cliffordo-33234 Reviews

Dracula (2020)

Death Reimagined

[9/10 · 6 March 2020]

Somebody thought long and hard about the story of Dracula and came up with a whole new perspective that is both spiritual and profound. The first episode makes it clear that Death should be considered a blessing. It completes Life. The inability to die would eventually become an unbearable curse for anyone. Dracula is urbane, glib and cosmopolitan. He has lived for centuries and he absorbs the experience of his victims, but there is a pointlessness and constant searching to his existence. His soul has become black as the night. He is not really evil, but this is where his existence has taken him. He is afraid of the Cross. He can't stand sunlight. He never enters a place unless he is invited. So, the question becomes 'what do these things have in common.' In the third episode, he meets Lucy and she has a quality that he loves and has never found with anyone else. It is the missing part of himself. And in the end, Van Helsing doesn't exactly defeat him. She completes him. I thought that it was all quite amazing. The vampire myth is so worn out that I didn't think that anybody could come up with a new idea about it, but this was new and it was brilliant.

Midsommar (2019)

Thought-provoking, creepy, and a bit tedious

[4/10 · 13 October 2019]

It is thought provoking. Does getting involved make your life more fulfilling? Does it make you more sane? Does it make you feel more loved? Or can it be dehumanizing? Can it make you insane? Will you lose your soul? And worst of all, will you figure it out before it is too late? It is about collective identity versus personal identity. Freedom of choice versus the collective unconsciousness. And when we struggle with our own human existence, a group's path to salvation can be very seductive. And wow, is that cynical. Sure, Druids may be bad. Jim Jones was bad. Aztec religion was terrible. Christianity can be terrible. But after watching this film, I didn't feel like I ever wanted to belong to anything again. I don't think that is a great thesis, unless you are Ayn Rand. So, maybe it is best to consider it a cautionary tale. We do live in a culture where Group-think seems to be the rule. Just don't follow the lemmings over the cliff.

Burning (2018)

Existential

[7/10 · 6 August 2019]

It will make you think. Nothing appears to be what it seems, but then maybe it is what it seems. Even when the film is over, you don't really know. The main character, Jung-Su falls in love with Hae-Mi. She says that they were childhood friends, but he doesn't really remember her. She comes back from a trip with another guy, Ben. Jung-Su really can't figure out Ben. Is he good or is he bad? Does Hae-MI love Ben? What's Ben's game? Does Hae-Mi care about Jung-Su or is she using him? Ben says he committed a crime. Jung-Su says he would have known and nothing happened. Ben tells Jung-Su that maybe he was too close to notice. And then Jung-Su does something that dramatically changes his life, and you don't really know if it was right or if it was wrong. So, kind of a Kafkaesque nightmare universe. Pretty absurd and existential. If you enjoy that, have at it. It's very slow, but with all the loose ends, it held my attention. Jung-Su is very bland. Nearly brain-dead. Lots of long silent stares. That was obviously intentional, but it was hard to empathize with him. Anyway, 2 1/2 hours and my general conclusion was that this only works if you think life is basically a pointless enigma. Certainly, much more philosophical than your average film.

20th Century Women (2016)

A quiet, intelligent masterpiece about who we are

[10/10 · 13 July 2019]

I have watched this movie five times. The director, MIke Mills, is describing what it was like growing up in Santa Barbara in 1979. The acting is terrific. Dorothea is a single mother trying to raise a 15 year old son named Jamie. She worries when Jamie plays a game with his friends that lands him in the hospital. She calls upon two other women to help her. One is an artist who lives with them named Abbie. The other is Jamie's friend, Julie. They throw themselves into the task. Sometimes, it is comical. Abbie teaches Jamie how to pick up older women, and Julie teaches Jamie how to smoke. All the characters are very likeable, but they are all struggling with their own issues and Jamie seems to grow the most when he helps them out. Dorothea grew up during the Depression and struggles mightily to understand the Punk Rock scene. But what works in the end is that they all care about each other and they are all available to each other. 1979 is described as a pivotal moment in our history. A clip of Jimmy Carter's 'Crisis of Confidence' speech is shown when he railed against the growing fragmentation in our society. So, come for the acting and if you listen carefully, you will hear the film's quiet message about who we are.

The Monster (2016)

Genuinely Spooky

[7/10 · 30 June 2019]

Definitely had me riveted to my seat. An alcoholic woman is raising an adolescent daughter, and has to drive her to her Dad's place which is somewhere out in the boonies. The daughter is as messed up as her mom. She still drags her teddy bear around and she is scared of her own shadow. She loves her mother. She hates her mother. She is very confused. She is as much the parent as her mother is. The mother gets sober, relapses, gets sober. There are a lot of flashbacks to their relationship as the story progresses.

And then, there is the monster. I kept thinking that it could have just been a big nasty grizzly bear, but the director/writer wanted to conjure up something out of our childhood nightmares. The tension and suspense is palpable. It revolves around what we don't see. What's in the closet or hiding under the bed. The wolf that gets in the middle of the road and almost begs to be killed.

It's not a masterpiece, but its good. You feel for the characters. You care about them. You sense what they are going through. And there is a point to it. A theme about redemption through adversity.

Rim of the World (2019)

Don't waste your time

[28 May 2019]

The dialogue was so horrible that I thought the campers were the aliens. This is one of those movies written for the lowest common denominator. Very corny. Very stupid. A terrible depiction of how people behave. It's like a very bad cartoon. Maybe kids would enjoy it, but if they do, it is still like feeding them the worst kind of junk food.

Dead to Me (2019–2022)

Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment, but much more fun

[10/10 · 16 May 2019]

Binged 10 episodes in 2 days. Terrific find. I had just finished watching 'Crime and Punishment' with John Hurt and had recommended it to a friend. She was finding it a bit dreary and asked if I could suggest something a little more perky. So, I found this on Netflix and decided to check it out before suggesting it to her. Both stories share a common theme; that actions have consequences and you don't get away with anything in this life. Why? Because we have to live with yourself. It's a powerful theme that's repeated over and over in this movie. Very well done. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. Just when I thought it was going off the rails, it gracefully maneuvered back. Extraordinarily captivating screenplay. Very psychological. Especially on dealing with loss and grief. Great interaction between the two lead woman characters, but it's not a chick flick. It is much more expansive than that. In fact, it throws themes at you by the handful. Lot and lots of twists and turns as well, so that you are always dying to know what happens next. I think Dostoevski would have enjoyed it. Crime and Punishment Lite.

Raw (2016)

Look at it through the Eyes of an Alcoholic

[1/10 · 12 September 2018]

Very stylistic. Great directing. Great acting. But, I didn't like the theme. Student goes off to college, is forced to eat meat, and becomes a cannibal. I.E. Student goes off to college. Is forced to drink. Becomes an alcoholic. So, you are obsessed with eating people. Not drinking booze. My problem is that she and her sister just adjust to murdering people on the road. Sure, her sister goes to prison. Her mom makes her eat her vegetables again. But, the film makes the insanity of addiction look like a 'coming of age' venture into self-discovery. Other critics say that she was finding herself as a woman. No she wasn't. She was pitifully and insanely obsessed. I don't think the director and screenwriter have any clue when it comes to addiction. And this low rating has nothing to do with the gore. I didn't mind that.

Emelie (2015)

Mean-spirited and Ridiculous

[3/10 · 9 August 2018]

There is a difference between 'horror' and 'disgusting.' I like to watch 'horror' and I don't like to watch 'disgusting.' This film was pretty disgusting. It felt like the directing was sloppy. To me, events and character dialogue didn't flow naturally. The story didn't make sense to me either. There were plot holes that you could drive a car through. I thought the film played upon people's fear of illegal immigrants which felt offensive. The film was not without its merits. I thought the acting was good. I also liked the cinematography. I did finish the movie.

A Quiet Place (2018)

Predictable

[5/10 · 10 July 2018]

I thought this movie was basically OK. I enjoy Emily Blunt and the character development was more interesting than your typical monster movie fare. It did a good job with the suspense, but I didn't like the way that they threw in some obvious clue that something was going to happen. At the end, I was kind of thinking, "really, nobody ever figured that out before now?" And the plot line was a little too simple and straightforward. If you are going to be suspenseful, you need to keep me guessing more. I feel that I will probably forget about this movie by the time that I wake up in the morning.

Annihilation (I) (2018)

What's the Sound of One Hand Clapping

[8/10 · 15 June 2018]

Visually, this movie is great. The lighthouse scene at the ending is very surrealistic. It reminded me a little of the ending in Kubrick's 2001. The science-fiction horror aspect reminded me of 'The Thing.' The bear is genuinely horrifying and creepy. It is a little more intelligent than 'The Thing' in that it isn't so obviously good guys against bad guys. But then, maybe it is a little too intelligent. It left me wondering wtf and running to find another video where somebody explains the movie to me. It think that it goes too far with being enigmatic because it loses some of its visceral impact in the process. It deals with some very interesting themes. The human instinct for self-destruction, and our sense of identity and the unity of life. I have a lot of respect for a movie production that is willing to sacrifice box office in order to be intelligent. However, a week after seeing the movie and thinking about it, I basically had to concede that it just didn't quite make sense to me, and then I have to wonder if the director just wasn't quite able to close the deal with his audience. So I can understand why many viewers probably feel frustrated and frankly offended by it. That was the way that I felt when I watched 'The Arrival.' If you have to watch a movie ten times in order to understand it, then the movie is not communicating effectively enough. It becomes like the Zen koan, 'What's the sound of one hand clapping.' Frankly, I liked 'The Thing' better.

Take Your Pills (2018)

Eye-Opening

[7/10 · 26 March 2018]

I am a baby-boomer. I thought 'drug problem' meant heroin and the opioid epidemic. This film made me aware of another epidemic which is the use of Adderall, Ritalin, and other amphetamines. And this film provides lots and lots of anecdotal accounts of people using them in college and the business world. It describes the effects, the culture, the access, and the side effects. It gives you a very good perspective from the viewpoint of the person using amphetamines. My criticism is that I don't think it gave enough attention to the dark side: dependency, addiction, and long-term side effects. It almost made it sound attractive. I think that is very dangerous and a bit irresponsible.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Shallow, predictable and one-dimensional

[1/10 · 2 August 2017]

We begin with the premise of an island nobody has charted because it is in the middle of a big storm that never ends. Really? Yet they manage to fly a dozen helicopters safely through the storm. Really? Those are clues about what's to come. The characters are one dimensional stereotypes despite the intervention of John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson. The romance is flat and insipid. There is very little suspense or subtlety. It really feels like it was a movie created by committee and focus groups targeted at the lowest common denominator. You can argue that it is a kid's movie, but it is pretty graphic and violent for a kid's movie.

Spring (I) (2014)

Good (kind of)

[7/10 · 28 July 2017]

Interesting. I could have sworn this is a European film. It certainly has the look. The cinematography is gorgeous. If you are looking for a horror movie, forget it. It is a romance. The chemistry between the main characters is very good. However...the storytelling misses the mark. Considering what both of the characters are going through, I needed to feel their pain more. The film is actually quite reminiscent of 'Let the Right One In' which I think did a much superior job of providing the necessary dark creepy angst. The girl needed to be less glib and more mysterious. The guy needed to be more freaked out.This isn't a bad hair day, people.

The Lure (2015)

Hard to Label

[6/10 · 14 June 2017]

Foreign films can be so refreshing. So let's see. It's about mermaids. Fantasy. That eat people. Horror. Who fall in love. Love story. And there's lots of singing and dancing. Musical. The songs are decent, but the lyrics sound like they were written by a crack addict. Could it really have lost that much in the translation? Oh, its Polish, so its subtitled. The acting and directing are generally well done. However, it feels like they took it out of the oven and released it before the film was done. So sometimes, it is touching and beautiful, with a classy European style, and other times, it is stupid beyond words. It is a take-off on the myth about the mermaid who tries to be a human girl when she falls in love. And that is all about sacrifice on the one hand, and being true to our nature on the other. A very unusual movie, especially for a director's debut film.

Arrival (II) (2016)

The Wheels Come Off

[4/10 · 19 February 2017]

The movie takes two interesting ideas, the nonlinear nature of time and the relationship between linguistics and psychology, and creates a steaming pot of gobble-de-goop. There are loose ends, logical inconsistencies, and an irritating aura of pretentious blather that apparently is suppose to inspire a sense of shock and awe. It felt like the director was out of his depth and was simply incapable of pulling it all together in the end. Maybe he didn't care and we were suppose to be fascinated by the mystery of it all. But when the director himself doesn't seem to get it, with all due respect (I did like Sicario), you end up with a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. Predestination explored the time travel paradox. Ex Machina explored Artificial Intelligence and consciousness. Both films masterfully came together in the end and blew my mind. With Arrival, instead of OMG, it was WTF.

Siren (I) (2016)

Did you like VHS Amateur Night?

[6/10 · 27 December 2016]

This is a sequel to VHS Amateur Night, and it follows the same general script. Some young guys are out partying and all Hell breaks loose. The first film was more realistic. The acting was better. This one has better special effects and the plot is more complicated.

Hannah Fierman is great. In VHS Amateur Night she went from being a little spooky to OMG. This time, her character gets a little buried by all the other action. That's too bad because she really made the first film work.

Let's get it out in the open. The film is kinky. It is erotic horror. I like that. Not everybody does. So it appeals to a niche in that respect. It also has some good old-fashioned horror and a few plot twists to keep it suspenseful. So it's not Shakespeare, but it was fun. Enjoy.