The Omen

I guess in a really weird sort of way, without the son of Satan there would be no Superman.

Richard Donner's feature length directorial debut was a milestone in horror history, not only was it terribly succesful but gained two nominations at the Oscars completing the unholy trinity of Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. Now I did not know even half of this movie in comparison to Rosemary's Baby, I of course heard of it and knew some plot points but ultimately had no clue where the movie was going. It's almost framed as a mystery of this wealthy political family who adopts a son who is more than they bargained for, as both religious and unreligious figures try to assist and discern the origins of young Damien. I personally felt the mystery worked and worked well because unlike with Rosemary we don't really know how this all came about, who was in on it, and even what the end goal of such machinations could be. Not knowing sometimes is much scarier. So we essentially follow the father Robert played by Gregory Peck as he pieces all this together and has to come to terms with the fact he may have to kill his son. There's drama to that, it's not heavy handed or preachy but when you get an actor as good as Gregory, who at this period of time was pretty much done with acting all together and still delivers a strong performance as you would expect is something to be admired. Lee Remick I feel had just a bit more that could have been integrated in the story as the mother Kathryn, we get bits of her becoming wary and untrusting of Damien but I feel we could have went farther with it, but performance wise still pretty good and memorable. Same can be said for Harvey Stephens as Damien, not the focal point of the movie as you would be led to believe but for one so young we got a lot out of his performance to where you're not really sure if he's flat out evil or not which I like. Billie Whitelaw is kind of the mirror of that as Mrs. Baylock, where you only get moments but she's such a presence and has this dark look about her that you don't need more than that! It's simple, subtle, and doesn't need expounding upon. Anytime I get to see David Warner in a movie is a happy occasion and lord knows I miss the man and his talents, and I like the progression of starting as a innocuous character but becomes the second protagonist in this story and he just never fails to deliver regardless of part. Also I have to shoutout Patrick Troughton who again isn't present a lot as Father Brennan but commands respect and you know he's on the level about what he knows, of course I'm attached because of Doctor Who but it doesn't take away a fraction of his acting chops. The movie is a bit under 2 hours and it keeps your interest throughout, building on the drama of the characters than the horror of evil which I think elevates it considerably. Any other movie would have this kid blatantly act like a hellspawn and be this overblown conflict of good against evil, but instead we see the effect of the revelation on this family and you do care about them enough. The directing of Richard Donner and the writing of David Seltzer make this film what it is, with no small amount of appreciation for Jerry Goldsmith's score which can be both beautiful and horrific, all those elements craft a finely made intriguing film that I almost feel the least amount of people have seen when stacked against the other three. Everybody has watched The Exorcist, a good chunk of people have viewed Rosemary's Baby, I don't hear too many people discuss The Omen which is a shame because it does stand strong on it's own merits. Does it go for your typical style of horror or devil movies? Not at all! But it isn't trying to be above that either. It just does it in it's own way and I can respect that a great deal. I give it 3.5 stars, 8.5/10! New movie incoming Friday.

To Kill A Mockingbird

Dear God I love my job sometimes.

I finally did it, I finally scratched another one off the list. To Kill A Mockingbird, it's the easiest film to talk about and yet so difficult to talk about. Do I even need to say I loved it? Do I even need to say it is one of the best films I have ever seen in my entire life? Of course not. Granted I knew next to nothing about the film, aside from it's one of the best films in american cinema and the line, you probably know the line. That's it. But I never allow such expectations, because you simply can never hear such praise of a film and set that as the benchmark, you must watch it for yourself and judge if it is indeed one of the greats or not. It truly is. It took maybe 5 minutes after the opening credits to where I was ready to be taken on this reminiscent journey of a young girl whose father is a defense attorney and is tasked with defending a black man named Tom who allegedly raped a white woman. But the courtroom scene is not the focus, it doesn't even start until a bit less than an hour before the film ends. The focus is on the young girl Scout, her memories and experiences of that time in her small town, and Mary Badham could not have been better in this role. I adore Scout to the moon and back, she's funny, she's inquisitive, she's a bit of a tomboy, and if I'm being absurdly real with you she is straight up future daughter goals for me. I cannot believe we got such a good performance from such a young girl, just 9 years old and was nominated for an Oscar. Hell to the yeah! But the most integral part of her story and her world is her father, Atticus Finch and it really does show. They have a great relationship together and you can tell he's a great dad and a very respectable and stand up guy. Gregory Peck is so godforsaken good in this movie, he just nails it he absolutely nails it! People have brought up to my knowledge only recently, that is Atticus Finch truly a good person? Does he truly believe in his defendant's innocence or did he just accept the case just to add another notch to his belt if he was acquitted? Was he possibly rascist? In my eyes, no. Granted the story is told from Scout's point of view, she has an immeasurable love and respect for her dad so could the case be made that she was just trying to make her dad seem better than he really was? I haven't read the book, but dear lord is it on my list now, but the film version of Atticus does not seem that type of person. He never judges people, he flat out tells Scout not to use the ugliest and most derogatory word in history though she's by no means a bad kid, he takes the time to visit Tom's family, and is clearly affected by the case. No spoilers of course, but I got choked up not once, not twice, but three times and I don't even know why. I was so heavily engrossed in the story and these characters that by the time the trial started I seriously could not sit still, I had to just pace around my living room I got that into it. It has been a good long while since I got that involved in a film. It's not a film renowned for it's technical aspects, it's shot well and everything, but the reason the film still has that punch over 55 years later is because of the story and the performances. There's one scene and it's genuinely making me well up right now, where Scout meets this young man named Boo who is kind of a recluse and there's a lot of bad talk about him and she's been trying to see him for the whole film, and they finally see each other and....it just went right through me. Not a line was spoken, he's barely on screen for maybe 5 minutes, and he never even says a word. It's just a visual performance by Robert Duvall, and that is some of the best acting I've seen yet. It tells you everything without saying a single solitary word. This movie made me remember why I love to watch movies, why I love to write review after review, week after week, year after year. It is because of just little scenes like that. It means the world to me. And I feel like such an unbelievable idiot for not seeing this film earlier in life. I really want to give it a 9/10 guys, I really do. An 8/10 is a disservice! It's a 9/10, 4 stars, if I forced my thumb to go up anymore it would break. This is mandatory viewing. Now you don't have to take everything I say to heart, just see the movie and judge it for yourself, you may not give it a 9/10 and that is fine, but regardless just see it. I gave so much disdain and hate for It's A Wonderful Life, and people just eat that movie up and I'm fine with that. Different opinions are okay, but you still need to see the movie for yourself so you can give your own input on it. Like God dang it, I want to watch it again! Right now!

I'll be back tomorrow, it's high time we get some foreign films in this month.