Movies and Tea #17 – Crimson Peak

The next episode of Movies and Tea is here! This time, we talk about Crimson Peak as we near the end of this season with only one more movie in his current filmography left after this one. Crimson Peak is a lot of changes of direction for Guillermo Del Toro as he helms this gothic romance lead by Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston.

Head over to Movies and Tea to check out this new episode and give it a listen!

Movies and Tea

Having established his “Eye Protein” style while crafting love letters to giant monsters and the things which go bump in the night with “Crimson Peak” his intrest turned to the classic Hammer Horror films while drawing further inspiration from the likes of “House on Haunted Hill” and “The Shinning” to craft a Gothic love story hidden under the geise of a ghost story.

Released to middling fanfare the film remains much like his early films somthing of an underdissed entry in his filmography….until now.

Further Viewing

Dracula (1992)
Jane Eyre (2011)
The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
The Shining

Music on this episode

Keith Mansfield – Funky Fanfare
Fernando Velázquez – Edith’s Theme
Fernando Velázquez – Soft Hands

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Double Feature: Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) & Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

Welcome to the next double feature! Its been at least a month since the last one and I’m slowly feeling up to writing reviews after a 2 week (or so) break after Fantasia! I did watch these two around the beginning of Fantasia Festival.

Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016)

Director: James Bobin

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anne Hathaway

Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to help the Mad Hatter. – IMDB

Alice Through the Looking Glass is the sequel to the live action Alice in Wonderland. While this live action adaptation is usually negatively rated, I see the flaws but somehow these  whimsical things work okay for myself. It becomes quite entertaining. Alice Through the Looking Glass has its issues and sometimes it doesn’t work as well as it might have hoped for but there are a few redeeming traits here. Lets just get it out there that as many times as I have started reading the source material by Lewis Carroll, I haven’t finished it so I have no idea how similar it is to the book. I do feel that some things were a little over the top in possibly the way it was portrayed however, the whimsical suspension of belief is expected and never a surprise. I like over the top fantastical elements so its why I still watch these movies.

There is a lot of silliness in Alice Through the Looking Glass. The redeeming character is still always Mia Wasikowska as Alice. She is such a spectacular actress who takes on different types of roles but excels in them. In this one, I loves her outfits and the journey she takes and altogether, keeping to how Alice is with the character traits. To be honest, most of the characters from the previous film did keep in character. Which pretty much means that if you didn’t like the first one, chances are that you might not like this one as it feels a little bit even more odd than before. Something here doesn’t fit together completely and yet I never pinpoint what it is. Perhaps its the weird Anne Hathaway performance as the White Queen and the story behind her and the Queen of Hearts. There is a slight entertainment value to Sacha Baron Cohen as Time.

Visually, Alice Through the Looking Glass delivers just like the first film. The characters also carry a lot of fun elements to them and are a joy to watch. However, the story behind her fighting to retrace the Mad Hatter’s childhood and learning about the White Queen and  Queen of Hearts story as well as having Time chase her through time and space felt a little lacking. Maybe its just not so personal when Alice does learn something about herself through this but the link of everyone in those stories just doesn’t feel like it adds up to more than it should.

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

Director: Simon Curtis

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Kelly MacDonald, Will Tilston, Alex Lawther

A behind-the-scenes look at the life of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son C.R. Milne. – IMDB

I’m not much of a biopic person. If you haven’t noticed, I try to stay away from biopic or drama or something like that. Movies are a means of entertainment to escape from drama so its one of the reasons why they tend to be the least chosen genre in film. I still watch them but they are infrequent. With that said, its hard to resist the biopic of A.A. Milne, the man who brought to life Thousand Acres Woods and Winnie the Pooh and his gang. As much as this is about the fame of Winnie the Pooh and this world, this biopic focuses on A.A. Milne’s relationship with his son and the reason of why this fun and fictional world even exists in the first place.

If there’s something more than Pooh Bear that I can’t resist, its a father and son relationship, well any parent and child relationship usually tugs pretty hard at my heartstrings. It feels pretty genuine in the way that this whole thing is portrayed. Domhnall Gleeson has a huge part in this because he does a fantastic job at portraying A.A. Milne. His character and the father he is and the man that he is and just how what he has gone through has changed him but no one quite understands him, especially his wife, played by Margot Robbie. However, we all have something to thank in this world and even adults sometimes make the choices when they get carried away with a situation and this is how Winnie the Pooh may have saved a lot of kids and was the world for so many people but in the end, it somehow deteriorated this father and son relationship and created a misunderstanding. Its this story and this human relationship that makes this film really good.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a fairly simple story and the feelings and relationship is so genuine that it makes it tug at our heartstrings even more. There’s a lack of communication and a bonding that grows over time because of the choices made by everyone. In some ways, it makes us wonder about this world that has given joy to so many people and yet the bittersweet feelings that come with learning about how there were sacrifices to sharing this world that A.A. Milne created with his son with everyone else and the fame and popularity ate away at their relationship. After you watch this, it feels like its a conflict that never quite gets resolved and whether it feels like everyone else had invaded into someone else’s imaginary world. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it but this movie is pretty bittersweet by the end.

Halloween Marathon: Crimson Peak (2015)

Its extremely rare that I head out to the theatres during Halloween season especially for horror movies.  Most of my friends aren’t huge on horror movies so it takes an immense amount of courage to head out to catch one.  But, I’ve missed a few of the must-sees on my movie list this year.  Crimson Peak is one of the later most anticipated movies.  It wasn’t on my original list earlier in the year but its super awesome with a director I admire and a cast that could sweep this thing away.  Its intriguing.  So, I picked up my courage, told myself to be brave and bought a ticket for myself and having a lovely date with myself to the theatres on a Friday night.

I haven’t seen a movie in a downtown theatre in so many years.  I think the last one was Thor 2. When was that released? Regardless, we had a rather chatty bunch.  The two girls sitting 5 seats down to me didn’t exactly master the art of whispering so I heard little psst psst psst sounds between words during the quiet parts of the movie. Then, some joker was in the back making stupid comments in a mocking voice.  The theatre visits, my friends, disappointing 80% of the time. Anyways, enough complaints…

Let’s check it out! 🙂

Crimson Peak (2015)

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Beaver, Burn Gorman, Leslie Hope

In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds – and remembers.-IMDB

Right off the bat, Crimson Peak makes us know that this is Guillermo del Toro’s work.  How? The amazing visuals and his ability to instill fear just from a strong opening scene. Crimson Peak is a mesh of genres.  While the trailer wants to believe that its a horror and romance, Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaMontreal categorizes as solely horror and then we have IMDB which lists it as horror, fantasy and drama. Fact is, it is a little of all those things.  There’s romance and it gets dramatic, there’s horror bits scattered but when the mystery eventually breaks out, that is when its not all that horrific anymore. While it does have hints of fairy tale and a good premise behind it, the visuals as top-notch and even the cast and the acting are great but the execution has me holding back from feeling anything more than lukewarm.  Don’t get me wrong.  I got scared and nervous at the scenes where it was meant to put us at the edge of our seats but maybe its the lack of connecting with the characters or feeling like the mystery was mysterious that it made me think, it felt a little anticlimactic to be honest.  The story had laid out the clues so well that when the actual reveal confirmed the story and the twist (because we know there is one always), it didn’t feel that shocking.

Well, that’s my review up there pretty much.  Honestly, there was some awesome directing here. The visuals of the ghosts and the costumes and the settings was great.  The atmosphere worked perfect and the music was absolutely stunning.  There were piano pieces that would pull on a ton of different feelings to accentuate the mood we had to be in. That is the magic of Guillermo del Toro that we know.  He showed those skills in Pan’s Labyrinth and honestly, in a story like this one, it started reminding me of that same brilliance but not really hitting the mark as well as before.   The moment you see the main setting at Allerdale Hall, its literally a rundown mansion.  Every shot makes you shake your head and as a normal person, to refuse to live in there.

As for the cast, there is nothing but good words.  I personally think that Mia Wasikowska is a talented actress especially in these weird mysterious storylines.  I mean, she did Stoker and man, I love that movie.  It was her being in this movie that pushed me to go see this even without seeing the trailer.  However, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain are both fantastic actors as well.  They carried each of their roles as good as they could.  I know Tom Hiddleston from just being Loki and its sad that I haven’t made my way to watching more of his work.  However, seeing him as a inventor and romantic is a new feeling and one that I think he does quite well. There were some pretty steamy scenes.

The least known for me is Charlie Hunnam in the supporting role.  I know he’s from Sons of Anarchy which I know nothing about except for the gifs hanging around internet boasting how great he looks naked. Oh right, and there is Pacific Rim. So yeah, hard for me to imagine him here playing as a opthamologist that loves to play Sherlock Holmes? I told you. Weird stuff.  But it is always expected when you head into a Guillermo del Toro movie.

Overall, Crimson Peak is an average movie for the fact that it holds too many genres to decide where it wants to go.  While there is a strong cast, sweeping music, stunning visuals and outstanding visuals, it never quite decides where it wants to be and it makes us connect with the characters a little less and feel less involved.  There were parts that ended up feeling slow but when we reached the horror sequences, they were done perfectly.  Even the romance was rather believable.  Except, it didn’t really give us a chance to piece together the story ourselves making the final reveal not much of an impact. However, for its positives which is still rather abundant, Crimson Peak is worth a watch even if its in your living room on Blu-ray. I know that despite all my complaints, I’d watch it again.

Have you seen Crimson Peak? If not, do you intend on checking it out? If yes, did you like it? 

Stoker (2013)

Stoker was one of my most anticipated movies of 2013.  However, because it was part of those artsy independent film categories, my suburban theatre didn’t have it.  When it was released, I bought it at full price.  Who would know that I’d wait all the way till now to watch it.

Director: Park Chan Wook

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman, Jacki Weaver, Dermot Mulroney

On her 18th birthday, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) loses her father (Dermot Mulroney) in a car accident.  The day of the funeral, her mysterious and charming uncle, Charlie shows up out of the blue and decides to stay with them to help her and her mother (Nicole Kidman) out.  India tries to figure out why Uncle Charlie appears out of nowhere as she didn’t even know about his existence before her father’s death and slowly she becomes attracted to him.

Unlike a lot of you, I’m not too familiar with Park Chan Wook.  I’ve only ever seen one short film by him called Cut and it was part of the 3 Extremes movie that I reviewed for the Halloween marathon 2012. You can check it out HERE if you’d like.  I only did a brief review as well but Park Chan Wook does have a very cool, mysterious style in kind of a mentally disturbed way. I like it a lot and I promise that I’ll get to Oldboy and Thirst soon. Stoker was my full conversion because it was all sorts of awesome.  I loved how it was filmed.  The shots were nice and the atmosphere matched the mood perfectly.  It was somewhat strange and mysterious but at the same time, it was intriguing.

THE best part of Stoker, hands-down, has to be the cast.  Lets start with Nicole Kidman.  I’m a huge fan of her to start. I’ve been slowing down on watching her films lately but she was pretty good as the widow who is attracted to her dead husband’s brooding brother and also, a mother who really doesn’t know what she’s doing but seems to want to be closer to her daughter but at the same time, in this controlling way but still remains distant.  And then, I start wondering if there’s more.  Either way, its not super clear but it didn’t bother me too much. Let me say, her glares and reactions were quite good.

Our main lead is the talented Mia Wasikowska.  She always seems to pick up these peculiar roles.  The first time I saw her was in Alice in Wonderland.  Despite that movie having certain flaws, she was not and I thought she made a good Alice.  Then after that, she played in the very awesome Jane Eyre as the renowned Charlotte Bronte character from the novel, you can check out the review HERE! Suffice to say, that I’m quite impressed with her and to me, when I first saw the poster of this, I was thinking that this was exactly what she would be awesome in.  She definitely did not disappoint me. It was a pretty captivating performance because her character was so quiet and it was all just her analysing her Uncle Charlie.  It had a lot to do with her body language and her glares, that sort of thing.  In general, this is a pretty quiet movie with  not all that much dialogue to begin with.

As much as Mia was great, Matthew Goode stole the show as Uncle Charlie.  This guy was an awesome mix of mysterious, creepy, weird, and very charming.  We never really see what Uncle Charlie wants until the end and its just totally crazy.  The dialogue, the connection with Mia’s character India and equally with Nicole Kidman’s character.  Every single time he was on screen I was totally drawn in.

Another thing I really loved about Stoker was the music.  Maybe its because I play the piano, the music itself had a lot of that.  I totally loved that weird piano scene with India.  I’ve mentioned it here but I can see how this movie might not be for everyone.  Its slow and not very wordy.  Its all about just how they react, India’s analysis of Charlie and her mother, and just seeing how India discovers a bit more about herself and her family.

Overall, Stoker shot up as one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2013.  It feels good to have expectations exceeded.  Its a great movie.  Deep, weird, mysterious, suspenseful, and in a way, somewhat disturbing but done so well.  Chan Wook Park is a very awesome director who captures some nice scenes and the cast is amazing.  Stoker is worth a watch just to see Matthew Goode in this awesome role 🙂 I highly recommend it!

Did you see Stoker? Did you like it? If you didn’t, what didn’t you like about it?

Valentine’s Marathon: Jane Eyre (2011)

Jane Eyre is the classic written by Charlotte Bronte and this here is the newest movie adaptation.  I have never read this book before although it is sitting on my bookshelf and it will be done soon. I had no idea what to even expect of it but the box said that it was “a love story as fiercely intelligent as it is passionate.” Sounds like something awesome, no?

Director: Cary Fukunaga

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench

Most classics, people already know how it goes or at least have a general idea, but seeing as I didn’t know anything about the story except for that it was written by Charlotte Bronte and that this is something of a gothic novel. Here is the story. Jane Eyre Mia Wasikowska) was orphaned when she was young and her father put her under the care of her Aunt, Mrs. Reed.  She was bullied by her cousin and her aunt found her to be a burden and eventually, at a young age, sends her off to a boarding school.  She gets punished for being rebellious in her actions and not always conforming to the ways at this school, there she befriends another little girl, Helen who dies in front of her.  When its her turn to leave this school, she leaves and finds herself employed as a governess at Thornfield Hall.  It’s there she meets Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench) who is the housekeeper.  When she finally meets the master of the house, Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender), she is treated as an equal.  Mr. Rochester is a man with dark moods which matches Thornfield Hall which is said to be haunted with a dark haired woman where screams can be heard and strange things occur throughout the night.  Thornfield Hall seems to have its share of secrets.  However, despite all that, a connection starts to draw Jane and Mr. Rochester together.  When things start to go out of hand, Jane decides to seek refuge and eventually gets saved by St. John (Jamie Bell).

As I haven’t read the novel, this will be seen as a standalone movie.  However, I will say one of the most captivating aspects of this movie is its lighting.  It stays true to the gothic style that the classic has.  At times in the movie, I actually felt an eerie feeling that you’d feel in a horror movie.  It made me sit at the edge of my seat and wonder what was going to pop out of the dark.  Its not just a love story but also a thriller because of all the secrets that are hidden in Thornfield Hall.  In most of the scenes the lighting is usually from either natural light of the outside or when inside, its from the light coming through the windows or candle light and lanterns. This helps set the tone of movie.

Aside from that, the two main characters are just amazing.  Mia Wasikowska is an beautiful actress and she portrays a simple and plain girl who hasn’t felt much (or any) love in her life.  She questions the nature of love and she ends up finding it in the rarest place.  The last time I saw Mia Wasikowska was in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.  As much as many people did like the movie, I did appreciate her performance there.  She played this role perfectly.  As for Michael Fassbender, I know him from last year’s Prometheus as well as 300 and X-Men: First Class.  His role as Mr. Rochester definitely was great.  He showed how Mr. Rochester was dark and deep.  At times, he would be blunt and direct with his sentences however, his desire to understand Jane Eyre was also shown.  He showed that even though she was just a governess, he respected and confided in her.  When they finally fell in love, you could feel their chemistry.  Michael Fassbender can act with his eyes and that is one of the greatest skills of an actor (in my opinion).  He emitted his passionate love for Jane Eyre and you can just see the strong emotions in his eyes.

I’ve already reviewed two classics in this marathon.  This one is completely new to me.  The first thing I did when the movie finished was to watch the deleted scenes and then leaned over to my bookshelf and pulled out Jane Eyre and put it in queue for the coming novels to read.  This movie is just that great.  Its an epic love story with dark secrets and unexpected turns filmed in an natural lit setting which gives off the gothic dark mood that I presume the novel is set in. I highly recommend this movie.  Its just a beauty to watch.

For those who have read this Charlotte Bronte classic, is it supposed to be dark? What do you think about the adaptation if you’ve seen it?

Do you think that movies that use natural lighting that makes every set a bit darker to be a effective means to set a suspenseful and eerie scene?  What do you think about Mia Wasikowska and/or Michael Fassbender?