Perfect Pauses: Mom and Dad

I haven't done a "Perfect Pauses" post in a while, not since Alien 3 in June of last year. Then again,
this is actually the shortest interim between two of these posts since I've been doing them, as the previous one was in January of 2016, and before that I hadn't even considered the idea since a 2011 post called "Great pauses in movie history."

Anyway, I'll get on with it.

My previous two had been on rewatches, but last night it was a first-time viewing of Mom and Dad, the new(ish) Nicolas Cage vehicle from Brian Taylor -- half of Neveldine and Taylor, the duo responsible for the Crank movies.

And boy did I love this movie. As it's still early in the year, I don't mind telling you that it instantly leap-frogged the other dozen 2018 movies I've seen, becoming my new #1 of the year. Which means it'll probably ultimately land in the 15-20 range, though I could see this one sticking in the top ten. I like it that much.

If you want some of what you got in Crank and the other Neveldine/Taylor movies -- outlandish, jittery visuals with a penchant for the sleazy -- then Mom and Dad will be right up your alley. However, it's also got a brain in its head, saving some of its sizable quantity of energy for subtle social commentary that'll make every parent in the audience say "Yep, uh huh."

If you don't want to know the setup for the film, which is known to most people but perhaps not to you, you may not want to read the next paragraph. However, I think most people learn about this film as a result of knowing what it's about, so I'm not spoiling anything beyond that. Besides, it's necessary for contextualizing the pause I've chosen.

Mom and Dad concerns a mysterious, never-explained phenomenon that causes all the world's parents to want to murder their children. Not any children, not all children -- just their own. It's a great premise, and you can imagine the ways Nicolas Cage delivers on it. (Giving a performance that can be described as good in a more traditional sense: Selma Blair, pictured, as his wife.)

This pause happened to come right at the moment when Blair's murderous intent locks in. She's been driving home in a state of confusion, and as she reaches her house -- which contains her two kids inside -- this is the look she gets in her eyes.

Of course, the premise behind "Perfect Pauses" is not that I find a great image in the film and pause on it. It's that I genuinely need to pause the movie -- to go to the bathroom, to deal with a child who needs something -- and this is what comes up. I think it was the bathroom in this case, as I think my kids were asleep by this point. I hope they were, anyway.

Oh, and if you need any more enticement to watch this movie, I'll give you three words, or really, five: Nicolas Cage. Pool table. Sledgehammer.