Trick or Treat?
In September, news outlets reported that Hollywood’s projections were down for 2014.
Most of the mainstream movies this summer were certainly mediocre at best, and with the cost of a night at the movies these days, it’s no wonder folks are choosing to watch movies via any number of affordable, stay-at-home, on-demand options. While some of the mainstream titles may be a bit of a disappointment, Chip and I are still marveling at the offerings this year from the smaller end of the movie industry. We’ve been treated to a plethora of art house and indie titles of late.
However, as effusive as Chip and I have been about many of these films, indies come with their share of duds too. I’m still rankled that I wasted two hours of my life on The Last Weekend. If you missed it [and I hope you did], it was a pointless family drama for the 1 percent. Local critics were treated to an advance screening of Kevin Smith’s Tusk, a bizarre satirical horror tale about a mad recluse who traps an annoying podcaster and proceeds to transform his captive into a walrus. While most of us were somewhat entertained, I’m not sure that any of us know exactly who to recommend it to. Suffice to say Kevin Smith has out-weirded himself as only he could do. A master historian and fan of pulp horror films, the good Professor Kaufmann offers a few of his thoughts on page 17.
On the plus list this month we’ve got The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Drop, Love is Strange, The November Man, The Skeleton Twins, and The Trip to Italy. It should be noted that two quirkier titles, Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo and Charlie McDowell’s The One I Love will have left by the time this issue comes out but are worthwhile celluloid dalliances.
Getting us all in the mood for All Hallow’s Eve, the Asheville Film Society has a great line up for the month including its Thursday Horror Picture Show. AFS Creative Director Ken Hanke has also managed to line up a rare treat, a screening of Ken Russell’s Lisztomania with special guest presenter Lisi Russell. Meanwhile Chip has prepared a great line up for the Hendersonville Film Society this month, including A Stolen Face, one of Hammer Films’ early noir-style melodramas, a 1979 remake of Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, and Dead of Night, a series of British ghost stories.
Be sure to also check out Chip’s article about Terence Fisher, a recently rediscovered British director who directed some of Hammer Films’ best titles. In keeping with the theme and his article, Chip selected Fisher’s Horror of Dracula as his DVD pick for the month. I meanwhile selected Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, a film which will most likely be on my Top Ten list this year and which was recently released on DVD.
Finally, coming soon to a theatre near you: Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl directed by David Fincher and starring Ben Afleck, David Ayer’s Fury starring Brad Pitt, The Judge starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Robert Duvall, Michael Cuesta’s Kill the Messenger based on reporter Gary Webb’s harrowing true story, My Old Lady, starring Kevin Kline, Kristen Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith and finally, Dracula Untold – after all, every bloodline has a beginning. We’ll be sure to tell you what we think of them next month. Until then, enjoy and Happy Halloween!