After my second macro-blog of the day, I'm going for a record third! You can't stop me! I'm high off of the fumes of being back on the Internet! Just when I thought I didn't have a hook while writing my last post, I found one! Because last night, I went to the movies.
My favorite theater in Fayetteville, Arkansas is the AMC off College. But you'll often find me at the Malco on Tuesdays for six ($6) dollar movies all day. What can I say, I can't resist a deal. I reserve the AMC for opening night movies (e.g. a Star Wars story). And I reserve the Malco for movies I wouldn't otherwise see in the theater (e.g. The Dead Don't Die), but it's only six ($6) dollars.
I wouldn't have otherwise seen The Grudge in the theater, but it was only six ($6) dollars. Also, I've been excited for the movie after I heard an interview with the director. Also, Brian Collins wrote a review defending the film. And the negative press only made me more intrigued.
It was okay.
But! What's more interesting than a straight review is what the film reminded me of. Two other films come to mind. The first is Crawl, which is my tenth (10th) favorite film of last year (2019). Crawl was also produced by Sam Raimi, like The Grudge. Does that matter? Who knows.
What I do know is that where Crawl is weak, The Grudge is strong. And where The Grudge is weak, Crawl is strong. Let me explain. Crawl's scares are strong, but the drama is weak. Whereas The Grudge's drama is strong, but the scares are weak. Mirror. Images.
The other film The Grudge reminded me of is Under the Silver Lake. Both The Grudge and Under the Silver Lake take place in the recent past. The Grudge is set in 2004-06, while Under the Silver Lake is set in 2011. And I like that!
I'd argue that knowing Under the Silver Lake is set in 2011 improved the film for me. Because, until the year came up, I kept thinking, "Man, everything looks so out of date in this movie." There's a band in the movie, Jesus & the Brides of Dracula (see above). This band reminded me of an evil version of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes (or The Polyphonic Spree).
And I was like, "I don't think this band would exist in L.A. in 2019." But it wasn't 2019! It was a good way to make the viewer think about the recent past. I'm surprised this movie hasn't gained a cult following yet!
The film examines how conspiracies enthrall alienated young men before Epstein's death. It also didn't flinch in depicting the male gaze in a pre-#MeToo L.A. Think Max Landis or Matt Mondanile. Yet I've seen some viewers conflating the protagonist's slacker chauvinism with the filmmaker's. That's 2018-2020 for you!
Well, I ended up talking more about Under the Silver Lake than I did about The Grudge. My main criteria for a good movie is whether it is a gateway to other great films and filmmakers. Maybe I'll macro-blog about my other favorites from 2019 next post . . .