Glamour and Gothic blend seamlessly in ‘Crimson Peak’

If there was but one filmmaker who had a definitive style to every one of his or her movies, and that distinct look never disappointed regardless of good or bad the rest of the film was, that writer/director would be Guillermo del Toro.

From Europe during the Cold War in “Hellboy” to the Spanish countryside in “Pan’s Labyrinth,” from the seas surrounding Hong Kong at night in “Pacific Rim” to the mountains of Middle Earth in “The Hobbit” trilogy, del Toro delivers stunningly gorgeous films again and again.

And yet his most recent project, a gothic romantic horror movie that takes place in a crumbling mansion in northern England, may just be his most beautiful yet. But as a gothic romance, the story and characters are just as faithful representations of the time period’s most popular literature as the costumes, hair and makeup, sets and music.

It’s safe to say del Toro knows what he is doing.

After a family tragedy and with nothing to keep her in America, young aspiring author Edith (Mia Wasikowska) marries the charming and seductive Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). She soon finds herself swept away to his remote gothic mansion in the English hills with Lady Lucille (Jessica Chastain), Thomas’ alluring sister and protector of their family’s dark secrets.

Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, Edith soon discovers that her new home breathes, bleeds and remembers. Able to communicate with the dead since the death of her mother many years ago, Edith tries to decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions that haunt the mansion. As she learns to confront the ghosts and comes closer to the truth, Edith may learn that true monsters are made of living flesh and blood.

Not only is it a great period-piece romance in its own right, but “Crimson Peak” pays homage to the gothic genre in every way. Half of this movie is Mary Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe, delivering best of gothic horror in all its beauty and terror, never letting one outweigh the other. But the other half the other most popular literature of the Victorian era: Jane Austen’s idealistic romances with ballroom dances and strong, independent women.

Although many aspects of the story pay homage to the standards established by Poe and Austen, some parts take the outdated tropes and spins them around, not only make the characters more realistic but mocking the tropes that were once considered normal.

While in many older stories the woman is the prize and the men make sensual advances to win her, in “Crimson Peak” it is the man who is objectified while the women make the obvious passes and initiate the romances. And although it does work within the story, from the outside looking in it is done specifically to call attention to the outdated tropes of the very genre it is replicating. Plus, Tom Hiddleston is someone worth pining over.

Everyone in the cast acts the part by playing right into the genres. There is no slang and no contractions, and everyone speaks as if they were in a Shakespearean play. But besides sounding the part, everyone in the main cast looks the part in both their wardrobes and their demeanors. They look like aristocrats from the 1910s by how the wear their boots, three-pieces suits and multiple layered gowns and how they walk in them, work in them and even drink tea in them. Not once does anyone look or sound like their actors in 2015.

As more of a side note that would mostly appeal to the people of Western New York, the first 40 minutes of the movie takes place in Buffalo at the turn of the century. Now, of course they didn’t actually film any of the movie in Buffalo, but Edith’s father in the film is a contractor who owns the biggest architecture and construction company in Erie County. So throughout several of the Buffalo scenes, tabletop models of some of Buffalo’s still-standing old buildings appear occasionally and people from the area will recognize them immediately. Also, all the Americans in the Buffalo scenes do spot-on Western New York accents, so as a native of the area I give the film’s accuracy to that aspect a very high grade.

As the film makes a point of early on, this is not a horror film. It’s not about ghosts. There are ghosts in it and they are important to the plot, but it is not about them. “Ghosts are metaphors for the past,” Edith says within the first 20 minutes, and that’s just what makes “Crimson Peak” just a spooky film. There are scary moments and the atmosphere is chilling throughout, but it’s not horror in the “Halloween” or “Nightmare on Elm Street” sense. The ghosts make sure the real horror is in the living, not the dead.

Guillermo del Toro’s movies are a selected taste. The screenplays are great, but their often slower and more in depth than many like to handle. Every shot is gorgeous, every scene is set in a beautiful and believable world and the actors know their characters and play them well. But if you’re looking for a new Halloween classic, this probably isn’t it for you. But for anyone who loves Edgar Allen Poe and Victorian-era gothic stories, “Crimson Peak” is the epitome of gothic romance.

Fun, meet Science; Science, this is fun – A Review of “The Martian”

As a combination of all things great in recent sci-fi stories, director Ridley Scott’s latest project perfectly takes what would have been a tragedy and makes it constantly hopeful and enjoyable.

It’s a modern space western and a classic man versus nature. It’s a story as epic as its scope that’s really about one man and his personal journey. It’s Robinson Crusoe meets Arthur C. Clarke. It’s “Cast Away” meets “Apolo 13.”

This is Scott’s third space flick after 1979’s “Alien” and 2012’s “Prometheus.” And even though most of his recent films—“Prometheus” included—have not lived up the expectations many had for visionary director, “The Martian” is proof Scott still knows what he’s doing.

During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm, giving his crew no choice but to abort the mission and leave him behind. Miraculously, Watney survives, finding himself stranded and alone on the red planet.

With only enough supplies to last several months, Watney must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and well. Because no one can pick him up for four years, his only hope is to grow his own food on a planet where nothing grows and maintain all his equipment with minimal communication with Huston.

Forty-million miles away, under the supervision of NASA commander Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and guidance of Mars Missions director Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the country’s top scientists are working round the clock. As the team of experts expands, everyone must simultaneously keep Watney alive and send him supplies as soon as possible until the next manned mission can reach Mars.

Meanwhile, as Watney’s crewmates are on route back to Earth, they plot a daring—if not impossible—mission to rescue him themselves. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return.

From the beginning, this movie knows exactly what it wants to be and wastes no time getting right into telling the exact story it means to. There are no overly ambitious visuals or special effects or philosophical discussions about life and man’s place in the universe. After “Gravity” in 2013 and “Interstellar’ in 2014, it’s actually very refreshing to see an epic science and space-travel movie that’s pretty simple in plot and execution.

Just because this movie doesn’t make audience members have to think about it long after leaving the theater does not mean it’s inferior to other great sci-fi films of this decade. In fact, I applaud Scott and the producers for sticking to their guns and not giving in to the peer pressure. For a genuinely interesting, comical and thrilling movie that took a risk by not doing anything spectacular, it’s one of the most solid and enjoyable films of the year.

Matt Damon is the perfect actor to portray Watney because his good-old-boy charm and wise-cracking demeanor are on overdrive throughout the film. Not once does he breakdown and give up. Sure, he gets frustrated and annoyed, but he always comes back with a one-liner and an ingenious idea to stay alive.

Half of the 140 minute film is dedicated to Damon alone on screen, and he has to fill it with technical info and monologues that must inform the audience and entertain simultaneously. The way Scott makes that work is almost as clever as all the ways Watney survives, and there are few actors out there who are as likable and believable as Damon, so he’s enjoyable no matter what he says.

The whole cast is phenomenal though. There are veterans who have been stars for years, including Jeff Daniels and Sean Bean, and 2000s sensations like Jessica Chastain, Michael Peña and Kristen Wiig. But, there are also younger actors who have been stars for only a couple years, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara and Donald Glover.

But no one out shadows anyone else as the second most important role in the story. Just as the characters work together to get Watney home, every actor works together to get the best performance out of each other. It helps that everyone is likable, many people are portraying real characters that are different than their usual type casting and there is not a villain. Surviving life on Mars is the villain, not an actual person, which is always refreshing to see.

If anything, this movie just reinforces the need for the space program to get millions in funding so we can send people to Mars sooner than later. At a time when politics are getting crazier and crazier with nearly everyone in the world trying to get one over on everyone else, a whole planet to myself doesn’t sound too bad.

A practically flawless movie that is enjoyable all the way through, “The Martian” is a promising start to an autumn of awards season hopefuls.