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Flash Movie Review: Metal Lords

Jun 6

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I GOT A TASTE OF WHAT everyone else was enjoying. It happened in elementary school, when I was selected to be in a scene from a school play, a musical. I was going to be with a group of students who were pretending to be friends dancing. The set was an outdoor space in front of a building labeled City Hall. The only dancing I ever did was in my bedroom with the record player playing. Being of wide girth, I was never comfortable dancing in public. Now that I was going to be in the middle of a group of students, I felt no one would really see me. When we practiced the scene this feeling of freedom came over me. The music was intoxicating as all of us danced together.  No one made fun of or gave me a dirty look as I moved to the music. I had never felt such a thing before, and I desperately wanted this feeling to go on. From that experience, I started watching television shows that included dancing. I watched how the bodies moved with the beat of the song. Every person I watched was either of average or slim build; there was no one who was overweight. In my mind, I equated dancing with skinniness. If I continued dancing, I would lose weight and become a skinny person; it was a dream come true.      MY NEWFOUND OBSESSION WAS NOT STANDARD fare at school, I soon discovered. For a girl it was no problem, but for a boy to be into dance was unusual. At least that is how I perceived it. When I was in the school library, I would look through books about the art of dance. I discovered all these different styles of dance, which sparked my imagination further. Seeing photos that captured ballet or folk or belly dancers in a striking pose for example were breathtaking. Unfortunately, there was no one at school I could share with in my passion. I did try once via a book report I had to read aloud in class; but when I went back to my seat, the student sitting next to me leaned over and called me a name. I never talked about dance again in class. It did cross my mind, if I was labeled one of the cool kids, would it then be okay to talk about dance movements? But I guess the fact that I would even consider talking about dance meant I was not cool. Through my early school years, it was apparent to me that anything outside of the norm was not acceptable. This knowledge made it easy for me to relate to the students in this comedic music movie.      TWO HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS DESPERATELY LOOK for a third member to form a heavy metal band for a competition being held in their school that is not quite into heavy metal music. With Jaeden Martell (Knives Out, St. Vincent) as Kevin, newcomer Adrian Greensmith as Hunter, Isis Hainsworth (Catherine Called Birdy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as Emily, Noah Urrea (A Wake) as Clay and Brett Gelman (Without Remorse, Stranger Things-TV) as Dr. Sylvester; the story line for this film was pretty standard in my opinion. The formula was something I have seen in other teenage movies. However, the cast did a very good job in telling the story. Sure, there was a low budget feeling to the picture and there was not much depth to the characters; however, the honesty that was being displayed regarding teenage angst was real to me. And though I am not a fan of heavy metal music, I thought the music was decent. This is not the type of film to go out of your way for; but, for a couple of hours of amusement it hits the right notes.

2 ½ stars 

Posted in Comedy

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Flash Movie Review: The Lodge

Feb 26

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IT WAS ODD TO BE SITTING AT the wedding reception and seeing a different groom from what I expected. After dating a man for several years and having a tragic breakup, my friend met a man and decided to get married after a couple of months of dating. I never got the chance to meet him before the wedding. Having hung out with my friend and her previous boyfriend for the past years; suddenly now, I had to put all those memories and feelings aside to start out fresh with this new person who was a stranger to me. I had to hold up my end of the conversation while editing my thoughts, before they could be spoken out loud; so, I would not mention something from my friend’s past that included her old boyfriend. Without receiving any cues from her I did not know what was okay to say; I thought it would be best to be cautious and keep the talk light between us. I found myself from time to time over the course of the reception looking over at the newlyweds. Expect for being just as tall as her past boyfriend, I saw nothing else in common between the husband and ex-boyfriend. I knew there would be a learning curve until I would come to understand what made the husband tick.      INTRODUCING A NEW PERSON INTO THE MIX is something that produces a bit of anxiousness in me. Whether I am the one or someone else is bringing in the new person, I immediately feel my guard going up as I survey the social landscape. If I am the one introducing someone to my friends and family, I spend a portion of my time wondering how people are reacting to the person I brought with me. Will they like him/her, will they get their sense of humor, will they tease them; these are things I think about as I make my introductions. This brings to mind the story I heard about the son who brought their girlfriend home to meet his family and the father, who was running late, came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist from showering, to say hello to the new girlfriend. I guess everyone reacts differently to being introduced to someone, especially when they know the new person may become part of their family. From all the stories I have heard and the times I have been involved in these “meet and greets,” I have never experienced what the people in this dramatic horror thriller went through when a new person became part of the mix.      WITH RAW EMOTIONS PRESENT OVER THE breakdown of their parents’ marriage, the children were going to face the introduction of someone new into their family. This person was famous due to a tragic event. With Richard Armitage (The Hobbit franchise, Into the Storm) as Richard, Alicia Silverstone (Batman & Robin, Who Gets the Dog?) as Laura, Riley Keough (American Honey, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Grace, Jaeden Martell (It franchise, Knives Out) as Aidan and Lia McHugh (Along Came the Devil, American Women-TV) as Mia; there were elements to this picture that made me think the story would provide some scary thrills. First there was the filming of it; I liked the starkness to many of the shots and scenes. Next, Riley and Jaeden were the standouts for me with their acting. My issue with this film involved the script. Once again, decent elements but nothing tied up well with the script. I felt the story went nowhere and dragged at times. Plus, I am not a fan of open-ended stories; where the viewer doesn’t know if something is real or imaginary. Usually when I get introduced to someone, I learn something new. I left this film not sure what I had seen.

 

1 ¾ stars      

Posted in Thriller

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