Movie Review -- Searching

  “Gimmicky” is a word that is thrown around a lot, but if you ask me just because something is gimmicky doesn't always mean that it's bad. Case in point, I just saw Searching, the latest in a new subgenre of films that take place entirely on computer screens and smartphone screens, a gimmick which isn't quite as boring as you'd initially think.

  At least it wasn't boring in this movie. I have seen the 2014 horror film Unfriended which runs on the same “only looking at the screen” schtick (does this subgenre count as found footage?). It wasn't very good and so I was a bit skeptical for Searching. But it turns out that there's nothing to fear here; simply put Searching is Unfriended done right, for two reasons. The first is that Searching has more dynamic presentation and editing to it. It's not just a static frame of the whole desktop. The “camera” pans around and zooms in on things so that the audience can follow what the main character, David Kim, is focusing on. It also doesn't take place in real time, it happens across several days and on several different computer and phone screens (and possibly some TV screens; it was difficult to tell at times). While this does undermine the narrative structure's unity it does do a fantastic job of drawing to the viewer into David's point of view, which is the second thing that Searching's visual presentation has going for it. Whereas Unfriended was a horror movie where people on Skype just sit around and watch eachother die – with no worthwhile character for the audience to really latch onto – Searching is a story told from just one man's point of view, displaying the paranoia and despair that he's going through as he tries to piece together what's going on. It's a concept done so well that it makes one wonder why the computer-POV thing hasn't been done with mystery-thrillers before (at least as far as I know). It brings new life into a story which would be considered average for any other movie.

  The story is follows David, a single father whose relationship with his 16-year-old daughter Margot has grown distant since the passing of his wife Pamela. Things get tense as his daughter vanishes without a trace one night. David then does everything he can to try to find her with the help of cyberspace. And it's a good thing he's one of those parents who records/photographs everything imaginable! Isn't it remarkable what one can find out about a person through social media nowadays? It's one of those classic “do you really know those who are close to you?” scenarios, but this one carries a surprising amount of emotional weight. I'd say the story of Searching is basically a more down-to-earth version of Taken. There's plenty of red herrings and the ending is pretty decent, though it is kind of silly when you consider the fact that David was able to figure out who the perp was through a simple Google search. The badguy really should've covered up his/her tracks better.

  The cast of Searching all do a fine job. John Cho's performance as David deserves particular praise. It's a role that takes his character to lots of different places emotionally and he pulls it off flawlessly.

  All in all, Searching is an interesting entry in the mystery-thriller genre, with its seasonable subject matter and unique gimmick. If you like missing person dramas and you want to find something new there then look no further... 

  See what I did there?

Grade:

Movie Review Repost -- Apollo 18 (2011)

All Hallows Eve approaches. I'm sorry I haven't got anything new for you this weekend, so I figured I should look back at one of the few horror movie reviews I did in my early days of reviewing (and it's not the greatest review I've ever written). This is the sci-fi found footage film Apollo 18. It was mediocre and didn't leave much of an impression on me. I've not seen it since and I've barely thought about it since. So I guess my opinions are unchanged...

  The summer is at an end and last weekend I tried to fit in one more movie viewing. I chose Apollo 18, a horror/sci-fi flick set in the early seventies about the supposed last lunar mission.

  This movie is filmed in found-footage style, meaning that the cinematography is similar to grainy, staticy late-sixties video camera footage, so get used to seeing cameras malfunction and flicker around and go offline; it happens every five minutes. I can't help but wonder if that was even necessary. Anyways, don't expect to see a masterpiece of film here. The plot is very cliched and unoriginal and somewhat predictable. The film has a noticeably slow start as well as a few slow moments throughout.

  What did I like about this movie? Well the special effects look great, but with the grainy, low-res footage, making good looking special effects on this film couldn't have been that difficult. The acting is better than average, but the actors' best efforts are inhibited by the underdeveloped characters. By the end of the film you still won't really know that much about the three characters.

  During those slow boring parts, you'll find yourself thinking of plotholes and other weird stuff. Like why did Commander Walker want to be saved even though five minutes earlier he didn't want to go back to Earth fearing he'd infect the whole planet? And how come the aliens attacked on this mission but not the other moon missions? Unless the producers... And then it hits you: you're watching a hippie movie! Think about it, the pieces of the puzzle are all there: faked moon landings, the government being portrayed as evil, indigenous creatures fighting back (AKA environmentalism/anti-racism), technology being portrayed as useless, the USSR being depicted in a sympathetic manner...

  Wow. I've got to go warn people of this. Meanwhile, you should stay away from this crazy movie unless you really want to kill some brain cells. (And to think I chose this instead of My Idiot Brother!)

Rating: Two stars out of five

Movie Review Repost - Project Almanac (2015)

At this time of year, you see a lot of "best/worst movies of 2015" lists. I've always wanted to do one of those, but the problem is that I haven't seen nearly enough movies in one year to do that type of thing. In fact, I didn't see all that many bad movies last year anyways. But for those who are interested, I've decided to repost here my review for the worst movie I saw in 2015: Project Almanac. It wasn't horrible, but looking back I think I was being way too generous with this one. Even if you had heard of it, you've probably already forgotten about it! In which case, enjoy this sad little reminder, and then go watch The Revenant again. Enjoy!

   Going in, I had no clue what this movie was about. All I knew about Project Almanac was that it was in found-footage style, and since I don't much care for those kinds of films my expectations were rather low. Was I right?

   Not really, somewhat, I guess. I will say that the film was slightly better than I expected. Project Almanac follows David and his friends as they stumble upon David's late dad's unfinished prototype of a time machine. Unlike most time travel movies, it focuses less on the possibilities of temporal displacement and more on the ethics involved in it and how it affects its participants' relationships. And so for this reason it makes sense that our characters are more than a little careless, self-centred, and irresponsible. Anyways, the film presents some interesting ideas concerning time travel, such as what happens when you go back and meet your past self, as well as how a time traveller's psyche is affected by having the power to go back to see and do anything. Unfortunately this story's adverse consequences (ripple effects) could have benefited from a clearer explanation. Also the ending was quite sloppy, with a bunch of unanswered questions.

   The actor portraying David – Jonny Weston – does a pretty good job, even if he does look way too old to be in high school. The rest of the cast is just OK, nothing special.

   Now let's talk about the whole found-footage schtick for a minute. For a film dealing with experimentation in time travel told from one point of view, it seemed like a good idea but it could've been handled better. Project Almanac suffers from consistency problems that are symptomatic of a lot of FF style films (i.e. it breaks the FF rules). Which camera are we supposed to believe filmed the whole movie? Was it the GoPro, the camera phone, or the old-school camcorder? Or was it a combination of all three? Either way, that camera has an impressive microphone range! And of course the film also has those super-serious scenes that no one in the right mind would ever be filming in real life. And lastly, the whole found-footage tone is kind of ruined when the movie includes cutaway shots to other locations, ominous zoom-ins, private moments where it's obviously just one person alone, and – worst of all – musical scoring!

   Despite this, Project Almanac is watchable enough. There's not much else to say really. If you want to watch it, watch it. If you don't, then don't.

Rating: two-and-a-half stars out of five.