Train to Busan Presents Peninsula

 Train TO Busan is easily one of if not THE best zombie film in the past decade. Hell it is one of the best zombie films EVER. When a sequel was announced i was weary. Why? Why do a sequel? What is the point? The original tells a great story and you care for the characters. Zombies on a train could be B material but they turned it into kick ass art. The trailer for the second one didn't win me over, in fact it made me less excited. Did i want to rent the film for $20? If i was excited from the announcement maybe. Did i want to rent it for $10? Maybe if the trailer sold me. So here we are renting it for $4....and i still feel ripped. This isn't just a by the numbers zombie film, no this feels like a late 00s/early 10s January release of a horror action film. In name only this will either piss off fans of the original or people that want to praise every horror film will love it. This should not be named Train to Busan, even then you can't improve quality of a runaway train to redundantville. 

Hunters

 I think besides the Mandalorian that Hunters is my favorite series of the year. One part Martin Scorsese, one part Quentin Tarantino, one part 70s men on a mission TV series. The 70s setting fits perfect along I'm Dying Up Here and Vinyl which also oozed Scorsese touches. The exploitation elements and 70s sitcom and commercial moments felt like pure QT. A Nazi hunting show with a musical number and fake trailers? This show is a gift! Even though the pilot is 90 minutes(the rest are hour long) they all fly by, and each episode feels important with hardly any padding. Witty, violent and full of dark humor, the show has a message that resonates today. Sure there might be some errors here or there but the plot and cast makes you forget em, after all it is quasi exploitation. The entire cast is excellent but i think Josh Radnor steals the show. I wish i had watched it when it first started but now i am stoked for season 2! 

Fargo Season 4

 The fourth season of Fargo is the best season yet. It feels the most Coen Brothers of the bunch and i loved the GoT level of families jockeying for position at the top of the crime world. It also featured the best use of side plots and the stinger on the finale really changed the entire series. 

Two Weeks To Live

 Two Weeks To Live is a step up for Maisie Williams from The Owners. It is also a rebound for her from New Mutants, and it is a worthy HBO follow up for her from Game of Thrones. A fast paced, backwoods tale of survival, paranoia, deception, killings and coming of age. On top of that it has a good dose of awkward humor mixed with well placed physical comedy. 

Truth Seekers

 Not every joke works, not every plot point is on key, but the deliveries and characters mixed with a fun vibe helps make Truth Seeks a pleasure to watch. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost obviously have chemistry but add in Malcom McDowell and a trio of other misfits and this is a great ensemble piece about family, friendship and supporting friend's youtube channels. The horror is focal but almost secondary, the humor is the forefront and with it's British punch it mostly works! Glad Nick Frost was the lead, he deserves it! 

The Christmas Chronicles Part 2

 The Christmas Chronicles Part 2 is a bit more fantastical than the first yet doesn't feel as grand. We get more Kurt Russell goodness and the chemistry between the actors is still great like the first but you can tell he loves working opposite Goldie Hawn. Chris Columbus inserted a bit of his Gremlins touch into the elves this time around, and seeing terror in a candy coated Christmas Village is quite heart warming. Like the first there is alot of heart in the film and it doesn't take itself too seriously. First is still one of the better Christmas movies in recent years but this is a worthy follow up. 

Paranormal

 Paranormal on Netflix is a fast paced yarn of atmosphere with striking imagery. The show has a new horror protagonist that could become a fan favorite, the score is haunting and it's simple yet effective storytelling is perfect for the show's old school feel. The series is more than ghosts, in fact it is more than horror, whether it be on the production or the source material, this feels personal. I just wish it was black and white! 

Run(movie)

'Run' is definitely one of the most suspenseful and frightening films in recent memory. Not frightening in terms of scares but in terms of how fucked up human beings are. Sarah Paulson delivers the evil performance she should have given in Ratched as opposed to the campy version we received. This isn't a fun film, it is bleak and fucked up. Aneesh Chaganty is now 2 for 2 with this and Searching. 

Attack of the Demons

 Attack of the Demons is probably my favorite animated film since Into the Spiderverse. There have been better since then but this one hit home for me. Dive bars with indie bands, arcades, art house theatres playing 70's Italian horror, this flick is cool as iced shit. With it's crude animation and macabre humor it reminded me alot of City of Rot. 

Alien Xmas

 Alien Xmas might not be Killer Klownz From Outer Space but it gave me the CHido Brother kick i needed. This is a super cute flick full of super cute aliens, super cute dogs and super cute elves. This is the Christmas special we need, pulpy, fun, and wonderfully animated. 

Supernatural

 When Supernatural debuted i was intrigued but the WB stigma  stuck out. It was not until season 5 that i finally watched it. My uncle gave me the first season on DVD that he found at a garage sale. I binged it and then borrowed seasons 2-4 and caught up with season 5 online. Season 5 was supposed to end the series so i stopped. Years later a coworker convinced me to catch up with season 6 to 8, so i did. I continued to watch 9-11. And the show while contrived was always a blast. During season 13 i caught up with the next few seasons mainly to watch the Scooby episode. Then once again stopped. Now i am all caught up, and season 15 is the first since season 5 that i watched weekly. The show celebrates america, backroads, dinners, horror, folk lore, it is a great show with well timed humor, decent gore and suspense and lovable characters. This season was a bit spotty but the last 3 were excellent. The second to last SHOULD have ended it but i loved that the finale showed Sam and Dean post hunting. It makes sense for them to get sucked back into it though and the finale was truly touching. Dead is dead and it shows the afterlife, YEARS down the line after all the characters have passed, it is quite like Lost. In fact i wish the show ended with the Winchesters reunited with all their old friends in one house. Thank you for 15 years! 

Broken Hearts Gallery

 The Broken Hearts Gallery had me interested from the trailer due to Geraldine Viswanathan being awesome in all she is in plus a total babe, but also for it working in the realm of art galleries. The film started off a bit obnoxious, and it ended a bit sappy.....but that is a total of 10 minutes out of almost 2 hours. The obnoxious start had a pay off in the plot and the sappy ending was upbeat and cute enough to work. The rest of the film is charming and constantly makes you smile. This is also Darce Montgomery fusing his semi broody Red Ranger and his slyness of Billy from Stranger Things. It also celebrates New York and oddities. Once this hits Netflix, Amazon or Hulu this is going to blow up! 

New Mutants

 The X Men series is an odd one, the first two are great as is First Class and Logan, but with the franchise now owned by Disney is really makes anything in development pointless. Case in point, New Mutants. A Marvel horror film with a great cast? The first trailer was excellent but every delay made me more and more weary. The film itself has a great plot with it being borrowed partially from Glass....plus it's actress. The acting however...cringe. Those accents, that dialogue, the dull characters. This is far from the worst X Men flick, and as bad as it was i didn't hate it, but fuck a duck, this should have gone straight to streaming.  

The Dark & The Wicked

 The Dark & The Wicked, from Bryan Bertino, is a slow burn. A slow burn where not much happens but when it does it is scary. You feel like you are in the film with the two leads as some force manipulates them and they begin to lose touch with reality. Are they seeing floating women? Are strange women entering their home? Yes and yes, and the imagery and sound mixing is effective. This is Bertino's best film since the Strangers and i'm glad it is getting a limited theatrical run from Shudder. 

Possessor

 Possessor is the Cronenberg film i knew Brandon Cronenberg could make, in fact this is the Cronenberg film i wish his dad would have made in the past decade. Antiviral was good but forgettable, this reminds me of a more visceral Under the Skin. There are legit shocks in here sandwiched between tight tension. It's not as great as everyone says it is but it's a step in the right flesh for either Cronenberg. 

Spontaneous

 Spontaneous is one of the goriest, cutest, most heart warming, and saddest films of the year. Katherine Langford won me over in Knives Out but this is her coming out party. In the film you have seniors in high school wanting to graduate, party and live life but the school gets shut down after a pandemic hits the city, hmm sounds familiar. Familiarity aside this is pre covid and had a small theatrical run but it is very timely. Horror elements aside this is a tale of love and tragedy, plus it's a great coming of age film. 

Mortal

 Mortal is an interesting film that hits home for me. I myself am a burn victim and while i sat in the hospital ten years ago i thought to myself "how could would it be if i gained powers from this". Well Mortal brings that to life, our lead controls temperature, can manipulate water and has powers to heal. Some see him as christ, others see him as a terrorist, but as the film seems like a superhero flick at times, it fully turns into one and shows how to do it without a mega budget and with a compelling plot. 

Antebellum

 Antebellum is one of the more fucked films of the year. Not in terms of gore or language but in terms of racism and violence. The violence is not hardcore but methodical. The subject matter makes it truly a tough watch though. Told in three distinct acts, the first you to watch slaves and the hell they endure. Act two shows how in today's society that much hasn't changed. The final act takes everything you thought you knew and flips it. This is not a fun loving film but the ending is truly sweet and fitting for the week we have just had!

Get Duked

 Get Duked has cult classic written all over it. Misfit group of teens, drugs, humor and gore. It starts off with your obnoxious juvenile delinquents but evolves into the most dangerous game but beyond that it is also a coming of age tale. When the film is funny it is funny, when it is serious it is gory. Fun flick and would have been fun to have seen in the cinema.  

Black Box

 FINALLY, finally a Blumhouse/Amazon film that doesn't feel like a Lifeimte movie. Not this here is more like Black Mirror. The story unravels well, the cast is solid and once the mystery unfolds it enters heady sci fi with glimpses of horror. Overall i still feel these Blumhouse films produced for Amazon feel like they could be on Shudder but this is the best of the lot. 

The Lie

 I should have guessed by now that all of these Blumhouse Amazon films will be Lifetime esque. The Lie, the Blumhouse Amazon film, is in fact Lifetime esque. Lifetime esque to an extent. This is not high art but this is a well crafted Lifetime movie. The story keeps you guessing what is next even though it is all based on characters dumb actions, but dumb actions that have a pay off. A pay off that leads to a fucked up ending. Easily the best of their Amazon films yet. 

Lingering

 Lingering is a film that on the surface could be a great haunted house film. Like supernatural Asian films it is a slow burn but this one just feels highly uninteresting, There are moments that are awesome and feel Kubrick esque but they are far and few between. Like many Shudder films the final act saves the film, it is pretty fucking great but i just wish the first hour or so was just as great. 

Blood Vessel

 Blood Vessel is a fun horror flick. Evil Dead on a Nazi boat but with vampires instead of Deadites. Characters of different countries and ethnicities are our rag tag group of soldiers, it would play pretty well with Overlord, and they are pretty well developed in a short time. Most of the film reminded me of a horror game cut scene, in face alot of the film reminded me of various games. Also hats off for the ending!

Evil Eye

 Evil Eye, the new Blumhouse flick on Amazon, had a great concept yet the script doesn't feel fully realized. There is a good tale of a broken family, ethnic traditions and supernatural but it feels like a screener flick with a better production. Ultimately in turns into a Lifetime movie. 0 for 2 with these Blumhouse flicks

Nocturne

 Well Hulu has Into the Dark, a series i haven't really enjoyed. Now they have Welcome to the Blumhouse, and so far their first film oozes with Black Swan influence but has I Know Who Killed Me execution. This feels like a better made lifetime but still feels like that type of flick. The acting is quite wooden, the hump scares are bland and the plot just feels contrived. 

VHYes

 VHYes is one of the funniest films of the year. A film about a kid that uses his camcorder to record both home movies and late night tv over his parents wedding tape, is one of the most bonkers films too. If you dig VHS tapes, WNUF Halloween Special, Too Many Cooks or corny 80s commercials than you will dig this. Certain segments are hilarious, some are played straight and the ending goes totally unhinged. 

Mother

 Mother, the new Japanese film on Netflix, not to be confused with the Aronofsky film or the I AM Mother series, it one of the bleakest and more depressing films of the year. It is cringe from the start seeing a mother lick her sons wound. At first it is odd but maybe she just really cares? Nope, she just wants to fuck and drink with any dude that will drink with her and fuck her. Now there is nothing wrong with that but she ignores her son. Then once she is pregnant again they become homeless. From there the story switches to her son and his downfall. He loves his mom and wishes to protect her but knows she has wronged and been wronged. It is a tough 2 hours but it is so good, not the type of film you'd want to watch before bed or to watch and feel good.  

Bill & Ted Face the Music

 Bill & Ted Face The Music was worth the wait. I would have loved to have seen it in theatres, and yes it did play in theatres but i held off, but finally seeing it was excellent. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter still have chemistry, my babe Samara Weaving was great aswell but i think Bridgette Lundy-Paine stole the show, she channeled Ted perfectly. The Bill and Ted portions was a bit more far out and resembled  Bogus Journey, the plot with their daughters was more in tone with Excellent Adventure. The cameos all worked and weren't overbearing and overall the film was heart warming and uplifting. This exceeded my expectations, just 90 minutes of fun and joy. 

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

 The Wolf of Snow Hollow tries to set the mood with it's directing style, setting, humor and mystery yet fails to do any of that. The main character seemingly is supposed to be unlikeable but he is so off putting that he turns you off. This feels like someone wanted to make a Coen Bros horror film yet missed the mark. RIP Robert Forester. 

My Spy

Plenty of action stars wind up doing flicks with kids, Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop, Hulk Hogan in Mr. Nanny, Vin Diesel in *sigh* The Pacifier. Luckily Batista in My Spy is more along the lines of Arnold than Vin. The dude continues to grow in films and has a natural charisma, it also helps that the rest of the cast is having fun and Chloe Coleman is a stand out. Not every joke works but the film still is full of laughs, solid action scenes and has alot of heart.    

Tales From the Hood 3

 Tales From the Hood 3 is better than part 2 but still lacks the punch of the first. I wanted more of a mirror reflecting today's society to make the segments more powerful but they were still solid at most. The wrap around was the weakest bit i would say, which is a shame with Tony Todd. It is an enjoyable film but it feels cheap and forced at times.