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The Beach House

“Life is so fragile.”

What begins as a romantic getaway quickly evolves into an unimaginable nightmare. Emily (Liana Liberato) and her boyfriend Randall (Noah Le Gros) head to his family’s beach house for some much needed alone time. Their relationship is on the rocks and while Emily hopes this trip will help mend the wounds of the past Randall is still as aloof as ever. Their reunion is interrupted by two new faces at the beach house. Older couple Mitch (Jake Weber) and Jane (Maryanne Nagel), longtime friends of Randall’s estranged dad, just happen to be staying at the house as well. Randall decides they’ll all stay at the house together and Emily is not given a choice in the matter. The couples bond over dinner, admiring the natural phenomenon happening outside their door. But something isn’t quite right. The fog, the glowing dust and the mysterious invertebrates take over, infecting the foursome. Will Emily and Randall be able to escape the seaside town before the phenomena consumes them for good?

The Beach House is an infectious genre film that will linger long after the credits have rolled. In his directorial debut, Jeffrey A. Brown offers indie horror that feels both classic and brand new. This is a quiet, atmospheric film with a slow build up of tension that will reward patient viewers.

Liana Liberato is the anchor of the film and Emily is a compelling and complex female character. She’s a biology student who offers deep philosophical observations on what it means for organisms to survive in extreme environments, unaware that she’s about to face the same thing. Randall is absolutely useless and only holds Emily back. I relished in the patheticness of his character was and kept rooting for Emily to dump the dead weight that was their relationship.

Horror films are completely out of my wheelhouse so I can’t speak as to whether this entry is worthy of its genre. I did find it comparable to other films I enjoyed including Sea Fever, Outbreak and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And being from Massachusetts, I appreciated the fact that this was shot on location in North Truro, Cape Cod.

“I wanted to take what I felt was missing from horror movies and inject that into the script and production plan. My concerns about the onset of an environmental apocalypse provided the vehicle for the horror, while an interest in evolutionary science became the microbial fuel of the story.”

Jeffrey A. Brown

The Beach House is available to watch on Shudder.

Posted Documentaries

John Lewis: Good Trouble

“The vote is still the most powerful non-violent instrument or tool we have in a democratic society and we must use it.”

John Lewis

We live in turbulent times and it’s difficult to stay optimistic when the future looks grim. One man in particular has been able to sustain a sense of hope and determination that things will change for the better. Over the course of nearly 60 years of public service, this man has paved the way forward with his philosophy for non-violent protest and his own indestructible resolve for doing good. That man is Civil Rights leader and U.S. Representative for Georgia John Lewis. And he has one piece of advice for you: “get into good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Protestors and police officers on Bloody Sunday, in JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE, a Magnolia Pictures release. © Spider Martin. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. 

Directed by Dawn Porter, John Lewis: Good Trouble chronicles the life and political career of an extraordinary man. Something that is key to making a good documentary is access. In this film there is seemingly unfettered access to John Lewis himself. We also hear from his brothers and sisters, his staff and many big names in politics. Talking heads include Elijah Cummings (to whom the film is dedicated), Hillary and Bill Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Holder and others. The film conveys a sense of gratitude and appreciation for John Lewis’ work and we hear this through the words of politicians and every day people who approached Lewis to offer words of gratitude and appreciation. At the center of it all is Lewis who guides the viewer through his life’s journey.

Porter’s documentary covers the broad spectrum of Lewis’ career in civil service and politics. Lewis got an early start in the Civil Rights Movement when he wrote a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. at the age of 17. Soon he was a member of the Freedom Riders and was one of the key figures protesting on Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. He was arrested 45 times, often severely beaten by aggressors. Lewis’s transition to politics was a natural one. He studied non-violence as a philosophy and has been a staunch believer in that form of protest ever since. He’s been a member of Congress since 1987 and as the film so aptly demonstrates, Lewis is still as active in politics as when he first started.

“John Lewis has consistently delivered a message of doing your best, being honorable, and respecting others for the past 65+ years. I think it’s really needed at this particular moment in history.”

Dawn Porter
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

John Lewis: Good Trouble serves as a much needed call-to-action during troubling times.

John Lewis: Good Trouble is available in virtual cinemas and on demand today. Visit Magnolia Pictures’ website for more information.

Posted Documentaries

Return to Hardwick: Home of the 93rd Bomb Group

“The most traveled, the most colorful, the most efficient, the most highly decorated bomb group of WWII.”

Michael Cudlitz, Band of Brothers

The 93rd Bomb Group, part of the Eighth Air Force, executed some of the most daring missions of WWII. Their base camp was in Hardwick, England, a hamlet just north of London and south of Norwich. They completed 396 missions, were instrumental in Operation Torch and have been celebrated for their bravery and ingenuity. Every year the 93rd Bomb Group reunites in the U.S. to reconnect, share memories and keep their history alive. Some years they trek to where it all started and Hardwick embraces the 93rd with open arms. Locals share stories, meet with the surviving members and there is even a small museum that exists in their honor. The reunions also serve as an opportunity for family members to learn more about their loved ones who have since passed on. The annual 93rd reunion is an important example of how we must keep history going and how it is imperative that we preserve these memories so they are never forgotten.

Directed by Michael Sellers and narrated by Band of Brothers star Michael Cudlitz, Return to Hardwick: Home of the 93rd Bomb Group is a loving tribute to one of the most extraordinary strategic bomb units of WWII. The documentary includes interviews with historians and family members but most importantly the surviving 93rd members themselves. We hear from a dozen different pilots, waist gunners, tail gunners and navigators. Their stories make this film an important time capsule.

As a documentary, Return to Hardwick is nothing groundbreaking. In fact it’s fairly rudimentary. One interesting thing it does it superimposes computer imagery over footage of Hardwick to demonstrate how the 93rd would have used the airbase. Military history buffs will love the extensive information about the 93rd’s missions. Casual history buffs like myself might find themselves a bit overwhelmed by this. However, this documentary really checks off all the boxes of what a good film that preserves the history of WWII can really do. I hope it will be shown in museums and that future historians will refer to it as the valuable source of information it is.

Return to Hardwick: Home of the 93rd Bomb Group is available on VOD.

 

Posted Female Filmmakers

Out of My Head

Migraines are not created equal. Everyone has a different experience with them; all traumatic, all painful, but very different. A severe headache is only one aspect of the condition. Some suffer nausea, sensitivity to light, indigestion and fatigue. Others have slurred speech, partial paralysis, vision disturbances and even temporary blindness. Migraines are debilitating. To those who have never suffered from them, they cannot fully appreciate how one can take their target prisoner and make their life a living hell. Migraines are triggered by many things. Sometimes it’s food, smells, stress, anxiety, or emotional trauma. Sometimes it’s completely unpredictable and strikes at the worst times. 

I’ve suffered migraines for well over a decade. During a migraine attack I get a pain so severe that it feels like someone stabbed me in the head. My migraines come with a flare up of IBS, a feeling of disorientation and often lack of concentration and sometimes coordination. Painkillers dull the experience but no longer make it go away. After years of trying to pinpoint my triggers I recently discovered that it’s anxiety. As soon as I went on anxiety medication for another condition (undiagnosed severe physical anxiety) my migraines have for the most part gone away. The medication seems to calm the chaos in my brain that triggers these episodes. But I’m just one case. Every migraine sufferer has a different story to tell. And one film gives them a platform to share their pain.

Written and directed by Susanna Styron and produced by Jacki Ochs, Out of My Head helps migraine sufferers feel validation for their condition and helps legitimize their experience to those who cannot fully comprehend the pain their loved ones are going through.

Styron’s daughter Emma suffers from migraines that cause temporary blindness. She was inspired to make this documentary not only to tell the her daughter’s story but also to shed some light on this mysterious and often misunderstood condition. The film includes extensive interviews with a variety of subjects including real migraine sufferers, doctors, professors, sociologists and headache specialists. Interwoven throughout the documentary are animated sequences that follow Emma on her migraine journey.

Every aspect of the migraine is explored from the scientific, to the sociological to the personal. Migraines disproportionately affect women. 75% of migraine sufferers are female. It can strike at a young age with a different presentation of symptoms. It can be hereditary. And by and large, it is highly misunderstood. 

Out of My Head cracks open the mystery behind migraines and gives those with this condition a voice. The biggest takeaway from this film is that migraines need to be taken seriously.

Watch it. Share it. Out of My Head is an important documentary.

Out of My Head will be available on DVD and video on demand through Kino Lorber on June 9th.

Posted Film Reviews

And We Go Green

Review by Carlos A. Stecher

Through the haze of carbon dioxide racecar emissions, a new series of motor racing has risen, Formula E.

The concept of an electric car racing series was started by Alejandro Agag, Antonio Tajani, and Jean Todt over lunch in Paris. Electricity, and therefore zero-emission, as a means of propulsion is a natural progression away from fossil fuel. 

“We need to find a green Formula One. That’s where the big business of the future is going to be.”

Alejandro Agag, founder of Formula E and current chairman of Formula E Holdings

Since the inception of motorsports in the 1950s, the evolution of the sport has seen carburetors and manual transmissions give way to fuel injection and semi-automatic gearboxes, and now to electric motors.

Familiar automakers such as Audi, Jaguar, Nissan, and BMW are now backing the Formula E series. Automotive racing heavyweights Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have signed on for season six. 

The key to Formula E starts with the electric racing motors which are charged by zero-emission generators. This fully eliminates the all the harmful emissions an internal combustion racing engine would normally produce. All the teams are bound to the same electrical equipment, but the software used to manage the electricity in each car is the variable between teams.

Directed by Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville, And We Go Green chronicles the rivalry between the top Formula E drivers, most of which used to race in Formula 1. Jean-Eric Vergne, a.k.a. “JEV”, is the Lewis Hamilton of Formula E. Along with Sam Bird, Lucas Di Grassi, Andre Lotterer, and Nelson Piquet, Jr., they represent the top drivers in the series.

The series format started in 2014 with two cars per team. At a point in the race, the car would pit and the driver would switch to a fully charged second car and continue the race. Then in 2018, the Gen. 2 battery was developed so only one racecar is now needed to complete the required number of laps on a single charge.

Oscar winner, Leonardo DiCaprio, a long-time critic of climate change, has a keen interest in the future of electric motorsports. He served as executive producer and appears in one part of the documentary learning the process of Formula E. He even gets to taste the environmentally friendly and human safe glycol that powers the zero-emission generators to charge the electric racing motors!

This documentary shows the possibilities of zero emission racing technology while still capturing the romance of the sport. A must see for anyone interested in green technology and auto racing.

Raquel’s thoughts: And We Go Green legitimizes a growing, environmentally minded faction of an otherwise unsustainable sport. It caters more to car enthusiasts than environmentalists but there is still a lot to take away from this fascinating documentary.

And We Go Green premieres today on Hulu.

Carlos A. Stecher is a dedicated automobile enthusiast who is lamenting the death of the manual transmission. Follow him on Instagram @LiveFastLookGood and on his blog Live Fast Look Good.

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