2015 Films: #10. Z for Zachariah

August 28th in Chicago, IL. While cruising the internet looking for knowledge, I came across this article on current films in the theater that should be seen. Two of the three were not appealing but the 3rd one was and it just happened to be OnDemand and I convinced my fiance to watch it. The film is based on a book by Robert C. O'Brien. Set in the post-apocalyptic future (I've got a thing for this theme) where radiation has contaminated everything except for this lone valley. The caretaker of the valley is a young girl Anne (Margot Robbie), who is the last survivor of her family (her family farm is located in the valley). She farms, she hunts, she has a homemade radiation suit and leads about a normal a life as possible in this situation. Make no mistake though, she is alone but not overcome by the isolation which has lasted for about a year. She ends up running into a dude (Chiwetel Ejiofor) in a pond and informs him that the pond is contaminated. The dude suffers from radiation poisoning but eventually he gets better with Anne's help.

He recovers at Anne's house and the mysterious dude explains that he is Loomis, an engineer who was holding out in a government fall out shelter until he decided to make his way out of the darkness. Loomis proves to be useful (as engineers can be) by getting fuel for the tractor and proposing a plan to get electricity from the contaminated waterfall (Anne has an uncontaminated fresh water supply in the form of a well from an underground water supply) but it would meaning cannibalizing the wood from the church where Anne's dad used to preach and Anne isn't too keen on the idea. There are a couple of awkward moments between the two, once Loomis gets drunk and kind of almost crosses the line into sexual assault. Then in another scene, Anne offers herself to him but he abstains from sex which confuses Anne so the share the same bed instead.

Then one day, hunky stud Caleb (Chris Pine) shows up (just when Anne thinks she's alone in the world, her valley turns into a post-apocalyptic Grand Central Station) and upset the delicate balance at Anne's house (now there are three really good looking people at the house)...

Caleb was a miner when the sh*t went down and made his way into the valley. Right off the bat Caleb and Anne are attracted to each other (it's a real stretch I know) and it doesn't go unnoticed by Loomis. There's more than a bit of tension between Caleb and Loomis in regards to Anne (there's a scene when the two are hunting, they place a wager and the stakes are "jokingly" Anne). I don't think I'm giving too much away when I mention that Anne and Caleb do it. Loomis seems to be ok with this (he gives Anne the ok to "explore" if she wants to) but he's really not that ok with it. Eventually, the three of them use the wood from the church to make the water wheel and place it near the waterfall. Caleb and Loomis go out to administer the final touches and BOOM! Electricity. Except that the two of them went out and only Loomis came back. Loomis explains to Anne that Caleb left to search for an alleged sanctuary, leaving all his gear back at the house.

First off, this film is not for everyone. The story is designed not to move very fast, the pacing is what it should be for this type of film, and there's no big action. The film got an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it's well deserved but there's a reason that this film didn't get a wide release. The film was directed by Craig Zobel, who does a nice job with small casts and minimalist settings (check out Compliance a film he wrote and directed). The dynamic between the three actors is very good and the acting is also very good. Though I did feel that Chris Pine was miscast but I can't place my finger on it. He did a fine job but I didn't buy into him being that character. Ejiofor gives his standard excellent performance (this guy is real good and I hope that he continues to attach himself to good projects) and Margot Robbie is not just eye candy as she is very convincing as Anne.

Since this picture is based on a book that I never read, I'm sure there were changes. However, there were some stuff that seemed kind of obvious as to where the plot was going. Once a 2nd good looking guy is introduced, it's not a stretch to imagine that something will go down with the additional sexual tension. Also, we can't have the black guy and the white woman do it. They can share the same bed as long as there's nothing is going on (this may have been a theme in the book about Loomis and Anne not coupling).

This was an interesting picture and something that I may not normally see (something I'm trying to do more of). I don't believe the film has a mass appeal but to me it's worth watching. 

2015 Films: #9. The Gift

Saturday August 15th in Chicago. Joel Edgerton put him stamp on this film as writer, producer, director and antagonist. Edgerton does a nice job executing the creepy, obsessive guy stalking a couple trope. He kept the story really simple and let the actors act. The film had an estimated $5 million budget and has grossed $31 million to date. As a director, he kept things tight, kept the pace moving and didn't rely on too much on jump scare to amp up the tension.

Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are an upper middle class couple that have relocated to LA from Chicago. They move into a sweet house in the hills, Simon has a high paying job with a security firm and Robyn is an interior decorator who's company is still in Chicago but that doesn't really play into the story. Right off the bat Simon and Robyn run into Gordo (Edgerton) and old high school classmate of Simon's. He's noticeably a little off but seemingly ok and he takes a shine to Robyn...

And who wouldn't?

It doesn't take long for Gordo to overstep the boundaries into the realm of creepy stalker. Mysterious gifts show up on the doorstep while Robyn is home alone and the dog goes missing. Little by little Robyn starts to dig into the relationship that Simon had with Gordo back in high school and its not good. She also starts learn that maybe Simon isn't quite the great guy he comes off as (Robyn & Simon carry a lot of baggage that eventually comes to the surface), in fact the lines of villainy are blurred as I wondered just who was the bad guy here? Gordo or Simon? At the end they both are.

As I mentioned earlier, Edgerton does a nice job amping up the tension and he even throws in a nice ending that I did not see coming. There's a reason this picture received a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Edgerton plays a good villain, the kind that is trying to get revenge for a prank gone wrong that messed up his life. Bateman is really good at playing a certain type of character (the sarcastic, snarky but sometimes good hearted guy) and he's good as an upwardly mobile cut throat business man. Hall is good as the somewhat damaged wife who realizes she doesn't know a whole lot about her husband. This film is worth seeing, pure and simple. 

2015 Films: #8. It Follows

Friday August 14th in Chicago. I've been wanting to see this film for some time and it finally made it to OnDemand (I never got around to seeing it the theater for some reason). This film has been a critical hit and received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 96%. The film is written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, in only his 2nd directorial feature, and stars a relatively unknown cast. Mitchell opens the film with a young girl fleeing her home and driving to the beach. While there she gives a tearful goodbye to her family as she awaits the inevitable. The camera fades to black and the next image on the screen is of the young girl's mutilated corpse...

Maybe a pair of sneakers would've been a better choice of footwear. 

Next we meet Jay (Maika Monroe), a teen aged girl growing up in a Detroit suburb just living an ordinary life. She has a sister Kelly, two friends who just hang around in Yara and Paul and a mother whom we don't see all that much. Jay has a few dates with a guy named "Hugh" and eventually Jay and "Hugh" have sexual relations. After making love the way a teenage girl and a 21 y/o boy can, genteel and seemingly everlasting, "Hugh" subdues and abducts Jay. Jay wakes up in an abandon building and "Hugh" explains that he's being hunted by a mysterious entity that can take any form it wants,  and that the curse is passed on through sex. Oh by the way, only the cursed people can see the entity approaching. "Hugh" informs Jay that she should pass on the curse to keep the entity at bay.

That's about as far as I want to go lest I give too much away. Let's just say that Jay tries to run away from the entity but finally decide that passing it on may not be a bad idea however futile. The gang even come up with a plan to defeat the entity and they almost seem to have it beaten. Mitchell's film is very minimalist but he does a lot with the little he has (the film's budget is estimate at $2 million and has grossed around $15 million domestically to date). Sure there are few problems with the film but it never overdoes anything, which is rare in horror films these days. The Death by Sex trope in horror films is nothing new but I didn't care. The pace never gets to slow nor too fast, it moved just right. This film is hardly original but it's worth seeing, especially if you're into horror films.