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Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Nostalgic and compact movie, slightly more serious than the first two
For fans of Insidious (2011), this is a great trip down memory lane! First-time director Patrick Wilson (who is also Josh Lambert, the father character in the Insidious movies) and producer James Wan (original director for the first 2 Insidious films) managed to sustain a coherent cinematic universe rivaling even the MCU! 😁💀
As a musician I always judge a movie by its soundtrack and it sure contains a few stingers, even reminding me of The Nun sometimes 👻 The sounds of glissando violins and prepared piano return, composed by the amazing Joseph Bishara, who has played the iconic Lipstick-Faced Demon in all the Insidious movies (yes, a composer who acts as the ghost! Talk about getting into character 🙂👹)
This is a compact movie centering on the relationship between father and son, different from the first two which were full of characters and complex plots. I appreciate that most of the original cast return, and an older Dalton played by the same actor (Ty Simpkins) really helps to anchor the passage of time.
PROS:
- does not shy away from taking its time to build suspense
- Main characters' recalling of past events add meaning to the plot
- Signature incredulity of the Demon's lair present as always (mannequin tableaux and "Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips..." anyone? 😆🎶)
CONS:
- not as many varied scares as the first two
- dangling plot points and possible threads unrealised
As a whole, the franchise remains strong in its decisions and never cheapens the significance of major events, working with them to develop the stories. There is a post-credit scene, and I look forward to the next story in the series, "Thread: An Insidious Tale"! ('Thread' here may refer to the tin-can threads that young Dalton used to keep his spiritual self connected to his physical body during astral projection.)
(follow me on IG @ sadakomaster for haunt content! 🎃💀)
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012)
Visually astonishing
Being a Cirque movie, I kinda knew what to expect (loose plot, allegorical imagery, etc.) but the visuals were really breathtaking. Seeing the acts up close, with vivid costumes and colours, it would look great even if it wasn't in 3D! It would have been great if they could put La Nouba in, and some of the touring shows, but time and logistics constraints didn't permit. So it is a sort of promotional film for Cirque's Las Vegas productions.
Generally speaking, the music composed specially for the movie was only mildly memorable. I had fun, though, identifying the existing themes and tunes from the different shows (there was even a bit of Simcha in the old-school circus at the beginning ;)
However, the one thing that bugged me after seeing the whole film was that there was too much Beatles! Although Zumanity didn't appear much (for the sake of family-friendliness perhaps), and as a whole the acts selected were awesome, it seemed to be one Beatles song after another. Cirque has always emphasised the use of Cirquish (an invented language) for lyrics, which does not distract us from the act. And to add insult to injury, Mystere only made a single appearance in the film (a cube act, I believe). How can the longest-running Cirque show in Vegas only merit a passing mention? Thank goodness Viva Elvis only made a single appearance (a trampoline act).
Nevertheless, the saving grace of the movie was the inclusion of much material from O and Ka. Ka really brought home the point that it was possible to do dramatic fight scenes live on stage, and 'O' showed us what was possible with water.
I'd still recommend Worlds Away to my friends, as a gateway into what Cirque du Soleil is about.