Review: Ted Geoghegan Delivers More Wellmade Pulp With Clever Ghost Story ‘Brooklyn 45
Brooklyn 45:
Inspired by a blend of living room mystery and ghost story, this modest, artfully staged Brooklyn 45 takes place over the course of one night on December 27, 1945, in a brown house in Park Slope. But writer/director Ted Geoghegan has plenty of story to tell and gives his star some delicious dialogue and character. rich game; His team backs them up with expertly crafted sets, a colorful visual palette, and some sparse but well-chosen visuals. What makes Brooklyn 45 so interesting is that it doesn't cost a lot of money. All you need is talent and hard work.
Horror legend Larry Fessenden plays Lt. Col. Clive "Hawk" Hockstatter, who invites old friends and war buddies to his home a month after his wife Susan's death. He is joined by ruthless military detective Marla Sheridan (Anne Ramsey) and her Pentagon penciller husband Bob (Ron E. Raines), as well as veteran soldiers, Major Paul DeFranco (Ezra Bossington) and Major Archibald. Stanton (Jeremy Holm). Hook asks the participants to join him for a session, which is interrupted by shocking violence and the sudden arrival of Hildy (Christina Kleib), a German immigrant neighbor who may be a Nazi spy.
Geoghegan's Brooklyn 45 is structured much like a theater performance, with the characters discovering secrets about themselves over the course of a chilling evening, and the plot takes a new twist every 15 minutes. Each actor takes their role in the spotlight, and each makes the most of it, giving small speeches about their characters' military activities, subtly changing the way the other people in the apartment feel about them. This film is basically an exercise in old fashioned pulp, but it is well made with some more obvious points hidden beneath the old fashionedness. At its worst, this film is about how social niceties can hide deep paranoia and a dark past that can still emerge in the end.
Brooklyn 45. unclassified. 1 hour 32 minutes. Available on Shudder/AMC+
"unknown objects"
Two standout performances temper the extreme weirdness of "Unknown Objects," an indie drama with sci-fi elements. Matthew August Jeffers plays Peter, a self-proclaimed "college-educated gay man" who spends the pandemic doing what he always does: sitting alone in his New York apartment, reading Chekov. Sarah Hay plays Winona's self-proclaimed "sex worker" neighbor Peter. Sarah offers to pay off Peter's outstanding debts if he helps him get to Canada, where he expects to meet the aliens who abducted him as a teenager.
During the trip, Peter borrows (or rather steals) a car from an absent friend. Along the way, they encounter smugglers, suffocating, violent idiots and aliens, some real and some figments of Peter's wild imagination. Director Juan Felipe Zuleta and writer Leland Frankel love this mix of reality and fantasy, but they and their cast are perfect for portraying Peter and Winona's shared desperation. Both of them have been through a lot on this journey, they believe it is their last chance to suppress the meaning of life that seems miserable to others. Jeffers and Haye have strong chemistry, and the power and pain in Peter and Winona's lives feels equally real, even if the film tends to be fake about them.
"Unknown objects". unclassified. 1 hour 40 minutes. available video on demand; It will also hit theaters June 14 at The Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
"Apples"
In Hong Sun Yoon's creepy drama Alone, Gong Seung Yeon plays Jin, a seemingly quiet young woman who lives alone and avoids any superficial contact with people, making her ideal for a customer service job at a loan company. Center. When Jina's boss asks her to train 20-year-old Soji (Yung Da Yoon), the newcomer's tendency to emotionally connect with customers irritates Jina, who prefers to be rude and polite and quickly end calls.
It's part character sketch and part cautionary tale, with a slightly predictable twist about people who need people, even when our neighbors, coworkers, clients, and parents are just annoyingly demanding. While the message is catchy, the way it's delivered is bittersweet, thanks to an excellent lead performance by Gong, who manages to strike a balance between cool and cute. Hung's use of repetitive details suggests that Gina's life can be both comfortable and reserved. It's easy for Gina to eat at the same noodle shops and watch the same channels every day and refuse any calls, texts or conversations that might disrupt this routine. But in the end, you know, it might be a good way to survive, but it's a terrible way to live.
"Allies". unclassified. 1 hour 30 minutes. Available upon request
as well as herd
Renfield is a comedic reimagining of the Dracula series, set mostly in the present day and told from the perspective of the vampire's long-suffering sidekick played by Nicholas Hoult. Nicolas Cage plays an overly demanding boss in the film, which laughs at how a lifelong relationship can become addictive and all-consuming. Available at Peacock
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
