I took a trip to the cinema. Cineworld are showing films that are nominated for awards so last night they showed Sinners which came out sometime last year but I missed it then. I think the tide was low as I drove along the promenade, I’m not really sure as it was quite dark, I think this was the latest I have been to the cinema for a while. On the way out I couldn’t really see either, oh well. I rated this film on IMDb and you should read this communication before ranting about the rating.
I really enjoyed this film. It took a surprise turn for me about half way through as I knew very little about the story. Lets take some things in order. First, I hadn’t realised the twins were played by the same person. This shows just what an amazing job they did filming the main characters. The differences between the characterisation and how they looked was amazing. The filming was perfect. I though they were just two actors who looked similar! I will admit that I’m not great at faces and struggle to describe people, maybe that helped the filmmaker.
The music in the film was stunning. The use of the blues in what felt like a historically accurate world was amazing. You could feel the music. The scene where the club opens and the music transitions through various genres, blending the visuals and sounds, left my jaw on the floor. It was so clever, so well filmed, so natural. It fitted exactly. It was impressive.
The film was a period piece and it felt utterly accurate. Now, I have no idea really what it was like in the 1930s. All I can say is that nothing removed me from that headspace. Even an electric guitarist turning up and wazzing away felt right. I was really impressed. Look, it was a great film.
Vampires. The surprise addition to what I thought was going to be a revenge film. At some point there was a strange scene involving someone turning up at a farmstead who was steaming – I hadn’t realised they were burning in the sun – and then they increase the clan membership by two. Some indigenous people show up and are refused access to the vampire because racism.
My general understanding of vampires used to be, before The Lost Boys, that they hated the cross and sunlight, also garlic. The Lost Boys opened me to the idea that a vampire needs to be invited into a building to be able to enter a home. To me, this is a “new” thing introduced by The Lost Boys. I hadn’t realised it was part of a longer lasting lore about vampires and it appeared in this film. It turns out that the whole invite thing is a very old tradition with vampires. Some older traditions have them impervious to sunlight! This film used garlic, invites, sunlight and the classic stake through the heart tropes. It was executed really well.
Some people left the cinema at the very start of the credits. I waited. I’m not sure why but I wasn’t in a massive rush to get anywhere. I’m glad I waited. There was a mid-credits scene that very nicely brought the whole story back together. It was a really nice touch.