The Awakening (2011)

Synopsis
Since its November, It’s horror film time in my Netlfix Que. This week, it’s a English Film called “The Awakening”. This is about a female skeptic of the supernatural, testing local ghost stories and disproves its claims. She has established recognition of their exploits through books and notoriety. The story begins when she was asked to visit an all boys school in a rural area where she is put to the test attempting to keep a naturalistic grounded perspective in a situation that has extreme emotional connections.

Spoilers!!!
This film was just the film I was looking for, there was a classical level of dread and build up. The film balances the line between mental collapse and supernatural experience, the first half of the film lead the viewers to interpret just that, was the main character beginning to loose her mind allowing her thoughts and superstitions to manifest into spiritual entities or are there really ghosts in the house and she is too close minded to see it for what it is. This wonderful exchange was further highlighted when the main character takes this challenge more personally and the people who believes in the haunting then takes the skeptical role.

Inasmuch as the first half was wonderful with a psychological vs. supernatural bend, eventually the way the truth was revealed was a bit of a stretch. The womans past was made clear to her and she “Awakens” to realize that this school house was her home and the hauntings was all directed toward her. Like an M. Night Shalaman film, the reveal was at first breathtaking but after a slight critical analysis, felt unbalanced and filled with holes. I understand that this was a way for the director to provoke its audience, leading to discussions, theories and arguments but he didn’t just stop there. He had one of those open endings, like the spinning top ending of Inception, my wife and I ended up having a long conversation of its true ending and implications.

All-In-All:
This film accomplished what it set out for. It was haunting, mysterious, and shot well. Sure there was too much gray filter and the sudden shock moments telegraphed itself but it was able to maintain its style and element without feeling out of place.

You should watch it if..
You are in the mood for a chilling and creeping experience, where every creak on the floor and stillness in the air steals the viewers breath.

Pass this if…
You wanted a story that moved faster, characters that are more relatable and likable. This film demands its viewers to feel comfortable watching a horror story that took place in old rural England, with their cultural behaviors and customs properly represented, hence the concern of this film to reach a broader audience.

Netflix Conspiracy (Part 1)

The Netflix Conspiracy (part 1)

As a Netflix subscriber since 2003 with their DVD rental services, I can honestly say that this service has changed so much. The company is about to celebrate their 20^th anniversary in 2017 and I can only imagine how they transformed from a small company trying to keep up with Blockbuster/Hollywood Videos to now being the standard on online streaming. Movies has always been their bread and butter but as the streaming services grow with a more intense rivalry, I believe us who enjoy quality Movies are being pushed out for the easy going Reality TV shows and nostalgic 90’s and early 2000 sitcoms/dramas. As I sit here typing, my wife has been binging on “House Hunters: Renovation”, prior to that, it was Nightmare Kitchen. I myself have fallen into the pit of old TV shows like Frasier, Friends, and Murder She Wrote, but what was once a company that prided itself with the best movies they can stream is now 4^th place in their priorities.

1) Original Programing

2) Exclusive Programing

3) Nostalgia Shows

4) Reality TV

5) Cult TV hits

6) Movies

I understand that their DVD/Blu Ray deliveries are still offered but in 2 years, they have let go their criterion collections of movies, artistic dramas, and foreign artistic films. The quality of their movies have absolutely dwindled. Now here comes my take…

Netflix was once a Blockbuster Movies alternative…

In their competition to be relevant, they needed to get the biggest movies into their system in order to one up their competition. During this time, Cable TV was a juggernaut and the though of competing against Comcast, Time Warner, etc. was unheard of outside of Satellite TV. If the Internet remained the horrible speeds and expensive prices it had in the early 2000’s, then Netflix would still be competing against the video rental stores. This was a glorious time where these companies fought it out, a race to the bottom for a firefight to the top where the stakes were not mere dominance but survival. The little capitalist company vs. the behemoth establishment and the loser looses it all… and it did.

In 2007 the tides of war flowed one way, like Moses crossing the Red Sea through divine intervention, the Internet grew so large that quality streaming was now a stable option. With Netflix’s small but growing resources taking the gamble of adding streaming in their stable, this sealed Netflix’s victory.

The giant movie rental stores, namely Blockbuster who started its own small company back in 1985 gaining its financial peek in 2004, fell in 2011 and officially liquidated all stores and services in 2014. There were other reasons that led to Blockbusters fall, bad management, horrible investments, online piracy, and questionable business deals, but it stands true that the death of Blockbuster directly benefited Netflix.

(In part 2, we will see who will be next in Netflix’s conquest in shaping up how we view visual media and what is the possible future for movies and TV.)

Knights of Sidonia Ep.4 (#thoughts)

“Sacrifices”

Massive Death Toll

Due to the failure of Akai’s Team, Sidonia had to do a sudden acceleration to maneuver itself to safety from the Gauna attack. What occurred next was spectacular, massive structures collide, people falling through windows, the damages seemed endless.

This sequence was reminiscent to the original Maccross series when the SDF1 first transformed from a galaxy class ship with a large human city inside to a galaxy class mecha. The result was similar but not as artistically crafted. Knights of Sidonia’s portrayal was captivating yet there was something annoying about it. When traveling on a ship on the ocean, its obvious when it has a sudden change of course, same thing with plains in Earth’s atmosphere and submarines in the depths but in space, an endless vacuum with no friction, plus a large interstellar space craft with its own gravitational field, a sudden shift wouldn’t do anything to its inhabitants, no one would feel and so this whole segment was completely off the mark for me. I understand this segment is to show the stakes in their desperate attempt to keep whats left of the “human” race alive by giving us a large casualty count and showing us that the war affects everyone, not just the pilots.

Unknown Enemy

I understand that the Gauna is supposed to be a dreadful foe. Much of the Gauna is unknown and when it rears its horrible pink and gelatinous face, there are no certainties but not knowing what they are capable of is rather frustrating and at times cheap. This gets rather formulaic, Guana chases Sidonia, everyone fails or is in complete disarray and only Nagate can place his thoughts together for a miraculous victory.

#Thoughts

Its repetition is getting obvious, my hope is that this anime will let other characters shine and not just to place them as cannon fodder or other possible damsels in distress. After 4 episodes, other than Nagata, there are no other characters that have been fleshed out and relatable. With Season 2 recently added to Netflix, I hope things change and adjust fast or this already struggling view will just move on to other anime titles.