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Reviews
Midsommar (2019)
Unintentional comedy
The compelling set-up, with palpable grief and slick (if a bit pretentious) directing, devolves into such silliness that it is more easily enjoyed as an unintentional comedy. Would love to see RiffTrax get their mitts on this.
The ABC Murders (2018)
Contempt for source material
I just finished watching all three episodes and am truly appalled. I can't give it one star due to the fine craftsmanship of cinematography, set design, costume, and most acting. However, the script and direction are an embarrassing mess, truly a vanity piece for the director who values style over substance, and messaging over story. and finally, if one desires to utterly rework the original source material, simply write a fresh script and leave the original alone. This is a mess and I advise you not to waste your time.
Batwoman (2019)
A hot mess
Story, character, dialog, development, and form make for good cinema (whether on the small screen or big). This show is a hot mess of incompetence. Sure, go ahead and make strong social statements in your art, but the craft itself has to be competent at least. It is not here.
Sleepwalkers (1992)
Solid, entertaining, and fun
Sleepwalkers is no masterpiece, but it is a fun, well-put together little B horror flick. The acting is solid, the practical make up effects are effective and not overly cheesy and the pacing allows the movie to zip right along. Horror buffs will love the cameos as well.
Kitty cats rule!
Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
So very bad
This is what happens when a company like Netflix makes a greedy money grab. The original "Between Two Ferns" productions for Funny Or Die are hilarious and brilliant, allowing Galifanakis to shine as a true come genius. The Netflix movie is simply awful, the only bright moments being when Galifanakis simply recreates the BTF set pieces. The casting, acting, writing,and direction of the connecting material is so far beneath the source material, it is virtually impossible to watch. Stick with the original source material and skip this embarrassing mess.
Mandy (2018)
Death Wish meets Timothy Leary
This is a gorgeous film. While basically a boiler-plate revenge flick, the film, with its subtexts of insanity and hallucinogenic drug use, is simply gorgeous to look at. Deserving to be viewed more than once, the film satisfies at different levels. Cage's virtuosic and nuanced performance is a thing to behold and only adds to the canon of films that prove he is perhaps the finest actor of his generation. Even in the throes of insanity and LDS tripping, Cage adds multiple layers to his intense performance, the man is a genius. All performances are top-notch, by the way. The cinematography, lighting, color schemes, and masterful use of camera shots are worth viewing alone, perhaps with the sound off. While it at times hints at graphic novel visuals, it is more than that. The sound design is remarkable as well.
As mentioned earlier, there is not much to the plot although there is a novel, almost supernatural quality to the biker gang. But perhaps revenge movies don't need to be more than that. This is not about reason...it is about the animalistic, visceral desire to avenge loss when there is nothing more to lose. Higly recommended.
Green Room (2015)
A shattering film by a brilliant director
Jeremy Saulnier's "Murder Party" and "Blue Ruin" are among personal favorites of mine. "Green Room" further explores Saulnier's theme of ordinary people driven to extreme violence by situations both in and out of their control. It is refreshing to find in "Green Room" that the bad guys are not made to be any more competent at violence than are the victims, nor are they made out to be superhuman, hard to kill, or without fear and reticence. Saunier makes the Neo-Nazis human, not caricatures. He does not make them sympathetic, don't get me wrong, but in making them mere mortals, the film is vastly more interesting and realistic Speaking of realistic, the explicit violence is rendered expertly and has the capacity to effect even the most seasoned horror fans out there. Like Sam Peckinpah, Saulnier makes violent movies for the smart viewer.
Day of the Dead (1985)
Another Romero classic
Day Of The Dead is Romero's third "Dead" installment and only gets better over time. This is one of the few films that realistically deals with the emotional and mental breakdowns one would expect under such conditions. The characters Rhodes and Miguel, often despised by many viewers, are the most interesting characters in that they illustrate two divergent manifestations of PTSD and the continued stress of life in the zombie apocalypse. Joe Pilato (Rhodes) is frequently criticized for going "over-the-top" with his performance, an assessment I disagree with. Rhodes is a man holding on by a thread, his mind and emotions shattered by the nightmare of his existence. Irrational rage, such as is expertly rendered by Pilato, would be common under such conditions. The performance is perfect. DOTD stands among the best zombie films ever made.
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
A politically driven meta-mess
Jim Jarmusch has very strong feelings about Trump supporters, global warming, fracking, family border separations, black incarceration, and capitalism. Squeezing this commentary within the narrative of a lazy zombie film, with about as much subtlety as a shotgun blast to the head, is an odd choice. It would seem Jarmusch has little love for the genre, essentially offering banal zombie tropes with no new insights or perspective, so one might ask why he went this route. Perhaps to simply see a Trump supporter eaten alive by zombies was enough of an incentive for him. Given his deeply progressive values, it seems odd that the two female leads offer little beyond stereotypes: one being presented merely as eye candy, the other becoming hysterical and paralyzed in the face of the zombie apocalypse. The one bad-ass female (played by Tilda Swinton) ended up being an alien who escapes the end of the world on a flying saucer (yes, this happens), so she doesn't count.
There is the typical Jarmuschian dry wit, however without the wit. The meta-components felt weird and out-of-place (Jarmusch is no dan Harmon). When Jarmusch is at his best, his films cling to you like a warm memory, but when they miss, boy they can really stink.
"The Dead Don't Die" cannot hope to favorably compare to his brilliant "Only Lovers Left Alive" which should be an honored mainstay of the vampire film cannon if it is not already. Skip TDDD and watch Romero's original directors cut of Dawn Of The Dead.
Under the Skin (2013)
A masterpiece
Some of the other reviews illustrate how this certainly is not a film for everyone. It is a genuine work of art nevertheless, a thought-provoking, deeply drawn narrative that offers many rewards to attentive viewers. Far from being boring as some reviewers suggest, the film advances steadily as it should and is actually fairly straight-forward story-telling. Don't expect everything to be clearly spelled out as you'll have to put the pieces together yourself, but it is not difficult to do so.
If you love the horror fiction of Ligotti, this film will likely appeal to you. It is intelligent horror as art form but no less disturbing and chilling as mainstream fare.
Black Mirror: The Entire History of You (2011)
The best entry from season 1
This episode works on multiple levels simultaneously. While offering insightful commentary on privacy, recall, memory, and technology, this episode also taps into the fragility of being human which remains timeless.
Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits (2011)
Decent entertainment, but not brilliant.
Well-produced and well-acted, but this is hardly the masterpiece as many reviewers suggest. Preachy and obvious, it might move younger folks who need to be spoon fed big ideas, but it's not overly great.
Us (2019)
Is Peele the next Shyamalan?
This follow up to Get Out is very weak. Expectation were high, but I doubt anyone expected this kind of disappointment. At the very least, this might become a so-bad-it's-good cult classic down the line.
Godless (2017)
Very good with significant flaws
Overall, a tidy and entertaining limited series. There is some unevenness throughout with different segments and scenes having a look, tone, and direction that is noticeably off track with the rest of the work. Some of the CGI work is poor and distracting (the train crash, rattle snake, some blood letting) but the practical effects, production design, costuming, horse handling, etc. are very good. The acting is terrific throughout.
It is obvious that some classic Western cliches, especially regarding the women, were meant to be upended and this made for some fresh perspective. However, a number of other cliches remain in tact and come off as a bit lazy. The final episode shows some considerable lack of character logic and the shootout is more than over-the-top, but if one embraces this as good popcorn entertainment without expectations of a masterpiece, it's not a bad way to pass some time.
Homecoming (2018)
Style over substance
Homecoming is certainly fun to watch and listen to if you are a movie buff. With nods to Hitchcock, De Palma, Coppola, and others, the series delivers fun little Easter eggs to those in the know. Setting these neat little gimmicks aside, we are left with a tepid little mystery, one dimensional characters, and little delivery on the menace promised within the first couple of intriguing episodes.
It is a pleasant enough time filler, but don't expect much.
At the Drive-In (2017)
Recommended to all, but a must for film lovers.
This is a beautiful documentary that shows how a galvanizing passion can create a community. Recommended for all audiences, but especially lovers of film.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Predictable, boring, and ultimately juvenile
Weeding out the very obvious social justice messaging here, which comes off as cliche any more, we have another overproduced, predictable, superficial cartoon masquerading as something more than it really is. The craftsmanship is there in terms of acting, production, audio mixing, etc. but strip all of that away and there just isn't anything all that interesting to see. Want to immerse yourself in a feminist super-hero universe with depth, range, and meaning? Skip Captain Marvel and binge the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.
The Favourite (2018)
Squandered opportunity
A good film exists somewhere within this mess of a movie. The script and acting are solid, but poor direction desperately marred the source material and did not serve the talent contracted to make this movie. The film is desperately uneven in tone, lacks measured and concise editing, suffers from drab cinematography, utilizes one of the most annoying musical cues put to film (that drones on endlessly not once, but twice in key points of the film), and overuses a fishbowl optic that is self-conscious and distracting. Regarding editing, this film stretches to just over two hours when 80-90 minutes would have tightened up the pacing much more. There are a number of needless, self-indulgent scenes that no doubt delighted the director, but served no purpose in telling what should be an interesting story. Too bad...a better director could have made a pretty good movie out of this.
Murphy Brown (1988)
A truly sad reboot
The original show, while not a classic, was nevertheless enjoyable. It is sad that a reboot was hastily thrown together to capitalize on the lazy anti-Trump humor that has run its course within the entertainment industry of late. If you enjoyed the original series, by all means avoid this disaster and keep your memories of the 80's and 90's sitcom safely intact.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
The Coens are the finest film makers alive.
What so many multi-season series fail to do over years of content, the Coens achieve in small form within this film that puts all of contemporary Hollywood to shame. The range of emotions, the characters so deeply drawn, and the sheer virtuosity of technical film making are a marvel to behold. Anyone critical of the brothers choices to explore the darker side of humanity does not know their output. This is mature film making of the highest rank.
Murdoch Mysteries (2008)
Strange amount of praise for a truly amateurish program
The ratings and reviews would lead one to believe that "Murdoch Mysteries" was among the finest series on television today. I have watched several episodes from different seasons, trying to find some redeeming features and have come to the conclusion that either there is an active campaign to artificially boost the ratings of this poor production or this series suggests a backlash against the complex, highly sophisticated, high production value television available elsewhere. Whatever the reason, "Murdoch Mysteries" is shockingly under par in writing, acting, and production values, especially glaring in this new "golden age" of television. At it's best "Murdoch Mysteries" is blandly charming in it's local dinner theater quality. One can sit through an episode or two while visiting one's aging parents easily enough. Written and produced to be easily grasped the average 10 year old, this is probably ideally suited for families looking for something safe to watch with pre-teens. But please, let's save the 10/10 ratings for series that truly deserve it. This is a 6/10 series at best and there is nothing wrong with that.