good day.
zero charisma kinda bummed me out - it almost felt too real to me in some ways. but i liked it a lot. 3.5
escape room - i thought it was a fairly ok modern horror. most of the big set-pieces were pretty fun. 3/5
my week:
genesis (2018) 3 very nice movie. kids confront obstacles, sort out their feelings, make mistakes, some small, some major. it's shambolic and aimless, but in the good way that true to life movies can be. it would be absolutely winning & great if it wasn't so pointlessly long and padded with several needlessly long musical interludes and drawn out moments that push this over the 2 hr mark.
there's simply no need for it to be that long.
beeswax (2009) 4 fun, loose-limbed nothing movie. major plot point is a cash register ribbon getting stuck. those are the kind of low-key stakes i like in a story.
i really like movies where nothing happens. maybe i should spend more time on youtube watching someone's home movies and less time on paid streaming services.
these sisters should be indie film sex symbols. why aren't they in more movies?
funny ha ha (2002) 3.5 i want more of this aimless fucking around in all my movies.
robocop (1987) 5 why can't we have gleefully brutal, funny popular films like this now?
berserker (1987) 2.5 pretty dull late 80s slasher. the cutest girl gets naked, but she also gets knocked off 1/2 way into the film, so your ogling time is limited.
i guess it's a little distinctive in that even its death scenes try for an almost art house horror style. those scenes aren't very exciting, but at least they're a bit different. the rest of the film is just a bit too dull and plodding to recommend, unless you're an obsessive that's seen all the other 80s slashers.
cub (2014) 3 there's some fun stuff in here. it plays around with a few tropes, but as a whole, the film never really takes flight. it's never less than watchable, and it's got some surprises, but it just never quite pops the way i hoped it would. worth a look for fans of the genre, anyway.
the beyond (1981) 4 3rd or 4th watch, i believe, and i still can't really sort out what's happening in this movie.
but the makeup and effects are some of my favourites in any movie.
apollo 11 (2019) 5 watching this probably gets me as close as i can get to experiencing what a religious person might feel, maybe.
all the light in the sky (2012) 3.5 jane adams should be in more things.
i resent sophia takal for that stupid black christmas movie, but i always like her as an actress.
monster hunter (1981) 3 mixed bag, but leaning towards the good. fun gore, fun kills, not a lot of sense-making to be found. it does get a little bogged down at times, flirts with being flat out boring in a few spots. but it's still worth a look if things like this are your thing.
the score sounds like it was recycled from some of the composers other movies.
punishment park (1971) 4 an interesting byproduct of its era, and lots of people will find commonalities with events of the last year, i suppose.
my own reactionary take is that those filthy hippies deserve all the bad things.
ok, good (2012) 3.5 i think almost everyone can kinda understand the last 15 minutes of this movie. we've all been there.
robocop 3 (1993) 2 i didn't expect this to be great or even close to good. but i am disappointed that it's so soft & pg. the satirical brutality of the original film is a distant, vague memory & absolutely nowhere to be seen.
biggest highlight? seeing jill hennessy looking very fine.
conan the barbarian (1982) 3.5 a bit too long and i'd argue a bit too light on action and tension in its middle section, but it has some great sets, some truly great set-pieces, and i think that ending scene, with the temple at night and hundreds of torches lighting up the dark captures the epic feel the rest of the film lacked. it disappoints me a bit every time i watch it, because i feel like there's a better film just under the surface waiting to burst out, but it's still pretty good, miles better than almost any other sword & sorcery film you could name i bet.
extra ordinary (2019) 3.5 maybe i was a little too primed by the generally great reviews, but i am just the slightest bit underwhelmed. not to say that this is anywhere close to bad. perish the thought. it's 100% nice. very cute & amiable. but it's never really funny, at least not to me, and i never quite got sucked into it.
i think if it was just a little more winning & funny, it would be a low-key masterpiece like hunt for the wilderpeople, instead of just being really nice and fine.
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[deleted]
4 years ago
avengers age of ultron (2015) 4 absolutely the weakest of the four avengers films. fair enough. i'm not gonna argue with anyone on that.
but it's still lots of fun, full of great moments that make suspended adolescents like me happy. vision comes to life in particular.
the big action stuff at the end definitely isn't a patch on the climaxes of the other ones, but that chase & the iron man/hulk fight in the middle is great stuff.
flawed but underappreciated.
invaders from mars (1986) 2.5 i had pretty good memories of enjoying this back in my high school/vhs days, but while it's certainly got some fun moments & plenty of redeeming qualities, i have to say i'm a bit disappointed that it didn't maintain the goofy joy of its first half hour or so.
fun creatures and effects, but after that opening, it kinda flattens out into something that was still ok but a lot less fun.
nimic (2019) 3.5 neat little yorgos lanthimos short. will be appreciated by those who were worried we might never get lobster/dogtooth/sacred deer lanthimos back after his big success with the favourite.
trash humpers (2009) 4 lol x 4 billion. i like this a lot more than 95% of the films on the sight and sound 250.
bpm (2017) 4 i knew absolutely nothing about this movie going in other than it got a lot of positive buzz the year it was released, and this is definitely one of those times where i was gratified and ultimately rewarded by that ignorance, i think.
no surprise to learn that the writers had personal experience with this. it has the feel of coming from people who were there. the meeting scenes in particular are great and completely engrossing. if i'd had a movie of nothing but those moments, i would have given it 5 stars.
i think it falters by being a good bit too long and a little too unfocused for me. a stripped down, less shambolic movie would have been much more impactful imo. still terrific, regardless.
wall-e (2008) 5 my first watch. came out at a time when i wasn't really going to theatres.
you don't need me to write anything about a movie all the world has seen.
captain america winter soldier (2014) 4.5 i've always thought this was one of the best mcu films, but i think i might have undervalued it even so.
might have the best, most exciting action of any of those films.
outer space (1999) 5 this is really something. i don't know what this is or who made it, but i really loved it.
if you don't have a good sound setup at home, i really recommend watching this with a good set of headphones. it adds a lot.
there's a stream of it on youtube. it's only 10 minutes long. if you're in the mood, smoke something, put on your headphones and zone out to it.
dream work (2001) 5 i don't know what this is, but i know i like it.
back when i used to read about industrial bands, this is what i'd imagine they'd sound like. i was always a little disappointed when i heard spk or tg or the cabs, because it was never quite ugly & brutal enough.
this is what i wanted that to be like. the fact that there are cool visuals to go with it makes it all the more satisfying.
final destination 5 (20110 3 the final destination films are all quite good actually!
none of them are great, but they all are fun and pacey & perfectly watchable, and this one is no exception.
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StoneKeeper (26651)
4 years ago
Robocop: 9/10
Robocop 3: 6.5/10
Age of lutrin: 7.5/10
Wall-e: 8.5/10
Winter soldier: 7/10
Yeah, The final destination series can be fun sometimes
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KvlhokVjequs (285)
4 years ago
[deleted]
[deleted]
4 years ago
it's streaming on mubi, but if you're in north america you'll need a vpn to watch it. it's available in there in most of europe - finland, sweden, denmark, netherlands, etc...
mubi has a 7 free trial, so if you wanted to you could sign up, watch it, then cancel.
(i think mubi's really great, though - it's probably my favourite streaming service. i don't work for them. i just really like their content).
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Mrmojo4700 (21460)
4 years ago
The Beyond (1981) is a film that to me is the perfect representation of a dreadful nightmare. I don’t know if Fulci intended for the viewer to suspend logic while watching, but if you can, it’s definitely a wild experience. What do you think of the ending? When I think of the film, those ending images always stand out to me.
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[deleted]
4 years ago
i love that final shot. honestly, if it didn't end so perfectly, i probably wouldn't like it half as much. i certainly couldn't tell you what the heck was going on in that film, but it's got great moments and sticks the ending perfectly.
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