This week, The Random Chat Show reviews the newly released movie, The Witch. It was one that couldn’t be escaped as its Melissa’s most anticipated movie of 2016. We play a little witch trivia and discuss the movie completely spoiler free. We also talk some random news!
Hope you enjoy!
Happy Saturday! 🙂
I can’t say I’m not quite impressed with myself for being right on track with my cinema visits. February and 2 movies done! I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going in but seeing as this was the most anticipated movie for Melissa (The Creative Fox Den), we had to do a podcast on it and it was how I ended up going to check this out. It just seems like I’m starting to go see these horror movies all by myself all the time. Its a little crazy because I’m the most easily scared person and I’m starting to think maybe that statement isn’t completely true anymore.
Let’s check it out! 🙂
The VVitch (2016)
Director & writer: Robert Eggers
Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson, Bathsheba Garnett
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.-IMDB
The VVitch is an interesting one to write about. I needed a few days to work out my thoughts a little. Its considered a horror and yet I’d say that the word I’d like to call this one is “unsettling”. It has a wonderful knack of being able to achieve discomfort. The atmosphere and the texture of the movie is dark and sombre. It creates mystery. It uses themes like faith and religion to conquer the evil that in the air. Its literally in the air around them. We never really see more than a few minutes in total of the movie the faces of evil and they are also unclear. Using those mechanics, it needs to be able to create dialogue and environment. Was I ever scared? No. Well, maybe a little creeped out because of the violent crescendo music in some transition scenes or the accompanying some other events. I found those at time the reason why I felt unsettled. Is that considered musical manipulation? Maybe.
The Witch is also a movie that you should go in knowing as little as possible and for that, I will try to stray far far away from talking about any concrete details. Its one that emphasizes on the writer and director’s abilities to bring his story to life. It is definitely a refreshing story especially in all its Old English glory. My only issue here is that while it wants to keep its authenticity of the era its set in, I would have wanted some subtitles to help me out. Some characters were borderline okay to understand but some other ones were downright impossible and it was when some happened due to a previous conversation that I figured out what the fuss in the beginning was all about. At that point, it takes away a little from one viewing. However, there are enough themes and ideas here that merits multiple viewings to grasp everything its trying to talk about.
Despite that, the story doesn’t quite lose its context ever. The Witch is a quiet film. It gives us a chance to slowly figure things out rather than treat its audience like it was stupid. The atmosphere in certain scenes were bone-chilling. The story works hard to make us learn about each of the characters, especially in its relatively short runtime. The Witch does try to achieve something more than the run of the mill horror we normally see. While I don’t live in the wilderness or near any woods so I didn’t lose a ton of sleep over this one, and it didn’t seem like it was scary, I did have moments where random moments did catch me off guard. Its main forte, aside from the story, is its cast and cinematography together and the cast themself is outstanding as they deliver their characters on point with what this story needs.
Overall, The Witch is a atmospheric chilling and eerie movie. It does exactly what it aims to do. While it does have its flaws, it also does have a lot of heart and merit. I look forward to watching this again and maybe getting a little more out of the story. Just keep in mind that it may never feel like a lot is going on but you will be engaged and intrigued almost every step of the way. Its well worth a viewing.
Have you seen The Witch? What are your thoughts? If you haven’t, do you plan to?
How many movies come out in a year? Have you ever thought about that? There are a lot! This year looks amazing at first glance with a ton of blockbusters but its also the year of sequels from animated films to superheroes. There are live adaptations, YA novels turned into movies, video games also turned into movies and when you take a deeper look, not so many original movies to anticipate. Its a perfect opportunity for David, Melissa and I to get together and chat about the upcoming 2016 movie releases.
Enjoy!
What movies are you anticipating in 2016?
2016 looks like a blockbuster year. It has a ton of movies coming out from some popular book to movie adaptations to some really good looking horror and then moving into live adaptations and video games turned into movies. There are a few sequels and superhero movies are still apparently a thing even though they are starting to annoy me a little bit at this point. Then we have one where I think is just milking a franchise and trying to grab those fan boys and girls just like its book itself was to me. And then, even for some rather bad first parts, there are comebacks with a second movie with a bigger and better cast, but we’ve all seen enough movies that sometimes the cast itself can act its butt off but if the script is empty and/or cliche then it just falls apart anyways. I’m not making speculations and I reserve any expectations but these are the choices for this year that I hope to catch in theatre. I always try for 12 movies seen in theatres every year (plus the 10 or 11 from Fantasia Film Festival on the side).
I’m done with my rambling. Let’s check it out! Trailers and a little explanation as to why they are in my anticipated list in the order of their release dates according to CinemaMontreal.com 😉
The 5th Wave [January 15]
I’m going to aim to read the source material before heading into the movie or deciding if I will go see it but the trailer looks decent. The concept of the aliens and war works and I’m a fan of Chloe Grace Moretz so this has a lot of promise for me. However, I can’t shake off the feeling that its a little Katniss mixed with The Host and a billion other YA books that has recently been adapted to the big screen.
Anomalisa [January 15]
The music, the animation style, the stories about being human and life: those things all work for me. Its as simple as that being the reason why I’d want to see this. It looks like a great movie which might just have something to say.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [February 5]
I’m on record to be in love with Pride and Prejudice. The era, costumes, class of classics are fantastic. Some of you may have an issue with zombifying many things but I don’t. I really like Zombie movies and there are some really fantastic and creative takes to the genre itself. When you mesh two popular things together, you could be surprised at what could come out of it.
The Witch [February 26]
Witches, creepy, good atmosphere, intriguing storyline. I think this one has a lot of potential to pack in a good horror adrenaline rush.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children [March 4]
no trailer
I was pretty unimpressed with the novel because it didn’t sell what it was trying to portray but there is no doubt that there is a really dark atmosphere here and who else can do a better job than Tim Burton who might just find his footing again with this one. Plus, it has one of my favorite young actors, Asa Butterfield. I really think he can pull this off. I wonder how they will portray the peculiar children also.
The Jungle Book [April 15]
I’m not exactly sure about the whole Scarlet Johansson narrative in the trailer but the ton of the movie is absolutely breathtaking. It looks absolutely wonderful. These Disney movie live adaptations are turning into downright visual feasts. It does have me all excited to check it out. And I’m not even a huge fan of The Jungle Book animated version to begin with.
Captain America: Civil War [May 6]
Its a weird feeling to be most anticipating Captain America. I’ve felt that he’s really grown on me because the Marvel franchise is the best with Captain America’s two movies. He feels real and just everything works. Captain America portrays his honor well and for this one, we have a few of the other superheroes coming in. I’m not sure if I like the overlap but it could work out.
Now You See Me: The Second Act [June 10]
It is rare that I put sequels in anticipating lists but this year, there seems to be a few. I love magic movies and I really bought the concept of Now You See Me. The general feeling was pretty average to this one but I think that it could seriously work as a sequel if they play their cards right. Although, I can’t help having a feeling that they might be stretching the story a little but somehow, I’m still pretty excited about it.
Star Trek: Beyond [July 22]
Star Trek is a little hard to pinpoint my excitement. They have made a really nice action-adventure so far. Into Darkness was not as great as the first but the tone of Beyond is really different and the trailer might have increased my excitement a little.
Assassin’s Creed [December 21]
no trailer
While I haven’t played much of Assassin’s Creed, I do acknowledge that those games have fantastic graphics and the characters are quite good. My husband is a huge fan and with Michael Fassbender involved and my immense love for him, I really hope that this is one video game successfully adapted into a movie.
The Little Prince and Eye in the Sky are potentially on this list except it has no set release date yet. They seem to both be supposed to hit theatres in March 2016 except Montreal doesn’t seem to have a date set so for your pleasure, here are the trailers as well!
RUNNER-UP: 13 Hours, Warcraft, Finding Dory, Deadpool, The Secret Life of Pets, The BFG, Through the Looking Glass, The Legend of Tarzan, Suicide Squad, The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun
WHAT MOVIES ARE YOU ANTICIPATING THIS YEAR?
Tranquil Dreams 