"JOHN AND THE HOLE" // SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

BY MATEO MORENO

Lead by four strong acting performances, JOHN AND THE HOLE is a perplexing kind of film. It's a film that builds and starts with a simmering uncomfortableness, one that seems to be warning you of things to come. Once those things do come though, the film sinks into a strange icy nothing, a stance that seems noncommittal to making a statement about anything.

Charlie Shotwell plays John, a 13-year-old quiet kid who often asks weird but non-threatening questions to his parents, leaving them to simply write him off as a bit of an odd kid. He seemingly has only one friend and is a child born of wealth. His parents (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle) are supporting if somewhat icy parents, calling him "buddy" and saying things like, "If I'm home early enough, maybe we can toss around that ball," a phrasing that seems so out of an old TV show that you believe he probably pulled some parenting phrasing from old TV shows. He mops around, playing video games with a friend online, practices tennis and generally seems disinterested in general conversation other than his video game buddy.

One day, out of nowhere really, he mixes something in the lemonade he gives their gardener who abruptly passes out. Seemingly satisfied that it worked, he then turns his attention to his parents and older sister. He slips something into their food & drink and that night all three pass out so hard John is able to drag them outside without them waking out. He drags them to a hole, one that was left behind when a construction crew abandoned making an underground shelter. No reason is given for John's actions, nor does he seem to hate his family. Which makes the action even scarier. Is this a psychopath in the making? What will happen to the family after they suddenly wake up, look around and ask, "Where are we? Where's John?!"

The answer is... not much. JOHN AND THE HOLE builds at an incredibly slow pace and once the "hole" of the title comes into play, you might expect a dark turn of John's intentions or emotions. But we don't get any of that. Instead, we simply get John playing house and the family stuck in a hole. The emptiness of the latter half of the film simply drags on and what we're left to cling onto is the fine performances by the actors. As John, Charlie Shotwell displays an unsettling coldness to the world around him and his assured performance boldly sets what could be his breakout role. He doesn't let you in, because the film dictates that he can't, but you feel that he's holding something back, maybe a lot, from you and from those around him. As the family, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle and Taissa Farmiga are all great. Once they are trapped in the bunker, the acting shines, even if the film falters. The filmmakers are asking a lot of questions here and many of them are very intriguing (such as "What does John think he can do with any of these luxuries once his family is gone?"). But they also aren't concerned with answering them and though I'm a fan of not tying things up neatly by the end, almost nothing is even addressed let alone neatly tied up. It's a movie about coldness that sadly leaves you cold.

GRADE: C-

WRITTEN BY Nicolás Giacobone DIRECTED BY Pascual Sisto STARRING Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, Taissa Farmiga FEATURED AS PART OF THE 2021 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. FOR MORE INFO: JOHN AND THE HOLE

"THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST" // TRIBECA 2018 REVIEW

BY MATEO MORENO

Conversion Therapy is an awful and troubling thing. If you’re not aware of what it is, I’ll enlighten you. According to Wikipedia, Conversion Therapy “is the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual using psychological or spiritual interventions.” In other words, it’s therapy to help you stop being gay and become straight, like it was apparently intended. The heartbreaking and devastating repercussions of this kind of thinking is mind boggling. The majority of clinics that do such a thing do it under the guise of a fundamentalist Christian group, who justify their view on homosexuality with religion, cherry picked for their own beliefs. THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST dives into that world and follows a group who are put into a conversation center themselves, with their parents believe their homosexual urges can be cured.

Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) is caught having sex with a female friend of hers on the night of her Prom. Her legal guardian, who’s evangelical herself, immediately sends her off to be “reformed,” sending her to “God’s Promise.” The center is run by a brother and a sister, Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr). Rick himself claims to be successfully treated and only wishes the young students can experience life the way he did. But underneath the good will that is on the surface lies uncomfortable blindness to what they are actually doing. The film is clearly on the side of the teens, but intriguingly, it also humanizes Rick, showing his pain and confusion, especially after Cameron enters the fray. He seems lost, just like all of us, and unaware of the horror he’s spreading.

His sister is a much tougher character to swallow. She reminds me of a stern Catholic school teacher in the kind who would shave off someone’s hair because they didn’t approve of long hair (which Lydia does to a poor student of hers). She’s intent on putting her ideology into the minds of the students, unaware of the self-hatred that she’s actually installing. All of their methods have the opposite effect, but they are too shamed themselves to see what they are actually doing. With Cameron, she finally finds a community there who understand her, other outcasts who have been sent for the same reasons she has and all want to be anywhere else but there. Even as they are being taught to hate the feelings inside of her, the strength the group give each other makes it possible for them to find new layers within themselves, and helps them truly find who they are, not who the center wants them to be. It’s a film that’s full of heartbreak and pain, but also a real sense of compassion and love, not to mention a good amount of humor. It’s complex and warm, and it’s one of the strongest films I’ve seen during the festival.

VERDICT: MUST SEE

WRITTEN BY Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele DIRECTED BY Desiree Akhavan STARRING Chloe Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle. Playing as part of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

https://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/miseducation-of-cameron-post-2018

BAD MOVIE? GUILTY PLEASURE? BOTH? // A FILM REVIEW OF "50 SHADES OF GREY"

BY CHRISENA RICCI

I admit it. I saw 50 SHADES OF GREY this past weekend. Feminist groups call Christian Grey ‘abusive’. Christian groups call the film ‘pornographic’. And my mother simply referred to it as ‘the film that shall not be named’. I think it’s simply a bad film, with a lot of hype.

After guiltily reading all three of the 50 shades books on my Nook, I was curious as to how well it would adapt into anything suitable for a movie theatre. When I heard the soundtrack I was actually excited to see the flick. That was my main problem right there, I allowed myself to get my hopes up that a mediocre book series could be in anyway improved by a screen adaptation. One of my main problems with the books was that everything moved too slowly. Too much time gets wasted on repetitive self- doubt. Most of the time, I really miss the inner dialogue of the main character when it transitions from book to film. Not this time. For some unknown reason, the monotonous turmoil of Miss Anastasia Steele is all kept intact. They don’t even finish the first film in line with the ending of the first book. When the credits started rolling, I joined in the chorus of “What? Is that IT?” that was being shouted from around me. It was excruciatingly slow, and even at a glacial pace, it still somehow managed to end abruptly.

Now for some of the uncomfortable things that the film felt was necessary. There was a lot of body hair. Like, A LOT. Now I’m all for everyone grooming to whatever extent they wish, but this was, overwhelming. In the first steamy scene, it is apparent that Ana doesn’t shave her legs, ever. I went to a women’s college, and I am all about women doing what makes them happy with their leg hair. Braid it for all I care. However, in the books, Ana is not portrayed as the hairy feminist, or the lazy-with-a-razor  kind of lady. She’s just a regular kind of a girl. She may be a virgin, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t shave her legs. And by unshaved legs, I’m talking multiple inches long, highlighted by being captured in a shadowy silhouette. The audience’s involuntary and collective “ew” was actually laughable.

I spent most of my time laughing through this movie. The script was ridiculous and the “explicit sex” scenes were embarrassing for all the wrong reasons. I did really like the music selections that were playing throughout the entire film, and I thought the costumes were pretty fantastic. Although, it is pretty hard to mess up a soundtrack featuring an exclusive Beyoncé track and wardrobe made up mainly of nudity and gray neckties.

The addition of Ana’s parents was a surprising and welcome addition to the film. In the books, Ana is basically an orphan who has a pretty crappy "brother" in Jose and "sister" in Kate. It makes her situation with Christian seem more isolating and creepy. But in the film, Ana has a good relationship with her mother, whom she goes to visit. She is supported and loved without Christian, and I really appreciated that change. I also like that Ana is portrayed as both strong and intelligent when negotiating the Sub/Dom contract. The film does a good job of giving her a little bit more back bone and making her a lot more likeable than in the books.

I’m sure I will gladly see the second movie. I really did enjoy the chemistry between Ana and Christian, and I think the actors did a good job with an atrocious script. I found this film entertaining. It didn’t expand my mind, or provoke any interesting thoughts. But I had fun. I treated myself to a shameless amount of Jamie Dornan’s abs and movie theatre popcorn. It was the perfect girl’s night out.

CHRISENA'S GRADE: D-

Directed By Sam Taylor-Johnson Screenplay By Kelly Marcel Based on the novel by E.L. James Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, Eloise Mumford, Victor Rasuk, Luke Grimes and Marcia Gay Harden

FINAL THOUGHTS: It isn’t a good movie, but I sure had fun watching it.

CHRISENA RICCI once went to a costume party dressed in an all black dress and black wig. No one there could guess who she was. So she shouted out, "I'm Christina Ricci, without the T or I and add an E!" Everyone stood there confused, she was annoyed, so she stormed off. She never returned to that apartment ever again. Which is fine, because she later realized she was at the wrong party. She now lives in New York City.