Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Beware the Slenderman (2016)

Beware the Slenderman

Interesting piece about the girls who attempted to murder their friend in an effort they claimed was to appease the mythical Slenderman. I thought this gave some good insight as to what the parents of these kids went through after the attempted murder but what is noticeably missing is the side of the victim. I'm sure this could be due to her declining to be involved but I still feel like the filmmakers should have done something to look at things from her and her family's side. I thought they also ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Medium (2021)

The Medium

Solid, creepy mockumentary focused on a young Thai woman who may be next in line to take over as the village shaman. When she begins to behave strangely, the current shaman begins to wonder if something sinister is afoot.

There is a bit of a slow buildup here, but I was actually into the setup so I didn't mind it. If it was 20 minutes shorter, would be much better. The Medium ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Underwater (2020)

Underwater

Both a lot of good and bad here. Let's start with the bad:

Kristen Stewart is near naked for a good part of the film and most it felt pretty unnecessary. I like eye candy but goddamn man. Worse than that though is my questions of the science behind a lot of what is going on. I don't know much about pressure under water and deep sea physics and what not, but a lot of ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Review from the comment

Let's not bullshit, this is a silly movie but it's a fun silly movie and has a lot of cool shit in it. Mamoa does fine as the Arnold replacement but it's really Lang and McGowan who shine as the baddies here. There are so many holes in the narrative you could make ten golf courses of out of them but in the end, what are the expectations walking in? This feels like a throwback to, well Conan movies and Beastmasters and it's just fine if you want some dumb entertainment ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Witchboard (1986)

Witchboard

This is a very bad movie. There are really no redeeming qualities to it. Both the main male characters are so unlikable that you can't really get behind either. Tawny Kitaen while not terrible is still pretty bad playing the damsel in distress. This is almost a 1 star, I gave it 2 because the villain's face looks cool. I know a lot of people have fond memories of movies they saw when they were young and so they add some nostalgia points to them when ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Girl on the Third Floor (2019)

Review from the comment

Let's start that the acting in this is pretty terrible. CM Punk looks like a goof and spends most of the feature fumbling through his lines. The rest of his co-stars aren't much better.

But past all the terrible performances, there is a lot to like about Girl on the Third Floor. Punk plays a loser who hopes by renovating an old Victorian he and his wife just bought that he can save his marriage ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Tumbbad (2018)

Tumbbad

What an awesome surprise. Found this surfing through Prime while on zombie mode at 1 in the morning and thought I'd throw it on until I was ready for bed. It grabbed me instantaneously and I ended up finishing the near two hour piece in one shot.

Tumbbad revolves around three generations of a family obsessed with a treasure supposedly hidden in the ruins of an old temple. An evil force guards ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Prospect (2018)

Review from the comment

A father/daughter prospecting team are on a harsh planet looking for a big payday. They are on the clock, their only ride out being a band of mercenaries who they can't come back to empty handed. But when they are ambushed by a pair of goons looking to take over their loot, an unlikely alliance must be formed between both sides to take on the planet's dangers and killers even more nefarious than these cons.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The American (2010)

The American

This one snuck under the radar for awhile because I had heard it was average. Recently, I had seen it pop up on a lot of underrated lists so thought I'd check it out given the spy thriller genre is one of my faves.

The American does a lot of things well. Director Anton Corbijn drops Clooney into the role as a hitman stuck between seeking something to fill a void in his ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Chinese epic meets Star Wars makes for a very interesting combo. And while Shang-Chi is pretty fun, it lacks in what I thought would be the obvious strongpoint: the fight scenes.

Maybe I was expecting too much in a Disney flick, but even the Netflix street level Marvel series like Daredevil and Iron Fist had better fight scenes. Shang-Chi's are not bad, in fact if you don't watch a lot of martial ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Green Knight (2021)

The Green Knight

If you love visual stimulation and don't require a cohesive story arc, then you could possibly love the Green Knight. If long real time shots irritate you and you don't enjoy jumping on Reddit to understand wtf just happened in a film, you could possibly hate David Lowery's latest yarn. I'm somewhat in the middle, definitely dazzled by his gorgeous bleak landscapes but also frustrated at the depth of ambiguity so prevalent throughout Green Knight's two hours and ten minutes. Maybe a rewatch will help flesh things out ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Wrath of Man (2021)

Wrath of Man

Had mixed feelings on this one. I love most Guy Ritchie films but this one did not have much of the witty dialogue his other crime capers are known for. This is more of a typical Hollywood action flick albeit with a few twists.

I did not know until after watching it that it's also loosely based on the 2004 French heist movie Cash Truck, so have nothing to base that aspect on ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie No Sudden Move (2021)

No Sudden Move

I heard this described as a tier two Soderbergh flick and I'd agree with that. Lot of great characters and a good setup, but it lacks the precision of intersecting stories like his greatest pieces feature. It's just not as clean as it should be, and even though it's near two hours, some of it just felt rushed.
There's also some social commentary woven in and while some of it is done well, some of it also felt forced, especially near the end when a rich tycoon type played by Matt ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Stowaway (2021)

Stowaway

Stowaway looks pretty and it has a solid cast in Kendrick, Dae Kim, Collette, and Anderson. Kendrick, Dae Kim, and Collette play a shuttle crew who have just left Earth en route to Mars to research colonization. When they find Anderson unconscious and sealed in an engineering panel, they must decide the next steps to ensure mission success with an unplanned body to accommodate ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

The Clovehitch Killer

What would you do if you thought your dad was a serial killer? This is the conflict in the Clovehitch Killer, a great setup with Dylan McDermott playing the scout leader father and Charlie Plummer in the role as his conflicted son. Madisen Beatty rounds out the trio of main characters as a classmate of Plummer's who is obsessed with finding out who the killer is ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Deliver Us from Evil (2020)

Deliver Us from Evil

You remember the over the top 80's action flicks where both the hero and the villain were unstoppable killing machines? Deliver Us From Evil plays like that, but can't capture the magic of some of the better entries from that era. It has some great adrenaline paced scenes, there is no question about that. Even the plot of a retiring hitman brought back into the life after learning he has a kidnapped daughter he never knew about is one we can grab onto.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

A Quiet Place Part II

Krasinski shows he knows how to work a good idea without running the wheels off it. AQP 2 is more of the same and I mean that in the best way possible and also a little in a negative. What worked in it's predecessor also works here but with some fresh new takes to keep the action fruits feeling like they were just picked off the tree. Cillian Murphy and Djimon Housou join the cast as well and are both welcome additions. But the first one had ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Polisse (2011)

Polisse

Polisse is a fast paced, gut wrenching look at the workings of a Paris police squad who deal with crimes against children. The cases are presented with no filter; in the first scene you will know that you have not seen a film ever so blunt when talking about these types of crimes. Director Maiwenn (who also co-stars as a photojournalist doing a piece on the team) uses the pace to add to the constant stress the officers have looming over them. In between cases, the cops suffer through broken personal ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Mortal Kombat (2021)

Review from the comment

Let's throw one thing out there first: you should know that a Mortal Kombat movie is not to be taken too seriously. I think they could make a really good MK flick if they made it less Big Trouble in Little China and more The Dark Knight, but we knew from the first trailer they weren't going that route here. That said, Big Trouble in Little China is a great movie ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Monster (2016)

The Monster

The Monster examines two timelines between the same two characters. The first and very well done one is a look back at the relationship between an alcoholic mother with her young teenage daughter. The mother has gotten so bad that she is taking the daughter to stay with the girl's father for what sounds like the long term. The buildup to how they got to this point is told in flashbacks while the current timeframe is rolling. In these brief moments, The Monster is top shelf storytelling ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Elysium (2013)

Elysium

Elysium is another notch on Neil Blomcamp's belt at giving us pictures of bleak futures where the class divide has become a chasm that seems insurmountable. Here the haves have moved off of Earth onto a space station utopia called Elysium where they seem to enjoy relaxing all day while owning personal medbays that can cure any ailment in two shakes of a martini mixer. Meanwhile back on Earth, everyone else works shit jobs where your boss doesn't care if you die on shift and robot police act like ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie BlacKkKlansman (2018)

BlacKkKlansman

Lee sets up one of the wildest stories to be put on the screen in recent times. BlackKKlansman tells the tale of Ron Stallworth, a real-life African-American Colorado Springs police officer who goes undercover to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan chapter. How does a Black guy infiltrate the KKK? Well, he plays the part on the phone and a different cop Flip Zimmerman is the undercover operative in person. Its one of the stories you just couldn't write if it hadn't really happened.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Clemency (2019)

Clemency

A fantastic achievement in acting. Alfre Woodard is simply magnificent as a burnt out death row warden who inches closer to the edge after an execution goes awry. With the guilt of her next prisoner scheduled to be put to death in question, Woodard begins to unravel even more.
Aldis Hodge is also excellent as the aforementioned prisoner awaiting his moment with the needle. His character is not one for many words or even quiet wisdom. Instead he is scared, and emotional. The two ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

When a body is found in pristine condition with no signs of foul play half buried in the basement of a site of a brutal murder scene, father and son coroner pair Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch must figure out what the hell is going on. Thus is the premise for the Autopsy of Jane Doe, and its a good one. The first 45 minutes or so pretty much focus on this aspect and its not until after that where we start getting out of CSI territory and more ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Annihilation (2018)

Annihilation

Annihilation is one of those tale of two movies type deals. The first part, while full of its self-importance, is traditional horror movie fare where a team of experts are sent into someplace bad to figure out what is up with the out of this world shit happening there and also where the other teams are who have already been sent in. This part is average at best, nothing to rave about and definitely not as interesting as it thinks it is.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Bright (2017)

Bright

If I remember correctly, this was Netflix's first blockbuster sized budget for a movie they were sending into the arena. Had a pretty interesting recipe. Take a fading star like Will Smith who has been in desperate need of a hit and drop him into something he has had enormous success in, the buddy cop movie. Only this time his partner is an orc and there are all kinds of fantasy elements woven into the plot to try and keep things fresh.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Parasite (2019)

Parasite

DIrector Bong Joon Ho has crafted a near masterpiece of an indictment on social class in South Korea that has justifiably been embraced across the globe. The contrast between the broke Kims and the one percenter Parks is eloquently captured here. The Kims, two steps from being homeless, remain tight through their misery and show they are willing to bend morals to earn a buck or two. This leads them to the Parks who have everything yet struggle to find true joy in all their decadence.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Drop (2014)

The Drop

I'm a big fan of James Gandolfini and was hella bummed when he passed. The Drop was his final film and a testament to just how great he was. Gandolfini plays Marv, a former bar owner/ loan shark whose business was taken over by tougher Chechen gangsters some 10-odd years ago. Marv is also the cousin of quiet and mild-mannered Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy), who helps Marv here and there and tends the bar where Marv is still the owner on paper. They kick money back to ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Doctor Sleep (2019)

Doctor Sleep

I'll be the first to say that when I read Stephen King was writing a sequel to his classic novel The Shining, my first thought was why? And when I read the synopsis of the novel edition of Doctor Sleep, I was still unimpressed. But I still gave the film version a shot being that I am a fan of King, McGregor, and director Mike Flanagan ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Searching for Sugar Man (2012)

Searching for Sugar Man

Wow. Searching for Sugar Man lets us know that even in today's information age, there are some stories that fly under our radars. This is a story of Rodriguez, a musician and master song writer of the early 70's who would release two critically acclaimed albums that were absolute flops commercially except in....South Africa? Yes, South Africa, a country wrapped in apartheid where progressives used Rodriguez's anti-establishment themes to become the soundtrack of their own movement.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Disclaimer, its likely I would never have watched Ouija: Origin of Evil if I hadn't heard from so many critics how this was a movie that flew under everyone's radar being a sequel to a something that was reviewed abysmally. So I can't act like this was a hidden gem I found, because I knew going into it that it should be at least decent ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Blood and Black Lace

Watching Blood and Black Lace one has to understand the time frame on its release and how groundbreaking it was. When you hear the term slasher film, most people will argue about Black Christmas being the first, maybe even Psycho, and then Halloween of course being the one that kicked the door open on the genre ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Alita: Battle Angel

Let's get the obvious thing out of the way: Robert Rodriguez has created one of the most gorgeous live action animated films in all of history. The backgrounds and character models offer new proof of what is capable in CGI on the big screen, and for this alone Alita is in a class of its own ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Cartel Land (2015)

Cartel Land

Cartel Land is a gripping look at two different groups who are fed up with Mexican drug cartels and their effect on their respective communities. On one hand you have Tim Foley, an Arizonan leading a militia who patrol the southern border armed and seemingly ready to fight it out with goons if they ever see any. Most of the time though they just complain about how cartels are invading America but the only thing they come across (in this doc, at least) are a group of immigrants and ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

I am no expert in early film, I'm not even really versed at all. But watching the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari I was made witness to what could be achieved with lighting and set pieces that these days would be akin to a high school play. However, these sets combined with the aforementioned lighting are the star of Caligari, adding a brooding atmosphere that is an antagonist in its own right when watching now.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Joker (2019)

Joker

Joker is unlike any comic book originating film you have ever seen. In fact, its difficult to label it as a comic book movie at all. Instead, its a character study of a shattered man doomed by his own instability and a broken system that has forgotten how to help him. Phoenix is fantastic as Arthur Fleck, but really when has he not been? I don't know if this will go down as the cover sheet of his portfolio, but it will definitely be in contention ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

Poor Jesse Will Always Be In Walt's Shadow

The Godfather 3. That is what I thought after watching El Camino. My comparison is based on how the third GF is decent enough by itself but doesn't hold a candle to its two predecessors. In that regard, El Camino will forever be looked at in the same vein when viewing it next to one of the best tv shows ever to grace the small screen (its in my personal top three and I'm not even sure of that three's order).

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Review from the comment

I remember watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series with my pops when I was a lil guy. Maybe that is where my love of spy fiction came to be. I must admit that when this big screen adaptation was announced, I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. I thought the show was dated and that it would just be another lazy, half assed Hollywood offering that was completely unnecessary and without substance ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Legend (2015)

Legend

Legend is the truth based story of London twin gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, a notorious and swaggerish pair whose criminal empire peaked in the 60's. Tom Hardy plays both brothers superbly where charmer Reggie runs the biz all the while trying to keep his psychopathic but loyal brother in check. When Reggie falls in love with Frances (Emily Browning), the classic gangster trying to go straight tale begins its course and runs with mixed results.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is one of those art house movies that just don't move me. Its shot gorgeously in black and white with director Ana Lily Amirpour giving a clinic on how to utilize lighting to an autuer's advantage. But outside of that, its a blistering slow affair about a well-intentioned man moved to do bad things and his new relationship with a vampire he chances upon late one night.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

To Live and Die in L.A.

Friedkin has crafted a great modern noir here with classic elements of the genre. You have an on the edge detective played by William Petersen, a smooth baddie counterfeiter played by Willem Defoe, and a solid arc following the former's obsessive chase of the latter.

There are some dated action moments (cue 80s slow motion here) but there is also a mid-film chase and an ending that should be studied by modern ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Haunt (2019)

Haunt

Haunt has a very similar premise to Hell Fest, which I just wrote on last week. Some eye candy end up at a Halloween haunted house only instead of the big fright fest seen in Hell Fest, these kids end up somewhere in the sticks where the venue is more House of 1000 Corpses then your big city radio station's bonanza ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie They Come Knocking (2019)

They Come Knocking

They Come Knocking does what a lot of horror flicks are unable to: It makes you actually care about the characters. A widower played by Clayne Crawford and his two daughters venture out into the desert to spread his wife's ashes where he proposed to her. Once there though, they realize they are not alone.
As stated, Crawford along with Josephine Langford and Lia McHugh playing his daughters do a great job at conveying the emotional toll the loss of the mom has wreaked on the family. Kudos ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Last Knights (2015)

Last Knights

This could have been really good. When beloved nobleman Lord Bartok (Morgan Freeman) throws the gauntlet down on vicious minister of the emperor Gezza Mott (Aksel Hennie), Bartok's loyal and revered warrior commander Raiden (Clive Owen) and crew fall from standing and must deal with the repercussions.

Its a pretty predictable trajectory from the first to third act that suffers from bad acting from both big names and small. But there ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Prince of Darkness (1987)

Prince of Darkness

Dr. Loomis and crew may have stumbled onto a portal to Hell. Will Egg Shen and Wang Yu be able to save the day again? Where is Jack Burton? Oh wait, that's a different John Carpenter movie with the same actors. But nevertheless, this was my first time seeing this and I was pretty impressed at some of the scenes Carpenter had in here. Some genuinely creepy moments with unfortunately a lot of 80s cheese mixed in. If you put The Thing and Halloween on one ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Night Comes For Us (2018)

The Night Comes For Us

Listen, the Indonesian crew of Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Sunny Pang, and (although absent here) Yayan Ruhian are shitting on any other martial arts actors working right now. The chemistry between these guys is Venom Mob level, but with the brutality multiplied by about 80.

The Night Comes For Us is hands down their best work since the Raid: Redemption. If that movie was the ultimate ballet of vicious fight choreography, then this ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Marvel continues its run of wins and show no signs of slowing down. I have liked every Marvel movie at a 7 or above rating since I believe the first Avengers and Far From Home is no exception. Tom Holland and friends prove the young bucks came to take them helm and Jake Gyllenhaal is especially spot on, as normal. Its doesn't get off to the best start, but then there is a reason for that which unfolds in the middle. From there it is near great ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Crawl (2019)

Crawl

Crawl is one of those movies where you keep asking yourself "Can that really happen?" Or, "Wouldn't that not work there?" The whole time you just have to keep relinquishing doses of reality and I guess in a film about a father and daughter stuck in a flooded house with a shitload of alligators during a hurricane, you aren't supposed to take it that serious.
But goddammit, I do. I think like viewers need to feel like if there ever was a hurricane and they were stuck with their ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

Farewell, My Lovely

I've always dug Philip Marlowe. Born on page as a whiskey sipping, dame rustling, hard nosed P.I., his adventures have always been a good time for me. I prefer Powers Booth so far the most over everyone I have seen, but Robert Mitchum is a good Marlowe as well. And Farewell, My Lovely is a pretty good example at what makes the Marlowe stories so good. His volatile relationship with popo, a missing dame who might be more than what anyone is aware of, tough guys and ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is simultaneously vintage Tarantino and remixed. Like many QT projects, there are multiple storylines coming to life on the screen: there is the main one about Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), a fading 60's Hollywood Western star whose shattered self esteem is only kept flickering by his best friend/ gopher/ stunt man Cliff Booth (Pitt); Booth's own arc surrounding his encounter with Charles Manson's acolytes after giving one of them a ride to their ranch; and a glimpse at the approach to stardom of Sharon ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Lake Bodom (2016)

Lake Bodom

Whew! Talk about a tale of two movies! The first half of Lake Bodom is an absolute disaster. We follow the four main characters, four "teens", two male and two female as they journey to an isolated lake for different reasons. The girls Ida and Nora think they are going to a party. One of the guys Elias wants to hook up with Ida and the other Atte has a grand master plan to reconstruct a decades old unsolved murder near the lake in an effort to solve the mystery.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

John Wick: Chapter 2

I took the first John Wick too seriously, and I apologize. I didn't understand that it was supposed to be ridiculous across the board, and even if Wick himself had a sad backstory, it was really just a generic engine to power the beautiful bloodletting that followed.

In that sense, dialogue in this series is fourth fiddle. Real world consequences of mass shootouts are not being considered in any capacity. Once I ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2019)

The Standoff at Sparrow Creek

A former police officer and current militia man hears the sounds of a fierce gun battle and then scanner reports of officers being fired upon at a nearby funeral. Racing to his group's headquarters, he and the leader of the group quickly deduce that the gunman is likely a member of their militia. In an effort to keep police from finding their way to the compound and storming it, they decide to interrogate the members to fish out the rogue and offer him dead or alive to authorities to ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Us (2019)

Us

Oh man. What a let down. I had supremely high hopes going into Us with as much as I enjoyed Get Out and the hype that surrounded Us upon its release. A thrilling trailer only added to my anticipation.

But Us is too much for its own good. It revolves around Adelaide and Gabe Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke) and their two children Zora and Jason (Shahadi Wright Joseph and ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Hell House LLC (2015)

Hell House LLC

There are two ways to look at Hell House LLC. One is from the traditional critical point of view where--as it should be--everything worth criticizing is fair game. In that sense, Hell House LLC is typical found footage fare. The story is actually kind of cool in that a Halloween haunted house production crew take up shop in a supposedly really haunted abandoned hotel. It was interesting to see the crew build their house, and their scare scenes offer an effective creepy setting for the real scares to ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie South Bureau Homicide (2016)

South Bureau Homicide

One of the most hard hitting docs I have seen in a minute, while conversely delivering its punches with a light hand. South Bureau Homicide deals with the most violent sections of Los Angeles, the police who investigate the murders, and the community who are left to hold the pieces after tragedy rattles any semblance of solace. Directors Mark Burman and Mike Cooley present these stories as they are, covering in equal light the side of the cops who have to find these killers and the frustrated residents who ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie 10 Rillington Place (1971)

10 Rillington Place

Its tough to do a movie about a real life killer and do it well. You have a lot of pressure to making a killer deadly without glorifying him, there are considerations to the victim’s families that are a huge factor. But done right, the final work can be gripping. 10 Rillington Place is one of those types of movies. It tells the story of John Christie and one of his particular heinous crimes involving Tim and Beryl Evans. Christie is played by Richard Attenborough with quiet ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Five Venoms (1978)

The Five Venoms

One of the few old school kung fu flicks that bends genres, that I have seen at least. Five former students of the Venom Clan who don't know all of each other's identities all seek to find a treasure hid by the clan leader. When the clan leader is nearing death, he sends a sixth student to find the other five and find out whose motives are with honor and whose aren't. Each student has their own style of fighting and expertise and the sixth knows all their ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Terrifier (2018)

Terrifier

Not terrible, not great either. If you are in the mood for an old, 80s type of splatterfest, this will take you back to it. Its a fun trot for fans of watching people meet gruesome demises, and I can say I fall in that lot as long as there is some kind of story to go with it. And Terrifier offers up just enough of something to spin between the kill scenes with its psychotic clown on the prowl over Halloween. Its all very silly in ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Witch in the Window (2018)

The Witch in the Window

I have heard that Shudder has some decent offerings for original content. I was up late and this one was a little over an hour long, so I figured I would give it a spin. I really hope this isn't par for the course in what the young network has to offer.

The Witch in the Window is bad in many ways. Its biggest flaw is just how boring it is ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame

Here are the things that were wrong with Endgame:

Its unnecessarily long, it does not do the best job at intertwining non-Avenger characters into the story, and it has a few moments that are stretches even for a movie based in a universe where just about anything goes ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Goldstone (2016)

Goldstone

I wasn't a huge fan of Mystery Road, the movie which Goldstone is the sequel to. I did feel it had a lot of potential however with a good setting for crime noir in outback Australia and an equally interesting protagonist in Aboriginal police officer Jay Swan.

Goldstone continues to highlight that director Ivan Sen knows how to shoot a movie, capturing the rugged beauty of the outback with stunning shots. The setting ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Captain Marvel (2019)

Captain Marvel

I don't know what all the naysayers are harping about. Captain Marvel keeps the MCU streak going as upper tier popcorn entertainment. Brie Larsen does a great job at showing she can kick tail with the best of the boys and Sam L. is a G as always. I feel its some kind of sexist even to compare it to Wonder Woman because they have nothing in common outside of being comic based and having female protagonists but if I have to, then I'll say Captain Marvel ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Sharky's Machine (1981)

Sharky's Machine

Gritty tale of a cop (Burt Reynolds) demoted to the vice squad in Atlanta after a bust goes awry.

I don't know how this has never came across my radar before. I learned of Sharky's Machine reading an obit for Reynolds. Doing some background on the film, I learned that this was Burt's answer to the Dirty Harry series after he felt Eastwood crossed into his territory with Every Which Way But Loose ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Halloween (2018)

Review from the comment

I must admit that when I heard who was behind this return to my beloved Halloween franchise, I had an eyebrow cocked. Danny McBride, known for a career of goofball comedic relief and David Gordon Green, a director who has had some good stuff but nothing I have seen that was anything like a slasher. In all honesty, I expected bad things.
But while nowhere near perfect, this direct sequel to the original is a pretty fun ride for fans of the series. The first half pretty much pays ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Searching (2018)

Searching

Searching is an interesting achievement in the manner of which its events are captured on the screen. The entire movie is told through a computer. From emails, Youtube videos, live streams, Facetime chats, everything is told via a digital interface. The story revolves around a father (John Cho) whose teenage daughter has gone missing. In his efforts to find her, he scours through emails and video blogs she has posted, learning more than he ever knew about her as he tries to track her down.
There is ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Green Room (2016)

Green Room

Saulnier is definitely on my to watch list. I loved Blue Ruin and think Hold the Dark looks pretty good. Green Room however carried some serious buzz with it and I must say I was a little disappointed. Its beautifully shot but the road from beginning to end hits some questionable patches which hold the piece up from being great ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Angel (2018)

The Angel

The Angel is based on the story of real-life Egyptian billionaire turned spy Ashraf Marwan. A close advisor to President Anwar Sadat in time leading up the Yom Kippur War, Marwan fed info to Israel's Mossad and according to some believers, also worked as a double agent to Egypt. The Angel follows that line of belief, following Marwan's rise to becoming Sadat's trusted advisor and watching him play both sides in an effort to avoid all out war.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)

Shinjuku Triad Society

Takashi Miike is known to push the envelope throughout his ultraviolent portfolio, and early in his career he put that on display in Shinjuku Triad Society. I can tell you the story is about a crooked cop (Kippei Shina) obsessed with taking down a gangster (Tomoro Taguchi) and his cronies after they bring the cop's shifty attorney brother into their fold, but the plot is so thinly executed that it really doesn't need explaining.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Cargo (2017)

Cargo

Let's be honest. We probably don't need any more zombie movies for awhile. The genre is bursting from saturation across every medium possible from film, TV, books, and comics. But if we followed that idea, we'd miss out on fresh takes like the one we see in Cargo.
Cargo begins where many zombie flicks begin, with the epidemic already spread and in full swing. A man Andy (Martin Freeman) is travelling with his wife Kay (Susie Porter) and their infant child Rosie, trying to look for the good ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Blow Out (1981)

Blow Out

Gritty and interesting tale about a B-movie sound guy (John Travolta) who witnesses a fatal car crash while out recording ambient sounds at night. When he rescues a woman (Nancy Allen) in the crash and learns that the dead driver was a presidential hopeful, he reviews his recording and starts to think he witnessed a murder. Layer by layer he begins to peel back an intricate plot involving a crooked P.I., a radicalized assassin, and a whole bunch of people who just want the whole debacle to go ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Under the Shadow (2016)

Under the Shadow

We are in Iran in the 80s and there is war going on outside with Iraq. A disheartened mother is stuck with her daughter in their apartment as the threat of missile attack looms. This is a pretty good setup by itself but Under the Shadow adds a supernatural wrench to the gumbo where we don't really know whether the mom is the Babadook or something else is going on.
Its too bad it took what felt like half my adulthood to get past the setup because once ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Beyond (1981)

The Beyond

It took me a minute to figure this one out. I'm in a group online with fans of cult films, and a lot of them love Fulci, and of those a lot cite The Beyond as their fave of his. This was my first foray into the director's body of work, and I must admit I had an eyebrow cocked for about the first 35 minutes or so.
The Beyond is built on a flimsy plot which is executed by terrible actors reciting equally bad dialogue. A woman inherits ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Review from the comment

I must admit that when they relaunched the X-Men series to focus on their origins as teens led by a young Xavier and Magneto, I rolled my eyes. But First Class and Days of Future Past ended up being maybe the best two out of all of them, if X2 doesn't nudge them a tad ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Apostle (2018)

Apostle

There's two movies inside of Apostle. The first is a thriller where a man suffering from PTSD after travels abroad is looking for his sister who is being held for ransom by a mysterious cult. This movie is pretty good. Its gorgeously shot, well paced, introduces lots of fleshed out characters and wraps up viewers into its snowballing tension. It also has a small undercurrent of something supernatural afoot ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Mandy (2018)

Mandy

Whoa. How many times during Mandy did I think "dang, am I on acid?" Director Panos Cosmatos is intentional with this aspect, using color bends and blends to give Mandy an overall hallucination-like vibe to go with the 80's backdrop the movie takes place in.
All cool color effects aside, Mandy suffers from an extremely long start, one of those long Deer Hunter intros establishing the relationship between its protagonists (Cage and Riseborough). Its completely unnecessary in length, even if the look of it all keeps it from putting audiences ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

The Strangers: Prey at Night

I enjoyed the first Strangers. It did a good job at focusing on mood and tension, not worrying too much on the plot. Just put a couple in the middle of nowhere with some killers in cool masks and let them go at it. Nothing mind blowing, but it worked.
This oddly timed sequel attempts to do the same but pretty much fails at nearly every level. This time we have a family in the killers' sights instead of just a couple, but their characters feel like generic cutouts ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Baskin (2015)

Baskin

Watching Baskin is a little akin to watching someone else's really bad nightmare. It has that dreamlike aspect prevalent throughout where things happen with no explanation and when its all over, you will wonder just wtf happened. But that's ok. It doesn't all need to make sense. Just know its a really, really bad evening for five Turkish police officers responding to a distress call at an abandoned building. They will soon come into contact with a cult led by Baba, played by newcomer Mehmet Cerrahoglu ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Beirut (2018)

Beirut

Beirut is a merely adequate spy entry that could have been much better. It involves a former diplomat to Lebanon (Jon Hamm) who is now a labor dispute negotiator after a tragedy forced him out of his career a decade earlier. But after a spy is kidnapped in the same region he used to work, current US security forces call on him to return after the spy's captors ask for him by name.
Beirut's foundation is interesting, but ultimately the pieces fall in standard formation without much to be excited ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Isle of Dogs (2018)

Isle of Dogs

The mind of Wes Anderson is something else. That remains a consistent throughout the man's career. Isle of Dogs is no different with a unique tale of a metropolis banishing man's best friend to an island after the animals come down with a vicious virus.But when the nephew of the mayor who issued the decree crashes on the island trying to find his dog, he is befriended by five canines who join his search.
Anderson and co-writers Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola have created a distinct setting that is all ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Crazy Rich Asians

Disclosure: I took the miss to see Crazy Rich Asians for two reasons with the most important one being my desire to support a major release in the U.S. with an all Asian cast. Being of Asian descent, this type of breakthrough is of extreme importance. So with that, the second reason was that I could do that and also tally this one as the annual or semi-annual romance movie we watch.
That's right. I am not a rom-com type of dude. There are very ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Black Souls (2014)

Black Souls

This is another gangster film like the just reviewed A Most Violent Year where there isn't all the action of the traditional entry in the genre. If Goodfellas is Saving Private Ryan, then Black Souls is more in the vein of The Thin Red Line, not the same caliber as that film but you get my drift ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Oh, the shoes to fill when you are brought in to lead the sequel to one of the biggest blockbusters in recent history. I don't know why producers on Fallen Kingdom didn't stick with Colin Trevorrow after he did such an impressive job on the first Jurassic World. All I know is his replacement J.A. Bayona fails to reach the same level of enjoyment that Trevorrow accomplished ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie A Most Violent Year (2014)

A Most Violent Year

If you saw Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly a few years back, you would have saw a gangster film that lacked the romanticism often associated with entries in the genre. The scenes of violence at times lacked flair and the goons often were not clearly defined in their actions on purpose, highlighting the real life absence of prettiness and consistent personalities in an ugly and chaotic world ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Winchester (2018)

Winchester

Ugh. Two side notes: One, I get in moods for dumb horror movies sometimes. Cheap scares and lack of originality I can overlook a little if they are presented in a cool package. Two, I have been fascinated with the Winchester mansion since I was a kid. My parents took me and my siblings through there on a run through Northern Cali when I was maybe 10 or so and since then I have always wanted to know more about the infamous spook site ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp

I'm a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In my opinion, the last average or below movie they made was Avengers: Age of Ultron and I still enjoyed it enough. That said, the first Ant-Man movie was to me not of the caliber that Marvel had been rolling on. It was decent enough, had a good balance of laughs vs action, but the lack of a good villain bogged it down a little. Ant-Man and the Wasp runs along the same lines although it has an ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Inside Men (2015)

Inside Men

While it gets a little too Hollywood near the end, Inside Men is an enjoyable crime thriller where a low level gangster on the rise is betrayed by the high profile public figures he does dirt for. As the goon tries to get his vengeance, he forms a shaky alliance with an honest prosecutor bent on smashing his fist down on the out of control corruption. Its a story we have heard a thousand times but there are some fantastic shots in Inside Men as well as solid performances ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Thief (1981)

Thief

Jimmy Caan is a firecracker ace thief in this stylish crime thriller with a bad ass soundtrack from Tangerine Dream. Michael Mann proves early on in his career here he knows how to keep viewers invested. Robert Prosky is great as the boss Caan's master diamond snatcher comes to work for. But will Caan's fuck everyone attitude mesh with Prosky's sinister charm? Thief builds up the tension well on the road to answer that question even if it falters some in the third act. And Jesus if ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2017)

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Abacus is a compelling look at how the government has responded in varying degrees to banks they feel have played a part in the mortgage crisis a decade ago. On the one hand, you have the large banks that received bailout money in the amount of billions to keep the US and world economy from imploding. On the other hand, you have a small, family owned bank like Abacus who at worst participated in the same predatory lending practices that the big boys did. If you believe the ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Veronica (2017)

Veronica

Veronica tells the tale of a teenage Spanish girl who plays with a Ouija board in an attempt to talk with her dead father. During her session with the board, there is also a lunar eclipse going on outside. In standard horror fashion, this is somehow bad and results in some kind of evil entity causing havoc in her life.
The one good thing that really keeps Veronica from being an absolute snoozefest is the relationship the title character has with her younger siblings. Veronica is left to take ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Coco (2017)

Review from the comment

Pixar is the best at what they do. They consistently put out quality material and Coco is no exception. This time we have a story of a Mexican boy who longs to pursue his dream of being a musician against the wishes of his family who come from a legacy where music is considered a root of bad things. Pixar deserves a huge pat on the back for bringing in an all Latin cast to fill the roles. With the huge success of Coco, hopefully other studios ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Gate of Hell (1953)

Gate of Hell

Interesting piece on obsession. A great warrior but socially awkward samurai asks for the hand of a married woman as a payment for his loyalty to his master. This strange and inappropriate request sets forth a journey down a sinister path where all involved are destined to crash together at the end of it. Gate of Hell does well at developing the breakdown of its crazed warrior Morito, but it suffers from long awkward shots that had me scratching my head. I'm not a fan of the ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Now You See Me (2013)

Now You See Me

I love magicians and magic. So it's not much to say I also love movies about the subject. Unless it's really terrible, it's an easy mark up a grade or two just for being in the genre. So my assumption was that I was going to like Now You See Me. But there was just too much smoke and mirrors and not enough oomph for me to come on board completely. There is a lot of cool stuff here coupled with a great cast. But the story moves too quickly and ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road

There are some movies that don't waste time and cut right to the chase. In Mad Max: Fury Road, that last part is meant in the literal sense. After a short opening turn of events, the film takes viewers on a chase of cinematic historic levels, with very few breaks once the race is on. While there isn't much dialogue, Hardy and Theron are great as the two bad asses leading the way on this thrill ride. Director George Miller puts together a canvas for the pair ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Ritual (2017)

The Ritual

Every now and then a movie comes along that while not perfect, pleasantly surprises you. The Ritual is that type of movie. It follows a group of friends on a hiking trip intended to bring closure to a tragic event in their recent past. But when one of them is injured and the men decide to try and take a shortcut to get back to civilization faster, grave things begin to happen.
The story of The Ritual doesn't break any new ground at all. But its the execution ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Review from the comment

Talk about big shoes to fill. Villanueve takes on a universe where fans were ready with torches upon the first mention of a sequel. Luckily he not only matches the original, he surpasses the classic. Blade Runner 2049 is one of those rare pieces that can combine the best parts of science fiction, weave them with heavy topics like creationism and morality, and spin a web which grabs and holds viewers from start to finish. The entire cast is working their A-game here. Gosling continues to ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie It (2017)

It

Big time mixed feelings on this one. It is an excellent coming of age movie wrapped up by an ok horror flick. The developing of the protagonists is so well done, rivaling the level of a Stand By Me or a Breakfast Club. But the scary elements of It are above average at best. There is too much Pennywise here, (not that Bill Skarsgard did a poor job-quite the opposite) which results in him feeling like a Freddy Krueger type character. That's not chopped liver, buts it not the level of ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Hush (2016)

Hush

The worst thing Hush has going for it is also its best thing. The premise of a deaf woman being trapped in her home with a sadistic killer is a fresh one. Director Mike Flanagan does a good job at getting the most out of that idea, setting up new scenarios for a genre that needs a revamping ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Headshot (2016)

Headshot

Headshot looked so golden off the trailer. I was a huge fan of The Raid and thus it's star Iko Uwais. Uwais also stars here as a stranger who awakens from a coma with a case of amnesia and a bullet hole in his forehead. Just who is he and how was he shot? And how is he connected to a brutal gang leader who has just escaped execution? These are the questions at the core of the plot of Headshot.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Wind River (2017)

Wind River

Taylor Sheridan, screenwriter hot off the critical darlings Sicario and Hell or High Water, also takes the helm here and shows he has what it takes to run the show.

Wind River is a whodunit with an excellent cast led by Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. But even with all the great players who contribute (including the always stellar Graham Greene), the setting should also receive high marks when discussing Wind River's excellence.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Life (2017)

Review from the comment

Life takes a thoroughly worked over theme of man fiddling with nature to disastrous results. There is nothing new to offer here to the history of that idea on film but one thing Life does is make it look really pretty.

The space station on which this adventure is set is gorgeous. The space and imagery outside the station is on par with that of Gravity-of which in style Life borrows heavily.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Like Mike (2002)

Like Mike

I would never have watched this but my little niece was over and she is a fan of it. We put it on while eating and then doing some things around the house. Its a cute enough idea: orphan boy gets some magic sneakers that allow him to play hoop at a star level. But even if you are able to get past that ridiculousness, the rest of the film plays out in an absurdly predictable fashion. There aren't many genuinely funny moments, and the whole ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Train to Busan (2016)

Let's Throw Some Flair On An Old Recipe

Let's get things clear from the gate: Train to Busan does nothing especially innovative to a densely crowded zombie genre. The plot revolves around a large group of survivors fleeing an infected metro area on a train that leaves the city. In that sense, it's basically Zombies on a Train. Much of the dialogue is cliche, the characters do a lot of dumb and unrealistic stuff, and there are several groan moments of over-emo scenes that Asians love to put on the screen.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Alien: Covenant (2017)

A Decent Enough Entry Into My All-time Favorite Franchise

I agree with just about everything VungTauMantis said. However, I feel like the scenes between the two synthetics as well as the general exploration of the creationism theme add enough to a fun enough romp in Scott's esteemed franchise.
There are a lot of dumb moments though, things that belong in C list movies from decades ago. However, what can I say? I'm a fan of the setting and in that Scott does not disappoint. Squeaks in for a 7.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Outfit (1973)

Duvall is Fresh Out the Pen and Ready to Rock

It has been awhile since I watched a 70's crime flick, one of my favorite sub-genres. I had never even heard of this one, surprisingly being that Robert Duvall is one of my fave actors.
This was a fun time. Its nowhere near other entries in the era but its a good watch nonetheless. Its pretty much about 100 minutes give or take of Duvall and Joe Don Baker kicking mob ass. And what's not to like about that?

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Gifted (2017)

Review from the comment

Gifted is the story of Frank and his niece Mary whom he has cared for since her mother died. The girl is of genius level intelligence and her school is pushing Frank to send her to a school for the gifted. But Frank has his own ideas on her having a normal kid's life and when his estranged mother steps into the picture to get the girl into the school, things get ugly.
Gifted is one of those Hollywood feel good movies that is just good enough for most audiences to like ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Killer Joe (2012)

Review from the comment

Killer Joe is one of those neo-noir films that is just a little too off tilt for me to enjoy completely. It plays on dumb Southerner stereotypes a little too much and is just overall a little too strange. I was surprised at the tone of this film with Friedkin at the helm. It definitely didn't feel like the Friedkin pieces I have seen, with its comedic narrative undercutting the overall dark tone.
I feel like Killer Joe wants to be a Fargo for Texas, and it doesn't succeed at all ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Moonlight (2016)

Moonlight

A superbly executed testament of the struggles of a gay boy as he grows into a teen and later an adult. I could probably talk about this movie for a couple of hours with the right person. There is so much under the surface of such a simply shot character study.

Collectively, the acting here is top tier, and from such a range of unknowns mixed in with seasoned vets like Ali and ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Art of Organized Noize (2016)

Review from the comment

Its hard to take a documentary serious when you find out that it is executive produced by its subjects. However, director QD3 does a good job at (mostly) evenly playing up the highs and the lows of rap production icons Organized Noize. The result is a solid, nostalgic look at one of Hip Hop's most prolific teams. Even if there is a desire to hear about more of the inner feuds (there is no mention of the riff between Big Boi and Dre or Ceelo and Goodie MOB), there is enough ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Life and Death of a Porno Gang (2009)

The Life and Death of a Porno Gang

Here we go again. Another Serbian film, billed as in the vein of A Serbian Film. Look, I'm no megafan of A Serbian Film, but at least it had its merits. It was full of clever dialogue and its twist is right up there with the greatest. But it also went way too far in pushing the envelope of decency. And I simply can't get into movies like that.
That doesn't mean I won't try though apparently. The Life and Death of a Porno Gang's trailer ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Sorcerer (1977)

Sorcerer

I'm a sucker for the movies from the 70's. That gritty, hard boiled feeling that is so apparent through the decade in films like Dirty Harry and The Conversation is on full display here. Scheider plays one of four men who end up on the lam in Colombia for different reasons. Their various situations push the four to take on a suicide mission of driving a load of deadly nitroglycerin across treacherous terrain. Friedkin does a wonderful job at minimalizing dialogue and creating all the tension through ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Blair Witch (2016)

Blair Witch

The original Blair Witch Project is one of my favorite horror films. For someone who has a phobia of the forest, movies just don't get much scarier than that one.
This sequel doesn't do much to honor the classic besides basically telling the same story over again albeit with better cameras and effects. And that is what the problem is. The original Blair Witch was so ingenious both in its utilization of the found footage style and its marketing campaign, you just can't repeat that giving it the big ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

Batman: The Killing Joke

I understand that purists can get bent out of shape when details are changed in adaptations of loved works. Having never read The Killing Joke, I didn't have that bias going in. That said, this feature is pretty sharp and enjoyable, finally giving the Batman universe that dark edge it deserves. Led by the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, The Killing Joke is the exclamation point after so many great iterations between these two talented actors. The animation is sharp as well, the ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Wailing (2016)

Review from the comment

Where to start. My major problem with The Wailing is that a huge part of the premise of this film is how inept village police officers are in South Korea. Now, I understand the idea that sometimes small town cops are dumb. Hell, sometimes big town cops are dumb. But the magnitude of how the cops in this film fail at doing their job is too much for me to fathom. If those types of failures are something that is more likely to happen over there than it is here in ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013)

Review from the comment

I keep trying with the Scandinavian thrillers but I haven't comes across one yet I was ecstatic about. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the top of the pyramid for me thus far and that isn't saying a lot. The problem I have with The Keeper of Lost Causes is the same issue I have with all the mysteries I have had from this region: They all feel like average Law and Order or CSI episodes. The actors are not bad but the stories are Hollywood and not realistic. Someone ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie John Wick (2014)

John Wick

For an action movie lover like myself, there is a common recipe that separates the best from the rest. In that recipe, choreography, visual style, and dialogue are three of the main ingredients. Now, John Wick has some of the worst dialogue in recent memory. The plot is a cliche filled revenge tale that is helped out by a few minor tweaks in an otherwise standard script we have seen many times. But where the script suffers, John Wick is rescued by beautiful shootouts on visually stimulating color pallettes ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Jurassic World (2015)

Jurassic World

Newcome director Colin Trevorrow somehow impressed Steven Spielberg enough to be given the keys to a billion dollar franchise and he doesn't let his boss down. Jurrassic World borrows heavily from the originals and surprisingly Aliens but those nods aside, Trevorrow creates an extremely fun romp that has me curious as to what's next. Pratt proves his spot in Guardians of the Galaxy was no one time deal and that he has no issue playing point man in a blockbuster. If there are any doubts that he is ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Review from the comment

Take the premise of the first Conjuring and move it to London. That's a pretty accurate synopsis of this sequel. That's not a terrible thing. We are still early enough in the series is where director James Wan hasn't drained the well dry.

But one thing that may end up being a problem is that the atmosphere between his Insidious series and The Conjuring films is starting to blur together. That definitely may be ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Don't Breathe (2016)

Review from the comment

If movies were graded on style alone, Don't Breathe would get pretty high marks. Outside of a few heavy handed foreshadowing moments, director Fede Alvarez has a sharp eye. That's not to say the script or plot is weak here. Its actually pretty good in premise. Three burglars hoping for a motherlode of a score get more than they bargained for when they learn their blind mark isn't as helpless as he seems. But there are major plot holes that keep it from being one of the great horror films ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Last Shift (2014)

I've Seen Better, I've Seen Worse

You ever play a video game and think this would make a great movie? Well, Last Shift is a movie that would make a great video game. As a film though, it is merely decent. It's premise is too far fetched to be taken seriously on film. A rookie cop spends her first shift by herself holding down a police station that is about to be permanently closed. When weird things start happening, she begins to learn about the station's sinister history. Think Assault on Precinct 13 meets The House on ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Drug War (2012)

Review from the comment

How the ratings for this are so high is beyond me. The action scenes are decent but the characters are largely exaggerated and ridiculous creations more fit for a cartoon than a serious thriller. There is a pair of deaf criminals who really are an insult to true life deaf people. There is a police officer who behaves in unbelievable fashion after circumstances force him to sniff a little bit of coke. And the list goes on. The saving grace for Drug War is ita pacing. Outside of that, what a ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie New World (2013)

New World

New World takes a bit to build but once it gets its legs, it conveys just how good our Korean brothers are getting at putting together crime flicks. The story isn't a novel one: an undercover cop has gotten in so deep with his crime family cohorts that it is becoming increasingly hard for him to stay focused on his task at hand. Combine that with a handler that keeps prodding the troubled agent to submerge himself deeper into the lie he has built along with an emerging power ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Now this is what we need more of in Marvel and comic book based films. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have taken pointers from Christopher Nolan in that a great comic book film need not be shaped like a comic book film. In that fashion, the Winter Soldier is a political thriller which just happens to feature Marvel characters in it. But make no mistake, the grand scale and huge sets common to the Marvel portfolio are present. But here they feel more natural in the setting they ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie A Most Wanted Man (2014)

A Most Wanted Man

A Most Wanted Man is set in the post-9/11 free world that we all know and accept today, but it feels like an old school spy flick. And maybe that is because it is based on a John LeCarre novel, LeCarre being arguably the greatest spy novelist ever. And that's a good thing. A Most Wanted Man is able to build a strong thriller largely on its all star cast's performances with little use of on screen violence, no easy task. Philip Seymour Hoffman is wonderful in ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Equalizer (2014)

The Equalizer

The Equalizer is loosely based on the 80's tv show of the same name, but it might have more in common with the corny action movies of that era that featured one man armies against hordes of bad guys. Denzel Washington takes the title role as a mysterious ex government agent of some sort who is trying to live a life of normalcy. But when he befriends a prostitute played by Chloe Grace Moretz and she falls into trouble with her Russian mob pimps, he falls back to ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Peter Jackson epic style is finally starting to show a little rust. If you haven't gotten your fill of his giant scale good vs evil battle scenes, then the Battle of the Five Armies may be your favorite film ever. It is basically one big long fight scene and Jackson has not changed his gears with battle scenes much since the Fellowship of the Ring. That said, the events he brings to the screen are top shelf in regard to choreography and presentation. Thus, even without any ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Deliver Us from Evil (2014)

Deliver Us From Boredom

2012 and early 2013 saw a strong surge in decent horror films.
there has been a significant drought of quality in the genre over
last 12 months, and unfortunately Deliver Us From Evil doesn't
the trend. There are a lot of animals acting weird, humans
weirder, and a no nonsense police officer who refuses to believe
obvious supernatural occurrences. Sound familiar? That's because it is. Moviegoers have seen variations on this plot many times before. But does it make up for the lack of originality with style or well shot creep ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Last Exorcism Part II (2013)

An Exorcise in Bad Moviemaking

If you were one of the many viewers of The Last Exorcism who was pleasantly surprised at it in terms of quality and scariness, consider me among your peers. Joining the ranks of movies like REC and Troll Hunter, The Last Exorcism was another example of the strengths of using the mockumentary/found footage style popular in horror today. These films dictate that less can be more when conveying scares. The Last Exorcism Part II, however, is an example of how building on those successes with a bigger budget and wider platform ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Wolverine (2013)

As Solid as Adamantium Claws

It has been some time since the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. Logan (Hugh Jackman), the honorable yet brutal warrior of the mutant super team, has grown disenchanted with life and is living in the wilderness of Canada. Haunted by memories of his lost love Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), the loner is a victim of his own immortality. He has all the time in the world, but nothing left to live for.

That is until Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a messenger from a man he once saved many years before named ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Skyfall (2012)

Double 0 Boring

The 007 franchise has a recipe that is pretty simple in ingredients but has still been able to keep audiences buying tickets for over 50 years. You have a super villain, a girl (sometimes two), some gadgetry paired up with a beautiful automobile, and top tier chase and fight scenes that are the best in the business. Aside from minor variations on this formula, it is one that has not changed in half a century.

For the most part, this has not been a bad thing. The James Bond series ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Mama (2013)

Ehhhhhh...yawn

Mama focuses on two small girls who are left in a cabin after their troubled father is killed by a malevolent spirit. Fast forward five years where the father’s brother Lucas still has search parties trying to locate the missing girls. When one of the parties stumbles across the cabin where the girls were holed up, they discover the children who are now in a feral state. The pair are brought to be examined by a psychiatrist, and eventually a judge rules they can be ordered to the care of Lucas ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie World War Z (2013)

Worth Every Penny of Its Budget

Rooting against big budgeted Hollywood excesses is an on and off again pastime for me. While I enjoy a summer blockbuster just as much as anyone when they are good (see The Avengers), I can’t help but snicker when I see a terrible idea go down in flames (see the Lone Ranger).

And so was the expectation with World War Z, director Marc Forster’s adaptation of the critically acclaimed Max Brooks’ novel. The ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Croupier (1998)

Croupier

Clive Owen takes the lead here as a struggling writer who drops back into the gambling business working casino tables to make ends meet. Croupier plays like an old pulp detective novel with Owen shooting the dirt on his patrons and co-workers. When one of his regular customers (ER’s Alex Kingston) entices him into being party to a heist, Owen has to figure out just who is holding the cards here (pun intended). While it may lack a knockout punch of a twist needed in these types of ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Collection (2012)

Let's Make A Sequel But Forget To Include The Style From The First One

If you blinked your eyes too fast, you may have missed 2009's The Collector, a gorefest about a serial killer who traps families in their homes and slays them in spectacular fashion. It did not do very well at the box office and it didn't even get the surge in visibility most movies get when they are released on DVD. Truth is, it wasn't a spectacular movie, but it did entertain with its house of horrors death traps that were elaborate in the vein of the Final Destination series.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie End of Watch (2012)

Good Cop Thriller That Has Some Shaky Moments

The most important part of a buddy cop movie is the chemistry between the two leads. In End of Watch, it is said chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena that is the backbone to this story. The film, chronicling the two as young LAPD patrol officers Brian Taylor and Miguel Zavala , is a buddy cop movie for the modern era. You still have the entertaining banter between the two leads that has been a staple of the genre since its popularity surged in the 80's with movies like Lethal ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Compared to its peers like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series has been underrepresented a little. This is actually a good thing if you consider the overcrowded horror franchise it makes its playpen in. It would lead one to believe that with less entries tossed in the ring and with more time between them, the potential for making better movies should be high. But if Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D (what a title) is the evidence, then one believing that ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Grave Encounters 2 (2012)

Grave Encounters 2

The first Grave Encounters was a decent enough found footage horror flick that had just enough humor and jump scenes to make it a somewhat likable watch. This sequel follows a young filmmaker who is convinced the events depicted in the first Grave Encounters are real. He sets out with his crew in tow to make a documentary detailing his findings. The problem with Grave Encounters 2 is it has lost any cool or fun factor from the original. This is a pretty much a bland rehashing ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers

The Avengers definitely had the house riding on it. Marvel set up the film for success, releasing solo pictures of each character in the group with varying degrees of quality from pretty good (Iron Man) to terrible (Iron Man 2). Fortunately, the rest of those prequels were in the good to above average range, laying out a huge amount of hype for the granddaddy to outshine them all.

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Young Hushpuppy and her father Wink are two residents of the Bathtub, a fantastical version of a bayou village. With Hushpuppy’s mom gone and her hot-tempered but well intentioned dad struggling to take care of the two of them, Hushpuppy is resigned to imagine a better world in which her mom could cure all the ailments of her tiny corner of the universe. When a vicious Hurricane Katrina like storm (or maybe it is Hurricane Katrina, jury is still out on that for me) approaches, Wink refuses to ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Descendants (2011)

The Descendants

Matt King (George Clooney) , a land mogul who holds the fate of prime untouched Hawaiian wilderness, must reconnect with his children after his wife is hurt badly in a boating accident. His elder daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) is a hard partying mess and his younger Scottie (Amara King) is completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation. When King finds out his wife was having an affair and planning to leave him before the accident, he sets out to confront her lover. All the while his extended ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are back on the case as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in A Game of Shadows, Guy Ritchie’s second take on the famed sleuth. It’s another bang up popcorn flick that is heavy on style and slick on substance. This time around Holmes faces his literary nemesis Professor Moriarty who is played with cunning malice by Jared Harris. Noomi Rapace also drops in as a mysterious gypsy who may be able to help the duo in connecting Moriarty to recent terrorist attacks in ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Killing Them Softly (2012)

Killing Them Softly is Neither Soft Nor Rock Solid

If you have read through my reviews, you will know that I am a stickler for realism in movies that should command it. This is my outlook and if you are watching something with me, its to the point of being annoying. But it is what it is. And Killing Them Softly suffers early on from a plot point which is so unrealistic that it affects the level of the rest of the film. But let me give a brief rundown of the setup here.



Its 2008, and ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead

It is very rare that remakes of movies are as good as the original. There are exceptions, and Fede Alvarez’s take on cult classic Evil Dead is one of them. Alvarez shakes off the campy humor that fans of the original loved so much (not me) and takes a no laughs approach, offering even more gore than Sam Raimi’s splatterfest. The result is a testament to what a student of the genre can do with a creative eye and flair for the hardcore. Make no mistake: this ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie The Imposter (2012)

The Imposter

The Imposter is an intriguing look at the bizarre missing child case of Nicolas Barclay who disappeared in 1994 from San Antonio, Texas. While in no sense not tragic, the case was typical until three years later in which authorities in Spain had found someone who claimed to be the boy. This “boy” turned out to be 23 year old French con man Frederic Bourdin, a man nearly seven years older than the missing Barclay who did not resemble the child at all. But he was still able ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Savages (2012)

Savages

According to Savages, the best weed in the world is grown in Afghanistan. I don’t know if this is true or not, but the assertion plays a central role in the film. Taylor Kitsch plays a former soldier who smuggles back enough Afghani marijuana seeds to launch a grow operation. Aaron Johnson steps in as his hippy botanist pal who turns the seeds into the high caliber chronic buds. The strain is so powerful that they immediately corner the market in their southern Cali zone of operation ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Dark Skies (2013)

Dark Skies

As far as PG-13 horror movies go, Dark Skies can proudly know that it is one of the few decent ones in that classification. It is a very elite group, so small and irrelevant in size that even the best releases of its kind aren’t necessarily great or even very good when compared to movies in general. In Dark Skies, you have a very ho hum story of a family whose son begins acting strangely after even stranger things manifest in the house. However, one of the factors ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Wrath of the Titans (2012)

Wrath of the Titans

I have said it before, when you go into a movie with very low expectations, it is easy to walk away somewhat surprised. Thus was the case with Wrath of the Titans, a sequel to the disappointing remake of Clash of the Titans. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph Fiennes all return to reprise their roles as Perseus, Zeus, and Hades. Here, Hades and Zeus’s son Aries concoct a scheme to trap Zeus in the Underworld in an attempt to seize power. Of course, Perseus is the only ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie King of Devil's Island (2010)

King of Devil's Island

The story of King of Devils Island is an interesting one. A fictional retelling of real life events that led up to the 1915 uprising at the Bastoy Reform School in Norway, there is ample fodder here for a good tale. And the movie here is not a total miss. But it does suffer from uneven pacing and small plot gaffes that had me scratching my head. But the main arc involving two boys in the school is a good one. The two start out as complete ...

Nate H. parašė atsiliepimą apie Sherlock Holmes (2009)