gordonrm-31460 Reviews

Smile (V) (2022)

Really decent modern horror flick

[7/10 · 28 November 2022]

Let me start of by saying that I've been a horror fan my entire life, growing up on the slasher movies of the 70s - 90s which are still my favorite on the occasion they come out anymore (hooray Terrifier!). Even though this movie isn't that, I've grown a general dislike for the jump scare genre of horror which has by far been the most popular the past 20 years because they're always so predictable in how they create their scares.

However, that said, this is largely a jump scare movie, but they do it right in my opinion. The jump scares are actually disturbing and unlike so many other movies in the genre, they're unexpected in different ways. I mean you can still tell what's about to happen like all jump scares, but the way they happen just have a bit of a twist on them than what we've come to expect. I watched it a couple days ago, and still have some of the images in my brain, so they did something right.

The drawbacks of the movie are the acting which isn't particularly great from basically anyone, and the story telling is disjointed especially with the love story that turns out to be the most important of the entire thing. Overall though, pretty decent flick that I'd recommended to anyone who's into supernatural jump scare horror. How the ending connected to the beginning showing how people were actually being entered by the evil spirit was really cool.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

What... was that?

[3/10 · 7 August 2022]

It's strange when you get a movie that's so well shot, acted, and directed that just falls completely flat. The movie itself is actually quite beautiful. It really puts the viewer into the time it depicts. The actors are great for the most part, and it's obvious there was a great deal of care taken to make it feel authentic.

However, it's not cohesive in the least bit. Things just seem to happen. Situations come up with no actual resolution. Then, the movie just ends. It felt like the editing room just strung together a bunch of different scenes bookended by whatever they could find for a beginning and end. Apart from the actual beginning and end, they could have put the rest of the scenes in any order they wanted and it would have still had the same impact.

I will say I did enjoy the love the two characters had for each other. Their story could have been told far, far better, but how they interacted where they just called each other out honestly when one of them was messing up was tender in a weird way. That said, the age difference was really weird. They even expressed it at one point when Gary was goofing around with his friends after their truck ran out of gas. I find it hard to believe that any 25 year old person stuck in a rut is going to find their way out of it with a 15 year old... not to mention that's creepy and illegal anyway. Even in the 70s the age of consent in California was 18, so we're watching a movie about a statutory rapist. That's completely counter to the whimsical vibe the movie was going for.

Then again, maybe that creepiness is what the movie was trying to project at the same time? If it was, it really missed the mark from being avant garde to predatory.

Leave this one where you found it. Don't waste the two hours of your life. Clean your bathroom or something instead.

Reservation Dogs (2021–2023)

Totally on point

[10/10 · 10 August 2021]

Native here, raised on the rez. I won't say this is 100% accurate because it's obviously a caricature in some ways, but they get so much right, especially the slang. I found it hilarious that the old warrior character truly represents Native humor in a way I've never really seen before in pop culture, just really fast, double barreled, and then suddenly drab. The sets are very close to real life. I watched these first two episodes thinking "I've been there," or "I've done that." Probably the best glimpse into rez life since Smoke Signals which is a huge tip of the cap.