354: Thanksgiving

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, this is Henry with the Film Buds Podcast. Please make sure to rate, review, and subscribe.

[00:00:06] 62. Let's get to Thanksgiving, which came out late last year. It's directed by Eli Roth, stars Patrick Dempsey, Ty Olsen, Gina Gershon, Lynn Griffin, Karen Klisch.

[00:00:23] Not a huge cast, really. And the synopsis is,

[00:00:28] After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the infamous holiday.

[00:00:38] So, I saw this one just recently. I missed it in theaters. I was curious about it because over the last four or five years I've become a huge slasher movie fan.

[00:00:50] I love all the different franchises. Scream, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, you name it. I'm pretty much a fan of all of them and I've covered a lot of them over the years on the show and on bonus shows on Bandcamp.

[00:01:02] So check those out if you haven't. This one I talked about I think briefly on the Picks of the Week way back when.

[00:01:08] But I like Eli Roth. I feel like for better and for worse, he's an auteur. He's one of those where a lot of his signatures sometimes they're just interesting because they're different.

[00:01:20] Not to say they're especially good, but he still has a unique voice and he of course is a big horror gorehead sort of director.

[00:01:30] And I haven't seen all of his movies. I've seen maybe 75% of them at this point. I'm dying to see Borderlands, the new one coming out this year. I cannot wait for that. I think that's going to be amazing.

[00:01:41] I hope it is. And I think my favorite so far is probably The Grey Inferno, the tribal cannibal film.

[00:01:49] Overall, I think the movie is in some ways refreshing. It doesn't reinvent the slasher genre but it comfortably plays within it and I think that's the point.

[00:01:59] I don't think it was trying to be some revolutionary movie, but I think he does a good job of setting it in modern day but maintaining it in sort of an 80s feel.

[00:02:09] It doesn't really feel like this movie is set in the 80s or this is a movie that came out in 1985 or something. It's like here are things I love about the 80s and we're putting it into a modern day film.

[00:02:20] And there's a fine line you have to walk with that and I think he, for the most part, he did it well.

[00:02:27] And I like the overall idea, like this riot at the beginning of the movie which is so ridiculous and this is probably his funniest movie and most self-aware movie which I think that's my favorite part of Eli Roth in terms of how he's growing.

[00:02:43] He seems to be becoming more self-aware and not as serious because I don't think he really has the finesse to do dramatic, really serious stuff.

[00:02:51] And the riot goes horribly and then this Thanksgiving killer dressed as a pilgrim goes around terrorizing people to get revenge and all that.

[00:03:03] And I won't spoil too much because it is still fairly new and there's some twists and turns that I don't want to give away.

[00:03:09] And I think it's pretty solid. I don't think it's a landmark movie. It wouldn't have been best of the year for me or anything like that, but definitely one of my favorite of Eli Roth so far.

[00:03:20] I think it looks really good. It's shot well. It's not too long. The performances are actually fairly decent for a movie like this. Packed Your Dempsey is excellent.

[00:03:29] And so it is worth watching if you like gore films, slasher films, horror, low budget, B-movies, whatever.

[00:03:38] I think it could appeal to a lot of different viewers, of different interests. And talking about the gore specifically, he does that of course very well considering his background and his career so far.

[00:03:52] Like the scene with the oven and the woman being put in there is good. The Thanksgiving table scene is awesome.

[00:04:02] The woman who I think is leaving the store towards the beginning of the movie and there's like a billboard or something. I can't remember exactly what it is, but that sequence is excellent.

[00:04:13] So there are a lot of good kills and that's what really you're hoping for in a movie like this. There's usually never going to be anything else really that great aside from the kill.

[00:04:21] So you're hoping you kind of need those kills to be good nine times out of ten. And I think they are.

[00:04:26] The twist itself, you know, I think it's just more obligatory than anything and I think you can kind of see it coming.

[00:04:34] So that part of the movie, not amazing. Nothing that left a great taste in my mouth, unintended there, but still decent. Like I don't think it does anything offensively wrong.

[00:04:46] Oh, also the I think it's a school sequence. That's really good with the trampoline. The parade sequence with the pole or log going through the front of the truck.

[00:04:59] I mean, even talking about now there are a lot of things that stick out to me scene wise and kill wise. So that's effective.

[00:05:06] I would happily watch another like even though this movie isn't a five out of five, if they want to do Thanksgiving to I'd watch it.

[00:05:13] You know, it's so in some ways harmless and I don't think they're trying to make it out anything that it's not.

[00:05:22] So I appreciate that. And I think Eli Roth has a good grasp on how to do that properly.

[00:05:27] So do check it out. Maybe a little underrated, a little swept under the rug for some reason.

[00:05:34] Maybe this movie is running out of steam. The style of film. I don't know.

[00:05:38] I hope not because I'm always up for films like this, especially if they're somewhat original.

[00:05:44] Oh, and actually one small criticism. So I don't think his direction is that strong even at this point.

[00:05:51] I think his cinematography, editing direction combination is a little clunky and not really always in a good way.

[00:05:59] He just doesn't really have the sharpness, the finesse, the elegance sometimes that I think he wishes he had or that he maybe thinks he does.

[00:06:08] Maybe he doesn't. I don't know.

[00:06:10] But there's a scene right at the end of the movie which in some ways left a bad taste in my mouth even though overall I like it.

[00:06:17] There's a scene where the main girl is getting up and there's this dream sequence and I won't spoil it,

[00:06:23] but then there's something that comes out of the closet and then it suddenly just cuts to black or to the credits.

[00:06:29] And that scene and how it's placed in the movie being the ending teaser even before the credits roll feels really weird and out of place and messily done.

[00:06:40] So no matter how creative he can be with crazy gore or anything like that, certain storytelling elements are still not great at this point.

[00:06:52] But not a huge deal. Just wanted to mention that.

[00:06:55] So that one is a light four out of five.

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