1. Saw 50 Shades last night with another couple. It is the ultimate (bad) chick flick, and such a major set-up of the lifestyle that it's absurd to call it anything to.
2. Filmography, biography, trivia, quotes, photographs and links.

In Image's Redlands, Witches Are Feared Not Just for Their Magic, But Because They're Women. Witches have come in all shapes, sizes, and powers over the centuries, but there’s one thing they usually have in common: They’re women. Image’s powerful series Redlands highlights the link between womanhood and witchcraft, showing the misogyny behind the mythology. It is impossible to talk about witchcraft without unpacking how fears about witches have been used as shorthand for real sexism.

These parallels go back hundreds of years, targeting midwives, widows, and other women who existed outside of accepted norms of their time periods. It’s an issue that’s been explored in countless stories about witches, from Arthur Miller’s critically acclaimed play The Crucible to the 1. The Craft. Robert Egger’s 2. The Witch, for example, is both literally a film about a family being terrorized by an actual witch and about how, when faced with labeled as being “different” by conventional standards, there was a point in time when women were summarily accused of witchcraft. In a disturbing, beautiful way, co- creators Jordie Bellaire and Vanesa Del Rey’s Redlands out today from Image revels in the idea that magic is born from unholy contracts between the devil and clever women.

The First Teaser for American Horror Story: Cult Tells Us Nothing, But It Sure Is Full of Creepy-Ass Clowns.

But it’s noticeably careful about making sure you understand that the terror and fear on the page is entirely subjective, and coming from the non- witches’ perspective. A tree engulfed in flames with three nooses swinging from its branches in the roaring fire stands at the center of Redlands’ first panel. Somewhere off in the distance, an unseen man huddled in a police station curses to himself (and everyone around him) that the lynching and burning at the stake they’d attempted has failed. The witches have escaped, the humans are fucked, and everyone knows it. There’s little in the way of explanation as to exactly what happened in the scenes leading up to the book’s opening, but there’s enough to convey strong emotions in the absence of specific details. A group of local men—the town’s police force—are holed up in the police department as the witches move through the shadowy forest, daring them to step out into the light of the fire. In another story, you might feel sympathy for the men and be able to see them as the unlucky victims of Redlands’ demons, were it not for the handful of simple but heavy bits of character detail that co- creators Bellaire and Del Rey carefully place into each panel.

Both we and these men know that they’re dealing with the supernatural, but to them, their adversaries are “bitches” before they’re witches, establishing one of the key elements of Redlands’ world- building. You get the distinct sense that the people of Redlands, Florida, fear the trio of witches for their magic, but they hate them because they’re women—exercising a sort of power that the men of the town are not prepared to handle. As the policemen cower in their Confederate flag- lined station, the witches tease and play them from the outside, casting illusions to trick the men into repeatedly opening the door and even leaving, only to be promptly eviscerated by the literal demons waiting for them.

While Redlands may initially lull you into seeing the witches as the book’s ultimate threat, Bellaire and Del Ray have the policemen turn inward on themselves. Their reflections deftly gesture to the fact that evil lived in the town long before the witches showed up. In the darkness of their building where they assume they’re safe, the policemen butt up against the prisoners lucky enough to be locked up that night and, in their interactions, you see that the lawmen aren’t exactly friendly with the locals. Order Welcome To Me (2015) Movie there. Racially- charged tension crackles between an imprisoned black man and the white officer on the other side of the bars. The officer goads the prisoner with a flippant remark about being named after his absentee father. The prison responds by reminding the officer that his father’s only missing because the officer’s father killed him.

Whatever horrors the witches may have brought to their town, the comic makes it clear it’s bound to be no worse than Redlands’ status quo. Watch Captain Fantastic (2016) Hd. Women like the witches, one of the police men spits, are begging for it.

And in a way he’s right, the witches are eagerly awaiting for him and all of his friends to just come outside and talk things over—to clear up any and all misunderstandings between their respective parties. But when the town sheriff does ultimately come forward to confront the witches and drive them away with his shotgun, there’s a subtle shift in Redlands’ tone that sets the stage for what the rest of the series holds. The witches haven’t just descended upon Redlands for their own amusement, or even to scare its citizens. Redlands was sick and bloated with evil and rot before the witches set foot in the town. Del Rey’s kinetic illustrations and the shadowy, bloody shades of red Bellaire fills the page with are meant to make you feel the fear surging through the non- witches.

But beneath that fear is a deeper understanding that sometimes, this is what change for the better looks and feels like when you’re a part of the problem. Seen from another perspective using a little imagination, the witches’ impending massacre of the police isn’t something to fear—it’s an attempt at healing the town. Almost every story about the persecution of women suspected of witchcraft is also a story about a society unable or unwilling to accept women as competent, powerful people. Darker, more psychological witch tales sometimes tease us as to whether the suspected witchcraft is actually real.

Redlands manages to be both kinds of stories while leaving you with the distinct feeling that it’s less of a gritty children’s story retooled for adults and more of a cautionary tale about what happens when you run afoul of the wrong women.

In 2. 00. 3, I watched Cabin Fever and was instantly smitten with the twisted new talent on the horror scene. His sense of humor reminded me of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson before they went Hollywood from their splatterfest beginnings. He directed two movies after, Hostel and its sequel, and while I found Part Two to be underwhelming in execution, I was quite a fan of the original hostel. It further cemented that it felt like Roth was going places.

Most of those places were as an actor or a producer. Roth has acted in more movies (two Tarantino flicks) than he’s directed since 2. Hostel: Part Two. His name was attached to and then departed other projects, notably an adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell, and then it felt like he just vanished altogether. Roth has re- emerged with two films bearing his name as director, the Green Inferno, which premiered in 2. Toronto film Festival, and Knock Knock.

After having watched both movies in one day I can say neither was worth the wait. His wife and children have left for the weekend so that dear old dad can finally get some work done.

Then one rainy evening a knock knock comes upon his chamber door. Two soaked coeds, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas), politely ask if they can dry off inside.

They’re supposed to meet at a friend’s house and have gotten lost. Evan is hospitable to a fault and indulges with them in conversation. The girls are flirty and very interested in a sexual dalliance with Evan, and finally he gives in. The next night Evan is ready to move on and pretend like nothing happened. However, Genesis and Bel are refusing to leave, and they have a design to punish and humiliate Evan for his martial indiscretion. Alas, Knock Knock is an unbalanced and unintentionally funny morality play that is so poorly executed, ham- fisted, and awkwardly developed that it’s more horrifying mess than horror.

The first act of the film is a bit overwrought with making sure the audience knows exactly what kind of temptation trap Evan is falling under. Every line has an innuenduous ring, every flirtatious line an extended second of awkward eye contact, and every innocuous moment begins to feel like the forgotten detail in one of those absurd Letters to Penthouse fantasies (“You’ll never believe what happened to me. You can see the better film that has been crushed to death under the rush to make something tawdry, complete with both girls soaping up their bodies in a joint shower and then jointly pleasuring him to eliminate the last of his denials. If you felt the slowly escalating sexual tension, the desire, and yearning, and then weighing the consequences, the movie would have been a far more compelling moral dilemma and character piece.

Instead, the girls are over- the- top in their seduction routines and once Evan gives in it all gets even worse. It’s not so much relatable or an interesting ethical conflict as it is the in- between scenes for a soft- core porn biding its time. For what it’s worth, the gratuitous nudity is a bit shrift.

As soon as the morning comes, Genesis and Bel have transformed from seductive and coy young adults to infantilized and highly sexualized bratty teenagers. Our reintroduction involves both ladies filling the kitchen with breakfast supplies and throwing food around, laughing obnoxiously, and practically bouncing off the walls.

Their initial adversarial one- upsmanship includes mooning Evan while he’s on a Skype call and drawing penises on his wife’s art. When a concerned neighbor stops by I was hoping for something a little more serious and dangerous, but they can’t even do that, which is what makes their late turn into would- be murderers to be completely unbelievable and forced. It’s so forced that Reeve’s sputtering monologue of incredulity pretty much sums up the point of view of any rational viewer. They play dress up and appear to have some psychosexual daddy issues, possibly resulting from childhood abuse or molestation, but at no point do they come across as a credible menace. Then there’s the concluding justification for their acts of retribution and it’s so lame and uninspired and a copout that you wish Roth had committed to the direction the film had been steering toward. There’s a fine story of events spinning out of control as one man gets in over his head trying to cover up his indiscretion. Evan doesn’t really grapple with his guilt because everything is manifested as an external threat.

He becomes a literal hostage to his guests but they don’t ever turn the screws in a manner that belies a plan or even a sharper point. The first act should have been setting up storylines that would further complicate this hostage scenario with people dropping by and more opportunities to be caught. Rather than playing as a slow- boil hostage thriller or a be- careful- what- you- wish- for morality play, Knock Knock more approaches a failed farce.

The film even lacks any visual polish or carefully constructed set piece to stand out from the bargain bin of cheap horror thrillers, and Chile does not convincingly double for California either. First off, the behavior of Genesis and Bel is wildly over- the- top, screechy, and just insufferable. Izzo and Armas are way too broad and way too unhinged without any sense of mooring from Roth as a director. It’s just not fun to watch. Their batty babydoll shtick isn’t funny or sexy or dangerous. The tone cannot find a balance or commitment.

There are lines of dialogue that are howlers and then there are moments that are played without the right sense of pacing or delivery or sense and they can transform something inane into something dreadfully funny. It’s hard to describe in words but Reeves’ strident yet flat delivery of “I’m a happily married man” after being bamboozled by two naked and nubile young women is hilarity in itself. Then there’s the final scene (spoiler alert) that rests upon a struggle to eliminate a damning social media post. The resulting action and Reeves’ resultant scream to the heavens left me doubling over with laughter, more so because this is part of the misguided climax to a misguided movie.

Suffice to say the moments that seemed intended to be comedic fall flat and the ones that are not, at least in their primary and secondary purpose, are the ones that produce hearty derisive laughter. After Cabin Fever and Hostel, I had high hopes that Roth would follow in his mentor Tarantino’s footsteps and rise above genre trappings as an artist. With news that Roth will produce a Cabin Fever remake for 2.

I think my hopes for the man have gone up in smoke.