vespertine

Watching Willard is rather like torture. It's not a boring movie, and it's got good production value, but it sucks you into a downward spiral that lacks any sort of catharsis. We are introduced to the character of Willard and come to sympathize with him, as his sick mother and holier-than-thou boss constantly berate and belittle him. But it seems that as soon as Willard has our sympathies, the movie plunges into his descent, and we the viewer are left absolutely helpless, thinking, "No, Willard! Don't do that!" At one point in the movie, I actually had to pause the DVD and take a breather in order to continue. I can't even remember the last time I had to do that. The movie left me feeling anxious, angry, and depressed, but without catharsis. I personally didn't feel it had any underlying value to it, and I didn't gain any fresh insight into life while watching it. However, this isn't to say that the movie is completely worthless. Although it left me with severely negative feelings, the production design was quite good (I enjoyed how everything about Willard himself was anachronistic), the acting was likewise fine, the cinematography was also great, and it DID manage to produce a strong reaction in me, albeit not a positive one. So I just thought i would warn the IMDb community that while this movie itself is not bad, it's not enjoyable. In fact, I would go so far as to call it a masochistic experience. You've been warned.

To me, Donkey Skin (Peau d'Ane) is like Jean Cocteau reborn into the French New Wave(!). Gorgeous and stylized, it's a fairytale told with the cinematic magic we've come to expect from director Jacques Demy. This is a fairytale that adults will enjoy more than children, as it's full of dark humor. Ms. Deneuve is stunning as always, and the sassy fairy is also wonderful. Surreal and bizarre, Donkey Skin traps you into its world of bold colors, real-life french châteaux, living statues, and loads of fairy magic. But Demy doesn't seem content to let the viewer completely lose him/herself in the world he's created. The movie is full of self-references, something Demy had partly explored earlier with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but really let himself have fun with in Donkey Skin. For just when you come to believe the magic, Demy likes to remind you that this is just a movie. With only a smudge of dirt and an animal skin, the beautiful princess (Deneuve) is transformed on screen into the ugliest girl in the entire kingdom, so ugly that whenever she shares the screen with other characters, they all look on in horror. We still see a beautiful woman, under the dirt on her face and the donkey skin on her back, and we are reminded that this is only a movie-world. The helicopter is an amazing touch, and it made the movie for me. I won't say more, see it for yourself! (The reprint is currently making its rounds and is well worth it!)

Yes, it's truly bad direct-to-video cinema(?). And yes, it takes this with pride (as evident by that lovely cover and full title), like much of Troma's oeuvre. Cheesier and lamer than the original, my only complaint about the sequel is that its predecessor had better one-liners (I'm convinced Bruce Campbell would have been perfect for delivering those gems of screenwriting...). If the antifreeze bit in the original made you groan, wait until you see what Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman has in store!