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True Detective: Now Am Found (2019)
Is it M Night Shyamalan sunday?
If you expect the intercutting of timelines will make sense in understanding the plot you gon be disappointed. The finale reveals that many ends of the story don't meet, much of what you watched was just completely irrelevant to its conclusion. It's utterly disappointing and leaves quite some previous bits poorly motivated. A lot of the story has only been there to mislead the viewer and doesn't hit home when the plot reveals. The unlikely story that reveals and the characters that are key to this have been kept out of the story deliberately, how convenient: a nearly untouched character walks into the final episode and talks to reveal a story completely outside the scope of the entire investigation and outside of the viewer's eye.
John Wick (2014)
Micropenistopia
For reasons not entirely clear to me I just watched a one-and-a-half hour PS3 cutscene. A late 90's actionmovie throwback, (almost?) worse than "Spawn".
Keanu Reeves "Neo's" himself through a script so thin it could have been written on the side of the paper. Familiar faces are put in shiny suits to make a dashing appearance. That's all they need to do, show their face and ooze cool, cause they'res little acting to really talk about. Look tough, drop a oneliner and pull the trigger like it's 1996.
It feels like you're watching "The Crow 6" or something.
Even the rain feels fake in this sad crime fantasy.
Clerks III (2022)
Manbaby movie for the faint at heart
Discovering Clerks on VHS in a video rental place in the 90's was fun because it stood out against Hollywood slickness and gave every stoner kid the feeling as if their own dull life could be movie material. So many of us have been at gatherings messing around where someone would say "oh man, they should film this". Clerks was that film.
The outrageous characters and profanities made it a wild trip and watching it together was a rite of passage.
Looking at these characters with so many years on them now and acting even poorer than you've ever seen 'em do was a sad shock by itself but oh man do those jokes feel old and stale. It borders on necrophilia to see them try and squeeze a laugh out of the same material again and again. Together with the sentimental midlife crisis stroke weepery it's like watching a movie that exists against its will.
A sad waste of time.
The Plot Against America (2020)
"It can't happen here"
That line, I first heard from a 60's Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention song, one off his most psychedelic records. Never gave much thought to it's meaning. Coming from Europe we have been raised with the trauma of WWII and the chapter has always been a heavy one. The focus of history lessons has always been on the effects of oppression and systematic execution of the jews. I don't remember learning anything about how an average german citizen experienced 1942-1945. Nor do I remember learning a timeline of the day to day of people in the USA during the WWII.
I guess with Ukrain under fire from Russia my generation gets a little taste of what it feels like to not be at war ourselves but having distant allies suffering heavily from a war.
This series, based on a novel, shows an alternative reality of a jewish family in an increasingly fascist USA during WWII. If you are familiar with David Simon you will again be embraced by his trademarks and plunged into a deep and complex web of human relationships and power struggles. The visual treatment is gorgeous. And my compliments for many of its actors. It's a moody and painful story but we loved watching it unfold.
The Pentaverate (2022)
Hasbeen
Painful stupid show. I guess no one in the writers room had the balls to just say it. We're watching some old white guy thinking he's endlessly funny, bathing in ego sauce acting smart about... "stuff"... Annoying soundtrack, annoyingly irrelevant story, meaningless characters, no chemistry, poor jokes, completely meaningless and never engaging. Those jokes may have been funny in the 90s, you know, 30 years ago. The shtick didn't age well. It's produced to look like a commercial, a lot of makeup and background decor but very shallow. Mister Myers seems to be looking to tap into some pastiche and cringe kind of humor but the outcome is so stale it just does nothing for me. I'm 20 years older since the last Myers movie I watched, somehow he's still at the level of "sausages look like penisses hahaha". Oh boy.
Entertainment (2015)
It's... Entertainment.
This film is complementing Gregg Turkington's Neil Hamburger stage-character with a painfully desolate private side of life.
It's a study in character design, it's writing, it's a story, it's a film.... It's... Entertainment.
...And like it's anti-comedy anti-hero, it is also a dive into anti-entertainment... The film has a slow pace, features grimey humour, surrealist eyecandy shot compositions, some high brow absurdism, and a lot of general discomfort.
".... But thaaaaat's my liife!"
// I can't believe there's a minimal amount of 600 characters required to write a review here these days, but here we go. //
Dark Shadows (2012)
What a time to be alive
I missed a Tim Burton / Johnny Depp movie probably because of the birth of our first born in the year of release. What a time to pick this up, while the Amber Heard / Johnny Depp case is allover, I watch this movie where an immortal Johnny Depp is stalked by a witch who's love is not returned. Priceless, but let's not get into that. I enjoyed the obvious Burton signatures and also was stunned at how "90's" this movie was. In many ways it also reminded me of the charm of some of the messy Dario Argento flicks. Lush and sparse at the same time. I choose it to be a feature not a bug, cause I really enjoyed this movie. There's also some funny/unfunny jokes that are also reminiscent of stupid 90's comedies they just don't make anymore. High five Timbo!
Dune: Part One (2021)
The cold of high expectations
A bit too sterile to be likeable, the first Dune movie plays like a season's worth bingewatch of a high profile TV series. A narrow focus on one noble family struggling with leadership and very little else make the story paper thin. Where is this world of common people that require this leadership or income from the harvesting of spice? We hardly get to see any culture outside of the family and the army. The story focusses on young Paul who is expected to become a great leader. We follow him on a path that we have previewed through his dreams. The appearance of Duncan from time to time is the only thing that loosens the cold stiffness in Paul. There's little surprise in the story and the overall cool and dark design make it a bit of a long watch but in the end I was pleased overall.
Desperate Living (1977)
Signature Waters
2022, my first watch of this now 45 year old gem. I love the pope but this one always escaped me somehow, until now. I'm glad I had been introduced before (my first was Pink Flamingos, then the rest in random order) and being so I enjoyed the hell of this. Exciting to see all the craziness and the all the dialogue in the movie is screamed. Haha oh my God. Peckertracks on my gown. Fun fun fun and awesome. Still a bit embarrassed to watch but I guess that shouldn't ruin the fun.
Bacurau (2019)
Mad fever dream on film
Curiously abstract and consistently tense. This film drives forward without waiting for you to comprehend what's going on. It's an amazing ride. The georgeous Brazillian backdrop, the ghostly atmosphere of an isolated spaghetti western town, the cruelty reminiscent of 1970's 'video nasties'. A fever dream fueled by ideas from Alejandro Jodorowsky, Michael Haneke and Umberto Lenzi. I strongly recommend you watch this film.
O Auto da Compadecida (1999)
Hilarious
I chased this title after sorting all Comedy movies in the IMDb based on ranking. This one was on top, and it seemed unlikely to me, but I found it and enjoyed it very much. Totally crazy. It reminds me of several things I've watched and that are dear to me: Hellzapoppin, Kin Dza Dza, The Gods Must Be Crazy and Little Nicky. Put those in a catholic Brazillian blender and enjoy your smoothie!
Il signor Rossi cerca la felicità (1976)
Great to finally watch
I've been familiar with the soundtrack of this movie since its re-release on cd in 1999 (crippled dick hot wax). The tunes are amazing and colorful. I've tried but never was able to get a hold of the animation, until recent. I was a bit affraid to watch, kind of like when a movie is made of a favorite book. I didn't want these soundtrack tunes to be colored in by something disappointing.
But how could it. I was surprised in many ways. Psychedelic illustrations, humain characters, a silly witch, underlying social/political criticism. It was more than rewarding to watch. And, apparently, the 1999 cd holds more songs than used in this movie alone. On to finding the others!
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
High on sci-fi
I think the execution and attention to detail is great but the story just isn't very compelling. Every human (or subhuman) in this story seems to be a team member of some kind or another aggressive force or gang. Normal life is absent from this whole sci-fi setting, except for one awkward visit to a tea pouring lady. The gap between real life people and the gunswinging advanced sci-fi maffia kind of bothers me in perceiving the story.
Das Lied von den zwei Pferden (2009)
A rare view into unique circumstances
Technically/structurally the film isn't very special or great but the story and the unique content is, with the characters and scenery that make it so. Very cute and charming. I love the music, the horsehead fiddle and mongolian singing are some of the deepest rooted earthly sounds I've ever heard, so beautiful. It's as if the landscape is speaking. This film brings it well, the preciousness of disappearing beauty of old human traditional life.
Hippy Porn (1991)
Refreshingly boring movie about boring movies, boredom and sex
Snobby nihilist hipster artschool wave noir. A drabby punksy stencil collage of sexual thought exploration. Artistic intellectual blasé. The footage of different dialogues feels random but is constantly interesting in a way. Nice gritty soundtrack and montages help to glue the separate pieces together.
"There are those of us that make a 15 year ordeal out of puberty".
Well done.
Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987)
Creepshow
So many wrongs in one film, it's kinda funny to sit through once. But it was a long hard sit. Sexism, discrimination and cheesiness, the golden age of plastic surgery. Disgusting characters. The acting is so incredibly bad, the pace is so incredibly slow... I get it it's pure entertainment with TNA and violence. But you get a whole lot of dumbness thrown in for free.
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
Shaking things up
This is really perfect in its existence. Sexy and trashy with campy characters. A screwball comedy with a horror backdrop. Cheesy effects, 80's score and an amazing leading lady with constant snarky remarks. Th best John Waters film not made by John Waters.
Butt Boy (2019)
Exit film
Entertaining enough quirky film with unusual plot. It banks a bit too hard on its own unusual approach, that gives it a bit of a thin feel. But other than that it's a visually entertaining and amusing film. Cerebral filmfreaks might be entertained by no matter how silly you write a plot, it will work as a film if you apply acceptable structure. In that regard, and the horror category too, it reminded me of the film Rubber, in which a car tire fulfills the role of serial killer in a deconstructed slasher film. I guess it would be a fun film for a live festival audience. I was amused but not blown away. Do I recommend this? Chances are high this is the most interesting pick of any two films you have in consideration. Do it! I need more people to see this so we can further process what we've watched together.
La tortue rouge (2016)
Trying too hard
At first glance this movie seems beautifully made and has an air of profound storytelling. However, the realistic illustration style clashes painfully with the unrealistic actions of the lonely survivor. Why doesn't he build a shelter in the some 15+ years that pass? Why do they keep sleeping in uncomfortable places? Do the character's really never speak to one another in all this time? How annoying. One may say that this is not what the movie is about. But then I'll have to ask why is it in the movie if it's not relevant?
Somehow the film's reality allows for giant red turtles revealing full grown women from their insides but it can't imagine past mundane classic gender roles. Raising a child on a desert island must be so boring they decided to fast forward most of this part only to slow down for the son to leave the island effortlessly. All these things that happen on screen torture any kind of logical sense I tried to make of this. And the movie tries very hard to be more than this, to be some spiritual beacon, some higher message about holding on and letting go, about acceptance perhaps. It made me feel like I was watching some incel's romantic fantasy. Cheesy, gender role defining, unrealistic and mostly pointless. It annoyed me, but as always I'm also glad I watched it.
Foeksia de miniheks (2010)
Dutch Imagination
With a movie like a schoolmusical with special effects, the Dutch pretend themselves in Hollywood. Hard to understand voices, chaotic choreography, a lot of tell with no show, cuts to avoid complex effects, and toecurling moments of group acting, this looks mostly like a 1960's Mosfilm fantasy production.
The kids (and fans) had fun, and we had a laugh as well but it was also a bit painful.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Average score for a dazzling ride
First things first I was entertained as long as the film rolled. In the end though it feels like I watched a too pieced-together story unfold. Like an M-Shimalaya-what's-his-name-Triple-Bunny-From-The-Hat kinda trick but without the weaving of fragments and flashbacks. I loved the nauseous atmosphere coming from the lineair timeline, camerawork, score and acting performances but in the end it doesn't bring anything home other than great quality of production of a story. It's nervously tense and a bit noir gritty especially towards the end, it looks great, it rolls reasonable fast. But it's like reading a book that some uninspired person talked you into and the book is just a story about characters having all kinds of drama together, The end. I think I had a similar feeling after 21 grams and Babel. It tries so hard to be a perfect execution of a dramatic story, that the storytelling becomes the most important part, bigger than the story itself. I get annoyed by those kind of films. I mean, you either make a movie out of love for a great story or you experiment and an artistic expression starts telling a story, all acceptable. This here though is like writing a magic trick. The story is just there to male the writing 'work'. Like cards are necessary to build a house of cards. It's close to being a narcissist exhibition of excellence and has no respect for it's subjects, just for it's creators. But then again, it's only a movie, and it was fun to watch.
Dirkie (1969)
First time at 40 y: still a lot of impact
Skimming through the reviews here I am amazed how many people saw this at young age and how it affected them. I just watched it for the first time, being 40 years old, and can only imagine. For such an old film it was really well made and the story is vivid, charming and gripping. I loved all the subliminal 'hippie' life lessons about respect for life and alternatives to the western ways. Truly a great film, can't believe this has not been getting more attention.
Mister Lonely (2007)
American Eurodrama
I see Fellini influences. American Euro Arthouse. Loaded with icons. Fun to watch. Good performances. I liked it.
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
Cliches reanimated
The plot is undead in this one. Everything reeks of dead genre. Jim killed zombie comedy but the dead don't die.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
After sunset, before sunrise
A slow paced and lush shot vignette about two lovers left alive in a dystopian reality. Depression and breezy romance float on a psychedelic droning soundtrack. Lovely performances.