What I Watched in November

THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019) is director Robert Eggers’ second movie and it is clear now that he has a theme – isolation and madness. In THE WITCH he used religious fervor and isolation to show the devolution of a family unable to cope with their physical changes and raw nature. With this film he attacks ideas in both technically fresh and thematically fresh ways. Pairing his narrative down to only two characters, having them both be men and having the isolation be something connected to labor is both fascinating and intriguing. This places the restrictions of the isolation elements into the minds of the characters as necessary to be seen by society as worthy, useful or simply as men. By using the need to work for a living instead of religion to push these men into a situation that makes both of them uncomfortable, he is examining the darkest sides of the male mind. These parts of men are often at war with themselves and this film seems almost an attempt to place those internal battles into this lighthouse setting and have them rage at each other. Because of work and the requirement to be seen as stable neither of them can initially talk about their feelings or fears about the situation until things start to unravel. This is a harsh vision of masculinity and an unsparing look at the terrible costs of how we measure ourselves. Oh! And it’s fascinating as a story, too.

Having read King’s sequel to The Shining when it was released, I was curious about how the eventual film adaptation would tackle the story. The novel is a continuation of the first book’s narrative and not the 1980 film version made by Stanley Kubrick. Since far more people would be interested in a sequel to the film, I wondered how a screenwriter would approach that problem. Luckily, the very talented Mike Flannagan was up to the task. He alters the book just enough to craft a sequel to the film while retaining most of the book’s details, blending the two different stories into a very satisfying whole. DOCTOR SLEEP (2019) is an excellent example of a sequel that both widens the scope of the first story and also deepens the emotions of it. By having the distance of time, both the central character of Danny and the audience familiar with the 1980 film can see the tragedy of the original events in a new way. Part of the new vision allows us inside the damaged psyche of Danny as he faces the fear of becoming like his father as well as the dangers of his mental abilities. The new story also has a truly exciting set of villains with their leader being one of the best characters I’ve witnessed onscreen in some time. And I have to say that the film’s ending is much more satisfying than the book’s but don’t tell Mr. King that!

The List 

JOKER (2019) – 9 
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1983) – 8 (rewatch)
THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT (1966) – 6
TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (2019) – 8 
HOLD THAT GHOST (1941) – 6 (rewatch)
NIGHTMARE BEACH (1989) – 6 (rewatch)
KILLER CROCODILE (1989) - 5 (kind of nuts but entertaining in its way)
WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS DORMITORY (1961) – 6
THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019) – 8
THEY CALL HER…..CLEOPATRA WONG (1978) – 5 (silly, sloppy but energetic)
A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1942) – 6
DARK ALIBI (1946) – 7 (rewatch) (excellent Charlie Chan mystery)
CURSE OF THE DEVIL (1973) – 6 (rewatch)
WEREWOLF SHADOW (1971) – 8 (rewatch)
DUNE WARRIORS (1991) – 5
CHECK INN TO CHRISTMAS (2019) – 6 (Hallmark Christmas movie)
THE FALCON TAKES OVER (1942) – 7 (based on Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely)
THE JADE MASK (1945)- 5 (mediocre Chan mystery; slow pace and a terrible No. 4 son)
DOCTOR SLEEP (2019) – 8
TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT (1980) – 4
PAGANINI HORROR (1989) – 4