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Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
New family, same old haunting.
This time around an entirely different family that is not affiliated to the sisters are being terrorized by the entity named Tobey. Ever since their mysterious new neighbors kid, named robbie becomes friends with their youngest son, strange events start happening around their house. Things get even stranger when Robbie is suddenly staying over with them after his mother is hurriedly rushed over to the hospital for a medical emergency.
This is where movie starts losing control of its own story and leaves large gaps in logic as it never explains who Robbie is. Still the acting holds up and the creepy nature of the haunting persists but you are left with the feeling that something is not adding up. The abrupt end is also getting pretty annoying and you can consider yourself lucky if you find yourself enjoying the movie as it is the same movie with a slightly different setting. I can understand the low scores but by it's own merits its done well enough to get the average 5 star.
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
Breaking the lore.
As if somehow sensing the disappointment of the second film the creators decided to make another prequel that is focused primarily on the sister's Katie and Kristie's past. In 1988 a cinematographer named Dennis moves in with his girlfriend into a new house in Carlsbad, California and help raise her two daughters Katie and Kristi. Kristi has an imaginary friend named Tobey that slowly starts making her do strange things in the middle of the night. Convinced that the Tobey is a little more than an overactive imagination of a child, Dennis decides to put cameras in different parts of the house to in order to find proof that there might be a supernatural entity that has latched on to his youngest step daughter.
This movie once again follows the usual formula of loud footsteps and banging doors but is done well enough to keep you engage. However, much like the previous movies the ending is abrupt and unfortuante and at this point formulaic hauntings are becoming a cliche. While the movie is not bad by it's own merits but becomes rather long in the tooth if watched back to back with the previous entries. The decent acting once again sells the intensity and I personally found young Kristi to be cute enough to fear for her wellbeing. If you were still interested in Katies and Kristi's past this movie shed some light but also creates more questions. This is also where the movie starts forgetting that it is supposed to be a found footage movie and often ignores the concept by often having angles that are not logical for a handheld device given in context. Unfortunately the abrupt and unfortuante ending have become a staple to the series and often leaves a lot to be desired. Still worth a watch if you are a fan of the series.
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
A slow build up to nothing.
This story is a prequel that takes place a few months prior to events of the first film. This time the focus seems to be on Katie's younger sister and her new born son. Besides a larger cast and a bigger house this movie follows the exact same formula as the first only at a much slower pace. Unlike the sequel to Hell House LLC, you will be happy to know the cast and crew provide a decent performance that sells the intense creepy occurrences but doesn't really add much to the lore beyond the fact that the sisters' family line is cursed and will not be satisfied till it claims their first born male. I personally found the experience entertaining enough but there was really no pay off besides adding a tiny sliver to cliffhanger ending of the first movie.
The biggest issue with these sequels is that the paranormal activity is tethered to the people and not the house making it tricky to expand the lore without breaking it. As more sequels come out the more the simple story lore breaks and before long there is massive gaps in logic and unanswered questions that will forever be left hanging. I can only say it is worth watching at least once if you liked the first film, if you did not, this will not do anything change your mind.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Not bad.
Katie made a big mistake telling her boyfriend about her past. She made an even bigger mistake moving in with him after revealing said past. But Micah, the boyfriend, is obsessed with catching this paranormal event on video and so he giddly purchases a heavily modified camera hoping to catch the haunting in action. What was his plan? From there he decides to ignore any and all advice given from a priest and instead chooses to taun the entity and eventually it answers back. What starts out as a novelty eventually becomes an annoyance and then to a dangerous bid for survival as the "entity" steps up its game and tries to claim Katie's soul.
I was in Japan when this movie appeared out of nowhere and spammed heavily on any advertisement related to movies. Not being a fan of Blair Witch like movies, I avoided it like the plague. Two years later, I am in the US and people are still talking about it. Took a long time to choke the life out of this corpse but it eventually it did choke and a corpse it did become. Now in 2024, the world is a desolate graveyard of creativity, I come. Like a buzzard, I pick at those ripe old bones amid the maggot infested carrion, wondering if it ever actually had any real meat to begin with? So then imagine my surprise, when I found it wasn't alone. A whole generation worth of cursed fetid corpses, each one more desolate lifeless husk than the last... how can one consume so much of the same before getting sick of it? If there ever was an example of quitting while you are ahead, this series would be the perfect instance.
If you are wondering why I write like that, the answer is simply because I can. And that is about the answer you will get as to why Katie is the target since her childhood. Don't worry, more of it will be answered in the later sequels but I must say though, for a minimalist haunt, this film manages to be entertainingly and fairly intense at points. Considering there is very little special effects used and most of the time it just plays with sound. I have to admit that I found Micah quite annoying at the start, blatantly ignoring advices to interact with the entity but eventually he realizes this thing is no joke and gets a little more reserved in his mockery. The Majority of the movie is mostly about loud footsteps and banging walls till it eventually culminates into something truly malevolent in the last 20 mins by viscously pulling Katie out of her bed. Noting gets actually resolved but you do get interested enough to the find the answers and invest into the sequels in hopes that it gives it to you in detail... which it won't.
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019)
Closure to the story.
They should have left the first movie alone but unfortunately, no one wants to be a one hit wonder. Sooner or later, you are bound to return to your original works and ruin it to the ground in a desperate attempt to monopolize. I guess this is one example but there are better examples (Paranormal Activity) but I will get to that eventually.
After the disastrous event at the premier opening of a Haunted House show called the Hell House that led to the death of fifteen people including the creators of the event and the disappearance of two separate investigation teams years apart. The Abbadon hotel that was used as the staging site for the event has now become an urban legend that frequently draws investigators and other inquisitive minds to try and uncover the dark mystery behind the disappearances.
The latest dimwit to fall prey to this is a Billionaire software mogul enamoured with the concept of after life after surviving a near death experience of his own. Russel Wynne has purchased the property to restart his performance art show and invites a sophomore investigative journalist, Vanessa Shepard, to cover the show as well as get behind the scenes footage. But as the coverage is underway, it becomes apparent that Russel is not just another hapless idiot. It almost seems like he is expecting something to happen and the people are just bait.
If you survived the second film and made it this far you might as give this movie a watch as it concludes the story... for better or for worse. The other reviewers are right in that this particular installment does lack the creeping intensity of the first two movies but it does manage to conclude a budding conspiracy that was layered on pretty thick at the end of the second film. For what it's worth the acting is a step up from the first film and story is cohesive enough to follow through to whats going on. I cannot guarantee that you will love the ending but it is a definite closure to the overall story.
Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)
Passable but inferior to the original.
Investigations were renewed around the events of the disastrous HellHouse incident after the only surviving member of the initial documentation team starts accusing the police covering up their disappearance. The surviving member reluctantly teams up with a novice team of investigators looking to find the truth behind the original crews disappearance and illegally visit the site of the HellHouse disaster that claimed the lives of fifteen people in the opening night premier of the haunted house show.
I remember mentioning the strenght of the movie was based on the capabilities of actors involved. This movie was unfortunate in that regard as the new cast did not have the same prowess. While most of the actors were passable there was one character that was terrible enough to make me want to quit watching. Thankfully the latter half of the movie managed to provide a decent amount of tension and keep my interest till the end as a new layer of mystery is introduced into the origins of the site of Hell House disaster as the new investigation team uncovers the Abaddon Hotel's dark past prior to becoming the staging site of the Hell House disaster. A portion of the orignal cast returns to add additional story elements into the creation of the Hell House LLC but unfortunately their involvement was kept to a minimum with a decent chunk of the story using footage from the first film.
Hell House LLC (2015)
Even better than Grave Encounters.
After watching Grave Encounters, I found myself interested in watching other similar titles. Ironically, Hellhouse LLC. Was a title I never heard of prior to stumbling across it via the Tubby streaming app. Once again, a lot of my expectations were tempered by the fact that I was watching it via a free streaming app instead of a paying a premium price for a seat at a theater.
Hellhouse LLC. Is a story about a documentary team investigate a disastrous event that took place five years ago at a premier of a haunted house show that claimed the lives of fifteen guests including the creators of the show. The story is spliced together from random uploaded videos from tourists as well as behind the scenes documentation of the original crew over the weeks prior to leading up to the opening night and interviews with experts as well as the only surviving member from the crew.
Unlike Grave Encounters, this movie had a much more modest budget leading to more hand held shaky camera and very little effects yet it managed to provide the similar levels of tension and creepiness with well paced practical effects at certain points, making for a suspenseful and entertaining expereince. I must stress a huge portion of the movies success hinged on the natural acting prowess of the people involved. Thanks to their believable and likeable personalities, I was able to invest in the character's well being as things begin to get tense as the night of the opening got closer. It was purely due to their natural acting that I was able to enjoy this movie little more than Grave Encounters.
Grave Encounters (2011)
Surprisingly decent.
After the Blair Witch Project, I quickly realized that I was just not interested in this style of movie in the least and pretty much avoided any "found footage" style movies that came after. Now, however, when quality movies are very rare and decent horror movies are even rarer, it seemed a good time to revisit this genre and see what I had missed.
A reality TV crew that investigates Paranormal Events got more than they bargained for when they decide to spend 24 hours in a haunted asylum. What starts out as innocuous scares, turns deadly when the team realizes that they are trapped in perpetual nighttime and are unable to find the exit.
Fortunately for me, this turned out to be a fairly entertaining experience. While the premise is fairly simple, the decent acting and appropriately creepy atmosphere carried the tension well throughout the movie, even providing some decent jump scares and haunting effects. I should admit that my expectations were heavily influenced by the fact that I was watching it on a free streaming service at home and having a fairly low bar for quality. I would have probably been a lot more critical if I had to pay $14 for a viewing at a theater. Still all things considered, I was expecting to not enjoy the movie at all but was pleasantly surprised. If you are like me and have skipped all found footage type of movies till now, this one is worth a look. Especially, if you have a similar free streaming service like Youtube's free movie s, or Tubi or Movies Plus.
Possessor (2020)
Aimless brutality and gore.
An assasin employed by an agency that uses mind mind control to take over unaware hosts to assassinate their targets, finds herself in a sticky situation when her host manages to regain control during her latest mission. Time is running short, if the agent is unable to regain control before the window for extraction is closed she will be lost forever consumed by the dominant personality of the host.
This is more of an arthouse experiment than an actual movie with a story to tell. While there are some neat high concept imagery with good production values and acting, everything is presented to you in a cold, uncaring and violent way where you find your self apathetic to events happening in the goriest details right in front of you. You are not a willing passenger but also indifferent to the events taking place as none of the characters are presented in the least bit as sympathetic or remotely likeable manner. I suppose that is the intent of this film; to impart a portion of a psyche of a killer, where gouging out eyeballs with a spoon or brutally mauling a little boy is just as mundane as breathing the air or drinking a cup of coffee. The sheer brutality of the violence is a byproduct of a void of empathy, it's not personal, you just don't care.
At best I would call it an inverse of a the movie Inception. If you keep basic concept the same but remove all emotions from the movie and all personality from the characters you would be left with something similar. A series of events that does not illicit any emotion from you either way. Eventually you start feeling uncomfortable as you are at a loss as to who to cheer for. This disconnect eventually crumbles and builds up into uncontrollable rage, lashing out chaotically at anything and everything without purpose besides it just needs to be let out.
I don't know about you but I definitely felt like taking a shower after watching this movie and questioning my sanity or that of the creator of this movie. Who is this for? Certainly not for me as I like my gore a little less detailed and with a bit more of purpose. The only set of people I can come up with would be criminal psychopaths. This is a movie made by a psycho for psychos where the brutal gore is the only real highlight and the rest of the details are just pointless filler materials to pad time.
The House of the Devil (2009)
Too much nostalgia and not enough horror.
Samantha is desperate for a change in her college living arrangement and be rid of her annoying roommate. Strapped for cash, she comes across an add for a babysitting gig from an equally desperate employer during the night of the lunar eclipse. But she realizes she might have bit off more than she can chew when the home seems to be hiding some deep dark secrets and there is no one to babysit.
From a rose tinted point of view, this movie feels straight out of the 80's. It does everything right from the settings to the use of a 16mm camera. The hair styles, the music and even the awkwardly nuanced dialogues were done to perfection reminiscent of a time many still consider the golden age of movies. But that is where my compliments end. At certain points I kept forgetting it was a modern homage to a bygone time period. I really wanted to like this film but it seems that I I am the odd duck that preferred The Innkeepers over this movie. I guess I am more of a 90's kid than the 80's...
Problem is that TI West was so meticulous with the details he also captured the flaws of the movies from that time period. A huge amount of the time is wasted on simple interaction between the main character and the environment. In what almost felt like a whole hour, Samantha does nothing but open and close doors, turn on lights, order pizza, dance to music, go to the bathroom etc. Absolutely no useful information is gleaned from any of it and for some reason Samantha continuously get unnerved over the course of these interactions. Why? From the character's perspective, there is absolutely nothing about the house that stands out to warrant Samantha wanting to carry a kitchen knife around for protection. At least with the Innkeeper the two characters can interact with each other and provide more context where as in this case its largely a silent film for the whole second act.
Ultimately, the climax in the end does happen, I was left wondering where the horror was? So far at best this would have been labeled as a cult thriller but there at the end its somewhat hinted. Nothing is ever shown and then the movie ends and I am left feeling empty. I guess I was expecting a fusion between the 80's looks but modern techniques and improvements from the 2000's. Instead it was a straightforward 80's low budget cult slasher just very late to a party that ended decades ago. A concept that would have worked just fine for the time period it was intended for.
The Innkeepers (2011)
Character focused horror.
After cancelling Netflix, I thought I was done watching movies for good but thanks to my good fortune I stumbled across this Tubi (Tubby) app that is a treasure trove full of movies ranging from B grade horror to A level masterpieces. Which is where I came across this neat little gem of a horror movie.
The Innkeepers is a pretty straight forward movie where an old inn with a dark past is finally due to be shut down as a business and its final week of operations, overseen by two employees attempting cash in on its haunted past. Things get disturbing when one of them actually makes contact with a spirit.
TI West is a director that I have never heard of until now. Apparently he was a promising director that got lost in the shuffle of the early 2000's. Luckily, I finally get to see some of his best works which, this movie apparently is not... IMDB rates this at an average (5.5) but I found this movie slightly above that. Not amazing but well done with a small cast that manages to be charming enough to invest in and fear for their well being. This last bit is key since a lot of the movie is just fleshing out the characters and their quirks before the movie goes into the horror territory in the final few mins. The slow build up can be rather boring if you are not enjoying the interactions between the characters.
This is clearly no masterpiece but it was a refreshing change from the terrible slate of newer horror movies that have been released as of late. Either way, this was a good start to my foray into TI West's works. Apparently The House of the Devil is supposed to be one of his better attempts and that is my next stop.
Hit Man (2023)
Expectedly Gutless and Half-baked.
Woe be the fool that walks in to this movie seeking wholesome entertainment. If the Netflix label does not provide ample warning then heed my warning for there is no greater fool than I. The irony is that I cancelled my Netflix subscription for exactly the reason mentioned above and yet I got suckered into watching this movie (I got friends that still have access) .
Loosely based on real events, Gary Johnson is a "nerdy" professor who moonlights as a hit man for hire to help the local police force catch his would-be employer. Things start getting complicated when he falls for a woman who hires him to get rid of her husband. After he declines the offer and convinces the woman to rethink her motivations, the husband turns up dead anyway. Suspicions of a conspiracy starts brewing as a cat and mouse chase begins when Gary finds himself intimately involved in a relationship with the suspect.
On paper, the plot doesn't sound like anything amazing but done right it could provide enough intrigue to be decent entertainment but once again Netflix, for whatever reason, decided to cut of the movie short halfway, when things were actually getting a little interesting. First off, Glen Powell's appearance as a demure nerdy professor is rather unconvincing. Putting on a pair of glasses and wearing pants up to your belly button does little to hide is boyish charms and masculine physique. As such, his transformation into a tough, imposing, ruthless killer has very little impact.
Secondly, despite the unconvincing make up, other elements such as the acting and direction of the movie is well done to hold your attention. There is some clever dialogue back and forth between Gary and his suspecting co-workers but as usual Netflix, for whatever reason, decides to cut the cat and mouse game rather abruptly into a dissatisfying conclusion that virtually goes nowhere. Shame really, this could have been a pretty good movie which Netflix desperately needs.
Lastly, the brief disclaimer at the start of the movie claiming to be a work of fiction does very little for the fact that Netflix has portrayed a real person as a murderer that got away commiting a crime. I wouldn't be surprised if the surviving family members of the real Gary Johnson files a lawsuit against the company for defamation at some point.
The only thing worse than a bad film with a decent premise is when the movie actually starts out well enough only to drop the ball halfway. If you don't have a subscription with Netflix, this movie isn't a good reason to start one. If you do, well, this movie is not going to sway your decision in any meaningful direction either.
The Lazarus Project (2008)
Stoic, dull and a slow burn.
After a "final" robbery with his younger brother goes horribly wrong, Ben finds himself in death row to be executed by lethal injection. As the final injection enters his blood stream and the world around him vanishes, Ben wakes up to find himself working as a groundskeeper at a psychiatric facility somewhere near Dundee, Oregon, unable to leave the city and re-unite with his wife and daughter.
This movie is not for everyone, it certainly wasn't for me. While its well acted and directed it's a real slow burn where nothing really happens until the final 25 minutes with a predictable reveal that is every bit as underwhelming as expected. The movie tries it's best to stretch the mystery along as long as it can but remains rather stoic, lacking any musical underscore or even much of an interaction that focuses on themes about faith and afterlife.
I would have rated it lower but out of respect for Paul Walker, I award it a 5 out of 10. Any more points would be disingenuous opinion of the movie. Not bad, not good... just dull and eventless.
Talk to Me (2022)
About average.
A bunch of dumb teenagers decide to replace drugs with possession as the new nightly recreational activity. The rules are simple: hold the outreaching embalmed hand and you will see the dead. Letting them possess you for under sixty seconds leads to an intense high that can rival the hardest drugs. If the possession goes above a minute, you might be in trouble. Mia has never been good at social activities and feels uncomfortable in large crowds. Still, that has never stopped her from hanging out with her best friend, Jade and following her into whatever nightly activities she is into. One such night led to the introduction of the hand after which Mia found herself being a willing participant quite regularly. Everything seemed fine till Jade's younger brother ends up with in the hospital in a coma and serious injuries after being possessed for too long. Things start spiraling out of control when she starts seeing the dead enter her dream and take control of her body without permission and even worse when one of them claims to be her recently deceased mother hinting towards a conspiracy involved in her death.
Switching the ouija board for an embalmed hand is different but not enough to be believable or any less ridiculous for a bunch of frat house rejects to prefer over booze and drugs. For the most part the acting and production quality are fine but I didn't find the movie doing anything unique to be memorable than a by the numbers horror. If anything, the events resolve a little too quickly and nothing is really explored. By the time Mia starts to realize her predicament, the movie ends. Its not terrible but its also not something I would recommend watching in the theaters.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Pretty Good!
The first two being in the "so bad, it's good" category, I wasn't expecting much from this one. Maybe, it's because the expectations were so low for this movie that it ended up being a very pleasant surprise that it was actually well done.
While the plot is fairly straightforward, the characters and their interactions are smartly written and there are some clever use of spells to pull off a heist. All the characters were well suited for their roles and none felt overbearing or forced in anyway. Frankly, I cannot point to one single aspect of this movie that was annoying, which is a rarity today. Its hard to beleive such a movie can exist in this day and age. Unfortunately, the success of this movie creates a worry that Hasbro might try to create a bigger and better sequel that will unfortuantely ruin a potential new series of films going forward. Even if you are not a DnD fan, the movie can be watched as a fun medieval fantasy adventure. It's definitely worth a watch atleast once.
The Offering (2022)
Had potential...
This movie was a bit of a surprise. With its low score, I wasn't expecting much from the acting or production quality but within the first 20 minutes I couldn't help questioning the low rating. This movie had a lot going for it, the story is not original but the acting was good enough to invest in the characters and I found the Jewish perspective of ancient evil quite interesting. Problem is a lot of movies and shows today struggle to successfully maintain quality and often tend to botch the conclusion. This, unfortunately, is the same problem with this movie.
As many have mentioned, the biggest flaw is outright revealing the monster. Besides a few lines of dialogue over the phone, the background and history of the monster is never explained. The CGI isn't terrible but conceptualization of the monster looked like it was a left over asset from the set of the Mummy. By the halfway point the movie switches pacing from a slow burn to pure chaos and the characters never seem to really get a grasp on what is happening. This might be a personal choice but I was never a big fan of central characters in a story being a hapless victim from start to finish with no growth. Sadly, the ending left me rather dissatisfied and I no longer questioned the low score left by the reviewers.
Dark Skies (2013)
Not bad for 2023.
You know you have really scraped past the bottom of the barrel when you are actually going through youtube's list of free movies... even more strange is when you actually find something worth watching.
Dark Skies is a suspense/horror movie about a typical middle class family that suddenly find their home invaded by some malicious force or entity. Things start out slow with the odd events here and there but gradually builds up to something malicious as their youngest is revealed to be in contact with something known as the Sandman.
This is a very typical haunted house movie that shares similarities to "The Poltergeist" and "The Conjuring" movies. Besides a slight twist at the end it doesn't quite do anything new or different but most of it is done well enough with decent production quality and acting. It's a slow burn with minimal use of special effects and CGI till the very end and is quite effective in raising the intensity as it never truly reveals the monster. The biggest gripe I have against this movie is that I am a decade late and there have been plenty other movies that have done similar story tropes to death and over with mixed results. That being said I was rather surprised to actually find it even remotely interesting to watch and enjoy so that's somewhat of a feat in this day and age.
Oppenheimer (2023)
A Rare Expensive Beast!
I tend to gravitate towards fiction more than fact. Never been a big fan of war, true events or biographies and I wasn't sure about this one, especially with its three hour run time. Besides Dunkirk (skipped it for obvious reasons) I have yet to be disappointed by any of his works and took a chance. Yes, I even liked Tenet...
Robert J. Oppenheimer is often considered a controversial figure in the history of the US WWII. Dubbed as the father of the of the atomic bomb that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the title would begin to weight heavy around his neck as he would try to unsuccessfully appeal to the president against further use. Hailed as a hero and then eventually tried as a potential spy for the Soviets, his loyalty would come under question as the eventual regret of his achievement and his past dealings with the communist party is weaponized against him by someone fairly close to him but who?
I went in expecting a non eventful history lesson but got a movie with a slight mystery, instead. I am happy to say in today's climate, where it has gotten increasingly hard to bank on well known actors and directors to deliver a good film, Nolan still remains a reliable source for quality. His penchant for presenting scenes out of order, a slow but intense build of music in the background and short and quick lines of dialogue managed to keep the pacing quite brisk despite the long runtime and the lack of any actual action of any kind, it is simply brilliant. Perhaps not seeing any of the trailers and looking at a handful of reviews might have tempered my expectations? Or maybe I just got lucky that I found it entertaining unlike some of the movie goers around me. Eitherway, I will point out while this movie is great, its not perfect. You do need to go in with a tempered expectations as it has no action sequence, a lot of talk of theory and calculations along with a court drama towards the end. If you are expecting any scenes of war or action, you will be disappointed. However, if you have slight interest in science and are only vaguely familiar with name and facts around Oppenheimer, there is a story with a slight twist this movie tells and its well worth the watch atleast once.
Speaking of expectations, a lot of reviews seem to point out a certain singular moment as a caution and its possible that the version I saw had been edited but I have to ask 'WHERE WAS THE LONG GRATITOUS SEX SCENE??" Was it the intense breathing as the camera slowly pans by a wall? The only signs of nudity was a brief seconds of Oppenheimer sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, having a conversation. If this is a cause for concern then we have definitely gone backwards from the days of the FCC censorship. Because the scene is less than thirty seconds and subtle in a way where you don't really take notice.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Might as well be a video game.
In John Wick 5, Wick wakes up from a decade long comatose dream to find himself in a life pod maintained by robots for harvesting in a future where the world is taken over by AI. Sound familiar? Seriously, the unrealistic lengths this movie series goes to defining Wick's capabilities, you might as well tie it into the Matrix universe or just have Keanu put on a cape and fight invading aliens at this point.
Chapter 4 is the final conclusion to the climax set in motion by the events of Chapter 2. After barely surviving the city wide bounty hunt set by the high table, John Wick once again emerges from hiding to settle his debt and to finally bury his violent past by making his way to a duel with the latest unhinged official put in charge of his death: The Marquis. The path to victory is made even more difficult with the Marquis enlisting the aide of former friends and equally skilled assassins from Johns past. While I can appreciate the hard work put into the action and even applaud the creators for focusing on their strengths but to say they leaned in too heavily into the action is putting things too mildly. It's more like they fell purposefully into it and by fall, I mean elbow drop. The amount of times this man has survived falling off a sky scrapper by landing flat on hard pavements, shootings and stabbings is well past Hollywood movie magic standards to make even an 80's action movie blush thrice over.
Unfortunately, this film suffers from the same issue as most superhero films are afflicted with, the level of excessive action at the cost of any actual acting that frankly feels better suited for a video game than a movie. The critics that claimed the orginal movie's plot was paper thin and the premise ridiculous had no idea how much wider and shallow the rabbit hole can get. Almost every venue is an introduction to an arena for an predictable battle and the focus on martial arts makes every simple encounter so elaborate that John never throws a simple punch at an enemy but has to use compex sets of maneuvers of mixed arts lasting more than a handful of minutes which ultimately ends with a gun shots to the head.
Frankly as a fan of the orignal, its begun to feel like the first movie is its own self contained movie and is divorced from the franchise the sequels set out to be. As the combat got more elaborate, the more exhausting the experience became and as a result I find the orginal movie to be the best of the series had to offer, maintaining a balance between action and acting that no longer exists in the following sequels. John himself becomes a stoic and shallow character with barely more than four or five basic lines in the whole movie with most of the talking flavor provided by the likes of McShane and Fishburn. Even then, their talents are used to a bare minimum and most of the movie is encapsulated with brutal and bloody fights. It would be no surprise if a following movie shows up its largely a silent film with no actual dialogue beyond the yelling that accompanies gun shots. I hate to say this but the modern audience have been reduced to adrenaline junkies that are mostly looking for a fix of just seeing their favorite actor on screen doing the same thing he has been doing with no real growth in character. It would be a surprise if Keanu Reeves is able to break away from John Wick persona if cast in a different film as acting is very much an afterthought in recent trends.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Fails to capture the "horror" element.
I wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan of the series, but one way or another, I have managed to watch all of the Evil Dead movies at least once. Besides the original being remotely scary, the sequels trended downwards towards "goofy" territory. Despite the valiant efforts, this movie doesn't break that trend.
Ditching the cabin in the woods for a dingy apartment complex in the city, a single mother of three is waylaid by a surprise visit from her largely absentee sister one fateful night. However, the surprises don't stop there, as a random earthquake breaks loose the foundation of the building, which was once a bank, revealing a forgotten vault full of ancient religious artifacts and antiquities. This sets the stage for one of the siblings to investigate. It doesn't take long for the wayward youth to discover the Necronomicon, one of the three cursed tomes bound in human leather, written in blood, and conveniently coupled with a vinyl recording full of commentary on the previous owner's exploits. Only one of the siblings has the good sense to leave the book alone, but ignoring her advice, the aspiring DJ decides to open the book and play the recording, thus chaos ensues as it possesses their mother.
While the setting is boilerplate, if rather unrealistic (how did it end up in a bank?), the movie delivers on the gore and special effects. It was a pleasant surprise to see them pick something other than the cabin in the woods and not hold back on the teens either. The actress playing the mother does an excellent job in looking the part of someone possessed by a demon and has some genuinely creepy looking moments in the movie. I say "creepy looking" because it didn't feel creepy. In fact, I found myself yawning and looking at the clock several points during the height of the movie, and it's difficult to pinpoint why. While the lack of subtlety and suspense to build up the horror hurt its potential, I believe the acting was a larger part of the issue.
While not terrible, none of the characters are likable enough for me to be invested in their survivability, and none of them managed to convincingly sell the sense of genuine horror. Given their circumstances, they seemed remarkably composed, as if they went from being stunned to simply adapting to the nature of things, skipping the act of realizing the horror of the situation in between. At no point does anyone let out a bloodcurdling scream, not even the little girl that is subjected to having blood smeared all over her face as her family members mutilate each other. It would seem the normal city life is not so far off from the horror they were experiencing. The only person that managed to sell that sense of horror was the young woman at the very end as she notices the massacre in the parking lot. It made me feel like perhaps we should have been watching her story unfold in the cabin instead.
Either way I gave the movie props for trying to do something different than shamelessly retreading the orignal events and making it worse. A slower pacing and little more suspense along with better actors would have made this a more worth while endeavor.
Nope (2022)
Mocking the audience
Frankly, I never considered Peele's movies as horror. Perhaps a satirical dark comedy at best, but even the premise of Get Out had my laughing out of my seat at the concept, especially when the director himself pretty much sums up the plot of the movie in such succinct manner. Since then I have to wonder if its just me or are his movies plots are just getting ridiculous. I can't help feeling like this movie was designed to mock the audience's inability to critique anything lest they be cancelled. It sort of remind me of an old folktale called The Emperor's New clothes that speaks about vanity.
Nope is a movie about a brother and sister suddenly burdened with their family ranch and all debts incurred along with it, after their father is killed under mysterious circumstances. Unfortunately for them, the ranch valley is also the hunting grounds for a giant alien cowboy hat that hides within the clouds.
If its not obvious from the name of the movie, the entire premise feels like something that was formulated by Peele after one too many drinks at a party. The entire movie feels like a social experiment to gauge the general crowds intelligence or lack thereof. Its rather ironic that we continue to make fun of M. Night Shamalayans movies yet somehow try to convince ourselves that this film is clever because its too on the nose with its ridiculous plot.
There are movies that work better on the big screen while others are better off with the direct to TV format. Unfortunately neither format really elevates it from the feeling that you are being taken on a ride by robbing of your time and money.
Glass Onion (2022)
Rian Johnson is Miles Bron.
I'll be honest, I didn't care for Looper. There were some decent ideas in it but overall the movie just fell flat. Not being a Star Wars fan, I managed to dodge the bullet that heralded the franchise's downward projection and I wasn't sure about the first Knives Out movie after seeing his name attached to the credits but it actually managed to win me over. Then I watched The Glass Onion which had Johnson's name predominantly displayed over the title... the conclusion is that if you see his name, its a clear warning of a disaster.
The movie starts off with caricature depiction of one dimensional celebrity characters being invited to a private island for a week to engage in a murder mystery themed party thrown by an eccentric and "genius" billionaire, Miles Bron. About to reveal a world changing discovery, Bron decides to rekindle his bonds with his old friends before going public. The one odd exception is the presence of an equally eccentric detective, Benoit Blanc, that was never invited. However, the event starts taking a darker turn when one of the guest is actually murdered and its up to the detective to solve the mystery.
Frankly, none of the characters are likeable or relatable and the social commentary is quite obvious which starts the movie off at an uneven footing but the mystery does manage to catch your attention till it is brutally crushed by the second half. By the end the difference in intellect between the first and second movie are apparent as night and day. While much more lighthearted setting than the previous, the comedic interactions are not really funny and giant McGuffin that it throws half way into the movie deflates any cleverness the movie managed to deliver till that point. The end resolution is that one of the main character throws a tantrum and bungles her way into a debatable resolution that is neither fulfilling nor enlightening and least of all clever...
I tend to like movies that can keep me guessing. Not to toute my own horn but I am fairly decent at predicting the way movies go and it was a breath of fresh air to have the first movie completely blindside me while revealing a much more sinister plot than I had imagined. It was meticulously crafted witih layers of twists that you can only guess at but can never be too sure. However, with Glass onion, I already knew who the killer was without having actually make any real guesses. If you have seen Edward Norton's earlier movies you know what I am talking about as it is very rare that he plays the innocent victim. Much like Looper, there were some decent ideas that built up to an intrigue, but the conclusion was just utter garbage. Johnson unfortuantely lacks subtlety when it comes to fleshing out characters and his disdain for a certain eccentric billionaire in real life is very obvious throughout the movie. Although he was a part of Knives Out it was a collaborated group effort which where he is at his best. Miles Bron may have been created with Elon Musk in mind but ultimately it reflects Johnson's incapability of writing an original script and his penchant of destroying a potential franchise.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
The Last Coffin Nail.
I liked the first movie but the other two were largely forgettable. Frankly I wasn't even aware the creators of the franchise had gone through an entire gender swap prior to this movie but once that was common knowledge, their return to the Matrix was pretty much guaranteed failure. The people that made the orignal are not the same people that made this abomination, they may share the same physical space but thats about it.
The biggest problem we have in this industry and the country today is psychological war most people seem to wage against their own existence. This in turn requires them to turn their previous works of effort into something that suits their current perspective. Unable to create anything on their own merits, these "Ex Men" feel the need to capitalize on previous works that they no longer understand or respect but in doing so only corrupt the whole foundation. This is the unfortunate reality of Matrix 4. The insecure need to change the very fabric of the story from the chosen one to an ensemble a stark contrast to the ideology of the orignal creators intent which pretty much killed this franchise for good. It will be interesting to see if the Sisters can create anything actually worthwhile after this but I have my doubts. At least one of the two sisters had enough common sense to not return to the project.
This is perhaps one of the worst Keanu Reeves movie I have seen a long while eventhough there has been many. I like Keanu but there is no denying that his particular talents make him better suited for specific roles and this is a role he can no longer fit into. His time away from the Hollywood spotlight has changed his character quite a bit and it doesn't fit the role of the cynical Mr. Anderson/Neo. It didn't help not having Fishburne reprise his role as Morpheus but the cheap reality TV show like feel made things a lot less grandiose and cheap. The bigger question is why did this movie even need to exist? Matrix Reloaded had already concluded the story, with a less than compelling ending but a cohesive ending none the less. This movie just feels like a descent into madness of a mind that is no longer attached to its body. The only thing I can say is "My God! What an abomination this is!"
Barbarian (2022)
Not bad actually!
There are some few issues with this film. First of all it seems to have a false start, where a woman that rented out an BnB in a very questionable part of town in Detroit and that too being the only house in the area that is still intact amid a largely abandoned and ruined town, only to find that it has been occupied by some another person that claims to be a BnB customer himself. Thus starts an uneasy arrangement between two strangers and the awkwardness of trust that one of them isn't an unhinged lunatic with hidden intentions in a house with its own deep dark secrets underneath.
The build up was great up to this point till the movie cuts away and starts all over again this time with an actor suddenly finding out he is being sued for sexual scandal witih one of his co-workers and is at the brink of losing his livelihood as all of his movie deals are suddenly put on hold. Having to recoup funding for the upcoming lawsuit against him, the actor finds himself visiting one of his properties and the only standing house in an abandoned, decrepit town in Detroit. Where he finds the house to have a deeper secret than being being the only livable structure in the entire town.
It felt like the writers couldn't decide which introduction to stick with and decided to use them both. While this isn't an uncommon tactic, the sudden reset squanders the intensity that was already built up in the fist act. Thankfully, both them are well written enough that I still found myself invested in how things connect. Although frankly, the first act although good could have been a part of a different movie. The reveal of the houses' deep dark secret is equal parts surprising and a little bit disappointing as it pivots to an entirely different genera after setting up an intense situation about trusting strangers. Still though, the acting and direction was decent enough that you will have an entertaining ride to the end, despite the leaps in logic with some of the reveals. This could have been a lot worse if both intros were not well executed luckily both of them were pretty interesting that I was fine with going with it.
Black Panther (2018)
I still don't get it.
I remember thinking this movie was mediocre at best when I first saw it but there was a delayed fervor for this movie that blew up overtime that made me reconsider watching it again. I have to say my opinion hasn't changed. I remember discussing this movie with a friend at the time as he was a big fan of the movie but most of his reasons seem to be in the political aspects of representation. Not really about the quality of the film itself.
There is a decent story in there but the way it was executed was just terribly bland and immature. Like a teen that thinks too highly of himself and considers himself the best at everything. Its like they wanted to portray Wakanda as the perfect civilization with no flaws beyond wanting to remain hidden from the rest of the world.
I was personally very impressed with the Black Panther character when he was first introduced into the MCU in Civil War. Boseman fit that role perfectly but in this movie there wasn't much depth to his character and there wasn't much Boseman had to work with. After his death (RIP), there was a very fanatical uprising where it just seemed to be about representation and nothing much else. Not being an African American or white for that matter, I don't really have the same stock in this film and found it mostly forgettable. Not really sure I care about the sequel as its firmly routed in that political mindset of representation and now that Boseman is no longer available to play the lead, its no longer a film about Black Panther.
Today I feel the bar for quality story telling has been significantly lowered to the point that you need to step back and really read the comments and reviews to see exactly what they are praising. A movie with a high rating doesn't automatically make it a good movie. The motivations behind the fame seems to firmly be routed in political discourse outside the movie itself.