Quick Takes, August 2022

American Gothic: Barbara Kingsley in Honeydew

Devereux Milburn's Honeydew is an effective amalgam of American Gothic (more Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class than Grant Wood) and Lynchian surrealism. Virtually plotless and devoid of humanistic uplift, the film seems designed to frustrate and infuriate the general audience and, reading the appalled reviewers on IMDB, that is exactly what it has done. For true horror aficionados, then. Featuring Sawyer Spielberg and Malin Barr, and with a compelling and wordless turn by Lena Dunham.

Domee Shi's Turning Red is an anodyne allegory about a girl reaching puberty. This colorful Pixar film boasts superior production values, but Nick Kroll's Big Mouth covers the same subject matter more incisively. 

Aaron and Adam Nee's The Lost City is a Sandra Bullock vehicle that recycles Romancing the Stone. Pleasant, but forgettable. 

David Mamet's Redbelt is a formulaic martial arts picture from 2008. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Alice Braga are the dull leads. Familiar motifs from Mamet's work appear, such as sleight of hand and working the con, but humanistic uplift is not in his wheelhouse. 

William Wellman's Other Men's Women, from 1931, is a routine programmer. Railroad engineers Grant Withers and Regis Toomey make up a love triangle with Mary Astor. Supporting players James Cagney and Joan Blondell perk things up considerably during their brief appearances.

Paul Soter's Watching the Detectives, from 2007, is a subvariant of High Fidelity. It replaces the record store setting with a video store and also nicks an Elvis Costello song for its title. The lead female role is a mashup of the madcap heiress of 30s films with the manic pixie dream girls of the aughts. Stunningly unoriginal and uninspired. Don't blame Cillian Murphy, Lucy Liu or Jason Sudeikis. 

William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist 3, from 1990, is jaw droppingly goofy horror. Blatty's direction is inept and his scenario nonsensical, but a talented cast makes the experience campily entertaining. George C. Scott delivers a performance that rivals Rod Steiger's impersonation of  Napoleon in Waterloo for bombast, but, despite the utmost provocation, does not phone it in. Brad Dourif wins the acting laurels. Samuel L. Jackson, Fabio and Patrick Ewing appear in a bonkers dream sequence. With Harry Carey Jr., Ed Flanders, Kevin Corrigan, Nicol Williamson and Viveca Lindfors. 

Chris Peckover's Better Watch Out, from 2017, is a clever mashup of Home Alone, Scream and Funny Games. Fiendish fun for the horror aficionado with strong performances by Levi Miller, Olivia DeJonge, Patrick Warburton and Virginia Madsen. This barely released feature deserves a wider audience.