Bernardo Villela is like a mallrat except at the movies. He is a writer, director, editor and film enthusiast who seeks to continue to explore and learn about cinema, chronicle the journey and share his findings.
Through 2019 my posts on this site have been sparse, but I have been tracking my viewing and will present my annual BAM Awards I plan to have the full list up tomorrow.
Viewing and posting has been more sparse than 2018 in part due to other writing pursuits. One short story I published can be read here another can be ordered in a magazine here.
The nominations again are from a smaller pool, and from mainly big studio films, but I am putting the same amount or care into selecting nominees as when I’ve had more than twice as many eligible titles. Watch this space as I hope to be a little more active and diversified here this year.
As a fan of the horror genre one is usually on the lookout waiting for something new, persistently waiting for—living in anticipation of your mind being blown. However, sometimes something you’ve seen before, or haven’t looked at in the right way yet, can bring the same effect. One of the things about The Reflecting Skin I never fully took into account were those involved in the making of it. This reexamination has revealed Philip Ridley—and artistic force in multiple media—who I’d somehow never really considered or looked into despite holding this work in such high regard. Furthermore, close examination of this film made me realize that I have one of his novels on my TBR (To Be Read) pile and I only made the connection now.
For a work to stand out and be unique it needn’t create entirely new American iconography. The Reflecting Skin combines familiar tropes of Americana which are ingrained in not only our consciousness, but the world’s (the film being the imagined version of America by a British auteur). In its presentation, through the twisted perceptions of a traumatized child, the move recombines the familiar in unfamiliar ways, mingling the sacred and the profane, humor and horror, beauty and depravity, open spaces and oppressive homes.
The Reflecting Skin tells the story of an eight-year-old boy, Seth Dove (Jeremy Cooper) and a harrowing sun-soaked summer on isolated Idaho farmland wherein death looms and strikes indiscriminately; he longs for the return of his older brother Cameron (Viggo Mortensen) from the war; copes with his overbearing mother (Sheila Moore), tolerates a pitiable father (Duncan Fraser), suspects a strange neighbor Dolphin Blue (Lindsay Duncan) of being a vampire; and is stalked by black Cadillac driving hoods.
This film will leave you overwhelmed by its beauty on occasion. Its subjective, dreamlike, subconscious language will either speak to you or it won’t. An example of this is that as I prepared to view this film anew my thought on it was that for 96 minutes it instills in me an awestruck fright that my childlike self felt at the quasi-literal visual that accompanied the line “All the vampires walking through The Valley, move west down Ventura Boulevard” in Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” video. This is what came to me before images from the film itself, such is its dreamlike persistence.
The Images
I’m not one for statements like “I’d never really seen this movie before” even though I firmly believe in being a member of the #AspectRatioPolice on film-Twitter, but aspect ratio is the least of the sins absolved by this new release. The opening frame of this film hit me like a sledgehammer unlike it ever had before. So long had it been since I last saw it I’d forgotten that before we’re introduced to Seth Dove all we see is a wheat field. The sumptuous beauty of the image properly framed, immaculately presented, and color balanced toward excessive saturation forced a reflexive expletive from my mouth.
The Essay
As is standard with Film Movement Classics releases there is an essay accompanying this film. This one is co-authored by Travis Crawford and Heather Hyche and illuminates some of the unique path of The Reflecting Skin’s path to cult classic status. It also teases Philip Ridley’s other two feature films which comprise a horror trilogy of sorts. Its closing line about cult films rings particularly true when this new, proper presentation elevated my appreciation of this film:
“Ridley has stated that the film’s restoration looks even better than the movie did upon its initial release, and this should finally satiate fans who know the truest cult films are not only the ones that have aged well over time, but the ones that also improve with each obsessive repeat viewing.”
Angels & Atom Bombs: The Making of The Reflecting Skin
This 44-minute documentary with insights from Philip Ridley, Viggo Mortensen, Dick Pope, and Nick Bicât is worth watching, but perhaps the most interesting part of it is Ridley’s explanation of the anthropophagous creation of the story from his art to a story idea about a recurrent figure in those paintings and collages.
The Commentary Track
For any and all who might be inclined to get this film, I recommend all the bonus features. While between the making of and the commentary some information will be conveyed twice, however, with Philip Ridley’s feature-length commentary there are some things taken more in depth, such as the adjustments to cover sets; other filming specifics like lighting challenges, film cheats, and more. Both are suggested after seeing the film if the title is new to you. As I’d seen it before, I saw the featurette first.
In 2008 Alexandre Aja helmed his second English-language feature, Mirrors. What was essentially a Kiefer Sutherland vehicle, trying to translate his 24-fueled stardom back to the big screen where his career began. The film was largely a forgettable affair save for the revelation of Cameron Boyce, playing Sutherland’s son, the child most susceptible to the evil forces that prey on the Carson family through their mirrors.
Cameron Boyce in Mirrors
In 2010, Boyce was cast in Grown Ups as Keithie Feder son of Lenny (Adam Sandler) and Roxanne (Salma Hayek). He was a young ensemble in those films who were among the highlights especially in the considerably less successful sequel in 2013.
Following Grown Ups and an appearance on League of Extraordinary Dancers, he began his long tenure on Disney Channel, which in the beginning consisted of guest and background work wherein he utilized his dancing skills.
However, he quickly landed a role as Luke Ross, a series regular, on Jessie, which ended as one of Disney Channel’s longest-running shows. He also became one of the voice actors to portray Jake on Jake and the Neverland Pirates. When Jessie ended, Disney spun-off the cast into two shows mostly Bunk’d, and Boyce played the lead on Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything, which while short-lived was underrated.
Cameron Boyce in Descendants
However, around the same time Boyce’s involvement in the Disney Channel’s latest breakout film series, Descendants, began. Boyce plays Carlos, son of Cruella De Vil and the films (one yet to be released) made full use of his range of talents.
There are appearances in a film called Runt and an HBO Series Mrs. Fletcher, which are currently in post-production. Boyce was attached to two other projects listed on the IMDb as being in pre-production. These facts of his résumé underscore the tragedy of his premature passing acutely.
At certain milestones in life, retrospectively you realize some of your best days were yet to come. Cameron Boyce’s best in life and his career was just over the horizon. While Disney Channel has been a platform before for the likes of Miley Cyrus and Zendaya, most notably; Boyce seemed on poised to break out in other works while still in the fold.
His future was bright in many ways. In his final interview he spoke about his charity work. This consciousness of what mattered in the world beyond the small and big screen seemed evident to me since his Black History Month promo for Disney XD a few years back.
Boyce’s death is unthinkably tragic, remembering his works not just on the screen but in the community is one way to bring a modicum of sense to the nonsensical.
Rest in peace, Cameron. You will be missed more than you know.
I am back, not as soon as I wanted to be, but after a shorter layoff than I had much of last year. For those of you who looked over my BAM Award winners and nominees and wondered what order the movies nominated for Best Picture might fall in, go to my Letterboxd page where I have made public my top 10 of 2018. Less hindsight posts to follow.
I don’t tally nominations until I finish each category and then release the nominees. Similarly, I try to pick each category individually regardless of what won prior categories. Sometimes this leads to diverse winners, sometimes not. My 2017 viewings were more than double my 2018 but last year’s Best Picture It won eight awards, yet this year’s choice will have won five.
Even trying to isolate categories if there is to be disparity between Best Editing, Best Director, and/or Best Picture it needs to be conscious and there was no separating it here.
In more recent years I had nearly all the films on the same level in terms of their being overlooked, either undistributed in the US or seeking one. The only film in that category until quite late in the year was All These Small Moments. Orion Classics picked it up and I believe it receives its limited release next weekend. Check it out.
What I wrote about Bo’s screenplay (below) as opposed to other things he’s written applies exponentially here. Shepherding a film to completion is not the same as directing a comedy show, especially when you’re not one of the performers. Feature film debut? Hard to believe.
I don’t try and subscribe to conventional wisdom like nominees from the same film, or the same actor in a category twice, canceling out. I’m a committee of one. It came down in deliberations to two performances in the horror genre Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place and Toni Collette in Hereditary. In the end, I kept coming back to the fact that this was Toni Collette’s best work to date, which says so much, too much for anyone else to overcome.
This category took me the longest to decide and was the last one I finalized. I will not hesitate to nominate a great comedic performance, so Jason Bateman, was in. Everyone in A Quiet Place was working with minimal dialogue, so in each category other actors had “come from behind” to get the pick, so John Krasinski was a serious contender. Chadwick Boseman had to carry himself with regality, do accent work, intense dialogue scenes and action. And despite the fact that I doubled the acting field and divided the awards by age, I will not bar an actor in their early-twenties from nomination, even if they’re playing a teenager as Meyer and Smit-McPhee are. Smit-McPhee also had many dialogue-free scenes, when he spoke he did so in a pastiche of indigenous North American tongues, did much of his scene work alone, against an animal or CG. In the end the only thing that might’ve precluded his winning was my not wanting to set precedent as he would be the first to “graduate” from winning Young Actor awards to later win adult ones, but I avoid “message” winners at all costs.
Sometimes when you see a familiar face on screen that you don’t see as much as you used to it can bring a smile to your face, but it doesn’t surpass mere nostalgia. Here it does, Ringwald’s work here blew me away and as as I stated on my Letterboxd review she “has some of the most beautifully acted moments of restrained pain and meaningful subtext in the film.”
Thomas Brodie-Sangster Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Hugh Grant Paddington 2
Michael B. Jordan Black Panther
Dennis Quaid I Can Only Imagine
Alex Wolff Hereditary
Truisms abound on villainous characters, the best are relatable and multidimensional and at their best identifiable. Having a great villain doesn’t guarantee a great performance, but a great performance and a great villain is something rare and special. Michael B. Jordan has that here.
Molly Ringwald, Jemima Kirke, Harley Quinn Smith, Brian d’Arcy James, Brendan Meyer, Roscoe Orman, Salena Qureshi, and Sam McCarthy All These Small Moments
Natalie Portman, Benedict Wong, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Sammy Hayman and Josh Danford Annihilation
Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward, and Leon Rossum A Quiet Place
Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Leatitia Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Basset, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Florence Kasumba, John Kani, David S. Lee, Nabiyah Be, et al. Black Panther
Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne, Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, et al. Hereditary
Large ensembles are some times at a disadvantage inasmuch as there isn’t always enough screen-time to go around and with more people there are mathematically more possible weakest links. Sometimes everyone in a large cast does rise to the occasion and the experience is richer than it otherwise would’ve been as it was in Black Panther.
Ultimately, this became a showdown of verisimilitude. Not only that but actresses representing realities we don’t often see on screen. Elsie Fisher edges slightly ahead because she conveys some of the most believable and searing adolescent awkwardness I’ve seen and also conveys a unique yet universal character, she too does great work without dialogue, which is the crux of film acting.
Working with minimal dialogue does not by default lead to a brilliant performance, in this film everyone is, but after a breakout year Jupe brings his talent into another stratosphere.
This was a particularly difficult one because the screen-time for all actors was varied. Every Day with a multitude of people playing A gave most actors working that role one very good scene. Ian Alexander was the best of the best. Orton O’Brien played small but poignant flashbacks. Gustavo Quiroz and Nathanael Saleh probably had the most screen-time but in terms of quantity and quality it had to be Sam McCarthy.
Storm Reid, Levi Miller, Deric McCabe, and Rowan Blanchard A Wrinkle in Time
Elsie Fisher, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghardi, Fred Hechinger, Luke Prael, Shacha Temirov, Thomas John O’Reilly, Tiffany Grossfeld and William Alexander Wunsch Eighth Grade
Angourie Rice, Lucas Jade Zumann, Ian Alexander, Charles Vandervaart, et al. Every Day
Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Billy Barratt, Felix Collar, and Kate Atwell Mary Poppins Returns
Isabela Moner, Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna Gamiz and Carson Holmes Instant Family
Cast awards can either be seen as a numbers game or a depth game. With group efforts, no matter how large or small a group, you are only as strong as your weakest link. None of these nominated casts have a weak link, but all of the actors in this quartet are on part with one another.
Brian Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski A Quiet Place
Melissa Miller Costanzo All These Small Moments
Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt and Albert Hughes Alpha
Bo Burnham Eighth Grade
Ari Aster Hereditary
Bo Burnham has written and performed standup. He’s written and performed music and poetry. It is another thing entirely to write in another medium such as film for myriad characters. He has done so here expertly.
Christopher Markus and Joe Russo, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Steve Englehart, Steve Gan, Bill Mantlo, Keith Giffen, Jim Starlin, Larry Lieber Avengers: Infinity War
Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole; Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Black Panther
Jan Švankmajer and Karel Čapek and Josef Čapek Insect
Paul King and Simon Farnaby, Michael Bond, and Jon Croker Paddington 2
A classic piece of absurdist satire theatre plus Švankmajer fully committed to simulacrum is a match made in heaven.
The score for this Halloween being composed by three men, only one of whom is John Carpenter, might lead one to believe there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Quite the opposite is true, it is brilliant. And while building on a legendary theme might seem an easy task, it also adds expectation. This score delivers in spades, especially with the end track “Halloween Triumphant.” It’s a marvel. There’s a Spotify link above. Enjoy!
Director/Writer/Actor John Krasinski talks about many aspects of the film in this Notes on a Scene segment, but he discusses sound often, and his thoughts permeate the film and communicate to the audience, which is why it is the honored film in this category.
Of all the departments in this film this was the most persistently excellent, and in the animated sequence Powell’s clothes actually stole the show from a modern take on a classical Disney approach.
I’m trying to economize words this year, but while it should go without saying that all nominees did wonderful work and all decisions were fraught with difficulty. These films were rather different in approach and goal, in the end it ended up being about how many sets were created and how great they all were.
Being nominated twice in the same year does not guarantee you the award as the transcendent performer of the year by default. Being as magnetic, wonderful, and bookending the year with A Quiet Place and Mary Poppins Returns made it a cinch.
Picking Švankmajer for this award was the first decision I made for these awards. I have featured his work on the site several times, including his cracking one of my film discoveries lists and a feature in one of my earliest posts, when I backed a crowdfunding campaign for his final film, in Bermanesque fashion, it did not disappoint and earned several nominations.
While my viewings overall were down, the handful of new-to-me Bergman films I saw thanks to Criterion’s amazing new box set spurred yet another renaissance of my awe for his genius.
There were not monthly considerations posts or shortlists this year. However, I have been tracking eligible titles I’ve seen on Letterboxd. There you’d see that my viewings of eligible titles (and films in general) dipped. It went down to about the level it was when I started making these as a high school student.
That quote is true in many ways and sometimes life happens and the releases viewed slow down by choice, circumstance or both. This year was a lot of both. Many things I prioritized highly I didn’t get to see, but as I realized a few years ago when posting these awards on my blog these awards are kind of like a yearbook. They may include many films or few, all the awards contenders or none, some I wrote on extensively and many I did not; these awards are my attempt to encapsulate what impressed me and why.
Whom I select and why will be announced on January 10th. So without further ado, here are this year’s nominees…
Molly Ringwald, Jemima Kirke, Harley Quinn Smith, Brian d’Arcy James, Brendan Meyer, Roscoe Orman, Salena Qureshi, and Sam McCarthy All These Small Moments
Natalie Portman, Benedict Wong, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Sammy Hayman and Josh Danford Annihilation
Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward, and Leon Rossum A Quiet Place
Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Leatitia Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Basset, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Florence Kasumba, John Kani, David S. Lee, Nabiyah Be, et al. Black Panther
Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne, Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, et al. Hereditary
Storm Reid, Levi Miller, Deric McCabe, and Rowan Blanchard A Wrinkle in Time
Elsie Fisher, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghardi, Fred Hechinger, Luke Prael, Shacha Temirov, Thomas John O’Reilly, Tiffany Grossfeld and William Alexander Wunsch Eighth Grade
Angourie Rice, Lucas Jade Zumann, Ian Alexander, Charles Vandervaart, et al. Every Day
Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Billy Barratt, Felix Collar, and Kate Atwell Mary Poppins Returns
Isabela Moner, Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna Gamiz and Carson Holmes Instant Family
Christopher Markus and Joe Russo, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Steve Englehart, Steve Gan, Bill Mantlo, Keith Giffen, Jim Starlin, Larry Lieber Avengers: Infinity War
Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole; Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Black Panther
Jan Svankmajer and Karel Capek and Josef Capek Insect
Paul King and Simon Farnaby, Michael Bond, and Jon Croker Paddington 2
As I’ve had occasion to mention when I have happened to post this year: I am still here. Until late Spring (early Summer in the moviegoing calendar), I at least stopped by to say “Yes, I am still here, but here’s why I’ve not been as active…” that slowed to a halt after a guest post on Rupert Pupkin Speaks.
“Life finds a way,” can mean a lot of things and one is that it can get in the way a bit.
Much of what was occupying my time earlier in the year still was and is: much more fiction writing, some in preparation for the next volume of this series of short stories I’m working on and some for other pursuits.
I hope to be able to post more next year. One thing that spoiled me in 2017 and into early 2018 was that I had many reviews ready to post for older titles that kept the site active without my adding to the backlog of content. Maybe knowing I have to create the BAM posts will bring forth more posts afterward.
At the Enclave section over at Entropy ever since this call for submissions came out…
If the world were to end next week, what is the final poem you write, the final poem you give away generously, treacherously, genuinely, fearfully, necessarily, beautifully?
I’ve been pondering my submission. After many attempts, in many different forms, I finally came up with my own take, in a non-traditional format. You can find it here.
One of my favorite lists to compile on an annual basis is my film discoveries list. My 2017 list was posted yesterday on Rupert Pupkin Speaks. Read it here!
The Movie Rat 