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Reviews
Evil Dead (2013)
Genuinely one of the best horror movies ever made.
It's taken me a very long time to come to this conclusion but I genuinely think this might be the best horror remake of all time. Is it as unique, groundbreaking and Iconic as Sam Raimi's 1981 classic? I can comfortably say it isn't. That being said, I think this film is objectively better than the original.
From the opening moments, Fede Alvarez makes it extremely clear that we are in for one of the most brutal, visceral and bloody horror films ever and, with each passing sequence throughout the film, he does nothing but over deliver, elevating what could be seen as generic material into a beautifully directed master class of tension and brutality.
The Last of Us: When We Are in Need (2023)
It's a perfect adaptation
One of my favorite storylines from the game is adapted to film perfectly this episode. Rarely is a scene in this episode not pulled directly from the game. It's exactly the kind of adaptation this arc needed. Bonus points for the inclusion of Troy Baker (the actor that plays Joel in the games) as James. Scott Sheperd as David stole the entire episode, appearing first as a seemingly nice guy before showing his true colors gradually over the course of the episode. In all honesty this is my favorite episode of the series so far and I can't wait to see how they handle the finalie and whatever lies beyond.
Amsterdam (2022)
Death by editing?
To sum up mu thoughts on Amsterdam: I would say it feels like a film that's been hacked down from a good 3 hour film down to a 2+ hour mess. It feels like there's just so much to praise here from Acting on all fronts to Lubezki's emasculated visuals to O'Russel's gift for crafting insane, tense, and often hysterical individual scenes. That's why it kills me to say it just never seems to click into place.
The very first rule in writing a good story: show, don't tell. Amsterdam is 80% tell. Constant voice over exposition just completely shatters any sense of flow the story could have had and I'm not someone who typically bemoans the use of it. If anything I was excited in the beginning, realizing it was going to be a part of Amsterdam being a huge fan of O'Russel's American Hustle. After all, I would prize that film as one of the most exemplary pieces of how to pull it off correctly. Amsterdam is the complete opposite. The film seems to jump unexpectedly and illogically all over the place, explaining it's way through almost every scene with almost no time reserved for getting to know the characters as people and what does exist of character development only served to remind me of how great this film could have been had it only went a little further.
I can't say I didn't enjoy the film at but I'd never say it blew me away either. I'm still glad I saw it.
Clerks III (2022)
Not as good as the others but a solid threequel
I am certainly a Kevin Smith fan. I've seen all the View Askewniverse films and I enjoy every one of them. That being said I haven't been around quite as long as most long time fans, being only 20 years old. That being said, I've been pining for a third installment ever since I saw the first two back in 2015. After 7 years, I'm happy to see the story of Dante and Randal finally come to an end.
The film is far from perfect. It doesn't feel as much like a clerks film as I expected it to. Instead of a series of interesting encounters with various strange customers, Clerks III follows a far more traditional narrative structure as the titular clerks resolve to make a movie in the vein of the original film from 94.
Overall I liked the movie. Probably Smith's best work since Red State. I liked a lot of the decisions smith made when it came to his main cast. The emotional beats of Dante and Randal hit fairly well for the most part though certain choices made involving Becky and Elias seemed a little out of left field and unnatural. My biggest issue was pacing. The film just moved too fast. I feel like we needed more time to linger on some of the film's more emotional moments than what we got.
7/10.
Bullet Ballet (1998)
My 5th Favourite Film of All Time
At the time of writing this review I am 20 years old. I Haven't had a lot of time under my belt to appreciate the vast world of cinema but I can say with complete honesty that Tsukamoto Shin'ya as a filmmaker has completely changed the way in which I perceive filmmaking and Bullet Ballet is without a doubt his masterpiece.
While most other good and even great filmmakers might feel restricted by a low production budget, Tsukamoto manages to make his lack of resources his greatest strength in all of his films. Bullet Ballet, however, is on another level.
Taking place in the late 90s, Bullet Ballet follows the story of a man that unexpectedly returns home to his apartment on day to discover his girlfriend has committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Following this event, the man dives deeper and deeper into the tokyo underworld in desperate attempt to find a gun for the simple purpose of understanding what ot feels like to wield such immutable power.
What begins as a setup for a relatively standard drama quickly explodes into a complex, gritty noir-drenched exploration of grief, depression, power and the human condition.
It may not be for everyone but if you were to ask me, this film stands easily as my pick for the most underrated film I've seen and my 5th favourite film of all time. 10/10.
Memory (2022)
I should have walked out
Awful. Just awful. Martin Campbell has made some of the finest action films in cinematic history between works such as Goldeneye, The Mask of Zorro and Casino Royale but you wouldn't ever suspect it from watching Memory. Just when his 2017 outing "The Foreigner", having been a rather enjoyable ride, gave me an ounce of hope for the future of his career, Memory dashed any and all faith i had left.
The plot is simply nonsensical. No character in the film is particularly well developed or interesting. By the halfway point, I realized the film never clearly defines who you are supposed to be rooting for. It's just a mash of convoluted scenes with the occasional generic action scene to keep you from falling asleep entirely until it sloppily meanders to a wholly unsatisfying ending that renders most of the film's events pointless
In short, there are two kinds of bad movies: Fun bad and Boring bad. This movie is boring bad and incompetent on the most basic of levels.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
WOWWW!
My first instinct is to say "they don't make em like this anymore" but that begs the question: "when did they ever?"
Everything Everywhere All at Once is genuinely one of the best films I have ever seen. I have nothing to say other than I loved every second of this masterpiece. No movie is objectively flawless; it's simply not possible. This just so happens to be a film that works for me on every level. In a release lineup packed with Fantastic Beasts, Sonic 2 and Ambulance, This movie is the one to see if you're looking for something truly special.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Shockingly Great.
James Gunn's best film ever. He knocked this one out of the park. The first 20 minutes of the film are genuinely masterful.
One of the best superhero films of the last 10 years. Very strong characterization and story. Gunn balances the aggressively violent images he shows with an uplifting whimsical tone so precisely it could only be described as surgical. Highly recommend.
A Simple Favor (2018)
This was not made for me.
I almost feel bad for driving the score down with my review but I believe it's necessary. I must also preface that I haven't seen this film in about 3 years so this is all going to be from memory (thankfully I have a good one). I just came across this movie again and figured why not leave a review.
In short, A Simple Favor is the very essence of a film made for moms. As of my first viewing, i was not a mother yet.
And, As of right now, i am puzzled as to why I included the word "yet" at the end of the previous sentence as I was a 17 year-old boy who only watched the film because of a solid Tomatometer and Anna Kendrick's "dress" on the poster. My point is that I am by definition the opposite of this film's demographic and thus, I cared little for it.
The story is insane. A widowed single mom with an online web show (Kendrick) befriends a smart, stunning, wealthy and confident fellow mother (Lively) through her son's school. Lively asks Kendrick the simple favor of watching over things while she heads out of town. Simple enough, but after Lively's body is discovered at the bottom of a lake, things get complicated. Kendrick begins to fall for Lively's Widower (Henry Goulding) and winds up moving in with him shortly after.
From here comes a lot of twists and turns as the film begins to play out like a romantic mystery novel sold at Walgreens directed primarily towards women of the older generation (because it's quite literally based on one). Nothing like attractive women on movie posters to sell a hormonal teenage boy something he had no business watching.
Sex, Scandal, Deception, Sex, Romance, Betrayal, Incest, Sex, Murder, Infidelity.
All things that could appear on a tv spot to promote something like this.
Now to refocus. What do I think of this movie? I didn't enjoy it at all. It wasn't for me and that's ok. So, why give a movie i didn't enjoy a second of? Because if you are one of the people this film was made for, you will adore it. This film is a godsend to people like you as this kind of film only tends to appear as a made for tv production or a daytime soap opera.
Will I watch this again? Probably not.
Will I ever recommend it to anyone? Yes.