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Stay (2017)
Dull
The premise is interesting. Can a kidnapper make his victim fall in love with him? Sadly, the film doesn't do much with it. Most of what goes on in the film is dreadfully dull. The stakes felt oddly low given the situation. It's clearly made on a budget so you just kind of have to accept some things. The acting is okay though. I liked the characters. Though they never really get developed. The story, especially the ending, is predictable. I wanted to like this one but there was so little here that was worthwhile. I just spent most of it bored. More needed to happen or the stakes needed to feel higher. It needed something that wasn't there. I wouldn't recommend it.
Tetsuo (1989)
What did I watch & why do I want to cover myself in metal?
This is a very intense and graphic horror movie. There's not much like it (though I haven't seen the sequels). You'll know if you'll like it within the first few moments. The movie starts really intensely and doesn't let up. It might be a bit too much for some viewers but those who like this kind of stuff will love it.
The movie is basically body horror but with metal. It has a loose plot but it's clear the movie is more about style and atmosphere. It's shot in black and white, in a very punk rock kind of way. A lot of it is shot like a music video, which works well with industrial soundtrack. There's not a lot of dialogue and a lot of what happens is up to interpretation. It's also clearly made on a budget. For example, a lot of the outdoor travel scenes are just quick cuts between still images of characters in different places, giving the illusion of them moving quickly. It works well here and really lends to the punk rock feel of the movie. They do a lot with very little.
If you like uncomfortable, surreal movies or body horror, you can't go wrong with this one.
I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016)
You are not irredeemable. You have a choice.
This is a very interesting movie that grapples with the subject of choice versus human nature. Are we born to live a certain life? Can we be born evil? Can a person be born irredeemable? What if we have a monster inside? Must we let it out? Or do we have a choice?
I find this to be a deeply fascinating subject for a movie to grapple. We see a young character grappling with the fact he's predisposed to be a serial killer. He knows this but doesn't want to become one. Things become more complicated because a serial killer is lurking in his town.
It's not a big budget movie. It's very small in scale but the more intimate setting works for it. The only thing that I think will lose people is the ending. So be warned while it's a good story you might not like how it resolves. Still if you like a story that grapples with questions like what it means to be a good person and what it means to be evil, you'll probably enjoy most the experience.
A Murder at the End of the World (2023)
A mystery that doesn't play fair
This is a review of season 1.
I love a good murder mystery. A good mystery will set things up well. The audience will follow the clues and feel like detectives putting pieces together alongside the protagonist. It should be possible to figure out the murderer from the clues alone. However, this show doesn't really play fair with its clues. It spends so much time misdirecting away from the killer that the killer is not set up particularly well. The revelation feels like it comes out of nowhere. In fact, a lot of the show is just red herrings and flashbacks. You could cut a lot of it without losing anything.
It doesn't help that a lot of the other characters aren't set up well either. A good murder mystery should have fleshed out characters. It should really be possible for anyone to be a killer. If too few characters have development, it either makes the killer too obvious (in the event they're a main character) or it feels like the identity of the killer comes out of nowhere (in the event they're a minor character).
Now I did actually figure out the identity of the killer in the first episode but it's not what you think. I figured it out by being familiar with the genre tropes and paying attention to the headlines in real life. The moment I heard the killer being talked about I knew it was them. A good mystery shouldn't require outside knowledge to figure it out. I felt no satisfaction from figuring it out because I didn't figure it out from the clues. I even hoped the show would do something that might surprise me because honestly I didn't want to be right. It seemed too silly a revelation.
I did like the setting though. There are a few great character moments. The acting is good. The directing is good. But aside from that it was a pretty dull show and a poor murder mystery.
Archer: Into the Cold (2023)
Disappointing end that should have come sooner
I used to be a big Archer fan but I noticed a severe decline in quality around season 5 or 6. I make a point to watch the finales of shows I was once invested in because a good ending can sometimes save a show.
I'm sad to say this one, while having a few funny moments, was mostly the bad habits the show fell into around season 6. In fact the show seems to have doubled down on a lot of things. There's also weirdly quite a few set pieces that the show has done before. It makes the episode feel like it doesn't have many new ideas. Though I'll be charitable and say that I think this was a botched attempt to bookend the show.
It's just sad because this still feels like a hollow shell of the show I once loved. I'd hoped they could capture that magic one last time. Instead it feels like they're going through the motions and just making content. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.
I will say that if you like newer Archer, you might really like this episode. It's part of why I won't rate this lower. That and the fact there are a few jokes that genuinely got a chuckle out of me.
The Blazing World (2021)
A highly ambitious adaptation that doesn't fully work
The Blazing World is a very ambitious film based on a very old, ambitious piece of literature. It's not quite sci-fi. It's not quite supernatural. It's not quite dreamlike. It somehow fits in between all of these. And that part servrs the film well. It's deeply uncomfortable and atmospheric. You can see the influences of other works on this film. It really seems like 70s horror.
What doesn't work about the film is it's slow and meanders a bit much. Not everything works. Some creepy stuff comes off silly. And without a sense of the rules of this universe, it can make the stakes in some scenes feel nebulous. The acting is also mostly good but sometimes it's a bit hit and miss.
Overall, I liked it but it's kind of a movie you have to to into it knowing it's a flawed experience. Don't expect perfection. Just expect something strange, atmospheric, with some really great moments that sometimes falls short. I'll take failed ambition over just another cookie cutter movie.
Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (2023)
It's basically Midnight with one big difference
It pains me to say but I found this special to be very mid. It's basically Midnight but with doppelgangers. The problem is that unlike Midnight very little actually happens in the episode. You get what's going on very quickly and the rest of the episode hinges on how scary you find the no-things. Conceptually, I loved the idea but in execution, I found it lacking. It's basically just the Doctor and Donna running away from creepy versions of themselves the whole episode, only their bodies are constantly warping. That's about it. If that sounds appealing to you, you might like it more than me. I just would have liked the plot to have a bit more meat to it. I also feel like we've seen evil copies of the Doctor a lot over 60 years.
It's not all bad though. I liked the reveal about the slow motion countdown. And when the no-things are introduced, they're very creepy. I just think it gets a bit silly by the end. I also like the setting, a spaceship far away from all light. Also, "mavity" was pretty funny.
Two other points. I feel like the Doctor picking up the wrong Donna added nothing to the plot. It seemed like there were no consequences for it and it was just there as a cheap way to build tension. The ending cliff hanger felt old hat. The world is ending, yet again. It's hard to be invested when we've seen that so much It's nice seeing Wilf though. I didn't hate the episode. It's right in the middle for me, compared to other episodes.
They/Them (2022)
Honestly I don't know the problem people have with it
It's a fine horror movie. It's not super deep or groundbreaking but most horror movies aren't. There's compelling, complex characters, which is actually unusual for the slasher films that inspire this one. There's some decent tension and kills too. It doesn't have the best structure in the world but have you seen the structure of most slasher movies?
Honestly I think it helps not knowing much about the movie and just learning things as they happen. It makes the dark turn more interesting.
My only guess as to why people are so negative on this is because they are too childish to get this movie isn't really saying anything offensive and it's not really pushing an agenda aside from be yourself and don't hurt kids. My other guess is some people think the subject matter is in poor taste given some real kids do actually deal with the subjects in this film. But to those people, I have bad news. Fiction is filled with uncomfortable topics.
Shortcut (2020)
One of the worst horror films I've ever seen
So the premise is about a bunch of people trapped on a bus in the woods that get attacked by a creature. It's actually a really intriguing idea. It's why I watched it. I actively thought about what they'd have to do to survive. Would they try to send a message? Would they try to fight it off? Would they try to escape? Well, bad news. I thought more about the plot of this movie than the people making it did.
To start off, there's a useless hijacking plot. It's pointless because it goes nowhere and the hijacker dies almost immediately.
The creature gets on the bus really early on causing everyone to run away. I guess that answers that question. Talk about wasting a premise. They run away to some secret military/science looking facility that's, I guess, luckily located near the bus. Here the characters let their guard down and do little to nothing to protect themselves from the creature.
It's around this point that it's revealed the creature is just feeding off their blood like a leech. The actors act like they're dying but they're characters are not. It killed 2 people in the beginning but not after that. They run into it a few times. There's also some chair that's supposed to kill it. It's a chair with lights on it.
They basically get away from it, trapping it. It doesn't like light so getting out into the light made them safe. So they're safe, yet they go back and burn the creature who cannot follow them with torches. And to put icing on the cake, the movie informs us that somehow only they will know what happened. Even though there's an abandoned bus, 2 dead people, and a dead creature. Oh and all the witnesses.
I might have a few details wrong. It's been a few days and it was a bad movie. I was struggling to be invested in the plot but this is largely what happens. You get the point. I'm not really sure what the threat of the creature was. Maybe it will give them hepatitis. I don't know and I don't care. It's really funny to watch though, if you're into that sort of thing.
The Mandela Effect (2019)
Just not a good movie
So the movie starts with a rat in a maze. You just know the symbolism is going to deep with this one. At first I thought the movie was going to do something clever and have the main character's daughter get Mandela effected away and that be the inciting incident. No, he just sees the Berenstain Bears book and becomes instantly obsessed. It's just as dumb as it is in real life.
Well after meeting someone who knows about computer simulations and doing some intense YouTube research, watching people like Elon Musk, talk about simulations, he decides to break the universe-because the universe is a simulation. Well he breaks it and that causes the universe to start over again but better. Did he know that would happen? Or was he just casually going to kill everyone in the movie? Either way it is dumb.
It does teeter into so bad it's good territory though. I laughed a lot.
The Creator (2023)
A good story elevated by its other elements
The Creator is an ambitious sci-fi movie about AI. Most of what it does, it does exceptionally well. The movie is gorgeous. The acting is phenomenal. The special effects are really good. The future tech in the movie is mostly believable. There's good world building and theming. The music is also really good.
The only aspect of the movie I thought suffered a little was, unfortunately, the story. It's still good. There's just a few too many things in the plot that seem a bit too convenient. There's also a bit too much action in the film, making it feel like the film was sprinting through all 2 hours and 20 minutes of runtime. I would have preferred they let some of the character moments breathe a little. But it's certainly not boring.
With that said, it certainly stands out as one of the best movies to come out this. While there's a few I'd place above this, it certainly stands out. If you like sci-fi, you'll probably like this. There's a lot there. Just don't expect the most amazing story ever or anything.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Maybe a bit too faithful to the source
It was an enjoyable movie and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too provided you've played a few games of D&D or have more than a passing knowledge of it. It's very faithful which means it's tonally all over the place. People stop to make jokes. Serious things can be followed by incredibly silly things. Actions can be undone by a fit of bad luck. These are all common place around the D&D table. What they're not is common place in action fantasy movies. I feel this might be a bit too silly for most audiences and some things might stretch people's disbeliefs to the breaking point. But as a D&D player, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm rating this honestly how good I think the movie is and not how much I enjoyed it. If I were to rate my enjoyment it would be a solid 7. I'd highly recommend it to fans of the table top game.
My last issue, and the reason I can't rate this higher, is that far too much happens in the movie. There's lots of stuff happening all the time. The action has even begun right as the movie starts which means the movie hits the ground running. You're never given a chance to breathe. I feel like it would have made a better TV show. There would be more time to introduce audiences to this world and give everything more time to breathe. It would help the uneven tone a lot. It would break up the silly and serious a bit more. I suspect more people would have appreciated the story in it this format. But that's just a guess.
The Flash (2023)
Expected to hate it but had a great time instead
I'd heard all the bad things about this movie. I went into it expecting the worst. What I got was one of the funniest, fun superhero films I've ever seen.
Now I won't lie. The film does have issues. The special effects are kind of weird. The story was a little messy. Some parts are unintentionally hilarious. Though what surprised me is I was laughing with the movie far more than I was laughing at it. A lot of the comedy was intentionally hilarious. They should have advertised the comedy more. It's by far the best element. I'm so used to the comedy in superhero films being lame and distracting.
The movie is a lot of fun too. All the actors look like they're having a ball (except Michael Shannon who looks almost disappointed to be there). It's clear this was meant to be a fun fan service movie first and foremost. If you think about it too much, you're going to have a bad time. Now I'm not saying you need to turn your brain off. Just know that you can nitpick any part of this movie if you really want to lessen your enjoyment of it. But the movie does a fairly good job of making some of the more fantastical elements sound plausible if you're willing to suspend your disbelief a little. I honestly expected far more stuff to be handwaved by the film, like why Michael Keaton is suddenly Batman.
I'd recommend it if you want a fun superhero movie that focuses heavily on the comedy. If you want something more serious, this isn't it.
Skinamarink (2022)
Conceptually it's not bad but that doesn't make it good
I feel like this movie could work as a book. Conceptually it's not bad. It's about 2 kids trapped in a house where reality bending things start happening.
The execution is where it falls apart. First off, most the movie is shot between random cuts, often close ups or Dutch angles, with nothing going on in them. It even takes the movie about 8 minutes before things really start happening. The kids react to the horror in the way kids at that age would, which comes off incredibly silly. The sound effects that occur whenever anything happens are also silly.
Basically anything good in this movie is lost amid the goofiness from other elements of the movie. If you can overlook how silly everything is and how boring the story is, due to little happening, you might find it a compelling experience. There is an element of good existential horror here. I won't pretend it doesn't have that. It's just the whole experience comes off silly. Plus it's hard to watch given how slow everything is.
It's definitely unique. I haven't seen anything like this. I don't think it's a fault of the production. I just think the budget was so low that they had to make the most of what they had. I feel like with some more money and maybe downplaying the kid element of the story this could have been a lot more interesting.
UHF (1989)
A dated, yet timeless comedy classic
This movie is unquestionably a product of its time. UHF TV stations, Weird Al at the height of his popularity, and parodies of popular movies/shows from 80's. The movie is filled with things that should date it to the point of being unenjoyable, yet that doesn't happen. The movie works, even today 26 years later. It doesn't just work. It works really, really well. It's almost baffling that it does. But therein lies the beauty of UHF, you don't need to understand the references. You don't need to know who Weird Al is. The jokes are funny despite this.
This movie wouldn't work if it was made today. No one would bother trying to raise $75,000 to run a UHF station when they could make a channel on YouTube for a fraction of the cost. But the UHF station is just a framework to parody a wide range of shows and movies, including the best Rambo parody of all time. But because of that there are a few movies like it. This has kept the movie relevant after all these years. UHF is a must watch classic. If you're a comedy lover, do yourself a favor and watch this film.
The Gift (2015)
Intriguing thriller marred by lackluster twists
Lots of spoilers in this review. Read at your own discretion.
This movie starts out really strong. It has some great performances. Jason Bateman really stands out. His dramatic acting is top notch and really serves to contrast his work done in such comedies as Arrested Development.
The movie starts to take a turn south when it becomes revealed that Bateman's character, Simon, is hiding something. Simon is perhaps more responsible for things than he admits. It's not a bad idea in itself. It's just executed rather weakly here. The twist here is that he bullied Gordon in school. He accused Gordon of being gay and molesting another boy. This culminated in Gordon getting abused by his father. I've seen worse excuses for villains to act out in thriller movies, but this is still a pretty poor excuse. You can sympathize with Simon who says it's not his fault if Gordon's life turned out badly. He's largely right... but maybe that's part of the movie's point. If it is it was lost on me. Still the movie could have been forgiven if this was it's only plot problem. It's rather benign compared to its other one.
The film ends with a stupid twist that frames it like Simon finally got his comeuppance. The truth couldn't be further from the truth. You might suspect some of this ending when it's offhandedly mentioned that Simon's wife, Robyn, has been fainting during the day. Fainting?! And they gloss that over. I don't have to be a film expert to know that's going to play further into the movie. What kind of people ignoring random fainting anyway? That's usually a sign of severe health problems. That just shows how far removed from reality the characters in this film are. Well, it is revealed that Gordon has been drugging Robyn. He videotapes himself doing this and cuts the video with the implication that he raped her. The point being that Simon will never know if she was raped and he will just have to suffer not knowing. This is all revealed after Robyn has a child. The film seems to suggest that the child is Gordon's and is a finally sort of "gotcha" from him to Simon. Even though Simon and Robyn are on the splits by the end of the movie, she is still very uncomfortable around Gordon. She has seen him do some very creepy things. If Simon came to her and told her she might have been raped and presented video evidence for this, she likely would have taken it seriously. They could have run a DNA test on the baby and if it was proved to be Gordon's had him arrested. Even if Simon didn't want to go to Robyn (which would be out of character for him), he could have presented the video to the police. The video shows him trespassing and drugging her. That alone would have been enough to warrant an investigation and put Gordon behind bars. The Whole notion that Gordon somehow got the last laugh is a flawed on.
It just goes to show you a thriller can have great acting and great atmosphere but if it fails to deliver on story, the whole experience can fall apart.
Flight (2012)
Flight takes what would be a good movie and brings it crashing to the ground
Flight takes everything and "does it to the max," as people used to say. It's not enough that Denzel Washington's character is an alcoholic. He has to be an alcoholic who does cocaine and drinks while flying. Of course this is the initial premise of the film so it can be forgiven. Let's also overlook that Mr Washington's character is the only one who could land the plane. What comes next is a lot of drama about alcoholism and drugs that doesn't even bother to portray either of those things accurately. No, that's not enough. Instead it has to portray them "to the max!" This turns an otherwise interesting character piece into a generic paint-by-numbers melodrama. Even the music choices in the movie are the very songs you hear in this sort of movie. It sort of feels like they glued two movies together, a generic alcoholic melodrama and a plane disaster. Rarely do these two films seem to overlap or affect one another. It may as well have been two separate films.
Flight could have made a great film. It spends too much time on the generic alcoholism melodrama and not the part that makes it unique, the part about the plane crash! I'm not saying the whole film should have taken place in the sky. It would have been more interesting if Mr Washington wasn't the hero in the crash, if his drug abuse and alcoholism may have been responsible for the deaths of some passengers. Instead there could be an underlying uncertainty about whether his negligence killed those people or if it was truly "an act of God." They could have toned down some more elements to make it more realistic. Then the rest of the film could have been about his denial and acceptance of what he did; and also about whether he would be punished for his actions. Where it stands it's a very mixed messaged film that tries too hard to make Mr Washington into a hero and a villain without aiming anywhere in the middle.
I think Denzel Washington is an amazing actor... or at least he used to be. His movies have really gone downhill over the recent years and so has his acting ability. He doesn't make a very believable drunk or pilot in the movie. He relies on old clichés instead of bringing anything real to the film. Of course that may not be his fault. An actor is only as good as the script he's given and Flight has an abundance of problems.
Lastly, there are a few (I won't spoil them here) eye rolling sequences in the film. Doing everything "to the max" is fine but it doesn't work in a drama. It's more of a comedy thing and it's a another major reason why this film just doesn't work.