sulopekim Reviews

The First Omen (2024)

Wow, quite the divisive movie!

[8/10 · 8 April 2024]

I'll start with the positives: 1. The acting. The lead and most of the supporting cast do a phenomenal job, they sold their roles exceptionally well, so well in fact, I still felt the tremendous impact of the twist that the main lead was actually the one chosen to give birth to the antichrist, despite it being so obvious from the first scene between her and her roommate.

2. The cinematography. The way they shot many of the scenes and the environment, the lighting they choose were top tier and a masterclass in mood and atmosphere setting.

3. The sound design, I mean, the slow methodical scenes would only work half as well if you didn't feel the squelches, or the pulling of the hammer back on a double-barrel shotgun, and the weight that holds as a danger if it wasn't for the sound design being top tier.

Okay, now that the three phenomenal things are out of the way, there were retcons galore between this movie and the one it is meant to be a prequel to, which left many fans upset with this film.

Another point of contention for sure was the long drawn-out sections particularly near the end which lasted forever, and the very questionable special effects. If they spent half the time on incoherent flashes of imagery they did, and devoted that into developing the characters more, it would have been excellent, and made the ending part make more sense. What ending part? Well in the end the antichrist's twin sister and his mom survive, and are hiding out with another human-jackal-or-something hybrid, the priest dude with a cool voice shows up to warn them that the cult has found out they survived, and the main character's reaction is to pull out a shotgun and threaten to kill him. Does she resent him for not saving her from the cultists? Does she blame herself for not being able to kill the antichrist child, and simply projecting her anger onto him? Is she trying to be a "girl boss" manhater? She knows where his allegience lies, and he is an ally for sure, expanding on things like that to fill the runtime would be better than the random flashses of wacky imagery and long-drawn out scenes we didn't need. But even with those complaints the strong parts were so strong I give this an 8 out of 10.

Madame Web (2024)

The steps to Enlightenment are here!

[10/10 · 17 February 2024]

Step 1: Watch the movie.

Step 2: Enjoy enlightenment!

So, S. J. Clarkson, you have transcended filmmaking! Zeke Sims in this movie was the deepest character alive. He spelt out his motivations, his parents didn't believe in him. This made me instantly relate to his struggles, even though my parents have always believed in me. Cassandra Web's mom said early on "She's trying to stop me from working, I won't let her," to the baby in her womb. This made me instantly fall in love with the movie, as she was a hard working single mom, and it was truly captivating, even though I am not a mom (I'm not a woman) I am single. It was then I realized the movie was what I was looking for. And as it progressed the enlightenment came, I realized that Ben Parker was in fact NOT the brother of Peter Parker's father, but the brother of his mother, and Peter's father took the mother's maiden name! The rest of the movie forced me to undergo a metamorphosis and realize everything is connected. This was a hopeful movie about overcoming adversity and untangling webs to become enlightened. And watching this movie forced me to do both, so now I dance on tabletops and can do CPR with my mind!

Ragnarok: Ragnarok (2023) Season 3, Episode 6

So uh...spoilers

[2/10 · 26 August 2023]

Alright, if they decided to end Ragnarok by peacefully ushering in a new age, and making it so bloodshed and violence isn't the only option, okay, sounds decent enough. Not what I was hoping for but makes sense.

WHAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE IS WHAT THEY DECIDE TO DO!

The series decides at the final step to shoehorn in a recontextualization of ALL THE EVENTS OF THE ENTIRE SHOW to say...IT WAS ALL IN HIS HEAD. This was inexcusable. And this was coming off a really neat episode 5. What was the message of the show then? What was the through line? Well, Magne giving up his fantasy and embracing love even though he was afraid of it. OF COURSE!

Shame this ending didn't take into account his powers started before Isolde's death. Remember when he fixed that bike? Started to not need his glasses? All before Isolde died. His powers didn't magically come alive after she died. His Thor comics were never established, and he was shown to in fact be ignorant of Norse Mythology, as he had to look up on the internet various aspects of it as he was coming across things that didn't make sense to him. Ah but let's ignore that and just point out that he was labeled "paranoid schizophrenic" by a doctor earlier in season 1, taking out all the context that was placed in so they could appear so clever! I feel angry, obviously, confused obviously, but something about a show I've loved for years ending like this brings up a feeling I just can't name. I thought the show had faults for sure, but overall I thought it was a solid show with really good moments. But season 3 felt off from the get-go. Alas, that's all I can say. I only gave it a five because I am hoping I am mistaken about what the writers intended with this one.

Insidious: The Red Door (2023)

The funeral for dialogue is here!

[2/10 · 15 July 2023]

This movie starts out with a funeral, how fitting. Except it isn't really the funeral for Josh's mom (who mysteriously died after just 9 years?) it is actually for the dialogue this movie will give us. I watched both the first and second insidious movies, and the family were level headed and mature. They were strained by the unusual circumstances, but the father was always a good father, and the mother was always level headed and sought to make things work. Hehe, so now we follow a deadbeat dad who can't connect with his children, and who finds he's been divorced, because his wife suffered an aneurism and one second explains it wasn't his fault, as he was possessed and it wasn't him. To flip and blame him by telling him it was his fault. His fault what? That he got possessed? That he fought to find his way back and defended his family? His kids were thrilled to have him back! But no, now they are terrified of him and she divorced him. Oh but then she wants to get back with him once he gets his memory back. What? You all agree to the memory wipe, and then you divorce him because he didn't have his memory, and now you want to get back with him after he's got his memory back? Insanity! Whoever these characters are, they certainly ain't the family from the first two. We get some father-son angst. And beautifully crafted "You're a bad father," level dialogue to accompany it. We also get some new age lingo and something something race and politics. At least that didn't stay for long. Then we get to insane power trip cat lady who seconds as an art dictator at Dalton's college. She's there for a few scenes, adds nothing, got a giant stick up her rear about art, nothing to see, moving on. But we're moving on to something worse! The red faced demon is back! Because apparently the red door is the demon's door, and not just a door in the further, the demon is looking to possess Dalton! It is also looking to choke people and show up in like two scenes. Dunno why. He finally gets his wish, and mimics the nun's yellow eyes. I seemingly watched Insidious 2 to know that a spirit wears down the physical vessel it inhabits, doesn't make it act like a literal demon from another franchise. The demon is then forced out of Dalton, then the father stays behind to fend off the demon. Seems like it is all lost! I saw no way they could come back. It would just keep hunting them. The spirit world and the living aren't meant to mix, (hence the whole mind wipe). And now they've undone all that and doomed our characters to be tormented forever...it would have been a sad ending but it would have at least made sense. But what is sense to this movie? A minor inconvenience you can just paint over! And indeed, they solve the whole problem by just...painting over Dalton's painting of the red door...which erases the red door in the further. Wow, why did we even wipe memories? You can keep the memories and wipe out things in the further on a whim! This makes zero sense, this movie shouldn't have been made. Whatever, they all make it out, say something about how nothing is made better by forgetting. And the ex loves Josh again. The message is not true, my mood would certainly be made better by forgetting this movie! I only give this two stars because of the Elise cameo at the end. Her lines are poignant and carry weight. Insidious: The Red Door, go see The Flash instead. Oh wait...hehehe.

The Pope's Exorcist (2023)

A surprisingly competent and entertaining horror film

[8/10 · 17 April 2023]

I've been seeing a lot more horror films in the cinemas lately, and they've really tired me. Movies like "Smile" and "Prey for the Devil," were forgettable with no hooks one could latch onto. The same old tired formula. But it turns out it wasn't the formula I was tired of, no, this film showed me it was not the formula but the lack of doing it well. This movie had the tropes you'd expect, but not how you'd expect them, that is to say, well done! I believe that the movie doesn't deserve as low of a rating as it has gotten on IMDB. Russell Crowe's acting is top notch, he makes me buy into the character he is portraying and sells the drama excellently. The daughter in the family doesn't really grow on me, and the family itself is focused on as much as they are needed, the plot keeps it focused on what is interesting, and that is Russell Crowe and his fellow priest compatriot who grew on me as the story progressed. If you're looking for a horror film with some good atmosphere and sets, a story that focuses on a couple of the characters and is competently acted, the Pope's Exorcist will do that for you. Also: There was a line about the devil not liking humor, but I dunno, the demon had some really good comedic timing in the film for me.

Prey for the Devil (2022)

A solid film.

[8/10 · 29 October 2022]

After watching Smile, I really wanted a more coherent story, one with characters that make sensible and understandable decisions. One that ended not like all the other stereotypical horror movies. I got all of that in this film, the character work was well done and the ending saw the main character stronger for her trials. They allowed the character to make serious mistakes with very serious consequences, resulting in the death of an innocent girl because of her hubris. Yeah, the horror really took a back seat, so as a horror movie I don't really think it succeeded, but as a drama, character driven story I think it did. However, what drags my score down a little bit was the randomly inserted feminist message. It served zero point, and when the main character near the end said how she was going to be the first female exorcist in 7 centuries, it felt less like something the character would say and more of the writer chiming in. It really did not fit with the mood and themes of the rest of the story, it really seemed tacked on. This did for me what Smile didn't though, so I was pleased. But I can understand the low review scores.

Monster (2022–2024)

Distasteful, horrendous garbage.

[1/10 · 25 October 2022]

I don't care how much money is spent, I don't care how much effort the actors and crew who worked on this put in. This isn't some fictional character we're talking about, this was a real person, who really did horrendous things. And now you're going to make a production, complete with recreating these killings? That is disgusting. I watched two episodes with my family, it was horrible. I only understand the obsession with this type of stuff up to the point of trying to figure out how their minds worked. Anything beyond that is a complete mystery to me. But guess what, a production is not needed to find out how his mind worked, an article written, or a short documentary explaining these things would be far better. The point is to entertain? Who could be entertained by watching the recreation of a psychopath's killings? Someone who couldn't think: "what if my child, my brother, my nephew, were murdered and their body brutally desecrated, and the person who did it gets a TV show made about them where the killing is recreated?" And I heard in many of the reviews that certain parts of what happened were changed to make a political statement even though it alters facts, that makes it even worse if true. Shame on whoever thought this was a good idea.

Archive 81 (2022)

A wonderful Miniseries, if only it was intended to be...

[7/10 · 30 September 2022]

A show like this would have benefited from being contained in a miniseries. The basic premise of restoring old tapes which contain a mystery to unravel and a life to save, doesn't jive with a multiple season series. And boy does the ending suffer. I thought the atmosphere and the mystery they set up was fantastic, it was unnerving not knowing who or what to trust. The sets and vintage film aspect in some scenes set the mood. And it's a good one. The acting, especially from Melody's actress hooked me. The characters serve their roles well. The cult choir music, while simple, works to be an easily recognizable and unsettling tone. But absolutely nothing about this series would have benefited from a season 2, and making that ending instead which leaves plot threads shamelessly dangling when they needed to be threaded was an insult to what came before. There would have been no mystery, no suspense in the next season since everything was revealed. Shame it was canceled, a much much bigger shame that it wasn't intended as a self-contained miniseries. I gave it a 7 out of 10 because I liked everything except the ending. The last 10 minutes were an insult to what came before. It is sad to me that this happened, but oh well now that it's canceled I'll just make up my own head cannon that they got reunited in the present. Shame.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Writing o' writing, where did you go?

[2/10 · 7 May 2022]

Pressure plates on the sidewalk which randomly reveal memories, in lieu of dialogue and actions which bring it up. "Intelligent" characters doing the dumbest thing people with any inkling of common sense knows is not good, just so the plot can advance. There was no story here, just set pieces and "payoffs" to things that never came up, and thus it has no impact. The special effects for the most part were excellent. That's why I give it a 2. Otherwise it would be a zero, this type of garbage is insulting.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Awful

[1/10 · 25 April 2022]

Can't believe this was a movie. I would rather have been brought to my knees and repeatedly flayed than sit through this utter garbage. "Genetically modified Dinosaur for war" I would love to see that thing's two feet pattering over the battlefield, while the other side loses their collective minds as they tilt the 50cal bmg loaded sniper down and relieve it of its pathetic head, insides and then the rest of its god-awful CGI body. Lmao, get out of here with this nonsense, dinosaurs, genetically engineered or not, would have no immunity to bullets.

No one cared about this movie, and if they did...particularly the writers/director/producers, please take an IQ test, take the results, and leave the film industry, please.

By Night's End (2020)

Puppy!

[1/10 · 12 December 2021]

The main character stares at a fridge of her dead daughter with sad music, right below that a drawing of a dog titled "Puppy!" This was after the couple manufactured their own drama by claiming they just couldn't call the cops and then search for the money after. The couple acted like they had just met a day ago, with half a brain cell to share between them. The bad guys were no better. The people who wrote this should be blacklisted from ever writing again, the fact that this wasn't written by six year olds is utterly incomprehensible to me. I feel bad for everyone who worked on this. I also couldn't help but empathize when the woman had a sniper crosshair on her chest and she said "shoot me," I felt much the same while watching what I can't even call a movie.