The Pick: Notting Hill

We’re back in romantic comedyland, looking once again at Richard Curtis’s wish-fulfillment shenanigans (and another Julia Roberts movie) with a discussion of 1999’s Notting Hill. Even though we split on this one, it’s a fairly cordial conversation full of British accents and debate over the charms (or lack thereof) contained by its co-star Hugh Grant. It may not be a Christmas movie, but it’s still one to put you in that feel-good spirit if you’re willing to just go with its easygoing look at love, fame, and romantic montages. Continue reading →

The Pick: The Pelican Brief

Needless to say, the gap between this latest and our last episode hasn’t been all that… brief. It wasn’t helped by the fact that The Pelican Brief is an overwhelming passable but unremarkable film, and one that pales a bit compared to some of the other John Grisham adaptations that were filling multiplexes in the mid-90s. Still, it gives us a chance to dive into Grisham’s fascinating background and the types of movies that his books inspired, even if this one doesn’t entirely adhere to his distinctly Southern flavor. Continue reading →

The Pick: Wolf

We end this Shocktober (for the most part) with a movie that’s hard to even categorize as a horror movie, even if it tackles one of the most iconic movie monsters. 1994’s Wolf sees the odd pairing of Mike Nichols’ actor-centric directing with modern-day werewolves and the results are… pretty fun if you’re willing to overlook everything that doesn’t quite work about it. Which is quite a bit. But come on, where else are you going to see Jack Nicholson as a werewolf book editor? Also, if that wasn’t enough, John has fun relying on AI to concoct a version of this movie that stars Robin Williams (surprise, it’s not that great). Continue reading →

Shocktober: The Pope’s Exorcist

The Pope’s Exorcist (2023)

The Russell Crowe funny accent era is here and I love it. Just a little while ago, Crowe was cast in Thor: Love and Thunder to play Zeus with the same vaguely English accent he used in Gladiator a couple decades ago. Crowe protested this and eventually got his way by agreeing to shoot every scene in the movie twice, once with a “faux upper-class” accent and once with an hilariously over-the-top, effete Greek accent. Boy, sure sounds like the production of that movie went great, doesn’t it? Anyway, he won in the end and I guess not satisfied with one huge swing, Crowe went and made another one: he gave himself just two months to perfect an Italian accent for The Pope’s Exorcist. And that performance once again elevates an otherwise forgettable film.

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Shocktober Day 14: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

A few Shocktobers ago, I was particularly taken with the first Conjuring movie, enough that I eventually sought out the sequel, despite not being someone who seeks out horror sequels very frequently. So I was happy to catch up with the Warrens again, even if I’m still very behind on catching up with the larger Conjuring universe that has developed over the past decade. While The Devil Made Me Do It isn’t a complete revitalization of the series or anything (though it does pivot slightly away from ghost stories), it still leaves me curious to check out whatever Annabelle and that Nun are up to, perhaps against my better judgment. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 13: Talk to Me

Talk to Me (2023)

It’s funny that the whole idea of doing “Possession” films for this year’s Shocktober was inspired by Exorcist: Believer when there were so many other (better) possession films released this year. I loved Evil Dead Rise, and I haven’t seen The Pope’s Exorcist yet (Expect a review from Sean later this week) but even its unimpressive 48% RT score is double Exorcist: Believer’s paltry 22%. Then there’s Talk to Me, a low budget, Australian Indie from a pair of YouTube creators, and it’s arguably the best horror film of the year.

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Shocktober: The Last Exorcism

The Last Exorcism (2010)

The second half of my PG-13 horror week is 2010’s The Last Exorcism directed by Daniel Stamm. A German filmmaker, Stamm directed this and another low budget indie found footage movie before he kind of disappeared in Hollywood. The Last Exorcism‘s success cast Stamm into M. Night Shyamalan’s orbit just as the cinematic universe trend was taking off, setting in motion the now familiar story of the low budget filmmaker suddenly thrown into a massive studio opportunity. In this case, he was to direct “Reincarnate,” a movie that would have formed the middle chapter of “The Night Chronicles” a series that apparently began with Devil, the scary elevator movie also from 2010. Except “Reincarnate” never got off the ground (although also it apparently hasn’t officially been cancelled) and instead Shyamalan had to make a bunch of movies to rehabilitate his own reputation, leaving Stamm to spend last decade plus grinding it out.

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