THE OBJECTIVE
(Review)

“My name is Benjamin Keynes. I work for the Directorate of Operations within the Central Intelligence Agency.
“Three days after 9/11, reconnaissance satellites picked up a radioactive heat signature in a remote tribal region of Afghanistan.
“The Agency feared that Al-Qaeda may have finally gotten their hands on a nuclear weapon. However, I was told by a local source with a high degree of confidence that it may be something much more powerful.”

After the disappointment that was Solstice (review in Archive), I put a lot of stock on The Objective as a film that would turn me around on Daniel Myrick.
I’m glad to report that it does.


We open in Ghazni Province, the date, November 2001.
Benjamin Keynes (The Killing of John Lennon’s Jonas Ball) has been tasked by the CIA to lead Special Forces Team 392 on a mission deep into Afghanistan to find one Mohammed Aban, a cleric considered by the locals to be the “spiritual force that helped the Mujahadeen defeat the Soviets.”
All else is on a need-to-know basis, and it’s this veil of military secrecy that fuels the mystery of The Objective.

Co-writing the script with Mark A. Patton and Wesley Clark, Jr., Myrick successfully captures the feeling of a squad of soldiers in enemy territory, off on a trek whose exact nature is kept from them by the Powers That Be (of which Keynes is the on-the-ground representative).
Assisted by DP Stephanie Martin, Myrick conjures the harsh beauty of the inhospitable terrain of this foreign country, effectively utilizing Morocco as locale stand-in, while Kays Al-Atrakchi’s music drapes the film’s soundscape with a disturbing score that heightens the scenario’s unsettling strangeness.
It’s these elements more than anything else—elements certainly more potent than your average Hollywood thriller’s over-dependence on CGI and epileptic editing—that make The Objective such a noteworthy triumph.


There’s also a good cast here, made up of unfamiliar faces, who deliver largely natural, straight-forward performances, which is, in the end, the key to keeping the audience involved while the weird sh!t gradually asserts itself over the film’s goings-on.
Do they reek the Hollywood hardcase Special Forces air we’ve come to expect from the movies and television? Perhaps not, but they do come across as real people, and that’s a big plus for a film like this.

Beyond that, I really shouldn’t say much more, other than that The Objective is ultimately about a government’s hunger for power, and how all else falls by the wayside in light of that all-encompassing yearning for the upper hand.
And while this isn’t the sort of film where everything’s neatly underlined and explained—the atmosphere and tantalizing bits are the tools for the audience to piece together the big picture—this is a solid cinematic experience which plays much better than The Blair Witch Project (which Myrick co-directed with Eduardo Sánchez), and is decidedly light years better than Solstice.
Now, I’m most definitely looking forward to Myrick’s next film.


Parting shot: Aside from containing a review of Solstice, the Archive also houses a review of Eduardo Sánchez’s Altered.

(The Objective OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com and images courtesy of availableimages.com.)

SOLSTICE
(Review)

Still bearing the guilt and the grief of her twin Sophie’s suicide, Megan Thomas (Point Pleasant’s Elisabeth Harnois) takes a trip to her parents’ house on Nowell Lake in Louisiana, for the traditional celebration of St. John’s Eve, on the summer solstice.
This year’s celebration is the last of its kind though, as the Thomases are planning to sell the place, so Megan and her friends intend to have a last hurrah.
But something lurks at Nowell Lake, and Megan becomes increasingly convinced she is being haunted by the spectre of her dead sister.


That’s the basic set-up of Daniel Myrick’s Solstice, which, other than a creepily effective opening titles sequence, doesn’t quite manage to hit the right buttons.
To be fair, it is a good thing that the script (by Myrick, Marty Musatov, and Ethan Erwin) doesn’t degenerate into a pretty-young-things-being-slaughtered-one-by-one deal.
There is a mystery here, though it’s approached in a rather awkward manner, and the film takes a tad too long to really get moving.


Given what the film is ultimately about, there also seems to be an overabundance of characters here, many of whom are left to stand around with nothing particularly significant to do.
Among the narrative’s dead weight are Mamma Mia!’s Amanda Seyfried and Hilarie Burton, who joins the likes of her fellow One Tree Hillers Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray, as well as Harnois (who did a 6-episode stint on the Hill), in their transition to feature-length horror.
Those fortunate enough to have been given just a little bit more to do though, are the X-Men franchise’s Shawn Ashmore (as Christian, former boyfriend of the deceased Sophie) and 7th Heaven’s Tyler Hoechlin (as Nick, local Cajun boy who knows a thing or two about ghosts and magic).
R. Lee Ermey’s also here as Leonard, the creepy old codger who lives across the lake.


It’s that surfeit of mostly unnecessary characters, and the film’s annoying red herrings, that make Solstice’s script the major culprit here.
Which is sad since I was hoping Myrick (co-director of The Blair Witch Project, with Eduardo Sánchez) could convince me that he could helm an effective horror film minus any shakycam improv and with an actual script, as Sánchez did with Altered.
Instead, what we get in Solstice is a lukewarm ghost story that doesn’t really scare or thrill. Doubly sad, since there’s so much narrative potential in the idea of the solstice, of that temporal transition, where the barriers between the quick and the dead are weaker than normal.
Here’s hoping Myrick wins me over with his upcoming The Objective…


Parting shot: A review of Eduardo Sánchez’s Altered can be found in the Archive.

(Solstice DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.com; images courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (75)
FANTASIA 2008

Canadian genre fans have the distinct pleasure of going whole hog from July 3-21 as this year’s FanTasia Film Festival (“North America’s Premier Genre Film Festival”) gets underway, with a lotta titles to go rabid for.

Among them: Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza’s [REC]; Tomas Alfredson‘s Tribeca champ, Lat den ratte komma in (Let The Right One In); Ryuhei Kitamura’s adaptation of Clive Barker’s The Midnight Meat Train; Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee‘s adaptation of Jack Ketchum’s Red; Dario Argento’s La Terza Madre (Mother of Tears); Jonathan Levine‘s All The Boys Love Mandy Lane; Daniel Myrick’s The Objective; Nacho Vigalondo‘s Los Cronocrimenes (Timecrimes), Jim Isaac’s Pig Hunt; Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom‘s Faet (Alone); Hideo Nakata’s Death Note spin-off, L: Change The World; Phedon Papamichael’s From Within; Ole Bornedal’s Vikaren (The Substitute); and Yam Laranas’ English-language remake of his own Sigaw, The Echo.
Both The Midnight Meat Train and The Echo are getting their world premieres at FanTasia 2008.

And, to the delight of Balaguero fans (like myself), FanTasia will also be screening his entry from the Spanish TV production, Películas para no dormir (Films To Keep You Awake), Para entrar a vivir (To Let). Another Pelicula para no dormir getting the big screen treatment at the festival is Alex de la Iglesia’s La habitación del niño (The Baby’s Room).
Sadly though, I can’t do the bilocation thing, so I’ll miss all the fun (Balaguero or otherwise)…
Sigh.
But for all you Canadian horrorheads, have a blast!

Parting shot: Reviews of Balaguero’s Los sin nombre (The Nameless), Darkness, and Fragiles (Fragile); Nakata’s Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Dark Water) and The Ring Two; Argento’s Suspiria and Inferno; Isaac’s Skinwalkers; Pisanthanakun and Wongpoom‘s Shutter; and Shusuke Kaneko’s Desu noto (Death Note), can be found in the Archive.

(OS’s courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com [[REC] and Let The Right One In], twitchfilm.net [The Midnight Meat Train], bloody-disgusting.com [The Objective], and impawards.com [Timecrimes].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (58)

58.1 REVVING THE POST-STRIKE ENGINE (2)
THE MAN OF STEEL
In an interview with Empire, Bryan Singer has confirmed that he’s currently “in the development phase” of the sequel to Superman Returns, which he describes as “an opportunity to up the threat levels.” Action, kiddies! Action!!
Sadly, Superman Returns screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty won’t be returning, and though there was a rumour that floated that Transformers’ Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman would be penning the sequel’s script, that bit has since (thankfully) been quashed.

58.2 CRUISING TRIBECA 2008
The line-ups for the World Narrative and World Documentary Feature Film Competitions for this year’s Tribeca Film Festival—taking place April 23 – May 4—have been announced, and the World Narrative entries that quickly snagged my attention…

Låt den rätte komma in (Let The Right One In), directed by Tomas Alfredson, written by John Ajvide Lindqvist. (Sweden)
Based on Lindqvist's best-selling novel, this beautifully touching tale tells of the first romance for bullied 12-year-old Oskar and the girl next door, Eli. . . who also happens to be a vampire.
Swedish with English subtitles. A Magnet Release.

Amor, dolor y viceversa (Love, Pain and Vice Versa), directed by Alfonso Pineda-Ulloa, written by Alex Marino. (Mexico)
This stirring and moody psychological thriller finds two strangers subconsciously linked when their recurring dreams begin to topple their reality. Featuring strong performances by the sizzling Bárbara Mori (La mujer de mi hermano) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (Intacto).
Spanish with English subtitles. A Panamax Films Release.

And in the “Encounters” section of the festival…

Idiots and Angels, directed and written by Bill Plympton. (USA)
Oscar®-nominated animator Bill Plympton sketches a Lynchian dark comedy about a morally bankrupt man scrabbling to hide the good in himself—which manifests itself in a pair of angel wings that just won't go away.

The Objective, directed by Daniel Myrick, written by Mark Patton, Wes Clark Jr., and Myrick. (USA)
The [co-]director of The Blair Witch Project brings his singular brand of suspense to an exhilarating integration of war and mystery, revolving around a precarious CIA mission in Afghanistan.
English, Berber with English subtitles.

Terra, directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas, written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Tsirbas. (USA)
A dazzling sci-fi animation about an alien girl on the idyllic planet Terra. When the last remaining humans exhaust Earth's resources, she must fight against the Earthlings who want to inhabit her planet!
Featuring an all-star cast of voices, including Evan Rachel Wood, Brian Cox, James Garner, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, David Cross, and Luke Wilson.

Also part of the World Narrative Competition, Shane Meadows’ follow-up to This Is England, Somers Town.
And, returning to The Objective for just a bit, I’ve probably made mention ‘round these parts before that I wasn’t particularly enamoured of The Blair Witch Project. I’ve always wanted to see what Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez could do with an actual script and no vertigo-inducing shaky cam.
Since I haven’t had the opportunity to see any of Myrick’s post-Project work, I figure The Objective is as good an opportunity as any…

For a look at the complete press release, go here.

(Superman Returns IMAX OS courtesy of brandonrouth.com; Let The Right One In OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; Idiots and Angels image courtesy of animationresourcecentre.blogspot.com.)