Saturday, September 18, 2021

Mare of Easttown/The Retreat

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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see.  I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future).  You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Mare of Easttown                                                        OK/G
I finally got around to seeing this HBO limited series consisting of seven episodes all ranging around the hour mark, meaning it’s roughly a total of seven hours.  I heard so many good things about it, but that never makes me want to check something out since there are lots of critically-acclaimed shows and movies I have no interest in; this is a series I actually did want to check out though.  Mare is a detective played by Kate Winslet, Easttown is the small town in Pennsylvania which she resides.  A murder of a teenage girl spawns an investigation, in addition to Mare grappling with personal issues as well as a missing case involving another teenage girl gone a year prior.  Mare doesn’t exactly have the most glamorous life, as you can imagine.  What detective, real or fictional, truly would though?  I don’t even expect visual entertainment to be original anymore, although when something is original and successful, great, but it is very hard to be entirely fresh in any art form these days.  If I enjoy something though, and it is unoriginal, it works for me; and I believe I may have said it before, but characterizations are always a huge factor in making a story work.  Having said that, this miniseries isn’t original at all; it is no different than many other detective/murder mystery features.  Let’s see…there’s a small town, this small town contains people with secrets, everyone is a potential suspect, there are several red herrings, and there’s more than one revelation at the end.  Yes, it may not be original (show me something that truly is these days), but it is generally watchable, we do get to know the majority of characters enough, and there are no loose ends when it’s over.  Some parts do drag (less than more though) and it may not be as dark as the first season of True Detective, nor as compelling, but this is a decent murder mystery for those looking to watch something new in that genre (I am glad I was able to binge it instead of waiting every week as you’ll be able to as well via DVD or streaming---it’s currently available in both form).  9/17/2021

The Retreat                                                                  OK/G
[SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW]
Wow, an LGBT movie that wasn’t half bad (I’m personally not a fan of too many LGBT films because they’re often fabricated and stereotypical).  Well, foremost it is a horror film of the survivalist/backwoods variety that features gay characters.  A lesbian couple, non-stereotypical at that, head to a cabin in the woods away from the city and this cabin (or retreat) is allegedly a gay B&B.  I must’ve missed a location for this cabin and/or city, but it was filmed in Canada (you and I should both know that doesn’t mean it took place there).  I hate to stereotype, but something tells me it took place somewhere in the American South (I could be wrong though).  Anyway, something is clearly not right when they reach this cabin---another gay couple, males, were supposed to meet them there (we see something happen to them in the beginning), but all that’s present is their car and belongings in the house and the cabin is unlocked.  It isn’t long before these girls are hunted in the woods by a masked gunman.  You see, these are a group of people that capture homosexuals and film them being murdered in what they dub “the culling;” they have followers that watch online as if it were a reality show (talk about the dark web).  This did, at once, feel like a typical backwoods horror flick, but its strong homophobic subtext does make it a bit more distinctive (and darker) than its ilk.  There’s a bit of atmosphere to it too.  Some of the violence is worthy, particularly when our protagonists get revenge on their bigoted capturers.  I, being of the LGBT community, wouldn’t say this film is cathartic because I know it’s just a movie and thankfully haven’t been through a similar ordeal (and hope I never will).  It might be for some though, especially since there are still homophobes out there (I hope not as extreme as these villains though, but I wouldn’t doubt it, even in 2021) and the gays do win.  Even if I did spoil pretty much the entire feature, I think those that may be interested would still enjoy it.  I can’t ultimately overlook its aforementioned familiarity (read: clichés), but it’s not a bad film and better than many modern ones of its type and, no, not just because it features members of a group I’m part of.  Like I said, this is a horror movie first.  9/15/2021

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Apartment 413   >>>EH

The Last Laugh (2020)  >>>EH

Murder in the Woods  >>>OK

Nightbooks  >>>OK/G
   (Netflix)

---Sean O.
9/18/2021

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