Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Horror Movie Review – Exhibit A

Title:  Exhibit A

Genre:  Thriller/Horror – Found Footage

Synopsis:  The timely story of a normal family disintegrating under financial pressure, eventually driven to the unimaginable. We witness the terrifying events unfold through daughter Judith’s video camera, which subsequently becomes Exhibit A.

I watched this movie on the recommendation of Overthinking Horror Films.  For some reason, I really enjoy “found footage” horror films and was looking for something that was found footage but wasn’t littered with profanity and super shaky cam.  I mean, the jitter cam is fine, but when it’s 80 percent of the movie, it’s more annoying than atmospheric.

I’d seen Exhibit A in my travels through the websites that listed found footage, but never really paused to examine it more closely.  First of all, it’s a British film and either I didn’t want to fight with the accents, or the description didn’t grab me.  However, since I trust OHF’s taste in films, I took a chance and watched it.

I’ve seen reviews which poo-poo the film or say that it’s over the top.  They’ll say the acting was terrible and how could the daughter film all through this. Let me just say this.  The film got me by throat and didn’t let go until the end.  I even gasped in some parts.

The basic premise is a regular old family of Mom and Dad, and two teens, a girl and a boy.  I was a little annoyed when thirty seconds in , the girl filmed herself in the mirror so that we could see who she was.  Ugh.  However, I stuck with it and while I can’t say I was rewarded for my perseverance, I was served a good film.

The father’s performance was one that stuck with me the most.  Early on, I could see something was amiss and the little things just kept piling up.  The film became more painful to watch as it went on, not because the performances were bad, but you could see where the train was going.  You just wondered where exactly it was going to wreck.  

And wreck it did.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more harrowing to an ending in recent years.  At one point, I had to look away from the screen to relieve the tension.  I just didn’t want to bear witness to it any more.  Yes, it’s a movie, but the actors sold the story and I was right there with them.

This is not a gleeful horror film.  While it’s stylized up to a point, it’s a little too close to the bone to be laughed at.

 

Rating: B+ Recommended.

5 Favorite Classic Christmas Songs

Season’s Greetings!

I enjoy Christmas. I love being with my family on the long stretch of holiday between Christmas and New Year’s. The cold, the snow, and the good food, (natch). It’s a wonderful time of year. The after-Christmas sales can’t be beat either.
One of the things I like most about the season is music. As a self-proclaimed music geek, I’ve played in orchestras and sung in a few chorus and choirs in my time, and the best music was always the winter music. Right now, I’m going to invite you to participate in the spirit of the season and check out my five favorite classic Christmas songs.

Little Drummer Boy – Version: The Harry Simeone Chorale
The voices in this arrangement are so soft and lovely, how could anyone not be affected by this music, I don’t know.  The message is so apt to Christmas too: “I am a poor boy too/I have no gift to bring…..Shall I play for you/On my drum? And at the end “…then he smiled at me….me and my drum.” No gift is too small if it’s from the heart.

 

 

Hallelujah Chorus – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Sigh. While the high soprano notes (held over measures and measures) and the counterpoint of the tenors and basses are an earful to behold, the Hallelujah Chorus is actually part of the Easter portion of Handel’s Messiah, the part the section referencing the Passion/Resurrection/Pentecost. Still, it’s a lovely piece of music to listen to anytime.

 

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) – Luciano Pavarotti
I have got the softest spot for tenors and Pavarotti is my favorites of favorites. A gorgeous song, beautifully arranged to suit his lovely voice. Love the soft Latin “g” in “regum angelorum”

 

O Holy Night – Placido Domingo/Luciano Pavarotti
Two tenors for the price of one. Listen, don’t look because the audio/video synchronization is a little off.

Angels We Have Heard on High
An ethereal rendition of a song loosely based on a French carol.

 

Stay tuned, for next week, I’ll list my five favorite “popular” Christmas tunes.

What are some of your favorite Christmas carols? Leave ‘em in the comments!

 

1Love,

My Top 3 Favorite Versions of Danny Boy

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

In celebration of the day, I’d like to take a moment to wish you all the luck of the Irish and I tip my cap to you.

 

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door.

 

There’s nothing I like more in classical/traditional music than a lovely Irish tenor.  Tenors in general are the neglected vocal part. It tears me apart when the altos are recruited to sing tenor.  The timbre can be so very different.

Well, before I have a flashback and lapse into musically technical terms, let me give you what you came here for.

 

Danny Boy:  Placido Domingo & Itzhak Perlman

Domingo has a pleasant timbre and his phrasing.  I feel that this version is a little rushed, as Danny Boy, to me was a song of mourning.  Domingo takes it a little too quickly and his phrasing is a little bumpy. However, he does make up for it by hitting “here” in “It’s I’ll be here”, without resorting to falsetto.  Not my super favorite, but doable.

 

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May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Danny Boy:  Mario Lanza

While not an “Irish Tenor”, Lanza was known as the “greatest tenor in the world” long after his death in 1959.  Many of his songs carry a tinge of an Italian accent, however his pitch and timbre, especially on such a sad song, give me the goosebumps.  Certainly, his version is a little rushed also, however, the singing is well worth it.  He also sings full voice on “It’s I’ll be here….” and  “For you will bend…..”  The strings give the arrangement an extra poignancy.

 

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Danny Boy: Finbar Wright

Perfect pace.  Perfect breath control.  The timbre is hair-raising (in a wonderful way). Get out your handkerchiefs, folks, this is the tear-jerker Danny Boy was meant to be.  One. Tiny. Thing.  Wright resorts to falsetto on “It’s I’ll be here.…” and  “For you will bend…..”  Yes, it’s a beautifully sweet falsetto, however, I wonder how it would have been had he full-voiced the note.  However, the rest of the performance is flawless.

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Honorable mention – Danny Boy – John McDermott

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I leave you with this

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven
half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.

Summer Series Watch – The Wire

Keepin the devil down in the hole.

The_WireI decided to take the time this summer to watch The Wire. Yes. I’m way late. Too late to be really relevant, but I had read so much about how great the series was that I had to take the time to at least watch the first season. And of course, I have to give you my opinion about it, because that’s what the Internet is for…giving opinions.

I’ve seen The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire and I’m currently watching Better Call Saul, Narcos (Netflix) and Stranger Things (Netflix). That’s my street cred for series. I watched a bit of Hell on Wheels, until it got kinda spotty and I watched the first season of The Walking Dead before I decided the graphic novel was better. Mad Men and Dexter never really appealed to me.

But back to The Wire. The first season was truly incredible. I couldn’t take my eyes off the rotted hulk of Baltimore City. The atmosphere was one of true hopelessness, what with the boarded up town/row houses, the addicts shuffling along looking for their next fix and the young age of the drug dealers that ruled the roost from the orange sofa. There was also a bit of nostaligia, what with the payphones and the fashions. I must say, the cinematography was pretty amazing. The camera shot and angles made Baltimore real.

The characters. Well, first off, I did not care for McNulty, nor did he grow on me during the course of the series. I saw him as a kinda gross, self serving drunk whose American accent kept slipping. I found him annoying and not the anti-hero he was set up to be. I guess he kind of redeemed himself by the end of the series, but his screen time made my eyes roll.

Bunk. I liked Bunk. Yeah, he was kind a scum bag, the way he cheated on his wife, but he was fun and dressed well. Kima was okay, just kinda meh to me. The drama with her home life rang trite to me, just another job vs. family conflict that anyone with as much television, movie and book experience as me has seen before. Making her a tough lesbian didn’t do that much to interested me in her character. She was fun, tho, I will say that.

Lester and his dollhouse furniture. Really liked him. “Thirteen years….and four months.” He was a character that grew on you. I’d venture to say he was one of my favorites of the police officers.

On the crooked side we had Stringer and Avon Barksdale. Idris did a good job as Stringer, effective in making me dislike him and how he was manipulating Avon. I never cared for the actor playing Avon, so the character was kinda meh to me.

The Farmer in the Dell
The Farmer in the Dell

But Omar. Wow. I had only seen Michael K. Williams as Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire and loved him in that. Now, I see why he was cast. He is a great actor and not hard on the eyes either. The Farmer in the Dell will never sound the same to me again.

Anyhoo, the first season hooked me, the second season was pretty good, the third season was rather meh, the fourth season was….okay and I lost patience with the fifth season. The fake serial killer and the newspaper drama just seemed contrived and ridiculous. The side stories were still good, but the main arc flopped for me in the fifth season.

Honorable Mention to Snoop Pearson. Her scene in the fake Home Depot had me cracking up.

There you go. My take on The Wire. Once summer ends, I can go back to my movie watching and reviewing. Keep watching this spot!

Also…..Omar coming!

I Don't Binge Watch Shows…and Here's Why

homer-simpsonI’ve seen all over social media about how people are planning to order in and binge watch this show or that show on Netflix (my viewing poison of choice) or from their bulging DVR lists. Take it from me, I love some television. I will watch Mountain Monsters, Law and Order (The Lenny Briscoe years), Finding Bigfoot (you know they’re just thisclose to finding Bigfoot, right?) River Monsters and an occasional Tosh.0.

But I don’t binge watch. It drives me nuts.

Being a detailed oriented person, I tend to notice details and the underlying structure of things. Take Law and Order for instance. The show follows a consistent pattern most times you see it. It’s comforting, knowing what’s coming next, but yet still being entertained by the writing. Most shows, however don’t stand up to that scrutiny.

One show I watched on Netflix was so fascinating to me I kept clicking “next episode”. After the third episode, however, I found myself getting annoyed with the characters. By the fourth, I was rolling my eyes and shut it off in the middle.

The problem was, each and every episode started with one character wandering off and the second character chasing after him. This is how they jumped into whatever hijinks the writers scheduled for them that week. Yawn. Wasn’t there any other way to kick off the inciting incident?

Binge-watching keeps me from absorbing the nuances of an episode, rolling the events of the story around in my head and mulling over what might happen next. Watching one episode after another doesn’t give me space or time to do that.

I like to let the characters and situations linger, allow them to breathe like a fine wine. I certainly wouldn’t pour a bottle of perfume over myself. Binge watching is like eating a whole cake in one sitting. Sure, the first two or three pieces might be pretty good, but after that, the flavor becomes dull and unsatisfying.

So I don’t binge watch. I don’t like it and sometimes it serves to turn me off a show. Plus who has the time to veg out in front of the television? There’s life outside to be lived!