Zoe Kravitz directed the hell out of Blink Twice. It has style but it has the substance to match. It feels very inspired both in terms of cinema but as well as having something to say. The entire cast runs with it and there are some heavy scenes to sink their teeth into. Drug fueled, see crazed and violent, it's fast paced but with its middle finger aimed the right direction.
Hit Man is a fun and charming film, Glenn Powell and Adria Arjona have some great chemistry and the plot is pretty fun. It feels like a Netflix film more so than a Richard Linklater film, but most Linklater films honestly don't feel like Linklater films. Most of his work is fine as is this, it is probably his best live action work since Boyhood . It would play well with the gem that is Mr. Right.
Friday night I went to the drive in to see a double bill of Twister and Twisters. I had zero expectations for Twisters but it was a fun shut off your mind flick. Good food, good company, nice night at the drive in.
I am not against remakes, some are fantastic. Some comic characters get rebooted too often though, such as Spider Man, and while i loved The Batman, it was too close to Snyderverse and Nolan's. So a fresh take on The Crow.....well it couldn't be any worse than the sequels right? I love the original, it might be my most quoted film ever. Bill Skarsgard is solid in this, as is the action & gore....the plot however is awful. There is no heart, there is no love, no romance. Eric & Shelly are not lovable lovers here, they are junkies and soulless. This is a mean spirited film in all the wrong ways but it thinks it is speaking to people. Should have just either been a Crow sequel since it is not a true remake, and just give new characters, or it should not have been a Crow film period. It felt like John Wick meets Constantine only not good, this should have just been a vigilante film, it still might have been awful but atleast it would have been bloody awful.
Most Tubi originals have been pretty fucking awful but Slay slays. It is drag queens vs vampires, To Wong Foo meets From Dusk Til Dawn, and it is bloody, funny, campy and full of vampire nerdom, heart and wit.
Arcadian is a decent film. Nicholas Cage carries what would be a forgettable plot into a passable Shudder film. It was a tad dull but had a decent pace, at the end of the day though it felt like a STV Cage flick.
Alien: Romulus i've been seeing get flack for fan service. I was so confused as to how a film set between Alien & Aliens would have fan service....but sure enough it did. It wasn't bad fan service, just thought i'd get it out of the way. The film itself i highly enjoyed, it starts off in a different way and give us a fresh take on the saga. Then as these films always do, hell breaks loose and the horror ensues. It had some good jump scares and build up to a climax that feels straight out of the Dark Horse comics plus it is very atmospheric. . Also Cailee Spaeny continues to knock out great work especially in 2024.
Tarot is not a good film by any means, in fact it feels very generic and 00s. Unlike some modern films though, i actually cared about a couple characters, but while the plot was lacking it carried a fun vibe. It had some good kills and honestly that is all you need in horror sometimes, dumb light fun, and this had it. It has some nightmarish imagery which i loved, so was it style over substance? Maybe, but the reading says check it out and fuck what you are told.
Exhuma on Shudder is a well crafter & atmospheric horror film but the pacing was a bit off for me. At times it was bat shit, at others it was beyond dull, tonally it was all over the place. Good film just was a bit underwhelming for me.
Perhaps it is due to Tim Miller taking over directing duties from Eli Roth, but Borderlands is a mess. It is a mess but i enjoyed it, i have never played the game but this was a quick & light watch. The trailer screamed Guardians of the Galaxy and it feels inspired by it, but also it feels very Troma. Most of the action is choppy, the jokes fall flat and most of the acting is wooden, except Cate Blanchet & Ariana Greenblat, but somehow it was enjoyable. It was not a good film by any means but worth a one time visit to the wasteland.
Last Night at Terrace Lanes has some of the worst characters in film this year and they relationships between said characters is even worse. I couldn't care about the plot since i didn't care about the characters. It was light, and could have been fun but i just couldn't get into it, it wasn't boring or bad per se, glad it was under 90 minutes.
Ghostlight is a tight nit and charming film with alot of heart. It shows struggles families have, the power of the arts and wraps up as a solid coming of age story. Some damn fine acting, a few moments that tug the heart strings. It was a fine film, i would say i was underwhelmed in terms of enjoyment but it was too good to say that. And much like Romeo & Juliet the final product knocked it out.
Ethan Hawke as a director never does much for me but i was intrigued by Wildcat. This is his most interesting film, it is all over the place tonally but it is a gorgeous film with brilliant ideas. This film feels like poetry or spoken word which is fitting for the source material and plot but as interesting as it was it also was quite the chore at times. The opening scene is what i want and need to see Hawke tackle more of, total batshit and inspired.
Thelma is a sweet, cute & charming little film that is also quite depressing. The entire cast does a great job and you feel alot of heart. Some of it is a bit far fetched but it is honestly sad at the same time because it oddly feels real. It is indeed based on real events and you can tell that there is passion in this project. Seeing people helpless is a tough watch usually but this one hit home cause of my own dealing with death in the past year.
M Night Shymalan is a great film maker even if most of his films are not great. After Split....and a lesser extent Glass i felt he was in his new master era, but then along came Old. That is probably his worst film for me, but he rebounded with Knock at the Cabin, and i was glad, i didn't want to write him off. Now he has Trap, a film that honestly doesn't feel like it is from M Night. It feels like a studio film with a director for hire, and that isn't a knock, i still found it to be fun. Josh Hartnett is great here, the last act you see the "real him" it almost feels like a different character while at first he seems to be steps ahead even if it feels far fetched, which it does ALOT. He was fun to unravel but still quite messy.
