The Fanatic, Low Tide, The Mountain Weekly Roundup Episode 1
Source: IMDB
Hello to all my readers/supporters on Strictly Films. My life has been quite busy the last couple months, which brings some delay in reviews. To help with Load Management (My first passion was becoming a basketball player anyways): I’m going to do a new section every now and then called Weekly Roundup. You’ll get a three to five quick views in one page. Plus sometimes I don’t feel the need to fully review some films I just don’t want to fully review. I mean writing a full review on Ugly Dolls really killed my soul... You can understand my pain. Whenever I need to dive deeper in a Quick View I will do so, no worries they’ll be more of those in the future. But for now hope you all enjoy this Weekly Roundup!
The Fanatic Grade: D
The Fanatic has become the years biggest meme in 2019 in cinema. Pretty much every YouTube critic I know has poked fun at this film... Check out Chris Stuckmann’s and YMS review on it, very entertaining stuff. Is The Fanatic a complete embarrassment?! I would have to say no. There has been criticism when it comes to this film, as far as there is no protagonist at all. Moose (John Travolta) is a stalker, whom has an unhealthy obsession with celebrities, more so his favorite Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa) so he’s not someone to root for or feel sorry for. But Hunter Dunbar is a complete asshole, who treats Moose who does have some mental issues unreasonably terribly. I can understand the complaints of either one of these characters not being a clear protagonist, but then again is this sort of how todays society is?! Moose represents modern day human beings obsession with celebrities, which there are TONS of them. Have you seen those BTS fans on Twitter?! Those K Pop fans are PSYCHOPATHS. Hunter Dunbar can represent half of Hollywood today... So I understand complaints with how we want certain characters to be, but the film maker behind this film wasn’t that far off making a somewhat realistic portrayal of both sides. Is The Fanatic a good film?! Oh absolutely not, this is a bad film. I appreciate John Travolta for trying... But one can call this performance extremely offensive towards people with special needs, I’m truly surprised cancel culture hasn’t gotten to him yet. I will admit his terrible performance is at time entertaining in the worst way possible, but it’s still bad and I can’t get over that bad wig job he has. The other performances were meh, the story was pretty stupid, I don’t understand those drawings the film has in a few random sequences, also the narration from a supporting character that comes and goes... Why?! If you’re looking to have a winter night in with your pals and just laugh for an hour and a half, The Fanatic will get that job done at least. But if you’re looking for quality in a film.... You’re not getting that with The Fanatic. Overall, The Fanatic was a bad film and I don’t recommend this film either.
Low Tide Grade: B
You know the Motto: If it’s A24, I’ll watch it. For an A24 film Low Tide has not been talked about much at all really. Aside from a critic I follow and my best bud Mihran... No one and I mean no one has been talking about this film. Which is a surprise because I liked Low Tide. Low Tide reminds me of a elementary/middle school kids chapter book novel, where it tells a story that has some sort of adventure dealing with pirates, the jungle, space... Ya know Magic Tree House kind of thing, I never read a single one of those I was a Junior B kid, but yeah Low Tide had that vibe. The film has lovely Cinematography, really enjoyed the location of this film. Also enjoyed the set design, reminds me of back east when it comes to boating along the waters and the carnivals during the summer. The performances were quite solid all around by the cast, maybe wasn’t too fond of the main cop and that one cop whom had two scenes, but other than that performances were nice. The story itself was simple, yet effective with drama and a hit of suspense. I kind of hope more people check Low Tide out because as an A24 fan... I’m kind of bummed out not many have seek out this one, sure it’s not in the elite category, but it’s still nice at least. Overall, Low Tide is a solid film and I would recommend this film.
The Mountain Grade: D
The Mountain comes from film maker Rick Alverson. His films aren’t well known in the mainstream world, but is respected by the film community. Before watching The Mountain, I checked Alverson’s pervious work The Comedy and can see why some would like this mans work. In his films it feels like he has his own voice and his own style, which I can respect. The Comedy is a reasonably average film, that if you can understand the meaning behind what he’s trying to say within the film, you can find something to like in it. Unfortunately with The Mountain I honestly really disliked this film. I will say The Cinematography was pretty good in this film, lovely shots throughout the film and enjoyed the color palette in each shots, solid simple sets. The Score worked just fine with me. I also enjoyed some of the performances in this film. Tye Sheridan and Jeff Goldblum both gave solid performances and had solid chemistry together as well. As far as substance... It felt like a complete blank page for me. It kind of feels like a complete uninteresting version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Shutter Island, and Changeling. For majority of the run time I absolutely could not figure out what exactly what was going on and what were the intentions of our main character, riding along with this doctor, whom likely permanently damaged his mentally ill mother. One would consider this film being an art house film, as the entire thing symbolizes one being mentally ill and going through this process in this insane hospital. But honestly I just didn’t find this film interesting nor engaging, in fact I given myself excuses to take breaks while watching this film. Overall, The Mountain was just not good and I would not recommend this film either.
- Mitch Smietana