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Harely had a rough childhood.....and im ok with that.
Funny my wife said the same to me. She also said the film should have been called 'Andrew'.
I wasn't rooting for Andrew to kill innocents but after that first punch from his Dad I wanted to buy him a drink. And I'll say this for Dehaan, those smacks he was getting weren't staged.
You're on Andrew's side to a point. But when he's sitting in the bathroom stall analyzing the teeth he's telekinetically yanked out of people's mouths, it's kind of hard to stay on that side.
He had that one brief shining moment at the talent show and the party afterward where he saw how he could use his powers in a positive way to make his life better, but it all got undone when he threw up on that girl and Steven walked in on it. Which seemed a little bit forced and felt like it existed solely to cement his turn to the dark side.
I liked when he telekinetically turned his mom over in bed.
If he were smarter, or not, y'know, a teenager soaked in hormones and terrible emotions, he might've focused on how to use his powers to actually cure his mom, fix his dad's injury, and improve that aspect of his life. But he's flawed. And that would've been a whole season of a TV show.
I'll be honest and TMI here and say that when my mom was ill, I sometimes wished I had superpowers that would cure her or just make her life easier. So that part hit home for me. The bit where he turns his mom over was so simple and human. And she's so out of it she just says "Thank you" and doesn't notice he's not even in the room.
His frustration at not having the money to pay for the meds is what really turns him, I think. He's still trying to be a good son. But yeah, in another pocket of his psyche he's pulling punks' teeth out and making spiders explode. In a way, his home situation is about all that distracts him from going full Columbine, but this isn't We Need to Talk About Andrew.
Anybody else wonder why he doesn't just use his powers to steal the meds? But again, he's fucked up, he doesn't think of that, he's about WE NEED THE MONEY.
He's been compared to Peter Parker, so I thought it might've been a bit of an in-joke to make the girl who's into him a redhead — not only that, a flagrantly dyed redhead.
You can already feel the cult of this movie starting to build. The more I think about it, the more I like it.
You can already feel the cult of this movie starting to build.
It got some pretty enthusiastic, sustained applause from the group of teenagers in my show. And I can see how it would have some resonance for them. In that way, it's a lot like Stan Lee's early Marvel stories, especially Spider-Man and the X-Men. The powers are just there as a way to explore the characters' real-life problems.
Was I the only one on the edge of their seat knowing a goddamn airliner was going to show up any second during that first flying scene? I was like, "Flight paths, you idiots, FLIGHT PATHS!"
I don't know if it is because of my profound hatred of found footage films lowering my expectations but damn, what an excellent surprise. Comic book-y as hell, too. The good kind. Richard is right. This is the kind of story a young Stan Lee would be writing today.
Anybody else wonder why he doesn't just use his powers to steal the meds? But again, he's fucked up, he doesn't think of that, he's about WE NEED THE MONEY.
I imagine it's because he's trying to still be good. He initially goes after the punks in his neighborhood for money first. A more justifiable choice than robbing the gas station, which is what he escalates too. And by then it's too late.
The way that gas station robbery went so wrong really surprised me. And it was a really effective use of the security cameras and their lack of sound -- when the clerk leaps out from behind the counter with the shotgun, you could hear audible gasps all over the theater, which lent the moment much more of an "Oh shit" feeling.
You're on Andrew's side to a point. But when he's sitting in the bathroom stall analyzing the teeth he's telekinetically yanked out of people's mouths, it's kind of hard to stay on that side.
that and the spider. But I love that he basically still struggled with it right up until he was burnt to fuck and his mum died.
His scene at the grave, sobbing, was one thing, but his own reaction to watching the video of himself talking about the teeth was not only unexpected but so well done. You could see the horror of what he'd done (not the actual teeth pull, but videoing himself gloating about it). And then Matt comes in and throws his weight around and again the frustration of "I know this, why are you telling me what to do all the time?"
great stuff.
I didn't want him to die. I wanted Matt to say something like "you're better than this", reflecting what his mum had said, and for him to realise what he was doing, take off and then end in Tibet getting his shit together.
But then I admire them for not doing that, because it was what I was expecting Matt to say all through that final confrontation, pretty much right up to the end.
Are there different versions of this out there? I'm in the UK and I can't remember anything about teeth? When did it happen?
After the disaster at the party, Andrew goes back to school and the kids are taunting him again. One of the bullies (I believe one seen in the beginning), teases him and so Andrew pulls three of his teeth out.
Are there different versions of this out there? I'm in the UK and I can't remember anything about teeth? When did it happen?
really? The bully guy takes the piss out of him post party and goes "ooh, oooh, bleaurghhh". Andrew follows him down the hall and says "Hey, (?)" who turns around and then Andrew rips something out of his mouth (I honestly thought it was his tongue at first).
It then cuts to Andrew in the toilet with three teeth, talking about how he got one really cleanly because he imagined pulling it by the root, but the others broke because he pulled them half way.
It then cuts to him watching that footage.
The exploding spider got a huge reaction in my theater. I suppose it's meant to read like a "sign of a serial killer" moment, but doesn't everyone kill spiders, anyway? If he'd done that to a more lovable creature, it would have made more of an impact to me. As it was, I just thought it looked cool.
INSTANT CLASSIC
Josh Trank just put himself on the map ala Blomkamp and DISTRICT 9.
Amazing stuff.
One of the most honest superhero tales ever translated to screen.
Its funny that Max Landis released his "Death and Return of Superman" rant on youtube this weekend because its plainly obvious that the guy understands and loves comic books. A lot of homage and threads taken from classic comic tales woven together into this wonderful film.
I agree with everyone else that the strongest echoes are from AKIRA.
I hate found footage, but this film seemed right for it. I do appreciate that they threw away the reigns of the genre for the finale though. It really was quite breathtaking watching the finale.
INSTANT CLASSIC
The finale was still found footage, though. Just cutting between many different video sources.
The exploding spider got a huge reaction in my theater. I suppose it's meant to read like a "sign of a serial killer" moment, but doesn't everyone kill spiders, anyway? If he'd done that to a more lovable creature, it would have made more of an impact to me. As it was, I just thought it looked cool.
It was a thinly veiled critique of the reboot of Spider-Man. I'm certainly with him on that.
The exploding spider got a huge reaction in my theater. I suppose it's meant to read like a "sign of a serial killer" moment, but doesn't everyone kill spiders, anyway? If he'd done that to a more lovable creature, it would have made more of an impact to me. As it was, I just thought it looked cool.
I think it was the way he did it. He didn't just crush it. There's a distinct difference between squashing a bug and pulling it's legs off.
Yeah, there was a definitely a touch of sadism in how he killed that spider. And look at his face. Zero reaction to it. Did it because he was bored.
SO. damn. good.
You all covered most of the bases, but that first flying scene in the clouds with the jet....Jesus.
I've yet to see this film but given how everyone seems to be raving about it. I guess there is a good chance that Fox will give Josh Trank The Fantastic Four reboot.
Yep, seeing as how it grossed more than it cost this weekend — Super Bowl weekend, no less — I'd say the young man has a bright future.
I was surprised as hell how good this was and not just good because it wasn't shit. The biggest thing that makes it good, I feel, is that I liked hanging around the characters. They weren't the raging douchebags that most found footage protagonists are. I'm looking damn forward to his next flick.
I'm surprised by how many people sympathize with Andrew. Feel some empathy towards him? Of course. He was in really fucked up situation. But sympathy?
I'm surprised by how many people sympathize with Andrew. Feel some empathy towards him? Of course. He was in really fucked up situation. But sympathy?
It builds sympathy and then pushes the limits of it. Abuse and misery does terrible things to a kid's mind and drives it to very unsettling places. It builds sympathy even with the teeth pulling and spider tearing through his interactions with his mom, abusive father and lonely school life. As his resentment at his, lets say he considers it perpetually bad luck, builds and builds to growing hatred of everything around him until he has to take the desperate route of robbery to pay for his mother's meds (which I claim he didn't steal himself simply because he probably didn't know what he needed to get). And then his final snap beyond his sanity is when in an attempt to help his mother he badly and horribly burned, his mother dies and then his unrepentant asshole father then comes and blames him for everything. His outburst is horrifying and terrifying and yet we sympathize with his anger and sorrow. You're not supposed to sympathize with his actions, just his emotional state.
His obsessive need to record I think stems from his existence being trivialized so much, to give himself some sort of validation for just being there. And when he truly does become significant, he doesn't know how to deal with it and does it badly.
It's what his cousin said at the end of the movie in tibet. something along the lines of "You know, I never said this and I don't why I didn't, but I love you."
Though, one line from this movie will probably go down in history. "I am an apex predator!"
As excited as I am to see this movie I'm a little bummed that the antagonist character, or the character who becomes the 'baddie', is a kid from a DV household.
It's become a bit of a cliche, as domestic violence has become a much more open topic, that abused kids grow up to be abusers. But I've met people from violent homes and they really need that assurance that they're not damaged, or a time bomb, or genetically and environmentally predestined to be a monster; so many movies, books and comics rely on the trope to create a sympathetic villain that it's becoming a bit a stereotype.
It would be nice if there were more films were kids of bad homes grow up to be hero's and beat the societal expectations. That might sound schmaltzy but a lot of the novels of Andrew Vacchss are about adults with severly messed up upbringings banding together to form their own 'families' and occasionally trying to break cycles of abuse around them. And holy shit there is nothing schmaltzy about a Vacchss novel.
But it would also be nice if I had a machine that produced never ending cadbury creme eggs out of thin air as well.
It builds sympathy and then pushes the limits of it. Abuse and misery does terrible things to a kid's mind and drives it to very unsettling places. It builds sympathy even with the teeth pulling and spider tearing through his interactions with his mom, abusive father and lonely school life. As his resentment at his, lets say he considers it perpetually bad luck, builds and builds to growing hatred of everything around him until he has to take the desperate route of robbery to pay for his mother's meds (which I claim he didn't steal himself simply because he probably didn't know what he needed to get). And then his final snap beyond his sanity is when in an attempt to help his mother he badly and horribly burned, his mother dies and then his unrepentant asshole father then comes and blames him for everything. His outburst is horrifying and terrifying and yet we sympathize with his anger and sorrow. You're not supposed to sympathize with his actions, just his emotional state.
His obsessive need to record I think stems from his existence being trivialized so much, to give himself some sort of validation for just being there. And when he truly does become significant, he doesn't know how to deal with it and does it badly.
It's what his cousin said at the end of the movie in tibet. something along the lines of "You know, I never said this and I don't why I didn't, but I love you."
Though, one line from this movie will probably go down in history. "I am an apex predator!"
As I said, that's empathy. I understand and share it. What I don't understand is wanting him to get away with any of it. You want him to rise above his circumstances but once he kills Steve he's done. Because he did kill Steve. That "Bwaaah! I didn't mean to do it" was bullshit.
As I said, that's empathy. I understand and share it. What I don't understand is wanting him to get away with any of it. You want him to rise above his circumstances but once he kills Steve he's done. Because he did kill Steve. That "Bwaaah! I didn't mean to do it" was bullshit.
Oh, I'm not condoning his actions in the slightest. There was only one logical conclusion to what he was doing and that's a nice meeting with mister spear. Ostensibly, you could have it that he escapes and it ends with him getting ready to wreak large scale havoc on the world and his cousin would play american keneda to his tetsuo for any upcoming sequels. But in reality they wanted to tell a self contained story, and that means it had to have an ending. And that is more noble than any crack guzzling executive could produce, whose total vocabulary is 'franchise, tentpole, and box office'
I didn't sympathise with him but I can understand why others do. Western society is being driven farther and farther into dystopia through the banality of evil. And for some it pushes them closer to edge of sanity where extreme gestures seem like the only feaseable option left to them. We are, quite literally, fracturing society and redistributing power so that it exists solely in the hands of the very few. This happens in small and large scale.s for example In toronto, the most common answer to bullying is avoid him if possible and stop doing things to 'provoke him' actually blaming the victim for the bully's behaviour, rather than having the school board metaphorically beat living shit out of the little bastard for his nonsense. That's small scale. Then there's the cruelty and arrogance of the system when it came Andrew's mom's meds. That's large scale. And some people who have been subject to that problem endlessly from all fronts with no sense of reprieve, I can tell you they start to get strange. Once bitterness and anger at the sheer futility of even trying to live a normal life sets in, It literally starts to switch off their higher reasoning and they basically go into 'snarling animal backed into a corner' mode. They then can go two ways. They either shut down and give up or strike back regardless of collateral damage. Most of the time this means a fight at school, in this case it's killing your best friend thousands of feet in the air. That's where he lost me. But I can see the vengeance against everyone as absolutely cathartic for people with all that pent up resentment.
This strike back however escalates further and further and gets that much worse and worse from the tooth scene thanks in part to his asshole father. By the time he resorts to robbery and gets burned, literally he feels everything has turned on him and his father blaming him for missing his mothers death just sends him into total insanity where to him the distinction between those with power and those without are irrelevant. To him everything is the problem and equally deserving of his wrath, regardless of its actual innocence. with "I am an apex predator" Andrew's personality essentially collapses and is just animal rage. He neither a villian nor an anti hero at this point, he is chaos, the id. And his cousin needs to set the matter straight. And as I said, at this point there's only one reasonable conclusion to this story, the one we got.
I think the viewer's reaction to Andrew's character development is more of a rorshach test than anything else. What you gather emotionally and conceptually from it is totally subjective to you, but what you think is informative to your personality. It doesn't judge you nor anyone should use that as a character judgement (lest they be a complete asshole) but rather it's telling of how you feel about you position in society and the amount of power or lack thereof you percieve to have.
This movie manages to do in 2 hours what Lucas failed to do in 3 god damn movies: tell us about a descent into the dark side. I remember there was some Kevin Smith quote saying 'People were upset that the most badass/evil figure in the universe was a messed up kid? That's precisely who it would be!' That's Andrew. He can fly, he can push things with his mind, he alienates and fights his best friend and he even kills the one black guy with lightning. Totally Anakin Skywalker.
Great film. I don't see why it had to be a "found footage" or "in the process of future found footage" movie, it could have worked just as well as a traditional film, but the choice works for the characters presented, even if it did get a little thin at time. Michael B. Jordan absolutely must be in more things (he's aces on Friday Night Lights), what a charming, affable fellow. Some of the effects were iffy and the dad character felt like he existed solely to be an asshole, as if there was nothing more to him, but on the whole, superb. I love how we never once heard the word "comic" or "superhero" the entire movie (at least I recall) and the guys didn't immediately go 'zomg! I have to helpz teh peple!' and make some dumbass costumes and what not. Nope, they used it to amuse themselves, dick around and get girls.
Which is precisely what every teenager ever would do in that same situation.
Not quite sure why we hear some Ziggy Stardust when Andrew is suiting up to go rob people, but I thought it was cool.
DOOOOD
SEQUEL IDEA, I AM GENIUS
THE GREY CHRONICLE
MATT GOES TO TIBET, MEETS LIAM NEESON, THEY PUNCH WOLVES IN THROAT AND MAKE THEM EXPLODE LIKE SPIDERS
THIS WILL MAKE ALL THE MONEY
Not quite sure why we hear some Ziggy Stardust when Andrew is suiting up to go rob people, but I thought it was cool.
Isn't Ziggy Stardust about the dangers of being destroyed by one's own hubris?
Finally saw this, and loved it enough to be upset it's not longer.
For one, I don't care for the arbitrary nature of what they found underneath the ground. What was it? They return once, and it's clear it's being investigated by someone else, so they back off. What's the story there? Don't they ever get curious again?
And the ending doesn't work, because there's no real emotional payoff to Matt going to Tibet other than lip service to his nephew. Most of this comes from Matt being kind of an empty personality - I thought he was okay, but I had no idea where his emotions were with that cute blogger chick. I get that he liked her, and that it was kind of more complicated than that, I just never got a clear idea. And he's going to Tibet to find out how they got those abilities? And how exactly is he going to do that? Chatting with some monks? Seems unlikely. When Matt flies off at the end, it's to ostensibly start a new life, but his character is so sketchy that beyond "help the world" you really have no idea what he's out there doing. Maybe he's a superhero, and it's an origin story? I think we need to know more about Matt before we assume that.
Still, a confident, clever debut film. I was surprised at all the nuance and insight into Andrew's life, all the little details, how the camera becomes his silent friend, how he keeps wanting to use the powers for bigger things as a response to suddenly being on an "even" playing field with the school president and his handsome cousin. CHRONICLE 2 should be three GIRLS. I think that would be interesting.
Matt traveling to Tibet at the end is purely about honoring Andrew's memory and pursuing self-improvement. Finding out what really happened to them is a separate, long-term goal. I personally like that the movie leaves it mysterious. Clearly the artifact that gives them the powers is something alien, but the specifics don't really matter to the story.
As for Matt's characterization, I agree he's a bit blank, but I wonder if that's at least somewhat intentional. He strikes me as a guy who is still trying to figure out his identity. His interest in philosophy is part of that but it's more pretentious than genuine, which alienated some of his friends, including the blogger girl, with whom he always had a thing but they'd never acted on it. I think his arc is partly about putting up or shutting up about the high minded ideas and ideals he talks about.
Regarding what the thing was, what happens next etc, Max Landis said he has it all planned. And from what he said a sequel is just about guaranteed and coming out pretty soon. Relatively speaking.
Isn't Ziggy Stardust about the dangers of being destroyed by one's own hubris?
No, I meant does he have it playing on a radio or is it non-diegetic...aah, never mind. ;)
+1 on Matt being blank. He was the least well developed of the three. As such, he's probably the one we're most expected to identify with. Though I didn't.
And the Tibet thing... I hope, how I hope, that the reference to the monks being "able to float" doesn't indicate that they had some small exposure to whatever the three were exposed to.
+1 on Matt being blank. He was the least well developed of the three. As such, he's probably the one we're most expected to identify with. Though I didn't.
And the Tibet thing... I hope, how I hope, that the reference to the monks being "able to float" doesn't indicate that they had some small exposure to whatever the three were exposed to.
As fun as he was, I honestly thought Steve was a lot more shallow, though that might just be intentional. He seemed to be channeling some Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Oscar speech in that scene where they almost get hit by a jet. In a good way.
No, I meant does he have it playing on a radio or is it non-diegetic...aah, never mind. ;)
Since there is no score for the film, and how it's volume seems to waver at different points during the sequence, I assumed it was diegetic.
CHRONICLE 2 should be three GIRLS. I think that would be interesting.
You mean THE CRAFT?
You mean THE CRAFT?
Super underrated movie by the way. For me that is the only witchcraft movie worth watching.
Matt was my favorite, largely because he wasn't defined by any high school archetype. He was just a guy. Every single thing about him struck me as very honest, especially his analytic posturing. I certainly went through that phase, at about his age. The way he dealt with Andrew throughout had the exact right amount of self regard too.
I thought it was a fantastic film for a first time director and it totally obliterated my expectations. Aside from a few "off" moments (I noticed someone else using that phrase, I also used it in my review) it was incredibly focused storytelling and felt vastly more epic than its minuscule budget and 80 minute runtime would suggest. It's far from perfect, but it has really burrowed into my brain and carved out an uncomfortable corner in which to take up residency. Surprisingly dark film that will stick with me for some time. My further thoughts: http://shloggshorrorblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/chronicle.html
Quote:
Matt was my favorite, largely because he wasn't defined by any high school archetype. He was just a guy. Every single thing about him struck me as very honest, especially his analytic posturing. I certainly went through that phase, at about his age. The way he dealt with Andrew throughout had the exact right amount of self regard too.
One detail I liked about Matt was the way he interacted with Andrew. Matt's a nice guy, but Andrew is clearly someone he doesn't really want to be around. We've all been there, right? That loser kid who wants to be friends, but we just kind of...don't really want to be seen in public with him?
Why would Matt, realistically speaking, want to be around Andrew? No matter how much he knew about what was happening at his house, and don't assume he knew that much, at some point he'd naturally have to disengage. Anyone who's been in such a situation would understand. At some point you naturally make the decision that their problems cannot become yours. Because you actually have problems of your own. You feel like shit when you realize what you're doing but it you know deep down that there's no other way. Or you're going to join their spiral.
They're family. Matt probably felt some obligation to hang around Andrew.
I know. I was explaining why Matt would appear cold and distant to some.
I walked out of the theater stunned at how short the movie was. It felt a lot longer. And I mean that in a good way.
I wished they'd maybe spelled out the reasons for WHY Andrew was so obsessed with filming himself and everything else a little more clearly, since it's such a crucial aspect of the movie, but the dots were all certainly there to be connected. And the result was a found footage movie that actually felt fresh! If not technically a "found footage" movie. (Though you can extrapolate that maybe the government assembled all this footage after the fact...maybe...it's a bit of a stretch.)
Its funny that Max Landis released his "Death and Return of Superman" rant on youtube this weekend because its plainly obvious that the guy understands and loves comic books. A lot of homage and threads taken from classic comic tales woven together into this wonderful film.
That rant actually bugged the piss out of me. I know he was being drunk and tongue-in-cheek, but I'm pretty sure he meant what he said about Superman being a bad character, and he's WRONG. So wrong. And don't fucking tell me that I'm lying to myself because I think otherwise. This seems to be at the root of the geek obsession with everything being dark and gritty and characters being damaged and twisted. I like stories like that too, but you need some actual goodness and heroism to balance it out.
Speaking of which, yes, I agree with Bishop: I'd really like to see a story that goes the opposite direction, where a victim of domestic violence becomes a hero rather than a villain. Certainly can't argue that what Andrew went through didn't feel real, though.
And actually I thought Matt was kind of interesting for that reason, too. Landis and Trank obviously wanted to sideline him to focus on Andrew, and that worked this time out, but he provides the note of actual heroism that's needed to a story like this, as I say. He's obviously going through a bit of a Peter Parker thing where he's a basically decent guy, but also a bit of a douche (i.e. a teenager), and while he uses his powers to dick around and have fun, you can see the gears turning, making him start to think about the good he could potentially be doing. I'm pretty sure that was the point of the scene with Blogger Girl, not just that he wanted to get with her but that he wanted to be able to legitimately say he was turning around as a person. She's definitely an underdeveloped character but you can infer a lot about her from just a few scenes, which is something the movie does at a number of points, and which I'm starting to like more and more as I look back on the movie. Anyway, Matt ending up in Tibet is also pretty obvious shorthand for "I'm going on a journey of self-improvement". He never quite gets as far as "and once I have mastered my powers I shall fight crime!", which is part of the movie's "don't say superhero" ethic, but I think that superhero journey is meant to be strongly implied.
No, I meant does he have it playing on a radio or is it non-diegetic...aah, never mind. ;)
It's definitely playing in the actual background of Andrew's room. The music cuts and jumps when the filming does. Plus, y'know, it would violate the premise of the movie otherwise.
