I was given the opportunity to screen two new movies before their release with my friend Nicki from Heylookbehindyou.com. Both movies were outside my usual comfort zone when it comes to content, but she promised to hold my hand if (or more accurately when) I got scared, so I agreed!
The first of the two was ‘The Neon Demon’ A Nicolas Winding Refn film. Top billed cast according to IMDB is Elle Fanning as Jesse Christina Hendricks as Roberta Hoffman, Keanu Reeves as Hank and Karl Glusman as Dean. I’m going to take if upon myself to add Jena Malone as Ruby. First and foremost, I was a Refn virgin, but knew going in, that it would probably be violent, and more then definitely be beautifully shot. Without giving too much away, the film is about a very young aspiring model. She begins moving up rather quickly in that world, and, rubs some people the wrong way. This film was like a piece of moving art. Absolutely beautiful, and full of chaos. Surprisingly I laughed quite a bit, but I feel like most of what made me laugh was unintentional. The story was a little lacking, and left a lot to your imagination but the aesthetics more than made up for it. Until the last 20 minutes or so, it was absolutely fantastic. That's where it took a turn and became fantastically ridiculous. I was admittedly at a loss for words when the credits began to roll. I would recommend this to anyone who is already a Refn fan, and to anyone who enjoys horror flicks. Go in with an open mind, and don’t take it too seriously, and you're sure to enjoy the twisted journey.
The second of the two was ‘The Shallows’ Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. I will admit, the only shark movies I have to compare are the Jaws movies and Sharknado 1 and 2, which left a whole lot of wiggle room. The movie is almost entirely Blake Lively half naked on a rock. I wasn't sure that was going to be enough but, she actually held my attention. You have the comic relief usually provided by the less attractive friend, provided by an injured bird, and obviously the shark. Things started off alright. Nancy's brief interaction with the local guy, Carlos who was driving her to the beach was amusing. But all attempts to give Nancy some character back story came off as a bit trite. The use of Nancy's cell phone and it's screen images projected outward for the audience to see was a neat touch, but it started to feel like product placement after a while. The shark was not bad looking as far as CGI goes. There were some decent jump scares and cringe moments, but nothing that made me, an avid NON horror movie watcher, want to hurl up my popcorn. Overall it was semi predictable, but entertaining. It's a shark movie, no one is remaking the wheel and no one ended up with a circular saw for a hand. Can't really ask for much more than that.
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