It Follows (2015)

It Follows is a horror film that tells the story of a girl who is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter. Jay (Maika Monroe) finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, something, is following her.

Like most good horror films, It Follows works well as a social commentary. It's a rare horror film that has  intriguing ideas to match its thrills. The entity, an obvious metaphor for an STD, haunts you until you pass it along to another person. Though, that's just a temporary fix because if the entity kills its the next victim, it eventually makes it way back down the line to previous victims. So there is a constant sense of dread that this one mistake will follow continue to follow you.

This entity doesn't have a defined appearance. It can look like anybody at anytime and its invisible to everyone else but the current victim. It's fitting that nobody else can see this entity, just as nobody else can relate to Jay's current trauma. It's personal to her.


She's haunted by this entity, not just because it keeps following her, but also because of moral struggle it creates. Should she pass it on and let somebody else worry about it? Should someone else have suffer because of her mistake?

This dilema forces Jay into a deeper despair as she struggles to come up with a solution.
It plays on similar fears teens face when growing up... dealing with an increased sense of responsibility and a certain loss of innocence (along with the obvious sexual fears).

Decisions made today, can impact the rest of your life. That, in and of itself, is a terrifying thought. With almost no adult characters in sight, these teens are forced to make all their decisions on their own and see how they play out (even if they don't always make the right decisions).

It Follows relies more on its eerie, creepy, suspenseful atmosphere than it does on typical horror tricks. While there are some genuine scares, there may not be enough to satisfy most horror fans today- and the film might be better for it. Modern horror films rely on too many cheap tricks and easy jump scares. Director David Robert Mitchell seems more concerned with creating a constant sense of tension and doom as the danger is always approaching. That horrifying atmosphere is much more difficult to create and feels more like a throwback to the horror films of the 1980s. Because of that, It Follows stands out among the horror films of today.

It Follows is a fascinating horror film with a lot on its mind. With enough thrills to satisfy, and a killer score to frighten, It Follows will stay with you long after you watch.

(9/10)

Top 10 Films of the 1960s

1. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
 

2. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
 

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
  

4. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Sergio Leone)
  

5. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill)


6. To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan)


7. The Graduate (Mike Nichols)


8. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero)


9. Wait Until Dark (Terrance Young)


10. Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg)

Top 10 Films of the 1970s

1. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)


2. Chinatown (Roman Polanski)


3. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)


4. The Sting (George Roy Hill)


5. Jaws (Steven Spielberg)


6. Alien (Ridley Scott)


7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman)


8. The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola)


9. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino)


10. Rocky (John G. Avildsen)

Top 10 Films of the 1980s

Best of the decade (1980-1989).

1. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)


2. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)


3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)


4. Back to the Future (Robert Zemekis)


5. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)


6. Die Hard (John McTiernan)


7. E.T. (Steven Spielberg)


8. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes)


9. The Verdict (Sidney Lumet)


10. Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson)

Top 10 Films of 2014

1. Boyhood (Richard Linklater)


2. Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)


3. Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller)


4. Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu)


5. Gone Girl (David Fincher)


6. Interstellar (Christopher Nolan)


7. Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy)


8. American Sniper (Clint Eastwood)


9. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon Ho)


10. The Skeleton Twins (Craig Johnson)

Boyhood (2014)

Boyhood tells the story of a young man, Mason, as he grows up from age 5 to 18.

The brilliance in the story is that it was filmed over 12 years with the same cast. It's a groundbreaking coming of age story where we literally see these characters grow up before our eyes. 

While some have accused the 12 year aspect as being a gimmick, it doesn't feel that way at all. It's just a device that helps tell the story in a unique way. It's something we've never seen before. This concept makes us feel like we are dropped in a time capsule and helps us experience the nostalgia of the past from different points in filming.

Subtle moments, from a young Samantha singing the Britney Spears classic "Oops I did it again" to Mason wearing as Spider-Man T-shirt, bring us back to the early 2000s, and make us realize and appreciate how much of a daunting task this film making process really was.


Being one of the most critically acclaimed films in a long, long time and the current frontrunner in the Best Picture race, Boyhood comes with massive expectations. 

There's not many "big" moments. It focuses more on the mundane aspects of everyday life, but Linklater captures this slice of life perfectly. Our whole lives, we are conditioned to think that certain milestones in life are such a big deal, and when they happen, we think "that's it?" "Now what?"

Linklater doesn't exaggerate or dramatize these moments. He just paints them like they are.

If we wait for these "big" moments to define our lives, we might as well keep waiting. Life is about a collection of these little moments. If we don't take the time to appreciate them, life will pass us by and we'll end up missing out on what's really important.

Boyhood is a brilliant representation of life, parenting, and growing up that's emotionally resonant with a revolutionary technique. It's easy to nitpick something that's popular, so when a movie is this acclaimed, people might naturally be let down, but I really connected with it.

Boyhood deserves all the praise it has received. It's the best film of the year.

(10/10)

Interstellar (2014)

When Earth's resources start to fail, a group of explorers embark on a voyage to search the solar system for a new inhabitable planet. The fate of humanity on rests on this one mission.

As a space adventure, Interstellar succeeds, like most Nolan films, as an edge of your seat thrill ride. Even at nearly 3 hours, there's never a dull moment. Visually, the cinematography, production design, and visual effects put Interstellar among the most beautiful space films ever made. It's an all encompassing experience that hits its highs as good as any film this year.

Christopher Nolan's latest epic might just be his most emotional film yet. With deep characters and themes dealing with love and family, its his most relatable film. Unlike his previous works, we feel a real connection to the film as these characters carry the story.

At the center is Matthew McConaughey, who again proves he's on his way to becoming one of the best actors of this generation with another stellar performance. Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway also excel in what might be the best ensemble work in a Nolan film yet.

However, Interstellar might be too intellectual for its own good. In this day and age where sequels, remakes, and superhero films are taking over Hollywood, an original epic should be respected. I admire the ambition, but it packs in so many concepts and ideas to the point where it starts to feel bloated.

 There's so much to take in that it might be hard to understand everything on a first viewing. This is especially the case because it relies so much on complicated scientific theories, including worm holes, black holes, and time travel within the space-time continuum.

The script has gotten a lot of criticism because it contains too much exposition. But when dealing with these complicated ideas that the average audience might not understand, exposition is necessary to get the point across.

Personally, I didn't have a problem with it, but I can understand if some might.

Still, this may be Nolan's weakest script to date. There's a few too many plot contrivances and cringe worthy lines of dialogue that prevent this from being among Nolan's best.

Nonetheless, Interstellar is still a fantastic achievement and a worthy addition to Nolan's increasingly impressive filmography.

(9/10)