Nosferatu (2024)

Gothic hardly covers it. Every frame of this film teems with expressions of the gothic ethos, making it an especially rich and evocative viewing experience, especially if you are familiar with the source materials. It is actually refreshing to see the vampire genre not treated as a mere fashion show for the pretty and perfect but as a story much closer to the folkloric roots of the thing (literally): as a true horror of pestilence, existential fear and death. Romance is underplayed in the face of primal forces—because, after all, we’re talking about a walking corpse here. The cast does a fine job of conveying all of the above with sincerity, and the script stays true to the roots of the tale, yet adds a few interesting twists and at least mildly provocative details. Finally, this film makes the point that horror, though certainly bound to blood and gore at its core, is not necessarily limited to over the top violence, slasher action or shock moments, but that atmosphere can deliver the basics of the genre, when it is done right. I wouldn’t guess what Stoker would have to say about this, but I suspect Murnau would be most pleased to see such a stylish and sophisticated expansion on his earlier masterwork. Great stuff. 

Deadpool & Wolverine

Was this trip really necessary? I’m far from convinced that it was. I won’t say there isn’t any funny in here; there are some real laugh-out-loud moments along the way in this script. But then again, a lot of the story reads like it was copied and pasted from fan fiction posted on message boards. I wasn’t quite sure how and why the main characters were where and what they were at the start of things—I guess I really don’t live and breathe these flicks after all; score one for me—and it never got all that much clearer as things went on. Others may be satisfied with the Easter egg experience of seeing some obscure characters brought into the plot as cameo devices, but that only goes so far in my view. (Dafne Keen’s appearance worked best for me, as her character actually had some relevance to the last time we saw Hugh Jackman as Logan.) And, of course, the over the top violence is fun, for a while. Then it gets numbing, and your mind starts to drift onto other ideas—like, for instance, what is the point to all this besides making money? The answer may not surprise you. Alas, everyone’s favorite unkillable supersomething may live on again and again, until the profit margin grows small enough to invoke the powers that no franchise can resist: studio accountants. I guess that’s the real subtext of this thing. That certainly is the lasting takeaway of this movie. Let’s see how many wisecracks it takes to overcome that.