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dougcolt
Reviews
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
It's an Elegant, Updated, and more Expensive Tales from the Crypt--Lots of Fun!
I stumbled upon this by mistake while browsing around in Netflix so I had zero expectations going into it. Knowing Guillermo del Toro's largely striking, magical, and gorgeous previous works, I figured this would be a delicious visual treat if nothing else. That it was.
All in all this first series was highly entertaining with a diverse set of stories, themes, and visuals. I won't spoil anything but a number of the shorts feature marvelously revolting blood & gore, with little or no CGI to spoil the realism (or perhaps the lack thereof, with some extra-gory over-the-top nastiness sprinkled in).
A few of the shorts trodded along slowly but all were thoroughly enjoyable. I hope this series continues!
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard--in a Building!
How many times can one possibly watch Die Hard and still find it endlessly entertaining? The jury's still out...
One's appreciation of this unstoppable freight train of a film ripens like a fine wine with every viewing. Every scene, every character, every bit of dialog is sharp, quick, and integral to the movie as a whole. Director John McTiernan doesn't waste a second and the result is a perfectly-paced and developed story without so much as a minute of downtime.
The attention to small details is also remarkable and oftentimes hilarious--the swat team cop pricking his finger on the rose bush while ambushing the building, the limo driver mindlessly bouncing around on the phone while Sergeant Al Powers' squad car is careening backwards with a dead body on the hood--Genghis Khan (that's him, right?) grabbing a quick candy bar before unloading his machine gun on the cops.
It's the archetype for every action film that followed and I'm not sure any subsequent film measures up or exceeds the original masterpiece: Die Hard--in a Building!
Taylor Tomlinson: Quarter-Life Crisis (2020)
Fabulous raw talent and a long career ahead
I'm a regressive male pig and not usually a huge fan of female comedians. ;) Not this time! Taylor is an absolutely phenomenal talent who has mastered the delivery of dark comedy in what feels like an effortless way. This is the rare standup special that I will watch repeatedly; it's that good! Taylor is a natural storyteller and I'm looking forward to decades of laughs! Hilarious, tight, and wonderfully paced from start to finish.