Tuesday, November 05, 2024
Monday, November 04, 2024
Heretic Believes In Peace, Bitch
I suppose I was hoping it would have more up its sleeve? That perhaps it would find more complicated ground to land upon than "The atheist is a maniac and these religious girls are goodness personified." The sad thing is is that all of the actors are terrific, including Hugh Grant as the villain who calls into question all aspects of organized religion. The film's at its best in its first two-thirds when he is accosting Sophie Thatcher's "Sister Barnes" and Chloe East's "Sister Paxton," two Mormons who make the mistake of stumbling through his door one stormy afternoon, with his ideas. It does, as I said up top, at least ask the questions, and put some uncomfortable truths about religion out there for mass public consumption.
But it is quite honestly irresponsible in the year of nobody's lord 2024 to land on the laziest of imaginable conclusions that Heretic lands on, equating people who don't believe in your harmful fucking fairy tales with sicko freaks.
I've taken a couple of movies in recent years to task for borrowing liberally from Pascal Laugier's 2008 masterpiece Martyrs without really grappling with what Martyrs was getting at -- Barbarian most recently, which turned the pointed pain and suffering at the heart of Laugier's angry film into a yippee fun rollercoaster ride. But Heretic borrows pretty liberally from Martyrs while outrageously flipping that movie's entire point around -- if Martyrs was about the terrifying danger of religious zealotry then Heretic is about the terrifying dangers of, uhhh, disbelief and doubt. What the fuck is this, the Inquisition?
Really, honestly, though -- is there anything lazier than villainizing disbelievers at this point in time? It's difficult to get into details since it's the last act where Heretic really shows its cards and stops having interesting thoughts about doubt, just grabbing firmly onto the easiest of answers, obliterating any goodwill it'd built up before then. Its skillful performances and manipulating of tension just blaze straight into the same old bullshit in defense of the status quo. So there's only so much credit I can give a movie for being "brave" talking about things other movies refuse to talk about when every conclusion it comes to is this craven. Heretic wears a loose skin-suit of edgy and thoughtful only to slip into something more comfortable -- conventional thinking. This is a horror movie that will make all the wrong people feel right.
Quote of the Day
"... how can you show the love if not the behavior, from the way in which bodies interact, and their faces interact, and their saliva mixes? There was a huge level of commitment from these incredible actors who are basically so happy to do what they love doing — perform!"
That is Luca Guadagnino talking to Variety about filming -- what else? -- sex scenes in Queer, his William Burroughs adaptation out on November 27th starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey. Click on over for more thoughts on intimacy and semen from those actors -- I was just amused by Luca's exclamation at the end of that quote -- "Perform!" Click here to read my review if you haven't already -- and no I won't stop pushing it until the movie's out... on blu-ray. Let's be honest. Love these snaps of Craig included at Variety -- looking sharp, Danny boy.
Now a Warning
Andrew Garfield Pants Pornography Parade
Franz Rogowski Eleven Times
Friday, November 01, 2024
Lucas Bravo Wants Freedom!
Speaking Of Physical Media...
Heads Up, Happy People
Good Morning, World
Hey Paul Mescal if you need to smoke a fag....... pic.twitter.com/BlRwsZG6gI
— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 31, 2024