What I Watched In February

BIRDS OF PREY (2020) is DC’s latest R-rated superhero film and I loved every off-kilter minute of it. The story combines various female Bat-Family characters from both sides of the law into a ramshackle bunch of violence prone loons trying to save themselves and take down a murderous crime boss played in balls-to-the-wall style by Ewan MacGregor. Of course, the film has an ace in the hole named Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Rarely has an actress more perfectly embodied a character from the comic book page then Miss Robbie. She has a firm handle on the character and centers this movie in a way that hopefully will lead to many more performances as Harley Quinn in the future. She's surrounded by an able, talented cast capable of smartly supporting her in this rather nasty but completely fun R-rated mess of a superhero crime film. It is certainly not to everyone's taste but for those who enjoy fare such as Deadpool this is a great variation on that dark theme. Bring on more Harley Quinn movies!

Usually when a film is described as a ‘slow burn’ the idea is that you have to sit through an hour of laborious somewhat tedious storytelling or protracted character development before you get to the moments that are compelling. This is not the case with the GRETEL AND HANSEL (2020) at all. Although the movie does rest squarely on the shoulders of two fantastic performances this small-scale retelling of the fairy tale is mesmerizing and its ability to impart loads of information through its imagery is phenomenal. Certainly, it IS a slow burn as the first hour or so of the film slowly, carefully gives us, through mood and atmosphere, a sense of incessant dread as the two title characters are pushed out into an unforgiving world because their parents have no future. They eventual stumbling upon what looks to be a safe harbor in a cottage in the woods inhabited by an old lady who seems to have a miraculous larder filled with every type of baked good imaginable. At first what seems like a heaven-sent release from eventual starvation and death slowly turns until the inevitable truth of their situation makes itself painfully and bloodily evident. This is an exceptional film that will reward repeat viewings. For me, it became a thoughtful rumination on fear, loneliness and the desire to live regardless of the cost. Not enough can be said to praise the excellent lead performances from Alice Krige as the witch and Sophia (IT) Lillis as Gretel. They are fantastic and this carefully crafted deliberately paced horror tale would not work half as well without their fine work.

THE LIST

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2017) – 5 (predictable kid’s movie) 

HOUSEBOUND (2014) – 9 (rewatch)

THE WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929) – 8 (Lang’s epic science fiction tale) 

DJANGO THE BASTARD (1969) – 7 (well done and creepy spaghetti western) 

REQUIEM FOR A GRINGO (1968) – 7 (an alternate title spoils the climax but a good SW) 

THE HOUSE ON THE OUTSKIRTS (1980) – 7 (well-made Spanish thriller by Eugenio Martin) 

REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (1967) – 8 (brilliant drama) 

THE LIVING SKELETON (1968) – 8  (Japanese ghost revenge tale – insane!)

GENOCIDE (1968) – 7 (dark Japanese sci-fi tale) 

PEEPER (1975) – 6 (merely OK noir styled mystery/comedy) 

THE SILVER BULLET (1942) – 5 (typical Johnny Mack Brown B-western) 

BIRDS OF PREY (2020) – 8 

NIGHTWISH (1989) – 5 (low budget horror effort- its reach exceeds its grasp) 

THE CALLER (1987) – 6  (oddball thriller with an unexpected ending) 

RIDE’EM COWBOYS! (1942) – 6  (Abbot & Costello silliness) 

GRETEL & HANSEL (2020) – 7 (fascinating fairy tale) 

FURY OF THE WOLFMAN (1970) – 4 (rewatch) 

STIGMA (1980) – 7 (Jose Larraz murder tale) 

THE WOLF MAN (1941) – 8 (rewatch) 

THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN (1972) – 6 (interesting low-budget attempt to adapt Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John tales) 

BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (1961) – 6 (rewatch) (Margheriti’s sci-fi tale with the great Claude Raines) 

THE PRODIGY (2019) – 7 (great ‘evil child’ horror story)