July 6 - July 20 2025
Martyr's Lane, Cujo, Away, Crumb Catcher, A Quiet Place: Day One, An American Werewolf in London
- Martyr’s Lane [2021] - 77
A mostly interesting ghost story, Ruth Platt’s Martyr’s Lane is adapted from her short of the same name… and does a generally great job of it, though its origins are certainly felt [during my watch of the film I said I was sure this must have been a short at some point], and I do think it would have been stronger in that format. Parts of Martyr’s Lane feel a little empty and serve only to transition the viewer to the next scene of import… but it somehow manages to work. The film feels like a classic “X was Y the whole time”/ “don’t take that ribbon off her neck” ghost story, and that atmosphere carries the experience a long way; making a film that, though it does often feel a little saggy, has a sort of timeless novel feel to it. Not perfect, but with a strong and different enough ending to let me recommend it, Martyr’s Lane is a good choice for The Others fans that want something new-but-nostalgic.
- Cujo [1983] - 72
Also generally imperfect, but fun enough for what it wants to be, Cujo is one of Stephen King’s more interesting adaptations. A simple premise — dog gets rabies and then terrorizes its local area, specifically a mother and son trapped in a broken car — Cujo is still only a lukewarm adaption of a very sinister novel, but is a good enough premise with fine enough execution in a short enough runtime to make all of its half-explored pieces workout well enough. It isn’t great, it’s audio sounds like shit most of the time, but it is fun and the actual horror elements of the film are compelling and difficult to think your way out of. We’ve all met a dog who wanted us to have a little less time in the world… and Cujo is a particularly nasty one.
- Away [2019] - 63
The first feature by Flow’s Gints Zilbalodis, Away has a lot of interesting visual ideas and a strong identity, but hasn’t quiet learned the language needed to express them [something we see significantly better perfected in the aforementioned Flow]. A dialogueless story about loss, grief, and finding your place, Away is a beautiful tale… just one that’s difficult to parse and not very engaging without injecting yourself all the way into its experience. Where I gave Flow a 90 and will likely be seeing it in my top 20 of this year, Away just doesn’t quite use its tools in such a way that I cared to invest myself as fully. Is that because the protagonist isn’t a cat? Maybe… but I mostly think that it’s because Away, while ambitious and devastating to the right sort of artists, simply requires too much of the viewer in terms of engagement. My favorite part of Away is seeing the way that Gints has evolved over the last few years and it makes me exceptionally excited for whatever it is he does next.
- Crumb Catcher [2023] - 50
Crumb Catcher may be getting a bit of an unfair rub here… but good golly was I bored by this movie. Part comedy of errors via mistaken identity, part home invasion thriller, Crumb Catcher is a smattering of genres that I just don’t like and find either cringy or simply somnambulant. Similar to Martyr’s Lane above, I’d love to see this one as a short, because I think it’s runtime of 1:43 is what really killed it for me. The film has a fairly concise and well done opening act that establishes characters, weirdos, and problems, drrrrrraaaaggggssssss out the second act for what feels like 79 real-world days, and then thrusts you into a third act that, 4 days after watching… I literally don’t remember. This movie is for somebody, and I’m sure that somebody will like it immensely… but if I’d had more time in my morning to do anything besides turn this off or suffer through it, I’d never have made it to the credits.
- A Quiet Place: Day One [2024] - 42
Speaking of trash movies that only got finished because of my extremely restrictive schedule… A Quiet Place: Day One is the worst and stupidest entry into the series yet. Alright, that’s not entirely fair… I wouldn’t call Crumb Catcher “trash”, but the rest of it is definitely true. I haven’t been a fan of any of the QP movies, finding their entire premise sort of goofy, and their execution hazardously pathetic… but Day One takes all of that to an entirely new level. Reminding me at its best of my problems with 2015’s The Invitation in that the film’s serious drama elements are genuinely excellent and I wanted more of them instead of whatever story the movie was trying to tell; A Quiet Place: Day One is filled with twice as many idiotic action sequences and rules it breaks just as fast as it makes them as it is moments of sincere expression. I’d love to see the writers of this take a stab at a serious drama and eschew the garbage of this franchise.
Oh wait… turns out the writer also wrote 2021’s Pig… never mind.
- An American Werewolf in London [1981] - 57
This is one of those movies I wish I’d seen when it was relevant. While An American Werewolf in London’s effects still hold up in cool and interesting ways, everything else about the experience is flat, confusing, or meaningless. The film doesn’t really pick a lane and ends up with very real horror elements, very funny elements, and even several mystery elements… all of which go nowhere and mean nothing by the end. What’s with the village of people who know what’s happening? Doesn’t matter. Why/ how is his friend’s ghost talking to him/ decomposing throughout the film? Doesn’t matter. Why does the doctor believe this myth so quickly and where will his investigation of it lead? Doesn’t matter. It’s a movie full of interesting ideas that simply aren’t explored or evolved enough to count by the time credits roll, and that makes for a very confusing watch. Glad I finally got around to it, but not something I’d really recommend, An American Werewolf in London was likely interesting and subversive when it came out, but looks more like a waning gibbous than anything resembling full these days.
