I'd argue "You're Next" is in fact Wingard's best work to date, though The Guest is pretty great. Also I remember being real impressed by "A Horrible Way To Die" way back when it came out - no idea if it'd hold up for me now but early on in the 'mumblegore' world, he was one of the best ones.
Kinda crazy to see him semi-heel turn into Mr. Franchise (Death Note > Blair Witch > Monsterverse).
I remember when BLAIR WITCH was known as THE WOODS, and it wasn’t revealed that it was a sequel until the moment of its festival premiere. Not quite the same as a bait-and-switch, but I can see why some might have been miffed.
I was miffed to discover that it was quite bad. That was one that shook my faith in Wingard, who'd seemed to be shaping up to be a more reliable genre director that he's turned out to be.
I enjoyed early Wingard, and in hindsight I wrote a review of A Horrible Way to Die for a UK horror movie site back in the day (not bad). Blair Witch was OK, Death Note disappointing because it's one of about three anime series I've ever seen. Didn't even realise he was on the Kongzilla beat.
Weird trajectory alright, though perhaps not as weird as adjacent ABCs of Death alumnus Ben Wheatley going from Kill List and A Field in England to Netflix's Rebecca to somehow Meg 2.
I don't think I can mount a compelling defense for it, but I think it does a good job of grafting the alien spookiness of the original onto a slick, high-body-count slasher feature. There's also some fun invention on display: the time dilation, the dolls made of hair--I even thought the drones were kind of clever!
I was fortunate enough to see Chinatown (beautiful, and still freaking excellent) theater last night and the trailer for Godzilla x Kong just looked like the stereotype of a big, meaningless CGI fest. And I say that as someone who’s seen every Marvel movie with his son and enjoyed at least 80% of them. Just bleh, meh.
On the other hand, the Twisters trailer is great fun and really landed in the theater. I obviously don’t know if the movie will be any good, I was never a big fan of Twister (the movie; the game’s fine!), but that is one really well done trailer.
Was lucky enough to catch La Chimera in the theater yesterday. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting the mix of Nights of Cabiria and Punch Drunk Love vibes
I'd argue "You're Next" is in fact Wingard's best work to date, though The Guest is pretty great. Also I remember being real impressed by "A Horrible Way To Die" way back when it came out - no idea if it'd hold up for me now but early on in the 'mumblegore' world, he was one of the best ones.
Kinda crazy to see him semi-heel turn into Mr. Franchise (Death Note > Blair Witch > Monsterverse).
I remember when BLAIR WITCH was known as THE WOODS, and it wasn’t revealed that it was a sequel until the moment of its festival premiere. Not quite the same as a bait-and-switch, but I can see why some might have been miffed.
I was miffed to discover that it was quite bad. That was one that shook my faith in Wingard, who'd seemed to be shaping up to be a more reliable genre director that he's turned out to be.
I enjoyed early Wingard, and in hindsight I wrote a review of A Horrible Way to Die for a UK horror movie site back in the day (not bad). Blair Witch was OK, Death Note disappointing because it's one of about three anime series I've ever seen. Didn't even realise he was on the Kongzilla beat.
Weird trajectory alright, though perhaps not as weird as adjacent ABCs of Death alumnus Ben Wheatley going from Kill List and A Field in England to Netflix's Rebecca to somehow Meg 2.
Wheatley also got IN THE EARTH in there, which I quite liked. I’m not ready to count him out just yet.
True, haven't seen that one yet.
But wait, hear me out…what if Blair Witch is good?
[ducks, runs]
I definitely have hazy intentions of watching it again some time, without the weight of expectations.
I don't think I can mount a compelling defense for it, but I think it does a good job of grafting the alien spookiness of the original onto a slick, high-body-count slasher feature. There's also some fun invention on display: the time dilation, the dolls made of hair--I even thought the drones were kind of clever!
There are dozens of us! DOZENS!
I was fortunate enough to see Chinatown (beautiful, and still freaking excellent) theater last night and the trailer for Godzilla x Kong just looked like the stereotype of a big, meaningless CGI fest. And I say that as someone who’s seen every Marvel movie with his son and enjoyed at least 80% of them. Just bleh, meh.
On the other hand, the Twisters trailer is great fun and really landed in the theater. I obviously don’t know if the movie will be any good, I was never a big fan of Twister (the movie; the game’s fine!), but that is one really well done trailer.
Was lucky enough to catch La Chimera in the theater yesterday. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting the mix of Nights of Cabiria and Punch Drunk Love vibes