What I Watched in January 2023

I was expecting to enjoy Brandon Cronenberg’s latest film INFINITY POOL (2023) but found myself never completely connecting with it. I wanted to ‘feel it’ but it never drew me in. Part of the fault may be in the nature of the story and partly it might be the admittedly smart way the director chose to shoot it.

I noticed quickly that Cronenberg framed the film in an off-center fashion. Nearly no shot is composed with the main focus of the image placed in the middle of the frame. If we are looking at a single person, they are crowding the right or left of the screen. If there are more than two characters in a long shot at least one of the speaking actors will be hidden by the set or another actor. This serves to generate a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the viewer that might not be obvious until the gradual effect of these choices accumulate over time. This seems to have been done to create an unsettling feeling of detached unreality and I think that is an impressive feat. It certainly worked on me in the theater as I immersed myself in the impressions of the odd, vaguely defined European nation in which the film takes place. 

As we witness these wealthy people vacationing in a protected resort, I was aware that there were several possible pointed bits of commentary beyond the obvious being made about what we see. Indeed, the upper-class privilege on display is of the ugliest variety but that seems to be just the first level of what Cronenberg is going for here. He seems primarily to be wrestling with ideas related to imposter syndrome and feelings of worthlessness wrapped around creative production. If given the chance I would be tempted to ask the writer/director if he is working out some of his own concerns about life as the child of a famous person in the same profession. Is INFINTY POOL an exercise in navel gazing taken to self-flagellatory extremes?

Still, the film is an interesting experience. I can’t say it fully worked for me but I do respect what is does or tries to do. And, without a doubt, I look forward to the director’s next film. 

The List

THE HOST (2013) – 4 (Woof!) 

DEAD SOULS (2012) – 4 (pretty bad horror effort) 

SON OF SAMSON (a.k.a. Maciste in the Valley of Kings) (1960) – 7

DEVIL’S CARGO (1948) – 6 (The Falcon moves to Poverty Row) 

THE BLACK CAT (1990) – 6 (the Blu makes it much easier to appreciate this one) 

SHIN ULTRAMAN (2022) – 8 

EXTRACTION (2020) – 8 (excellent action story)

IVANHOE (1952) – 9 (a wonderful technicolor sword & knights adventure)

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (1931) – 6 (twisty murder mystery)

THREE ON A TICKET (1947) – 6 (solid if flat Michael Shayne mystery)

BLOOD ON MELIES’ MOON (2016) – 5 

MEGAN (2023) – 7 (killer dolls make the next leap forward) 

WILLY’S WONDERLAND (2021) – 6 

SO DARK THE NIGHT (1946) – 8 (Joe Lewis crafts an exceptional noir tale) 

BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (1979) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) (nearly all the humor is terrible but it holds up as a solid TV movie)

SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (1961) – 7 (checked out the shorter AIP version this time)

BATMAN AND SUPERMAN: BATTLE OF THE SUPER SONS (2022) – 8 (excellent animated feature)

THE SHINING (1980) – 9 (rewatch) 

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (2022) – 8 

CALL IT MURDER (1934) – 4 (early Bogart role in a poorly directed stage-bound mess) 

THE UNHOLY (2021) – 7 (solid horror tale anchored by a great Jeffery Dean Morgan performance)

THE 10TH VICTIM (1956) – 8  

YETI – THE GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY (1977) – 6 (rewatch on German Blu) (ridiculous and goofy)

THE AVENGER (1960) – 7 (good krimi from another Edgar Wallace novel) 

HELL HARBOR (1930) – 6 (interesting island drama with Lupe Valdez) 

LEAGUE OF SUPER PETS (2022) – 6 (fun but slight animated adventure)

DESTINY (1944) – 6 (you can see the original dark road beneath the shiny, happy finished product) 

WICKED WOMAN (1953) – 7 (great, dark noir) 

INFINITY POOL (2023) – 6 (impressive on many levels but I didn’t connect with it)