Familiarity Breeds Madness - Friday Video Distractions, by Mike Norton

The Lighthouse (2019), screenplay by brothers Roger and Max Eggers, directed and produced by Roger. Starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Black and white. 109 min.
  A pair of wickers - lighthouse keepers - start their four week tour of duty on a tiny, craggy isle off the coast of New England circa 1890.
  Dafoe plays the heavily-bearded, salty veteran, Thomas Wake, while Pattinson is the landlubber neophyte, Ephraim Winslow, who's not only new to this work but hasn't even been to sea before. The older man rides the younger hard in the endless cycle of drudgery required to keep the poorly-kept lighthouse and its living quarters in some semblance of order when it's fairly obvious that the others who've been on duty there weren't keeping it ship shape.
 Tensions between the men grow in this gray environment, particularly the strewing frustration and resentment from young Winslow as he's left to do all of the most difficult and unpleasant tasks  thanklessly. Meanwhile, Wake jealously guards the actual light in the tower, keeping Winslow locked out of it, otherwise just cooking the meals, scribbling away in his company journal, ordering Winslow around like a ship's captain, poking haughty fun at him, and breaking wind.

  Winslow has repeated confrontations with a one-eyed seagull. Noting this, the older man warns him against harming any sea bird, citing it as bad luck. The young man hears, but ultimately doesn't heed.
  The weather turns, ushering in a Nor'Easter that goes on for days.
  As their tour approaches its end, the ice seems to be melting between them. Winslow finally starts to accept Wake's offer of strong drink with their meals.Tongues loosen, and details of each man's life begin to come out, giving them the opportunity to become less contract-bound master and slave, and come closer to being two human beings.
   The day their relief is scheduled to arrive comes... and goes, with no ship arriving. The storm rages on.

The drink continues to flow, and all the more so once the damp gets into the food stores, and a buried crate of emergency provisions turns out to be just more bottles of spirits.
   It begins to spiral down from there. Hard.   Winslow begins to see stranger and stranger things, including behaviors from Wake, especially when he's on duty in the lighthouse tower overnight. (The walkway is a latticework, presumably to allow air to pass through and cool the tower, so some things can be seen from the shadows below.) 
  Marvelous performances from both of the principals, each of whom ultimately gets to chew the scenery and hold forth on the other's behavior. An unwanted confession drives matters further.
  My favorite part may be the very, very human moments during the first, big argument between them, and in what it is that scores a telling hit on Wake.
  The project began as an attempt by Max Eggers to adapt the unfinished Edgar Allen Poe tale, The Lighthouse. This effort stalled, so brother Robert offered to work with Max on it based on his own take. This took it wholly away from the Poe elements, as they instead took the title and a premise and ran with it. Touches of Lovecraft creep in. Robert's success with The Witch, and his taking the lead as director and producer doubtless opened doors and potential financier's purses.

 Rated R for sexual content, nudity, violence, disturbing images, and some language.
 Especially if you've seen it, liked it or not, feel free to chime in in the comments below.
 Next week I'll likely be hitting multiple items more lightly, as I've started to accumulate a backlog of (mostly) shows of interest, including at least a couple recently-returned series I'm hoping to get back into this weekend.
  For now, enjoy the weekend. Even though it contains that leap day, it won't last long.        - Mike
 
Shows and movies hit on in previous posts:

 Sept. 20th: Mindhunter (Netflix)

     Sept. 27th: What's The Matter With Helen, The French Connection, and Frenzy. (Early '70s R-rated movies I saw with my mom)

     Oct. 3rd:    Preacher (AMC), Stumptown (ABC), Sunnyside (NBC), The Good Place (NBC), and Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime).

     Oct. 11th:  Joker (still in theaters), and In The Tall Grass (Netflix)

     Oct. 18th:  El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Netflix)

     Oct. 25th: Dolemite Is My Name (Netflix)

     Nov. 1st:   Watchmen (HBO series), The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

     Nov. 8th:   Seconds (1966 movie, currently available as part of Amazon Prime)
     Nov. 15th: Dr. Sleep (current theatrical release, but probably not for long), Horace and Pete (2016 web-produced series, currently on Hulu)
     Nov. 22nd: NOS4A2 (AMC, now on Hulu) and Man In The High Castle (Amazon Prime)

     Nov. 29th: The Irishman (Netflix), The Mandalorian and The World According To Jeff Goldblum (both on Disney+), light touches on Watchmen (HBO) and Ray Donovan (Showtime)
  Dec, 6th: The Booth At the End (Amazon Prime), and Us (HBO).

Dec 13th:  Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime), The Feed (Amazon Prime), 6 Underground (Netflix movie).

  Dec 20th:A Christmas Carol (FX), The Expanse (Amazon Prime), Killing Eve (BBC America)
  Dec 27th: Lost In Space season 2, and first impressions of The Witcher, both on Netflix.
  Jan. 3rd: Black Mirror (Netflix) and Phillip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (Amazon Prime). 
  Jan 10th: Undone (Amazon Prime), Witcher (Netflix) and Dracula (Netflix/BBC One). 
  Jan 17th: Kidding (Showtime) 
  Jan 24th: No shows, just some movie mentions as I recall some places that no longer exist.
  Jan 31st: October Faction (Netflix) and the finale of The Good Place (NBC).
  Feb 7th: Messiah (Netflix)
  Feb 14th: Locke & Key (Netflix)
  Feb 21st: Skidoo (1968 film, available free on YouTube)

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