It was just a few years ago that Oscar-nominated actor Bradley Cooper was courting offers from tons of directors such as Adam McKay, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino before settling on two films that released last year and were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Cooper selected the lead role in Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley and a small, supporting role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. Following the success of his own directorial debut, A Star is Born, Cooper was highly coveted and now, he’s about to work with the most famous filmmaker of all-time. 

According to Deadline, Bradley Cooper will star in the latest film from Steven Spielberg which will be a new original take on the legendary character Frank Bullitt played by Steve McQueen. The report details that the movie is not a remake of the original film, Bullitt, but a completely new idea that is centered around the character from the 1968 crime thriller. In the original movie, Bullitt is a sensible police officer from San Francisco who’s on the hunt for a mobster that killed one his witnesses in a case he’s on. The role is one of the more quintessential roles of McQueen’s career, so it’s interesting that someone of Spielberg’s stature would want to recreate the character for an actor such as Cooper. Having said that, this is an all-star pairing and continues Cooper’s streak of working with some of the best working directors in Hollywood. The film will be written by Josh Singer, who previously penned Spotlight and The Post.

The report also notes that the development of this project has been in the works since the COVID-19 pandemic. Spielberg and Cooper have been trying to work together ever since American Sniper, a film for which Cooper earned his third and fourth Oscar nominations, which eventually was helmed by Clint Eastwood. After that partnership fell through, Spielberg reached out to Cooper to direct his Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro, which Cooper eventually obliged. Following his performance and achievement in directing A Star is Born, Spielberg thought that after years of developing Maestro but maybe not having the time to direct himself, he handed the film off to the multihyphenate. Spielberg is currently on a press tour for his semi-autobiographical film, The Fabelmans which stars Paul Dano, Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen coming off of the heels of his incarnation of West Side Story which released in 2021.

One of my favorite elements in the horror genre is taking a contemporary story and somehow implementing the genre’s core elements. Take the film Cure (1997) directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa; the film is about a detective who is investigating a series of grizzly attacks by a serial killer. On the film’s surface, it is your simple crime-thriller ala David Fincher’s Se7en (1995) or his 2007, Zodiac. However, throughout the film, the viewer gets inside of the mind of his victims in a psychological battle between light and dark; understanding the killer’s motivations and way of attack. Enough talk about Cure (1997), that is for another time.

I hold this element of the genre close to my creative heart because the genre does not always need a monster or killer or the loose, the genre is about set-up, execution, and the atmosphere in which those two elements listed are contained. If you are looking for more horror films like that, that are not about unstable detectives, look no further than Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession.

This 40-year-old lost film has recently been gaining a cult following and the film distributor Metrograph has graced film fans with a restoration. My thoughts on that are listed below the review.

Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill @ Possession (Andrzej Żuławski, 1981

Possession is a film about how division; division of two people who seem to be at odds and have fallen out of love for one another amidst the middle of the Berlin Wall, a division of communication between a couple and the affair that has brought them down as well as a division of body and state. Possession is about the breaking point between a couple as they’re in the very early stages of a divorce. They both have simply fallen out of love with one another and have started sleeping with other people, mainly Isabelle Adjani’s Anna. As Sam Neil’s Mark understands the situation unfolds, the more angry and sickly he becomes. There are points where he will look like he has not eaten in days and looks incredibly pale-skinned. There is a moment throughout the first 25 minutes where Neil is having a seizure in a cold sweat.

While Possession is a body horror in terms of visual effects, its a body horror from the performances given. We see both of the films leads reach sadistic and stomach-churning when it ocmes to range. The first half being dedicated to Sam Neil’s perspective of the situation and how he is treating himself during this change, where he goes from calm to physically abusive. Then as the story unfolds, Żuławski pays more attention to Adjani’s Anna, as an audiences we are opening the curtain to what she has been up to when the camera is not focused on her. The camera work works in one takes with very abrupt takes in its editing. Żuławski wants everything to feel like one fluid motion rather than have multiple takes for one single scene. The subway scene in particular roughly has about two-three takes and you do not evne notice because of how hypnotized you are to Adjani’s otherworldly performance. I am treading lightly on the plot due ot the genius of this film is to go in knowing nothing.

Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill @ Possession (Andrzej Żuławski, 1981

Possession is one of those horror films that were lost in time but recently have been gaining a resurgence through word of mouth and many clamoring for a Criterion blu-ray release, and for good reason. Possession includes some of the best performances I have ever witnessed with direction that is unpredictable and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. If there is one restoration you should have eyes on it is this one.

Restoration Review

Possession not only is a wonderful film but is also one of the best restorations I have seen recently. Metrograph elevates the horror film and at times looks like it was made from the last decade. The stark blue color pallette shines due to how cold and emotionally distant the characters are. The sound design is wonderful, every whisper is heard and understood, every scream feels like a scare, every tension-building moment plays like gangbusters. This is one restoration you do not want to miss especially for cult-genre fans.

This sequel to a horror classic needs more love and attention nowadays!

If there is any horror film synonymous amongst film fans and horror movie veterans, it is William Friedkin’s masterpiece The Exorcist, and for good reason! It’s a living nightmare of a film; a cinematic embodiment of what it means to fear for your own life especially when it comes to the residential home life. Also touching subject matters of helplessness and grief. Friedkin not only created something atmospherically disturbing but metaphorically terrifying as well, thus creating a classic status towards the film. And while many horror sequels attempt to capture that “lightning in a bottle” energy that its predecessor has created, some succeed and some fail at doing so. It is rare for a film to even be better than that first film, but William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III is one of those rare instances where it completely outshines the original.

The Exorcist III [cred. Morgan Creek Prod.]

Set 15 years after the original film, The Exorcist III is a film that pulls a Halloween III: Season of the Witch approach of storytelling and not particularly be about any sort of monster rather than a social issue. In this film’s case, it is about the mysterious “Gemini Killer”. We see Lt. Kinderman solve the case through hospitals and even his own nightmares. Sure, the film does not seem like a straight sequel to the original film, but that’s the genius of it all. Kinderman and Father Dyer are still shaken after the events from the previous film, both meeting up once a year to catch up and try to forget. Doing so by either drinking or seeing a movie, both still living normal lives up until that day rolls around the corner. George C. Scott plays the role of Kinderman with such explosive range; from his most emotional and down-traught to his craziest when he comes close with Brad Douriff’s “The Gemini Killer”. Speaking of Douriff, he is an absolute standout and a delight to watch on screen. Even in other films, he is always the best-acted one not only in the room but in the cast listing and The Exorcist III just might be my favorite performance from him. On the surface, The Exorcist III is a typical mystery-thriller but it truly is elevated by its atmospheric tone and off-the-walls third act. What elevates it in terms of creep-factor and effectiveness of being considered in the horror genre is its slow-burn aspect and unexpectedly hitting the audience with startling imagery. Tonally, compare The Exorcist III to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, both completely different films from their predecessor but sequels that reinvent the wheel in their franchises. The Exorcist III plays the same in terms of structure from the first film; depicting a man who is living in a nightmare and is constantly haunted by his past and is constantly battling that struggle via recent events. The Exorcist III is the perfect Halloween film and one of my favorite horror movies of all time and will consistently rewatch it and be mesmerized that a film like this exists in our lifetime.