Irrelevant But Awesome

Alexa:  I feel like I use some variation of the phrase “It’s an interesting idea but it falls flat in its execution” a lot but… “Extraordinary Tales” is an interesting idea that falls flat in its execution. If you’re a fan of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, there is probably something for you in this showcase of five of his best-known stories. Four of the five are essentially abridged narrations of the stories with accompanying animations, while the last one is only visuals and music. I liked the idea of giving each story its own distinct animation style, but I found the animation in all of them to be disjointed and generally off-putting. “The Tell-Tale Heart” was the most interesting and by far the creepiest. “The Masque of the Red Death” was probably the most visually engaging, but it was missing something without narration. I found the introduction and transitions, a weird little subplot between Poe in the form of a raven and Death, to be completely unnecessary and distracting. The...

Alexa:  I picked “Little Evil” as this week’s movie solely for Adam Scott. I expected it to be subpar, and figured if nothing else Scott would be charming. But I was pleasantly surprised to find the movie is actually pretty enjoyable, if a bit uneven. I didn’t realize initially that the writer-director behind “Little Evil” is the same guy who gave us “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil,” another horror-comedy that I adored. “Little Evil” similarly takes an overdone premise and plays around with it for humor, but it’s not nearly as sharp or laugh-out-loud funny as “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.” All the pieces are there for an equally effective sendup of the genre, but it never quite reaches its full potential. The jokes don’t always land, and even some of the homages to horror classics feel a little half-hearted. But the entire cast is great and fun to watch. The kid is equal parts creepy and adorable, and I loved the stepdad brigade. (Side note: Does Donald Faison ever age? Was there somet...

Alexa:   Remember last week when I said I loved basically any and all horror movies when I was younger? I’m much pickier about my horror fare now, and “It Follows” fits the bill. I was entranced by this no-frills movie that does so much with so little. To me, the most effective horror movies are less about slasher violence and sudden scares that make you jump and more about unsettling psychological effects. The titular “it” is one frightening nightmare that never really ends, not even when you pass it on to someone else. There is always the possibility that it will kill whoever has it now, then kill the person who gave it to them until it gradually works its way back to you. The notion that something is always following you, that you can never really rest or feel safe, is quietly terrifying. Death is always lurking in the distance. In addition to the effective premise, I loved some of the stylistic choices writer-director David Robert Mitchell made here. The washed-out color p...

Alexa:  When I was in middle school, I thought nearly all horror movies were awesome regardless of how objectively good they actually were. But not even 14-year-old Alexa would have liked the hot mess that is “Death Note.” I was wary from the moody, self-serious, slow-mo opening sequence, and it only got worse from there. This movie is primarily style over substance. Many of the directing choices feel amateurish, which is surprising when you look at Adam Wingard’s previous credits. Some of his earlier works like “You’re Next” and “The Guest” had a fair amount of buzz surrounding them when they were released. The explanation for the ending is outlandish even for a horror film. Light is a pretty frustrating hero, and Mia is a straight-up psycho. Are we actually supposed to be rooting for these people? Nat Wolff has proven to be a talented young actor in some of his other projects, and, bless him, he tries so hard to act through that terrible hairstyle and make Light somewhat com...