Art of Conceal

Weapons (2025) - Cregger The success of the horror genre over the last decades have been steady, not only at the box office and cost/profit margins, but also in its quality. Even though movie studios still doll out sequels and franchises to grab quick bucks, there have been many good original horror films in recent years that's been giving audiences something new, instead of following the same old fomular with predictable plotlines.

Weapons, the new movie from Zach Cregger (Barbarians), understands the art of conceal. The slow build up of a mysterious disappearance of a group of school children, causing anguish and flinging accusations among adults in a small Pennsilvanian town, blows up to frenzied revelations in chapters seen from different character's point of views of the same event. It's an effective way to get maximum surprises out of the many twists and turns of this horror comedy.

I do not like overly expositional horror movies. The narrative arc and character development in horror aren't really for me. That's why the sequels, franchises, remakes and re-imaginings and TV series based on horror bore me. Over-exposition kills the magic. There's no mystery left. Cregger understands that.

Short on expositions, except maybe for our protagonist Justine (Julia Garner), an alcoholic school teacher, whose entire class of 17 kids (except for one kid, Alex) had gone missing. Thankfully, her less-than-perfect record doesn't really figure in to the meat of the story, except for drawing ire of frustrated parent, Archer (Josh Brolin), whose son went missing along with other kids.

Logic would get in the way of enjoying Weapons' long-winded set up: Why don't they question Alex's parents? Why do authorities not visit his house? But when Cregger finally reveals the origin of mystery, all hell breaks loose and it's a pure joy. It's effectively scary and uproariously funny. I had hots for Amy Madigan for a long time and she is so great in this.

I really hope Cregger is smart enough not to do Weapons 2. Leave it to be a cult classic in the making.

New Oldboy

Oldboy (2013) - Lee

It has to be said that I wasn't a fan of Park Chan-wook's 2003 original. But over the years, Park's gaudy, operatic, elaborate set pieces has grown on me and I began to appreciate his bombastic, deviant, glitzy, over the top creations. His Oldboy, based on Japanese Manga of the same name, catapulted Korean Cinema on the map and the rest is history. What attracted people in the west to it was Park's kinetic, visceral filmmaking which was totally unique and fresh. Thrown in was the edgy, taboo subject that compelled and disgusted many. After Hollywood's long production rigmarole of the remake which Spielberg and Will Smith were once attached, it finally happened after 10 years since the original came out without much fan fare. Way too late for Hollywood standards. It's not hard to guess why they thought Spike Lee was the one for the job- still considered edgy compared to other run of the mill Hollywood directors. It's useless to talk about how Lee's Oldboy measure up to original, because Park is nothing but a visual stylist. So does it work as an entertaining movie? The answer is yes, yes it does.

It's not shot by shot remake. Lee does away with the original's hokey 'they are all under the spell of this powerful hypnotism' thing. Josh Brolin is great as a terrible family man unjustly trapped in a hotel room for twenty years by a prep school classmate who blames him for his family's demise. Elizabeth Olsen is a volunteer worker with a heart of gold who can't stop falling for this brutish killing machine with dark past. Sharlto Copley plays a European billionaire who wants Brolin's character to pay what he lost. The rest is, well, you know...

Lee doesn't go for the same route as Park had with the original. Lee's Oldboy is NOT Van Zant's Psycho. But it's an expertly done, lean thriller with affecting performances. Lee knows how to make an R rated movie and goes for it. The famous all in on take fight scene with a hammer pretty well duplicated and it's a pleasure to see Brolin wielding a hammer against the lot. But it must take place in Canada because no one has a gun. And THANK GOD it wasn't directed by Spielberg or any other lesser Hollywood hacks. I mean, it's an adaptation of a manga for god's sake. All of you who dismissed this film upon arrival last year (yours truly included), do me a favor and give it a try. You will be mildly surprised.