catochagen Reviews

Poor Things (2023)

Hollywood has gone of the deep end!

[4/10 · 22 January 2024]

Sure...

This movie is original. It has a unique look. The actors are great. The sets are impressive. The costumes are magnificent. I respect the visual craftsmanship.

But...

It's a film with no good men, with one possible exception. Only women are good. I'm so tired of this trope. Also, it's way too preoccupied with being gross and immoral for shock value and being unique.

Also...

The one thing I couldn't get past early in the film, is its basic premise: Men lusting for and having sex with a small child trapped in an adult woman's body. Full frontal. Multiple times. Explicit sex is a huge part of the films plot and running time.

I get that the journey Bella is on is meant to show us reflections on the human condition, criticize men's need to "own" women, female sexual liberation and experimentation, but there is a limit to the depravity on display, and this movie crossed that line for me.

I'm disgusted by Poor Things. I thought the title referred to the characters in the film, but it turned out to be in reference to us, the audience. I won't see this again.

War Sailor (2022)

The best Norwegian film in a long time - if not ever!

[10/10 · 30 October 2022]

A superb war movie!

What a pleasant surprise this film turned out to be. The cinematography, editing, effects and music are all top notch and help tell a story about some great characters. I feared it would be a Michael Bay-ish, bombastic, humorless action fest. It's not.

This is a somber film about the horrors of war, both for the men and their families back home. Joner and Hagen both give superb performances, but the strong supporting actors are the real surprise.

I spoke to a war historian after the screening, who also loved the film, and his biggest complaint was the lack of hair cuts and one piece of clothing in one scene. I'd say that is pretty good.

This is a human story, so the language barrier shouldn't be a problem. I urge you to check it out if you're interested in war history or human dramas in general. Also, the fact that they made this on what is a shoestring budget in Hollywood, is impressive!

No wonder this is Norway's candidate for best Foreign Language Film at next year's Academy Awards. It's a tough one to beat. Two thumbs way up!

Crash (1996)

One of the worst movies I've seen

[2/10 · 30 July 2022]

How Cronenberg gets to make movies and have people finance his BS, remains one of cinema's great mysteries.

This movie has no plot. It's just a series of random scenes with perverted people having sex in and around cars, usually with a crash and bodily damage beforehand.

I have yet to see a film of his I genuinely like or can say is a good film. It would have to be A History of Violence or Eastern Promises. They are by no means classics, but do earn their existence. Everything else I have seen of his has been a massive disappointment.

Sure, his characters are weird, he has strange camera angles and music in his films, superb actors and body horror/gore/sex, but none of that matters when his plot/story is nonexistent. Honestly, I regard him as the most overrated director still working.

Quick fact: In liberal Norway, this movie was banned on release by the cinema director of Oslo, who deemed it too perverted for general consumption. As a proponent of free speech, this always troubled me. Now that I have seen the film, I don't know what all the fuss was about, but i do think she inadvertently made a lot of people dodge a bullet, as the film is pure pretentious garbage. Many people saved a trip to the theater due to the ban.

Avoid CRASH like the plague!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

I think the MCU is done...

[5/10 · 8 May 2022]

Honestly, every MCU movie after Endgame have felt lacking. I don't know what happened, but the writing has severely declined. No Way Home was OK, but Eternals was horrible. The rest was fairly mediocre.

This movie is a mess. Luckily, Sam Raimi manages to give us a few visually interesting sequences and some great humor. However, everything else felt like a Disney+ show.

The more I think of it, the worse it gets.

The next Thor and Guardians movies will most likely will be fine. I want to give Taika Waititi and James Gunn the benefit of the doubt, as Ragnarok and Gunn's films have been good.

Still, the MCU is not what it used to.

Shame.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

No!

[4/10 · 26 December 2021]

This is cheap fanfiction, as seen through the eyes of some of the original's creators. I really like Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, but this was not a good choice for them.

I love the first film. It's a classic.

Reloaded has some horrible scenes, but also a few great action sequences (The high way chase, burly brawl, chateau fight, etc).

Even Revolutions had its moments, even though I would never say it's a good film.

The Matrix Resurrections, however:

• has a horrible script
• has terrible editing
• looks cheap
• has no mind-bending action
• has a lot of miscasts
• is way too meta
• has a lackluster soundtrack
• lacks consistency in its effects

Overall: I genuinely dislike this film. It's the Batman & Robin of this franchise. Who knows, maybe someone like Christopher Nolan will reboot it in a few years.

As it stands now, this is by far the worst Matrix film.

1999: "Free your mind!" 2021: "Blah blah blah..."

Now, gimme the pill that will make me forget this mess...

Eternals (2021)

Why not a miniseries?!

[4/10 · 6 November 2021]

Some of the themes here are great, inviting some grand philosophical questions. However, most of the running time get way to self-righteous and plodding, despite some great examples of filmmaking.

Certain scenes are beautifully shot, the music is sometimes good and the actors are mostly fine.

Ultimately, as a movie, it feels empty and vacuous. They would have done better making it a miniseries, exploring more questions and pumping up the entertainment value.

The critics were spot on...

Sweet Girl (2021)

A generic clone of The Fugitive, but with a mind-numbingly stupid plot twist in the third act.

[5/10 · 22 August 2021]

I like Jason Momoa. He seems like a genuinely likable guy, and he has a great potential for action movies, due to his physicality. Here, unfortunately, his character becomes a bit of a dud by the end, as the movie goes out of its way to sideline him as a character, in favor of his co-star.

Isabela Merced was great in Sicario: Day of the Soldado and will surely have a great career if she wants to. Here, however, she is just OK, but it's not necessarily her fault. She plays the character as it's written.

When it comes to acting, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is the standout performer here. His hitman has great potential as a bad guy, with some scene-stealing moments, but is sadly wasted by the end.

Unfortunately, the twist in the third act mostly destroyed the movie for me. I just didn't buy it. Suspension of disbelief in a superhero movie is one thing, but when a grounded movie suddenly ignores physics and continuity, breaking the rules set within its own world, I get annoyed. They went for something edgy here, trying to subvert our expectations, but it did not pay off.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

A vast improvement! A unique experience of bonkers fan service!

[9/10 · 20 March 2021]

I hated the mishmash that was the 2017 Theatrical version of Justice League.

The pacing, lame jokes, horrible color correction, bad villain and chopped up editing ruined the whole movie for me. An Avengers equivalent this was not!

This new, re-edited, longer version?

I loved almost every minute of it.

While the basic structure of this film remains fairly unchanged, everything is fleshed out. All of the characters have motivations and reasons for their actions, even the bad guys. The editing is better. So are the effects. Snyder is also a much more artistic action director than Whedon, resulting in better action scenes. Steppenwolf looks way more metal (pun intended). The gore, swearing and R rating make every scene feel more realistic and earned. Even super heroes get pissed off at times and hearing "gosh darn it" wouldn't cut it here.

The only thing I didn't find that great were some of the final parts of the Epilogue. That said, I do respect Snyder for putting those parts in for those who do find them rewarding.

All in all, I am really happy we finally got a version of the live action Justice League worth watching. This is a good piece of pop culture entertainment, even though it's long. Thanks WB, Zack Snyder and the rest of the cast and crew. Thumbs up!

WandaVision (2021)

Cool premise. Horrible writing.

[7/10 · 23 January 2021]

Ugh! Marvel... What have you done?!

I think this show has a great concept, as I am a fan of nostalgia and old shows as well, but the humor is nonexistent. I haven't laughed once, but cringed multiple times. The scenes where they hint at something deeper going on, are by far the best. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

Maybe everything will be worth it in the end, but after three episodes, I am doubtful.

I hope the other Marvel shows fare better...

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

A visually stunning cyberpunk flick!

[9/10 · 10 February 2019]

While the third act comes across as a bit rushed and sequel/franchise baiting, the rest of the film is absolutely fantastic! Technology keeps on improving every year and Alita is by far one of the most visually impressive sci-fi films ever made. The cast is mostly great, the action tight and the world building spectacular.

I hate 3D, and have ever truly enjoyed one film in the format: James Cameron's Avatar. For once, however, I decided to break my no-3D-rule and went for the whole IMAX 3D experience, wondering what Cameron & Co had cooked up in the kitchen since Avatar came out almost 10 years ago. I was not disappointed. Technically this is a masterpiece, and for once the format felt legitimate. This truely is a better way to see this film, with such a huge scope and (literally) multilayered world.

See this film! Bring your friends/loved ones and buy the biggest bucket of popcorn you can get. It's a blast!

(Also, that way we'll get a sequel, and the sudden, unfinished ending will matter less.)

House of Cards (2013–2018)

Brief review: Season 6

[5/10 · 9 November 2018]

Avoid! In retrospect I just kept watching out of morbid curiosity, not quite fathoming just how my favorite show on Netflix for the last five years, possibly could end as badly as rumor had it. I have nothing against the actors, but the main guys pulling the strings behind the camera should've realized that the story/plot they came up with here tarnished the impression we now have of the entire series. This is one of the worst final seasons I've ever seen. It's Dexter level bad. A complete waste of time!

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Probably the best action thriller of 2018

[10/10 · 10 July 2018]

Soldado is a very different film than its predecessor, yet takes place in the same universe, with mostly the same characters.

I loved the original Sicario and have seen it multiple times. It felt like a great standalone, complete story. Therefore I was skeptical to the idea of a sequel.

How wrong I turned out to be! This is a fantastic film! Soldado is to Sicario what Aliens is to Alien, Empire is to A New Hope and The Dark Knight is to Batman Begins. It takes these two great characters to a new place, always subverting your expectations as a viewer. Things never go as you might think.

The action is tight, the filming excellent, the score on point, the acting great and the script suspenseful. What more can you ask for? I've already seen it twice in the theater. Equally brilliant both times!

If they stick the landing with the third film, this will be the best trilogy since The Lord of the Rings.

Also, the scene that has many people groaning as "unrealistic", is in fact plausible, given that one assumes the character has a bit luck in that moment. When it comes, just think about it before joining the choir.