Change Your Image
Fred_Derf_
https://twitter.com/predatorfanboy
Blogs :
https://robocop2directive5.blogspot.com/
https://predator2fanboy.blogspot.com/
https://raccoonstars.blogspot.com/
https://btheburbs.runboard.com/t1138
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Channel (2023)
Refreshing great action movie.
Action movie fanatics may wanna take a look at Kaufman's work, he started in 2005 with a very low budget flick The Prodigy (200 000 bucks), a dark and gloomy story about a sadistic masked killer. A must watch. The mold for all his other movies.
The way he handles the shoutouts is quite specific, a mixture of quick cuts, and immersive shots, gore wounds, and intense sound design, and believe me it works and it's very enjoyable. It gives a unique and aggressive style to the fight scenes and it shows.
He then continued to direct and write action flicks, using his skills learned in the industry to make good stuffs despite having a limited budget. But he brings back all the old faces you wanna see, Lundgren, Cuba, Berenger, Prochnow,Mandylor,Strong, Coates etc... . I recommend all his movies.
The Channel is no exception and it still got the spirit, good pacing, good acting, immersive music, intense shootout scenes and sound design, you can tell they liked the other good heist movies, there are some references and nod to Heat, Reservoir Dogs and Point Break. No lecturing, no politics, just true Cinema.
I'm curious to see his next movie wich will be released in a 3 days : Shrapnel.
Night Trap (1992)
A wonderful late 80ies time capsule
Sure Night Trap's gameplay could repel a sheer number of players, back in the early 90ies and now. You spy one room after the other, and try to activate the traps at the right moment to capture augers, vampires, and protect the babes. But what's the greatest element about this game is ? It's a time capsule, as it was shot in 1987, you've got that awesome "cheesy" 80ies vibe, the hairdo, musics, fashion, the lines of dialogues are delivered in a very campy way. It's so good you can just watch the game as a short movie. I've been trying to find a movie like Night Trap, and the sorority attack in Revenge of the Nerds (1984) sounds very similar, so I like to think that the game staff was inspired by it. I've got the chance to chat with the late John Rashad Kamal , I was wondering why he spoke french a few times in the english version of the game, it was his choice, as he was fluent in french, he told me this skill made him get many roles in other projects, right under the nose of the other actors. As a french I can tell he was fluent. There was a controversy in the US, politicians doing a crusade against the game cartoonish and tame violence , it was like the people who rate Night Trap to be one of the worst videogame ever, all of these people don't even know what they're talking about. It's so enjoyable to activate the cool traps , spy the gorgeous girls in the rooms ,God ! I love this game.
Castlevania: The Lecarde Chronicles 2 (2017)
Overlooked gem
After playing the first game, I remember counting the days before the release. Miguel Perez pratically developped this game alone. It's a fan game, old school Metroidvania style, it's long and has a lot of areas, a huge final castle, Lucifer himself as the last boss. Music and graphic style totally immerse you in that dark and gothic atmosphere. The music composed by Jeffrey Montoya is extremely good. The game pays homage to a lot of the old Castlavania games, and If you think like I do that games like Akumajo Dracula 1991, Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the night etc are the very best Castlevania installements, you better believe that Lecarde Chronicles 2 can seat at the same table. Multiples endings, high replay value, challenging, enjoyable...You even get to meet Alucard, voiced by Belgrade ! Mig gets you back to the early nineties, and those were the days. I wish that I didn'tmiss the kickstarter and pay for it, yes, it's a FREE game. It deserves more visibility, play it .
Spirale (1987)
Dreamlike gem
Christopher Frank got famous as a director/writer when L'année des Méduses was released in french cinemas in 1985, his next movie was Spirale, wich bombed.
Jérôme, a photographer who owns a lab, is the main protagonist and the narrator, he meets randomly Simorre, an exquisite strange woman with an unusal first name,she changes her place of living frequently, always surrounded by the same small group of shady people. Jérôme becomes involved and wants to learn the truth about them, falling into a spiral.
Because of the movie's visual and musical style,almost dreamlike at times,and the story being grounded in reality, perhaps the audience didn't like that
the movie cannot decides wich genre it wanted to be. I'm not like them and I loved this one, the acting from the main cast is ace, Richard Berry and Claire Nebout give a neat performance.
Secondary characters add quality,one played by Tcheky Karyo, who's one of the last great french actors along with Depardieu and Jean Reno. Jean Bouise is fantastic as usual. This very very hard to find movie, will be loved by people who enjoy an intense atmosphere.
Summer of 84 (2018)
The anti Stranger Things
Most manly men, grew up with kid flicks like Karated Kid (true fans will notice the reference), The Goonies or Gremlins, and since a few years it's trendy in Hollyweird to make money with neo 80's material.
I didn't like much the neo 80ies stuffs involving kids as main characters I think they failed.From Super 8 to Stranger Things, or even the most over hyped flick of 2017 : Stephen King's It. Hot Summer Nights had some qualities though.And Super Dark Times too, even if this one is set during the 90ies.
At last I was pleasantly surprised to watch Summer of 84, lowering my guard as the flick was going on. Not only the production design and photography are nice, but the pre-teens looked real. Felt real. The only kid I've seen earlier was the main character in the fun flick "The Baby Sitter". One of them is persuaded that his neighbor Mr Mackey, a cop, is a serial killer. Movie is set in a suburban cul-de-sac
reminiscent of the one in The 'Burbs, you can tell, given the many references to that eighties gem that the three Canadian directors loved it and wanted to pay respect.There are also tons of other subtle references to a lot of movies like The Thing, Nightmare On Elm Street, even the poster is very similar to another Wes Craven flick "The People Under the Stairs."
So it's low budget but doesn't need a bigger one, you follow the 4 kids spying on Mackey and also live their everydays, life without internet and social network, but with porn mags, talkies and swearing all day. The movie manages to create a fun/ominous atmosphere all the way, and the nice synth wave score composed by Le Matos really helped.If you don't like synth wave you're gonna suffer.
Some critics who hated the flick, also called the ending anticlimatic, but I wouldn't use that word, it's an unusual ending but boy, it worked for me. Not your formulaic ending like say, Disturbia. Ironically these critics loved Stranger Things...Which is logic in a way. ST is for pussies.ST is overrated and P.C.
Summer of '84 is the anti Stranger things, and was written before ST became a thing, so stop saying it's a ripoff.
The replayability is strong,now I just want a collector bluray with deleted scenes !