Jaws (1975)
3.70 out of 4stars
“When a killer great white shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off of Cape Cod, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to stop the beast.”
An excellent horror adventure action thriller that is deservedly iconic on numerous levels. Where to start? The genre-mashing/working across many genres, Hitchcockian mystery suspense/horror/fear and build-up/reaction in realistically dreadful ways, the direction, the editing, the score, the visuals/cinematography, the storytelling, the heavily likable and fully developed 3 main characters (who all have different personalities, and can be relatable), the acting, the shark, the “duel”, the bonding, the headbutting, the hunt, the humor bits, the fact dropping and realism bits thrown in, the summer blockbuster/film industry impact, near universal non-child appeal, the quotable lines, the pacing, the fun, and even the behind the scenes stories/creativity/innovation. It forever turns beaches and open waters into nightmare fodder. Not to mention there’s a couple nice metaphors thrown in I took from it. One, the act of media manipulation and control/overriding by governments and wealthy individuals through the example of the Mayor in the film. Humanity and/or people in control/positions of power have historically made mistakes of acting out of selfish needs/wants in this regard over the general population’s best interest, and consequently harmed many people indirectly and/or directly in doing so. Continuing to the fact that humanity/powerful people historically don’t take action on major problems until it’s too late, “making necessity the mother of invention” or intervention here. 2nd, there is a nice ode, purposely or not, about how people from all backgrounds need each other with the triangle of the police chief, the marine biologist, and the old seafarer. A sort of kumbaya. Every person brings something to the table, every person butts heads but also bonds, and all learn or are able to do things for and from each other in the pursuit of their one common main goal, survival (and hunting the shark). Similar to how a society functions.
The Hunt (2012) (subtitles)
3.35 out of 4stars
“A kindergarten teacher’s recently revitalized world collapses around him after one of his students, who has a crush on him, implies that committed a lewd act in front of her.”
An excellent psychological drama surprisingly anti-hunting, how a deer just living out their own natural life and minding their own business can be targeted by outsiders and destroyed in a second’s notice. I’m joking, but it’s not extremely far from the truth either. This thought provoking film is about the terrifying concepts of child sexual abuse, false accusation of child sexual abuse, the court of public opinion, and the power of lies/deception. As for the final concept in that sentence, whoever created “the sticks and stones…words can never hurt me” saying couldn’t be farther from the truth, words are arguably the most powerful tool (or weapon) in the world. Mass belief in lies (and even the expansion of them) historically has and can have devastating consequences on a personal and broad scale. The court of public opinion believes and decides on whatever they want, irregardless of one’s actual innocence, legal innocence, and wronged party’s forgiveness and/or retraction of accusations. Sadly, one generally is thought to be guilty of something the second their accused or rumored to have done something, right or wrong. A mob mentality in this regard, especially when dealing with serious or strong subject matter, can lead to shunning, verbal abuse, violence, and other forms of vigilante aggression. Child sex abuse is unforgivably the worst thing that can happen to a child next to murder. It’s life long traumatizing for those immediate to the situation and can even haunt a neighborhood or town. All of the above is why being falsely accused of child sex abuse is life destroying. Young children are important but altogether a complicated combination of fragility, impressionability, impulsivity, and incomprehension. This movie is full of real life horrors. And last but surely not least, Mads Mikkelsen’s strong, subdued, and affecting award winning performance alone may be reason enough to watch this film.
The Entity (1982)
3.00 out of 4stars
“A single mother of 3 is tormented, molested, and raped by an invisible demon and seeks professional help to resolve the issue, based on a true story.”
A great supernatural horror drama that is an effective, albeit obvious feminist movie and metaphor for rape and misogyny amongst women, headed by an excellent Barbara Hershey performance. The rape scenes are effectively unsettling. It’s quite funny and likely why the film has good but mixed views, I find the concept of an invisible supernatural rapist as a tool here both smart/clever and over the top/daunting. The parallels and usage is great, but the believability and target audience of something like this on paper shoots itself in the foot from the get go for many and may create some “different” expectations. Sadly, those who evade this or refuse to buy into the story are at a loss. The film does a good job expressing the belittling and objectifying of women, while also showing some negative tendencies women express that are accepting and enabling of this behavior. Societal, interpersonal, psychological, and patriarchal aspects are explored thoroughly. I am also oddly undecided and mixed on what to think of the music score though.
