Weekly Review -- Lighter cinema ahead... soon enough

After the onslaught that was Silent Hill, I have decided not to watch horror films until Halloween. Not many films have that effect on me -- needing to give up on a genre for a while -- but this one still haunts me. It was much too visceral and the violence was too brutal. Sooo... I rented some comedies, but still managed to bump into an old horror film on TV. The only reason why I saw it was that a) I had read about the film and the book when I was researching articles for my M.A. thesis and b) I was worried that I may not be able to find the DVD in video stores.


The Other (1972) -- This wistfully eerie film starts out with identical twins, Niles and Holland Perry (Chris and Martin Udvarnoky), playing a game. As we soon see, they always play together, their family living in near-isolation in California's farm country. However, something is off. Niles is a happy, outgoing child, while Holland is a bit on the, shall we say... devilish side. From rats to fires, there is nothing Holland will not try to stir things up, to put it mildly. It does not take long for Niles to realize that Holland's tricks are getting more and more dangerous and he tries to tell his grandmother Ada (Uta Hagen), but how can they stop Holland before he hurts someone else? I found the game Niles and Ada were playing to be a terrific plot device, first being a tool to disassociate Niles's possibly psychic abilities from Holland's evil, and then leading us to... well, I would never tell. Hagen gives a touching performance as the baffled grandmother, while Diana Muldaur is heartbreaking as Alexandra, the twins' mother. The Udvarnoky twins are a discovery and fans should look for the late, great John Ritter in one of his early works. The scares are aided by Robert Surtees's ethereal cinematography and legendary Jerry Goldsmith's score. The Other is one of those the-less-you-know-the-better films. Its representation of evil is truly frightening, and there are numerous psychological layers to the story. It is a great example of old school, innovative filmmaking and, similarly to 1976's The Omen, it will make you see innocence with new eyes.

8/10


Phat Girlz (2006) -- Comedienne Mo'Nique takes on a leading role in this screwball comedy attempt, which never really gets off the ground in terms of originality or technical aspects, but still manages to elicit a few good laughs with its heartfelt message. Jazmin Biltmore (Mo'Nique) is a sales clerk for a famous department store and an aspiring fashion designer. She also happens to be plus-sized, alternating between self-acceptance and desperately trying to shed the extra weight. She and her friend and colleague Stacey (Kendra C. Johnson) constantly wallow in misery that they feel is caused both by their physical appearance and by the Western society's narrow views of beauty. Everything changes when Jazmin, her cousin Mia (Joyful Drake) and Stacey go to Palm Springs for a much deserved vacation and end up meeting someone with a different perspective. Phat Girlz mostly suffers from too many crude gags and, as they would say, shoddy workmanship. The sound is muffled throughout, the camerawork is amateurish and, at one point, it looks as if the cinematographer was suddenly switched. As for the jokes, I thought the film would have been much more successful, and the story more effective, had the screenwriter relied on exploring the characters' relationships rather than using Jackass-style buffoonery; they could have done without the Fatass Burger part, to name one example. The film does have good points, though, namely a positive outlook on appearance and some truly funny situations. Mo'Nique makes for a likeable lead and Kendra C. Johnson is appealing as the shy girl who slowly abandons her shell. The bank scene had me in tears from laughing, and some Palm Springs scenes are hilarious as well. Overall, Nnegest Likké's first film is a light, feel-good movie, which could have been an even funnier exposé on our society's perceptions.

5/10