The future is here and it does not look pretty. Apocalyptic and eerily familiar to, both, the film classic, Blade Runner and The Island of Dr. Moreau, Ex Machina, is set in a remote area in a secret valley in the loneliness of Antarctica where nobody can help you. Starring Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleason, Ex Machina is the greatest science fiction film nightmare for this millennium.
Written and directed by Alex Garland(28 Days Later and Sunshine), Ex Machina is a mind-blowing reality check on mankind's intentions and progress in science that delves into robotics, ego, love, technology and human selfishness that lays out a horrifying vision for the future of humanity.
In this sci-fi thriller, a young coder(Domnhall Gleason) is brought into the world of an AI genius and his corrupting power. The young hero is selected as the winner of a corporation-wide contest based on his coding skills to take part in a secret program with the top of the company's ranks. What he encounters is amazing but the plot soon thickens like a deep, red and mysterious cabernet into a futuristic shocker that is both captivating and disturbing. Here, one must wonder, "how much science is too much science?" ....and how close are we?
Disregarding any concerns for ethics, we dive, headlong, into reality and what AI means, today. We get that it can be very bad for humanity but does Garland have to rub it in the way he does? Every prototype that our mad scientist created is hot....and alluring.....and seductive....it gets very troublesome. These women are beautiful....but, wait.....they are robots. Check yourself.
At this juncture I'm not going to go too much more into the plot of this film. I don't want to give any more away. If you are a sci-fi buff then put down your pop tarts and lock your dog in the car - this is very good science fiction.
As creeped-out as this wonderful film - Ex Machina left me, I can only point to a very special wine from a remote, secret valley much like that in the setting of the film. Far down below the equator is the Valle Secreto and their 2011 Vintage Cabernet is one of the very good Cabs of the world that hovers around $20. Deep with hints of mocha and blueberry on the front with a luxurious journey into concentrated blackberry and dark cherry fruit, a glass of this wine will help calm your nerves when you return home from this fantastic horror flick.
Showing posts with label film review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film review. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2015
Sunday, July 27, 2014
A MOST WANTED MAN - FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
What really goes down in the underworld of modern-day spying? How are spies made, traitors turned, and how do powerful hands of dark and influential government agencies recruit, flip, and procure members to their team to fight in wars of espionage? A Most Wanted Man, directed by Anton Corbijn and starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, and Willem Dafoe, delves deep into the nuance of spying and covert actions and all the immorality in the sordid efforts it takes to develop a mole.
As Seymour Hoffman just recently and tragically died so early in his career, I felt so lucky to have the opportunity to watch his incredibly convincing acting just one more time. Hoffman's work was impeccable. His ability to mimic all the movement and anxiety through gestures that anyone in this dark world would be experiencing is genuine and unique. Adjusting his pants, wiping sweat from his forehead, and the way he walks hunched in melancholy, all, while so deadly serious, Hoffman delivers an uncanny nervousness that makes you feel just exactly how uncomfortable a worried, chain-smoking agent would feel. Be uncomfortable - he makes you this way and he exudes anxiety. It is his acting that really pulls the film along into something worth watching.
An extra pull is my one criticism I have of A Most Wanted Man as it comes out of the gate a little slow. I found Hoffman's acting to be the saving grace to the softened pace of the start of the film as I kept waiting for something to really move me....to draw me into its' depths. To build the plot of this story, there had to be a lot of groundwork - information sharing....spying....logistics....ya know, boring real-world spy stuff that had me yawning an hour into the film. However, I sat patiently and patience paid off. Hoffman delivers and is the films hero.
No spoiler alerts, here. The ending is a killer. The summation of all the turning coats from the Chechens to the CIA and threats and blackmail ends in a most wicked fashion with the darkest and ugliest of resolutions with that wagging finger in your face that says, "you should have known what was coming."
With a strong finish, I really enjoyed this film. I want to give it the credit of fine French Wine - a Bordeaux, nonetheless. A wine to pair that would take time to prepare just as this film did....a wine that makes you wait for it to be ready by that age-old technique, breathing.....the 2010 Chateau Seguin Pessac-Leognan. This libation will fill your glass with depth and intrigue. As a 2010, this wine will get better with age in the cellar but if you open it now- and let it breathe and give it a little while to evolve as it sits before you at the table during dinner, you will have a very pleasant experience when this under $45 Bordeaux has opened-up to you, the audience.
As Seymour Hoffman just recently and tragically died so early in his career, I felt so lucky to have the opportunity to watch his incredibly convincing acting just one more time. Hoffman's work was impeccable. His ability to mimic all the movement and anxiety through gestures that anyone in this dark world would be experiencing is genuine and unique. Adjusting his pants, wiping sweat from his forehead, and the way he walks hunched in melancholy, all, while so deadly serious, Hoffman delivers an uncanny nervousness that makes you feel just exactly how uncomfortable a worried, chain-smoking agent would feel. Be uncomfortable - he makes you this way and he exudes anxiety. It is his acting that really pulls the film along into something worth watching.
An extra pull is my one criticism I have of A Most Wanted Man as it comes out of the gate a little slow. I found Hoffman's acting to be the saving grace to the softened pace of the start of the film as I kept waiting for something to really move me....to draw me into its' depths. To build the plot of this story, there had to be a lot of groundwork - information sharing....spying....logistics....ya know, boring real-world spy stuff that had me yawning an hour into the film. However, I sat patiently and patience paid off. Hoffman delivers and is the films hero.
No spoiler alerts, here. The ending is a killer. The summation of all the turning coats from the Chechens to the CIA and threats and blackmail ends in a most wicked fashion with the darkest and ugliest of resolutions with that wagging finger in your face that says, "you should have known what was coming."
With a strong finish, I really enjoyed this film. I want to give it the credit of fine French Wine - a Bordeaux, nonetheless. A wine to pair that would take time to prepare just as this film did....a wine that makes you wait for it to be ready by that age-old technique, breathing.....the 2010 Chateau Seguin Pessac-Leognan. This libation will fill your glass with depth and intrigue. As a 2010, this wine will get better with age in the cellar but if you open it now- and let it breathe and give it a little while to evolve as it sits before you at the table during dinner, you will have a very pleasant experience when this under $45 Bordeaux has opened-up to you, the audience.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Transformers Age of Extinction Film Review and Wine Pairing
After watching the last two Transformer's films, I didn't have great expectations going into this newest release of Transformers directed, in part by Steven Spielberg. The last two I enjoyed but was easily annoyed by the teeny-bop love scenes and all the time their sappy antics took away from what I wanted to be watching - sci-fi, robots, and fighting.
However, very different and trending away from the last production, Transformers Age of Extinction packs a deep punch and is, flat-out, action throughout the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. There was a few elements of cheesy loveliness and one sappy scene between two of the star teens but this movie roared to life and is nothing short of Optimus Primo!
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Transformers Age of Extinction propels itself into summer box office glory with good, hard fighting and battle scenes. There are hot chicks, swearing, and even some gruesome death that render this, easily, the most exciting and violent(Americans love their violence) of all the Transformer films.
What really made this film work for me were the storyline and plot. In this battle of good versus evil, there is a great deal written into its' depths about ancient aliens and the producers make a clear statement to the audience of just how foolish humans are that we believe we are the center of the universe. This resonates throughout the film and should serve as a fine lesson for our youth.
With this, there is also several references and inferences mixed into the theme that point at the Inquisition, The Knights Templar, and the Holy Grail. This gives the film such great depth and renders it even, profound, despite what we all may perceive to be nothing more than plastic toys. I found this a wonderful injection into an already exhilarating experience.
What makes the movie so exhilarating? Without giving away too much, let's just say that Mark Wahlberg takes on the role of single parent raising his super-hot teenage daughter and is thrown into the hell of a massive robot war and the potential extinction of humankind. His character works fine for me as a tough guy in most of his films but, in this, the action is unprecedented as he delves into a Bourne Legacy-like roll and the near misses are so much fun throughout this works' entirety.
There is one wine that comes to my mind that is the very best pairing for this film and that is the Cline 2010 Big Break Zinfandel from Contra Costa County. This deeply colored zinfandel is named after a big damn collapse that flooded the local farmland, some, 80 years ago. Its' fruit is deep and robust with just enough cracked pepper to spice up your summer barbecue and pairs very well with the intensity and destruction on the ride that Transformers Age of Extinction takes us. Have a great summer-
However, very different and trending away from the last production, Transformers Age of Extinction packs a deep punch and is, flat-out, action throughout the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. There was a few elements of cheesy loveliness and one sappy scene between two of the star teens but this movie roared to life and is nothing short of Optimus Primo!
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Transformers Age of Extinction propels itself into summer box office glory with good, hard fighting and battle scenes. There are hot chicks, swearing, and even some gruesome death that render this, easily, the most exciting and violent(Americans love their violence) of all the Transformer films.
What really made this film work for me were the storyline and plot. In this battle of good versus evil, there is a great deal written into its' depths about ancient aliens and the producers make a clear statement to the audience of just how foolish humans are that we believe we are the center of the universe. This resonates throughout the film and should serve as a fine lesson for our youth.
With this, there is also several references and inferences mixed into the theme that point at the Inquisition, The Knights Templar, and the Holy Grail. This gives the film such great depth and renders it even, profound, despite what we all may perceive to be nothing more than plastic toys. I found this a wonderful injection into an already exhilarating experience.
What makes the movie so exhilarating? Without giving away too much, let's just say that Mark Wahlberg takes on the role of single parent raising his super-hot teenage daughter and is thrown into the hell of a massive robot war and the potential extinction of humankind. His character works fine for me as a tough guy in most of his films but, in this, the action is unprecedented as he delves into a Bourne Legacy-like roll and the near misses are so much fun throughout this works' entirety.
There is one wine that comes to my mind that is the very best pairing for this film and that is the Cline 2010 Big Break Zinfandel from Contra Costa County. This deeply colored zinfandel is named after a big damn collapse that flooded the local farmland, some, 80 years ago. Its' fruit is deep and robust with just enough cracked pepper to spice up your summer barbecue and pairs very well with the intensity and destruction on the ride that Transformers Age of Extinction takes us. Have a great summer-
Sunday, June 15, 2014
THE SIGNAL FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
What do you get when you cross The Blair Witch Project, District 9, Boxing Helena, and Area 51? The Signal. The Signal is a sci-fi horror sensation directed by William Eubank and starring Laurence Fishburne. It is nothing shy of a creepy freakshow that crawls and stretches into several different genres of horror.....and crawl and stretch it does, well.
Everything unfolds for a team of young MIT students as their personal computers get hacked and what seems to begin as technological trouble turns into scientific hell. Without going into the plot too much, bold and adventurous youth wind up so much over their heads that there could not possibly be a happy ending to this film.
The Signal is a case study in the possibility of alien life, advances in technology, and some cold, hard truths about the government and the future of humanity. At the beginning, I wasn't so sold on the plot and how the story was designed. By the end, I felt quite differently. Google this film and watch the trailer. It is very dark. Dark is good.
Fishburne stands out so magnificently in is acting as the lead doctor of the secret medical facility that he makes you crawl in your own skin. He's not saving Keanu in this sci fi plot. There is no love to lose, here. Rather, he is instrumental to the plot in making patrons in the theater feel very, very uncomfortable.
Hand in hand with all that creeped me out in this film, the imagination that designed and built the technology that is unveiled - once things, really, begin to go south, is absolutely wicked good. Insightful, inventive, and diabolical, whereas in the beginning I felt this film was taking me into another silly sci fi horror, I was dropped into a nightmare that had me asking my two buddies who saw it with me, many questions about applications for the future, discussing possibilities, challenging reality, and sharing in the general uneasiness we were all feeling.
The Signal could only be paired with a very complex and deep, red wine. I choose a varietal blend of great character and depth - something founded on several plots with the introduction of several different grapes that mixes a little of each of its' greatness into a wonder of winemaking science:- The 2010 Mariner is a perfect pairing for this super-geeky, existential, science horror experience. It is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft tannins as well as plenty of black currant, cedar and plum characteristics. Enjoy....and hope you don't receive the signal.
Everything unfolds for a team of young MIT students as their personal computers get hacked and what seems to begin as technological trouble turns into scientific hell. Without going into the plot too much, bold and adventurous youth wind up so much over their heads that there could not possibly be a happy ending to this film.
The Signal is a case study in the possibility of alien life, advances in technology, and some cold, hard truths about the government and the future of humanity. At the beginning, I wasn't so sold on the plot and how the story was designed. By the end, I felt quite differently. Google this film and watch the trailer. It is very dark. Dark is good.
Fishburne stands out so magnificently in is acting as the lead doctor of the secret medical facility that he makes you crawl in your own skin. He's not saving Keanu in this sci fi plot. There is no love to lose, here. Rather, he is instrumental to the plot in making patrons in the theater feel very, very uncomfortable.
Hand in hand with all that creeped me out in this film, the imagination that designed and built the technology that is unveiled - once things, really, begin to go south, is absolutely wicked good. Insightful, inventive, and diabolical, whereas in the beginning I felt this film was taking me into another silly sci fi horror, I was dropped into a nightmare that had me asking my two buddies who saw it with me, many questions about applications for the future, discussing possibilities, challenging reality, and sharing in the general uneasiness we were all feeling.
The Signal could only be paired with a very complex and deep, red wine. I choose a varietal blend of great character and depth - something founded on several plots with the introduction of several different grapes that mixes a little of each of its' greatness into a wonder of winemaking science:- The 2010 Mariner is a perfect pairing for this super-geeky, existential, science horror experience. It is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft tannins as well as plenty of black currant, cedar and plum characteristics. Enjoy....and hope you don't receive the signal.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
GODZILLA FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards, was a film I was very tentative in going to see. Nothing I hate more than giving a theater $10 plus the cost of my popcorn to sit for two unpleasant hours of sucky film. The previews for Godzilla, however, showed an evil Godzilla - and won me over. They unveiled a massive, hulking, slant-eyed beast that glared down with doom in his eyes from above. There looked to be destruction on a grand-scale and, as a lifelong Godzilla fan, I took a chance and I could not be more happy with my decision.
Godzilla was exactly what it should be - silly, Japanese, science fiction just as it was when i, first, started watching it in the early 1970's. It was part ridiculous, partly scary, but super fun. Godzilla took me straight back to my childhood when i was, first, shaken by thundering footsteps of a giant monster that shook the buildings, both, to my left and to my right.
What really moved me were the monsters, themselves. Godzilla, himself, was the most brutal brute of a monster that I have ever seen created for this role, Godzilla. He is a cross between a T-rex and a very angry polar bear with hard, dark scales and a little vicious pit bull mixed in. He roars with volume and wind that makes you shake in your chair, crushing everything below him when he steps. His opponents - no spoiler,here - kick some serious tail, as well. This film is so Transformer/earth-shattering/destructive fun!
All the beasts in this film come from an long-standing Godzilla movie theme - the original story - that they were released from the ground by nukes and feed off of nuclear radiation. This, a good message for all the world to listen to and adhere, is lined with many scenes reminiscent of the just recent Fukushima disaster the world just faced. The timing could not be more perfect. The film hits hard at the nuclear industry and its' potential for destruction on a scale that is out of human control.
I pair Godzilla with a big beast of a wine - Pietra Santa, Sassolino red blend from the Cienega Valley, California. East of the Monterey Bay, this wine gets plenty of warm sunshine and is a blend made with ripe sangiovese and merlot fruits. It runs at 14.5% alcohol which brings a white pepper note in the mouth feel but has great balance, just as did Godzilla in his knock-down fights with his foes as San Francisco and Las Vegas are crushed down below. Best Godzilla I've ever seen......a toast to this film with a wonderful wine!
Godzilla was exactly what it should be - silly, Japanese, science fiction just as it was when i, first, started watching it in the early 1970's. It was part ridiculous, partly scary, but super fun. Godzilla took me straight back to my childhood when i was, first, shaken by thundering footsteps of a giant monster that shook the buildings, both, to my left and to my right.
What really moved me were the monsters, themselves. Godzilla, himself, was the most brutal brute of a monster that I have ever seen created for this role, Godzilla. He is a cross between a T-rex and a very angry polar bear with hard, dark scales and a little vicious pit bull mixed in. He roars with volume and wind that makes you shake in your chair, crushing everything below him when he steps. His opponents - no spoiler,here - kick some serious tail, as well. This film is so Transformer/earth-shattering/destructive fun!
All the beasts in this film come from an long-standing Godzilla movie theme - the original story - that they were released from the ground by nukes and feed off of nuclear radiation. This, a good message for all the world to listen to and adhere, is lined with many scenes reminiscent of the just recent Fukushima disaster the world just faced. The timing could not be more perfect. The film hits hard at the nuclear industry and its' potential for destruction on a scale that is out of human control.
I pair Godzilla with a big beast of a wine - Pietra Santa, Sassolino red blend from the Cienega Valley, California. East of the Monterey Bay, this wine gets plenty of warm sunshine and is a blend made with ripe sangiovese and merlot fruits. It runs at 14.5% alcohol which brings a white pepper note in the mouth feel but has great balance, just as did Godzilla in his knock-down fights with his foes as San Francisco and Las Vegas are crushed down below. Best Godzilla I've ever seen......a toast to this film with a wonderful wine!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
ONLY GOD FORGIVES FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
Only God Forgives, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, is a brutal tale of drug dealing, murder, and retribution in the seedy underworld of Bangkok, Thailand. Starring, Ryan Gosling, this film envelopes its' audience in sordid and grotesque violence and betrayal as hit after hit is called in the brutal world of drugs, Muy Thai Boxing, prostitution, and revenge.
Only God Forgives is not for the faint at heart. Where the plot is, as in so many films, the good guy versus the bad guy, in this story it is a very corrupt and egotistical cop caught between his own machismo and how he imagines himself as the hero fighting evil. Here, he is pitted against foreign drug dealers - two brothers who are ruled by their evil, American mother who seems to have a "far too warm" relationship with her own children.....yes, it goes deep.
This film is sickening. It may, very well be, the most brutal film I have ever seen. There are rib cages sawed right down the middle, wrists cut-off, beheadings, slashings and gore at a level I am not able to reach back and find anything more disturbing in my memory.
Yet, Only God Forgives is a good film. i enjoyed it, thoroughly. I was raised on slashers and Michael Meyers and love good shoot outs and, so I have to write, this movie kicks ass. It is some brutal violence but is so insightful and realistic in all its' horror that it reminded me how good life can be. Life in this movie is dark and horrible. I recommend it for any graduating class of high school students around the country for it is a good, thick taste of what can go down when you step away from walking the path of good.
Long takes in the cinematography and very dark brothels with close ups of the stars in long, shadowy halls, seemingly staring into voids of nothingness between each shift in the storyline, aid in presenting the eeriness in the lifestyle that these characters chosen to live. Once the gates are open, the blood starts flowing and the film delves into the hellish dark and that which is morbid at every turn until its' horrendous ending. Again, this film is not for the meek.
I pair this film with one of my favorite Rhones I have sampled, this year - 2010 La Tarasque Cotes Du Rhone from the Rhone Valley, France. This blend is, mostly, grenache with some of what, tastes like to me, syrah blended in. It is blood-red much like that of what would come out of your chest when you are sprayed with a sub-machine gun. The name, Tarasque, comes from a monster in medieval times that ravaged the rhone valley with brutality and heartlessness. This is a perfect fit for watching, Only God Forgives....available, now, on DVD or Pay Per View.
Only God Forgives is not for the faint at heart. Where the plot is, as in so many films, the good guy versus the bad guy, in this story it is a very corrupt and egotistical cop caught between his own machismo and how he imagines himself as the hero fighting evil. Here, he is pitted against foreign drug dealers - two brothers who are ruled by their evil, American mother who seems to have a "far too warm" relationship with her own children.....yes, it goes deep.
This film is sickening. It may, very well be, the most brutal film I have ever seen. There are rib cages sawed right down the middle, wrists cut-off, beheadings, slashings and gore at a level I am not able to reach back and find anything more disturbing in my memory.
Yet, Only God Forgives is a good film. i enjoyed it, thoroughly. I was raised on slashers and Michael Meyers and love good shoot outs and, so I have to write, this movie kicks ass. It is some brutal violence but is so insightful and realistic in all its' horror that it reminded me how good life can be. Life in this movie is dark and horrible. I recommend it for any graduating class of high school students around the country for it is a good, thick taste of what can go down when you step away from walking the path of good.
Long takes in the cinematography and very dark brothels with close ups of the stars in long, shadowy halls, seemingly staring into voids of nothingness between each shift in the storyline, aid in presenting the eeriness in the lifestyle that these characters chosen to live. Once the gates are open, the blood starts flowing and the film delves into the hellish dark and that which is morbid at every turn until its' horrendous ending. Again, this film is not for the meek.
I pair this film with one of my favorite Rhones I have sampled, this year - 2010 La Tarasque Cotes Du Rhone from the Rhone Valley, France. This blend is, mostly, grenache with some of what, tastes like to me, syrah blended in. It is blood-red much like that of what would come out of your chest when you are sprayed with a sub-machine gun. The name, Tarasque, comes from a monster in medieval times that ravaged the rhone valley with brutality and heartlessness. This is a perfect fit for watching, Only God Forgives....available, now, on DVD or Pay Per View.
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Conjuring Movie Review and Wine Pairing
The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, has hit the big screens and if you haven't had the opportunity to get out and see it, I highly suggest you do. This, of course, if you like the crap scared out of you. It has been some time since I have spent $9 on something that really pleased me in this horrific fashion. A lot of jumping, gasping, and fidgeting around in the audience between moments of silence and suspense. If you are a horror buff - I.E....The Shining, Silence of the Lambs, The Exorcist, John Carpenter's, The Thing (My four favorites).....you will be moved to have both hands locked on to each arm of your theater chair.
As there is a great history that lays a foundation for this demonic tale, the time of the movie is set in the late 60's, early 70's. It is, really, cool to watch an entire production not try and capture a time or age but, actually, present it in a way that is so well-done and convincing that you are there, caught in the period. The characters and the choice of actors who play them is committed in splendid fashion and accuracy. Some of them silly, some of them serious. All of them about to face unimaginable horror.
Two of these characters, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. In tandem, they work with the Catholic church performing exorcisms and eradicating lost spirits from possessed people or homes. Most of their investigations lead to the discovery of old pipes in the attic that, when pressurized, bump against wood and make a haunting noise. That is not the case in this farmhouse.
On the grounds of this farm, unspeakable tragedy has dug itself in, deeply, from a time long ago. Through what looks to be a very sweet deal with the bank, this young, hard-working couple has found what they see as their paradise of the future, a beautiful, old farmhouse on a pond in the secluded countryside. Here, they can raise their five girls and their sweet collie and live out the their dreams. When the audience hears the first clap of two hands....you will know that what is coming is far from good.
If I have a criticism, I will say that some of this has been done before - gimmicks and scenarios used in other horror films of past. However, James Wan ties these tricks of the trade in to his plot so very fluidly that there is no time to sit and make criticism because something else is just about to scare the crap out the audience, again, at every turn. With this, I say, "ok, James - go ahead and use them again because you have allowed me to find joy, once more, in horror film."
For a wine pairing I will present something powerful and deep - a wine that means business and is built to make an impression on the memory. My suggestion is the 2007 Two Hands Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, down under. This wine is deep and dark with serious expression of black and ripe fruit. Two hands to help you grip your chair in the theater....one glass of Two Hands Shiraz when you return home to calm your nerves. Flat-out, a really well-done ghost story of high-horror caliber.
As there is a great history that lays a foundation for this demonic tale, the time of the movie is set in the late 60's, early 70's. It is, really, cool to watch an entire production not try and capture a time or age but, actually, present it in a way that is so well-done and convincing that you are there, caught in the period. The characters and the choice of actors who play them is committed in splendid fashion and accuracy. Some of them silly, some of them serious. All of them about to face unimaginable horror.
Two of these characters, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. In tandem, they work with the Catholic church performing exorcisms and eradicating lost spirits from possessed people or homes. Most of their investigations lead to the discovery of old pipes in the attic that, when pressurized, bump against wood and make a haunting noise. That is not the case in this farmhouse.
On the grounds of this farm, unspeakable tragedy has dug itself in, deeply, from a time long ago. Through what looks to be a very sweet deal with the bank, this young, hard-working couple has found what they see as their paradise of the future, a beautiful, old farmhouse on a pond in the secluded countryside. Here, they can raise their five girls and their sweet collie and live out the their dreams. When the audience hears the first clap of two hands....you will know that what is coming is far from good.
If I have a criticism, I will say that some of this has been done before - gimmicks and scenarios used in other horror films of past. However, James Wan ties these tricks of the trade in to his plot so very fluidly that there is no time to sit and make criticism because something else is just about to scare the crap out the audience, again, at every turn. With this, I say, "ok, James - go ahead and use them again because you have allowed me to find joy, once more, in horror film."
For a wine pairing I will present something powerful and deep - a wine that means business and is built to make an impression on the memory. My suggestion is the 2007 Two Hands Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, down under. This wine is deep and dark with serious expression of black and ripe fruit. Two hands to help you grip your chair in the theater....one glass of Two Hands Shiraz when you return home to calm your nerves. Flat-out, a really well-done ghost story of high-horror caliber.
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