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Reviews
The Whale (2022)
Beauitful.
Brandon Fraizer rightfully deserved his Oscar. You could feel the struggle with every movement in his hody suit. This film has as much weight as Fraizer's character. The analogy presented here with the relationship between Frazier's Charlie and Moby Dick is so thoughtful without being too on the nose or pretentious, and it leads to a thematically resonant ending which connects the characters to each other, to the overall meaning, and to the audience.
Everyone in this film sold their roles. Sadie Sink and Hong Chau's performances in the last act were exceptional. It's rare that a movie makes me shed actual tears. Last years Everything Everywhere (also deserving of it's oscar), made me tear up once to my surprise and this film did the same thing.
Presenting the film in a 1.33 aspect ratio was such a smart choice because it makes you feel the claustrophobia of Frazier's character being confined in a small apartment. A hallway moment in particular really made me feel the pain someone must feel being at that weight.
Everything Charlie feels in this movie, you will feel, guaranteed. This movie is so visually and emotionally immersive, my goodness. Also, extra points for being a film that shows a gay man struggling with something other than homophobia. His feelings towards religion given his backstory and sexuality added an emotional depth to Charlie's character that elevates the story, and it was something that I personally connected with.
I only had one minor issue with this movie. The last ten minutes felt kinda rushed to reach a conclusion, almost as if they ran out of time. I'm not sure what else it could have been said or done, but it felt very much like one of those endings where everything and everyone somehow comes together at the last second. The ending is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it felt like it was being pushed towards the door.
All in all, this is a definite watch for anyone who is open minded and loves Brendan Frazier, and it's easily one of Aranofsky's best.
The Offering (2022)
What happened?
I thought this would be a cool mix of The Autopsy of Jane Doe and The Vigil, but this movie completely missed the marked. This wasn't even half as good as either of those films.
Let's start with the pros:
Good lead actors.
Some parts of the soundtrack were creepy and unnerving.
Now the cons:
Every cliche scare you could think of, from someone getting dragged off somewhere, to something nonterrifying suddenly appearing with a loud sound effect is in attendance.
This film seemed to have little driving force, no character development or any plot whatsoever. If you asked me what the plot was I couldn't tell you without effort.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
You would think that the plot is going to revolve around the main character's relationship with his father, who is easily the most likeable character in the film. That is quickly thrown out the window.
The plot itself seems to jump out the window as well about half way through.
I can't even tell you the main characters name and I just finished watching this film not even twenty minutes ago. There was nothing likeable or noteworthy about him.
The demon is shown about half way through the film and you never stop seeing it once you do. The monster is 2007 CGI from Beowulf and it lost all impact after the first time it was seen.
This film wasn't remotely scary. The ending was clear about half way through, and what a terrible ending it was. Watch The Autopsy of Jane Doe or The Vigil instead if you want a film that actually knows what makes a movie terrifying or the least bit interesting.
Great work from the cast though. These few stars belong to you.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
I didn't not expect this movie to almost make me cry.
The makers of Swiss Army Man are at it again. I never expected this movie to trigger an emotional response. It's rare that a film does. This movie is so wild and unpredictable, and unique. The last half hour of this movie was outrageous and beautiful and left me feeling at peace with my own struggles. The acting is incredible, Ke Huy Quan almost made me cry with his ending speech. I expected to laugh, which I did, but I never expected to be emotionally impacted the way that I was. This film is so left field in the best way possible, I think everyone should see it.
Malignant (2021)
SUPER POWERED SERIAL KILLER KUNG FU NINJA MOVIE
This movie is crazy y'all. It's starts as supernatural serial killer movie and then it turns to a super powered serial killer kung fu ninja monster movie. I am just in love and speechless. Most fun I've had watching a horror movie in a while.
Candyman (2021)
Forced ending squanders potential.
Being a huge fan of the original i was hugely anticipating this, especially with it being a sequel to the original and not just a remake and I left majorly disappointed. This movie had the potential to be so much more. There were some creepy moments, but they felt very far and few in between.
People complain about it being woke but the original shared some white on black injustice as well and I feel like candyman would be the most fitting platform of any horror franchise to tackle the concept of social injustice, but the way they handled it here felt so cheap and forced.
At the end they set up Anthony to be the next Candyman which is fine and well but they have this third party character who's name I'm unsure of go crazy out of nowhere and aide in turning Anthony into the candyman by cutting off his hand and putting a hook in it, just to make him Candyman like. Then the guy calls the cops to report Anthony just because he knows they'll shoot him and he'll be a prime canidate to be the next Candyman if he's shot by the police for no reason. So as Anthony is on the ground dying the cops shoot him instantly within a LITERAL second of finding him, on the ground, practically dead already...
WHAT?! Why? It's so forced. And they do that so Anthony, now the next candyman can kill the police officers who tried to blackmail his girlfriend into saying they were justified. It's so dumb, and it feels very unnatural. There were just so many ways they could've done this concept and had it work without involving a third party that sets it all up. He could've had a gun to defend himself from the crazy guy or Candyman or whatever, or even just be standing or at least look like someone who could be commiting a crime when he got shot so it didn't seem so absurd. But no, he was on the ground, pretty much dead already.
The ending was there for the sake of being there and it was so rushed and unnatural that it took away from the effectiveness of the film. Go watch the original, it's so much better.
The Night House (2020)
Unlike any horror film I've seen in a long time.
This film is not reliant on jump scares, or gore, and doesn't attempt to be overtly terrifying. This film is different. It relies on camera tricks and illusions to present an entity unlike any I have ever seen before on film.
This film is not slow, and every scene feels essential. It builds a sense of despair and dread that escalates over the course of the film. It asks question upon question until the fitting end. I predicted the film's ending by the last 15 minutes, but I was hoping that it would end the way I predicted.
What's smart is that this movie presents a metaphor, but does it in a way where the plot isn't challenged and you're not questioning weather the whole film was just a metaphor. You ask questions throughout the film but it doesn't leave you with more questions than answers.
The lead actress is fantastic, and you can feel her grief and emotion. I never once said "that's stupid. I would do this instead", which is something that always happens at least once in horror films.
If you don't mind a horror film that's not heavy on jump scares and is more focused on character and emotion then you should at least find it worthwhile and be able to admire it's uniqueness and execution.
The Djinn (2021)
What's wrong with you people?
To the people that ensured this movie has a lower rating than the nun, you guys suck.
First off, this is NOT a remake of wishmaster I don't know why people keep saying it is. And people are complaining about the kid being mute which is just terrible. Like him being mute makes it less good somehow, Im guessing the people who complain about this like to hear themselves speak.
This movie was simple in plot, but pretty well executed. Soundtrack was good. Great acting from the lead. Takes a minute for the Djinn to appear but when it does the kid fights like hell against a threatening force that's somewhat bound to the laws of nature, unlike most demons in movies that have rediculous power, like for instance The Nun who manipulates physics and Kirby sucks all the air out of the room.
There could've been more scares in the film and a bit more logic from the character towards the end, but all in all it was a solid effort with a fitting twist.
Manou the Swift (2019)
*Sticks tounge out. "It's a swift thing".
This was hands down the worst animated movie I've rented at Redbox. I don't know how they managed to get both William Daffoe and Kate Winslet in this movie. The script was garbage. Literally half the script was birds sticking their tounges out at each other and saying "It's a swift thing." The scenery animation was good, but the bird animation was early 2000's work. The first fifteen minutes of the movie has a plot, and then the rest of it barely resembles any plot at all. Don't waste your money or your children's brain cells with this.
The Ranger (2018)
If you love classic 80s slashers. This is definitely for you.
Being a fan of classic slashers such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Ranger was definitely right up my alley. It takes a minute to build up, much like 80s classic The Burning, but once it does it delivers the goods, again much like the aforementioned, especially towards the end. The movie is FUN, plain and simple. The writing is very flawed at times but the actors do a great job delivering. The lead and the killer especially. The killer by the way is HILLARIOUS and menacing at the same time. Much akin to a certain Christmas sweater wearing baddie we know. You find times to root for him while also rooting for the victims, again especially with the lead. I left this movie feeling highly satisfied. Could the writing and dialogue have been better at times? Yes. And could the rest of the punk kids aside from the lead have been less than your basic vanilla punks who hate authority and go way out of there way to prove it? Yes, but all in all if your looking for a fun slasher that I dare say is way better than Friday the 13th, look this way.