| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Spit on Your Grave (Day of the Woman) - R | May 9, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - R |
One of those movies where I feel the best bit of praise I can give is, "Well congrats, you made a movie that isn't altogether terrible." SPOILERS (for dumb people) AHEAD Another flick in the long line of recent releases looking to add their own commentary to the larger pantheon of slasher films. This one's very obvious and predictable contribution is "the survivor girl is in on the killing scheme". Too often using the overexposed technique, obviously a DP who has never done a water shoot before, and film-makers who think slow-time is not an annoying cinematic device that gives away jumpscares. Unfortunately, though so flawed, this is one of the better filmed slashers out at the moment. I have no empathy for any of the characters and therefore do not care when they are killed. They are all self-absorbed privileged douchebags who epitomize all that can be wrong with the teenage populace, and it seems that the black character's douchebaggery is toned down a good deal so as to be PC. Only Mandy Lane and her odd former best friend are empathetic, which perhaps may be the true point of the film - realistic and developed teen characters hacking away at the cardboard cliche scream teens. Some nice kills, especially the eye slashing and the rifle end through the throat. Not any real suspense or tension however. I'd say skip, but if you are hellbent on a teen slasher, this might do you good to see something with more of an attempt at a Natural Born Killers/Bonnie and Clyde/Mysterious Skin spin than say a dull franchise addon like later installments of Friday the 13th or Halloween. |
April 28, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Kidulthood - R | April 25, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| La frusta e il corpo (The Whip and The Body) - Unrated | April 25, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji (Legend of the Overfiend) - Unrated |
So this lil flick, according to what fellow flixsterer Johnlindsey289 says, is the origin of the modern tentacled demon rape hentai that swells the modern market. A very typical anime plot of worlds colliding with the rise of an ancient power and two opposed super-powered creatures fighting to either help or destroy it, except all the demons and people in this are sexually explicit. No explicit homo action, but is definitely implied by what some of the characters do. Character design on the demons and beast people is just stunning. Plenty of realistic poon shots, so I wish there were more realistic peen shots to contrast. Most of the peen is demon dick and can literally wrap around a neck several times. Totally absurd and offensive to the general populace; basically, the best time you can waste on anime. |
April 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Children - R |
This is formulaic horror, but classy formulaic horror. It doesn't rely on jumpscares or poorly done tributes to classic kills, but instead relies on the score and frequent "fill in the blank" cuts and shots. I don't know how the pedestrian viewer will react to the gory violence against children, if it will truly disgust them and work on that level as it is intended to. Being a seasoned gorehound, I'm not too shocked by any simulated violence even if it is against children. For me, the film succeeds because the kids are creepy and devilish little bastards that I don't mind seeing killed. Even before the kids start being affected by the "killing germ", they are thoroughly torturous to the ears and would raise anxiety and annoyance levels in anyone who has experienced long bouts of shrilly kids cavorting about in a small space. There are of course some minor plotholes in the form of questionable character actions leading to injury (but few horror can get by without doing this), but it doesn't overall ruin the sense of panic created during this secluded family gathering. Some highlights: there is a beautiful crane tracking shot over the blood trails where the children have dragged their father's body from the site of the accident to their play tent. Once inside the tent, we discover that his daughter has been up to some impressive displays of effects as a doll has been lodged in his freshly opened abdomen. The kid forcibly impaled on the splintered door is surprisingly gory and effective considering the film's earlier tendency to cut away from the gory bits. All of the shots of blood on snow are amazing. The sound effects design is great and totally outdoes the score. The lead women are good at conveying a sense of panic, of demonstrating motherly instinct to protect their kids, even when those kids are trying to kill them. The end was predictable, but quite eerie. In the end, a recommend for people looking for a better than usual horror flick to pass the night during a family gathering on a snowy holiday after you've put your little bastards to bed. |
April 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Predator - R | apparently I need to see this again | April 5, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Don't Open The Window - R | April 5, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Return to the House on Haunted Hill - R |
Not only is it a quite convoluted yet simple plot, it isn't scary or even gory (what I mean to say is that the gore is not well done, be it crap CG or badly colored and wrong consistency blood). The acting is fair considering I have never seen any of these people before. The highlight here is the set decoration and overall art direction though vast chunks of it smack of rented permanent studio installations. Makeup is a nice attempt but is basically laughable and wholly ineffective. BIG SKIP |
April 5, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Leprechaun 2 - R |
Was quite delighted to realize that Warwick Davis plays the Leprechaun. These movies scared the bejesus out of me as a kid, and today, though the gore was certainly not satisfying (though I saw this on SciFi so it may have been edited), the humor and plot were plenty entertaining. I like the story and it covers up for the bits of overacting and kitsch lines. Makeup on the titular character is supreme and adds most of the fright factor. Sets are superior as well, capturing the essence of mid-budget 90s. Pretty big recommend for horror fans who want an evenly paced story and some laughs but can do without blood. |
April 5, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Religulous - R |
I liked it but I am one of the choir here. And that is this movie's biggest problem - I don't think this is movie for those other than the already converted. The "devout" will react as many of the interviewed subjects do - by getting angry and storming out or clamming up or simply ejecting Maher from the premises. How well will this work on the converted? I'm not sure as Maher can be quite an abrasive character even for those who agree with him. I personally like Maher's style of humor, so I found this movie enjoyable. The problem here is that the movie is very focused on his personal journey, which for once makes him less biased, but doesn't drive home his points like say "An Inconvenient Truth" propaganda did. I would also add that the movie's biggest problem for me was that it wasn't longer. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least five other people I wish Maher would have tried to interview who would not have been too hard to get (mostly philosophers and scientists I've seen in other movies like What The Bleep do We Know). Overall entertaining and frightening to be introduced to such characters as the mock-Jesus at the Holy Land Disneyland place and the guy who professes that he is the second coming of Christ and has an established and very large ministry. The grand highlight for me was the brilliant and witty Catholic priest who is a senior attache at the Vatican; he epitomized what religion needs to admit to and how to discuss these things. |
April 5, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Boogeyman 2 - Unrated |
Didn't see the whole thing, just the last half hour when things begin to get bloody. Super gore highlight when the murderer opens a victim's chest and removes his still beating heart. That scene alone is worth a rental. The costuming and mask are excellent, and the CG is quite bearable for the budget. Saw comparisons abound as the doctor character is the actor who plays Jigsaw, the murderer uses tape recorders to stage the heart scene, and the end includes a series of twists. Great gore, the crew does what they can with the so-so set, but they apparently could not invest in tripods, dollys, or even some steadicam attachments. |
April 5, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Wolf - R |
Saw this on AMC this week. Was a childhood favorite and still a favorite now, especially since the main characters are in the publishing industry. A great thriller with some of my favorite actors. Minimalistic wolf stylings are effective and probably planted the idea in my head that a younger Nicholson would have made a great Logan/Wolverine. |
April 5, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Young at Heart (Young@Heart) - PG | March 30, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Immortal Beloved - R | better than Amadeus, one flixsterer claims | March 30, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Bad Timing - R | March 25, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Gacy - R |
Watched this after watching the A&E Biography on Gacy. Felt like the screenwriters should have also watched that as they missed out on what could have been stunningly horrifying scenes in the film. In real life, one of Gacy's intended victims and then boarder escaped; he arrived home to find Gacy drunk and sporting his clown attire, he cuffed the young man and began taunting him in the clown voice, until Gacy suddenly snapped into a rage and began chasing and attacking the man, screaming "I'm gonna rape you!". This story was told by the man who lived it in the A&E special, which is available on Youtube if you like to see. In real life, Gacy also invited the police investigating him to dinner at his place where he served fish; the stench of rotting bodies from the crawlspace was overwhelming and enabled them to secure the search warrant ending in his arrest. Instead of recreating these precious eerie and REAL moments, the script distorts things greatly and I'm not even sure what the hell they're going for. Acting is unanimously terrible, with the lead being the only one to occasionally not suck. Very minimal on killing and violence; very scarce blood, no rape scenes, and few creepy moments from the actor playing Gacy. Some shitty shots of a few bugs crawling around attempt to add some grotesquery and movie plays with the idea that Gacy is psychologically tormented through audio montage but weakly and only for one scene towards the end. This is a big SKIP. Go for fiction or the Dahmer movie, or the penultimate real-life based serial killer flick Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. |
March 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Pembalasan ratu pantai selatan (Lady Terminator) (Nasty Hunter) (Shooting Star) - R | March 24, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Martyrs - R |
Tentative rating of 4 on first screening. This is a movie that has to sink in and I need to watch again before I can give an accurate rating. Two things can definitely be said: this film scores huge points for originality, and the second sequence is just the coolest "fuck off!" to Michael Haneke's Funny Games. _ March 17, 2009: Rating revised 4 to 4.5. Now my full breakdown, including many SPOILERS will commence. If you have yet to see this movie, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. Laugier gives us not one, but two astonishing and amazing films. The film has a definite divide, with the first segment being a revenge tale wherein former victim becomes murderer plagued by psychological demons and assisted by a best friend who has been by her side throughout both her victimization and realization of revenge. The second segment is a "torture porn", except it's not so much of the "porn" variety but of the Salo school of torture film as it does have a driving philosophical point. The makeup and gore are beyond astonishing. This sets new levels of achievement for the genre and proves that the studio chose wisely when they signed Laugier to do the Hellraiser remake. This film is certainly this year's A L'Interieur. Both the imagined demon girl and the actual tortured girl are incredibly frightening and left me shivering. The high tech basement room instantly reminded me of the setting for the climax in Laugier's previous horror outing Saint Ange. An interesting thing I noted in the version I saw: once the controlling financiers of the Martyrs project are revealed, the head woman often refers to what the subtitles translate as Anna's "transformation". Using my rough ear for French, I am sure that what she is really saying is transfiguration, which ole wikipedia tells you is "a momentary transformation of a man or woman into someone having the aspect of the divine". This better fits the context and explanation of what the financiers are trying to achieve, and hopefully it's corrected in the DVD english release and I just downloaded a crap subtitle. |
March 20, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Nothing Is Private (Towelhead) - R |
Alan Ball writes (adapts) and directs. Powerful in capturing the awkward and tumultuous moments of sexual awakening and identity affirmation. Summer Bishil shines in the lead role of Jasira, and Aaron Eckhart is to be commended for taking on this controversial role. The cinematography of suburbia is great and the absurdity of its layout and American flags are exactly how these things exist in reality. I watch a lot of exploitation, so I'm not really shocked by any of the content here. I'm more surprised that it never elevates itself to say "Happiness" or Ball's own "Six Feet Under" levels but hovers in the realm of too serious about itself to be resounding. Overall, the movie is good but never elevates to greatness due to the flat nature of the supporting characters. |
March 19, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Hellraiser - Unrated | March 17, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Akira - Unrated | I don't understand why a plot that can barely fill an animated feature will be stretched into two live action movies (besides the obvious reason we all know too damn well) I'll see the first one, but I'm not giving this adaptation much wiggle room. | March 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Milk - R |
It's hard to imagine a point in history where the Castro was a dangerous and generally unwelcome place for gays (and queer was a dirty word), but the film brings us back to that pivotal moment within the first ten minutes. Within the first half hour, we are reminded what artificial changes and camouflage one must don to compete in the political arena. In the first hour, we are perfectly reminded of divisions within the queer movement by staff hesitance over the campaign manager.
I like that the film begins and ends with Harvey recording his assassination tape and that the beginning includes actual footage from the event (particularly the official announcement). James Franco has an amazing ass (hope that wasn't a body double). The marches/riots scenes are just great showcases of directing and really capture the angry hungry spirit of the people. Sean Penn has gayed up Milk, but I think that's for the better and in tune with Milk's own philosophy of being out. It's good to see that Gus van Sant has finally made a queer film that can be treasured. "If you want real political power, if that's what you want, try telling the truth for a change." Best line I've heard in a film in years. It seems like the American public, by the films they're watching (this one and Frost/Nixon), haven't had truth in their politics for a while and are trying to decipher how to extract/create it in the real world by observing its dramatic nature. We are looking back to times before when we were lied to by an executive who committed crimes against the nation and human rights were legislated against across the nation so that we may understand its nature now. I hope these films come at a time when they can inform us how to properly pursue justice. I've been quite cynical of film lately, and the structure of this piece reassures me that there does exist quality filmmaking today. As much as I decry the Oscar system, I will be truly pissed if we don't get our queer year with THIS amazing piece. - Fuck the Oscars. After second screen, still AMAZING but not a perfect 5. |
March 16, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Testament - PG | March 15, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Watchmen - R | I'm not gonna blabber too much about it as someone has undoubtedly already captured everything I could want to say on this film already. To summarize: love that it is scene for scene direct adaptation of Moore's work, so much unexpected awesome gore scenes (horror industry take note), fantastic costuming, amazing non-CG art direction, CG runs the gamut from groundbreaking to "that's so circa 2000", worst awkwardly funny love scenes in years (including comedies that include intentionally awkwardly funny love scenes), acting is pretty crap for the most part, Rorschach gets TONS of fight scenes which are great but I wish the other characters would have been given equal fight-time, Comedian is highlight of the acting with Rorschach second best, love that it includes "fuck" and generally bucks super-hero movie traditions as the book did for its medium, the Manhattanhood in triplicate is not as awesome as the rimming ready ass-shot. And speaking of them sparkly blue genitals, a HUGE inaccuracy between book and film here: in book, the quantum dangler is uncircumcised and proportional so that you can actually see his balls, in film he rocks the current idealized cut donkey dick; also some movements not totally accurate (yeah I want to see some more flopping if they're gonna make him hang that low). | March 11, 2009 | N/A |
1678 ratings
588 reviews
