EVEN MORE RONDO NOMINEES

THE NORTHMAN…Since I had already seen Robert Eggers’s THE WITCH and THE LIGHTHOUSE, I knew what to do: turn on the subtitles right from the get-go. Eggers casts wonderful actors and gets terrific performances, but I think he must direct all of them in the same way as regards their dialogue: “be unintelligible.”

This movie, a semi-HAMLET, looks sensational, has nice performances, and tells a fascinating story. It is (probably) a nice recreation of those Viking days and it’s intense and suspenseful. Pretty good stuff. I liked it.

I did find it odd that Nicole Kidman, a very modern actress, seemed totally right in this ancient period while Anya Taylor-Joy, who seems to be from some other time, if not some other planet, is the one actor here who seems too modern and out-of-place.

BLACK PHONE … A pretty good, tight, creepy horror film, a nice mix of serial killer with the supernatural. The villain’s masks are pretty darn great. Mostly I appreciate that it’s kind of its own thing, both in plot and style.

Well…it’s its own thing yes…but we still must note that somebody took several strong cues from SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

SMILE … The whole evil smile idea is good and creepy and wonderfully simple. This does not rip-off THE RING exactly, but that movie’s influence at least must be admitted.

The leading lady is very good but my God what a role! Pretty much off-the-charts emotion for 90% of the movie. What on earth must that audition process have been like…

I know the character is horrifically upset, but it’s maddening (to the viewer) that she can never calm down enough to present her bizarre story as rationally as possible. When she starts the conversation by screeching that she’s “cursed”, well…ain’t nobody gonna believe a thing she has to say. Admittedly, they probably wouldn’t believe her even if she’d been calm, but they might have thought she just needed some professional help and not an immediate straitjacket. 

The movie has quite a few nice scares, but it’s another film without an ending. Or with too many endings. I’m not sure.