The East - Review by Insomniac's Cinema

The East (2013) - Movie Review by Insomniac's Cinema

"The system is broken" - Sarah 

Director: Zal Batmanglij
Writers: Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling
Starring: Brit Marling, Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgård

The East is a thriller (directed by Zal Batmanglij) which follows an anarchist group (called The East) who target big corporations who commit crimes against the environment or people and get away without any punishment. Sarah, an ex FBI agent, works for a secret organisation who "protects" the types of companies
mentioned above. Sarah gets a new job to intersect The East and find out who they will target next. After she finally discovers the group, she starts to question her consumerist lifestyle as she spends more and more time with them, but with who does her allegiance really lie?

I was hoping so much that this would be good! It even fits fantastically with Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling's previous colab, Sound of My Voice. I viewed The East as a make it or break it situation, something that would determine whether or not Batmanglij and Marling were as great as I thought they were and honestly I have to say that even though I had some problems with The East it (thankfully) reinforced my pre-existing ideas about the duo!   


One of the main things that makes the duo's movies so interesting to watch (to me, at least) is the fact that they always immerse themselves into the real-world versions of their films. During the filming of Sound of My Voice (a film about an underground cult) they actually went to numerous cults to get an idea of how they worked. The did the same for the filming of The East, Batmanglij and Marling visited anarchist groups and even undertook the freeganism lifestyle (yeah, the one where you get all your food from the trash...) While this might seem a bit extreme to some, I commemorate them for their commitment, I also think that it allows them to make the films seem much more "true".

While some people would say that, "THIS MOVIE IS ANARCHIST, LIBERAL, COMMIE-PROPAGANDA BULLSHIT!!!" you have to admit that the arguments posed in the film are valid and thought provoking. These things DO happen to real people by big corporations who never get into trouble. Think what you will about it's message, The East shows a very unique and controversial perspective using an entertaining story and interesting characters.


The characters and their relationships were portrayed very well. Throughout the film there are certain subtle things that they do or say, which might give you a better understanding of them and what they are feeling. Brit Marling was fantastic as Sarah, you can see how she slowly transforms from a Christian, Mcdonalds eating consumer to a freegan, anarchist. The rest of the group's characters were all unique, well acted and interesting (especially Ellen Page's Izzy). Some people would argue that there were characters who were "killed off" too quickly and served no purpose but to me it only added to the feeling of how people come and go in these types of groups and how others just completely change...

If you have seen either this or Sound of my Voice you will know that Batmanglij is great at making his characters interact with each other in really strange ways but still makes it seem very sincere and real. I think that even though this looks less "stylized" than Sound of my Voice there are still some fantastic and artful scenes and great transitions. Although the film doesn't make use of any real "pop songs" there are some classic instrumental pieces used for the soundtrack, the most memorable being Doc's Song, a beautifully depressing and short piano solo played by Doc on an old piano in the group's base.

This film really took me by surprise. I never expected it would make such an impression on me. From the beginning, to the end it kept me interested thanks to strong performances by the main characters, interesting interactions and a great story line. This was a great second attempt for Zal Batmanglij and made me even more exited for his (and Brit's) next project. 

All in all, The East is a definite see!

Rating: 8/10

The Purge Review - The Insomniac's Cinema

The Purge - Horror Movie Review

2013

Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes - “If on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? In The Purge, a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home. In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity-including murder-becomes legal. The police can't be called. Hospitals suspend help. It's one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin's (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide.”

I was really looking forward to The Purge ever since I saw the trailer a few months back. I thought, “Wow, this might be able to join Cabin in the Woods and Sinister as recent Horror movies that were actually good!” Did it? Well, sort of, I mean it’s not like the movie wasn't enjoyable (because it was) but throughout the film there are things that take away form the movie like: stupid decisions made by the characters or topics that aren't explained properly.

The movie stars Ethan Hawke (James) and the fantastic Lena Heady (Mary) as the parents and even though Ethan’s character seems like a really bad dad in the beginning, I still think they did a good job. Lena as the Mary was great, she had some intense scenes and actually showed that she cared for her children. The daughter (Zoey) was fine but her boyfriend did something really stupid that makes no sense at all. The only person that I thought was really horrible was Charlie, the son. He made the more stupid decisions than anyone else in the whole movie and I don’t want to sound mean but could they really not have gotten a better actor who was less dopey-looking to play him? The intruders/invaders were kinda dumb (I cannot imagine that those masks are easy to see through!) but the leader was fantastic and really reminded me of the main psycho from funny games...

The whole Purge was pulled off quite well in my opinion (the opening credits were shocking and really showed what happens during the Purge) but I wish that they gave a bit more backstory about the origin of the Purge and the “new founding fathers”. During the movie there are these news segments shown TV where people discuss why the purge is so successful and I found it really interesting, it made the Purge and the movie’s universe seem more real. I do however think that the pacing was bad at times (especially during the last 15 minutes of the movie) because of this the ending felt very anticlimactic…

All in all, The Purge was an entertaining movie with some stupid moments. If they added more to the story it might have been a lot better. It’s wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t horrible either: 6/10

***SPOILER TALK***

This doesn’t really form part of  my review but I just want to discuss some of the “stupid moments” I mentioned earlier. Firstly, the neighbours are supposed to hate James and his whole family because he sold them security systems and made a lot of money, because of this they want to kill him? It makes no sense, they bought expensive security systems from him to keep themselves safe(which they don’t even need since they go out to “Purge” the whole night) and then resent him because he got a raise…

The other big issue I had was with Henry (Zoey’s Boyfriend), I understand why he exists but why did he have to try and kill James? Did he really think that Zoey would be completely fine with the fact that he killed her father? And after he tries to shoot James and then gets shot himself it seems like no-one is even surprised that Henry did it.

Also, when the intruders do finally get in the house they all get killed in like 10 minutes, which is understandable since they are all completely incompetent, for example, they failed to kill Charlie (who clearly doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “hide” since he used his flashlight to show his exact position…)  It also bothered me that they two of the intruders were so surprised to find James with a gun moments after he fired a shot (keep in mind they are in the same house!) Ther are more things that I thought were dumb but that's all for now!

***END OF SPOILER TALK***

Thanks for reading! Please remeber to comment and follow my blog!
-The Insomniac's Cinema

The Haunting (1963) Review - The Insomniac's Cinema

The Haunting
1963
Horror
Robert Wise


In my opinion this can easily be considered to be one of the best haunted house movies ever made. It has everything you want in a this type of film, from the interesting characters to the scary house itself. The film was based on Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel, The Haunting of Hill house and was directed by Robert Wise (who two years later directed The Sound of Music) It stars Julie Harris as Eleanor Lance, a troubled young woman who gets invited by Dr. Markway to join the paranormal investigation into Hill house.

When she arrives at Hill House she meets Theo, Dr Markway and Luke Sanderson and together they embark on their paranormal investigation into Hill House. At First everyone is skeptical until things start to go horribly wrong and they realize that the house is in fact haunted...

Eleanor is an extremely interesting character (and was also portrayed fantastically) At the beginning of the movie she starts off as very naive and innocent (with hints that she does have a dark side) but as the movies progresses, Hill House (and it's spirits) start to change her into something very screwed up. During the film we don't get to know much of Eleanor's background but the things that you do know really make her up to be someone who is capable of doing things that (at first sight) you never thought she would or could do.

Since this movie is a 60's black and white horror film it does contain some overacting and overall cheesiness but in the end the characters still seem realistic and can successfully creep you out(Eleanor's dancing scene anyone?) The sets were also fantastically chosen, Hill House is extremely scary! Even though you don't really see the "ghosts" in the movie they are still very menacing thanks to the way they taunted the characters. (As properly demonstrated in the scene where Eleanor and Theo are trapped in their bedrooms)

The only thing that I would've wanted to see more of were actual paranormal experiments and also to see how the spirits affected the other characters...

All in all The Haunting is a truly fantastic movie and a definite watch for all movie buffs!


...9/ 10...(doors built on an angle)