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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Happiest Season (2020) in Movies
Nov 28, 2020
Loved it. It made me cry. Definitely the queer romantic comedy we all deserve. Kristen Stewart is excellent as Abby and Mackenzie does a good turn as Harper, her girlfriend who is struggling coming out to her family (and basically her entire hometown). Harper takes Abby home for the holidays, doesn't act her best, and heartbreak ensues. Daniel Levy is wonderful as Abby's best friend and Aubrey Plaza as Harper's ex. Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen are spot-on as Harper's parents, who demand perfection from all three of their daughters. If you've ever had to come out to your family, this film will deeply resonate with you. If you're straight and haven't had that experience, watch it, consider what others around you may have gone through and feel some empathy. It's funny, heartbreaking, and sweet.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Don't Breathe (2016) in Movies
Feb 22, 2020 (Updated Feb 22, 2020)
For the most part, Don't Breathe is a really tight gem of a thriller with some decent horror elements throughout.
The movie revolves around three thieves - Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto) trying to steal themselves enough valuables to be able to move away from their home city of Detroit.
When they hear about a sizable stash of cash hidden in the house of a blind war veteran (Stephen Lang), they get to work on what they assume will be an easy score. Things go rapidly downhill as it becomes apparent that The Blind Man isn't as helpless as they thought, and they become Tangled in a game of cat and mouse as they try to escape with their lives.
Don't Breathe is an incredibly tense film. It's dimly lit set pieces and it's frequently silent atmosphere are hugely effective. Director Fede Alvarez provides continuously great shots throughout (there's an extended sequence around the mid point which takes place in total darkness which is a particular highlight) and utilizes the small set (95% of the film takes place in The Blind Man's house) fantastically.
The cast are pretty good as well. The three thieves are both likable and dislikable at the appropriate moments, and serve their purpose well. Jane Levy is the stand out of the three, playing the role of 'the final girl' with a satisfying mixture of being terrified, vulnerable, and a strong survivalist all at once.
Stephen Lang is the MVP here though. He steals the show as The Blind Man, and manages to portray a genuinely batshit-scary movie monster, well at the same time, being a tragic and sympathetic characters.
This is one of the main strengths if the whole movie actually. Both The Blind Man and the set of thieves are portrayed as characters we should be siding with at one point or another, and then it will flip it over and give us the reverse one point later. The moral compass of who is to root for is in constant flux, and lends the narrative a unique edge.
My main criticism here though is the films final third. After being a stupidly tense thriller and a fight for survival for an hour, Don't Breathe gets a little silly towards it's climax, and downright gratuitous in parts, (the turkey baster to the face ffs!?).
There's not a huge amount of gore in display, so it doesn't quite fall into torture-porn territory, but the vibe is quite similar, and it tarnishes what is otherwise a pretty decent horror.
Overall though, Don't Breathe is worth a watch if you have any passing interest at all in thrillers or horror. With the news of a sequel in the way, I'm excited to see where the story will go.
The movie revolves around three thieves - Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto) trying to steal themselves enough valuables to be able to move away from their home city of Detroit.
When they hear about a sizable stash of cash hidden in the house of a blind war veteran (Stephen Lang), they get to work on what they assume will be an easy score. Things go rapidly downhill as it becomes apparent that The Blind Man isn't as helpless as they thought, and they become Tangled in a game of cat and mouse as they try to escape with their lives.
Don't Breathe is an incredibly tense film. It's dimly lit set pieces and it's frequently silent atmosphere are hugely effective. Director Fede Alvarez provides continuously great shots throughout (there's an extended sequence around the mid point which takes place in total darkness which is a particular highlight) and utilizes the small set (95% of the film takes place in The Blind Man's house) fantastically.
The cast are pretty good as well. The three thieves are both likable and dislikable at the appropriate moments, and serve their purpose well. Jane Levy is the stand out of the three, playing the role of 'the final girl' with a satisfying mixture of being terrified, vulnerable, and a strong survivalist all at once.
Stephen Lang is the MVP here though. He steals the show as The Blind Man, and manages to portray a genuinely batshit-scary movie monster, well at the same time, being a tragic and sympathetic characters.
This is one of the main strengths if the whole movie actually. Both The Blind Man and the set of thieves are portrayed as characters we should be siding with at one point or another, and then it will flip it over and give us the reverse one point later. The moral compass of who is to root for is in constant flux, and lends the narrative a unique edge.
My main criticism here though is the films final third. After being a stupidly tense thriller and a fight for survival for an hour, Don't Breathe gets a little silly towards it's climax, and downright gratuitous in parts, (the turkey baster to the face ffs!?).
There's not a huge amount of gore in display, so it doesn't quite fall into torture-porn territory, but the vibe is quite similar, and it tarnishes what is otherwise a pretty decent horror.
Overall though, Don't Breathe is worth a watch if you have any passing interest at all in thrillers or horror. With the news of a sequel in the way, I'm excited to see where the story will go.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Don't Breathe (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Here comes Little Kevin, all grown up and blinded.
“Don’t Breathe” had a concept that appealed to me. Three Detroit teens are systematically robbing houses of goods to pawn with the aim of getting Rocky (Jane “Evil Dead” Levy) out of the clutches of her deadbeat family to start a new life in California with her younger sister. Dylan Minnette plays the cautious and intellectual Alex, hiding his crush on Rocky particularly badly. Daniel Zovatto plays the fruit-loopy stoner ‘Money’ – the loose cannon of the trio and Rocky’s boyfriend.
After a successful run, they unwisely pick on the home of a blind war veteran (“Avatar”‘s Stephen Lang). He is not just ‘Home Alone’ but ‘Neighbourhood Alone’ (reflecting, probably accurately, the demise of previously affluent suburbs in some industrially declining US cities). Blind or not, the vet (and friend) are a force to be reckoned with: with startling speed the tables are turned and the kids are fighting for their lives. And there are more surprises in store within the spooky old house.
As an audience member, there are certainly points at which the title becomes uncomfortably literal! On the tensionometer, there is a similarity here with last year’s “No Escape”. A scene where blindness is turned into a positive asset is particularly effective.
As is common with this genre, the film suffers from a plot-line that at times makes no sense and involves indestructible participants (with an incident involving garden shears being particularly incomprehensible).
A particularly unpleasant sexual-threat scene towards the end of the film is also nonsensical involving a level of -ahem – ‘preparation’ that the preceding plot simply doesn’t merit.
Inevitably though, the film lives or dies on whether you feel empathy for the disreputable kids in peril. The start of the film tries to balance the empathy scales by giving Rocky her backstory, throwing in the ‘little sister’ card. It also demonstrates that “The Blind Man” is a ‘bit of a bastard’ – or perhaps that should be a ‘bit of a baste-ard’ (LOL, in-joke)). Unfortunately however I hold the peculiarly unfashionable idea that if things are “mine” they are “mine” – not anyone elses: so, on balance, I wasn’t rooting for them and would be happy to let the thieving little sh*ts all get beaten to death!
Jane Levy (channelling a young Emma Stone) acquits herself admirably as the heroine in peril. Also of particular note is the highly effective atonal score by Roque Baños that ramps up the tension extremely effectively. Directed by “Evil Dead” director, Uruguayan Fede Alverez, the film does have a certain style and is an enjoyable roller-coaster ride, provided you park your brain at the (well locked) door.
After a successful run, they unwisely pick on the home of a blind war veteran (“Avatar”‘s Stephen Lang). He is not just ‘Home Alone’ but ‘Neighbourhood Alone’ (reflecting, probably accurately, the demise of previously affluent suburbs in some industrially declining US cities). Blind or not, the vet (and friend) are a force to be reckoned with: with startling speed the tables are turned and the kids are fighting for their lives. And there are more surprises in store within the spooky old house.
As an audience member, there are certainly points at which the title becomes uncomfortably literal! On the tensionometer, there is a similarity here with last year’s “No Escape”. A scene where blindness is turned into a positive asset is particularly effective.
As is common with this genre, the film suffers from a plot-line that at times makes no sense and involves indestructible participants (with an incident involving garden shears being particularly incomprehensible).
A particularly unpleasant sexual-threat scene towards the end of the film is also nonsensical involving a level of -ahem – ‘preparation’ that the preceding plot simply doesn’t merit.
Inevitably though, the film lives or dies on whether you feel empathy for the disreputable kids in peril. The start of the film tries to balance the empathy scales by giving Rocky her backstory, throwing in the ‘little sister’ card. It also demonstrates that “The Blind Man” is a ‘bit of a bastard’ – or perhaps that should be a ‘bit of a baste-ard’ (LOL, in-joke)). Unfortunately however I hold the peculiarly unfashionable idea that if things are “mine” they are “mine” – not anyone elses: so, on balance, I wasn’t rooting for them and would be happy to let the thieving little sh*ts all get beaten to death!
Jane Levy (channelling a young Emma Stone) acquits herself admirably as the heroine in peril. Also of particular note is the highly effective atonal score by Roque Baños that ramps up the tension extremely effectively. Directed by “Evil Dead” director, Uruguayan Fede Alverez, the film does have a certain style and is an enjoyable roller-coaster ride, provided you park your brain at the (well locked) door.
JT (287 KP) rated Don't Breathe (2016) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Building suspense is considered a difficult task. Alfred Hitchcock was a master of this. You need look no further than the shower scene in Psycho for an example of his work. When a film delivers on suspense it can sometimes take the emphasis off a predictable twist ending. If the audience leaves the screening visibly shaken then a director has done his job.
Don’t Breathe, directed by Fede Alvarez, follows three amatuer burglers, Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and the aptly named Money (Daniel Zovatto), who are looking for a big pay day. When they hear about a retired blind war veteran who lives alone, and who may have $300,000 in cash, the trio decide he would make easy prey – how wrong they were.
Rocky is the more cautious of the three, but having grown up in an abusive family she is looking for an escape plan and to take her sister Diddy (Emma Bercovici) to safety with her. This job is a means to an end for that scenario to happen.
If the audience leaves the screening visibly shaken then a director has done his job.
The opening doesn’t offer much other than setting the scene but once the doors are bolted and windows locked it’s game on. Alvarez has a solid understanding of this genre, no matter what you thought of his bloodthirsty Evil Dead remake? In the confines of this house of horrors he is able to let The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) run riot as he attempts to put a stop to the break-in.
There is a sense that Alvarez is toying with his audience, in a bid to starve off the ending. He’s having too much fun. The atmosphere is excruciatingly tense, particularly when The Blind Man levels the playing field in the basement by turning off all the lights. A neat twist in the story tries to create empathy, but it’s a little too late for that and the final act ramps up the suspense to Hitchcockian levels.
Any other person would have dropped the money and looked for a way out as quickly as possible. That is not the case here as each opportunity to escape is met with a roadblock that send the burglars back down a different path. The home invasion horror has been around for a while but done right it can be incredibly effective and in this case Don’t Breathe gets it spot on.
Don’t Breathe, directed by Fede Alvarez, follows three amatuer burglers, Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and the aptly named Money (Daniel Zovatto), who are looking for a big pay day. When they hear about a retired blind war veteran who lives alone, and who may have $300,000 in cash, the trio decide he would make easy prey – how wrong they were.
Rocky is the more cautious of the three, but having grown up in an abusive family she is looking for an escape plan and to take her sister Diddy (Emma Bercovici) to safety with her. This job is a means to an end for that scenario to happen.
If the audience leaves the screening visibly shaken then a director has done his job.
The opening doesn’t offer much other than setting the scene but once the doors are bolted and windows locked it’s game on. Alvarez has a solid understanding of this genre, no matter what you thought of his bloodthirsty Evil Dead remake? In the confines of this house of horrors he is able to let The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) run riot as he attempts to put a stop to the break-in.
There is a sense that Alvarez is toying with his audience, in a bid to starve off the ending. He’s having too much fun. The atmosphere is excruciatingly tense, particularly when The Blind Man levels the playing field in the basement by turning off all the lights. A neat twist in the story tries to create empathy, but it’s a little too late for that and the final act ramps up the suspense to Hitchcockian levels.
Any other person would have dropped the money and looked for a way out as quickly as possible. That is not the case here as each opportunity to escape is met with a roadblock that send the burglars back down a different path. The home invasion horror has been around for a while but done right it can be incredibly effective and in this case Don’t Breathe gets it spot on.