Katie Parker | Cinema Parrot Disco

Almost caught up on posting September’s reviews! Four more to go after this. Here are three perfectly fine but somewhat forgettable movies I watched in September…

Living In Oblivion (1995)

Directed & Written by Tom DiCillo

Starring: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Peter Dinklage, Danielle von Zerneck, James LeGros

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDb)
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.

My Opinion:

Watched this as I adore Steve Buscemi (also because I had a glorious month of Mubi for £1 – saw lots of new favorites). This was fine. Was fun seeing behind the scenes of a low budget movie shoot plus Buscemi was a joy to watch as always. Catherine Keener was also very good. Worth a watch for its stars but the film itself may be a bit forgettable.

My Rating: 7/10

Next Exit (2022)

Directed & Written by Mali Elfman

Starring: Katie Parker, Rahul Kohli, Rose McIver, Karen Gillan, Tongayi Chirisa, Diva Zappa

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDb)
Two unhappy strangers find themselves on a road trip across the U.S. to partake in a scientist’s radical experiment with the afterlife in Mali Elfman’s poignant sci-fi debut.

My Opinion:

Loved the concept for this film – I’ll always watch a movie if I’m intrigued by its idea. Really liked Rahul Kohli‘s character – was nice seeing him again after Midnight Mass. Katie Parker‘s character was much harder to like, which I always struggle with in movies. I want to feel I have someone to root for. The actors did well but the story could have done so much more with this concept. A bit disappointing.

And there’s obviously a connection to Mike Flanagan here that I’m too lazy to look into…

My Rating: 6.5/10

Pleasure (2021)

Directed by Ninja Thyberg

Based on Pleasure by Ninja Thyberg

Starring: Sofia Kappel, Revika Anne Reustle, Evelyn Claire, Chris Cock, Dana DeArmond, Kendra Spade, Jason Toler, Mark Spiegler, Lance Hart, John Strong, Aiden Starr, Axel Braun

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The film is about a young woman from a small Swedish town who moves to Los Angeles to become a porn star.

My Opinion:

A very good & brave performance from Sofia Kappel in this. Certainly not an easy watch as it highlights some of the horrifying treatment of women in the porn industry. Although I can’t relate to that, as a woman I can of course say that none of the horrifying treatment in this was at all surprising. We see it daily in our own lives & in the news. Not a film I’ll ever watch again.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Welcome to Day Two of my “Four Days Of Mike Flanagan Movies“! Let’s see what I thought of the thoroughly strange Absentia… Yesterday I reblogged my review of Oculus & tomorrow will be reviewing Hush. On Wednesday I’ll hopefully be reviewing his new release Ouija: Origin Of Evil (if I’ve managed to see it by then!). 🙂

Absentia (2011)

Directed & Written by Mike Flanagan

Starring: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine, Justin Gordon, Morgan Peter Brown, James Flanagan, Scott Graham, Doug Jones

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDB)
A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.

My Opinion:

I wasn’t crazy about Oculus, the first movie I saw of Mike Flanagan’s, so I didn’t necessarily think I’d watch another one of his films after that one. I’m glad I did, though, as I liked Absentia & Hush just fine. I’ll even admit now that I was a little hard on poor Oculus (but only a little). It had potential, though – I just thought it fell apart at the end.

Absentia was my favorite of the Flanagan films I’ve seen so far but it’s probably the most divisive. This is a real “like it or hate it” movie. The pacing is very slow & there’s no “in your face” horror or gore. It’s more about the overall mood & atmosphere of the film, which I think is done really well. It’s nice & creepy with plenty left to the viewers’ imaginations. This is the type of horror that I prefer, of the supernatural psychological variety, but I know it won’t be to everyone’s taste.

The main focus of this film is on two sisters & the mysterious disappearance of the husband of the (heavily pregnant) sister. This woman’s husband has now been missing for seven years & the start of the film sees her preparing to declare him legally dead “in absentia”. Here’s the Wikipedia definition of this legal term if you’re curious:

“A person may be legally declared dead (declared death in absentia or legal presumption of death) despite the absence of direct proof of the person’s death, such as the finding of remains (e.g., a corpse or skeleton) attributable to that person. Such a declaration is typically made when a person has been missing for an extended period of time and in the absence of any evidence that the person is still alive – or after a much shorter period but where the circumstances surrounding a person’s disappearance overwhelmingly support the belief that the person has died (e.g., an airplane crash).”

Good! That filled up a decent amount of space in this review as I honestly don’t know how to go about discussing this one. This film is a bit bizarre and, if you’re someone who likes all the blanks filled in & all questions answered, you may not appreciate it. It’s a bit like Honeymoon in that way (which I reviewed HERE a couple of weeks ago & is one of my favorite horrors I’ve reviewed for my October Horror Month this year). Honeymoon goes full-on crazy at the end, though, whereas Absentia stays pretty calm. However, I found Absentia much more unsettling.

Give Absentia a go if, like me, you prefer strange supernatural horror to gory slashers. To be honest, it sort of has a Stranger Things vibe & makes you wonder if the show’s writers saw this film first. Hmm… If you watch this, just be aware that it’s slow going and you’ll need patience. My only small complaint is that, like with Oculus, I feel like Flanagan has great short story ideas that are difficult to stretch into feature length films (a bigger problem with Oculus, which was first a short film). I liked the sisters & their relationship so that helped as I think it would be harder to get into this film if you didn’t care what would happen to them. Like most modern day horrors, though, it won’t become an all-time favorite of mine & I’m unlikely to ever watch it again but I appreciated the unique story & the film’s mood. The majority of horror movies use the same recycled stories over & over again so it’s great to see one with some originality.

My Rating: 7/10