The Quite Nerdy Blog

I'm reviewing The Happening because is there anything much scarier than watching a film full of wasted talent? The Happening is a film from M. Night Shyamalan and technically fits this time of year as it's a horror film, only it offers literally no scares at all. The film opens with everyone in a park standing still as a woman pulls out a hair pin and stabs herself in the cheek. Next, a bunch of people jump off of a building. It turns out that there is some toxin in the air that reverses our in built survival instinct so that we want to die. I call it the "Happening" effect because it accurately sums up how it feels to watch this movie, first the confusion then the desire to kill yourself through any means possible. Science teacher Mark Whalberg decides to run away from this toxin with his emotionless wife (if it's a plot point, you can't criticise it). The plot unravels and, spoilers, it turns out its just nature so most of the film is people running awa...

For many of you, it's no surprise that I don't enjoy horror, I've made a big deal about it many a time. Over the last year however, I've been trying to make a change, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and not just watching horror films but actually watching many in the cinema. I can't say I'm completely on the side of horror yet but gradually, I'm learning to tolerate and maybe even enjoy it. The first way to try and enjoy horror (which may seem obvious) is to watch the classics. That doesn't even necessarily mean that you watch as many old horror films as you can, it means watching films that are proper horror to ease you in. Something like the Insidious franchise or the Saw films would be a bad start because they're excessive and most of those films aren't particularly well made. If you're after loads of jump scares or excessive gore then go for it but there are just better made films to start with. A film like Psycho is a good sta...

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting London for (among other things) the 61st London Film Festival. After going last year and seeing an early preview of Black Mirror, I knew I had to return again this year, even with the far longer train journey ahead of me and instead of going to one event, I got to go to three. My plan with this post is to review the three films I saw which were (in chronological order) Beast, Ingrid Goes West and Good Time, as well as talking about the Q and As I got to see for the first two. So, with that sorted, lets get into the first and most niche film, Beast. Beast is easily the film here that you're least likely to have heard of but is a story about a 27 year old woman (Moll) living in Jersey who has no purpose in life. On the day of her 27th birthday, she leaves the party and wanders the island alone before meeting a mysterious and enigmatic stranger (Pascale). Slowly, the two begin to fall in love but matters are complicated by the fact that o...

At this stage, it's hard to meet someone who isn't tired of or at the very least cynical towards the idea of reboots and sequels years later which is why it's such a pity that a movie as dazzlingly original as Blade Runner 2049 is getting bundled into that category. It may not surprise you to learn that this film is a sequel to the cult classic Blade Runner, originally a commercial and critical flop on release but slowly nurtured into a place of respect by film critics. I'm wasting so much of this paragraph just talking about the place of 2049 in our society because I don't want to say anything about the plot really. The trailers, despite what it seems, give barely anything away and I'm going to honour that by also staying silent. What you do need to know is that it's a story that is technically a standalone film although will benefit from having seen the original, contains many interesting plot twists and ambiguities and, as mentioned at the outset, is ...

Who knew that a show about a talking horse could offer such a deep look into what depression and mental illness is like from all sides? For the last few years, I've been consistently championing BoJack Horseman, Netflix's weirdest sounding animated show. It's about a middle aged actor who used to be a big star as a the lead on a sitcom in the nineties but now we're twenty years on and he's not got any further purpose. Also, half the characters are anthropomorphic (animals that act and dress like humans). The first half of season one is pretty generic and then suddenly takes a really depressing turn as we realise that all along, this is actually a show about depression and existential angst. Who are we, does the past define us, can we ever truly move on with our lives? They're all heavy questions that have been snuck into the show and with the fourth and possibly most emotional season behind us, now feels like the perfect time to look at the show. As I men...