"We're not critics. We're professional fan-girls." --- This blog is dedicated to movies and the entertainment industry. We use random selection to bring into light the best and worst of streaming films and entertainment news.
Movie Name/Year: Skinwalker: The Howl of the
Rougarou (2021) Genre: Documentary Length: 70 minutes Rating: Unrated Director: Seth Breedlove Writer: Heather Moser, Seth Breedlove Actors: Lyle Blackburn, Santino Vitale, Amy Davies, Grayden Nance,
Adrienne Breedlove Blurb: For centuries, stories have persisted throughout the
southern swamps of something truly otherworldly: a terrifying, hirsute creature
known by locals as the Rougarou. These legends predate the first immigrant
settlers who made their way into the murky waters and dark forests of the
south, yet the Rougarou has only recently made its way into pop culture via
appearances in horror films, a regional festival and even a roller coaster
ride.
Selina’s Point of View: Any of our
consistent readers know that I’m not a documentary person. I watch movies for
entertainment value. If I want to learn about something, I prefer to pick up a
book. So, why would I voluntarily choose a film like Skinwalker: The Howl of
the Rougarou?
My interest in
all things werewolf simply outweighs my distaste for documentaries. Between
that and Cat’s interest in a subject that affects her home state of Louisiana –
watching this was always in the cards. I’ve opted not to
give it a number score, though Cat will be reviewing it normally. I’m going to
operate on a pass/fail kind of mentality. A number score coming from me just
wouldn’t be fair to the project. It would be like a vegetarian judging a piece of
steak. That said, let’s
jump into it. It wasn’t what I
expected it to be.
From the promotional
info, I thought the documentary would be laying out an argument on the
existence of the Rougarou. Instead, it was almost an anthropological look at
the importance, and cultural impact, of the stories that have been told. I have
to say, that actually worked out better for me. I’m from NYC –
home of the eternal skeptic. It would have been a hard sell to get me to believe
in any kind of Rougarou reality. The fact that the documentary didn’t even try
to go that route, meant that I wound up much more engaged than I would have
been. Instead, there
were interesting stories told about Louisiana and its people, the etymology of
the Rougarou word, history of the legend, and some engaging visuals that went
hand-in-hand with recreations. I also couldn’t ignore that the voice of the
narrator reminded me of the Natural History Museum and some of its exhibits. Would I choose to
watch Skinwalker: The Howl of the Rougarou again? No. It didn’t change
my opinion of documentaries. Would I recommend it to people who DO like the
genre? That I would. If you’re
interested in learning more about the Louisiana cryptid known as the Rougarou,
you will be able to rent/purchase Skinwalker: The Howl of the Rougarou on
most streaming platforms Sept 14th.
Cat’s Point of View: We’re stepping a
little bit outside of our usual box with today’s review. We were given the
opportunity to view a screener for an upcoming documentary focusing on a bit of
lore from my home state of Louisiana. I realize that anyone familiar with our
monthly trailer-viewing stream, which preps for our Top 20 Movies article, will
likely be a bit surprised. We don’t generally cover documentaries unless they
really grab our attention. Skinwalker: Howl of the Rougarou did just
that. Rougarou are
creatures of folklore primarily in South Louisiana, where swamps, bayous, and
marshland abound. They’re akin to werewolves but with a twist. I have lived all
but one year of my life within the state of Louisiana, yet I’d really only
heard of the Rougarou in passing. This particular cryptid doesn’t make
appearances up here in the northern part of the state where I am. You find
tales and sightings far down at the other end of ‘the boot’. We’re talking
rural areas, at the level of New Orleans or below. All the same, I’m
absolutely fascinated with this sort of thing and am down for learning more
about it, so this documentary checks all the boxes. Now to the
nitty-gritty. I’d have to say
that this was a fairly solid offering for the documentary genre. I could have
done without some of the shaky-cam swamp scenes used as transitions or the
filters used to create an old-timey film reel visual. It didn’t really need
those extra bells and whistles.
I consider a
documentary a success if you learn something from it, or it calls attention to
something that needs more awareness. Skinwalker: Howl of the Rougarou
did both. We’re offered
some history on both the Cajun people’s arrival in southern Louisiana and also
the Native American tribes of that area. I learned about some things that my
school classes on Louisiana History didn’t cover. That’s always a bonus. There are often
unexplained sightings attributed to this elusive cryptid, as well.
Skinwalker: Howl of the Rougarou gives us some tales of harrowing
encounters with the beast via witness interviews. Of course, there’s a
historian’s perspective provided also. I found listening to the tales
fascinating. My maternal grandmother’s family comes from South Louisiana and
some of the people interviewed had accents that reminded me of listening to my
great aunt when she came to visit. I appreciate that
members of our Native American tribes and their stories were represented, as
well. One of the most
important features of the Skinwalker: Howl of the Rougarou documentary
is the attention it brings to the coastal land erosion in southern Louisiana.
Every year, swaths of Louisiana simply erode away to be lost to the Gulf of
Mexico. Saltwater intrusion creeps in and decimates freshwater ecosystems. As
sea levels rise, this is something that will only worsen in the future. All told, Skinwalker:
Howl of the Rougarou is a nice slice of Louisiana folklore with a generous
helping of environmental awareness.
Streaming Service: Shudder Movie Name/Year: Martyrs Lane (2021) Genre: Horror Length: 96 minutes Rating: Unrated Production/Distribution: British Film Institute, Ipso Facto Productions, Sharp
House, LevelK, Shudder Director: Ruth Platt Writer: Ruth Platt Actors: Anastasia Hille, Catherine
Terris, Charlie Rix, Denise Gough, Donna Banya, Hannah Rae, Julie Barclay,
Kiera Thompson, Lianne Harvey, Sienna Sayer, Steven Cree Blurb from IMDb: Leah, 10, lives in a large vicarage, full of
lost souls and the needy. In the day the house is bustling with people; at
night it is dark, empty, a space for Leah's nightmares to creep into. A small,
nightly visitor brings Leah comfort, but soon she will realise that her little
visitor offers knowledge that might be very, very dangerous.
Cat’s Point of View:
If a reference volume, listing shining examples of genre
films, is ever published, Martyrs Lane is
a shoo-in. It's a masterfully crafted, and understated, ghost story. My only issue with Martyrs
Lane really isn’t even that big of a deal. The pacing seems a hair slower
than necessary in some places, but honestly, it could be intentional just to
draw out the suspense. That’s it. The entirety of this movie is executed with
subtlety and nuance. It’s not often you find that with films involving young
actors of the age range we see here.
Ruth Platt’s (The
Pianist, The Lesson, The Black Forest) skillful writing and directing of
this film belie her short list of credits on IMDb for those roles. I adore the
puzzle-building process that we see in Martyrs
Lane. Platt gives us just a small piece at a time as the story unfolds. We
start to see a framework and then things really start falling into place.
Can we pause for a moment to also appreciate that Martyrs Lane provides tension and
suspense laced with thrills without the need for gore and carnage? I would say
that this horror movie is an example of a minimalist’s usage of all things bloody. If you are craving a splatter-fest, this isn’t the movie for you. If
you’re looking for the visual embodiment of an excellent campfire tale, you are
where you belong.
I am not often this impressed with performances from child
actors. Kiera Thompson (3
Sleeps, The Salisbury Poisonings, The Emily Atack Show) absolutely
nailed it. I bought her health issues, her anxiety, and how over-it she was
with the dynamic in her household. I could just see myself in her shoes and I
felt her emotional journey. That’s quite a feat when many scenes involve
no dialogue and require an actor to silently emote. Of course, the rest of Martyrs
Lane’s cast deserves kudos, also. They skillfully painted the picture of a
loving family brought to dysfunction by a hidden tragedy in the past. It’s easy
to get swept into the chaos of their daily lives in the shadow of their duty to
their parish, where the family’s patriarch is the vicar.
I could rattle on forever about the ambiance woven by sound
and visuals, but I’ll spare you the details - save for one. It is going to be
hard for me to get the sound of the crinkly breathing out of my head. That came
through with eerie and haunting realism, no pun intended. It’s finally time for the seasons to change, and with fall
comes the ushering-in of all things spooky. If you’re looking for a
spellbinding story of specters for a night of hot cocoa to chase the chills, Martyrs Lane may be just the movie for
you. Martyrs Lane
releases on Shudder Thursday, September 9th.
Streaming Services: Amazon Prime Movie Name/Year: Cinderella (2021) Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical Length: 113 minutes Rating: PG Production/Distribution: Columbia Pictures, DMG
Entertainment, Fulwell 73, Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures
Entertainment, Amazon Prime Video, Sony Pictures Releasing, Amazon Studios Director: Kay Cannon Writer: Kay Cannon Actors: Billy Porter, Camila Cabello, Nicholas
Galitzine, Charlotte Spencer, Idina Menzel, Minnie Driver, Pierce Brosnan,
Tallulah Grieve, James Corden, John Mulaney, Maddie Baillio, Romesh
Ranganathan, Ben Smith, Luke Latchman, Jenet Le Lacheur, Fra Fee
Blurb from IMDb:
A modern movie musical with a bold take on the classic fairy tale. Our
ambitious heroine has big dreams and with the help of her fab Godmother, she
perseveres to make them come true.
Selina’s Point of View: Critics never fail to disappoint me. Why did they start
reviewing movies, I wonder? I started to give my opinions out of love. I LOVE movies. I grew up on them. Throughout a rough childhood,
films were my go-to escape. If anything, I started the blog in order to have a
reason to watch as many movies as I could possibly get my hands on. Naively, I
believed that most critics probably started the same way. I’m not so sure now. Now, I believe many of them probably started because they
love to tear things down. They like to nit-pick. They need to be the most
pretentious voice in the whole fucking room or they’ll wither away and die. It’s easiest to see my perspective when it comes to films
like Cinderella. Cinderella is an entertaining rehash of a dated story
set to a jukebox soundtrack. I had a feeling it might be cute, but it was so
much more than that. It was endlessly entertaining. The songs were worked into
the script with ease – and even when they didn’t seem to flow at first, they
did by the end of the scene. Insanely talented voices, such as Camila Cabello
and Idina Menzel, belted out popular song after popular song. Honestly, the only thing standing between Cinderella
being compared to something like Hamilton is a stage, a true story, and
some original lyrics. There were no flaws in the setting, the acting, or the choreography. If
you read the reviews by critics, you’ll see that a lot of them seem to think
this film is the product of a classic story getting a remake it didn’t need. You
see gems like “…misguided musical fails to convince us this oft-told tale
needed to be spun again” and “…the list of Cinderella adaptations I have seen,
none comes close to this level of badness.” (That second quote had little to do with what I’m getting at
right now and more to do with how awful the wording is coming from someone
looking to judge someone else harshly.)
Do I think Cinderella really needed a retelling? YES. Of COURSE it needed updating. The original Disney version of
Cinderella, that the majority of Hollywood has been copy-catting off of,
was about a girl who could not rescue herself and needed a man to come and fix
all her problems. I re-watched it recently, and was shocked to realize that the
titular character was almost a side-note in her own film. She was upstaged by mice
and men. In this new version of the Cinderella story, Cinderella is
an actual person. She’s not just sitting in her room singing to bird about how
much she believes love with rescue her. She actually has a dream. Is it the
deepest thing in the world? No. It still make her feel more real. The worst part is what the majority of critics missed. They
completely ignored the basic entertainment value. The average movie goer does not give a single fuck about the
structure of a script or the fact that the lead is more well-known as a singer
than as an actor. Far as I’ve seen, most audiences only care if the flick is
entertaining. Cinderella was exactly that. It was updated to show a
more relatable titular character, it threw in a badass Billy Porter as the
fairy godmother, and had a soundtrack with choreography that was unignorable.
What the hell else can anyone expect from a remake of anything? The reviews weren’t all bad, though. The audience knew where
it was at. Although critics gave Cinderella a lackluster 44%, the audience
has it sitting at 77%. I will always remind our readers that when there’s a discrepancy
of that much on Rotten Tomatoes, ALWAYS side with the number that comes from
people who are not being paid to be mean. Even when I don’t agree with the
audience for that specific film, I still stand by my recommendation: always listen
to the audience score over the actual tomatometer. Cat’s already reviewed Cinderella. She did it on her
own because I was covering a film festival at the time. Still, I had to write
something, because I got fired up after reading the ridiculous reviews. Grab some friends, grab some popcorn, turn up the sound, and
get ready to sing along. Cinderella is absolutely worth your time.
Movie Name/Year: Witches of Blackwood (2021) Genre: Thriller Length: 78 minutes Rating: Unrated Director: Kate Whitbread Writer: Darren Markey Actors: Cassandra Magrath, Kevin Hofbauer, Lee Mason, John Voce,
Nicholas Denton, Susan Vasiljevic, Francesca Waters, Nikola Dubois, Maddy
Vasiljevic, Gigi Vasiljevic Blurb from IMDb: A supernatural thriller
with a witchy theme, starring Cassandra Magrath
Selina’s Point of View: Staying awake
during Witches of Blackwood was one of the most difficult things I’ve
ever had to do for this blog. By a half hour
in, nothing had happened. The story was so slow that I still hadn’t been made
to care. In fact, the first scene that mattered to me, even a little, happened
around the 40-minute mark. Worse than that, the scene was only about 3-minutes
long. Even near the
end, when the climax should have picked everything up… it was so predictable
that it just didn’t work. I remained underwhelmed. The company that
promoted this movie worked really hard to connect it to Wolf Creek
(2005). In every advertisement it was stressed that Wolf Creek’s Cassandra
Magrath (Ali’s Wedding, The Dustwalker, 36 Questions) was in this flick.
The cult classic’s title even came before the name of this flick in the fliers.
I get it. That was a great way to gain attention for Witches of Blackwood…
but I think it hurt the film’s chances.
By advertising
that way, it caused me to view Witches of Blackwood and Wolf Creek
as part of the same category, and they couldn’t be further apart. The way a movie
is promoted matters. I’m not saying I would have suddenly fallen in love with
it if it had been served to me differently, but I would have gone into it with
different expectations that might have been easier to meet. I was really
looking forward to Witches of Blackwood, and I’m beyond disappointed. I wouldn’t re-watch
this film, but who knows? Maybe it’s just not for me. Maybe there’s someone out
there who would appreciate this kind of super-slow mild thriller. If you think
it might be for you, Witches of Blackwood will be available on DVD, and
digitally, September 7.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None Metascore – None Metacritic User Score – None IMDB Score – None Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5 Trust-the-Dice’s
Parental Advisory Rating:
R Movie Trailer:
