming back to football just as excited as the year before, even though my favorite team is historically one of the worst in the NFL. They were the only team to post a winless 0-16 season after all. Much like the lives of four people who are tragically ruined by drugs in Requiem for a Dream, my world seems to come apart each fall. I keep coming back to my Honolulu Blue-clad team with high expectations that are set simply to be crushed almost instantly. The fact that I can even make a comparison between being a Lions’ fan and a drug addict shows just how bad my team is. At least I will have more time to watch movies when they start the season 1-7 and the sweet high of football season wears off.

For those interested to take a look back into some of the greatest football matches, then you should take a look at the history of St James’ Park here.

Watch and Talk is a column that discusses movies. They are not always reviewed, but are simply talked about. Watch and Talk looks at the various cultural aspects and impacts of films.

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