



Every month, Establishing Shot brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited.
Noni Ford, contributor | Sleepy Hollow (1999)
As the season gets colder and ushers in inches upon inches (or feet on rare occasions) of snow, I like to revisit films about the occult, folktales, and gothic horror. I don’t know if it’s switching up from a plethora of heartwarming/family-oriented films coming off of the holidays that I’m chasing when I start pursuing films offering up the blood and guts of horror. All I know is that I have this routine down, and I always crave the rare delights of a well-done horror in January. I was searching for another film when I stumbled upon Sleepy Hollow, which I hadn’t seen in quite some time and remembered little about. Tim Burton’s 1999 retelling of the classic American folktale was a great way to ease me back into the horror genre and so I cheerfully began watching, readying myself to be swept away by the tale.
The movie leans more into the signature horror-comedy Burton has cultivated, but while there are plenty of laughs, there was more blood than I had recalled as you follow Ichabod Crane on his quest to uncover the perpetrator of these mysterious beheadings that is afflicting this small town of Sleepy Hollow. The spinning head motion you see as the Headless Horseman beheads his victims on screen does give a fantastical element that dulls the shock of the gore in this story.
All in all, after watching a few more fun jump scares, the absolute brutal murder of Casper Van Dien’s character, and the mystery at the center of the story, Sleepy Hollow is a good afternoon watch for anyone trying to find a fairly light-on-horror horror film.
Chris Forrester, contributor | Special Effects (1984)
A contradiction: the tragedy of seeing Hitchcock’s Vertigo (one of the all-time great films, it should go without saying) is that you can only see it for the first time once, and yet the beauty of Hitchcock’s Vertigo is that it’s been remade — both covertly and overtly — so many times that you can always rediscover it, if not quite anew then from a new vantage point. In 1976, it was De Palma’s Obsession, and again in 1984 his Body Double. There are shades of it in Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001), echoes in Deja Vu (Tony Scott, 2006) and Phoenix (Petzold, 2014), and an explicit reconjuring in Guy Maddin’s 2017 The Green Fog. In the realm of Hitchcock reworkings, De Palma was always the champion — someone capable of generatively rejiggering familiar plot beats and articulating them in a fluent oration of Hitchcockian grammar (spiced up with his own distinct stylistic verve) — and Larry Cohen’s Special Effects does for De Palma’s Hitchcock films what De Palma did for Hitchcock’s originals: it refashions them into its own, one caught between the familiar and the fresh and somewhat inextricable from each.
In Special Effects (1984), the murdered woman is Andrea Wilcox (Zoe Lund) and her doomed doppelganger is Elaine Bernstein, a non-actress cast in a film about the crime. The De Palmean angle is that the murderer and filmmaker are one and the same (Eric Bogosian), that no one knows this but him, and that his project of retelling this story while the dead woman’s corpse is still warm is a scheme to frame her husband (Brad Rijn) for her crime. The title, then, refers to the spectacular constructs of filmed narrative — familiar to us as the magic that can show us dinosaurs in Jurassic Park or sentient sludge in Cohen’s own The Stuff — that can both amaze and manipulate the viewer, a satisfying echo of Vertigo‘s own comments on the prison of constructed narratives localized to the cinema via a colorfully sleazy invocation of De Palma’s thrillers in a mid-’80s New York whose grime practically seeps through the screen. It plays like the end of Blow Out (De Palma, 1981), in which a cheapo sexploitation slasher flick contains the scream of a real dying woman and with it all the ensnaring webs of political conspiracy that cost her her life, expanded into a feature film. Even as the original Vertigo itself ages, its plot beats and their endless permutability never do.
Michaela Owens, Editor | On an Island with You (1948)
Back in November, IndieWire published its updated list of the 100 Best Movie Musicals of All Time, an article I was bound to have opinions about since the musical is probably my favorite genre. As I began reading, I was shocked to see that an Esther Williams film actually made the grade, even if it’s only at #84. And then I was hit by another shock: the one Esther movie they chose was On an Island with You?!
I’ll explain. Out of all of Esther Williams’s aquamusicals, On an Island with You is the one that frustrates me the most. There are so many aspects to love, of course, but it all comes to a screeching halt with its very problematic love story and Peter Lawford as one very irritating romantic lead.
The plot concerns the behind-the-scenes drama of a big Hollywood musical, which stars Williams, Ricardo Montalban, and Cyd Charisse. Working as a consultant on the production is Lawford, a Navy lieutenant who fell in love with Williams during WWII when she visited his base with her USO show. She doesn’t remember him at all, though, because they only had one passing interaction. When one of the film’s scenes requires Lawford to fly a plane with Williams in it, he decides to make her realize that he is the right man for her by forcibly taking her to the nearby island where his old base was stationed. When there is trouble with their plane, the two must stay there as Montalban, assistant director Jimmy Durante, and Lawford’s superiors frantically search for them.
Coming across as morose and snobbish, Lawford looks uncomfortable throughout the film and, according to Williams, he never warmed up to her offscreen. On paper, they should be a good match, and when you see them together, they really are one of the most blindingly beautiful couples old Hollywood offered — but it ultimately falls flat, exacerbating his character’s creepy behavior even more.
And yet… I have to admit I do really like this movie. Cyd Charisse and Ricardo Montalban have two dance numbers together that rank amongst my favorite musical moments ever and they almost, almost steal the whole show. Jimmy Durante is an absolute delight, especially in his interactions with a tiny chihuahua. Also, it is just a stunning movie to look at. The aesthetic quality of the aquamusical is always stellar, with colorful set design, dreamy close-ups, and subtly brilliant cinematography, and the visuals of On an Island with You in particular are quite something. A spotlight on a darkened bar set accentuates a riveting pas de deux. Divine costumes sparkle while shades of red, pink, coral, and green positively pop. Golden light shimmers on the teal water of a romantic nighttime swim, and Williams looks like a goddess in every frame.
So, would I recommend On an Island with You? Yes, but with caveats. If you’re not familiar with classic Hollywood, you’ll probably find this movie quite baffling (and rightfully so). And if you’ve never seen an Esther Williams film before, I’d encourage you to follow this one up with a stronger aquamusical like Dangerous When Wet or Easy to Love so you can better understand why they’re so wonderful.
At the end of the day, I will always mourn the “what could have been” of On an Island with You, but at least I can console myself with the fantastic fragments we do have.
Jesse Pasternack, contributor | Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is one of the most delightful surprises in recent mainstream American cinema. Its beautiful animation, excellent action sequences, and satisfying emotional moments help make a beloved character feel fresh and new again. Its excellence is a testament to the fact that there can still be new life in a familiar franchise if it is overseen by the right people.
This movie follows Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), the beloved Zorro-esque version of a classic fairy tale character who first appeared in Shrek 2 (2004). He learns that he has used up eight of his nine lives and only has one left. Eager to live longer, he sets off on a journey to find a wishing star with the help of his ex-girlfriend Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) and new friend Perrito (Harvey Guillén). Eventually, Puss learns some valuable lessons about the importance of appreciating life.
One of the biggest things which sets this movie apart from the other films in the Shrek franchise is its animation style. In contrast to the CGI look which the earlier Shrek movies used, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has a more painterly style. Production designer Nate Wragg advocated for this look, which was a good decision. Every shot looks like a gorgeous illustration from a beloved old storybook that came to life. It gives this film an original visual character which makes it feel distinctive.
This new animation style accentuates the kinetic nature of the film’s fantastic action sequences. They run the gamut from chase sequences to group fights to one-on-one swordfights. Every single one is perfectly choreographed and exciting. In addition, they serve important narrative functions, much like the songs in a musical. They also help keep the story moving forward at a good clip.
But while the action sequences are delightful, this film truly shines because of how it makes you care about its characters. Director Joel Crawford and screenwriters Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow expertly deal with themes of mortality and how to live a fulfilling life. They fill their narrative with wonderful moments where Puss learns from the surprisingly wise Perrito and overcomes his fears. By the end, you’ll feel moved by seeing how Puss has embraced appreciating life more.
That might not sound like something you’d expect from a sequel to a movie that came out 11 years ago, which itself was a spin-off to a franchise which has not had a new movie in over a decade. But director Joel Crawford and his band of collaborators like co-director Januel Mercado, producer Mark Swift, editor James Ryan, and screenwriter Fisher (all of whom worked on The Croods: A New Age [2020]) make this film as fun to watch as any other animated film from 2022. They make you feel excited for Shrek 5, which will come out in 2026, as well as any other films Crawford and his colleagues will make next.