Of all things, a moment from Green Lantern (2011), currently speaks to me. The scene depicts a Guardian (Krona) slowly being drawn to the yellow source of fear, (taking the form of a cascading yellow flame that reveals a symbol).  Before you type, this is not a shadow drop of a one great shoot for the ill fated comic book movie. Instead, it’s a vivid illustration of how something seemingly innocuous can speak to you. 

I’m experiencing a lot of fear at the moment and like that aforementioned Guardian, I feel like I’m slowly floating towards it (with no end in sight). The reasons are multiple, but not worth a trauma dump or blog post. We all have reasons to feel afraid these days and a random blogger’s post on his own is not going to alleviate that. 

Instead, I want to convey how that fear is paralysing work on the blog. I never take a post for granted. Even at this stage, I only write if I have something to say. The blank page is never a challenge I’ve shrunk from. 

That’s until recently. Since my 3rd viewing of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, I’ve wanted to write a longer piece about how it’s his most spiritual film and how Odysseus becomes a form of Hermes. 

However, for whatever reason, I’ve not committed to it. In the past, I’ve had ideas noodling around for months if not years on end. And I’ve had the extremely good fortune of other outlets allowing me to indulge them. 

I think that since those opportunities have dried up, I’ve had to confront the reality of writing for myself. Despite how well the blog has been doing, a large part of me still feels like my blog/name does not carry enough cache.

Better yet, this perception has clouded my judgement on the effort I put into things, which in turns flies in the face of the ethos of my blog. In short, this is to make a post (no matter how big or small) that’s considered and hopefully in turn informative. 

I’ve lost sight of that lately and there’s even some new releases that I’ve not written about because I think so low of my platform. So, to remedy that, I’m going to be clearing out house (so to speak) with some brief thoughts on a few releases. 

The first is Scary Movie 6 (aka Scary Movie). Despite the amount of instalments in the series, only half of them have involved the franchise’s original creators (The Wayans brothers). This is due to the Weinsteins retaining the rights. 

With this in mind, Scary Movie 6 is conceptually a triumphant return to form. However, in execution, it’s all over the shop. Rather then using one or two movies as a spine (as previous entries have done), the new horror spoof instead plays like a game of spin the bottle with reference ranging from The Substance to White Chicks. 

The film’s most consistent and interesting point is about the relationship between the elder statesman characters and the younger generation set. This results in the movie taking shots at Scream 7 insofar as better conveying the “Burn it all down” mantra as a middle finger to legacy sequels. This coupled with an inspired post credit scene that spoofs Robert Eggers’ recent Nosferatu, results in a movie that’s at least watchable. 

The second is One Night Only. It’s a Purge flavoured romantic comedy in which America has outlawed sex between single people (except for one night). It works more as a romantic comedy, with its subversions of the usual meet cutes being quite charming. However, for all shakes ups of said genre, its lens is fundamentally flawed. This is due to the satire not being as present or spikey, with elements such as protests to the central premise existing in the background. As such, the lampooning resides in the performances. Despite having a small part, Maya Hawke’s performance gets the assignment, splitting the difference between lust and romantic longing.

Last but not least is Undertone. The minimalist Paranormal Activity inspired horror effort depicts a podcaster called Evi (Nina Kiri) descending into turmoil as she plays a series of ten audio recordings on her horror related podcast, Undertone. The A24 effort is an exercise in minimalism, with one primary location and consistent camera work. Whilst this kind of approach worked wonders for the Oren Peli’s 2007 found footage film, Undertone proves to be quite repetitive. Its protracted approach descends into lethargic territory, with a sudden injection of energy coming near the end. But because of the lack of build up, it feels jarring rather then organic. But for what its worth, it does create a unique atmosphere and mythology, even if didn’t entirely work for me.