Recently had my first outing with My Bloody Valentine 1981 this past Valentines Day fittingly.
Canadian Horror has been something of a mixed bag for me since it over saturated the Slasher sub genre back in the 80’s by putting horror with holidays of sorts after the success of Halloween.
Unfortunately what I didn’t know when going in to this was the two versions that exist that being the Uncut Version and the Theatrical release. To provide context the film basically got a lot of cuts due to the MPAA hammering down on violence in cinema after the release of Friday The 13th, so throughout the film during any kills it cuts away to after the deed or to a completely different film which is noticeable if you have the foresight that being the Uncut Version.
With that being said despite the issues that the theatrical cut has I enjoyed the film for what it was with characters that feel real outside of the female lead and the love triangle associated with her where no chemistry existed between the two men and her. As for everyone else thought it does.
The ending was for me chilling since it ends rather bleak with the Killer disappearing and vowing to return, as his manic screams lead into the credits with a ballad made specifically for the film by the person who composed its score.
I recommend this to people who have a interest in horror since it’s honestly one of those films not a lot of people talk about during a period dominated by Slasher Icons.
The King’s Man was a very entertaining (and educational-ish?) action-espionage film.
I’ve only ever seen the first Kingsman film, but the idea of throwing it into the era of the First World War was a really nice choice. Letting it use its eye-catching choreography in a whole new setting, while pulling from other genres.
Ralph Fiennes plays Orlando, a British duke of Oxford who must try to end World War 1, after a secret cabal of assassins and spies threaten to ensure Britain’s defeat. He is helped by his genius servants Shola (Djimon Hounsou) and Polly (Gemma Arterton), as well as being forced to protect his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) from wanting to enter the war.
The film uses a fictional interpretation of history, weaving real events into its admittedly very silly action-movie script. (The evil moustache-twirling antagonist is only ever seen from behind for 80% of the film. They really dont want you to know who plays him.)
I honestly got a bit of a fun history lesson from watching this (as i looked up Wikipedia articles on my phone.)
Important WWI characrers in the film often die in the same manner they did in real life, but just fit to what’s in this story instead.
It's pretty interesting how they inserted real elements into it
The way Franz Ferdinand dies is mostly accurate, with a failed grenade bombing and the group passing by the actual assassin later in a café. I never knew that. (I also didn’t really enjoy History class in High School )
One stand-out moment is in a subplot in the film, which has such a dark and jaw-dropping moment, but still fits the World War 1 themes it tries to cling onto. It was really shocking and depressing for this kind of film.
Overall, I really enjoyed it and if you’ve even slightly liked any of the two Kingsman films before, and want a stylish action movie, this is a pretty good one! 8/10.
Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Han Ye-ri), two immigrant Korean parents, move their family from the big city to rural Arkansas so Jacob can build a farm.
But it’s hard work for everyone to acclimate, especially when the grandmother (Youn Yuh-jung) moves in too.
A very pretty, moving drama film that has a really engaging Korean script, with few lines in English. Cool to see Steven Yeun flex his fluent Korean roots, too, since he’s pretty well-known as an American actor.
I’ve heard of a Korean film he’s been in that’s gotten good reviews called Burning, so I want to track that down too.
RIP male chicks by the way. If you know, you know.
Watched Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. Filmmaker Bob Weide was given authorization to make a Vonnegut documentary in 1982. A friendship developed between the two men and he spent forty years trying to figure out how to put the movie together. The result is a fairly standard biography with a nice Vonnegut-style meta-ness to it.
Most of the ground it covers is probably pretty well known by the people (like me) who would be drawn to a Vonnegut documentary, but it’s cool to see some old home movies of his sister Alice and the bombing of Dresden is always heartbreaking.
The film itself is not anything revolutionary, but it’s well made and entertaining and spending two hours with Kurt Vonnegut is never a waste of time.
Nah seriously in complete defiance of everything Kurt stood for you can see the doco on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and other streaming services according to a quick search.
Can confirm that The Batman is pretty ace. Presumably @Norseman dropped a mark off his score for featuring Ave Maria as a recurring musical motif, reminding him of Blood Money and slightly spoiling his experience.
Saw The Batman yesterday and thought it was really good. It’s beautifully shot, and presents a full detective/noir story for Batman to be a part of, which thought was excellent. The Bat has done detective work in previous films as well, but never to this extent.
It also has some really cool performances. Paul Dano’s Riddler is really something else. His performance is creepy as fuck. Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as the Penguin, and Zoe Kravitz pulls off a really good femme fatale.
I did have problems with it though. For one, I feel like there was too little of Bruce Wayne and what we got was just… I guess an emo interpretation? No real Bruce Wayne public persona, which is one of the things I always enjoy about Batman. I guess they might go for that in the sequel, but I wasn’t watching the sequel, so…
While Robert Pattinson wasn’t bad, I can’t really say I thought his performance was all that strong. Zoe Kravitz was giving it her all, but he couldn’t manage to make me feel any chemistry between Batman and Catwoman.
I didn’t really like the score by Michael Giacchino… I mean, it was OK, but it just felt a bit lazy.
The action was OK as well, but I was really looking forward to the car chase. I’d heard people saying it was really good, and all I saw was an almost pitch black screen with some car headlights and closeups of tires and stuff. No wide shots to establish space, or what the fuck was going on. And at one point the penguin fires his uzi (or whatever) right into the screen. I thought I was gonna have an epileptic fit.
Fights were slightly better than the Nolan Bat-trilogy, but that’s not saying a lot. They’re not bad, but they’re no Snyder fight scenes. They serve their purpose, and luckily that’s enough, as the action isn’t what carries this movie.
Definitely one of my favorite Bat-films. Don’t know where it fits for me though. I’ll have to wait and digest it all for a while.
I wholeheartedly agree. But I think, as Battinson develops, we’ll see more Bruce Wayne as well as upgrades to the suit, gadgets, batmocar, etc. There were a few amateurish moments like when he crashed his wingsuit thing- it just goes to show how early on this version is. As for the chase, it was pretty weird, I’ll admit, especially the end when it goes upside down, then normal but penguins upside down, then upside down everything. Not confusing but just weird.
I have a feeling I’m gonna have a love hate relationship with this film. After spending almost 3 hours sitting in a theater chair I have some gripes with it. I can’t say it’s a great movie, but it’s good.
It’s a well shot film with a grandiose score which works well since this is basically a refreshing direction in the Super Hero genre which is arguably over saturated after the various successes of Marvel and the numerous iterations and reboots from DC.
My main complaint comes with Robert Pattinson when he isn’t in the suit since it’s a departure from the Playboy personality that is apart of Bruce as a public figure. Instead he is more reserved and closed off making the lines between Batman and Bruce Wayne basically non existent since they for the most part act the same around scenes with exposition.
Lastly, I think the film could of done without the setup for The Joker it just feels tact on in order to set up a sequel just this time instead of the Joker Card like in Batman Begins it is Riddler and Joker having a little conversation.
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