Review Roundup - Edge of the Axe

THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021)

While a lot of fantasy films have tried to be the next Lord of the Rings, few have gone in another direction entirely. In this case there is a quest and there are various sinister portents. But the results aren't any kind of grandiose spectacle or crowd pleasing action. In fact there's a certain amount of hero deconstruction at work in David Lowery's eerie Arthurian tale. What makes a man a hero, or a myth? His true actions or the fiction left behind in his wake? What exactly is a knight? On top of this the story often falls into the horror trappings of a ghost story, or a movie about witchcraft. It's a nebulous adventure to say the least. But it's certainly worth examination.

Review Roundup - Expendable Assets

THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021)

Another year, another reboot. While the exact nature of this film's continuity is fairly tangible, it does start to become annoying when the same-but-different title convention rears its head. Luckily while this is an area deeply lacking in creativity, the rest of the movie makes up for it. For the most part. Although David Ayer's prior film has been buried (at the time of writing) in place of a studio cut, it seems as though directorial voices are back. Zack Snyder got his four-hour spectacle. James Wan and David F. Sandberg got to flex their horror credentials where it was appropriate. And in this case the product is another weird, crass and often disgusting James Gunn movie.

Monster Bites - Moon Runes

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957)

Special effects from older films are often the subject of debate. Is less always more? Did they have the time and money to achieve what was original planned? Should the monster be teased in only brief glimpses, until a third act showdown? The eponymous demon in this case wasn't even supposed to be in the film at all, and the makers had a more mysterious story in mind. However, in the end the creature is shown immediately. It loses any sort of psychological element of course, but I think the results work for the most part. It's usually tough to side with studio interference. This time around I'm going to side with whoever built the glorious rubber monster.

Scorecard

JULY

FILM OF THE MONTH: Castle in the Sky ☆☆☆☆