Review: Oculus starring Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites

For every ten standard horror films there’s one that breaks the mold, these are your SCREAMs and A Nightmare on Elm Street (believe it or not that movie was pretty groundbreaking when it came out).  I’m not saying Oculus is on the level of those genre-changing films but it’s definitely right up there. On the surface you have a movie about an evil mirror that kills those who look on it, past that you have a movie that seriously treads the line on “Is this all just a figment of a disturbed imagination?” Let’s do some plot, Alan Russell (Rory Cochran) buys a mirror without checking the provenance, which would have told him the prior owners had a nasty nack for dying badly. What follows is a long bit of “All Work and No Play Make Alan GO CRAZY” leading up to the sound of some shots going off and Alan and his wife Marie (Katee Sackoff) dead and all things looking like Alan just went nuts. Their children, Tim and Kaylie, are both shipped off to different places with Tim going to a mental institution after receiving the blame for his father’s death. After he is released Tim (Brenton Thwaites) meets up with his sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan). Tim has spent years learning that the mirror was only a creation of his mind to deal with his father’s descent into madness, while Kaylie has been able to focus her time directly into believing in an evil mirror.

This is where the film really takes off, horror movies always play with the idea that “It’s all in your head”, but usually it’s in the form of some distrusting authority figures who we’re not supposed to take seriously, this movie has one of the main characters casting doubt. If that doesn’t make the water murky enough the trip results in the telling of the back story intercut with real time in such a way that the two begin to overlap and we really do begin to question the motive of the movie. The non-linear storyline is a touch that really makes you feel what the characters are feeling, it pulls you in to such a jarring state that you can understand the heights they are willing to go to and that they are having a hard time trusting their own eyes. Isn’t that everyone’s deepest fear, really? To not be able to trust your own senses knowing that you’re so sure of something but there’s an outside chance that you may just be losing your mind.  That’s a downright amazing touch right there…because it’s only when you feel truly safe that you can be properly scared.

This sounds like a very non-traditional horror movie, where are the scares? Don’t worry about that, there are more than enough creepy faces where there shouldn’t be and standard jump scares as well…but done in the right way. I’ve really found that jump scares are a necessity in horror films but you have to do them properly, in a not completely obvious way. Honestly though, it’s the psychological impact of Oculus that will leave you with the lights on, not the cheap scares.

I think Oculus, while not for everybody, is a must for all fans of the horror genre. This flick is the next in a progression of smarter horror films like Drag Me To Hell, or Cabin in the Woods. There is so much more to the film than I’ve even listed here, for the sanctity of spoiler-free, but as you slowly find yourself learning the truth of what happened that night you only go further down the rabbit hole. You’ll want to come back for more which, box office depending, was left wide open in the most clichéd part of the film…the final shot sequel establisher!

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The Great Gatsby: John's Take

The great American novel…that somehow I never read, this ends up being a great thing for me but we’ll get to that later. Being that 90% of the country read the book in high school I suppose a synopsis is somewhat superfluous but there are rules people, and I must tell you what it’s about! It’s the roaring 20’s and Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire) has just moved to Long Island where he plans to make his way in bond selling (though I still don’t really know what that is) on Wall Street. He rents a small cottage which sits among the gigantic mansions of the nuevo riche residents of West Egg with his next door neighbor being its most popular and mysterious resident, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Gatsby throws amazing parties to which all are invited, rich and poor. This diversity is an idea not shared and frankly frowned upon by East Egg residents, where the true American “old money” and family to Nick Caraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Daisy being Nick cousin and Tom an old friend, reside. It isn't long until the mysterious Gatsby takes an interest in his new neighbor and confides in him a number of things that will change the lives of them all forever. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising how divisive this movie seems to be among those who've seen it. Whenever you take a classic and do something new it’s going to make someone upset. I loved it…but I will be 100% honest with you upfront, I’m not positive how much of my admiration comes from the film version and how much comes from this being my introduction to such an amazing story (it’s easy to see why it has such a lofty status in American literature).

The thing I can imagine that most did not like about The Great Gatsby is the music…they went with the contemporary music in a period setting route, substituting big band and jazz for hip-hop. Honestly, I think it was a genius move since the music works better for modern audiences and you don’t lose the true party spirit of big band and jazz. Its remarkable how well rap fits in with the huge, lavish party scenes featuring scores of people doing the Charleston. Admittedly there are a few spots where it’s a bit jarring, namely the opening scene and a 10 second bit where ‘H to the Izzo’ pops up. While we are on the topic of music let’s dive into one of the most powerful movie songs I've heard in years, Lana Del Ray’s ‘Young and Beautiful’. The song is used as the love theme for the movie, showing up in different iterations throughout and it hits every single time. There is, however, one scene that sets it apart and truly cements it as a great in my mind and that is when Gatsby and Daisy are first back together and are dancing in his mansion. The mixture of skilled acting, perfect atmosphere and this amazing song does more to put you in the scene than anything I can remember…cheesy as it may sound you begin feeling that warm feeling of first love in your own stomach.

While the music was a top selling point for me the true stars of the film are…well…it’s stars. I honestly can’t pick out a bad performance in the lot but the core of Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire (who I generally dislike), and Joel Edgerton each hit home runs and then some. I will be astonished if there isn’t at least some serious buzz for DiCaprio come Oscar season…there isn't another actor working today that could have pulled off this role with such believable flair. If you need proof you need only look at Gatsby’s introduction scene, a dramatic turnaround smiling into the camera complete with fireworks going on behind him. NOONE but DiCaprio could pull that off without a theater full of unintentional laughter. It’s hard to say that this is a star making role for someone with a career like Leo’s, what I’ll say is that this film should take him from movie star to screen legend. I’m sure I’ll catch some flak for that so I’ll explain. Gatsby is a character that has to be played on 4 different levels every time a line is spoken. False bravado, underlying stress, love sickness, and unending charisma need to be a part of everything he does…and that’s only the surface. DiCaprio does an exemplary job and gives complete justice to each level of Gatsby’s tragic tale. Joel Edgerton has to be my other stand out for many of the same reasons. His Tom Buchanan is a flawed, over-confident, ironic gentleman who you know is a bad guy but still feel empathy for at times…right up until you completely hate him.

Lastly, the look. This film is simply gorgeous. The first hour is chock full of some of the most lavish party scenes every captured on film. The opulence is obvious and the lure undeniable. Honestly if it weren't for the drama brought in the last hour of the film I would fully expect people to walk out of the theater doing the Charleston and asking how to make a highball. The clothes, the cars, the homes and the bars…each is crafted to make you want to be here, to think that these people truly live a life that’s heaven on earth. It’s this small fact that makes that latter parts of the film so powerful and so undeniably heart wrenching.

I could literally go on about this flick for hours, but rather than have you read for as long as it will take to watch the film I’ll just leave you with this. Go see The Great Gatsby, go now. It truly is one of those movies that makes you realize why cinema is such an important part of our culture. I can tell you without reservation that you will leave the theater having expierence the entire spectrum of human emotion. Unless, of course, you’re one of those people on the other side of the fence who absolutely hated it, let’s put it this way, if you liked William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet or Moulin Rouge there’s an excellent chance that you will feel the same as I do about this spectacular film. 

4.5 out of 5 Guttenbergs

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