Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites and Katee Sackhoff in the Mike Flanagan movie ‘Oculus’

In a month seemingly made for movies based in raising the macabre, we choose to open October with a review of the Mike Flanagan directed movie Oculus (2013). Written by Flanagan and Jeff Howard based on a short screenplay by Jeff Seidman, this horror film mixes in mystery, thriller, supernatural and psychological elements based on mirror central to movie’s action.

(From left, Karen Gillan as Kaylie Russell and Brenton Thwaites as Tim Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

Oculus primarily tells the story of the Russell family in a parallel yet intertwined story set in in the years 2013 and 2002. The latter timeframe begins with Alan Russell, a software engineer, moving into a new home with his wife, Marie, his 12-year-old daughter Kaylie and his 10-year-old son Tim. The family acquired an antique mirror acquired for the new house. Rory Cochrane, Katee Sackhoff, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan portrayed Alan, Marie, Kaylie and Tim, respectively.

(From left, Annalise Basso as 12-year-old Kaylie Russell, Garrett Ryan as 10-year-old Tim Russell and Rory Cochrane as Alan Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

The 2013 timeline begins with an introduction to the siblings in separate contexts. We meet Kaylie with her fiancé, Michael Dumont, at an auction house where we witness bidding on the antique mirror from the family house. We also meet Tim being granted his release, upon his 21st birthday, from a psychiatric hospital by Dr. Shawn Graham. It is in this timeline that we learn Kaylie has procured access to the mirror, bringing it and her brother back to the childhood home where Alan and Marie had died with Tim having been psychiatrically responsible for the murder. Karen Gillan, James Lafferty, Brenton Thwaites and Miguel Sandoval portrayed Kaylie, Michael, Tim and Dr. Graham.

(Katee Sackhoff as Marie Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

With access to the mirror, the childhood house, and her brother, Kaylie has set out an elaborate plan to prove that her brother is innocent. The nature of trust, sanity and, finally, when the story was happening at any point in time mixed in the psychological thriller and mystery elements of the movie. That violence figures in, along with questions of marriage fidelity with Marisol Chavez (as portrayed by Kate Siegel), are really just the tip of an ever increasing iceberg. The suspense factor largely works for Oculus. As is typical for many horror films, motivations and corresponding actions tend to be suspect upon occasion within the film.

(From left, James Lafferty as Michael Dumont and Karen Gillan as Kaylie Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

I appreciate that Oculus focused less on graphic violence than some other contemporary horror movies have. There is a fair amount of that baked into the storylines for sure, which helps the film work from a storyline perspective in playing up the psychological thriller and sanity storylines. These points together should be taken as my saying that there’s more value in this story than there could have been if other choices had been made. All told, I grant Oculus as directed by Mike Flanagan 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman in ‘Argo’

Winning Academy Awards for best picture, best writing, and best achievement in film editing, the film Argo (2012) tells a story based on actual events depicted in a book written by a CIA operative and a 2007 Wired magazine article. The underlying events of the story traced back to a three year hostage crisis in Iran that began in 1979. Based on the fact that the end result was something I knew walking in, I found the movie better than it had to be.

(From left, Bryan Cranston as Jack O’Donnell and Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo).

Argo stars director Ben Affleck as American intelligence officer Tony Mendez, Bryan Cranston as Jack O’Donnell, Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel, and John Goodman as John Chambers. Mendez, O’Donnell, Siegel and Chambers were key members of the American effort to get six members of the American embassy in Tehran in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979. The film took pains to provide the historical context of the time, along with the series of bad ideas to get six Americans to safety.

(From left, John Goodman as John Chambers and Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel in Argo).

The six Americans holed up in the Canadian embassy in Tehran were Kathy Stafford as played by Kerry Bishé, Joe Stafford as played by Scoot McNairy, Mark Lijek as played by Christopher Denham, Bob Anders as played by Tate Donovan, Lee Schatz as played by Rory Cochrane, and Cora Lijek as played by Clea DuVall. Mark and Cora Lijek were a couple.

(From left, Kerry Bishé as Kathy Stafford, Scoot McNairy as Joe Stafford, Christopher Denham as Mark Lijek, Tate Donovan as Bob Anders, Rory Cochrane as Lee Schatz, and Clea DuVall as Cora Lijek in Argo).

Argo as a film was praised for its cinematic experience, as well as the acting in particular of Alan Arkin and John Goodman as film producers that helped bring the fiction of a film within Argo called the same thing. Historical complaints of note for the film included that the Canadian embassy’s part in the rescue was larger than portrayed, that British and New Zealand embassies had turned the Americans away,  and that the actual danger for the six American captives, Mendez, and Ken Taylor (as played by Victor Garber) may have been less than portrayed.

(From left, Victor Garber as Ken Taylor and Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo).

The story of the “exfiltration” of six Americans from Tehran, Iran in the midst of a political revolution in the late 1970s during the presidential administration of Jimmy Carter made for good cinema. I appreciated the movie at the time of its release, and I enjoyed it again upon watching the film just recently. My recommendation is that you watch the film. I offer the movie Argo 4.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, June 13, 2020