Match of November

Possibly match of the year!

Living on a Razor's Edge: The Scott Hall Story

I just finished the Scott Hall documentary, it was pretty good. I am glad it was over an hour, but i still wish they would have gone deeper into the rise in the early 90s aswell as the politics involving the switch to WCW. It was more of a redemption tale and showcased his run ins with the law and his personal demons. It was the opposite of the Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, in it painted him in a better light through recovery, it was touching. I have always been a fan of his, always will be, bad times don't last, but BAD GUYS DO!

Bad Santa 2

Anchorman is brilliant, everyone hated the sequel, I dug it, not on par with the first, but i dug it. Zoolander is brilliant, everyone hated the sequel, i dug it, probably wont watch it again, but dug it. Bad Santa is brilliant, everyone is hating the sequel, i dug it. It is still a dark comedy, but it tries to be a bit more of a broad comedy this time, Billy Bob still runs with the role but he comes across a tad more idiotic and less witty this time around. Not every joke works but it is a fun flick, it will not be considered a classic like the first one, but it still has the charm of the first. I went in with lower expectations due to reviews but glad i did, as it helped, comedy sequels are tough, but go easy on em, have fun and enjoy a movie for what it is, Billy Bob being un pc, drinking, fighting & fucking.

The Handmaiden

I love Park Chan Wook, i adore the Vengeance trilogy, i think Thirst is underrated, i think his other films are solid but was let down by Stoker. THe Handmaiden looked like a return to form, and it is well made, it is a great sexual thriller, but honestly the sex and few moments of violence are the only real memorable pieces. Ultimately i found it rather dull, again well made, but rather dull, sure that might have to do with the fact that it is Thanksgiving, i have been stuffing myself all day and it is too cold out, but excuses for finding it boring aside, it is still a well made film. Just don't go into it expecting Oldboy or anything like that. It seems like a Brian DePalma film at times, and i love DePalma. If someone wants to watch it, i will gladly check it out a second time, perhaps notice things i missed. I suppose if it was maybe 45 minutes shorter i would have enjoyed it more, it is definitely art house, so i should love it, but it got tedious at times.

The Greasy Strangler

Elijah Wood knows how to produce weird shit, the dude has been knocking em out the past few years. The Greasy Strangler isn't great but it is fun, it starts off awesome, almost like a big budget Troma film, but by way of Adult Swim, in fact the film feels like an Adult Swim short. but therein lies the problem, it starts off awesome but the plot runs thing after about 30 minutes. Luckily the last 15 minutes picks back up, the entire film is weird which is good but the first act is bonkers anti humor, the middle act is beating a dead horse, but the final act gets alot more horror invilved and seems like an awesome short from Tromadance.

Officer Downe

The trailer for this film looked like a blast, even if it did have that faux grindhouse vibe ricking in it, something i have grown tired of. Upon watching the film, it is fun, a lot of fun, however it does for sure have that passe exploitation feel. Now i love those kind of films, however now a days it seems if you market a film a certain way or have a over the top gore style, that it is a automatic win. Sadly it is not, while this film is fun it come across as Troma lite, like this is a film people will catch on Netflix but not delve deeper into the films it resembles when it is all said & done. The gore is cool and the colors & characters work, but it doesn't feel authentic, it is definitely better than say the new found self distributed films that scrape by, by pretending to be Troma, it has better production for sure, but still lacks authentication. If i am going to see a film of a cop killing criminals, i will watch Dredd. With that said, check it out, and remember just because you don't love a film, doesn't mean you didn't like the film!!

In a Valley of Violence

We have had a few awesome westerns in the past year, Bone Tomahawk, Hateful Eight, The Revenant, The Magnificent Seven remake, now we have In a Valley of Violence, which easily has the best opening credits and closing credits of the bunch. Ti West recovers from what i felt was a underwhelming film in the Sacrament, that along with some lackluster short subjects in anthologies has made a lot turn on West. I am still a supporter and glad to see him venture out of horror, John Carpenter never got to make his western, which i wish he had, but West can say he has made his, and ignore the haters, this was a good flick. It is not perfect, but it fits, it feels like a film Larry Fessenden would be attached to. Ethan Hawke is pretty good in it, he out shines John Travolta, and Taissa Farmiga & Karen Gillan could have both had more to work with, but this is a man with no name style film, so all eyes on Hawke. Hawke and the violence, cause the shootouts are pretty good in this. It is not West's best film, but far from his worst.