Page 2 September 26, 2019
Entertainment
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Check It Out
Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk
By Roz Templin, Library Assistant,
El Segundo Public Library
Getting a jump on Halloween, let’s look
into a new horror tale about a deadly book.
Of course I would be interested in a book
that seems to draw people into a cursed existence.
One of those books might be waiting
patiently for an innocent patron to pick it up
from the stacks. I’ll need to know how to
defend against such a thing.
Will Haunt You mixes the paranormal with
rock music, so I really couldn’t resist. Jesse
Wheeler used to be part of a heavy metal
group called The Rising Dead and he is asked
to be part of a one-night-only reunion in a
bar. He has a great time performing again,
visions of “Back Together Again” tours dancing
in his mind. But in reality, there were
a handful of diehard fans and a smattering
of applause after the final song.
Jesse is now married and has a handicapped
son. Instead of rock and roll, he writes commercial
jingles. This little get-together of
his friends makes him stop and think: What
is his life now? Answering to his “ball &
chain” wife and helping to care for a child
that will never really grow up normally…
Maybe he should, but no! He leaves the bar
and most of his inebriated bandmates and
heads for his old Camry in the parking lot.
With his former front man Caspian nodding
off in the passenger seat, Jesse pulls onto the
highway while “The Midnight Hour” radio
show informs him that his friend Kevin is in
the studio with the DJ and speaking directly
to him through the car radio.
A long night of weirdness ensues, with
the old “car engine dying” beginning, leading
to running through dark tunnels and
fetid water, being threatened and beaten by
goons, kidnapping … until he wakes up in a
hospital. That’s when a hallucinatory experience
takes over and Jesse isn’t sure what’s
real and an extreme hoax. He only knows
it’s connected to a book his friend Solomon
gave him to read.
And there’s the author’s conceit. By picking
up this book, reading it, you the public are
now complicit -- “…you have volunteered
to participate in the author’s deadly game
…” Author Brian Kirk was nominated for
a Bram Stoker Award for his debut novel
We Are Monsters. I won’t tell you whether
or not we’ve been acquainted since reading
the book. I mean, I am writing this review.
I must be okay…
The library staff invites you to visit the
library and enjoy our books, films, music
and programming. If you don’t see what
you’re looking for, please ask. •
Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk
Roz Templin
Film Review
Villains is a Stylish,
Savage Battle of the Bad Guys
By Morgan Rojas for cinemacy.com
The allure of the “bad boy” has long been
a cinematic staple, regardless of gender. From
Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause to Miranda
Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, audiences are
equally fascinated and terrified by the suavity
and unpredictable behavior of these characters.
And when the bad guys are Bill Skarsgård and
Maika Monroe, we’re practically begging for
these small-time crooks to break into our house
just so we can be in their presence. In Villains,
writer/directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen pit
this charming duo against an equally charming,
yet much more disturbed, couple in a dark
comedy that’s pure savage.
Jules (Monroe) and Mickey (Skarsgård) are
the millennial versions of Bonnie and Clyde,
robbing gas stations to acquire just enough
money to escape to Florida and live out their
wildest fantasies -- a life without rules and
responsibilities. After yet another successful
robbery, Mickey and Jules encounter a hiccup
when their getaway car runs out of gas, stranding
them on the side of a highway. They spot
an isolated, and, more importantly, a vacant
house nearby and decide to break in and steal
their car. What starts off as a simple con job
turns into much more when the duo realize
the homeowners’ fruit is fake, appliances are
out of date and they find a little girl (Blake
Baumgartner) chained up in the basement.
Clearly, some discoveries are more shocking
than others.
The tension comes to a crescendo when
the homeowners, George (Jeffrey Donovan)
and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick), return home.
What transpires is a darkly hilarious game
of cat and mouse between the equally kooky
couples. Heightened electricity mixed with
mental instability provides plenty of twists to
the high stakes in which our protagonists find
themselves. The laughs outnumber the scares,
and Villains is all the better for it.
Villains feels like a much bigger film than
its humble scope of production. It takes
place primarily in one location and lists only
eight actors in its cast, but the performances
are mighty fierce. Monroe (It Follows) and
Skarsgård (It) share palpable chemistry and
bring the story to life with their exaggerated
delivery -- a perfect counterbalance to Donovan
and Sedgwick’s more even-keeled tone. Music
from Courtney Barnett (Pedestrian at Best)
and Redding Hunter (Safe Travels) further
adds to the film’s energy. It’s set to screen
only at Regal Theaters for now (assuming a
VOD in the near future), so keep this one on
your radar if you’re looking for a fun way to
spend 90 minutes. •
Villains, Courtesy of Alter/Gunpowder & Sky
Morgan Rojas
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