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jonathancupp66
Reviews
Dashcam (2021)
For Better Or Worse, A Decent Annie Hardy Horror Movie
I'm a fan of Annie Hardy's band, Giant Drag. I saw them open for someone years ago in DC and bought their first CD. I didn't listen to it that often but came back to it occasionally. Eventually, when everything became digital, I listen to their second album and liked it. I threw some of their songs on a female singer indie rock playlist and like them when they come on and I think Annie is a talented musician. And then, you could say I got to know her a little better on her social media... Look, her whole bit is clearly a choice and she has the right to make a living. She's an entertainment professional. You need a bit. I'M NOT SAYING SHE'S A CRAZY PERSON. But, she's an artist. Maybe it's hard to separate the performance from the artist. I don't think her comic persona is meant to be a good person. Maybe you don't think it's funny, but being kind of a trainwreck is part of the appeal. And I can still enjoy the music and say some of the conspiracy theory stuff is not for me. Lots of musicians are weirdos. Who cares? This is a version of a comedian doing a movie vehicle version of their character, this is her Earnest Goes to Camp. You have to know what you are getting when you put Annie Hardy as the main character in your horror movie and I genuinely think she's good at doing her thing.
So she deserves writing credit on the movie. She improvised half the thing, she's the reason anyone's going to rewatch it. If anything is funny it's because she riffed it. It's not cool for the filmmakers to act embarrassed about giving their star credit for elevating the picture. It's sexist. You don't have to like her to see that her contribution is the most interesting part. Maybe it's embarrassing to like her character, but she did a good version of her job and the thing they hired her to do.
Otherwise, it's a well-made but decent found-footage horror movie. Good, but C-list. It's over-edited and spends too much time basically being the image of an unconscious old lady while some weird girl screams. It's fine if you like that sort of thing, and there are tons of way worse ones. It's not Paranormal Activity sequel quality, but it's generally pretty watchable like your Chernobyl Diaries or Last Exorcist 2. Maybe something like Found Footage 3D. The effects are good. It's decent. Whether you like it or not depends on your tolerance of the annoying podcaster protagonist, as she constantly swears, makes incoherent political extremist proclamations, and stumbles her way through an action horror story. I don't personally think it's hilarious but I can imagine someone finding it funny. When I first heard someone was putting Annie Hardy in a horror movie, I thought that was either an insane or genius move. And I'm still not entirely convinced either way. But for better or worse, this is a good version of an Annie Hardy horror vehicle and I'll probably watch it again. It's a good movie to surprise a friend with, "wtf is this?"
Separation (2021)
You've got you're single dad drama in my wannabe James Wan horror movie
I wanted to write a review to say that Separation isn't a bad movie. Or rather, it's a little bad but also misunderstood. The core of the problem with the movie is an inexplicably misogynist attitude towards the wife. The movie is trying to portray her as crazy and goes just a little too far so you think after she dies she's some sort of malevolent spirit, when that turns out to be only party true.
Before I say anything else, Brian Cox does a great job. It's a pretty underwritten part and he's expected to turn from wanting to see the main character behind bars to remorseful grandpa very quickly and the range of emotion he gives us with not a lot of material is just real pro stuff. He understands when it's a drama and when it's a horror and is always on point.
That's the crux of the movie's problem is that it's mostly a serious drama about a troubled single father, a cartoonist who has to find a real job to support his child and be the adult he never learned to be. It's worth noting the main character never raises his voice, never criticizes his child, never says a bad word about his wife. The movie wants to make him the put upon martyr and the actor does a good job, but it almost seems like someone is telling the story of their own divorce. And of course THEY come off as a saint and the other person the devil himself. The movie just has this self- satisfied righteousness that he's a sensitive artist and therefore valuable and to be cherished. It just doesn't his that tone and we're left with an obviously incompetent man refusing help in raising a child, which kind of makes him less sympathetic.
There's a sense of technical skill to it though. Cinematography is generally pretty nice, the horror scenes and unique with interesting makeup and designs, and the music sounds ok. It's just over a hundred minutes and pads that time with long quiet scenes of father and daughter talking about stuff, and him talkin about work, and his ex-wife... And it's like, what is this a Lifetime movie? And then a spooky witch shows up and the movie is Insidious for a second. It could have been ten minutes shorter (at least!).
And lastly, the babysitter. If he's interested, then he should not be paying this girl falling over herself to constantly flirt with him. He's so dumb. And after she kisses him, he acts like nothing happened. You're her boss! He needs a mommy around him all the time and it seems disrespectful to just act like she isn't doing what she's obviously trying to do. So when the end comes, I'm like, this is all YOUR FAULT to him.
One thing about the ending, the spooky clown guy I think is some kind of previous ghost that when the wife died somehow helped her manifest herself. So there's some kind of Insidious-esque universe at play that it's setting up.
The thing is, with this movie I meant to leave it on in the background but I found myself sitting up watching it a few times. If they'd cut ten minutes and given the actresses some different takes that don't make them look as crazy as Judge Doom dipping those shoes in the dip, it might be a decent sleeper. But sometimes it looks like the editor did a bunch of fancy angles and tints on the monster scenes and called it a day.
Anyway, your call, slow moving, inexplicably wife hating, drama about a sad sack widowed cartoonist struggles to ink for a living while him and his daughter are haunted by a spooky owl witch woman and some kind of... contortionist? If that sounds like a reasonable Saturday afternoon than you could do worse.
A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
Superior Raunchy Holiday Comedy With Great Cast
I'm not sure how to tell any of you this. I'm not even sure myself. But Bads Moms Christmas is GOOD! Where to start. Skip the first movie if you haven't seen it. Part one was fine, a pleasant surprise in its own way. A success due to two things, a script that actually made an effort when it came to jokes, and a stacked deck cast. Both of these things Christmas DOUBLES, making for a delirious, R-rated, raunchy comedy about troublemaking moms.
But before all that, it has to be said. The reason why you're here, Kathryn Hahn. Not only the best part of the original, Hahn is elevated. She can ACT! Her character is so well done she elevated the material. Her entire subplot, it is electric. Her physical comedy is meshed with this expressive, pouty, vulnerable character. And, given this is a trashy sex comedy at heart, what she brings to the table is just above and beyond.
And there's more! Christine Baranski, absolute queen in a great role. The great Cheryl Hines, perfectly matched with Bell. And Susan Sarandon, playing a woman in her sixties (I guess?) picking up 20 somethings for a tryst in the bathroom, and SELLING IT. Three legends and a solid amount of material with a script that tries comedy and the lightest of holiday drama.
It's a decent script and thankfully Mila Kunis is more or less the straight character so her... limitations don't get in the way. She has those big eyes though. Mila Kunis is almost like a forest creature in a lot of ways.
Fantasy Island (2020)
Interesting Concept Handled Badly
I'm a little too young to have seen an episode of fantasy island but old enough to have been aware it was a thing. The idea actually seems pretty sound, guests come to the island to live out a personal fantasy, except it turns into a scary Monkey's Paw situation. If the movie just did that it might have worked. But no, they had to turn the concept on it's ear and subvert a premise that the audience isn't familiar enough with in the first place, turning a promising start into an incoherent mishmash of plot twists that don't make any sense. What happened to "keep it simple stupid"? Fantasy Island is a movie destined to go down as wasted potential and an example of how not to do a third act.
Let's start with the positives. If this was a short TV series that featured a single story per episode, and didn't try to hammer the audience with ridiculous plot twists, it could be fun. The island is a beautiful location and a lot of the movie, before it decides to spend the last half hour in terrible underlit tunnels, looks pretty good. Ryan Hansen and Jimmy Yang are fun and their storyline gets off to a great start. Hansen and Charlotte McKinney as Chastity might be the movie's MVPs. The first half hour is engaging in an "this doesn't seem so bad" kind of way.
But then the bad. First, this movie has too many plots. One of the stories should have been cut. They abandon their premises far too early, opting out of the "fantasy" element of Fantasy island less than half way in. The normally good actors are given very little to work with and any elements of supernatural thriller are abandoned in favor of fighting the Island itself. Lucy Pinder's story makes NO SENSE. Maggie Q's story is abandoned before it even begins. There's just the worst TV quality writing throughout, and then the film decides to spend half an hour in a crappy looking cave.
I could go on but this is mostly just an incoherent mess and a waste of potential. These actors deserve better, hell, this LOCATION deserves better. This is a prime example of thinking a story needs to be stuffed to the gills with twists and back stories when none of that was needed. Watchable but misguided and fails at even basic storytelling. So thankful I didn't see this one in the theater as that would have been my own hell fantasy, "new Blumhouse movie, only it's an insult to the audience's intelligence". What a twist!
Aru yasashiki satsujinsha no kiroku (2014)
Unusual and Arty Found Footage Movie
Maintaining the appearance of being a single, unbroken shot, A Record of Sweet murder is almost like a very bloody stage play. The real-time device brings to mind Hitchcock's Rope, with some cleverly hidden edits and sparing, but effective, special effects shots. The bulk of the movie really seems to happen all at once, drawing the viewer in to it's compelling and unusual story.
A Korean reporter brings a Japanese cameraman to meet a serial killer, who also happens to have once been a childhood friend. The killer traps them and, nervously wielding a knife, begins to explain that he needs them in order to enact some grander plan, an insane-sounding conspiracy theory. He explains that he needs them to wait for two other characters to show up, and when by some miracle they do, things start getting really crazy.
A Record of Sweet Murder has some fine performances, leaning into an odd, slightly surreal tone as it maintains its hyper real structure. This was something writer/director did very well in his horror classic Noroi: The Curse. While Sweet Murder is smaller in scope, it has a thematic energy, creates an interesting dialogue about fate and madness and the struggle between good and evil.
Found footage movies have a tendency to end abruptly or fall apart in the end and, thankfully, Sweet Murder brings it all back together and sticks the landing. A treat for foreign found footage fans and a thoughtful horror art film.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
Fun Action Comedy Shows Promise For Batman Universe
I can't get over how good Birds of Prey was.
You just do not expect the Harley Quinn solo vehicle to be the one to show an original take on the Batman universe. It's more than just Margot Robbie's Deadpool (although it is mostly that). It's an effortlessly girl powered action movie with a solid bulk of stunts and martial arts action.
Margot Robbie has created a larger than life character who seems to have mild super powers. Harley is complex and kind of scummy but has an admirable love of a good breakfast sandwich (the movie's funniest bit) and exudes a raw athleticism as she shoots cops with a riot gun and whacks goons with a hammer.
The first act is a little rocky and watching obsessed Harley go through a breakup starts the movie on a downbeat. But once the other characters the movie becomes a charmingly fast-paced action sit-com. The rest of the cast are great particularly Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary and a surprisingly agile Rose Perez.
This is the direction I'd like to see the DC universe go in. Instead of trying to be over serious, the Batman universe could be fun martial arts flicks (with roller skating and bullet proof corsets).
Fateful Findings (2013)
Alternate Universe Laptop Abuse
Fateful Findings in a transmission from the universe of Breem Prime.
Language has evolved in a completely different direction. Characters speak abstractly in bold cryptic announcements, a strange tribal caveman speak. And even the film narrative is in a less evolved. Fateful Findings is a melodrama from a third world country inexplicably out of the Las Vegas desert.
The mystical new-age narrative has an almost primal, indigenous quality. A hacker shaman struggles to tell the "real" truth while always fighting off incredibly beautiful women. He's vaguely mystical himself, an inexplicably successful author and computer hacker who works on a series of turned-off laptops, frequently flipping them and spilling coffee on them in some sort of ritual. Breen also goes to see two psychiatrists, who pretty much tell him he's great and that his decisions are awesome.
The main trio of women are so ridiculously hot the only reaction one could have that it must be an alternate universe. The depressed eastern European wife Emily has a quiet pathos. The friend's blonde wife is stunning but struggles with the dialogue. The friend's teenage daughter, a truly desperate girl. And lastly, the "love of his life", the skinny blonde doctor girl, is also apparently much younger than him despite being older in the childhood flashback. Her main role is to stand there mortified while a very smooth looking looking older man plants sensitive kisses on her lips and cheeks (and get tied up in a van).
At hundred minutes, it rough, took me a few days to get through. I did find, after I got used to the caveman speak dialogue, that it was a sort of sad movie about fulfilling one's potential, failed marriages, true love and personal integrity. Or some kind of alien alien approximation of them.
It's not without it's cryptic appeal, there are a few real laughs and bizarre uses of camera, some baffling edits. A lot of bad movie detail. But it's also kind of a bummer at times.
The climax is a truly bizarre product of a disturbed imagination. But, also kind of satisfying. I almost wish more movies ended that way. Fateful Findings is a dreamlike, new-age look at air conditioned suburban angst of middle aged men and hot trophy wives.
Crush the Skull (2015)
Pleasant Surprise
A small group of burglers are in for a nasty surprise when they discover themselves trapped in a house with a serial killer.
Crush the Skull, while not particularly original, is redeemed by a fairly witty script and some great chemistry between the leads. At first, I was a little confused by the tone of the movie, but once I realized it was a horror comedy with the emphasis on comedy I found there was plenty to like.
The film also includes Asian American actors in a way that seems surprisingly progressive. Chris Dinh makes for a charming lead and the fact that movie doesn't bring up his race is nice. It's kind of sad that this sort of thing even bears pointing out but it's just something I'd like to see more of.
Unfortunately, along with the premise kind of sounding like a low budget version of Don't Breathe or The Collector (both better movies), the villain is pretty flat and unmemorable. But for a low-budget movie, it's fairly charming and has a few tense moments.
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019)
Another Disappointing Follow Up to the Excellent Original
The first Hell House LLC was so good, an excellent found footage which used limited perspective to its advantage. Part three, like the second, has a handful of good moments and is watchable enough, but falls apart in the last third when it really should be getting going.
I don't mind finding ways to incorporate the actors of the previous films but the film relies far too much on re-using footage from the previous movies as a way to establish this. It totally shoe horned in and the audience doesn't really care, it's just there to make sure the actors all have role in the third (and likely final) installment. I mean, it's nice everybody gets to come back for a cameo or whatever but the whole "now they're ghosts who are trapped in the building" thing kind of feels pointless and by the fifth or sixth time it just seems gratuitous. Wouldn't it have been better to use "unreleased" footage from the previous movies instead of badly incorporating them into the current timeline?
Also, the play or whatever they're showing in the house is terrible. There's barely any set, the "acting" is awful and the story is moronic. Who the hell would be impressed by "Insomnia"? As theater, it's worse than a haunted house and that's saying something. I've seen a play where the audience went from room to room and it was pretty cool. I would be mad, as an audience member if I showed up and it was like the worst version of Faust ever.
The movie has some moments. But they just overuse things from the previous movies too much. Like, why are those clowns still there? I mean the blonde girl going into the basement is pretty much the highlight of the movie, but it just doesn't make sense. And I could not stop thinking about how that guy's scar seemed so fake and not like something someone would get in a car crash.
For me, the whole ending just kind of did what the first movie did but worse.
There's a twist, which is ridiculous and... surprisingly Christian? It's sad because I honestly enjoyed a lot of the movie, thinking it better than the second, until it began its downward spiral in the second half.
A good found footage movie is always welcome, and clearly they're harder to get right than you might think. But please, lets let go of all this angels and devils nonsense. And stop re-using footage in your sequels, it wasn't cool in Silent night Deadly Night 2 and its not cool now.
The Banana Splits Movie (2019)
Not Bad But Not Really Good Either
I don't know for sure that this movie was a repurposed script for a Five Nights at Freddy's movie, but it certainly seems like it. You've got to admire the tenacity of the producer's to make a gory indie horror film based on a 60s kid show, though.
All I knew of the series had been the song, memorably covered by The Dickies, and some spot they used to show on the Boomerang network. Every once in a while you hear about an idea to make an R-Rated movie based on a kids property (like the original idea for James Gunn's Scooby Doo) but these guys actually did it. Despite the novel idea, it's more-or-less your average made-for-cable slasher movie with few exceptions.
First, the sets and costumes have a certain novelty. The juxtaposition of cartoon imagery with gory death and dismemberment has a certain charm. It's not unlike a 90s Full Moon Pictures movie in a lot of way.
And second, the performances are surprisingly good almost across the board. The script is sort of lackluster and obvious but the actors do a credible job of bringing their characters to life. For me, Dani Kind as Beth, Richard White as Stevie and Naledi Majola as Paige were all exceptional and I'd like to see them in more genre work.
Otherwise it's just OK, watchable but gets a bit tiresome after a while. I probably enjoyed the first half before the robots went berserk more than the second and that's something.
#Followme (2019)
Surprisingly Decent Found Footage Flick
A British vlogger who films way too much of her daily life and her two basic blonde friends take a trip to LA, only to discover their social media presence might be attracting the wrong sort of people.
There's an interesting idea in Followme that raises some questions about the nature of making one's living as a social media celebrity. But there's also this idea of these attention seekers getting more than they bargained for. In a way the psychology is interesting. These women have virtually nothing insightful to say about anything and pretty much all they can do is find attractive places and make loud noises in front of them, preferably while wearing as little as possible.
Beneath their artificially fun exteriors they seems to have weird emotional problems. One of the blondes has some serious self esteem issues, sex addiction, acting out for attention. The other, it is revealed isn't as put together as she appears. And what drives the brunette vlogger? She is trying to work with what sort of amounts to performance art, but in the end the cost is too high.
The California setting is nice. It feels natural and is visually interesting. To the Brits, Southern California might be an alien world. And there's an odd sense of paranoia as they meet various men.The audience knows there is something sinister going on but the girls seem to invite this attention from strangers that has a sort of eerie quality to it. In fact, the movie could have used more of them interacting with strange men and less of their melodramatic bickering. The ending is a bit abrupt as well but good enough with some striking imagery.
There's an interesting feminine paranoia going on here and an odd contrast between the forced cheer of the girls and the environment and choices they are making. First day in the USA, why not invite some randos to get drunk with you in your suspiciously expensive looking vacation house?
Could have used a few tweaks, a longer ending, some larger parts for the other characters, and despite being three women talking for most of the movie it barely passes the Bechdel test, BUT it's fairly watchable and the natural backdrop of Southern California adds a lot. There's actually some potential for a sequel if anybody is into that sort of thing.
Igla (1988)
Excellent Russian New Wave Dramatic Comedy
It's a western in a way. A drifter comes into town to seek out a guy who owes him money and gets in touch with an old flame. But it's a bleak world, with gang violence and drug addiction lurking beneath the surface.
People act tough and just trying to get by in a seemingly hopeless post communist Russia, where life is a little dark and absurd. The hero tries to do the right thing, benefited of a somewhat comic stoicism, he is compassionate of the eccentric types he finds.
It's touching and sad and finds humor in odd moments. The hero does not affect coolness but is cool, despite being kind of a thug. The mellow mood conveys a poetic sense of longing. From within a sense of cultural decay, there is a hope for a better world, and a sad awareness it is not so easily found.
The music, the mood, the visual style are all very good. It's understated but elegant, symbolic but subtle. There's a post punk attitude, and a jangly alternative guitar vibe.
Highly recommended for fans of quirky indie dramatic comedies.
Rupture (2016)
Interesting but Falls a Little Short
There's an interesting idea somewhere in Rupture. It has a quality cast and a director who has done some interesting work. Noomi Rapace seems perfect for the material. The cinematography is good. There's some interesting coloring and some good visual design. It just needed a third act or might have been better served by being a shorter anthology episode of something.
The more I have thought about the film since seeing it, the more I've realized that there is an interesting commentary on humanity and society going on. This is part of what's disappointing though, as a finer line might have been drawn under it and the film might not have spent so much time wandering air vents and speculating about how people hold themselves back with preoccupations of mundane terrors.
The first half hour is compelling and the last twenty minutes get interesting too, but the middle has more than its share of redundant moments and gets a bit tedious. Rapace spends too much of it tied to a bed, and honestly, the whole fear of spiders thing doesn't translate well to the audience.
It's an interesting little sci fi horror film with a couple of nice performances and the more you think about it, the more sense it makes. But i just wished there was a little more there, that if the film had tightened itself up, fixed the script, added a little more to the story, faced its own fears in effect, it might have been something special. And yet, it is the sort of underachiever everyone agrees has potential.
Anomalous (2016)
Surprisingly Good Low Budget Thriller
Anomalous is the story of a strange interrogation between a mysterious government agent and a suspicious psychiatrist concerning a supernatural event. The doctor's patient, who much of the story revolves around, recorded many of his unexplained experiences, lending an element of sinister found footage to much of the story. As more of the story is revealed, the relationship between the characters become more complex.
It's a low budget movie but it does a good job showing what it needs to tell a story and the special effects are well-used and effective. The main performances are good, particularly that of the patient.
There are some rough edges, like the role of the police assisting the investigation, that could have been explained better and just seem sort of off tone. Unfortunately, the ending was too unclear. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to infer from the last few scenes. I can see that the intention was to be mysterious but it was kind of disappointing that they made that choice after so much intriguing set up. Overall, it was better than I expected and often surprisingly engaging but ultimately unfulfilling.
The Ghostmaker (2012)
Cheeseball B-Movie Has Moments of Fun and a Intriguing Premise
My first big laugh with Ghostmaker came pretty early on. When they start up their mechanical-steampunk-death-coffin and a cute little melody plays. Wheels and gears turn inside and it's a neat little visual but it seemed very clear none of the gears were attached to anything. It was basically a clockwork art installation without any of the function, I mean whoever built it, good job but- the lack of understanding about how gears work got a chuckle out of me.
Another laugh was when the character of Julie laying down for bed while being creeped on. She has some weird lingerie nightie on with a bra, full makeup, her hair all done and straightened, and then she lays on top the of the bed as if she's laying down int a coffin. It's a small thing but that's one of the most unnatural laying-down-for-bed moments I'd seen in a while. "What is going on?", I had to ask.
And the movie is like that, weird moments punctuate some dumb dialogue and a half baked story. The monster (if you can call it that) has a pretty interesting visual design despite being pretty useless. The actors are clearly NOT twenty-year old college students or whatever.
The girl had some weird moments for me. First, it's sad to see a beautiful women playing a much younger women get treated like garbage the way she does. I just kept thinking she really shouldn't have such low self esteem. I mean, she's got a pretty toned core, right? The idea of a happy ending where they end up together is vomitous. I'm one hundred percent certain our hero would have made the world a better place by shooting up some of that rat poison.
They're super mean to the guy in the wheelchair and the fact that he turns out to be terrible doesn't excuse that fact. Also, it makes no sense that he can walk or carry people around or whatever. I can understand if his arms are in good shape, but you don't suddenly have leg-day thighs first day out of being wheelchair bound for several years. And, really? He can suddenly walk and he's going to waste his time hanging around these garbage people? why is everyone so in love with this crackhead? He S-U-C-K-S.
There were some moments with the drug dealers I kind of liked, First, that's just a terrible place to hide your drugs. Wow, you think no one can see you put it there? You have to walk past this giant empty parking lot by yourself. And where is this trailer anyway? I did like how after the main guys rip them off they're forced to sell tainted junk. I would have liked to see more of the real-world consequences of the stuff they did with their ghost powers. It's your fault that guy died bro. The drug dealers are weirdos, at first I thought the casting was weird but it was actually kind of more interesting. It made sense they were just low guys on the totem pole.
It would have made more sense if they used their ghost powers to get a lot more money or something but this really seemed like a waste of time for everybody. I did kind of like the actress though, she tried to make the dialogue work and that's something. Really, the performances were not bad. You get a sense of what the characters are thinking. They make do with some tricky material and I can respect that.
It's just, stalking this mean self-destructive adult woman seems like a waste of time for our handicapable stud whose alarmingly quick to go without his shirt. And buying crack and using your powers to be even more of a garbage human kind of sucks. That guy's good looks, they're headed for some hard road if he doesn't stop being a d-bag. These two, are they going to have a happy ending? Doubtful. "Why are you still with him?" I was asking the screen at the end. Girl, go to college and stop screwing around with 16th century cursed torture devices, OK?
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
A Thoughtful Message Buried In Candy Colored Chaos
It certainly is very good if not more of the same as the first. There are some distinguishing features, more references, more cameos, more action. On some level I was a little disappointed, the series just seems to have trouble balancing character beats about the values of friendship with exploring its universe, and that kind of just makes it an uneven experience.
There's a stellar voice cast and some big laughs. The advertised Disney Princess scene really is good. It's amazing they got the original voices of Ariel, Pocahontas and others; and that they're given clever jokes to riff on the questionable subject matter of some of their films; particularly Jodi Benson as Ariel, who seems quite aware that in the real world her character would come off as a lunatic. My biggest laugh came from seeing Podcast celebrity Jason Mantzoukas show up in a Marvel web forum grilling baby Groot. there were a lot of other clever jokes and references but, like the first movie, they don't quite gel into a consistent world. There's more, sure, but the best moments come and go so quickly we can't help but wish we could have spent more time with some of the video game characters that populate the backgrounds.
The story has a surprising heft when it comes to messages about the nature of long term friendships. Ralph is kind of the hero and the villain whose good intentions mask a self destructive neediness. As he rises to social media fame there almost seems to be a message in that insecurity which drives us to post online and seek recognition could also be harmful and turn into jealousy and anger when we don't get the likes we think we deserve or the self doubt that occurs when we read hurtful comments. The dangers of placing our self esteem in social media and controlling relationships is a curious moral for a Disney movie to have and, despite the fact that the third act isn't very fun, it deserves recognition for tackling more mature and thoughtful themes than most other animated features.
Terrifier (2016)
Birth of a New Horror Icon (Hopefully)
A killer in a black and white clown costume is terrorizing a pair of young women and anyone unlucky enough to get in his way in this revential throwback to slasher films of the 80s and 90s. Which sounds like generic straight-to-video mockbuster fodder is a surprisingly stylish and creative dark comedy thriller that actually has a few genuinely chilling moments. While still a low-budget film, Terrifier largely has a very professional sensibility. Visual design, music, lighting and editing are all above average; blending brooding synthesizers and neon lights with digital video and modern gore effects with surprising effectiveness.
Art the Clown himself is a genuinely unnerving creation. A great performance by David Howard Thornton who truly disappears into the role. Art's silence is at times alarming, as when he gets injured and stretched his mouth out as if screaming but makes no sound. He combines mime and slapstick with menace in a way that feels fresh. If any modern horror character has potential for a franchise, this is it. There's something eerily magnetic and frightening about the character, made only more so by the lack information we are given about him and his motives. We don't know what he is capable of or why, only that he is on a specific mission of torture.
The film is not without its flaws. There are some moments where the acting is a bit stilted. There is a particularly good performance, notably from Jenna Kanell who shows a lot of scream queen promise. Despite some of the stilted line readings, the dialogue is generally pretty good with a natural sensibility that makes the characters feel like actual people and not stereotypes as if often the case in modern slasher films. This tendency towards naturalism underscores the surrealism of Art the Clown's existence, making for an effectively unsettling contrast.
Terrifier represents an infusion of fresh blood into a stagnating genre. With a larger budget and studio support, Art the Clown could be something really special. It's important to have a villian who isn't toned down, who represents something pure and evil. The faintest glimmer of humanity in the clown sadistic antics seems to suggest something that was once a person, but is now a creature that lives to terrorize, making any attempts to reason with him all the more absurd.
This is a semi-sequel to the film, "All Hallow's Eve" in which the character of Art first appeared but it may be better to assume the two are not canonically connected. First film aside, this is the most promising debut for a horror director in a while. Someone please, throw all the money at this, I, for one, Can't wait to see what happens next. With a little more polish and support this franchise could be something really special. If anything, it should lead to more films from a clearly talented director.
Pufnstuf (1970)
The Witchiepoo Story (With Friends)
Pufnstuf is the story of the rivalry between an insecure witch and a lonely Dickensian teen pin up model over a talking flute in a land of goofy puppet people. If that sounds crazy it's because it kind of is.
Jimmy is an English transplant in America having difficulty adjusting. One day, after getting kicked out of band practice, his flute magically comes to life and promises to be his new best friend. They sing a song about it and, surprisingly, the song is pretty good. Jimmy then comes across an odd boat which he decides to jump into. Unfortunately, the boat is cursed or something and he is beset upon by a witch on a gigantic broom who wants the flute in order to impress her witch friends because she's kind of unpopular.
Jimmy escapes only to find himself on a magic island where all sorts of strange puppet things live in a world of brightly colored hand-drawn sets. This includes a silly looking dragon lizard character who also happens to be the mayor and sounds like Gomer Pyle. In fact, most of the puppet characters act like bland impressions of vaudeville comedians. Witchiepoo and Jimmy are the only two humans despite the fact that they are themselves modeled on famous fictional characters.
It turns into a literal popularity contest when the witches convention comes to town. Jimmy tries to rescue his friend using his usual strategy from the television series, dressing up in silly costumes and trying to trick witchiepoo, which seems to work less than half the time.
The goofy, children's show plot hides a fundamental message about friendship and the two human characters are misfits who really only want to be accepted. Jack Wilde is charming as Jimmy. He has an off-beat charm and seems disarmingly earnest but he's rarely given much to do.
The character of Witchiepoo, played by Billie Hayes, is such a lively and fully realized character that she stand apart from her surroundings. In a world that's bland and boring she parades around screeching and cackling. It's such a bravura performance from Hayes that she fills the screen with her presence. She combines a larger-than-life musical theater style character with expressive mime and slapstick. There's really no moment she's on screen she's not full of energy.
The counterpoint is the citizens of Living Island are silly animals with voices of old comedians doing terrible, corny jokes all day is so striking. You really feel her frustration being trapped in a land of dum dums without anybody to really connect with. In contrast, Jimmy is good-natured and has a positive attitude. He's willing to look past how boring the relentless cheerfulness of Pufnstuf and his neighbors are so he can enjoy himself in a world where everyone likes him.
It's like there's a sort of sibling rivalry between the two as they fight over friends. Jimmy is sincere and easygoing while Witchiepoo is manipulative and bossy. Really Witchiepoo is trying to make friends but she feels different from other people and she rejects them before they can reject her. She does steal and hit people and call them names so that doesn't help either.
The sets are fantastic and give the film a distinct psychedelic tone. The songs are hummable and the score is surprisingly memorable. During the witch convention there are some really great visuals, costumes and bits of humor that show them really making the best of a lower budget.
It's amazing this was made within the same year as the show aired. I was never really familiar with the series before seeing this movie and was genuinely surprised by how good it was. You certainly don't need to have watched the show though and I'd recommend the movie first anyway.This movie is the show's victory lap and and captures the spirit of the show nicely.
Unlocked (2017)
Noomi Rapace Anti Terrorism Action Vehicle
What do you expect in your Noomi Rapace anti terrorism action vehicle? It's pretensions and intelligent, but like the actresses' apparent difficulties with English, struggles with its message. There is a bit of action and Rapace oozes a raw physicality which suggests a suitability to more action thriller roles. She exudes a steely compassion for human rights with a quiet feminist outrage in her response to a hate crime which could cost dozens of lives.
It's mostly a confusing mess about someone coordinating suicide bombers in a government conspiracy to blame it on Muslims. Most of it is Rapace looking like an extremely tough bunny rabbit philosophizing espionage gibberish like a cable movie version of 24. There is a general sort of TV quality to it but I did enjoy her Chow Yun Fat style two gun shooting style.
Toni Collette, Micheal Douglas, Orlando Bloom and John Malkovich all get in on the action. Most of their scenes seem like they were shot separately, sharing a few scenes with her or another actor and then disappearing into the ether. Collette brings a bit of machine gun girl power and reminds me of Annie Lennox. Orlando Bloom is actually pretty good as a comic mercenary type but leaves quickly.
Malkovich and Douglas are a bit disappointing. It seems like they are almost shot entirely separately from the movie and are just kind of acting in a void. Douglas does seem to have something going on but I kept expecting him to tell her he couldn't understand her accent and that she looked like a bunny rabbit.
Unlocked is a confusing, twisty, low budget, anti terrorism vehicle starring a borderline incoherent European actress and a couple big guest stars. There's a stubborn determination there and it sort of suits the whole thing. For an episode of Homeland, it's pretty classy. It's watchable, if unnecessary. I'd like to see Rapace do more action thrillers.
Nailbiter (2013)
Low-budget monster thriller has enough surprises to keep afloat.
Nailbiter was better than I expected. These days a lot of low-budget horror movies have been disappointing. So, it was nice that this came along and did something a little different.
The plot involves a mother and her three daughters living in Kansas awaiting the return of of the father. They are going to meet the him at the airport when they get sidetracked by a tornado. They find the nearest house and, unable to get inside, hide in the cellar. This turns out to be a huge mistake as the family upstairs is connected to a group of carnivorous monsters that tend to get riled up during storms.
One thing that was special about this was the plot didn't advance in quite the way I expected it to. I thought for sure they weren't going to harm these girls, but I was very wrong. There isn't a lot of on- screen violence but what's there is enough to create tension.
The acting was pretty strong, if a little spotty, good for a low-budget horror anyway. A few of the performances do stand out, especially the Sheriff and the oldest daughter. The music was robust and does a good job of setting a tone and providing cues. The monster make-up is good but underused. I don't think you ever really get a good look at a whole one. Although there are a couple nice scenes where you get close ups of their faces.
Lastly, The film sets itself up for a sequel and given the context I would very much like to see it. This has a solid premise and a bigger budget and some more action would suit it nicely I think.