The Last Wave (1977) vs Nomads (1986)... and The Lost Boys (1987)

The three movies that this article discusses may seem at first sight completely unrelated: an Australian lawyer defending an aborigine charged with murder, an ethnologist following a gang in L.A., and a group of vampire teenagers in the fictional town of Santa Carla. But the three movies are somehow linked, as we will try to show, and not only because they are three favorites of mine.

"The Last Wave" (1977) is an example of Australian folk in which a city lawyer has to defend an aborigine accused of murdering another aborigine. What may seem the result of a simple fight between aborigines, leads this lawyer into the reality of Australian native people. "The Last Wave" was directed by the always impressive Peter Weir and followed the even more suggestive "The Picnic of Hanging Rock" (1975).

"Nomads" (1986) focuses on two characters: a French anthropologist, Jean Charles Pommier, studying nomad tribes, and a doctor, Eileen Flax, who after treating Pommier and seeing him die (not a spoiler as it happens in the first minutes of the movie), begins to live his last hours of life. "Nomads" was the first movie by John McTiernan (who also wrote it) and who later directed "Predator" and "Die Hard".

Both "The Last Wave" and "Nomads" can be tagged as folk horror, although you could argue that neither of them are horror. Another thing they have in common is that this folk horror is brought in both cases to the city, the old myths haunt the urban landscape.

In both movies, the main characters (David Burton and Jean Charles Pommier/Dr. Eileen Flax) find the atavistic magic not in a small island ("The Wicker Man"), village or remote forest. I really enjoy this aspect of these movies.

It is undeniable that the quality of both movies is completely different: while "The Last Wave" is an indisputable classic, "Nomads" is often described as a failed movie. "The Last Wave" is one of my favorite movies, both because of its quality and because of the plot. But I enjoy "Nomads" a lot too.  Despite the confusing plot and the excesses, it has that special quality of transporting you to a reality that it is ours but slightly different.

"The Lost Boys" (1987) is about teenage vampires in California. Put like this, it certainly doesn't seem very promising, but both the screenplay and especially the images have brought it to the cult status.

It may seem not related with the previous, but there is a link between "Nomads" and "The Lost Boys". I am quite sure that the authors of "The Lost Boys" took inspiration in the gang and the Santa Monica Pier scenes to create some of the most famous images of "The Lost Boys".

Lovecraft Country (2020)

created: Misha Green
directed by: Daniel Sackheim and others
written by: Shannon Houston, Kevin Lau Wes Taylor and others,
based on the novel by Matt Ruff.
music by: Laura Karpman and Raphael Saadiq
stars: Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Wunmi Mosaku
imdb

Lovecraft Country arrived with the names of J.J.Abrams and Jordan Peele as producers. The idea was to take the world of one of the most notorious horror writers, but a notorious racist, and to turn it into a denounce of the sufferings of black people in America during the 50s. The idea is very powerful and the potential of using horror as a metaphor is well-known. Unfortunately, Lovecraft Country fails at all levels. 

The main problem of the show is that it seems that the creator and/or writers don't know where they want it to go: the show started with a promising first episode (more precisse would be to say that the first half of the first episode was promising) that, despite some non-Lovecraftian monsters, manages to provide what is expected: depicting the hardships of blacks in the 50s in an America full of magic. Unfortunately, every episode after the first goes in a different direction: an episode about secrets societies, another one a sort of Nicholas Cage's National Treasure (2004), then the haunted house... The fact that Lovecraft Country tries to make the show seem cooler by introducing gore and (pretended) scandalous elements only makes the disappointment worse. When we remove the cheap provation, what we have is an extremely bland show.

But the worst failure of th show is in bringing the most characteristic element of the Lovecraft world: the atmosphere. Even the delirious B-movie 'Dagon' (2001) managed to bring the atmosphere better than Lovecraft Country. The first episode almost achieved this.

The failure of this show confirms the Lovecraft curse: only The Dunwich Horror (1970) and the Lovecraft-inspired In The Mouth of Madness (1995) have managed to bring succesfully the Lovecraft world to the screen.

Netflix Repetitiveness Serious Problem

title: Stranger Things (2016-2021) imdb
created by: The Duffer Brothers


title: Dark (2017-2020) imdb
created by: Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese


title: Marianne (2019) imdb
created by: Samuel Bodin


title: Ragnarok (2020) imdb
created by: Adam Price


title: Curon (2020) imdb
created by: Ezio Abbate, Ivano Fachin, Giovanni Galassi, Tommaso Matano

Netflix seemed, only some years ago, the promised land for series lovers. One of the titles that promoted this feeling was the first season of Stranger Things. Only four years later, Netflix has become a factory of cloned shows. Teenager-oriented-horror is a perfect example of this. It doesn't matter what is the original language of a show (English, German, French, Norwegian or Italian) they all could have been made by the same authors. As a perfect parabole of globalization, what was supposed to bring together talent from around the World is, instead, homogenizing the different cultures it gets in touch with. The Netflix logo has become a synonym of soulless art and lack of personality.

All the series listed here take place in a small town/village. Three of them (Marianne, Ragnarok and Curon) start with some teenagers/youngsters going to this smaller town. In two of them (Ragnarok and Curon), it is a single mother with their children (like in Stranger Things), with a shy sibling and a rebel one. But although Stranger Things may seem the model for the Netflix fantasy genre, it is evident that Dark is the blueprint for the other European series.

Some of these shows manage to bring something interesting in the end (Curon gets quite interesting in the end), but they cannot escape the heavy shadow of repetition.

It is probably an indirect effect of how Netflix works: people who want to make shows approach Netflix with what they think Netflix wants; to be sure that Netflix will accept the project, they propose something they know "Netflix likes".

This presents a grim future. With the number of remarkable shows already diminishing every year, the growing presence of Netflix and its homogenizing effect is really worrisome, because probably other networks follow the same pattern, and also that the influence of Netflix will probably extend to traditional channels.

Read about what went wrong with the third season of Stranger Things here.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

directed by: George Lucas
written by: George Lucas
photographed by: David Tattersall
music by: John Williams
edited by: Roger Barton and Ben Burtt
stars: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen
imdb

Revenge of the Sith is often mentioned as the best of the three prequels. It is also the darkest of the three, maybe of the whole series with The Empire Strikes Back, with the darkest photography and the darkest plot, but also some pretty gory scenes for the Star Wars series.

George Lucas decided to write Episode III alone, after the collaboration of Episode II, and unfortunately this reflects in the quality of the dialogues. On the other hand, so many things happen during the last prequel that the dialogues weaknesses may pass unnoticed.

Revenge of the Sith manages to bring some emotion, something that had been missing in the previous two movies, especially with the events following Order 66. We will not write much about Order 66, not to make any spoiler, but in a way, it makes the trilogy take deepness.

Annakin's evolution to the dark side is better developed than in the second movie, and despite it still feels incomplete, there is some kind of explanation, beyond Annakin prepotent character.

Revenge of the Sith is much better than The Phantom Menace, maybe a little better than Attack of the Clones, but still feels disappointing. The material George Lucas had in hands had a big potential: a Shakespearean tragedy in space, but despite some moments, it was never worth of the Jedi or Annakin's tragedy.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

directed by: George Lucas
written by: George Lucas and Jonathan Hales
photographed by: David Tattersall
music by: John Williams
edited by: Ben Burtt
stars: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen
imdb

Episode II or Attack of the Clones came after the disappointment of The Phantom Menace, so the expectations were different than three years before. After the reception of The Phantom Menace, George Lucas realized he needed some support in writing the next episode, so he was aided by Jonathan Hales, who had written several Young Indiana Jones episodes. And, although the screenplay is not memorable, it doesn't show the weaknesses of the previous episode.

Attack of the Clones features the first (and unique) love story of the saga (we can not count Leia and Han's flirting as a love story). Because of the importance for the rest of the saga, this story could not be avoided, but it seems Lucas is more comfortable writing about the geopolitics of the Senate than about love stories. 

CGI has improved in the three years since The Phantom Menace, and this also helps to make this episode more believable, especially the battles. Still, the recently discovered "infinite possibilities" of CGI resulted in excessively artificial sequences. On the other hand, some things are simply spectacular, and Yoda fighting certainly is.

Anakin's path to the dark side is also present in Episode II bringing, like in the previous movie, a second layer to the story that is presented. We know what Anakin is going to become, but unfortunately the only hints we get at Anakin's future are those of a spoiled teenager. It is a pity because this material (Anakin's fate) had potential to become one of the best stories in the history of sci-fi cinema, also considering the freedom that Lucas had. It is unfortunate that Lucas didn't hire somebody like Lawrence Kasdan (coauthor of the screenplays of The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi) to help him.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

directed by: George Lucas
written by: George Lucas
photographed by: David Tattersall
music by: John Williams
edited by: Ben Burtt and Paul Martin Smith
stars: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman
imdb

The Phantom Menace is probably the biggest disappointment in the history of sci-fi cinema. Sixteen years waiting for Episode I after The Return of the Jedi, George Lucas decided to write and direct it himself, his last movie had been the original A New Hope (1977), twenty-two years before.

There are many wrong things about The Phantom Menace, starting with the screenplay, but also the acting: many of the CGI characters are completely unrealistic (and we are not talking only about Jar-Jar Binks), but even the flesh actors look lost, between the ridiculous dialogues and talking permanently to a green screen.

The Phantom Menace begins catastrophically: the arrival of the two Jedis to the Trade Federation ship is the less spectacular beginning you could imagine for the Star Wars saga; the two leaders of the Trade Federation show all the weaknesses of the 1999 CGI, and the first 20 minutes have some of the worst dialogues of the movie... and then we have Jar-Jar Binks. From there, things only get better, and the movie slightly improves after that. It is true that we have the annoying character of the child Annakin, who is good at everything, it is true that we have also that ridiculous pseudo-scientific explanation of the Jedi powers, the midi-chlorians, and it is true that the immaculate conception of Annakin Skywalker is an embarasing moment, but at least we have some real action.

In the end, the most remarkable thing of The Phantom Menace are the CGI landscapes, the duel with Darth Maul, the Nubian royal starship. It is curious that the most interesting part of The Phantom Menace is what is not shown, the shadow above Annakin, what we know he will become, what we have seen in episodes IV, V and VI. And this knowledge bestows the story in The Phantom Menace of deepness that it doesn't have.

Us (2019)

directed by: Jordan Peele
written by: Jordan Peele
photographed by: Mike Gioulakis
music by: Michael Abels
edited by: Nicholas Monsour
stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss
imdb

Jordan Peele made his directing debut with the interesting but overrated Get Out (2017). Get Out, which Peele had also written, tried to combine social criticism with survival horror, but although efficiently written and directed, it felt somehow disappointing in the end, probably because of the hype that preceded it. Us came also with some level of hype, but the hype is well-deserved, as it stands as one of the best horror movies of the last years, maybe the best since Hereditary (2018) and certainly our favorite since It Follows (2014).

Us has a very promising starting point: a family of four (the parents and their children, a girl and a boy) find one night their doppelgängers (their exact replicas) at the entrance of their garden. This visitors soon prove not to have very friendly intentions. The sequence of the apparition of the family replica is really unsettling and memorable. For some moments Us threatens to become just another home invasion movie, but it doesn't, and there are still many surprises to come.

Peele's screenplay and direction keeps you tied to your chair. Visually Us stands also above average. The interpretations are remarkable in their double roles, especially Lupita Nyong'o. Us has many virtues, including a special atmosphere and several great moments, but in the end it is just a great horror movie.

Devs (2020)

created, written and directed by: Alex Garland
photographed by: Rob Hardy
music by: Geoff Barrow, The Insects and Ben Salisbury
edited by: Jake Roberts
stars: Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, Jin Ha
imdb

Devs is a series created, written and directed by British novelist Alex Garland, who came into spotlight by writing the novel from which was adapted The Beach (2000) and the screenplay for 28 Days Later (2002), both directed by Danny Boyle. But Garland is developing an impressive career as sci-fi director since his 2014 debut Ex Machina, which was a surprising psychological thriller around the issue of AI. His next directing effort was Annihilation (2018), where a group of female soldiers investigate the origen of the strange phenomena that is taking place in a growing area around a lighthouse. 

Devs is Garland's third work as director, and having watched two episodes so far, we can say that Devs might be future classic. The first episode is the best we have seen in sci-fi television in a long time, with a gripping mystery taking place in a dream-like San Francisco and decorated with several amazing images (inspired by classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey or more modern movies like Cube)

The second episode loses some of the magic of its predecessor, but turns into a more traditional mystery story. This seems like a logical evolution. We have seen other series or movies that tried to keep the non-traditional story development and finally become confusing or feel unfinished, and sometimes creators forget how important (and also difficult, is true) is to keep the equilibrium between beautiful imagery and interesting plot.

What we have seen so far is magnificent. Let's see what comes next.

The Invisible Man (2020)

directed by: Leigh Whannell
written by: Leigh Whannell, inspired by the story from H.G. Wells (uncredited)
photographed by: Stefan Duscio
music by: Benjamin Wallfisch
edited by: Andy Canny
stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer
imdb

Leigh Whanell is the responsible, alongside with James Wan, of one of the most fructiferous (at least in number of installments) franchises of the 21st century: Saw. Whanell wrote both the the original Saw (2003) short and later cowrote with Wan the first Saw (2004) movie, as well as the second and third parts of the series. Whanell also wrote the first Insidious (2010), directed too by Wan, and they together wrote Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). Whannell would write and direct Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015). After Upgrade (2018), The Invisible Man is Whannell's third movie as director.

The Invisible Man is a classic sci-fi thriller, updated for the modern times. The story of a woman who thinks her dead scientist husband is not so dead and has invented something that makes him invisible. The idea is not specially original, but the screenplay manages to keep the interest, properly administrating the events. Unfortunately, there isn't any of the playful intentions of Saw or the skillful writing of Insidious.

As we said, the screenwriting, though not revolutionary, is efficient, and wonderfully defended by Elisabeth Moss. Sure, we would expect something more risky from (one of) the creator(s) of Saw and Insidious, but unfortunately The Invisible Man isn't. On the other hand, a straight entertaining thriller is not so easy to find nowadays, so let's enjoy it.

The Mission (1986)

directed by: Roland Joffé
written by: Robert Bolt,

inspired by the book The Lost Cities of Paraguay, by Father C. J. McNaspy
photographed by: Chris Menges
music by: Ennio Morricone
edited by: Jim Clark
stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally
imdb

Roland Joffé is a British director and producer, who made his debut, after working a lot in British television, with the exceptional political thriller The Killing Fields (1984). His next big screen work was something completely unusual: The Mission is a story of faith, sacrifice that shows a different side of the European colonization of America. written by Robert Bolt, writer of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970),  and inspired by true events.

The Mission is the story of a catholic settlement in the jungle, where an "18th-century Jesuit priest [Irons] establishes a mission in the South American jungle and recruits the help of a former slave trader [De Niro] paying penance for his past sins" [BBC]. The Mission would not be what it is without the interpretation duel between Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, representing two opposite characters, standing together for what they consider right.

While watching it, the comparison with Avatar (2009) kept coming to my head, probably because of the similarities in the plot (colonization of a wild world, and the settler standing for the natives in the end). How much (unfortunately) cinema has changed in the last decades. It is hard to image a movie like The Mission being made today. This is a deep story rooted in history, with un-pleasent moments as well as moving ones, in opposition to Avatar, where we have a simplistic story in a video-game like world.

As we have discussed before, (probably) all good movies have some image that stays in your mind like a memory (some bad movies can have it too, but that is another story); in The Mission this is the moment of the cross falling down the waterfall, which was obviously chosen for the movie poster.

The most remarkable thing is how well this movie has stood the test of time.

It is interesting to comment that The Mission is inspired by the real events that took place after the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, in which Spain ceded part of Jesuit Paraguay to Portugal. The narrator of the film, Cardinal Altamirano, based on a real Jesuit Father Luis Altamirano, who was sent by Jesuit Superior General Ignacio Visconti to Paraguay in 1752 to transfer territory from Spain to Portugal. Because of the Treaty, seven missions south and east of the Río Uruguay, that had been settled by Guaraní and Jesuits in the 17th century. The film's climax is the Guaraní War of 1754–1756, during which historical Guaraní defended their homes against Spanish-Portuguese forces implementing the Treaty of Madrid. Father Gabriel's character is loosely based on the life of Paraguayan saint and Jesuit Roque González de Santa Cruz. [Wikipedia]

And if The Mission has a wonderful story crafted in a perfect screenplay, impressive photography, exceptional actors, many would argue that there is something that stands above everything else: the unforgettable music by maestro Ennio Morricone.

Modern Russian Animation

You probably have heard of Masha and the Bear, the super successful Russian cartoon. But Masha is not alone, and if you like more traditional cartoons than SpongeBob SquarePants or The Simpsons (although The Simpsons are great, but not for children), you may want to check some of these cartoons, specially Tri kota, Smeshariki: Pin-kod and Malyshariki, which all have been dubbed to English language.

Barboskini (The Barkers) (2011-Present day)
imdb

The adventures of a family of dog children, with the traditional stereotypes: a sort of Bart Simpson, the scientist, etc. It is quite popular although it doesn't stand out in terms of animation quality nor screeplay, as some other series from this list do.

Fiksiki (The Fixies/The Fixers) (2010-2018)

Educative series about a kid who is friend with some small creatures who transform into screws. It has a clear educational purpose. Very advisable.

Tri Kota (Kid-E-Cats) (2015)
imdb
Wikipedia

Clearly inspired by Peppa Pig, Tri kota are the adventures of two brothers, their sister, and their parents. Likely, a little more interesting for parents than Peppa Pig.

Smeshariki (Kikoriki/GoGoRiki) (2003-2012)
imdb
Wikipedia

2D Flash-animated series about a group of rounded animals.


Smeshariki. Pin-kod (2012-2018)

Smeshariki. Pin-kod is a 3D CGI spin-off of Smeshariki, "an educational spin-off designed to develop interest in inventing, programming and science in children from 4 to 14 years old". In Pin-kod, the Smeshariki travel the cosmos in ah ship retro-futuristic ship called Sharolyot (although there is a 2.0 version of the Sharolyot). Pin-kod is a great cartoon, a combination of clasic science-fiction inspired plots and educational moments. Great for children but also entertaining for parents.

Smeshariki: The Beginning (2011), Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden Dragon (2017) and Kikoriki: Deja Vu (2018).

Malyshariki (BabyRiki) (2015)
Wikipedia

Malyshariki is the version of Smeshariki for smaller children.
Wonderfully crafted, very beautiful to watch, perfect for small children.

Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist (2018)

directed by: Trey Borzillieri and Barbara Schroeder
written by: Barbara Schroeder
photographed by: Jan Reichle (additional cinematographer)
music by: Gage Boozan and Gary Lionelli
edited by: Alex Calleros
imdb
Netflix

If you think Tiger King is wild, if you think that it is impossible to find a weirder collection of characters than those depicted in Tiger King, wait until you see Evil Genius. This is not just a documentary about a bunch of con men and freaks like Tiger King, Evil Genius is about really machiavellian individuals.

And while Tiger King has some moments when it becomes some sort of reality-show with tigers (and in fact, at some point, there was a reality-show being filmed), Evil Genius is going to keep you tied to the chair from the very beginning until the last episode. How many stories begin with an episode (the one described in the poster above) that could be part of the Saw saga?

Out of Africa (1985)

directed by: Sydney Pollack
written by: Kurt Luedtke, based on the books by Karen Blixen,
Judith Thurman and Errol Trzebinski
photographed by: David Watkin
music by: John Barry
edited by: Pembroke J. Herring, Sheldon Kahn, Fredric Steinkamp and William Steinkamp
stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
imdb

The subtitle for this movie should be 'They don't make Movies like this anymore', because it has never been so true like with Out of Africa. A romantic (in every sense) tale about a Danish baroness who leads a farm in Kenya.

The story is based on the memories by Karen Blixen, who was nominated several times for the Nobel prize of literature. It is essentially a drama, but located in the impressive African landscape. You would expect the photography of the African landscapes to become the main attractive of the movie, but is is not. Even John Barry's memorable melody can be belittled by Meryl Streep's outstanding interpretation, or both Streep and Redford's charisma.

But it would be unfair not to mention Sydney Pollack's classic direction. Pollack, responsible for classics from the 70s and early 80s like They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Yakuza (1974) or Tootsie (1982). In opposition to "modern" directors, who tend to think they have to leave their "signature" in their films, Pollack knows that the best he can do is to let things flowing.

Many attempts have been made to copy Out of Africa: I Dreamed of Africa (2000) with Kim Basinger, Queen of the Desert (2015) with Nicole Kidman, but as we said 'They don't make Movies like this anymore'.

The Cassandra Crossing (1976)

directed by: George Pan Cosmatos
written by: Robert Katz, George Pan Cosmatos and Tom Mankiewicz
photographed by: Ennio Guarnieri
music by: Jerry Goldsmith
edited by: Françoise Bonnot and Roberto Silvi
stars: Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen
imdb

I remember, during the first stages of the Covid19 pandemic, when I heard about the virus outbreak and quarantine in the Diamond Princess cruise ship, I inmediately thought of The Cassandra Crossing. The Cassandra Crossing was quite popular when it was released and even later, but is now almost completely unknown among the new generations. The Cassandra Crossing was another 70s catastrophe movie, but instead of a roaring fire (The Towering Inferno), an earthquake (Earthquake) or a ship wreck (Poseidon), here we have a deadly virus. As in other catastrophe movies, the cast is spectacular, including also Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Alida Valli, Lee Strasberg and sportsman-turned-actor-turned-convicted-felon O.J. Simpson.

Cosmatos is an italian director known as director of two of the worst movies in Sylvester Stallone's career: Rambo II (1985) and the so-bad-that-it-is-fun Cobra (1986). But although I haven't seen these movies in a couple of decades, I would say that the worse about them was the screenplay, which no director would have been able to save.

The Cassandra Crossing is not a pandemic movie, not even a virus movie, but a typical catastrophe movie, mixing drama and thriller, where the virus (in this case, the bacteria) is only an excuse to put the train on the road (or the railway) of disaster. The opening titles are quite mesmerizing but unfortunately the rest of the movie falls into a quite predictable development. The main problem is that the screenplay uses the (so common in catastrophe movies) trick of alternating the moments of thriller (in this case, how the virus escapes from a lab and arrives in the train, and how the authorities try to track it) with the moments of drama (relationships between the characters). And although the virus part is acceptable, the part of the relationships is quite boring, despite the great actors/actresses involved, mainly because all characters are stereotypes. As mentioned this is not unusual in catastrophe movies. The problem: how long this part lasts, how long until the real "action" begins. By that time, our interest has already diminished.

When the action begins, things improve substantially. This is Cosmatos' speciality. And the train and the bridge at the end are simply iconic. It is a pity that they thought the movie needed 129 minutes, when it would have been much enjoyable movie if it had been half hour shorter.

“Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho.”