stonedfilmclub

Wow - what an absolute landmark of a film. Considering it's the entirely true story about a real life God, who blessed us mere mortals with some of the most revolutionary music that will ever exist, it's only fitting that his film would be known to us all as the greatest ever made. I wept uncontrollably during every scene and from this day until the day I die I shall thank the lord for allowing me to exist at the same time as this film, and at the same time as the great Weird Al Yankovic.

In all seriousness, this is a hilarious and well needed parody of a sub genre which has grown very stale and predictable over the years. There were plenty of memorable moments that made me laugh out loud and the daftness seems to grow exponentially. The recurring jokes of Weird Al's unparalleled greatness and the way the film pokes fun at the many cliches of music biopics never grew old for me. The fact that I was already a Weird Al fan made it all so much more funny and satisfying, but you could easily still enjoy this film if you'd never even heard of him. Daniel Radcliffe is absolutely perfect in the lead role and the supporting cast is also great, jam-packed with cameos and jabs at other famous figures (mainly Madonna, who has a comically large role in the plot despite Weird Al's admittance that he only ever met her once for 45 seconds). I'd highly recommend this and I can't remember the last time a new film made me laugh so much - I can definitely see myself rewatching it many times in the future.

Based on the true crime book of the same name, this miniseries follows detectives Jeb Pyre and Bill Taba as they unravel the brutal double murder of Brenda Wright and her 15 month old daughter, Erica. Taking place in a devout mormon community in 1984 Utah where almost every inhabitant is a dedicated member of the LDS religion, the detectives' investigation focuses on the Laffertys; a highly reputable LDS family that Brenda unfortunately married into. The best thing about the show is undoubtedly Andrew Garfield's Emmy nominated performance as detective Pyre, conveying him with so much heart and sensitivity that make it all the more satisfying when he's forced to turn up the volume. His arc was so satisfying to watch unfold and his dynamic with Gil Birmingham's detective Taba really tied the whole show together. There's essentially two plots, as it constantly flashes back and educates the audience on how mormonism began (spoiler alert, it was founded by sociopathic murderers and paedophiles). Whilst I definitely found it interesting to learn about, it does tend to take you out of the action a lot of the time, and that leads me to the show's biggest problem: a very disjointed structure. Flash backs are overused in the telling of the story and, whilst they are often necessary to depict key events in the lead up to the murder, they could have been fitted in better. Every character under investigation delivers a million monologues so we can flash back to either the beginnings of mormonism or to key events regarding the murder. It's not smooth and soon grows tedious - all the characters withhold details they should have revealed many monologues ago, just to service the progression of the story. Often, I was thinking 'why didn't they already mention that part the last time they were questioned?' To fix this, I think it would have been way more seamless to mix the flashbacks in without all the painstaking monologues. Other than that, I'd recommend this show, especially if you're a fan of true crime stories and Andrew Garfield. Wouldn't recommend if you're a mormon.

The children of a small American town in the 70s are being terrorised by a mysterious figure nicknamed 'The Grabber'. When Finney is taken by The Grabber, he finds himself receiving phone calls from the ghosts of past victims who try to give him clues on how to escape. Damn, I was hooked. The Black Phone plays like some kind of horrific, supernatural escape room and the way it continuously builds tension had me nervous and on the edge of my seat throughout. It paints a convincing picture of 70s Denver and packs an emotional punch too, adding a bit of realism and leaving me with watery eyes more than once which really helped the film reach another level for me. The young lead actors playing siblings Finney and Gwenny delivered great performances (I really felt Finney's emotions during his imprisonment) and Ethan Hawke's turn as The Grabber was practically faultless. The character continues to be captivating through the whole film thanks in no small part to Hawke, but also thanks to the constant mask changes based on his current personality or mood. An unwavering element of mystery also propels him, as the audience is kept a satisfying distance away from understanding him or his motives, giving him the allure of some sort of myth or urban legend. I saw a review that compared the character's quality to iconic horror villains such as Freddy and Jason and I have to agree - The Grabber is good enough to carry an entire franchise, but that would be unnecessary as the impression he leaves here is more than enough and it would be a shame to dampen it, yet it would also be a shame if we don't get to see him again.

All in all, The Black Phone had me in the palm of its hand and completely succeeded in making me suffer every reaction it intended. An absolute triumph from Scott Derrickson and one of my new favourite horror films.