ftfelix Reviews

The Woman in Black (2012)

The Power of Silence

[8 February 2012]

I recently developed a list of qualities a good haunted house should have.

Leaving visitors with an unnerving sense of "something is not quite right here" was one of them.

The film adaptation of "The Woman In Black" has this unnerving quality.

Horror isn't, as most reviews on this movie will agree, the use of gore and violent death, but the anticipation built from not being able to define what it is that doesn't feel right at the moment.

A majority of this movie isolates you, which is a key component to building that feeling of uneasy anticipation.

Coupled with isolation, the film also harnesses the power of silence -- a power so deafening that at the appropriate moments, even the faintest of sounds jolts you into a state of paranoia.

In addition, this film makes great use of background action and imagery. While you generally pay attention to the foreground, there are moments where images and action in the background (if you are paying attention) can freak you out (a la the famous ghost boy in the background of a scene in "Three Men and a Baby") If you prefer your horror movies to affect you on a mental and visceral level than a visual level, then this is the movie for you.

If you prefer slasher films, don't even bother.

X's & O's (2007)

X's and O's Scores a Touchdown

[9/10 · 16 June 2011]

For an indie film, X's & O's shatters the stereotype of the genre doing away with long drawn out expositions, pretentious dialogue, and contrived plot points. Shot on 35mm film, the movie captures a warmth and realness often lost on DV. From the opening shot, the movie moves quickly, introducing you to your primary characters and the various relationships that make up the core of the movie. Shot on location in San Francisco and the surrounding bay area, X's and O's explores the all-too-real difficulties of relationship dynamics, using the SF bay as a microcosm of the world. The characters who make up these relationships are so robust and three dimensional that you will find yourself identifying with at least one of them, and knowing friends who make up the rest of the cast. Eschewing Hollywood's formula of fate, chance meetings, destiny, the world conspiring against the lovebirds to live happily ever after, and the eventual happily ever after despite the world conspiracy, X's & O's looks at romance as the little things in the relationship, and the work you have to put into it to make it work. There is no sappy dialogue or overly dramatic emotional moments. There is conflict, self-contradictions, redemption, disappointments, growth, change, humor, self-realizations -- few of the many little things that are embodied in real relationships. X's & O's is a movie that doesn't disillusion you to fantasize about Hollywood's happily ever after. Instead, it suggests that though your relationship may not be the perfect Hollywood romance, if you are able to watch this movie and enjoy it with your significant other, that's your happily ever after.