Trip Day 2.
On February 7th, my wife and I went on a trip to sunny California. We started in LA, visiting a friend for a couple of days, and over the next week slowly drove up the coast to finish things up in San Francisco. It was rad! But, it made watching a movie every day/writing about it quite difficult. As committed as I am to this thing, I can't justify missing out on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime trip to blog about a terrible indie-slasher, you know? Plus, I think it's wise to occasionally do things with your spouse.
So things will be a little different for the next 11 entries. I managed to watch the movies, but rather than writing about them as I normally do, I'll do a quick little synopsis, a little imdb research, quote some of the reviews (can you do that?) and bounce off of them. Followed up with my general impressions. Okay, thanks!
California is pretty sweet.
Starry Eyes
Sarah (Alex Essoe) is an aspiring actress in Hollywood. After several discouraging auditions, she is offered a leading role from a super-shady producer who is guaranteeing her stardom. The catch? Other than the producer being really scuzzy, the whole enterprise has a cultish feel to it. She'll have to sacrifice just about everything if she chooses to go forward. And she does!
Reviews:
This film is really a well-crafted, beautifully shot, with tempting score and strong performance
-Thanks "moviemaniax" via imdb
It's true. Starry Eyes is a very well-made/well-directed film. It takes a little patience, but is pretty rewarding by the time is all said and done. It's a solid mix of horror and arthouse, and was easily the most interesting film I watched during our big vacation - it's still rattling around in my head. It does have a kind of retro feel to it (it's got this pulsing, synthy score that is definitely influenced by many late 70's/early 80's flicks, and Rosemary's Baby is a pretty common reference point in a lot of the reviews I've read). And Essoe's lead performance is pretty damn amazing - it's a punishing role, and even when she is doing some very bad things she still manages to be kind of sympathetic, you know? Her hunger for fame makes her less a villain and more of a tragic figure.
It's kind of obvious where the film is going though, but it has some clever direction and again, disorienting in a good way in some of its pacing and tone.
-Thanks "Red_Identify" via imdb
"Disorienting" is a good word to use. And I would disagree that it's obvious where it's going. I was honestly pretty shocked by where Starry Eyes ends up. I went into it thinking it was "cult-horror" plain and simple, and by the time it's all said and done, it could end up in several other genres too (which I won't spoil). Reading lots of reviews would spoil it though... just see it.
Where this movie fails is in setting up even any loose logic as to why everything is happening.
-Thanks "zombieman 1978" via imdb
This is fair - it's not the sort of film where you get many answers to exactly what is happening. In a lot of ways, it's more of a tone poem/mood piece.
Final Thoughts:
I ended up watching this with my buddy that I visited in LA. We were staying with him and his girlfriend (who I had never met) - at first, she was maybe going to watch it with us, but ended up bailing out. She's not a fan of horror movies, but kind of gave it a try. I am *oh so* thankful she did not stay and watch it with us. Starry Eyes goes to some pretty brutal, messed-up places, and she would probably think far less of me if she had watched it. "Oh, I remember your friend Jesse... he's guy that brought the weird rape movie, right?" (there's not exactly rape here... but it gets sleazy and definitely has that vibe at times.)
My buddy thought it was pretty good though. He ended up covering his eyes a couple of times (as did I), but agreed that it was pretty well-made. Definitely worth seeing, although I would recommend a strong stomach and an affinity for horror movies before you watch it.
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