31 Films for Halloween, #26: Velvet Buzzsaw

-

Velvet Buzzsaw is a satire of the contemporary art scene, in the form of a gory horror movie.  It's not merely unrealistic but surrealistic. When the works of a reclusive misanthropic painter are discovered are put on sale, against his posthumous wishes, they empower other artworks to take revenge on the art world types who are insincerely capitalizing on the late artist's tragedy.

Rhetorical question: has Toni Collette ever played anyone nice or even just... normal?

It's got high production values and a stacked cast (Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, John Malkovitch, Tom Sturridge, Daveed Diggs).


It even has one of my favorite pieces:
"Death of a Mauve Bat" (1967).

The kills are bizarre and imaginative and delightfully ironic (as are the victims).  All good art is dangerous, it seems to say, so be careful when treating it simply as a commodity. It's a film with no villains... but no heroes, either.  

So thought it was too campy to be scary and too scary to be campy; if it had been made in an earlier era, it would have starred Vincent Price. 

Who, somehow, would have made a fortune off it.

For me, it fell right near the sweet spot between the two, and I recommend it as good "comfort horror". 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friendly Cows

-
Image
The Circle of Fifths is central to composing, or even understanding, any music complicated enough to include a key change. Not that anyone understands car gearshifts anymore, but they are a useful metaphor.  Just as you can't slam from first gear to fourth gear without it being pretty jarring, you can't jump from one key to another in music randomly without it being jarring.  In a car, you have to transition via neutral or other gears in between.  That's kind of how music works and the circle of fifths is like a gearshift that let's you do so. With three times the number of gears, and different ones for leaded and unleaded. Metaphors aren't perfect. Most songs, even ones that have nothing but melody, have chords (a group of notes played simultaneously).  Those chords are based on the notes of the melody of the song (the melody is the "tune"; the part of a song you would whistle).  Sometimes the chords are performed, sometimes not; but even when they are no...
Read more

How To Be Fabulous: Soap

-
Image
Like many skills and attributes, Being Fabulous seems mysterious and inaccessible from the outside or like some sort of magical inborn ability.  But, although such abilities are certainly aided by natural aptitude, Being Fabulous (like most of them) is much more a learned skill than people realize.   Because, in case you have never met one, babies are not fabulous. Amazing, perhaps, but not fabulous.  Some people say they SUCK, but I won't believe such a calumny until I see it in person. The world is not made of "wizards/gay people" and "muggles/straight people". It is made of people.  It's made of people who make choices designed to improve the aesthetics (and therefore the quality) of their immediate environment and experiences and those who do not. Your romantic and sexual preferences do not matter. So, this is the first of future posts that will simply EXPLAIN how to be fabulous.  And, mostly, it's a matter of how you approach things; it's about...
Read more

Throw This Letter Away

-
I already have a blog for discussing comic books .  This blog is for everything else that remains. First up, a mystery: If Billy hadn't yet married that girl, then why did she get an official letter when he died? Billy, Don't Be a Hero by Mitch Murray & Peter Callander The marching band came down along Main Street The soldier blues fell in behind I looked across and there I saw Billy Waiting to go and join the line And with her head upon his shoulder His young and lovely fiancee From where I stood I saw she was crying And through her tears I heard her say Billy, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life Billy, don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife And as he started to go she said, Billy, keep your head low Billy, don't be a hero, come back to me The soldier blues were trapped on a hillside The battle raging all around The sergeant cried, "We've got to hang on, boys! We've got to hold this piece of ground" I need a voluntee...
Read more