Come get some!
Evil Dead Rise was a bloodbath! It's a vicious non-stop roller coaster ride all the way, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Aside from the Ash vs Evil Dead show, it's possibly the bloodiest of the past films thus far, practical effects galore, with the fresh grittiness of the previous 2013 entry, Evil Dead. A person sitting to the right for me was a bit skirmish by some of the body horror that occurred, so the film is definitely doing what it's set out to do. I was smiling and nodding much of the way through at how dark, creepy, and gruesome some of the scenes were. Maybe not to the level of The Sadness (2021 Taiwanese spooker), but still pretty well done. Alyssa Sutherland (Ellie) and Lily Sullivan (Beth) did grate :wink: and I look forward to seeing more of their work in future films. To have most of the event take place within the old LA-based apartment building reminds me of a lot of other spookers like Argento's Demons films, Child's Play, Rosemary's Baby, and even some Archive 81 with the extended lore. Some of the hallway, elevator scenes, and a child in mind remind me a lot of The Eye 2, Dark Water, and The Shining while the parking level was like P2 (2007 holiday horror). I did enjoy some of the punchlines from the character dialogue, especially from Kassie. I and few others in the theater couldn't help but giggle and laugh at some of the lines while still maintaining some of the bleakness of the 2013. A few nods here and there to past Evil Dead films are noted, which is always nice. Though, I was expecting to see more lore about the past of the building like what happened in the later half of Archive 81 (which had sadly been cancelled by Netflix). You can definitely see the contrast of how the family is like at the beginning to how they are like by the end of the film. Having this Evil Dead entry focus on a family is a good direction for the franchise that I feel would hit home for a lot of folks, so I'm glad they went this route. It would also pave way for even more strange hellish (Silent Hill-like) deadite designs for future iterations. By now, I've already heard and seen interviews with the cast members stating how some of the alternate endings would've been like, some of which didn't make it to the final cut of the film, but I'm hoping they would add them to the Blu-ray release at some point. Otherwise, I look forward to even grater Evil Dead films in the future! :cheese::cat:
Just got back from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, 'twas a FUNtastic family film, lots of neat Easter eggs for life-long fans of the old-school (like myself)! :spades: Having Jack Black cast as Bowser is probably one of the best things about this because character-wise they match so well (along the rock music which made me think of his band Tenacious D and School of Rock). Charles Martinet voiced a couple of side characters as well; sharp listeners will know whom :wink:. I always thought that if they could make an original animated film like Wreck-It Ralph, imagine if there would be a new Mario movie in similar fashion; well finally this would be it. This time, Illumination with Nintendo's involvement, it's done just right. I grew up with the games, the Super Show animated series (along with Captain N and Legend of Zelda), as well as the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, so having the Mario Rap at the beginning couldn't have been more perfect. This 2023 reboot is more in line with the 1986 Japanese animated film, Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach but done in modern 3D-CG style. The pacing is a bit on the quick side, but I think it works well to keep the audience, especially the younger ones, more attentive, as there's always something happening, with a couple of resting points here and there. The music cues were on point, and I think original games' composer Koji Kondo must be proud to hear each of the classic melodies orchestrated as each character and areas are introduced on screen. There are some licensed classic 80s pop/rock songs thrown in too for general fun (The Beastie Boys, A-HA, Bonnie Tyler). Story-wise, it's as simple as one would expect where the hero(es) fights the villain, resulting in a satisfying ending much like recent video game related films such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. NES era references can be spotted like Kid Icarus, Punch-Out!!, Wrecking Crew, Pauline (from Donkey Kong), Duck Hunt, Ice Climbers, as well as the Arwing from (Star Fox), Luigi's ringtone is the GameCube intro, DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64, Super Mario Bros. 3/World/64/Sunshine/Galaxy/Odyssey, and of course the Mario Kart series. There were even some older Nintendo references in there like the Nintendo Playing Cards Spade logo on one of the buildings, "Help Me, Jump Man", and a "Disk-kun" on one of the shops which is a reference to the Famicom Disk System. There's also a mid-credits and a little something at the end of the credits, so stick around for those. :egg::star:
They really set the tone for the 90s slasher film right from the get go; very Scream and Urban Legends style mixed with Goosebumps, and rightfully so because director Leigh Janiak did a couple of episodes of the Scream TV series. I find it to be a perfect fit for this three-part Fear Street film series based on the books by RL Stine. The pacing is great, keeps you interested throughout, but do expect the typical horror tropes of this era. I was able to spot a Stephen King novel and a few of the Fear Street books (as Robert Lawrence aka RL Stine :wink:) in that book store, a Nintendo Game Boy at school, Josh using AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), wearing an Iron Maiden shirt, playing Castlevania on Sega Genesis, and soundtrack included songs from Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, Radiohead, Cypress Hill, The Prodigy, White Zombie. It was oozing with 90s nostalgia, even if they were inaccurate with them. I liked the use of colors reds and blues, and the lighting for the night time scenes. I won't say much about the story, but these three films do involve going through different periods of time which I find really intriguing. The end of 1994 got me really excited for the next two installments which will have us go to a 1978 camp setting :camping: and then 1666 when the cursed started :mage:. That's also what I noticed on the movie poster art is that each of the weapons represents the generation or year that each of films are set in. It's a fun one, so I recommend watching this (and the rest of the trilogy) with a friend who also enjoys spooky time if you can. :knife:
My friends and I (safely) saw A Quiet Place II yesterday, and it was as good as the first one! It's been a while since we've been to the theater to see a movie. The last one we saw was Sonic the Hedgehog (February 2020), so it was nice to be back in my local theater again (even though there were only about ten other people in the room hah :sweat_smile:). We saw the first film in the theater the weekend it came out in April 2018, and it was definitely one that is best experienced in a theater full of people because of the fantastic use of sound for the film :shushing_face:. (I'll need to write a comment/review for that first Quiet if I ever plan to rewatch it). So we're greeted with a thank you message from John Krasinki thanking the audience for coming out to see the film in theaters which was nice. Oh, there was also a trailer for Old which is the new one from M Night Shyamalan, and it looks really interesting! This one has just about the right amount of tension and feels as the first Quiet. Though for the story, it is highly recommended to watch the first Quiet before seeing part II so you know what the characters have to deal with and how they approach the situation using certain techniques and strats. Emily Blunt still plays the strong mother who does her absolute best to protect her children. It still has those The Walking Dead vibes and even a little more Stranger Things vibes now because of the kids who are integral to this entry and the choices they make. I noticed the duality during the tense moments, and how the scenes from two of the characters were edited together; This occurred twice in the film which was significant for this second installment. Again, I really like the use of sound and the song that plays repeatedly on the radio now has a meaning. There's a bit more action going on in this one than what I remember from the first Quiet, well paced, definitely more body counts for sure. I like where the story and the characters are headed so far. If they ever do a third installment, I hope we see the characters reunite to close it up as a trilogy or maybe a fourth since there are still four family members. :wink: Oh, and we saw this in Showcase XPlus for the Dolby Atmos surround sound experience. :sound:
The trailer looked interesting so I wanted to check this out. Pretty decent setting so far; big mysterious mansion with kids uncovering the magic within it reminds me of The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) and The House with a Clock in its Walls (2018). Another thing I'm noticing lately is more and more films and TV shows are taking place and being filmed around my area - Massachusetts/Boston (including The Haunting of Hill House, The Christmas Chronicles, Ghostbusters (2016), I Feel Pretty (2018), Castle Rock season two, the list goes on). Right away, I recognize the kid who played Georgie in the recent It films and from The Prodigy, a horror film I saw last year, and of course the Ice Man himself Shawn Ashmore. Wait.. scratch that last one, I just looked up the cast, and it turns out that it's actually Aaron Ashmore who is a twin brother of Shawn Ashmore, surprisingly!
I haven't read the IDW comics that this show was based on, but I'm digging the concept of each key capable of a different ability. Apparently, there was a Locke & Key pilot back in 2011 that FOX refused to pick up, and a Hulu one in 2018. I have a feeling that the youngest Locke (played by Jackson Robert Scott) will be a gullible burden to the family, similar to the youngest child in the Lost In Space series. Let's see how this goes.
:key2:
:santa::mrs_claus: Saw this one on Vudu. I was expecting a more modern-looking version of Christmas Evil or Silent Night Deadly Night and it turns out to be as bad as I thought it would. The killer Santa in this film did not look like how he does on the cover, but he does use an axe like the other films. I think what's important with these killer Santa films is the look of the characters. The beard especially was just a normal gray beard which wasn't very Santa-like. However, there is a killer Mrs. Claus in this one who resembles a holiday Harley Quinn so much; crazy pig-tied blonde hair and she uses a bat! So the duo would go on a slashing spree together like Joker and Harley. They don't even go by the naughty or nice trope in this. The one thing I did find kind of interesting was, as the mystery unfolds much later, how the killers killed in numbers and counting by the Christmas carol, 12 Days of Christmas. The end result isn't all that great, but the highlight for me was definitely the holiday Harley Quinn style Mrs. Claus. Next up on the naughty list, I guess I'll check out Santa's Slay (2005).
In some ways, this Itsy Bitsy reminds of The Babadook where a single mother deals with stress while moving into a new home with her child(ren). Add Dark Water, The Ring, and Lights Out to that too, I guess. I like the added "legend" behind the spider. The son reminds me of one of my cousin's sons; good intentions and has to take care of his little sister who happens to be afraid of spiders. This is something I would tell friends (who are afraid of spiders) about, haha. The creature may not be as big as the ones in Eight Legged Freaks nor normal-sized like in Arachnophobia, but large enough to be "unusual size"; what I would call, A.O.U.S. (arachnids of unusual size). Bruce Davison looks so different now, I couldn't even recognize him until credits rolled. The one familiar face I did recognize was the actor who plays the kid who works in the arcade in Stranger Things and that Skittles commercial. It's a decent indie spooker with neat practical effects for the creature and some body horror. Though it sort of suffers a bit with its much focus on the human drama aspect than the horror itself. There's potential but I hope a sequel would be better if they ever make one.
wakey wakey :sleeping:
My friends and I have been on a Stephen King tip all year long having seen It Chapter Two and Pet Sematary earlier this year, In The Tall Grass on Netflix, and the new season of Castle Rock on Hulu. We decided to see Doctor Sleep opening night and I find it to be quite an interesting concept which turned out to be both an adaptation of the sequel book of the same title as well as a tie-in sequel to the Kubrick classic, The Shining. This one has more of an emphasis on the shining ability and takes place when Danny Torrance is already an adult; and that's all you really need to know going in. I was steadily drawn in by the dark and eerie atmosphere throughout the film accompanied with the heartbeat sound in the score thumping hastily and slowly. It has a lot of callbacks to many of the iconic moments in The Shining (1980) film with scenes re-shot and some (re)done in such meaningful ways. One of those blink and you'll miss it things, but I was able to catch one little Easter Egg, a 217 on one of the doors which is a reference to the room number of the Stanley Hotel (that the Overlook was based on for the novel). I also want to point out that Abra is a RWBY fan seeing that she had posters on the wall and figure by the bed. Fans know that Stephen King loves his Maine a lot, and I've noticed in these adaptations lately that they've been referencing Massachusetts (or New England) a lot which is where I'm from!
Overall a decent sequel story that expands on the lore of the Stephen King multiverse/universe and pays homage to the original The Shining film. It was fun revisiting the Overlook again in a new way. 40 years is quite some time, and the popular film had been referenced and parodied in so many different media since. I still remember the fantastic segment in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror V episode (aka The Shinning), and I remember how surprisingly tongue-in-cheek it was when it was done for Ready Player One (2018) film. Though don't expect Kubrick style directing here; the pacing felt as if it could have been a quality TV series for Hulu or Netflix, more along the lines of The Haunting of Hill House. In fact it's the same director, Mike Flanagan (who is also from Massachusetts), and even stars one of the actresses who played youngest daughter in The Haunting of Hill House. He had also done the other Stephen King adaptation, Gerald's Game, and other notable horror films in the past like Oculus and the Ouija prequel. There were other faces I later recognized including adult Danny, who is played by Ewan McGregor (of Star Wars and Moulin Rouge fame), Travis from Fear the Walking Dead, and The Giant from Twin Peaks!
If I were to sum this one with a quote from the film, it would be:
taste like whiskey :tumbler_glass:
Rocko, we can't live in the past. We can be grateful for it, but life isn't permanent, and if we don't embrace what's now, we miss out on a lot of the important stuff.
Man.. some wise words from Mr. Bighead :sob:
Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling is great! It's as if it never lost touch in the humor and quirkiness of the original show which I used to watch a lot of as a kid as it aired on Nickelodeon in the summer time and even played the video game (rented from Blockbuster)! I wore my Rocko themed shirt as I watched this and giggled along. It's fun to see the characters adapt to the 21s century and advances in technology and trends. A lot of the characters and gags struck my nostalgia bone hard as I'd go "Hey, I remember that!", even the music cues that would sound as a ringtone set off from a character's phone (or O-Phone as they call it in O-Town). The way they handled Ralph (The Bigheads' child) was very well done, and I applaud the team for that. I even caught a smear frame in one point of the film. You don't really see many of these in animation these days, but I guess it depends on the style of animation, and I love that! I hope they make more Rocko in the near future!
Rocketeer in the comic book shop, Depeche Mode, a Dune book, and Fright Night poster are just some of the neat touches of 80s in this episode. Though I'm not quite convinced about the Voltron talk. How could they have possibly known about the origin of the Voltron show in that time if their only source of news would just be the television (which you don't see them watching much of), maybe magazines, and/or word of mouth? Kids in the 80s would only briefly chat about how cool a show like Voltron was, how it looked and style, but on average, wouldn't actually know that it was cut from Japanese animated shows. And with that, it would be boys that would talk about that show. I'm not trying to be misogynistic, but that's what a lot of animated shows were like back then, or how we the audience believed to be. Not to mention they're teenagers, which around that age, tend to be interested in more mature things other than cartoons. On another look, the characters seem to talk about what was of that time, but how about older long-running IPs like Godzilla or James Bond. Give it a little more "spacial environment" of the sort of things the characters could be into.
I saw the Deadly Class trailer back in May of 2018 which screamed Battle Royale so much that I had to check it out back to back with The Umbrella Academy. The soundtrack is singed with 80s rock tunes from the likes of The Cure, Depeche Mode, and New Order to set the gritty tone and era of the show. Personally, I prefer they use the 80s songs more meaningfully and cleverly than just for the sake of them being there. Otherwise, ambient scores fit better for me. Even a cassette player, boombox, and VHS tape of Faces of Death make an appearance. Though some of the dialogue, fashion, and architectural/set design are a little try-hard even for the year 1987. A bunch of bad kids from different backgrounds are recruited to an elite academy that teaches about violence and survival. We follow Marcus, a homeless orphan, fighting his way through life, not really getting along with many of the gangs and bullies at school. I can bet that he'll become friends with some of them later on like what's happening with him and Willie. The two even had a little argument over comic books such as X-Men and Dark Phoenix, haha. After all, Deadly Class is in fact based on a comic book series, so of course they had to throw that reference in there. :wink: I really like the pacing so far, at least for this first episode. I hope that continues with the rest the series.
:fire: I'm glad that Hellboy is back on the big screen, but this one's a mixed bag. I'm fine with the cast; David played a good Hellboy, and Milla was a wonderful villain. There's definitely potential. However, this film suffered mostly from very rushed editing. There were many scenes where I feel they should've given a little more time with such as introducing characters, performing certain actions, or flashback scenes. There were some funnies that got me chuckling, I admit, and the lines fit the Hellboy character just fine. The visual effects are a half-and-half mix of actors in rubber suit costumes and CG, albeit some good but short green screens with the slow-motion fire and backgrounds. Even the gore effects were awesome. Most of the entertainment is found in the later half of the film. I just feel this would've benefited more if the story was spread out as a (Netflix) TV series because there's so much of Hellboy's story to tell. Director Neil Marshall had done a few notable TV shows already, and I enjoyed his Dog Soldiers and The Descent films very much. The post end credits scenes do set up for a sequel so we'll see if that happens. My friend and I left the theater just a tiny bit underwhelmed and now longing to rewatch the original first two Hellboy films by Guillermo del Toro that starred Ron Perlman, which from memory, provided us with not only the dark undertone but also a more lush quality to them. Wait for this to arrive on video if you're curious. Otherwise, I think other films like Shazam!, Us, Missing Link, or The Curse of La Llorrona would be the better choice.
"Work out your own salvation, with fear and tremble."
I remember seeing commercials of The Exorcism of Emily Rose on TV, and the marketing for it seemed like it would be as terrifying as the next The Exorcist. Images of faces melting with long black shadows oozing out the eyes and mouths were the kind of special effects we began to see in this post-The Ring era of PG-13 horror flicks, so I was a bit intrigued. It's one of those films you'd see the DVD lying in all your friend's living rooms that you visit whether or not they're into horror. It had been on my watchlist for years after its theatrical release, and it wasn't until around 2008 when I decided to finally watch it when looking for something spooky. It turned out pretty well; slow paced, not as terrifying as I had hoped it to be, but was worth a look. Now it's playing again on FLIX channel, so I'm letting it play while I write this up. Most of it is about court drama with some small simple spoops thrown in. I just remember the hospital scene the most, and feeling sorry about what Emily Rose had to suffer through; excellent acting on the actress who played her. The exorcism doesn't show up until somewhere 3/4 of the film. I read up a little bit on the actual story that the film was based on, and it took place in Germany in the late 70s, just after The Exorcist (1973) had released to the world, with a girl named Anneliese Michel in whose case suffered the same things Emily Rose did as portrayed in the film.
It's a slow, dark, and dreary one, so make sure you're ready for something this heavy before seeing it.
I'm huge on the first two Predator films; watched them a lot as a kid, VHS days. The Predator on the other hand was pretty entertaining. The tone/feel is a lot different than the previous titles. Some parts were cheaply edited, but it's probably due to time constraints and/or budget, but makes up with comedy, the characters, the action, the gore, and lore. It's less of the artsy tense directing of the first two Predator films which I admire, but still well-paced with action and humor, good to watch on Halloween too.. Don't Starve (video game) was seen on a computer screen.
There were some parts that made me think of another property (I won't say what it is but I'll codename it "G") that I'm a huge fan of that's not so relevant these days, and I'm glad the ideas were carried over with Predator as it's a more well-known property. The person (SW) that designed the original Predator creature had also worked on live-action adaptations of said G films, so there must've been some connection there, I would bet. That would be really cool if so.
I find out later in the credits that Shane Black worked on this (He also worked on and starred in the original Predator '87). Also, the iconic original score has been recycled.
"Do you remember that Superman episode.. where he was, like, spinning around the Earth backwards trying to rotate it in the other direction, to bring back time?"
Coincidentally, I'm noticing these Superman references in the things I'm watching lately. Mindhunter and now this. Maybe it's telling me something about the upcoming Justice League (2017) film.
Anyway, I caught Blue Crush on Flix channel. I mistaken this for the Jessica Alba/Paul Walker one, Into the Blue (2005). Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez, both of The Fast and the Furious fame, would later star in these separate surfer films. This is basically a chick flick for surfer chicks; a film of its time identified by its fun soundtrack including "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama and the rap rock song "Youth of the Nation" by P.O.D. The bikinis and crashing of the waves remind me of the beach and summer time. While the sound design may be nice to hear on a sound system, I do like some of the slow motion and underwater angled shots, which sometimes seemed to be repeated. If this was made today, we'd get more cinematic overhead drone shots like in the new Baywatch (2017). A Xbox logo can be spotted midway through, and there even featured an actual Xbox game that the girls play called Transworld Surf from Atari which was pretty good for its time. Story-wise, it's your typical boy meets girl romance while girl reaches for her dream goal. It's kept simple, nothing to be desired by; less action than the Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze surfer, Point Break (1991), and more along the lines of the Disney original film, Johnny Tsunami (1999). But seeing this makes me want to go surfing. I've always wanted to try surfing. If I lived in California or Hawaii, I'd hang at the beach all the time. Now I gotta see Into the Blue.
I remember seeing Splash for the first time on the Disney Channel back in the mid-90s, and now I'm seeing it again as an adult as it airs on Showtime. It's a splendid romantic comedy; pretty much your live-action The Little Mermaid that reminded me of how I had dreamed of one day falling in love with a mermaid. There are some really nice close-up shots with bokeh effects at night. Good job on Ron Howard's part, who went on to direct a couple more of my favorites, Cocoon (1985) and Willow (1989). I really like the chemistry between the main characters, Allen and Madison.
Allen (played by Tom Hanks) reminds me of me in some ways. Although he is one very lucky fellow to encounter a such a beautiful creature. There's a moment in the film where he goes,
"It's so big!"
which may have foretold the coming film that Tom Hanks would later star in, Big (1988).
Madison (played Daryl Hannah) is your curious mermaid on-foot, exploring and learning the big city of NYC; in a way that reminds me of Short Circuit (1986). She's always smiling, biting her bottom lip, overall so innocent, loyal, and full of love. I remember the actress, Daryl Hannah, from other films like Blade Runner (1982) and The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986).
You may shed some happy tears with this one because of how lovely and enjoyable the film is.
"You can go wherever you want, see whatever you want to. But a place is only as good as the people you know in it."
I like that line. I've heard it a few times elsewhere before, but now I can use this film as a reference. In fact, there are a few other lines I liked in this. I thought I had seen I Am Number Four before, but now catching it on Showtime, it doesn't quite ring a bell other than the title. The high school teenager coming of age setting mixed with sci-fi/alien superhero seems to be the trend these days. Of course, I've seen many outings of the same thing in different forms before it, that I'm a fan of, which was why I was ever remotely interested in films this. After having seen Max Steel recently, they both are a lot alike, but this one seems to be more well written and produced.
"Quite a production"
I also like the characters more here, especially the chemistry between John and Sarah, who happens to be the sweet artsy type of girl that's into photography. There are a handful of other "number" members which gives off a sort of a Power Rangers vibe. I noticed The X-Files references and bits of Terminator 2 influences (shotgun, Number Six entrance) too. Now looking at the cast, I see Teresa Palmer which I like a lot from other films (Wolf Creek, The Grudge 2, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Warm Bodies, and the recent Lights Out). I knew I recognized Kevin Durand (The Strain) underneath that alien skin. The creature designs are very sci-fi, like something you'd see from a Rick and Morty episode. Coincidentally, the latest Rick and Morty which I just saw earlier today had a line that said "common name", and there's a John Smith and Jane Doe in this which are common names.
The end leaves it open for a sequel, in similar way as Max Steel does. Perhaps we'll get one someday. I do wonder how they would title it though. Would they retain the "I Am Number Four" and maybe add a subtitle or sequential number?
This version of Death Note is very different; felt a bit rushed in the beginning because of how it was edited, but I learned to appreciate some of the later bits and pieces. Before I go into details, I want to state that I watched Death Note the animation and the original live-action films long before they started airing on US networks; just so anyone reading would know where I'm coming from. I'm also familiar with director Adam Wingard's works such as the V/H/S series, You're Next, The ABCs of Death, and saw his surprise Blair Witch sequel in theaters last year. I think Wingard did some things right in terms of adapting Death Note to American standards. In the original manga/films, Light has a full happy family, but in modern America, the majority of families are broken, divorced or single parents. That aspect couldn't be more true. It wasn't necessary, and they could've chosen not to go that way, but maybe whoever wrote the script wanted to show that part of America, and perhaps is what adds to Light's character. The Light here is still a bright student. He is smart in his school work and academics, but not so smart when it comes making daily life choices (such as getting into trouble or hanging out with the girl, Mia). This made me think of my psychology class back in high school, and how the teacher Mrs. Ansara said that I was a "bright kid."; not to me directly, but heard from another teacher towards the end of that senior year.
I chuckled when Mia was seen watching Phantasm (1979), a classic horror flick. If I was in a relationship moment like Light and Mia, I'd stop in the middle of the heated argument and go, "Before we do anything else, let's finish this movie first." I think Wingard added that part in as a tribute to the late Angus Scrimm (aka The Tall Man) who sadly passed away last year. Oh, and there was a moment when Light opened Mia's locker and there hung a note that read "Normal People Scare Me" in I recognize as the same font as the American Horror Story logo. I wonder if that means anything. I know had joked about the casting for L when the trailer dropped (check the official Death Note Facebook page), but in reality I was actually optimistic because I had already seen how well the actor was in a previous film, Get Out. Sure enough, he did not let me down as L.
The cinematography is as expected from a known American director. The camera angles, the use of light and shadows are done really well. I especially liked how it looked at the diner when L meets Light with the neon lights and Ryuk appearing behind with the rain dripping along the glass window. Dafoe did a good job, fits well with Ryuk, but the editing of his voice sound like he's always in front of you, in front of the microphone, and not as spacious to sound as if he's at a distance in another room to give it a more believable depth. Perhaps that part of planning didn't take into account because maybe the post production CG was done after filming/recording.
I'm not sure I agree with the soundtrack either. The score and song productions are very good but I don't think they fit well with the show, or at least used very well. A lot of shows today tend to add classic 80s songs to try to be cool. It's one thing to play an 80s song, but when you use it in the wrong context it loses its coolness (Scream Queens, for example - overly done). Towards the end of the film, there's an 80s power ballad "The Power of Love" (by Jennifer Rush, made famous by Celine Dion, Air Supply) that plays extensively loud while the characters are still talking and having a moment. The lyrics to that song has no relevance with what's happening onscreen. It's both distracting and made me cringe. It even continues playing through the end credits. I didn't really feel the love connection between Light and Mia, nor did I want to. It's interesting to see Wingard try a bit of romance though, but I think it's better off he keeps that to a minimum. There was a night chase scene that had a cool synthwave track playing in the background while the neon lights and wet streets gave it a bit of a Blade Runner cyberpunk vibe. That's a visual element never before seen in any version of Death Note. It's cool but felt a bit out of place. I prefer my Death Note to have muted colors, much so that if you were to tone down the saturation completely, the film would still look good in black and white. That way, it'd give the film a more classy dark gothic tone. The contrast of that would reflect the characters themselves who are of opposite skin tones. At least they got the detective/mystery and suspense down, but how will they explain the supernatural/fantasy aspect?
There's way more to the Death Note story than what they were able to fit here. I think it would've worked better as a live-action series/miniseries, not just a feature film, to better fit with other Netflix ("original") shows like 13 Reasons Why, Riverdale. Overall, I felt this was more of a fan film. It's as if someone were to make a professional-looking bootleg live-action fan short, put it up on YouTube/Vimeo, and people in the comments praising it, saying they'd watch an extended version if given the budget. That's pretty much what this Death Note felt like to me, a full-length live-action American remake of a once popular property. Well, here you go, kids. Eat it up. Personally, I'd rather see more original content from Adam Wingard than something based on an existing franchise. Now I hear he's working on a remake of the 2010 Korea psychological thriller, I Saw The Devil. Like the many countless remakes, it's unnecessary.
I wore my Donkey Kong shirt when I went to see the film opening weekend, and without knowing, sure enough there were "Donkeys" in the film. The pacing for WAR is a bit on the sluggish end but for good reason. It being the third (and final?) film in this Apes trilogy, I think the filmmakers wanted to have a little fun with this entry adding some snow (Winter) and interesting new characters including a comic relief and a young infected orphan of which are welcomed outcasts to the apes clan. To me, the orphan girl, played by Amiah Miller, also in Lights Out (2016), symbolized hope, and had a synchronized connection with the apes. They aid in the great escape, which took up most of the film; also reminded me of the escape in the Aardman Animations film, Chicken Run (2000). I think the film title ought to be Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Woody makes for a believable role (Colonel) whenever he plays an antagonist. Caesar is still haunted by the ghost of his previous foe in fear of developing a likeness the savagely ways. The motives for the two different leaders become clear, but in the end, the one with the better understanding of emotions, vengeance, and moral values would typically be the more respectable. There seems to be a definite improvement in the CG work compared to the first film from 2011, Rise (better lighting/computers perhaps?). I also liked the little references to Apocalypse Now (Ape-ocalypse Now pun) and Bedtime for Bonzo. In all, a fine closure and a touching one too.
Quick recap: The Kabaneri heroes are not trusted after the incident that happened last episode so they're placed at the back of the train for safety reasons. I know the samurai are just doing their job and keeping the royals and their people safe even though they can be jerks sometimes. The Kabaneri heroes would somehow have to earn the people's trust again in the next Kabane attack. They're met with the more powerful Kabane this time, and so this the chance for the Kabaneri to redeem themselves.
So now the next attack comes, and we get this nicely detailed cinematic shot of the Ikoma and Mumei dashing atop accompanied yet again with a vocal rock song to amp up the feel of the scene. Personally, I would prefer it just be orchestral/symphonic, but maybe the contemporary music is there to give it a sense of importance or something. This is just how Japanese cinema is now when it comes to their action films; just add a rock song in the background to be "cool". I'm not impressed with the music choice of that scene but whatever.
It's still a really good episode in the end. We learn a bit more about the characters, and what they're capable of. It was also nice to see Ayame getting in on the action too. If there's one episode to show someone a sneak peak of what goes on early on, I would show this one. I hope we see more environmental sceneries like that wide angle shot at the end with the view of the land as the train moves ahead; that was a beautiful shot. I liked how that end theme song just slow fades in and into the credits. Parts of the song's melody (and harmony) sounds very similar to "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru.
We learn what a "Kabaneri" is in this one. We also get to see the mysterious Mumei in action. A vocal dance song is played while she fights the Kabane, that gives off a slick vibe to go along with how Mumei swiftly dashes and slashes her way down to the last Kabane. I'm sure Jpop listeners of today would recognize it. As for me, I'm out of the loop when it comes to Jpop music; but it felt modern and a bit out of place considering the setting of the enivronment. At this moment, I'm already thinking about how this story is moving along quickly as if it were a full-length feature film just by the quality and editing style. As I've mentioned previously, the characters have this very Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross) style design which gives off this sweet classy look to them, especially for the female characters. That red cape gives Ikoma a sort of Trigun (1998) Vash look (blonde guy, gun, glasses, red cape, body armor). Maybe it was intended and was probably inspired by it.
I want to nitpick a bit. I feel like in today's Japanese animation, the male leads tend to kick and scream a lot and are very angsty like a child. It's different from the era of 80s and 90s animation that I grew up in where the characters are able to control their emotions and not so easily erratic about such small things. It's like that with Eren (Attack on Titan) and that kid in Parasyte: The Maxim (2014). Maybe these directors/writers wrote their characters this way where they evolve from a childish trait to a strong character in the end just so they can have that "character development." I just find it annoying and off-putting for me. Other than that, I'm still enjoying the action and the art work. Now on to episode 3!
Alright, I'm checking this new series out for the first time which is available for streaming on Steam (yes, the digital distribution platform). I saw the trailer on YouTube, and thought it looked really cool. What pulled me in was the art style which reminds me of classic 80s Macross /Robotech art (Haruhiko Mikimoto) in motion. Of course being a fan of horror, naturally I will like my zombie apocalypse just fine, and just after seeing Seoul Station (2016) - a Korean animated zombie film prequel to Train To Busan (2016). Also, with the steampunk Meiji/Taisho-era Japan setting, altogether creates this unique mixture.
It's a good first episode that wastes no time introducing the characters and what the situation is. They probably did it that way for those who are already familiar with WIT Studio's past works such as Attack on Titan (2013), would get right on board with this new series quickly and easily. We got our main protagonist named Ikoma who is secretly building a weapon to defend himself against these zombie/vampire-like monsters known as Kabane. That aspect already reminds me of the Katsuhiro Otomo film, STEAMBOY (2004).
Kabaneri is a good alternative to Attack on Titan, and will hold us off until we finally get new episodes of season two. Watching the series on Steam just feels right since it's wrapped around a steampunk setting. Now onto episode two!
"It's party time!"
Director, Jaume Balagueró, managed to ditch the "found footage" style and transitioned us to the traditional style of filming. It's actually pretty cool to see how that progressed from the first REC film. The decision to set this story in a ship during a storm is as if they borrowed the idea from the 2012 video game, Resident Evil: Revelations. That was my initial thought upon seeing the trailer reveal some time ago. My favorite new character here is Nic who is pretty much the stereotypical chubby hacker guy on deck who happens to be a fan of the lovely Angela. He's even got his own stash of chocolate bars and a Rubik's Cube at his desk. Angela is finally back and kicking major butt in this one, being the strong female character she is. I felt bad for the old lady who kept asking about her daughter-in-law's wedding which I think was simply added there to connect this and the previous film, REC 3 Genesis (2012), which outbreak took place at a wedding. I also felt bad for the Phillipino guy who happened to be the cook on the ship, as well as the only Asian guy in the series so far. We do get to see more of that parasite worm that we saw in the original REC film, and a little more insight on its journey to where it is now, but it leaves to question about certain aspects (lore) seen in the second film that did not seem to carry over (invisibililty). There are parts, mainly the threat, where I'm reminded of Alien (1979) and the other "zombie" film, 28 Days Later (2002), where the virus stems from ravaging lab monkeys. Every time there's a ship escape on the ocean, I always think of that ending to Titanic (1995), so of course we get a bit of that vibe here towards the end. Overall, I thought it was a nice conclusion to the series (or is it?).
haha, not even 10 minutes in, there's already a Wilhelm scream from one of the baddies. There are fight scenes that are a little reminiscent of older Jackie Chan films, ie. where he fights a (very hot) woman, it's short and not as affective, but the Russian doll thing was creative. On the nerdy side of things, it looks to be HTC phones they were using in this. The music soundtrack seemed underwhelming; you get to see Jackie Chan's character sing Adelle's "Rolling In The Deep" with the Mongols. It does have some nice cinematics and wide-angle camera shots as we see the country side and traditions of motherland China. I know underwater scenes are difficult to shoot, and that part reminded me a bit of Titanic (1995), so I respect the crew for that part. Jackie Chan films are known to have blooper reels during the credits, and while there's not many good ones, there is one moment that involves Johnny Knoxville and poop. Overall, it's as if it wants to be a Rush Hour 4, but not quite there. Maybe they were just trying to see what if he were to collaborate with this person or person. Personally, I'd like to see Jackie Chan with Jim Carrey (the two JC's).
I had no idea what to expect prior to watching this other than I know Swamp Thing was going to be in it. This turned out to be Constantine being the main lead, and Batman had little part to do in this team even though he is placed largely at the forefront of the cover art. I giggled at each time we got the "Hmm." from Batman, and his silly one-liners, haha. I've never seen Zatanna, Boston, or the Demon in action, let alone working together as a team before. Whenever I see the Demon, I think of that time when he teamed up with Lobo in the short mini-series of comics. We get a little insight on his origin in this one. The House of Mystery makes an appearance (as seen on the cover art). I was mostly excited to see Swamp Thing, and boy was he awesome in this; fought valiantly, but wish they had gone at it in a team. Although tragic, there was probably more deaths/bloodshed seen in this one than any of the other animated DC films. I sure hope there would be a Justic League Dark sequel sometime in the future. It's a nice conjure of mystics, magic spells, illusions, the night, demons, and a spooky horror-like atmosphere fit for the Halloween time.
It was definitely worth my rent on FandangoNow.
I used to see this one airing on TV back in the day, and there were certain scenes that always stuck with me. At that time, I was more a fan of horror icons such as Jason or Freddy when it comes to "scary movies", but I was always fascinated by the maze scene in this because as a kid, that's probably a lot of fun to get lost in. I recalled Jack Nicholson mostly as the Joker in Batman (1989) and Shelly Duvall as Olive Oyl in the live-action Popeye (1980) movie.
Yesterday, I took the liberty to return to this and watched the Director's Cut all the way through as an adult now knowing its classic status, history, and the Kubrick name attached, and I realize the deeper meanings behind some of those scenes, imagery, and choice of colors, etc. It's also probably the first time I had heard the term "horror film addict" too. The eerie loud orchestrated score reminded me of Kubrick's other masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Then I remember in comparison to The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror V parody (which was great), and that one time when The Ghost Adventures team went to investigate the actual (haunted) hotel that the film was shot at. Even to this day, The Shining is still inspiring and making references in other forms of media (film/show/game).
When I first read about this film, I automatically took it like they had ripped off the movie title from the Ridley Scott fantasy classic. A friend of mine brought it up recently so I decided to check it out. The highlight for me was Tom Hardy playing as twin brothers who are gangsters in this sort of 50s noir settings. It seemed at some parts he's trying so hard that it looked and sounded ridiculous with his accent, haha. But I do like the technique they did to appear as there are two of him in the frame, perhaps with double exposure(?) and/or stunt double. That part reminded me of other past films that have done this such as Double Impact (1991) with Van Damme, or Multiplicity (1996) with Michael Keaton, and one I rewatched recently called Doppelganger (2003). But the story, setting and characters made me think of films like The Great Gatsby (2013) with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Public Enemies (2009) with Johnny Depp. Of course I remember Emily Browning from Sucker Punch (2011) and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). The drama arc is rather very minimal. The music selection is very nice though, almost as if they tried to cram as much of the good oldies as they can every chance they can get within the two-hour film length. Kray Kray
I keep seeing a lot of praise for this film, saying it's "the best action movie ever seen". It's either they haven't watch that many action films or all the hype train is blindly choo-chooing around Gareth Evans whose work I recall was included in V/H/S/2 (2013). Maybe it's the result of such a low budget production that's sending off the horns here. After all, the entire movie takes place in that one old building seen in the movie poster anyway, kinda like Die Hard (1988).
So I rented this on VUDU recently, and thought it was just good. The gritty nature of it is very typical to look at, that bland "Call of Duty" look or even that Dredd (2011) movie. Parts of the film and its premise reminded me of Tony Jaa's Ong-Bak series with the flying elbows and flying knees, while certain notable scenes (where the first bullet shot sends off an array of mayhem) reminded me a little bit of OLDBOY (2003); that grenade in the refrigerator is just like in Die Hard; and how the SWAT team head on upwards the building reminded me of infected going up that building in [REC] (2007)/Quarantine (2008). I do however very well respect how the main characters prefer fists over gun when they fight as a way of honor, a code to true fighters alike, which made me think of things like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Jet Li all represent their country's action flick counterparts as does The Raid series for Indonesia. Give it a go if you're looking for more of that modern fist-pumping Asian action flick.
I've been thinking of this film these past few weeks for some reason. I remember shopping at SUNCOAST Video store just as they were shutting down and seeing on the shelf the cool "Doppelganger" title on the DVD cover with its Tartan Asia Extreme label atop. I recognize the main actor since I had seen him in the director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's other films. Doppelganger is a slow-paced thriller about a man, an inventor who works in the field of robotics, who deals with what seems to be a double evil/psycho version of himself. You can tell which one is the bad one by his actions and how he always seem to whistle that same song. I'm not quite sure what the song is, but there's a piano version of it played in background at one point. The odd melody reminds me of Totaka's Song that's hidden in plenty of Nintendo games (such as Animal Crossing) by its in-house composer. Overall, it's not an outstanding film, but it's neat to see how the technique of double exposure was used to achieve the effect. I'd recommend Kurosawa's other similar but much better thriller called CURE (1997), and if you're more into the horror side of things, do check his PULSE (2001), Seance (2000), and Sweet Home (1989) released to coincide with the Capcom game of the same name. He has a new one on the way called CREEPY (2016).
I like a romcom once in a long while just to keep my sensitive side in check. I heard many talks about Me Before You so I decided to check it out. Initially, from the looks of the title and movie poster, I'm only interested in how the Mother of Dragons (from Game of Thrones) performs in a romantic film. Her character is really cute with a bubbly personality with unexpectable goofy but likeable facial expressions that I didn't know she was capable of (them eyebrows!). The story, however, is very typical for me though where one main lead is disabled or sick. It reminded me of a lot of Korean dramas and other romantic films such as the recent The Fault In Our Stars (2014) and especially a Korean film called ...ing (2003) which is about an illed girl whose appreciation has sharpened for each ordinary day that passes before you while there's a guy that tries everything he can to keep her happy. This kind of plot is typical for me because I see it as more of common sense, aplenty, but maybe it could impact other viewers who don't often see or feel this kind of subject. The choice of music for some parts is a bit "loud" and (UK-)pop style for my taste, but there was a moment that had class(ical).
Although I do like how the two main characters go for that slow kiss each time; pretty hot.
