Bird Box

Netflix

Sandra Bullock, John Malcovich,

Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver

"Never lose Sight of Survival"

My first post in 2019 tackles a genre which I rarely watch - horror movies. But a controversial meme where people mimic the characters in Bird Box got me curious so watch, I did. I log in to my rarely used Netflix account and try to absorb the narrative without the need to close my eyes because I scare, easily.

Malorie (Sandra Bullock) is a pregnant artist/painter who isn't really the maternal type.  Her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson) drives them home after a pre-natal check up. Suddenly Jessica acts weird, starts calling out for their mom, runs out of the car and straight into the path of an incoming truck. 

The stage is set for this post apocalyptic world where the key to survival is to blindfold your eyes when you go out to avoid seeing some strange force which makes you kill yourself.

After sharing a house with some strangers who eventually turn on each other, Malorie decides to venture out with two young kids (one of them is her now 5 year old son) to a sanctuary. The only problem is they need to take a small boat and navigate perilous waters on a lake to reach it, blindfolded. The vital ingredient on the boat is a tiny box with two small birds thus Bird Box. Apparently, birds can sense them and would chirp incessantly to signal the presence of these mysteriously deadly 'forces'.

Aside from gory scenes of chaos and people killing themselves, the tone of the movie was not a.there.is.a.monster.killing.humans type of scary. It was mostly psychological as they are dealing with something which nobody understands what triggered it nor how long it would last and why it is spreading throughout the entire universe. There were several scenes which were dragging. A couple of jaw dropping intense sequences on the lake when they reach the shooting rapids. A far fetched scenario to say the least, as she had to course through it, blindfolded. 

Bird Box had mostly tolerable scenarios with only a few engaging parts. No clear answers are provided and this truly disappointed my curiosity. Except for some gory scenes of mayhem, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be so I know I won't have any nightmares to interrupt my sleep, tonight.

CASE 39

Renee Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane, Bradley Cooper

"Some cases should never be opened."

HBO

Last night, an irritating case of insomnia prompted me to flip through TV channels. I came across this psychological thriller on HBO and decided to watch it. Never mind that it was a horror film, a genre I try to avoid because I scare easily. Well you might blame it on the insomnia but interestingly enough I finished it in its entirety.

The film follows social worker Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) as she takes on the case of a young girl named Lilith (Jodelle Ferland) who's being abused by her parents. Emily takes pity on the 10 year old so she adopts her temporarily while she is put on the adoption list. But soon enough, problems crop us as it becomes clear that little Lilith isn't quite as wholesome and innocent as she appears.

The horrific nature of the film's plot doesn't make itself completely evident until around the halfway mark with a handful of gory thriller elements. Its slow pace becomes more and more problematic though as time progresses. Loopholes in the plot abound as predictability sets in.

Yet the truth is that as demonic children movies go, it's really not bad in the creepiness factor. The believable acting of the cast makes it seem a little better than your average creepy kid possessed by the devil films. Not much, but a little. Plus, Jodelle Ferland's Lilith is perhaps the creepiest demon child ever to grace the screen and if she’s not, she’s certainly in the running.

Still, "Case 39" despite all its flaws is still a perfectly watchable kid-from-hell chiller. My interest was piqued with the film which is as much as you can reasonably expect from this kind of picture. It was certainly more than I expected. It kept me on the edge of my bed but it certainly didn't relieve me of my insomnia! How can you sleep after watching so much evil emanate from a young child? Geez!

BLACK SWAN

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

Cinema 6, Trinoma

I believe that as young girls we all dreamt of being a ballerina. The tutus, the classical music, the pas de deux steps were all very fascinating for our very young impressionable minds. Naturally, we move on to more lofty ambitions, one that is within our reach.

But the fascination with ballet never really leaves you. I still have this musical box which once opened had this little ballerina figurine dancing to the Swan Lake music. Well the music still plays faintly but the figurine has long been misplaced.

So a film that features ballet as its central theme would surely draw in the crowds, well mostly the female variety. But "Black Swan" is not a film merely about ballet. It also deals with obsession, jealousy, insanity and the need to always be perfect all the time.

Artistic director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) selects Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) as a leading candidate for the role of the heroine -- the white swan -- as well as the antagonistic black swan who seduces and steals her prince. All of this is exceptionally demanding for Nina, who we notice is an emotionally frail human being prone to strange dreams and hallucinations.

She has an unusually close relationship with her retired ballerina single mother (Barbara Hershey) who has a creepy controlling attitude. She must also face stiff competition from a young rising ballerina named Lily (Mila Kunis) who has been cast as her alternate. Lily is the complete opposite of the demure, stoic Nina. She is more carefree, liberated and willing to take risks. All of which sort of pushes Nina to the brink of insecurity and paranoia.

Director Darren Aronofsky does a spectacular job of drawing the audience deep into Nina's inner turmoil, making the viewer feel every uncomfortable twist of her slow decline into mental instability. The film quickly becomes very surreal and unsettling as we witness Nina's anxiety, fear, confusion, and she is slowly coming unhinged. This arrives complete with a rising curve of jarring moments to reflect Nina's mental and emotional disintegration as she strives for perfection always just out of reach.

The dance sequences are beautifully choreographed and exquisitely filmed, a blend of swirling beauty and mind-bending disorientation. The majestic music of Swan Lake becomes the perfect soundtrack to the building insanity, with an on-stage climax of operatic proportions.

Natalie Portman as Nina was incredible. I read that under the 'sadistic' prodding of Aronofsky she went through rigorous training to learn ballet. She even lost 20 pounds to achieve her ballerina stance. And all those sessions paid off as she delivered a great performance in a role that surely deserves the Best Actress trophy in any if not all of the awards shows. Her transformation from a slightly unstable dancer obsessed with perfection to the unveiling of her darker moments were believable but no less shocking to watch.

The other talented cast composed of Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey also performed well in their supporting roles. But truly the Black Swan thrives solely on the enigmatic presence of Natalie Portman.

This brings me to note that I was reminded of Aronofsky's other film, "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke. The themes about obsession, jealousy, paranoia and striving for perfection are the same. He dared to explore the flip side of beauty, with all its ugly consequences – all in pursuit of the perfect performance.

I really recommend this dark psychological thriller for one reason - to watch Natalie Portman deliver an award winning performance. That should be enough, in my opinion.