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< Back Greg Sgammato A Conversation with Film Composer Greg Sgammato Cup of Tea Critiques chats with Greg Sgammato, film composer and member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists Chris Chaisson 2023-06-02 Reading time: 18 minutes Few professions stand at the dividing line of two different industries quite like film composing does. Though many moviegoers love film scores and would readily acknowledge how much they enhance stories, most lack familiarity with the biggest names, faces, and details of the job. Greg Sgammato, film composer and former stand-up comedian, sat down with Cup of Tea Critiques to provide insight into how composers find work, manage around budget limitations, and foster a good working relationship with the film’s director. With so many aspiring musicians having to market themselves, the world of film composing is quite competitive. Greg spoke on how composers clamor for work opportunities. I'll have to do the pitch first. Usually, I'll find a project that's in production or pre-production. And I will usually pitch myself for projects that I find. We have a phrase that has come up in Internet communities called, “Do you need a composer?” We say DYNAC, for short. Anytime you see someone say, “I'm really proud of my short film,” or “I've written a script.” It's very likely you'll see under there, “Do you need a composer?” It's a weird field. Greg also revealed how he and others choose to rub elbows with their colleagues. What I normally find is we all spend time in the same spaces. It's a pretty active scene of networking with composers. But it's also, in my experience, been a little bit segmented. The more high-profile composers stick to themselves because they're doing the job at such a high level, and they want to talk shop, basically. Then you have the [other] composers talking about the feature film they just scored, or what two-hour deadline they had. There's not a lot of crossover. There's always that idea of, “Does this person want something from me?” My networking has been very passive. I just do what I like to do in my free time. I have collaborators now who I met playing soccer. I have collaborators now who came upon a funny thing I did on Instagram when I was into comedy. It's kind of that thing where it's a little bit more organic. Even from the start, I got into this accidentally. I was playing in a modern dance class. I was playing piano and drums to accompany the dancers. And one of my friends knew that I was doing that. He said, “Well, I have a short film I need to film before the final presentation; would you score it?” I'd never done that before. But early on, I just said, “Yeah, of course. I'll do that.” Then from that, I got referrals. And from there I scored more short films, and I decided, “I'll move to Los Angeles.” It wasn't well planned out. It's always these little snowball things. Push a domino over and see if any others fall. Artists are often unsure of how to forge their own career paths. Greg shared his thoughts on the best way to gain exposure for your work. Something that I learned while I was doing stand-up, especially at the open mic scene, was you can't wait for anyone to think that you're the person for them. You can't wait for someone to hire you. You always have to be thinking, “What can I make?” Just like with actors, if you want to get cast, write your own thing. Cast yourself. And for me, if I want to write music, just write music, write songs, write main titles and do podcast music. I did a bunch of that stuff and I just kept busy. Since around that time, I've always had something to do, whether it paid me or whether it was just fulfilling. I've always been busy. That’s been my experience networking, because I haven't done it in a business sense. I definitely think that's because sometimes the practice of networking can come off as inauthentic if you're not meeting in a way that’s [natural]. I found just being around people who enjoy doing what I do: in my acapella group, my soccer teams, my day jobs. If you're not all agreeing to be there for the same reason, it can feel a little bit unnatural. Some creatives choose to take on any project that they are offered while others aim to be known for one specific genre. Greg divulged his philosophy, why it works for him, and what his own preference for projects is. I don't say no to anything, and I haven't since I started doing this. I've written some things that I never thought I could write and some of it came off really well. I listened to a lot of music too. It's weird to try and distill yourself into an elevator pitch, especially in a social setting where you just want to get to know someone. I really want to work in the field of animation. Mostly, in family entertainment. But I also have a lot of friends and connections with comedy that are comedic writers. So that's the path I'm forging. I didn't really figure that out until I worked on an animated short film. And from there, it came so easy. I found that with animation, I was untethered from reality. I felt like there was nothing holding me back from taking chances or making weird things. I need a lot of variety in my writing. So especially with kids’ media being so dynamic, it always has to change, and quickly. You got to catch attention, but you also have to cater to sensibilities as well as if a parent is watching. You're entertaining all of these people, and you got to keep it moving. I've done a feature film, and fortunately, it was asking the same thing that's off the walls. It required me to sit down and write these same four themes in a ton of different ways for weeks. That's really taxing creatively, but it is really great because you get to develop and really think of it academically. I don't do a great job when people say, "Oh, you write music?” What do you do?" It's not quite like, "Oh, you do stand up? Tell me a joke.” But it is very similar in that you have to listen to it. I've also found that I have this great strength in writing super heartbreaking, ambient music, that really pushes and pulls and has this really natural quality. I have a bunch of film scores that I've done that I've been able to feature just because it's what the story needed. And those are my influences, that's what I like listening to, and that's what I like trying to recreate. Since many composers are not household names, Greg shared one of his sources of inspiration. There's a composer named Alex Summers, who writes really brilliant electronic and acoustic music, and I was just trying to emulate his stuff. I ended up writing something that I'm really proud of to this day for a documentary about stand-up comedy [ Laugh Now, Cry Later ] a few years ago. One of my friends made a documentary highlighting some female comedians in L.A. in 2020. I just remember writing it and I didn't ever think that I could write something that sounded this intentional, this beautiful, this reflective. When you think of film scores, you think of epic music or orchestral, giant, bombastic [music]. That's not my thing. It's never appealed to me. And it's something I can’t fake. If it’s satirical, I can absolutely do that. But it's not something that I was ever drawn to. A lot of people get into film music because they love film music. I got into film music because I was available and I said yes. I only knew John Williams and Hans Zimmer. I didn't know there was a whole history of people who had all these different takes on what it is. Now, I usually tell people, “I like to write music and songs for children's media and I work in animation.” That's kind of the shortest thing. Whether it's true or not, we'll see. Art can be all-consuming. Writers and performers find themselves thinking about their art non-stop and even being too “on” in social situations. Greg weighed in on whether his passion for film composing gets in the way of his down time. I’m definitely not thinking about it all the time. What I am thinking about is, “What am I going to do next?” I have to think about what's coming next. Because I feel if I just do this thing, and then call it a day, then it's going to end and I'm not going to be able to sustain this career. Sometimes I'm thinking, “Okay, I have a chance to slow down now and take a methodical approach at film scoring.” It's more logistical, more existential and not so much creative. I record something if I have a cool idea. I'll write something down if I have a song lyric. But it's definitely not something that I'm thinking about all the time, for which I'm very thankful because it's great to have work/life balance in my brain. Many in and outside the film industry are unfamiliar with the collaborative protocol between a film composer and the director who hired them. Greg answered whether or not there is typically a consistent back-and-forth involving several revisions on the soundtrack or if the process is more segmented. The biggest job of a composer, songwriter, or anyone in post-production of TV and film, is to take everything [the director] says, and that is your job. You remove ego and what you think is best. You can have some input, and you can creatively mix that in with their vision. But most importantly, everything is up to them. It depends on the person. Some [directors] want to be very involved. To the point where they're really directing the music, specifically, instead of directing the whole picture. And that can be troubling sometimes if they're thinking of melodic ideas, specifically, or if they're listing instruments, and maybe they don't know what they really want. I don't mind a back-and-forth. I love an in-person conversation, because we can get amped up about stuff. It's important for me to know which questions to ask. Sometimes I'm in a situation in which the director wants to take a lot of charge, and maybe start singing something, and I have to have some level of control over this. If not, they wouldn't have reached out to me in the first place. So, it's striking a balance between [not being] micromanaged, but also knowing that they're in charge. Sometimes people struggle with directors not knowing enough about music. I can't say I prefer it that way. But I think it's easiest, whenever a director or producer is thinking about their projects that they've been spending all this time with and just thinking about it, distilling it into words, distilling it into feelings. I think that's way easier to work with than them citing specific tempo, keys or chords. This is something I find working with some younger people. They don't want to hurt my feelings… it's not about hurting my feelings. I don't take this stuff personally. Let's get the best result for your film. And I always commend people when they say, “Hey, can you change this?” Even if it's a whole overhaul, I got to know. It's got to be your thing. And I'm just here to help you. Give me something I can go away and tweak for you. People will say, “Well, should I limit revisions on anything?” Don't do that. Don't put up walls… I want to get to where [me] and the director are comfortable working together, comfortable enough that I can assert my professionalism as a composer. And they can assert their vision and their leadership as a director. That’s where the ideal would be. Greg confessed his biggest hang-up when being hired to compose for a project. For me, it's nothing artistic. It is strictly business, strictly logistical. My biggest pet peeve is your budget as a filmmaker being some sort of secret. It really bothers me. It bothers me more than me not being paid. I've done so much free work this past year. I understand. I have a good gig. I'm very privileged in that [way]; I have a day job that I work remotely. I also work with a bunch of composers and songwriters. So I'm not worried about money like that. I just want to do good work with good people. I'm not bothered because my first thought is not being paid. I understand that people can't pay professionals. What I don't like is when people who are asking for your rate aren't very upfront about what they have to spend. My actual rate as of right now is $400 for a minute of music. Now that doesn't work well, in some cases, like a feature film, if I'm writing 50 minutes of music. I can't charge you that because I've never accepted a payment that large; I wouldn't know what to do with it. But I think if you want to know my rate, I need to know how much you're willing to spend. I just want to know how much you've spent on everything else so far. The feature film I did last year had an entire budget of $3,000. And they said, “We can offer you nothing.” And I took the gig, because they were very upfront about that. They spent $3,000 on locations. All their actors were doing it for free. And they got some big names. I trusted the vision. The director and I have a great rapport. He's trusted me with a lot of stuff before and he's paid me well before. So I didn't mind because it was very transparent. There wasn't a big demo for it, I didn't have to audition for it, which I do appreciate. Because sometimes you should be paid for that too. That's my biggest thing, tell me how much you have to spend on the film. It doesn't have to be your music budget, it doesn't have to be how much you're willing to pay me. But if you have $1,000, just for music, I'd say, “Okay, for my job, let's make something really cool with the rest of it. Let's get artists to come in and record. Let's get a string orchestra or something. Let's figure this out to make your film the best that it can be.” Be very clear about what you're willing to do and to spend. It will make the whole thing a lot better, because people will understand that they are valued and you have a clear vision. The subject of film composition brings to mind the presence of large orchestras and fancy rehearsal halls where artists do elaborate recordings. But Greg talked about the limitations and modest budget that the majority of film composers work with. I wish I could [routinely] hire a group of musicians. When I do work with live musicians, it's usually live vocalists. I hire a session vocalist if I'm doing a kid’s show demo, or a main title theme song. I'll hire someone and pay them the [Screen Actors Guild] rate. They have a special demo rate too. We have an agreement where if it does get picked up and shown on television, they’ll get X amount of royalties. [Screen Actors Guild] makes it both very clear and very complicated. Complicated in a good way, though, because they're taking care of their people. But clear in a way that I know what to expect if I'm hiring my friend who is a talented session singer. I will have to pay her $350 or whatever the rate is now. I can usually only hire one or two people if I really need it. The last time I hired musicians was last year [when] I worked on a short film, and I hired because it was a really tender, transparent score. There was really no hiding behind anything, and the samples that I was using were fine, but to me they weren't sounding as good as I wanted them to. So I hired two friends I knew from school who were professionals; one’s a professional cellist, and one's a violist. I just paid them and gave them a ‘special thanks’ in the credits. It was totally remote. I just sent them sheet music and gave them a click track. They sent me a couple of takes. And then I just laid it in my project, and it turned out really well. It's so rare. We have to get so good as composers at making a fake orchestra or a fake rock band sound like the real thing. And I've gotten ashamedly good at it, which is wild, but it's such a useful skill. It's also a lot easier to do now than it was to do 10, 20, 30 years ago. Every professional has their own communication style. Greg gave us a sense of the approach that works best for him - both from the director’s side and his own. What actually works best for me is when [the directors] talk about the characters, the color, the vibe. That stuff is really helpful for me. Usually, if I can see a solid logline or synopsis, that kind of stuff is really impressive for me. Because I know how hard it is to take this giant idea you’ve been working on and distill it down. That kind of stuff can be so difficult. So, I think talking about the characters and intention is a lot better. The weirdest thing I've had was a project that my name is not on. But it was one of the earliest things that I did in L.A. Actually, I’m proud of the music I wrote, but it was for an erotic ASMR [Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response]… This is before ASMR was a big thing. But it was a paying gig. And the director just said, I want it to sound like they're in a spa. And so I just wrote some Enya-sounding thing. That stuff that dominated the 90s when Enya was the flagbearer. I wrote something like that. I listen to it now and it was exactly what the director needed. It wasn't super high quality and I definitely could do it better now. And I would still take that gig today if they offered it. It's weird because it was ASMR, so it was audio only. I had to mirror that, how it ebbs and flows. As long as you have that vision as a director and you can say, “This is where this goes, this is how the story transforms. And this is how I want you to complement that or maybe work with it or work against it.” I think a good and experienced director would be able to succinctly say, “This is the story. These are the characters. This is where you fit in.” Greg is a member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) and the Creators Society . You can follow and connect with him at his website, www.gregcanhelp.com . Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Yae: Blind Samurai Woman shows the disdain for condescension < Back Yae: Blind Samurai Woman shows the disdain for condescension Samurai Girl, 2022 19 minutes Director/Writer: Akiko Izumitani / Akiko Izumitani and James “Doc” Mason Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Akiko Izumitani Yae: The Blind Samurai Woman The Curse of the Hourglass (9LRKKSSNJAOBXODH) 00:00 / 03:26 Barley Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Masala Chai Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Reba Chaisson 2023-03-02 Being underestimated has its advantages. You can then blindside the person or people that are displaying their condescension towards you, by whipping out your knowledge of Durkheim’s structural-functionalist theory and Parsons’ take on it. Or suddenly plopping down at a piano and flawlessly playing Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” before seamlessly moving into Lizzo’s “About Damn Time.” Think about the scene from the 1997 movie, Good Will Hunting , when Matt Damon’s character embarrasses a student from Harvard by showing him he understood some classical theories better than the student did. Was that a good scene or what? This is Yae: Blind Samurai Woman in a nutshell. The short film is about a young woman in 18 th century rural Japan who has the power to heal. It comes at a cost however, in that she loses some degree of her eyesight or “light” whenever she uses her power. Starring Yuwi Kim ( The Music Box , Desperation ), Yae has already lost most of her light at the beginning of the film, when she hears her father, a samurai, fighting in the forest but arrives too late to use her powers to save him. She encounters his killer, Masanobu, who offers to lead her out of the forest to a nearby village so she will not be alone given that she is blind. Too often, people with disabilities are treated as if they lack certain sensibilities because they are missing a limb, reliant on support devices, unable to hear, or vision-impaired. For this reason, some films centering disabilities are problematic because the disabilities take on a life of their own, making the individual who is disabled appear unable, such as in Children of a Lesser God , My Left Foot , and more recently, The Upside . But this is far from the truth. What is often lost in these depictions is the fact that human beings have five senses, and medical science suggests that the loss of one usually leads to enhancement of the other four. What is also lost is that despite having a disability – cognitive or physical, people with them still have hopes and dreams. They enjoy socializing, having fun, and challenging themselves as others do. As it turns out, Yae likes a challenge and Masanobu underestimates the wrong woman on this day. Played by Masa Kanome ( Bullet Train , Snake Eyes ), Masanobu is boastful and proud of what he calls his killing in honor of his father. Despite Yae’s insistence that he remains quiet, he continues to talk as they embark on their journey out of the forest. A funny thing happens though, when we engage in conversation with people. We get to know them. We humanize them. And things become not quite as simple as they once seemed. Intrigued? If you have 20 minutes, you might want to give this one a try. Available on Film Shortage Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Leave the World Behind presents a cyber spin on apocalyptic thrillers Higher Ground Productions, 2023 138 minutes Director/Writer: Sam Esmail Reading Time: 5 minutes Leave the World Behind Feast (ADEILSFMW1RLGPNT) 00:00 / 05:42 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Ginseng: Suspenseful and intense thrillers Saffron Movies and TV shows with great visual effects Chris Chaisson 2023-12-12 Apocalyptic movies are in no short supply. Whether it’s zombies, climate change, or biblical events, stories about the end of civilization have flooded the box office for the last two decades. They may come off cliché now as a premise, but they present their characters with reliable conflicts and the consistent theme of trust. Do you trust the news? Do you trust strangers? Do you trust your own family? Similar to movies of past decades that take place in the wilderness (i.e. Deliverance , The Grey , The Edge ), apocalyptic movies put on display the morality and psychology of its central characters, faced with what may be a “them or me” ultimatum. Netflix’s new thriller Leave the World Behind provides the latest twist on this trendy sub-genre. Due to her growing disdain for people, Amanda (Julia Roberts) rents a vacation house on a whim as a leisurely escape for her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and children. Soon after they arrive, they experience trouble with all of their electronic devices before George (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter, Ruth, (Myha'la, Industry ), arrive at their front door. They claim to be the owners of the house, with whom Amanda merely emailed, and explain that they were on their way back to New York City before their phones stopped working. After asking to stay in the basement with the offer of a refund, George and Ruth allow Amanda and Clay some time alone to discuss it. Once they accept, the four must get to the bottom of what appears to be a cyber-attack after strange occurrences continue happening around them, including a pileup of self-driving Teslas that blocks the highway and planes falling from the sky. What first seemed to be an innocuous prank at a local level may in fact be a more severe, intense and coordinated takedown. But is everyone who they say they are and even if so, are they divulging everything they know? Leave the World Behind provides its audience with consistent conflict between its main characters. Clay’s trusting, laid back attitude clashes several times with Amanda’s confrontational and skeptical personality, weathered from years in the advertising business. Similarly, Ruth develops a strong disdain for Amanda, feeling put off by Amanda’s distrust and the entire notion that they have to ask to stay in their own home. Her resentment towards Amanda bleeds into her interactions with George, who she feels is being too weak and accommodating. These conflicts seep into the majority of their exchanges, along with the unspoken (for a while anyway) racial undertones. As if the clash of personalities was not enough on its own, none of them know when their Internet will be restored or what the nature of the problem is, and George and Ruth have no way of contacting Ruth’s mother to find out if she is safe. The camerawork and direction for Sam Esmail’s thriller is highly stylized, including several overhead shots, tracking shots, Dutch angles, zooms, tilts and pans. Every camera movement conveys the uneasiness that the main characters feel, having no knowledge of what is happening in the outside world or whether they can even rely on each other. The accompanying string-heavy score uses familiar staccato notes while cross-cutting between strange simultaneous events the characters are witnessing, engulfing the audience in the overall ominous mood. The characters’ collective helplessness highlights how reliant modern society has become on fairly recent technology. For instance, Amanda wakes up to news alerts on the lock screen of her phone, suggesting that hackers are behind the cyber-attack. When she shows it to Clay, the messages have disappeared. Similarly, George can only send texts to his wife’s phone that never get delivered. Upon leaving the house, Clay encounters a panicked woman speaking Spanish, and since he cannot understand her, doesn’t heed any of her warnings. Their only outside source of help or information becomes Danny, an acquaintance of George’s who lives more or less off the grid and is used to existing independently of such technology. Leave the World Behind does suffer somewhat of an identity crisis, leaving it paced in a confusing manner. It waffles between the human element of characters butting heads before learning to understand each other and graphics-heavy scenes involving large machinery crashing, or wildlife gathering in a menacing fashion. The back-and-forth of these scenes leave the audience with a lot of ideas and entertaining set pieces, but no closer to the truth and ultimate resolution of the story. Rather than piece-by-piece revelations, it serves as a mystery where all the information is jam-packed into the climax. Though the movie holds the audience’s attention for its well over two-hour running time, the story leaves them in the dark for almost its entirety. Nonetheless, the film, executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, provides a star-studded cast and enough entertainment to make you feel on edge throughout. The most common and direct comparison thrown out to Netflix’s new release would be M. Night Shyamalan’s earlier 2023 film, Knock at the Cabin . While not having the same long-tenured A-listers, Knock at the Cabin raises the same questions of trust among its main characters and the similar feeling of being trapped with no sense of clarity. Also, both movies have a plane falling out of the sky, always a comforting sight during holiday season. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

A Good Day Will Come sheds light on a real-life tragedy < Back A Good Day Will Come sheds light on a real-life tragedy Zargara Productions, 2024 25 minutes Director/Writer: Amir Zargara Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Amir Zargara A Good Day Will Come Just A Dream 00:00 / 04:24 Dandelion Movies/shows with heavy subjects Honeybush Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Chris Chaisson 2024-10-19 If you follow sports even in the slightest, you are probably aware of the times that they have notoriously intersected with politics. From a historical standpoint, incidents like John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their fists on the Olympic podium or Muhammad Ali refusing to fight in the Vietnam War stand out. More recently, we’ve seen Colin Kaepernick and numerous others protest against police violence. A less well-known example is decorated WNBA player Maya Moore abruptly retiring to focus on reform in the justice system. The most common pushback is to point out the privilege of famous athletes and suggest that they stick to what they know best. One political commentator famously told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble.” Though reductive and dismissive, the statement does highlight the quandary that gifted public figures find themselves in. Do they put everything they’ve worked for their entire life on the line for a just cause? Or do they decide that activism is best left to others? Inspired by the true story of Navid Afkari, A Good Day Will Come examines this quandary in the setting of an even more tumultuous political climate. Sia Alipour plays Arash, a talented wrestler with hopes of competing in the Olympics. However, in his home country of Iran, turbulent protests against the human rights violations by the current regime persist. While his wrestling coach initially dissuades him from getting involved or speaking on the matter, the issue becomes more personal for Arash in the blink of an eye. After brief comments to the press and the donning of a T-shirt, he decides to put his own safety on the line and attend a protest. Seeing the tide turning towards potential violence, he must decide whether to hang back or step to the forefront and use his celebrity to save lives. A Good Day Will Come brings us a very heavy re-telling of a recent tragedy, but it also shows us what change and activism looks like through a character arc. Arash is not just soft-spoken on the current political issues; he is generally very bashful for the first half of the short film. His skill for wrestling stands out immediately through the depiction of his matches, but he does not initially come off as brash as Muhammad Ali or as open as Arthur Ashe. Rather, he is tunnel-visioned and keeps his head low, looking to his coach for guidance. As the short progresses, he speaks more, initiates more and makes decisions without looking for someone else’s instructions. Short film protagonists may not always display the character arc that Arash does, but being forced into such precarious positions causes one to either change very quickly or pass the buck. The short film also shows the initial pushback to Arash’s decision to get involved. At one point, a group of agitators at a protest try to shoo him away when he discourages their behavior. They say, “All you’ve done is wear a T-shirt!” Their words echo the frustration of many activists at what they perceive to be performative measures. Often, public figures gain praise for what are symbolic gestures that do not necessarily contribute to a cause in any practical way. This allows them to gain adoration without any sacrifice. The exchange forces Arash to go a step further and put his safety even more on the line. Driven people with sky-high personal goals do not tend to put their own happiness aside quickly. It is often a gradual process as they learn the severity of many social issues. The timeline can often shrink significantly when they are personally affected. Nonetheless, it is a lot to ask of anyone to halt the pursuit of the one thing they’ve aspired to be all their life. What differentiates “real” activism from performative shtick? The answer is very subjective. A Good Day Will Come may make you reflect on your own perspective. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back On the Count of Three see-saws between ephemeral highs and sobering lows Front Porch Pictures, 2021 86 minutes Director/Writer: Jerrod Carmichael / Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch Reading Time: 5 minutes On the Count of Three Be Like Water (PHTK8B5CD5KPCATX) 00:00 / 05:04 📷 : Used with permission, Izzy Aghahowa https://izzyaghahowa.co.uk/ Dandelion: Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Chris Chaisson 2023-01-23 Every now and then, you come across a feel-good movie that leaves you positive and optimistic. You leave the theater (or your couch) and you cannot stop smiling as you recall the joyous moments the characters on screen just experienced. You may even find yourself wishing that your life was like that movie and strive to make it so. On the Count of Three is not one of those movies. Actor/comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s directorial debut centers around Val (Carmichael, Neighbors ) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ), two best friends in their early adulthoods who have lost the will to live. Kevin begins the film in a psychiatric ward after a failed suicide attempt, while Val works at a factory where he despises his co-workers. When quitting time hits, Val heads over to the mental hospital for a visit and breaks Kevin out. He suggests to Kevin that they form a suicide pact, and they decide to live out their last day together, tying up any loose ends they have left. The film’s grim premise leads you to believe that despite its comedy-leaning co-stars, it has no humor. Quite the reverse, On the Count of Three oscillates between hilarity and melodrama like a bedroom tower fan. One moment, Val and Kevin engage in a petty argument that you might hear in a high school slacker movie. The next, they find themselves in a dangerous confrontation of their own doing. For instance, not long after they nearly shoot each other early in the movie, they head to the gun range despite Kevin’s anti-gun stance. Kevin feels an adrenaline rush shooting a gun for the first time, but as he retrieves the target, we see that not one of the dozen shots he let off even connected with the giant piece of paper. While we sometimes see buddy comedies gradually get darker in tone, like The Banshees of Inisherin , many of those films stay heading in one direction or the other. On the Count of Three ’s teeter-totter act may strike the audience as unusual, but it ultimately holds together, largely due to its underlying theme (and maybe the short running time). No matter what happens in any given scene, the undertone of the two friends planning to take each other’s lives rests in the back of the audience’s minds as a sobering thought. This reality keeps the film from ever reaching wacky, slapstick status where we lose all concern for the well-being of the protagonists. On the Count of Three proves, like many other buddy comedies, that best friends do not necessarily look, talk, act or even think alike. Val and Kevin’s differences come out not only in the midst of conflict with others but also their seemingly aimless conversations as they drive around. Val hates Kevin’s taste in music and overall verbosity. For much of the movie, he acts as the devil on Kevin’s shoulder, pressuring him even in flippant comments to act on his angry impulses. As with many who play this role to their friends, Val seems surprised when Kevin goes over the edge and only tries to pull him back once he sees the damage being done. On the other hand, Kevin plays the empath in their friendship, vocalizing Val’s hardships and offering performative apologies for institutional racism. His dialogue often reads like that of a first semester African-American Studies major, annoying the emotionally unavailable Val. Just as one might expect, both friends have backstories of trauma and toxic relationships. The series of events they go through on this particular day largely boil down to getting revenge, or at least closure, on the people who have wronged them. Both start to waver in the sincerity of their suicide pact, but as the day’s events continue to escalate, it becomes clear that regardless of what they choose, their futures are forever damaged, just like their pasts. Not many films tackle suicide in the form of a buddy comedy; more often, films deal with a main character living out their bucket list in the wake of a terminal diagnosis. The Bucket List , starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, comes to mind, as well as a recent release entitled Living . On the Count of Three is a difficult project to find a comp for, except for another 2022 release, Next Exit . Delving more into sci-fi and straight drama, Next Exit revolves around two strangers thrust together in a rental car, traveling to the Bay Area to participate in a medical experiment that emulates suicide. While the two leads are very much at odds, they bond through their trauma, much like Val and Kevin. On the Count of Three is not for the faint of heart, but it will offer some chuckles and strong performances along the way. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

A Brush of Violence makes us consider how we handle disappointments < Back A Brush of Violence makes us consider how we handle disappointments DLW, 2023 40 minutes Director/Writer: Daniel Lawrence Wilson Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Daniel Lawrence Wilson A Brush of Violence Echo Mountain (T4UAWDOFDJONIQJD) 00:00 / 05:26 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Dandelion Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Reba Chaisson 2023-08-21 “Always remember why you started in the first place.” Popular wisdom on adversity contends that how we respond to disappointments and setbacks reveal a lot about our inner strength and focus. Do we persist when things initially don’t go our way, or do we cut and run in a different direction? I think the thinking here is simplistic since it considers neither the context of our lives nor our complexity as individuals. In other words, we neither cope with nor respond to happenings in the same ways. A Brush of Violence highlights this issue, but also leads us to consider our own fragility as it relates to our passions and disappointments. A Brush of Violence centers Vio, a reclusive artist who is famous for his provocative and violent paintings. After years of anonymity and being isolated in his home, he requests that Akila, a photographer, come to his home to take pictures of him that would amount to an unveiling of the man behind the paintings. Played by Mia Krystyna ( Solitude , A Letter on Loss ), the sedate and unflappable Akila is initially hesitant, though also curious why he chose her. She accepts Vio’s invitation, realizing it as a rare opportunity to boost her career ambitions. Darren Streibrig’s cinematography for the film is dark, fitting for the subject matter about a man who rarely ventures beyond the brick masonry and stone walls of his vast, eerie, and isolated estate. Joseph Holiday and Snakes of Russia’s soundtrack of low notes and shrieking violins add an ominous tone that hangs throughout the presentation. When combined with the minimal though profound dialog, it completes the film’s doomy feel. So, when Vio, played by Yavor Vesselinov ( The Bridge , Adultery ), asks Akila how far she will go to be remembered, we get the sense that something dark and unimaginable might happen during her visit. The 40-minute film contains some unexplained symbolism with flashes of color and masks. This may be frustrating for some of us since we’re not keen to Vio’s experiences, motivations, and what brought him to his life as a recluse. But films of all genres and lengths contain elements that are annoying and off-putting. I am reminded of several Spike Lee films that are laden with symbolism and special effects forced into the productions, disrupting an otherwise seamless movie-watching experience. The 2006 film Inside Man and the 1991 hit Jungle Fever come to mind. Both were, nonetheless, engaging films with strong lessons. In A Brush of Violence , the annoyance of the symbols is dampened by writer/director Daniel Lawrence Wilson’s use of multiple locations and the large cast of extras appearing in scenes at a bar and an art gallery, for example. Unusual for short films, these elements seem to make the movie come up for air after what feels like a dark and suffocating visit with Vio. Over an eerie silence, Vio and Akila engage in a conversation that gently stirs our emotions with light fingertips as the two use few words to talk about passion, aspiration, and ego. At one point, Vio, in his light, monotone voice advises Akila to “Always remember why you started in the first place” and later asking rhetorically, “What if there was never a day you were forgotten?” Vio’s musings hint that he lost himself sometime during his career, and that the passionate painting he once relished was somehow derailed. Despite his famed accomplishments, he is deeply saddened by not having fulfilled his ambitions and is now concerned about his legacy. In this sense, A Brush of Violence is similar to the passion exhibited in the 2008 tearjerker, The Wrestler . Mickey Rourke received an Oscar nomination for his role as Randy “The Ram,” a retired wrestler who has settled into a life outside the ring. While he works to make amends for his past failings as a father and husband, he longs for the fame and popularity he once reaped from the sport. He seizes the opportunity to get back into the ring, telling his fans that they are the only people to tell him when he’s through “doing his thing.” Passionate but not as brazen and vocal, Vio in A Brush of Violence is similarly concerned about his legacy and wants to solidify it on his own terms. I think many of us, especially those over 40, can relate to this. We begin our work lives with every intention of doing what we love, but we abandon it for practical reasons, or we are forced to leave it because of a life event. Also, sometimes, crap just happens! Our response to these disappointments varies, for instance dabbling in our passions on the weekends or returning to them after the dust has settled in our lives — to restore the essence of ourselves. I’m hoping Vio’s response to his disappointments is the exception. Check out this intriguing film and you’ll see what I mean. 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< Back Getting Up Close and Personal with Crawdads and Vengeance A look at how film informs our perspective Reba Chaisson 11/4/22 Reading Time: 11 minutes 📸: Licensed from Shutterstock I don’t think we consider enough what film teaches us about ourselves and the circumstances of people with whom we have little sustained contact. Vengeance and Where the Crawdads Sing ( Crawdads ) are two films that accomplish this, taking us out of our comfort zones and bringing the unfamiliar up-close and personal. Crawdads follows Kya, a girl who is abandoned by her family in the 1950s and grows up alone on their land in a North Carolina marsh. When the restless 8-year-old ventures into nearby Barkley Cove for school, the town’s privileged adults hurl names at her like “Marsh Girl” while the children tease her for lacking shoes and suitable outfits for school. Traumatized by the treatment, Kya withdraws to shield herself from the sting, minimizing even casual encounters with anyone but her shadow. Destitute, she makes a life for herself in the marsh without the help of formal schooling, family, or even neighbors. She trusts less than a handful of people, two of them being Jumpin’ and Mabel. Played by Sterling Macer Jr. ( Double Take , BAB ) and Michael Hyatt ( The Little Things , Snowfall ), respectively, the congenial Black couple own the General Store in town and support the young girl with clothing and food. Kya also comes to trust Tom Milton, a kindly older lawyer, played by David Strathairn ( The Bourne Ultimatum , Godzilla ). In her seemingly endless days, weeks, months, and years of solitude, Kya, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones ( Normal People , Under the Banner of Heaven ), evolves into a naturalist, making beautifully detailed drawings of shells, and documenting the different species of birds and insects along with their habits. As she grows into a young adult and yearns for intimate relationships, she opens her heart to Tate, played by Taylor John Smith ( Cruel Intentions , You Get Me ) and slowly begins to discover what it feels like to be connected to people beyond her tiny circle, to learn what it feels like to love, be loved, and all that it means. But when a popular guy in town is found dead in a well-known hangout in the marsh, Kya is conveniently accused of his murder and the people in town unhesitatingly accept that “the Marsh Girl did it.” While Crawdads focuses on the life and travails of a young woman, Vengeance centers on Ben, a 30-something budding journalist from New York City. The inciting incident occurs when Ben receives news of the sudden death of Abilene Shaw, a woman from rural Texas with whom he had a one-night stand during her visit to the Big Apple. When her distraught brother, Ty, calls with the news, Ben initially struggles to remember her, and even when he does, he expresses only obligatory condolences rather than the genuine sense of sadness expected by her brother. Confused as to why he received a call at all, Ben, played by B.J. Novak ( The Office , Inglourious ), quickly learns that Abilene led her family to believe he was her fiancée. When Ty, played by Boyd Holbrook ( In the Shadow of the Moon , The Predator ), coerces him into coming to Texas for the funeral, Ben stays and writes a story about southern rural life, under the guise of helping the family find the person responsible for Abilene’s death and getting “retribution.” In his half-hearted effort to get answers from authorities, Ben becomes flabbergasted and exhausted as none appear committed to investigating Abilene’s death, let alone finding out who is responsible for dumping her body in an oil field where, conveniently, jurisdiction is unclear. Resigning himself to the reality that the case will never be solved, Ben returns to what was always his priority—writing his story. Crawdads and Vengeance are released at an interesting time in the U.S., when the states are segmented into red or blue and the language used to assess and even describe the phenomenon is largely negative (i.e. separate, divided). Like labeling, the consequences for this are prejudgments and deepening antagonisms about the people in each segment, affecting our ability to view them as residents of the same country or even as situated in a culture that is unique to each state. Perhaps the stories in these films will blur the lines a bit, encourage us to see what we have in common and still appreciate the uniqueness of our lived experiences. It is also interesting that these two independent films landed in mainstream theaters. If released at all, films centering Whites in rural areas of the South typically feature characters who are passively ridiculed in a short-lived cut or portrayed one-dimensionally as villainous because something went quite awry in their lives. Ironically, Ben is presented as the oddity in Vengeance, as he missteps the culture of a rodeo event and later has a meltdown because he cannot get the answers to what he views as simple questions for his story. In stark contrast, for the Shaw family, it ain’t that serious; it just is. Sociology teaches that you cannot understand a person without engaging him or her. In the case of a community, you cannot understand it without becoming a part of it. Some of the best research is conducted by engaging people and becoming a part of communities (Read Nickel and Dimed by the late Barbara Ehrenreich.). The engagement—questions, conversations, immersion in the culture—is meant to learn about people given their everyday circumstances, not as tools for manipulating and shaping their world views. This learning takes more than a minute, an hour, or even a day. Rather, it takes weeks, months, and sometimes even years. Ben’s effort to exploit the Shaws for a story and shape them into viewing the world through his eyes (i.e. expressing themselves in ways he understands them, and believing they are missing out by not being connected to urban life as he is) speaks volumes about how our biases shape who we are. They also speak to how, at times, we consciously or unconsciously view ourselves as more accepted, normal, or in some way better than others. From this vantage point, we (intentionally or not) impose constraints on others, stripping away their humanity and treating them as outsiders. We also see this in Crawdads , when Kya is indicted for murder and the other citizens are convinced, without evidence, that “the Marsh girl” did it. This label and Kya’s lack of connection to the influential people in town who had effectively relegated her to the marsh, allows for objectifying and dehumanizing her. This influences the attitudes and actions of authorities and other townspeople toward Kya, making it seem perfectly logical to believe she committed the crime. At the risk of being redundant, it fascinates me that these two films that do a wonderful job humanizing Whites in rural areas of the South landed in mainstream theaters. Classified as a comedy/mystery, Vengeance falls on some obvious stereotypes of Whites in rural areas. But the development of the characters over the 107 minutes allows us to see the Shaws as people rather than the typical cinematic caricatures of Whites in the Deep South. Crawdads , a drama/mystery film, provides a singular laser-focused glimpse into the life of a girl abandoned by her family at a very young age and forced to grow up alone, living off the land. In presenting these circumstances and her ostracism by the people in town, the film humanizes her and even tugs at the audience’s heart strings. I wonder, though, if these are still viewed as one-off portrayals. Much has been written on the power of film representations in shaping our perspective. In a 2017 interview with the Huffington Post , Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón who now heads the Entertainment and Media Research Initiative at UCLA states, “What you see [on film] often becomes a part of your memory and thus a part of your life experience.” Will audience members come away from these stories with an informed perspective about people in rural areas of the South, or will they soon dismiss the depictions as atypical and not representative of Whites in the Deep South? In films where White characters from rural areas are ridiculed or portrayed as criminally defective (i.e. Deliverance , Winter’s Bone , Mud ), we don’t typically walk away viewing Whites as a group in these ways. This is largely due to the preponderance of “normal” middle-class Whites in the film and television images we see. Thus, White representations that deviate from these depictions are dismissed as one-offs—oddities, expendables, a glimpse of people who just “don’t fit,” “don’t matter,” and “aren’t relevant.” I still wonder, hope maybe, that the representations in Crawdads and Vengeance will take up space in our memories, even if just a little, to influence the way we think about people in these regions. I also wonder if viewers’ ideas about racial identity will begin to turn over in their heads. If Vengeance and Crawdads did not center Whites, one might think the subjects in the films were people of color in the U.S. Had they been, I wonder if we would have exited the theaters with our biases confirmed or challenged about these groups. Author Florentine Bakkenes writes in her 2022 Diggit Magazine article , that “The media people consume, the movies they watch, and the television series they follow, are not just entertainment, it also has an impact on the way people think and view other people.” In her 2018 New York Times article on what film teaches her about being a woman, film critic Manohla Dargis writes, “There isn’t a causal relationship between viewer behavior and the screen. There doesn’t have to be. Because movies get into our bodies, making us howl and weep, while their narrative and visual patterns, their ideas and ideologies leave their imprint.” In Crawdads and Vengeance , the characters are normal and/or heroic ones that display the depths of their humanity. They are loving, caring, funny, rude, smart, not-so-smart, good, bad, and all the gray areas in between. If the Shaws were Black and Kya was Latina, would this tickle viewers' sensibilities about the depth and breadth of the humanity of Blacks and Hispanics as a whole? I love these films and my eyes watered as I left the theaters (particularly for Vengeance ), because these were stories that needed to be told. Whites in rural areas are rarely centered and humanized in film, but Crawdads and Vengeance do a wonderful job of changing this trend. Having said this, I look forward to seeing similar cinematic presentations centering underrepresented people of color. Vengeance brings to mind the film, Wind River , which is about the death of a Native American woman on a reservation in Wyoming and the reluctance of federal authorities in working the case. As in Vengeance , law enforcement was not interested in investigating the death of a woman of poor background in a rural area. Where the Crawdads Sing is reminiscent of the 1972 film, Sounder , starring Kevin Hooks as David Lee and the late and great Cicely Tyson as Rebecca. Set in the Deep South in the 1930s, the film is about Nathan Lee (played by Paul Winfield), a Black sharecropper who is wrongfully jailed for a crime he did not commit. I still remember the poignant scene where a sheriff’s deputy used a knife to cut holes into the beautifully frosted chocolate cake meant for Nathan, as his 10-year-old son David helplessly watched a symbol of his mother’s love for her husband be destroyed. My recollection of the details of these films reinforces the point that film “imprints” itself, teaching us something about who we are and the circumstances of people with whom we have little if any sustained contact. While what we glean from the lessons vary depending upon our vantage point, experiences, and knowledge of the past, the depictions of people and circumstances have the power to inform, thus shaping our perspective. Sometimes film confirms our views and other times, its stories and depictions challenge them. In either case, good or bad, welcome or not, we are learning something. References Bakkenes, F. (2022). Diversity and Representation in TV and Movies and Why it Matters. Diggit Magazine . https://www.diggitmagazine.com/papers/diversity-and-representation-tv-and-movies-and-why-it-matters Boboltz, S and Yam, K. Why On-Screen Representation Actually Matters. The Huffington Post . https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-on-screen-representation-matters_n_58aeae96e4b01406012fe49d Boorman, J. (Director). (1972). Deliverance [Film]. Elmer Enterprises. Dargis, M. (2018). What the Movies Taught Me About Being a Woman. The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/30/movies/women-in-movies.html Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and Dimed . Metropolitan Books. Granik, D. (Director). (2010). Winter’s Bone [Film]. Anonymous Content. Newman, O. (Director). (2022). Where the Crawdads Sing [Film]. Columbia Pictures. Nichols, J. (Director). (2012). Mud [Film]. Everest Entertainment. Novak, B. J. (Director). (2022). Vengeance [Film]. Blumhouse Productions. Ritt, M. (Director). (1972). Sounder [Film]. Radnitz/Mattel Productions. Sheridan, T. (Director). (2017). Wind River [Film]. Acacia Filmed Entertainment. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Ten Days in the Valley is a clinic for story-writing < Back Ten Days in the Valley is a clinic for story-writing Pentimento Productions, 2017-18 43 minutes Creator: Tassie Cameron Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Photo by John Joumaa on Unsplash Ten Days in the Valley Deceptive Cadence (4HVF4WGKRWDJRMEA) 00:00 / 03:26 Chamomile Family dramas Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2021-07-25 Ten Days in the Valley puts the fundamentals of story writing on screen with Kyra Sedgwick ( The Closer , Brooklyn Nine-Nine ) as the protagonist and her missing daughter as the complication. The quest to find the child is depicted in a fast-paced and ever-evolving series of rising actions, reminiscent of the 1999 film Double Jeopardy and 2002 release, High Crimes , both featuring Ashley Judd in the lead roles. The three works are similar in storyline with respect to the search for people and answers. The older films were high adrenalin and focused on ‘who done it’ and ‘is it true?’ In contrast and consistent with classical story writing, the ever-present sense of frustration and need for a resolution best define the feel of Ten Days in the Valley . Not only is the ten-episode series a clinic for story writing, but Sedgwick gives aspiring screenwriters a glimpse inside the writer’s room on the studio lot. Her character, Jane Sadler, frantically searches for Lake, her precocious 8-year-old daughter played by Abigail Pniowsky ( The Rest of Us , Arrival ), while trying to keep the production of her new television drama on-track and on-schedule. Despite being encouraged to take a sabbatical, she continues to work though preoccupied with the whereabouts of her child. It is not an entirely unfamiliar story about an overstressed, career-minded single mother dealing with an ex‑husband. In this case though, Jane is what her ex-husband, Pete, played by Kick Gurry ( Edge of Tomorrow , Spartan ), refers to as “a high functioning, award-winning documentary filmmaker.” And this was not meant as a compliment. In the middle of a career change, Jane is switching from documentary to fictional drama, compounding her stress with a self-imposed insistence that there is no room for mistakes. Ironically, she and everyone in her circle compound the struggles to find Lake (and confound police efforts to do the same) by obfuscating the truth at every turn. Every character has an agenda in this story, and everyone has a secret. But as the adage goes, “Everything done in the dark comes to light.” A dominant underlying theme of the series is that lying takes a lot of work. Not only does it expend physical and emotional energy, but it also adds stress to already stressful lives. It keeps us from being at our best when pursuing endeavors—whether they be our careers, our hobbies, or just getting some much-needed rest. At one point, Matt, played by Malcolm Jamal Warner ( The Cosby Show , Reed Between the Lines ), declares “Truth is just another story. Another good story that’s gotta be told, right?” Ten Days in the Valley gets us to think of our own made-up stories—also known as lies—as an alternate truth. And that maybe if we just start with the truth, we can make life so much easier for ourselves. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Are horror movies and thrillers one and the same or completely different? Distinguishing Two of Cinema's Most Popular Genres Chris Chaisson 11/23/24 Reading Time: 10 minutes 📸: Used with Permission, Sarah Sumeray https://www.sarahsumerayonline.com/art I recently saw the new Hugh Grant-led A24 movie Heretic in theaters. Before I went, I listened to a podcast that described the movie as “more of a thriller than a horror movie.” Ouch. While the podcast critics gave it a glowing review, this phrase sounded more like a back-handed compliment. Presuming Heretic was going for horror, calling it “more of a thriller” is effectively saying it was not scary. If you’re a standup comedian, you don’t really want to hear your performance referred to as “more of a one-man show” (aka not funny). Sure, it’s a sliding scale; thrillers can be scary and one-man shows can be funny. However, receiving a different label than the one you were going for can sting more than someone just calling it garbage. I came away from Heretic disagreeing with the podcasters, as I found the movie sufficiently scary. The idea of being held captive, and forced to answer questions about my religion from a potentially violent stranger felt far more frightening than thrilling. My guess is that to most moviegoers, frightening and thrilling are just semantics, but if there is a difference between horror and thriller, then what are the parameters? Surprise or Suspense? I asked my friends how they differentiate the horror and thriller genres and their first answer was what most people go to horror movies for: jump scares. The perfectly timed switch in camera angle and blaring horn note can get the audience to white-knuckle grip their armrests. They may induce a scream, a head turn, a semi-curl into the fetal position, or a literal jump. Usually, it’s when the killer sneaks up behind their prey off screen, but an increasingly common jump scare is a person being flattened by a speeding vehicle that none of us saw coming (looking at you, Smile 2 ). If blood, gore and violence make no difference to you, a filmmaker can get quite creative with jump scares. The Final Destination franchise frequently utilized this tactic, as they spared no expense with gruesome onscreen deaths. Thrillers do not necessarily catch us by surprise as much as keep us in suspense amidst various chase scenes, gunfights and hand-to-hand combat. They do not lull you into a false sense of safety for an effective scare; they simply show your hero or heroine hanging from the edge of a proverbial cliff for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. I would boil the difference down to the known versus the unknown. Jason Bourne wasn’t getting haunted or terrorized by a headless horseman or hockey mask aficionado; he was being punched in the face and thrown through windows by government spies. With thrillers, we know who the protagonists are; with horror, we often don’t. The Thriller We Know; The Horror We Don’t Horror movies tend to have a supernatural element to both the universe and the villains themselves. Ghosts, demons, clowns, or just some really weird people. Hugh Grant’s character is not someone you would find on a Magic the Gathering card, but he is strange enough and persistent. Moreover, he lives in an estate on a hill, far removed from the street with no close neighbors. This type of setting is so familiar to the horror genre that it creeps into the titles themselves (i.e. House on Haunted Hill ). Sometimes it’s the woods, sometimes it’s a hotel, sometimes it’s a vessel floating through space. There’s immediately a mystique about such a setting, as most of us don’t have a whole lot of friends living in creepy mansions or traveling to Jupiter. It increases the tension, as now we’ve moved from our universe to one where this character can create any dysfunction. However tormented or brutal they are remains to be seen, and the odds of escape or rescue plummet. Horror protagonists are further isolated by inclement weather and, in a more psychological sense, the disbelief of characters that actually can help them. Thrillers frequently take place in a downtown metropolis under blue skies (maybe to simplify shooting action sequences). The identity of the protagonist matters greatly to how we differentiate the two genres. It is not uncommon in any given genre for the main character to have a “superpower,” whether it’s counting cards, switching to a Rastafarian accent at a moment’s notice, or beating up a garage-full of guys slipping on motor oil . Thrillers tend to have powerful main characters. They are either extremely cunning, such as in political thrillers like Miss Sloane , or physically imposing, like the aforementioned Jason Bourne. They are still an underdog, as they are likely taking on an entire institution. But their background gives us a reason to believe they have a fighting chance. Meanwhile, our horror brethren can’t really do anything. They often have to figure out what or who the villain is, which may take a third of the movie, before even figuring out how to defend themselves and their loved ones (another third). Horror movies go for a much more vulnerable profile, often someone we associate with innocence. Horny teenagers, single mothers, third grade children, or as in Heretic , young missionaries. Perhaps the purpose of horror choosing easy targets is that it is scarier to think of an evil force being so indiscriminate with whom it preys on. In thrillers, we often get the sense of who is off limits or considered worthy of protection. Take Trapped , for example, starring Charlize Theron as Karen and Kevin Bacon as Hickey. Yes, Karen’s daughter is kidnapped, but Hickey is merely after a ransom, and the plan goes off the rails when learning of the daughter’s health issues (and Karen fighting back, of course). Weaponry Most thriller protagonists are handy with guns, knives, and their fists, which highlights another difference between the genres: the weaponry. Writers in the horror genre almost always go for an abstract version of a weapon, adding to their supernatural feel. The Exorcist uses a Bible, a crucifix and prayer. We’re more than accustomed to the stake in the heart bringing about a vampire’s demise (thanks Buffy). In The Babadook , our heroine fights off a monster with the power of…belief, I guess. I don’t know, she just kinda yells until it goes away (I know there’s a deeper meaning but still!). These “weapons” all make sense when you watch, but a more blunt interpretation is they’re great budget-savers. No real weapons or weapons expert is needed on set; box checked. Blood and Gore The use of blood and gore illustrates another distinction between horror and thrillers. In horror, the blood and gore are for the audience . In thrillers, they’re for the characters . Final Destination shows us characters getting beheaded or crushed by construction equipment. Die Hard shows us John McClane with cut up feet as obstacles he has to maneuver around. In the action thriller category, we frequently see characters having to nurse their own wounds or figure out how to hide them from villains. It becomes a part of the plot; the rising stakes and the decreasing odds of success. Horror and Thriller Resolutions The conclusions of horror movies and thrillers tend to vary. In thrillers, our heroes win far more often than not. They outsmart or beat up the bad guy, they clear their name, and they either return to everyday life or get ready for the next mission. The glaring exception off the top of my head is Arlington Road , the 1999 thriller about a professor who believes his neighbors may be terrorists (they are). Much of the time, though, good triumphs over evil, and even in conspiracy thrillers, the protagonist makes it to safety whether or not the conspiracy continues. Horror tends to have a more pessimistic bend. The group of main characters rarely make it out unscathed, most meeting their untimely end and the survivor (usually dubbed the “final girl”) left scarred for life and still not really safe. The vast majority of horror films keep hope alive for a sequel, so the writer and director do the most complicated mental gymnastics possible to suggest that the threat is still out there. Movies often get studied in focus groups before release to see how the ending fares with test audiences, and the fact that thrillers have more positive endings suggest favoritism towards the names we know versus the ones we don’t. Thrillers tend to have an A-lister front and center. We as audience members do not like seeing our favorite box office draws get axed, and if you glance at some of their contract clauses, you’ll probably see that they don’t like it either. Meanwhile, horror movies, which are often low-budget, tend to have lesser known actors and the filmmakers have no problem killing them off or replacing them for the sequel. Smile 2 , for instance, features a completely different main character than its predecessor and, very early on, does away with the only returning character. Are they complete no-names or bad actors? No, but it didn’t cost $20 million to book them either. Maybe a good tell is how we interact with each genre. MovieWeb lists the highest grossing horror movies and the highest grossing thrillers. They have one movie in common: The Sixth Sense . It’s second on the horror list , only seventh on the thriller list . This difference suggests thrillers are more popular and more mainstream, which makes sense as many of them can be branded as action movies with a formidable cast. The horror genre has a smaller but more fervent fan base, and the experience of being scared is heavily dependent on music and sound effects. As Alfred Hitchcock states, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” This reality compels many fans of the genre to watch the most anticipated horror films while they are in theaters, which makes it telling that they still do not outperform their thriller counterparts. The End Okay, these are a lot of thoughts for a throwaway comment on a podcast I listened to. In looking back, though, there seems to be quite a few differences between horror and thriller (at least from where I’m sitting). Your preference for one or the other may speak volumes about your cinematic tastes. Do you prefer to be scared or simply excited? Do big-name actors or small budgets draw you to the box office? Are you squeamish and empathetic or do you enjoy the blood and gore? What piques your interest more, films grounded in reality or the supernatural? And most of all, what kind of ending do you need: Thomas Jane in Deep Blue Sea (we did it) or Thomas Jane in The Mist (oop)? For more on Horrors and Thrillers, listen to Season 1, Episode 1 of the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast . Tune in on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and more. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Plainclothes wraps a forbidden love story in an unconventional package Lorton Entertainment, 2025 95 minutes Director/Writer: Carmen Emmi Reading Time: 6 minutes Plainclothes Bouar 00:00 / 06:23 📷 : Pixabay Dandelion: Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Coca Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Chris Chaisson 2025-02-14 Stories of romance can have all sorts of complications: rich girl/poor guy, love triangle, wartime draft. Generally, we see a couple pulled apart by circumstances beyond their control such as meddling families or political strife. Thus, Carmen Emmi’s Sundance darling Plainclothes provides an original angle, offering both an examination of an oppressive culture, a predatory law enforcement practice and the bounds of societal expectations. Set in 1997, Plainclothes revolves around Lucas (Tom Blyth, Robin Hood ), a plainclothes police officer that participates in a continual sting operation run by law enforcement. He goes to a public place with his team, seduces gay men, lures them into public restrooms and coaxes them into exposing themselves. Once they do, he signals to a nearby officer to move in and make an arrest on the grounds of indecent exposure. At one point, this was indeed a standard practice by law enforcement, leading to the arrest of some notable public figures. Lucas seems conflicted with his task much of the time, and amid one such operation, spares the target, a man named Andrew (Russell Tovey, Pride ). Andrew instead gives Lucas his number before they part ways. When Lucas later contacts Andrew, they begin a private but complicated romance where they each have something to lose. Separate from his work life, Lucas grapples with what is at times overwhelming anxiety, spurred on by doubts about his sexuality. He has a complicated relationship with his ex-girlfriend, to whom he admitted that he may be attracted to men while they were still dating. Though clearly hurt, she supports his efforts to discover his true identity. Interfering with Lucas’s path to self-discovery is a bigoted uncle, the reality of his everyday job, and his grief over the recent passing of his father. An increasing number of films in recent years have shed light on homophobia and same-sex romance, but few have tackled the volatile relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and police. Plainclothes sheds light on this dynamic through a protagonist at the crossroads. Lucas faces all the typical pressures of a closeted homosexual man in the late ‘90s: a strained heterosexual relationship, a general feeling of loneliness, and a close family member unaware of his sexuality who makes disparaging comments. Lucas just so happens to have the huge additional weight of his job, which is to entrap men like himself. Even though his time with Andrew allows him happiness that he hadn’t known before, Andrew contends that their romance is just a fling and can be nothing more. This is the last thing Lucas, battling self-esteem and anxiety, needs to hear. Plainclothes uses many technical elements to create a ‘90s feel. For starters, many of Lucas’s sting operations take place in malls, a setting much more popular at the time. Director Carmen Emmi shoots with a hi-8 camera, reminiscent of home movies, also more common back then. The most effective use of hi-8 in the movie is during Lucas’s sporadic anxiety attacks, displaying how disconcerting the experience can be. Emmi uses abrasive noises combined with rapid cuts and sped-up visuals that convey Lucas’s disorder. These scenes give us empathy for a character who, at the beginning of the film, is not quite as easy to root for. A couple of scenes consist of the lens being the view through a camcorder, with the familiar time display in the bottom right. This not only clearly establishes the year the film is set in but gives the nostalgic feel of what it was like to record pre-camera phone. Seeing a family member walk around with a camcorder highlighted special occasions and prompted us to create memorable moments with one another. Similarly, another scene depicts a character playing a Gameboy, a handheld video game device synonymous with the late ‘90s. While it premiered in 1989, the Gameboy continued to rise in popularity throughout the next decade. As many gamers now opt for interactive headset devices from home, the presence of the handheld device in Plainclothes , even in just one scene, contributes greatly to the feel of the movie. It reminds the audience of an inexpensive gaming option that still allowed adolescents to be out and about while playing. Possibly the subtlest representation of the ‘90s in Plainclothes was the fashion. The premise of the film and the sting operation allow for the protagonist to be donned in the attire of the time rather than the standard uniform of a police officer. Because of this detail, we see Lucas contributing to the casual chic look, wearing flannel shirts, bomber jackets, stonewashed jeans and a logo-less baseball cap to make himself look younger. Andrew rocks a pair of Dockers and a puffy winter jacket, also popular in the era. As sometimes, the costuming in a period piece can put you way over budget (think The Get Down ), these fairly simple outfits contribute to a minimalist feel. There are not many comps for a film like Plainclothes , but as far as its relationship dynamic, this Sundance entry oddly enough reminds me of the 2009 dram-edy Up in the Air . George Clooney plays a consultant whose job is to fire people on behalf of their employers, leading him to become emotionally detached. Though Lucas certainly expresses his emotions, the job of luring people into handcuffs has caused him to suppress part of himself. Clooney’s character falls for a business partner (Vera Farmiga) who has her own obligations and views him as a fling, even telling him, “You are an escape. You’re a break from our normal lives, you’re a parenthesis.” Lucas feels the same rejection from Andrew and struggles to cope. Ultimately, both characters must change their approach to life in order to love themselves. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Account Director Apply Now San Francisco, CA, USA Job Type Full Time Workspace Hybrid About the Role This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Requirements This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. To manage all your collections, click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. About the Company This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Apply Now

Class of ’09 uses emotionless characters to present a bleak future void of humanity < Back Class of ’09 uses emotionless characters to present a bleak future void of humanity FX Productions, 2023 45 minutes Creator: Tom Rob Smith Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Pixabay Class of 09 Over the Grey Skies (N2UZAAFOZQGQNCER) 00:00 / 05:56 Ginger Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Masala Chai Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Reba Chaisson 2023-06-27 Class of ’09 centers five FBI agents who become friends during their training together at Quantico in 2009. All go on to become skilled agents who realize career advancement, with one even ascending to director of the agency. The burning question in the 8-part series concerns the degree to which artificial intelligence (AI) should be relied upon in investigative work. Presented through sub-stories labeled as “The Past,” “The Present,” and “The Future,” the show provides a glimpse of what can happen if a computer program developed to support criminal investigations is modified to predict crime and criminality. The series presents a world where AI becomes so advanced, it operates autonomously, automatically dispatching authorities and drones to arrest and/or neutralize people for even talking about issues that can lead to committal of a crime. The cast is led by Brian Tyree Henry ( Bullet Train , If Beale Street Could Talk ) as Tayo Michaels, and Kate Mara ( Fantastic Four , Chappaquiddick ) as Ashley “Poet” Poet. The series feels futuristic with respect to the cinematography, set design, and even the characters. Poet, for example, becomes romantically involved with Lennix, a fellow trainee at Quantico played by Brian J. Smith ( Stargate Universe , Sense8 ). However, she often appears unemotionally invested in the relationship. This becomes especially clear when Lennix breaks up with her, and she simply responds with only an “okay,” leaving him stunned. Not quite as extreme of an example is Tayo, who presents as stern, clear, and direct, such as when he tells his training officer (TO) he will only participate in what he considers to be an unreasonable exercise if he admits the truth about its purpose. The lack of empathy and emotion in the characters sells the series as a futuristic drama not far removed from The Terminator. Doubling down on the futuristic feel of the series is its set design. While the characters’ homes and apartments have open layouts, the furniture contains a lot of metal and is constructed with sharp corners. Kitchen countertops appear to be solid black granite and are always clear of the foods, appliances, and dishes that usually make the area feel like home. The floors are seemingly of black concrete or the tile found in offices, and the doors appear to be a mix of wood and metal that when shut, leave the feel and muting sound of an audiometric booth. In short, the residences lack any hint of the owners’ aesthetic taste or personality. Considering home design and decor are extensions of the people who live in them, the absence of these in the series give the added feel of the characters as automatons – flat, two-dimensional, and void of human qualities. Reinforcing the idea of futurism and the prospect AI holds for robbing humans of their potential is likely what the filmmakers intended to convey with Class of ’09 . The not-so-subtle hint is that AI holds the potential to void people of their humanity should it be allowed to take on the mental work that contributes to people understanding themselves and others, thereby developing a perspective on the world. Being largely shot in bluish-gray hues doubles down on the sense of foreboding that hangs over each episode in the series like a nimbus cloud, making everpresent the sense that something terrible is coming. Class of ‘09 is nothing if not pointed about demonstrating the characters’ high level of competence at hand-to-hand combat, sharpshooting, and the ability to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. Ironically, these are the moments that provide space for the audience to appreciate the characters as living and breathing human beings. They not only show their skills but also reveal their fear and pain. Even these revelations, though, are short-lived, as the characters almost immediately revert to their robot-like stances, such as when Poet fends off a murder suspect in close quarters but returns to her normal sedate state seconds after. It is as if we are being told that our bandwidth for feeling human as we experience it today will be significantly diminished in the future. This characterization contrasts with the depictions of some of the characters in “The Past,” such as Lennix’s emotional reaction to his break-up with Poet, or Tayo convincing his TO to delay their return to campus from a training field trip so he can ask a woman for a date. Class of ‘09 is quite similar to the 2002 film, Minority Report , where Tom Cruise plays Chief John Anderton, a police officer assigned to a task force that arrests and/or neutralizes what their computer program predicts to be future offenders. Like Class of ‘09 , citizens resented and resisted such overreach. A strong distinction between the two stories, however, is the 3-dimensionality of Anderton and other characters in Minority Report , and the intentional lack of such depth in the characters of Class of ‘09 . The cinematic style of the series is impressive, as it gives off a bleak feel for what the future holds should AI be allowed to expand and strengthen without legal constraints and oversight. Given that AI has arrived, Class of ‘09 is worth watching, and conducive to a post-viewing discussion with people you are emotionally invested in – at least while you still can. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!