READERS' CHOICE #44: INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once before, but not when it came out. My first viewing was in 2021

BEST SEQUENCE

The aliens' first coordinated attack on the world's major cities, including the destruction of the Empire State Building and the White House

BEST LINE

"Welcome to Earth"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

67%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, Independence Day delivers."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive."

THOUGHTS

• Jesus Christ, this is one silly-ass movie
• OK, put down your knives. I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this one
• For people of a certain age (the "gee, I wish my back didn't hurt all the time" age), I have no issue with the idea that this would have been a seminal movie-going experience, or even just a seminal movie-watching experience. When the movie was released in 1996 I was 9, and more to the point, I was also a snivelling wimp who was too scared to watch it. If I had seen this movie in the theatre when it came out, while watching it again today I'm sure nostalgia would be doing a lot of the heavy lifting
• Instead, last summer on July 15th (missed opportunity, I know), I settled down on my orthopedic pillow and watched Independence Day for the first time, and it was extremely adequate. Upon rewatch, I feel the same
• You know me, I love my practical special effects, and that's a huge point in this movie's favour compared to today's blockbusters. As singled out above, I can't deny the impact of seeing world-famous landmarks completely obliterated. The explosions are big and real, the scenes of pandemonium are clearly real people and not just CGI crowds, and the aliens, which look pretty goofy, at least look goofy in a physical, tangible way
• One part that wasn't goofy, though, was the Area 51 dissection scene and ensuing attack. Legitimately creepy
• I did also love all the shots of spaceships hovering over cities. Amazing sense of scale
• Aerial combat in movies generally doesn't really do much for me. A bunch of shots of pilots in the cockpit cracking wise. I've never seen Top Gun, would that be considered the pinnacle of the form?
• And speaking of cracking wise, a lot of very '90s wisecracks in this movie, and basically none of them landed. "Welcome to Earth" is a pretty good line, though
• A big, sprawling cast of characters. Lots of charisma from Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum (is this Goldblum at his sexiest? Or would we go with Jurassic Park?). Despite his hero moment at the end, though, I really didn't need Randy Quaid in this movie. RIP, characters played by Harvey Fierstein and Harry Connick, Jr. (who, oddly enough, got the "and Harry Connick, Jr." treatment in the credits. What a time that was to be alive)
• I will say, this is miles better than The Day the Earth Stood Still, which actually made a cameo appearance in this movie. Randy Quaid's kids were watching it on TV very early on
• According to Wikipedia, the Will Smith role was originally offered to Ethan Hawke, but he turned it down because "he thought the script was terrible". You and me both, Ethan, you and me both
• To everyone who voted for this movie, I thank you. To everyone who loves this movie, your opinion is also valid. To everyone who thinks I was being too hard on it, I leave you with two words: computer virus. If you need me, Ethan and I will be reassuring each other and awaiting your hate mail

Up next: Ong-Bak, the martial arts film from 2003, and the first of the readers' choice movies which is completely new to me!

READERS' CHOICE #45: NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once

BEST SEQUENCE

The climax is really intense with some dark action, big plot moments, and a gripping car chase. But I'm going with the scene in which Lou (Jake Gyllenhaal) enters a house where a triple homicide just occurred minutes ago, shortly after the perpetrators escaped. As he films extremely graphic footage of the bodies to sell to Nina (Rene Russo), a local news director, we feel like co-conspirators with Lou, despite the moral repugnance of his actions. This also leads directly into another one of my favourite scenes in which Nina airs Lou's footage on live TV and we watch her in the control booth directing her newscasters, making them emphasize the disturbing nature of what she's putting on screen, and milking the sensationalism for all it's worth.

BEST LINE

Lou has lots of great lines, and I loved the dark comedy whenever he'd spout his corporate speak or inspirational aphorisms. My favourite comes when he's trying to coerce his assistant, Rick (Riz Ahmed), into doing something extremely dangerous, and Rick knows it.

Rick: "I don't believe anything you say, man, this is fucked!"

Lou (admonishing him): "Do you know I've never once sworn in front of an employer?"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

95%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Restless, visually sleek, and powered by a lithe star performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler offers dark, thought-provoking thrills."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story."

THOUGHTS

• I love Gyllenhaal's performance as Lou, and you know what? In a way, a very weird way, I find this absolutely deplorable character kind of likeable. But likeable in the least obvious way possible. In his very first scene he's larcenous and violent, and that's just where the movie begins; one can only imagine what crimes he'd already committed before that point. And his actions throughout the movie just keep getting increasingly indefensible, but despite this, it doesn't really feel like he ever makes a conscious choice to drop his morals. I get the sense that, at every point in the movie, Lou was entirely capable and willing to do any of the terrible things we witness. We see no crisis of conscience from him. We just see a man who takes advantage of a series of opportunities to get rid of an obstacle or improve his situation. He's a pragmatic fellow who just wants to succeed in his chosen line of work
• And what a horrible line of work it is
• It feels like the movie itself also has reluctant admiration for Lou in the same way I do. Earlier on, during some of the scenes when he's doing whatever it takes to get the perfect footage, the music is triumphant and upbeat
• Another very small character moment I like is when Lou is ironing his shirts and watching The Court Jester, an old Danny Kaye comedy from 1955 which I remember watching as a kid, and this monstrous guy is having a grand old time, laughing at this cheesy old comedy. I don't even really know what it's intended to mean, there's something performative about his laughter even though he's alone in the room, but it stuck with me
• The nighttime cinematography is gorgeous at points, eerie at others. I liked the way Lou was often shown with light reflecting off of his huge, unblinking eyes. I also noticed that when he was skulking around where he shouldn't be he would hold his video camera like a gun (although hey, I'm no expert, maybe that's just how you hold a camera; still looks like a gun!)
• Aside from Gyllenhaal, all the other performances are great across the board, and it's a really excellent movie. Highly recommended!

Up next: Aside from this sentence right now, I promise that recent events will not be mentioned in the next review - it's Independence Day!

READERS' CHOICE #46: THE DESCENT (2005)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, the first time was about 5 years ago

BEST SEQUENCE

If you haven't seen The Descent yet and you think you'd like to, stop reading and watch it. My favourite moment of this movie is an extremely startling jump scare, one of my favourite in all of horror movies, and I think it would be most effective for someone who has no prior knowledge. I'll talk about it in more detail further down.

BEST LINE

"Listen, the worst thing that could have happened to you has already happened, OK? And you're still here. This is just a poxy cave and there's nothing left to be afraid of, I promise." - One character trying to calm another one down after a tunnel collapses, very unaware of how wrong she actually is. Nice usage of "poxy," though

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

86%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators."

THOUGHTS

• I love the way this movie shifts gears. It starts as a very grounded women vs. nature story. The thrills are definitely there while they're trying to navigate their way out of an unknown cave system, the danger feels incredibly real, and claustrophobes need not apply. I haven't seen Deliverance in a long time, but The Descent strongly reminded me of that (and I'll revisit Deliverance eventually, it's very high up on the AFI list). And then, when it feels like that concept was ably explored, we basically jump directly into an entirely different genre of movie, equally thrilling but in a totally different way. It kind of feels like two different movies for the price of one. Some might be bothered by the inconsistency, but I think it works beautifully
• Side note, if you ever want to see the most jarring gear shift movie I can think of, watch Audition. It's also one of those movies that works best if you have no idea what's coming, so I shall say no more except that I wish it had gotten voted into my list
• And now I'll speak in plainer terms. If you've seen The Descent you might know exactly what I'm picking for my favourite scene. It's the first time the women are attacked by a crawler (the movie's name for the monsters). Seen through their own camcorder footage with night vision, it pans around the group of women, and suddenly THERE IT IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM!
• I often eat and drink while watching movies, and when I'm watching scary movies I have a ridiculous concern that I might get so startled I'll just, like, THROW my plate or my glass. I don't think it's happened yet. But the first time I watched this five years ago, that moment was probably the closest I've come to just hurling my dinner across the room
• This was my second time watching it, and I remember liking it a lot the first time, but man alive, I did not remember how gory and violent it gets once the crawlers enter the picture! Things get pretty brutal!
• I've never broken a bone, but if I ever do, I pray it won't be of the "bone poking through the skin" variety. Whenever that happens in a movie I cringe so hard
• The movie also starts with one of the most visceral, terrifying car crashes I've seen on film
• Extremely effective choices were made with the lighting, keeping us looking into the shadows and adding to the nightmarish and surreal feeling of the film. There were some very disorienting camera angles used as well
• Finally, this movie was released with an extended ending in the UK, cut from the US release because it was too depressing, and yeah, it's pretty bleak. I prefer it as the proper ending for the movie, though

Up next: Jake Gyllenhaal creeps it up in Nightcrawler