From Black is a film that thinks it is deeper than it is. It has a good idea about addiction and grief and puts a supernatural spin on it but the execution misses the mark and the film in general is quite bland. It is well shot and has some creepy moments but this truly feels like a jumbled mess.
It's no secret that the Evil Dead series is one of my favorites, i love all of the only trilogy but the first one is easily top ten for me due in part to the low budget nature and it being the most straight forward horror. Evil Dead Rise harkens back to the original being pure horror but still having touches of dark humor, towards the end it goes full on Evil Dead 2. Refreshing to see a film this bloody in theatres, and it is one of the goriest the past few years. I don't want this to become a universe but i am all for a continuation.
I grew up loving the Power Rangers, but even as a kid i realized how ridiculous the show was. I gave up after Mighty Morphin ended, not for any jaded reasons, i just preferred the original cast. The 30th anniversary special on Netflix is every bit as dumb and corny as i expected. It's cheaply made but it adds the charm. I hate when people speak of nostalgia but this here was pure nostalgia in all the right ways.
The third season of The Mandalorian felt a bit lighter. Granted the first two seasons were planet of the week seasons but it felt like it had an arc. This year felt a bit scattered but everything came together in the final two episodes. It lacked a bit of the magic of the first two seasons but overall the season was ultimately satisfying as the finale felt like a series finale. We had more mandalorian lore, a bottle episode, some Blade Runner tones. I do feel Star Wars fatigue is here sadly, which is a shame as this saga while perfect for universe building is getting too many film/show announcements. I am all for Mando continuing but it no longer seems to be Lucasfilms top priority.
I have never played D&D but i've had friends all throughout my life that played it. Most of the connections to it are also from Stranger Things, Community and Freaks & Geeks to be honest. The film itself is alot of fun, all the leads seem to be having a blast and each one lets their characters grow. There's some sweet imagery and you can tell this had some love behind it. Reminded me alot of 80s high fantasy flicks with a dash of Holy Grail.
I wanted to love Kids vs Aliens, at most with films you want to like them. I hated this movie, i hated the plot, the characters, the aliens. I get it was supposed to be Troma esque but the bullies felt dated, the lead girl was a buffoon for even engaging with the lead bully, the kids were annoying as fuck. The party escalating quickly is a Troma move but while Troma is cheap, this tried to be cheap. It suffers from the post Grindhouse mode as skating by the bare minimum. The plot made no sense, not that it needed to but it felt like someone watched Monster Squad or Stranger Things and picked up a camera without knowing how to shoot a film and produced an uninspired short....only it was inspired and it wasn't a short. Thankfully this was only an hour & 15 minutes long but it felt like it should have been 40 minutes to be honest, that or just be a better film.
It's a cheat but my favorite game of all time is Mario All Stars. To this day the Mario side strollers, Mario Kart series, and Dr. Mario get the most play from me. The new film is a total celebration of these games packed in a nice and tight 90 minute run time. It's not high art and I don't know why some expect that, it's just pure fun and that is all you can ask for from a flick like this. I'm totally down for this to be a franchise.
Who would have thought a film about the rights & release of Tetris would so good? I knew about the various licensing issues but the film expands on that greatly, while also adding in alot of fabricated moments to add tension to the U.S. vs Russia scenes but it works for this film as it is A) The 80s, B ) In vogue to be in the 80s C) Is an underdog story. A great soundtrack with fun Russian and 8 Bit covers fits perfectly here as do the Tetromino moments. One of the best puzzle games ever creates a puzzle of a film and unlike most espionage films it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Ilja Dragunov vs Jordan Devlin: NXT
Jonathan Gresham vs Mike Bailey: Impact
Mike Bailey vs Johnathan Gresham: Sacrifice
The Unheard could have had a great execution, a girl regains her hearing and begins to hear/see weird shit and possible memories but holy fuck is Shudder delivering the most boring films imaginable this year. Lachlan Watson has a sweet charisma but it isn't enough to make this film interesting. Is it a character study? Is it mumblecore? Whatever it is the film just exists in dullness, maybe that's the point, maybe we are supposed to feel disoriented since the lead is....only if the film had been shot more visually it could have worked. The second half is jarring but in all the wrong ways, moments that should be tense become redundant. Should have been thirty minutes shorter.
Zach Braff's Garden State is a top 10 film of mine most likely and a film that at one point saved my life, i find it to be a masterpiece and adore every second of it, it gives me an emotional release. Wish i Was Here felt like it was Garden State lite, it was not bad just not memorable. Going it Style was another good yet unmemorable film but felt like a director for hire project. Now he has A Good Person which is easily his messiest film, full of quite cringy dialogue and some sappy moments yet it somehow works because of how fucking great Florence Pugh is. It feels as if the addiction aspect was not fully researched but it still takes you on a rollercoaster of her characters rise, fall & rebirth.
I watched Party Down right after season 2 ended....that was 13 years ago. I welcomed a new season but found it to be a low rent streamer stretching to find a property, which it was....and the result felt cheap, which is not a bad thing as the first two seasons did as well. BUt if this is what streamers and networks are doing now, reaching for obscure series to relaunch, they will need to either write better episodes as some here were quite meh, but when it was great....well it was one episode. or just create a new series. The characters and situations were there but most of it felt forced. I'd still watch a fourth season but i say let it ride into the sunset.
