Goodbye World

Denis Henry Hennelly, 2014

IMDB

1/5

We are living in an age of numerous apocalyptic movies. Nuclear wars, zombie plagues, global pandemics, terrorist attacks. The list goes on. Seems like every year we are served a dozen or so of them and we are forced to weed through them to find one of quality. Goodbye World, is one of the ones of little quality. The film starts off interesting. An ambiguous text starts to circulate saying "Goodbye World", puzzling the recipients. As a group of old friends plan their arrival to friend James' (Adrian Grenier) remote mountain house, order is beginning to break down. The group of friends are reuniting after years of not seeing each other for various reasons. Their reunion just happens to coincide with the collapse of civilization. And coincidentally, James happens to be a doomsday-prepper type who happens to have everything they will need when shit hits the fan. How convenient! The fact that he has all of the supplies, solar power, medicine neutralizes the panic and for most of the film all we really have to indicate that things have really collapsed is some smoke way off in the distance. Oh, and the occasional invader such as a pair of soldiers aggressively trying to claim their place on the compound. 

It's a movie that would have certainly benefited from being much simpler. It could have been an effective limited storytelling piece in an enclosed setting. But the stakes would have needed to be higher. Instead of pure panic and main conflict points were marital troubles, which would seem so trivial in a time like this. There were also just way too many story threads in general. Business conflict between the men. An old couple that still has feelings for each other. A woman still dealing with political fallout from a sex scandal. An ex con lecturer who does college tours.

The movie would have been a great opportunity for Adrian Grenier to do something that he was never able to do during his many years on HBO's Entourage: prove that he is a viable actor. Unfortunately, he fails to do that here. There actually isn't really a memorable performance in the film. Goodbye World is an frustratingly confused film. Probably a movie that was didn't end up materializing the way it was intended to. Instead of keeping things simple, it fell into a web of unnecessary complications. It's a movie that also has some glaring flaws, like kids just standing there when someone is shot to their death or when there is a stranger screaming at a mother. One of the most irritating points in the film is when one of the main characters reveal themselves to be a an absolute computer aficionado. How convenient!

The Host

Joon Ho Bong, 2006

IMDB

3/5

The Host, a movie with a very generic name, is one of several of the same title listed on IMDB. There is a short about a patient in a mental asylum. There is a 2013 full feature starring Saoirse Ronan about a mysterious force that steals people’s memories. But this Host is not any of those. This is the 2006 South Korean monster film written and directed by Joon Ho Bong (Memories of Murder, Mother, Snowpiercer). Clearly the Korean title didn't make the best transition to English. This particular monster movie ended up being the highest grossing South Korean film of all time after it was reported that 13 million tickets were sold.

The premise of the film is quite simple. A scientist is bullied into dumping massive amounts of formaldehyde down the laboratory drain, hence contaminating the city’s river-water. Not long after, the toxic chemicals create a mutated river monster that starts targeting city residents. The creature emerges from the water and descends upon a riverside park. After killing many residents it captures a food-truck worker’s daughter and disappears into the water. The man, not willing to give up on his daughter, attempts to rescue her. Of course the main dilemma of the story is the clock is ticking, and are they going to have enough time?

The film is clearly a parable for the cost of environmental destruction. But instead of just unleashing pure CGI destruction. Joon Ho Bong focuses more on the family dynamic. The family has quickly given up hope in their own government, who doesn’t take their claims seriously. They would rather just keep the family on lockdown in one of their quarantine zones. So they take matters into their own hands. It’s interesting visiting this film after already seen Joon Ho Bong’s later work in Snowpiercer. There are certainly similarities; snappy editing, impressive visual elements, clean CGI, government oppression, revolt against authority. There’s even some black comedy elements that were also seen in Snowpiercer. But The Host offers a more intimate look at a single family that is willing to put their differences aside to rescue their brother / son’s daughter. Despite the fact that this bloodthirsty creature can easily kill them, and despite the fact that the government agents are willing to do whatever they can to capture them, they focus on their one objective. Another example of a compelling us vs. the world / man vs. beast story. You care about the family, there is enough development that you really get to know them. You want them to save the daughter. She herself isn't just some crying, innocent little thing. She's resourceful, compassionate. She picks through the pockets of the poor souls who didn't survive the creature's grasp. She aids a fellow child also captured. She offers you enough of her character that you would probably join the family in their attempts to scour the city sewer in search of her.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints

David Lowery, 2013

IMDB

2/5

On paper the idea of a southern rom-dram starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara is interesting. The two, both accomplished actors, have been part of some of the best films to come out within the past twenty years. Affleck himself has played the criminal on the run before, in the very much under-rated The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. He's certainly playing a cousin of his Robert Ford character, an elusive untrustworthy soft-speaking figure that has hints of innocence behind obvious youthful naivete. But there is a vast difference between Ain't them Bodies and Jesse James. Bodies is basically a game of cat and mouse with a ticking clock. Bob Muldoon (Affleck), after many attempts of escaping prison, has finally managed to escape and very predictably is planning reuniting with his love Ruth (Mara). Their early moments spent together on screen were the two of them participating in a very Bonnie & Clyde-like excursion. One that left one of their partners in crime dead and an officer shot. Pregnant Ruth is spared prosecution while Bob takes the fall and gets the book thrown at him. The people around Ruth figure that having the child and being separated from Bob will be a good opportunity for her to have a normal life that doesn't involve criminal acts. Standing in between the pairs fateful reunion is father figure / neighbor Skerritt (Keith Carradine) and local cop Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster).

It's a story that doesn't feel all that gripping or even original for that matter. It feels like a dull whispery drama that could have been something better. The Bob character doesn't really feel like a character worth getting behind. Their love together never really feels like much more than a lot of young body rubbing that inadvertently created a little daughter. Mara, who probably provides the most compelling performance in the film, is not much more than a woman that is mired in indecision on whether or not to be the reformed mother or continue to like the bad boys. The dim lighting, the cold aluminum siding, the shadow-ridden barn that Bob hides in, are all failed attempts at creating any visual impressions. Bodies is a forgettable picture that doesn't hide it's admiration for Bonnie and Clyde but completely lacks the greatness of it.

Circle

Aaron Hann / Mario Miscione, 2015

IMDB

3/5

There a handful of films (Buried, The Man from Earth, 12 Angry Men, Pontypool, Rear Window and a lot of Hitchcock's work for that matter) that take place in a single location. With a limited setting, you need to have a good script powering the narrative. Because you are going to be stuck with these characters for 90 minutes or so, they NEED to be interesting.

Circle takes place in a single room. A bunch of strangers awaken from an mysterious daze and find themselves placed upon red circles like human board game pieces. They realize quite quickly that they are part of an odd social experiment. When one of them steps off of the red circle that they stand on, they die. Not long after they realize that it's not the only way to die in the circle room. Seemingly at random, the ominous eye at the center of the room zaps an innocent victim. But then they determine it's not random. Not only is it not random, they are actually in control of who gets exterminated. What transpires is a dark social experiment where everyone in the room makes a stand for their life, and also has to play executioner to the people standing around them. What starts off as superficial judging turns into moral examinations. The numbers dwindle down and the experiment turns into pure Survivor-esque strategy. It's interesting that you really don't spend a whole lot of time with the poor people in the room. But because of their dilemma, you are forced to learn a lot about them rapidly. Like they are making a stand for their lives, and because of that they reveal themselves much faster than they would over a cup of coffee where they have all of the time in the world. The end result is a really inventive and unique movie, one that feels like an indie hybrid of Saw, the aforementioned 12 Angry Men and the not-often-mentioned Cube.