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Woman of the Hour (2023)
Neat story that could have created a better atmosphere
Woman of the Hour (2023)
Initially this movie wasn't anywhere on my watchlist but the review from @movierecoftheweek got me really excited to check out the directorial debut from Anna Kendrick. I have seen my fair share of serial killer movies and listened to numerous podcasts but Rodney Alcala never had his own big story. The curious part about this story is that the killer made an appearance on live TV in the middle of his spree and cases like that don't happen too often.
Woman of The Hour centers around two characters. One is the aforementioned killer and the second is Sheryl, a young actress who is trying to make a name for herself. Sheryl's agent brings her an offer to appear on a Live TV program called The Dating Game where she will ask a bunch of questions to the contestants to determine who will be her match. As you might have guessed, one of these people is Rodney.
Despite having some good moments, I wouldn't say that the film isn't too extraordinary. Rodney creates his fair share of creepiness but there is no adequate atmosphere throughout the experience and the whole thing often feels like a collection of episodes rather than a complete movie. The topic of "female-prey" aspect is tackled well but there isn't enough tension to "freeze the blood in the veins".
At the end we get the usual lines describing the real life events which is quite horrific and impactful but it ends up being too late. They should have found a way to skillfully integrate this into the story like it was done for Dahmer. Ultimately, if you enjoy the serial killer genre then you might like this one but don't expect anything revolutionary.
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The Wild Robot (2024)
Nice family movie with kids as target audience
The Wild Robot (2024)
When i saw the trailer for this film, it didn't look interesting at all but when the movie was eventually released, every single person seemingly had nothing but great feedback. Hyped up on positivity, I walked in prepared to see a revolutionary animation experience and while I did enjoy it, I certainly wouldn't put it on any pedestals besides being a good family film.
Wild Robot is about a robot named Roz who got lost during her shipment from the factory. She finds herself in a forest surrounded by animals who see her as a monster. Eventually, she learns their language and receives a task of rasing a baby goose which becomes her ultimate purpose. The movie's animation makes it pleasant to watch with plenty of sweet moments and a couple of nice themes like machine vs nature and perseverance, but it gives a feeling that we have seen all of this before.
The whole time it was obvious that children are the main target audience and while there is certainly nothing wrong with that, it's an important thing to keep in mind before buying tickets. It was especially obvious in the humor and the numerous idealistic scenes. The voice acting is very pleasant and the music of the film was excellent as it punctuated the emotional moments. Much like everyone, I found this film to be good but nothing too special to tell you all to run to the cinema unless you have children, because it is a nice family story.
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Terminator Zero (2024)
Great philosophy, music and animation
Terminator Zero (2024)
"What Makes you believe humanity is worth saving? Can you name a single good thing that your species has done for this world? Even One?"
Questions such as these and a number of others were posed in this series and in many cases, much like the protagonist, I had no answers. When I began watching Terminator Zero, I did expect it to be different in a number of ways as it was an anime. However, I didn't imagine it to be filled with intellectual and philosophical dilemmas which ended up being the most enjoyable element.
Terminator Zero, much like the James Cameron films, begins with a girl named Eiko being sent to the past in order to save humanity. What's different is that Eiko is sent back to Tokyo where a brilliant scientist named Malcolm has built his own uber powerful AI in an attempt to stop Skynet's domination. Consequently, Skynet sends a Terminator to stop Eiko and execute its own destructive plan to maintain the steel grip over the throat of humanity.
With AI taking a progressively larger and larger space in our modern world, this show raises a number of interesting points both in simple and complex terms. Thanks to its steady pacing, we are able to digest the ideas while being entertained by the beautiful animation, cool action and the brilliant soundtrack that lingered with me after each episode. The Japanese voice acting is fantastic so I obviously recommend experiencing it that way. You can easily binge this show, but I would suggest watching 2 episodes at a time so that you could ponder the concepts that are presented in each episode.
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Oddity (2024)
Not enough scares
Oddity (2024)
I got to admit I feel somewhat let down after hearing so many positive things about this film. Yes, it looks good, yes the acting is nice and the story is also somewhat interesting but where are the scares?!? The prologue was gripping and creating a good sense of discomfort; however, as the film moved along the ratio of fear to runtime was miserable. From the way people described it, I was preparing for a heart attack but the best I got were three solid scary moments.
Oddity is a horror film about a blind psychic named Dani who tries to uncover the mysterious murder of her twin sister Darcy. Darcy's husband works in an asylum so straight away one of the patients is suspected, but the truth might be more complex. This isn't some revolutionary idea and despite the good acting, the writers create little attachment to the characters to make us care for them.
Most of events take place in a single location and I think this is what harms the film as the house isn't explored enough and if we are being precise, most of the events take place in one room. Consequently, this offers little possibility for creating much terror. What's more, the entire film feels highly minimalistic as it relies heavily on the dialogue to move the story along. I can't say that I had a bad time so if you are looking for a decent horror, this might hit the spot for you.
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Alien: Romulus (2024)
Lacks identity
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Another entry to one of my favorite film franchises but with it being a Disney production, I had my share of worries despite the seemingly excellent initial reviews. To put it briefly, Alien Romulus feels like a replica of the original masterpiece trying to mimic it's tone, style and to an extent the plot. Unfortunately, while it does nail the audiovisual elements, thanks to modern technology, by relying on the original as a crutch, it fails to create and engaging narrative to make me care for the characters and their fate.
In this story, a bunch of teenagers who have had enough with living in a space colony decide to fly to an abandoned orbital station to steal its cryo pods and travel to a different planet. Once they arrive at the station, things go wrong very fast and they find themselves fighting for their survival.
Out of the entire crew, the only person I remotely cared about was the android because everyone was on a mission to make the dumbest decisions as if they were in a campy slasher. The 155 cm protagonist looked like a 13 year old girl and when she was running around with a gun as big as her pretending to fight off a massive Xenomorphs, I kept laughing instead of fearing for her survival. Furthermore, the way they have built up the threat of the Aliens only to make them insignificant cannon fodder felt highly illogical.
There are certainly nice elements like the use of practical effects and excellent audio design. Sadly, the music felt out of place and the Ian Holm model was distracting as it didn't fit into the style. Some story moments were cool but when fitted into the overall picture they didn't make the film feel complete or impactful. Maybe if you haven't watched Alien in a while it will hit home big time but I often rewatch the original so the nostalgia factor that this movie banks on didn't do much for me.
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Not quite a lovely day but still plenty to witness
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Mad Max: Fury Road was one of the best cinematic experiences of my life because of how exhilaratingly crazy it felt in terms of action, visuals, sound, dialogue and characters. Naturally, comparisons were inevitable. After Fury Road, I was filled with so much adrenaline that I spent the next hour in a joyous frenzy as I sliced the road in my humble vehicle. This time, the madness itself just wasn't there to the same degree especially when I compare it to how I drive every day in the Fury Roads of Saudi Arabia.
The story is well built where we get Furiosa's full journey since childhood as well as the characters who have impacted her life. It uses a chapter structure which made it feel like a collection of segments instead one wild ride. It's like instead of passionately assembling a brand new car, they used spare parts with a new coat of paint. Looks great, sounds familiar but doesn't create the same driving experience.
While Anya Taylor Joy knows how to act and make appropriate faces, her elegant figure just isn't suitable for such kind of a role. When she does impressive acrobatics and feats of agility, it looks fantastic, but when she swings heavy objects and yanks people twice her weight with one fragile arm, it creates a huge disconnect. Moreover, Furiosa goes through an unimaginable journey and yet, she never expresses a single emotion whether it's pain, despair, fear or joy, making it impossible to emotionally care for her actions, revenge or wellbeing. It's hard not to compare her to Charlize Theron who felt imposing while creating that emotional connection.
The sound, colors and decorations were fantastic and they make the cinematic experience worth it even though it's levels behind Fury Road. Music was unfortunately lacking. The film makes the Wasteland extremely unforgiving, showing that no matter who you are, you will have a hard time surviving. I came in expecting it to be below the original so I wasn't disappointed; however, I wish it had a bit more of the raw energy to make the experience more spectacular.
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The First Omen (2024)
This is how you compliment a legacy movie!
The First Omen (2024)
A respected horror film from the 70s has been unearthed for a prequel? Sounds like a bad idea based on previous experiences.... however, I did find Nell Tiger Free to be great in a TV series called Servant, her presence created some sense of anticipation before entering the cinema. To my surprise, the entire film turned out to be an enjoyable experience and if you are looking for a solid horror movie, make sure to check it out.
The story takes place in 1971 Rome where a young American woman named Margaret travels to an orphanage to take care of the local children, become a proper nun and fully devote herself to God. After a short while, Margaret begins to notice a number of peculiarities and suddenly, she gets approached by a mysterious bishop who claims to know what is really going on under the facade of this seemingly pious establishment.
The First Omen is not big on the traditional jump scares we have got accustomed to; instead, it relies on creating an atmospheric horror through the use of chilling music, good acting, immersive decorations and excellent visuals. The interesting narrative kept me engaged the entire time and simultaneously allowed the fear to gradually creep in. The only distracting element was the English writing in an Italian orphanage, but that didn't ruin the experience.
I am a big enjoyer of religious choirs and here, they worked exceptionally well in combination with the film's horror aspects to elevate the overall experience. I even sat through the credits to hear every bit of the soundtrack that the movie had to offer. By the end of the film, I was filled with excitement to rewatch the original Omen and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing The Second Omen because of how everything ended.
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Road House (2024)
McGreggor and Gyllenhaal at least put some effort into this mess
Road House (2024)
With the amount of Jake Gyllenhaal UFC "footage" and his workout results that have been released for the promotion of this movie, I thought this was going to be at least as good as Southpaw if not better. Unfortunately, the entirety of the UFC story arc last about 2 minutes and the rest of it felt more like a cheesy 80s-90s action movie but without a gram of spirit, emotion or bravado. Jake is probably the only reason why people know about this film and even though he carries the whole thing on his charisma, it never feels enough to make the film consistently enjoyable.
Road House is about an ex UFC fighter who gets hired as a bouncer in a bar by the oceanside. He soon realizes that this establishment is a target for a local crime family who will stop at nothing to obtain it. The whole experience feels like a third tier western but instead of guns, we have punches. Jake tries his best to use his lightheadedness and fighting moves to propell this film forward but sadly, the rest of the cast and the writers don't seem to be interested in helping him.
The only other reason why people might want to watch Road House is Conor McGregor and say what you want about his peculiar acting or badly written speeches, at least this man tries to bring some energy and villainess to the otherwise dull affair. One of the key problems is that on top of feeling like a B movie, the story never shows us why should we care about the bar or any of the characters. There are absolutely no emotions in this 2 hour paper thin story and the cringe dialogue along with the half-baked action can only do so much.
The Gentlemen (2024)
A lot better than expected
The Gentlemen: Season 1 (2024)
Gentlemen was one of my favorite films of the past 5 years and when I heard that Netflix was going to turn it into a TV show, I couldn't help but feel bewildered. Years have passed and it has finally come out but strangely enough, it wasn't a waste-of-time cheap cash grab that I thought it would be. While it's way below the criminal bar that Guy Ritchie is known for, it was quite an enjoyable evening past time and I wouldn't mind watching a second season.
The story is about Eddie Horniman, who inherits his family estate after succeeding his father as the Duke. Pretty soon he discovers that his father wasn't a simple aristocrat and over the years, he established a partnership with a drug cartel that built a weed farm underneath the vast estate. While he wants to be out of this business; unfortunately, the current circumstances he finds himself in, make the exit strategy slightly complicated. The first episode hooked me right away and as the story progressed the criminal web became a lot more tangled.
Naturally, this web is filled with a number of interesting spiders from various nationalities and backgrounds played by a nice cast of actors. Everyone was very stylish and overall the series looked quite polished. While the narrative was interesting, it lacked that zesty electric feel that we all loved in the film. The overall experience sometimes felt like a set of quests because the story needed to be stretched out over 10 episodes instead of a quick 100 minute movie.
The dialogue was well put together but it lacked Guy Ritchie's iconic razor sharp wittiness. Consequently, despite occasional hilarious moments, the humor also felt quite tame as it was a Netflix series and Guy was obviously restricted in terms of what the characters could say. Nevertheless, the series kept me engaged the entire time and delivered an enjoyable ending making me curious to see where the story goes from there.
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Kaibutsu (2023)
Masterul use of different perspectives
Monster (2023)
After Shoplifters, Kore-eda's every single film has been added to my watchlist so naturally I was highly excited to see his latest work Monster. While watching, I constantly wondered what the title meant and who was the actual monster in the story because of how well it was written. I wouldn't say the plot is something mind-blowing because at the end of the day, it can be classified as an everyday human story. However, the way in which the narrative unfolded while constantly altering my perception of the characters and the story itself, made it an engaging experience.
The film begins with a building engulfed in flames. We aren't told the cause behind the fire and all we see is a young boy named Minato overlooking the blazes. A couple of days later, Minato comes home with some injuries and the mother becomes concerned about his wellbeing. When she goes to confront the school, she notices everyone behaving in a peculiar manner, particularly her son's teacher who becomes the main suspect. Eventually, we get to see the same tale told from the perspective of that teacher as well as Minato's friend Yori.
In essence, it is a story of friendship which shows how complicated life can be for school children. It also shows how challenging it is to be a school teacher when it comes to dealing with little Monsters. One particular element that stood out to me was Yori's perpetual optimism no matter what situation he found himself in. While the story slightly meandered at the beginning, it became more interesting with each passing moment. Kore-eda directed the film in a smooth way relying well selected backgrounds and decorations to create an "everyday" atmosphere while using a beautiful soundtrack. It's a film that made me feel a lot of things and as I spent time thinking about it, I grew to appreciate it even more.
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Bastarden (2023)
Fans of Mads will be pleased
The Promised Land (2023)
Mads Mikkelsen is an actor who needs no praise and yet every time I see him in a film, my level of admiration grows even more. The sense of honor and dignity are so profound in this man as he commands a powerful on-screen presence in every scene. Asides from knowing that this was a historical drama, I didn't even bother to read the synopsis as I had faith in the lead actor. Oh and if you love potatoes, you are going to enjoy this even more.
The Promised Land is a true story of Ludvig Kahlen, a man determined on building a settlement in the Danish wilderness in order to attain wealth and honor. Being an ex-soldier he will use his meager savings in an attempt to make this dream a reality but before long, he will encounter more than a handful of obstacles imposed by a wealthy landowner who is determined to prevent Ludvig from achieving his goal. Despite taking place in Denmark, this film can somewhat be classified as a Historical-Western due to it's use of wide shots, beautiful nature, a respectable stoic protagonist and a sense of perpetual struggle against oppressors.
When you think about it, the historical event in question is quite insignificant on a large scale and if not for Mads Mikkelsen, this film wouldn't have existed. Thankfully it was made and asides from Mads' captivating performance, the rest of the cast came to put in a collective effort that made me genuinely care about the struggle. The cinematography is simple yet beautiful and the well used score manages to both accentuate a rural setting and pull on the emotional strings. Overall, a well made film that leaves a pleasant aftertaste and if you are a fellow fan of Mads, you won't be disappointed.
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Napoleon (2023)
Epic battles, weak narrative not worthy of Napoleon
Napoleon (2023)
When Ridley Scott, one of my favorite directors, announced that he would be making a movie about one of history's most influential individuals, I was beyond excited. Despite seeing some negative reviews I marched into the cinema full of positivity but in the end, I walked out with a heavy degree of disappointment. I can understand a film having historical inaccuracies but here, it takes a back seat compared to the poor portrayal of the titular character and the choppy crash course nature this film decided to take.
Napoleon was an educated military genius who has done monumental things in his life after rapidly advancing through military ranks. The first 40 minutes of the film felt like a poorly made PowerPoint presentation that skipped from one year to the next dedicating a couple of minutes to each life episode. By the time he got to Russia, the movie sort of stabilized its haphazard pacing by relying on excellent battle sequences to carry the weight.
Josephine was an important part of his life and certainly deserved some screen time but was the film called Bonaparte family affairs? For some reason it was decided to cram Napoleon's entire life into 2.5 hours. However, instead of developing his personality or dedicating time to actually important events, it wasted time on dreary dialogues in gloomy French mansions and oinking under the table.
Ironically, it's Vanessa Kirby who delivered an enjoyable performance and not Joaquin Phoenix who looked too slow and too old to play the Napoleon. He remained unchanged for decades of his life while having a constantly depressed look. Moreover, he was often made to look weak, stupid and out-of-touch instead of someone who set up order in France while garnering admiration and respect.
Cinematography, costumes and battles were exceptional, as expected of Ridley Scott. Nevertheless, instead of displaying strategical prowess, it often felt like Napoleon was simply attending battles instead of passionately commanding them. It's as if 1 hour of the film was forcibly cut out by the studio interference... much like The Kingdom of Heaven, so I will be expecting the director's cut to fix some problems.
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Dumb Money (2023)
Informative, fun and exciting ...to the moon!!!
Dumb Money (2023)
The GameStop short squeeze is one of the most unique things to happen to the stock market and I remember how it has taken the financial world by storm back in 2021. This film could have easily gone wrong in so many ways by becoming too focused on the financial details. Thankfully, that wasn't the case and I applaud the creators for managing to make Dumb Money informative, exciting and most importantly enjoyable during every single minute of its runtime.
Dumb Money is a story of how the common people decided to stand up to the big hedge funds by joining together and simultaneously investing into a company called GameStop. At the center of it all, we have Keith Gill, A. K. A. Roaring Kitty, who not only flipped the script on Wall Street, but also helped many people make a lot of money in the process while creating an internet revolution.
The film doesn't waste much time exploring the hidden motivations of its numerous characters, not does it try to be too savvy and educational. Instead, it squeezes 100 minutes of its run-time to create an exciting atmosphere of the internet craze filled with memes, GIFs and humor. Still, in a very subtle way, it does show the dangers of investing and not knowing when to quit.
In a way, Keith Gill can be considered as a hero of the people, who used the power of internet to inspire like minded individuals to stick it to the system and create massive shockwaves. The movie boasts a good cast of actors who are enjoyable to watch, impressive editing and lots of humor. I believe that the people who know about the events will enjoy this one slightly more. However, if you haven't heard about the GameStop squeeze and enjoy movies like Wolf Of Wall Street or the Big Short, then do check this out.
P. S. You might need to pause to search a few definitions but asides from that, it's a non stop ride.
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The Killer (2023)
Not a bad one but you won't miss anything by skipping it
The Killer (2023)
After the disappointment of Mank, the only way for Fincher to go was upwards and seeing him return to the thriller genre with Michael Fassbender in the lead role got me intrigued. The Killer is minimalistic in every sense of the way whether it's the cast, dialogue, the protagonist or plot development. It also got great cinematography with an enjoyable neo noir style and the overall atmosphere made it feel like The Bourne Identity. Sadly though, the atmosphere was where the Bourne parallels ended as it felt rather dull, restrained and simplistic, considering it was a Fincher movie.
The Killer begins with our protagonist messing up an assassination attempt in Paris. He then proceeds to move across different countries as he eliminates people from his industry. I wish there was something else but thats about it. The whole experience is voiced over by the main character and as much as I like Michael Fassbender, it gets annoying pretty fast. When the narration was combined with the sluggish pacing, the first 40 minutes ended up being rather lethargic and I was almost put off from continuing. However, it did get considerably more interesting during the second half because things actually happened.
Throughout the movie, I got to hear a LOT of statistics which made the protagonist feel like a Dexter wannabe. Nevertheless, writing aside, Fassbender was terrific in his calculated demeanor and precise actions. As expected, Tilda Swinton was also impressive in her limited screentime. Visually, the film was pleasant to look at and the direction itself was solid despite everything feeling underdeveloped. I can't say I regret watching The Killer but if you skip it, you absolutely won't miss out on anything. Bottom 3 Fincher for me.
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Past Lives (2023)
Wish they developed the characters a little more
Past Lives (2023)
Romance is certainly one of my least watched genres, but this movie received so much attention from my fellow cinephiles that I absolutely had to see what's all the excitement about. I gotta say that it is quite different from most romance films in it's realism factor without the usual Hollywood fluff. It's a "what could have been" story that never quite explores this aspect and yet manages to make the audience feel the characters' emotions and the sense of longing.
Past Lives begins with Nora and Hae Sung, two 12 year old Korean kids who are in love. Nora's family decides to move to Canada and Hae Sung stays back in Seoul. 20 years later, Hae Sung decides to travel to New York to see Nora who is now married. Essentially, this feels like a theatre play because the film has only 3 major characters and all of them put on terrific performances.
The film's magic is in it's little poetic moments where the characters' gestures, glances and small phrases allow the audience to understand what each one is going through whether it's Hae Sung, Nora or her husband Arthur. I can't say I liked Nora's character as she felt rather unsympathetic but Hae Sung and Arthur did make a positive impression. I also enjoyed learning about the "In-Yun" concept.
What the film doesn't do though, is develop these characters besides their feelings for each other. In a way, we know nothing about their lives and that prevented me from being able to fully connect with them. The atmosphere is melancholic, allowing you to get absorbed in the slow pace of the story as there are many beautiful moments with silence saying more than the characters themselves. In a way, the film tries to show you the "That's life" feeling but, it doesn't really hit the mark. I guess those who went through a similar experience will like it a lot more.
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Gran Turismo (2023)
Didn't expect it to be this good
Gran Turismo (2023)
Racing games are probably my least favorite because I get enough road rage in real life. However I do enjoy an occasional well made racing film like Ford vs Ferrari or Rush. Even though Gran Turismo is a highly popular video game, or racing simulator, this film is NOT a video game adaptation because quite frankly there isn't much to adapt. Instead, it's simply an underdog story that involves a video game and the impact that it had on real life events, kind of like what the film Tetris was. However, this one is quite an unreal story and the entire time I couldn't believe that these events actually occurred.
The movie is about an expert Gran Turismo player named Jann. He is considered to be the failure of the family as all he does is play video games but one day, he receives an invitation to participate in an online race. The winner of the race will get chance to compete for a spot to become an actual racer for team Nissan. Sitting with a controller is quite different from being behind an actual wheel of a 300 km/h car and soon enough Jann and other competitors will realize what they signed up for.
I know some people have been criticizing the start of the film but for me, it was one enjoyable experience that kept getting progressively better. Yes, it doesn't reinvent the sports drama genre but it takes on an intriguing true story and executes it well. The video game inserts looked good and the actual racing scenes very exciting to watch. David Harbour put on an impactful performance of an inspiring aged mentor who gradually passed down his wisdom to the young and inexperienced protagonist.
From the negatives, the editing looked slightly weird at times but it didn't take away from the experience as the action and drama scenes hit home. The fast paced story kept me excited the entire time and I remember holding my breath more than once. Whether you enjoy good underdog stories, play racing games or like cars in general, you are going to have a good time in the cinema.
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Talk to Me (2022)
Would have been 10/10 if there were more actual scares
Possession horror is one of the most popular subgenres with countless good and bad films. As a fan of anything supernatural this is certainly one of my favorite categories but to find an actual creative film that looks good, has an interesting story and a decent amount of fear factor is a true rarity. This directorial debut from the Philippou brothers has managed to do just that! The film instantly creates a sense of mystery and pins your attention until the very end through a highly interesting plot that has an idea to get your head working and your heart pumping as you are enjoying the experience.
Talk To Me is about a group of friends who begin summoning spirits using an embalmed hand. Each possession is uploaded to social media and before long, teenagers all around become anxious to try it themselves because of the feeling of ecstasy that comes with the experience. Eventually, one of the sessions goes wrong and no one understands how to fix it because nobody actually knew the nature of this mysterious hand.
What stands out about Talk To Me is that there is no exposition or any digestion throughout the film as it lets the audience come up with their own ideas. Instead it uses the intrigue to grab your hand and pull you into the mystery through the effective use of suspense and solid cinematography. The limited scares are well made and the hospital vision in particular has got to be one of my favorite and most terrifying scenes in years. Genuine stuff of nightmares.
The idea of social media and how kids will do anything for the trend as well as the concept of constantly chasing the high and how it can doom you are well captured. However, the movie never tries to teach you like bloody elevated horror and instead prioritizes the actual escapism horror experience. The movie is never stale and constantly hands you something interesting to keep the heart pumping and the brain ticking. I do recommend seeing it in the cinema as it's an atmospheric and creative Indie horror that remains fascinating over the course of its short time.
P. S. The real horror of this movie is how everyone kept putting shoes on beds and furniture.
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
And this was just part 1!!
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (2023)
Mission Impossible: Fallout is undoubtedly my favorite entry and while this one didn't reach those heights, it managed to stand well enough as it's own film while dedicating a big portion of the narrative for setting up Part 2. What I find most incredible about this entry is how they managed to land the film smack in the middle of all the A. I. craze. They began filming back in 2020, when there wasn't a whiff of Chat GPT and now as the whole world is obsessed with A. I. taking over humanity, we get this action packed adventure with world ending stakes.
In this Mission Impossible, Ethan Hunt and his team must recover a set of specific advanced keys that hold the secret to a highly sophisticated Artificial Intelligence. All the powerful countries and criminal organizations are eager to get thier hands on this super-tech, making the mission all the more deadly.
It was very easy to mess up this story and to make it convoluted but the creators managed to strike a good balance between building the narrative and energizing the experience with fantastic action. Everyone is anxious about the motorcycle "trick" but best believe that after the jump, there is an equally heart pounding action sequence. What's more, the action here is actually realistic and unpolished in terms of fighting, driving and choreography.
At this point we are familiar with the cast that got natural chemistry and works as a solid unit. Fortunately, the newcomer Haley Atwell is delightfully charismatic in her supporting role and manges to flawlessly fit into the team. What surprised me about the film is it's use of on point casual humor where it didn't feel overbearing and actually felt funny.
From the weaknesses, the film does feel stretched out at times in terms of explaining things. Also the two agent characters felt like a nuisance instead of adding tension or value to the story. Asides from that, the movie looks beautiful, the action is well filmed and as always, the music is spot on. Special props for Tom Cruise to be doing all this at the age of 60. Cinematic experience is highly recommended!
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Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Lack of fear element fails to save a weak story
Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Insidious 1 is one of my favorite horror movies because of it's fear factor which effectively managed to not just scare me while watching, but also gave it's fair share of elevated heartbeats for many nights whenever I was trying to go to sleep. The sequels ranged from good (Chapter 2) to mediocre (Chapter 3) to just bad (Last Key) and now, 5 years later we get another installment. Got to say, seeing the main cast back did give me some hope and the film certainly had potential but as it progressed, it failed to capitalize on it.
The Lambert family returns 9 years after the conclusion of Insidious 2. The parents have divorced and now their eldest son Dalton is going to college to study art. Both Dalton and his father Josh have been hypnotized to forget all the events that happened to them but now, something has lifted the veil and they begin to experience the pull of The Further. There are some interesting elements with a couple of cool scares but the more the movie went on, the more tedious it became. Nevertheless, it did unearth some of the memories from the first 2 films and for the past couple of days, I have tried not to stare at my room while falling asleep.
What I loved about the original Insidious was that it merely gave glimpses of the creatures which allowed the imagination to do the work and made the whole experience scarier. This time though, they were shown for quite extended periods making it easy to see their ridiculous appearance which ultimately spoiled the terror experience. Potential reason for that is the writer of Halloween Kills but this time, instead of Evil dying, it was the fear element. Whether you are a fan of the franchise or not, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on this.
P. S. As if MRI scans weren't unsettling on their own, now I will keep thinking about a demon popping out to grab me.
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Didn't feel like an Indiana Jones movie
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
When I watch Indiana Jones movies, I expect adventure, fun and a larger than life protagonist who drives the story with passion and charisma. This film began in this exact fashion with Indy escaping the Näzis in the 40s while trying to steal an artefact. The deaging technology actually looked great and it didn't make him feel like a 200 year dinosaur that De Niro was in The Irishman. The sequence did look rather dark but besides that, the first 20 minutes had the making of a good Indiana Jones movie. Unfortunately, that didn't last.
The story takes place in the 60s where Indy is retiring from his teaching career. As he is about to hang a hat, he is approached by his goddaughter Helena who needs his help to crack the mysterious Dial of Destiny. On the other side, there is Dr. Voller Schmidt, an undercover Näzi who plans to use the Dial to travel back in time and alter the outcome of WWII. Besides Harrison Ford putting his best effort and Williams' score, Mads Mikkelsen is the only other good factor with his calculated demeanor and actual presence.
Disney loves money but if they want to use a popular IP with a beloved character who is 80 years old, they must put effort into writing a coherent story with the protagonist as a center piece. Here, it doesn't feel like Indy is in charge of his own film. Instead, there is Helena who is painful to watch due to lack of charisma, positivity or chemistry with Harrison Ford. She manages to be annoying, amoral and unfunny in a franchise that is known for great female companions and pleasant humor. The kid, unlike Ke Huy Quan, fails to create any connection by acting like an annoying know-it-all.
Dial of Destiny might pass as a decent film on its own but it feels like a bad Indiana Jones movie. It lacks the happy-go-lucky adventurous atmosphere with bright colors, smiles and loose dynamism; instead it's more brooding, dark and exhausting. While some level of nonsense is acceptable, a couple of scenes really stretched it in a bad way. I keep wondering how did this cost 300 million and I wish Disney would learn when enough is enough.
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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)
One of the best in 2023 so far
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023)
When was the last time you have actually seen a proper feel-good film that didn't just make you happy while watching, but also created a pleasant aura that stayed with you for days after the experience? It's been two weeks since I saw this film and every time I think about it, a smile stretches across my face and a warm feeling envelops my heart. The whole movie feels like a child is telling the story because of it's sincerity and kindness. When you read the synopsis, you might think that you aren't the target audience for the film just as I did. However, the endless positive reviews from the filmstagram community motivated me to watch this movie and what a lovely experience it has been.
This is a coming of age story about an 11 year old girl named Margaret who is forced to move to a new suburban town. She has a loving family and life is as good as it can be. Margaret makes some new friends and together they become obsessed with growing up and even create various childish competitions. In an attempt to get ahead, she is constantly praying to God and asking for little things that are important to her at the time. What makes it interesting is that she is not sure which religion she belongs to and this film explores her journey of finding God by trying different fates to see which one speaks to her soul. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the endless amount of hilarious moments.
While all of this is going on, we are treated to wonderful acting from the entire cast and a beautiful score by Hans Zimmer to make it all even more wholesome. The little conflicts here and there add meaning to the story and the seemingly basic narrative manages to hit all the right notes. The sheer amount of kindness and positivity will make you want to recommend this film to those you know so that they could laugh and experience the same warm feelings. To those who watched, We Must, We Must spread this movie to the larger audience because this one deserves it.
P. S. As I watched, Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis kept playing my head. Has that happened to anyone?
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BlackBerry (2023)
In depth story about why Blackberry collapsed
Blackberry (2023)
I remember the days when everyone in school was using Blackberries with the cool keyboards and their BBM service. The company was ruling the market and no one could have imagined that one day not only will they lose its leadership position, but it will cease to exist altogether. The general consensus is that Blackberry became obsolete because the company failed to catch up to the smartphones and evolve in a correct way. This film tells a more complete version of the story in terms of what happened behind closed doors and the reason why everything came crashing down.
The movie begins in the 90s with a Canadian company named Research in Motion trying to reinvent the mobile phone business. Their two leaders Mike and Doug have a bright vision and the scientific know-how but lack the business acumen to make their idea a reality. During one of their pitches, a man named Jim gets intrigued by their idea and decides to come on board and help get the company off the ground. As the movie progresses, we get to see both the human and the business elements of the story and how closely they come together to both build Blackberry and destroy it.
This is clearly a low budget movie but it never feels second rate because of the clean and efficient way in which it tells this large story. The actors and director are rather unknown and because of that, more focus is put towards the narrative and its execution. With that being said, everyone involved puts in the effort to bring drama, humor and tension to their roles. The quick, sharp and witty nature makes it feel like a mix between Social Network and Succession as the film doesn't waste a single minute and ends when it's supposed to. Blackberry might be gone but hopefully this film will shed some light and teach a couple of lessons to those who watch it.
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Fast X (2023)
Stupidity without coolness
Fast X (2023)
The Fast and Furious franchise has become the topic of endless jokes whether it's the nonsensical plots, Bollywood rivalling action or the obsession with FaMiLy. While they did have their moments, after part 5, the reason why I watched these films was to roast the stupidity with my friends and hopefully to get some enjoyment out of it. Everytime I wondered what science defying spectacle they were going to shock me with but sadly this time, everything was rather normal by the standards of the franchise.
In Fast X, the family of racers turned secret agents goes up against a new omnipotent villain named Dante who is a hybrid of Mugatu From Zoolander, Tom Hardy's Charles Bronson and Jared Leto's Joker. Dante is on a mission to make Dom suffer but over the course of the movie, it's the audience who ends up suffering the most. Unlike the predecessors, there weren't any cool elements, enjoyable fight sequences or laughable moments to make the experience worth suffering through. Considering that cars are a superpower of the franchise, there weren't enough car related sequences either.
Even though there is an action sequence with blasting music every 5 minutes, I actually felt bored most of the time. On one side it's the general cacophony of the events and poor VFX while on the other, it's the lack of this logic defying craziness that I have come to expect. When I wasn't bored, I was cringing from the dialogue and painful head splitting humor. Oh, and when did John Cena go from a cold blooded murderer to a fun loving uncle?
Fast X is a pure set up for the sequels as the story dashes between geographical locations while shoving too many characters and giving some of them around 3 minutes of screen time. I have obliterated the past 4 movies in my reviews but I have never been bored while watching them. It's neitehr grounded like the first four movies nor is it over-the-top like the next five. Better than Fast Nine but still hazardous to the human brain.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Loved the drama but the idiotic humor killed the experience
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 (2023)
When Guardians of the Galaxy came out in 2014, I didn't bother watching it for 1 month because honestly.... a superhero movie about a squirrel and a tree. Now it's in my MCU top 5 because of how different, fresh and funny it felt at the time thanks to James Gunn's vision. After endless failures, Guardians Vol 3 was easily the most anticipated MCU film in years and yet, while watching I simply couldn't feel as good as I did during Vol 1 and 2.
The story puts Rocket in the central focus as we get to see numerous flashbacks of his youth which are the most outstanding element of this movie. It genuinely felt like a lot of effort was put into developing his arc while creating emotion, attachment and care from the audience. Bradley Cooper nailed the voice acting and the arc came full circle with a proper payoff. Unfortunately, the unleashed version of James Gunn who wanted to have emotions, action, drama, comedy, morals and music all the same time which ended up becoming a huge mess.
One moment I was sympathizing with Rocket and the next I was holding my head from the cringe of Drax or Mantis. The same old screaming banter was inserted every other scene and because of the repetitiveness it wasn't just unfunny, but it also broke the emotional impact. Sometimes, I wonder if James Gunn is a person who thinks his jokes are way funnier than they actually are since he keeps repeating the same thing without knowing when to stop. Also, this Adam Warlock fella was so hyped but he ended up being a damp firecracker who felt weak, pointless and shoved into the story.
The main villain clearly cared about his mission and there is quite a bit to think about; however, the fact that he kept screaming the entire time made him feel like the diet version of Kang. The corridor scene was extremely well made as the music actually fit the moment and made it impactful. The best part though is that Vol 3 was a standalone adventure without any ties to the rest of the MCU which allowed it to flow according to it's own rules. Even though I was disappointed, this was the best one since No Way Home and until Fantastic 4 comes around, I bid farewell to the MCU.
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Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Better than 90% of phase 4
Ant-Man 3 (2023)
The main reason why I went to see Ant-Man 3 is because of the mesmerizing soundtrack by Elton John from the trailer and to my great disappointment, it wasn't in the actual movie!! Now that the mess of stage 4 is finally behind us, I thought maybe a fresh start with a new villain and a "direction" of some sorts would be aight. While it definitely had plenty of problems all around, it was still better than 90% of what we have been subjected to in the past few years.
The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about how everything was taking place in a nano-scopic universe that could exist on the back of a flea and yet somehow it kind of made sense in the end. This film introduced the supposedly new big villain and while Jonathan's acting was formidable, he kind of felt like Kylo Ren i.e. Looks powerful at first but then ends up throwing tantrums, crying when his plans don't work and getting beat up, which removed all sense of menace. I mean when they introduced Thanos, he demolished The Hulk in 10 seconds; this guy got beat up by bloody Ant-Man and socialist ants.
The movie was 95% CGI and some of it looked like cheap 90s Sci Fi but there were a couple of nice action scenes that worked purely because of the cinematic experience. Stupidity was of course there, many of the jokes didn't land and the dialogue well...it's MCU. Paul Rudd, Michelle and Michael did try their best to create something amid these green screens. One glaring question mark was his daughter Mary Sue, I mean Cassie who was a flawless activist that built a quantum generator in her room, learnt how to fight in 2 minutes and became an adept at using her suit.
Despite all this negativity, I somehow didn't hate the film. Maybe it's the cast, a few nice scenes or the whole lightheadedness of the experience that made it flow for me. Is this a good start to Phase 5? Certainly not. Is MCU back? Hahaha. However, not counting Spider-Man which was made by Sony, this was the first Marvel movie in a long while that I didn't hate upon exiting the cinema and that is something.
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