Films (DVDs)

A red cow has special significance in Jewish practice as a sacrificial animal and a sign of the final days. 

Red Cow involves such symbolism in an Israeli drama about a teenage girl living with her father in an illegal settlement. She falls in love with a visiting young national service teacher. Meanwhile, she has some conflicts with her father. Her mother died during childbirth.    

The actress is closer to thirty than seventeen but mostly pulls it off. This Israeli independent film provides a well-acted (the love interest is a bit underwritten at times) look at another culture. I was confused about the ending, where she goes on a trip (was it a long one? would she have been gone for a while?) to see a performance in the city.  

Mamma + Mamma (Mom + Mom) is a 2018 Italian film about two lesbians who decide to have a child. The film is based on the experiences of the director (one character has her name). 

It is a drama with some comedy about their struggles to have a child, including raising money to do so in Spain since Italy does not allow IVF for gay couples. We see some of the family of one of the women, including a supportive grandfather. There are some dream sequences.  

The film is a short 81 minutes and felt it probably could have been a bit shorter. Overall, it was a charming and well-acted film. 

The Italy of the film has some picturesque flavor including the grandfather's farm but other than needing to go to Spain to do the procedure, there is a generally universal feel to this film. Perhaps, the fact the two living with a guy (who has his own girlfriend) suggests a European flavor though I would not choose Italy as the place for that. 

Both films have good, clearly understandable subtitles. Sometimes, foreign films can have subtitles with a small font and/or in a color that makes it harder to read. My eyesight isn't great and I was fine with these subtitles. I don't mind foreign films if the subtitles are easy enough to read. 

I saw You're Next mentioned in a book about horror films. I did not manage to complete the book but did check out the film. The book defined "horror film" broadly and this one is not about a monster.  

We have a type of "10 Little Indians" scenario here where characters are threatened one by one. Helpful to have grown up in a survivalist family! 

I sometimes like horror films and/or in jeopardy films. Megan Fox went all in as a wife handcuffed to a dead boy in Till Death. I enjoyed most of the Chucky films (tired of the series), both the mostly straight original, and as the films became more comical (the last two went back to being mostly straight; the third one was pretty lame and I didn't like the last one much). Some classic horrors (some on Svengoolie) are good.  

Slasher films? Some are enjoyable enough. They often don't have enough content to keep you interested the whole way simply as a film. I tried watching the first Friday the 13th and thought that way.  The film was okay enough (especially when you remember that at the time it was one of the first modern-day slashers) quality-wise if somewhat basic but it was boring. 

Some slashers mix in humor (the second and third Sleepaway Camp films come to mind). There was also the traditional gratuitous nudity. There were lots made. Some are crap. That is true for many genres.  

BJ Colangelo and others have taken such films seriously. She used to have a blog named after the original title of the infamous I Spit On Your Grave, a film that deserves some respect as a dramatic effort. I realize it is also an exploitation flick. I speak of the original. The remake came off as an overproduced fake effort. Skipped the sequels. I did not see the long-delayed sequel of the original which was way too long. 

This film received some good reviews as a novel twist on the genre. It is generally well-made with a good lead. I think the best way to talk about the whole thing is that it's functional. It starts with a prologue with a couple having a quickie with the woman not enjoying it much. Some of the characters don't have much sense as is common in films of this sort. 

The final kill is accidental. The DVD had two commentary tracks.