Monday, November 27, 2017
La Grande Bouffe, 1973 - ★★★½
I'm not sure if a movie about people trying to eat so much that they'll die should make someone hungry, but I felt hungry all throughout. So much awesome looking food.
Daybreakers, 2009 - ★★★½
After already watching Predestination and Jigsaw, I saw that another Spierig Brothers movie was on mubi, so I checked it out.
Daybreakers is a new twist on the vampire movie genre. In a bit of a twist vampires took over the world and are now the dominant species. They are still normal and basically human (other than the sun avoiding and the blood drinking), as long as they get their dosage of human blood. Sadly, humans are slowly going extinct...
I really enjoyed this take on the story, it was something fresh, while still staying familiar with the classic vampire mythos.
The acting was well done and I really enjoyed the ideas they brought to it.
It also manages to stay a horror movie, even while adding action elements. There are similarities to I am Legend, but that movie failed to stay a horror movie and became just action.
There are some flaws in the movie, also I'm not fully sure how I feel about the ending of the movie.
But all in all it's an enjoyable time and I'd say if you like horror movies and a fun time, check this out. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
Dementia, 1955 - ★★★★½
Watched the version without narration.
This movie blew me away. I expected a movie with no dialogue, old and in black and white to not catch me, because usually those are still too artsy for me.
But this one actually managed to get me. I was glued to the screen, couldn't stop watching.
Everything was beautiful. From the opening scene of her in bed, light flashing in from the outside. This is how you shoot black and white.
I'm pretty sure David Lynch watched this movie at least a few times. It really felt like watching a dream... or maybe a nightmare. That's usually a thing only Lynch accomplishes.
I loved this movie, I'm rating it 4.5 out of 5 stars and a like. Check it out.
Chillerama, 2011 - ★★★½
This movie is just fun and enjoyment.
Yeah, it's not great. It's not that well shot. The acting is cheesy at best. Then again, that's the point. It's all about classic B-Movie fun.
Each of the stories is enjoyable as hell. Also the gore is really on point, fitting with the entire movie.
I just enjoyed each second I spent watching this movie. You can see that the directors all love making movies and all also love watching horror movies. And so I couldn't not enjoy it.
When Cecil, the theatre owner starts just saying every one liner there is I couldn't stop laughing and loving this movie.
I'm rating Chillerama 3.5 out of 5 stars and a like. It's not for everyone, but if you like fucked-up B-movies, this will be your kind of deal.
Friday, November 17, 2017
The Hills Have Eyes, 2006 - ★★★★
I actually really enjoyed this movie, even on second watching. It manages to be creepy even at daytime and is shocking but not too over the top.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok, 2017 - ★★★★
You could really feel the influences recent comic book movies had on Thor: Ragnarok. And if you ask me it was for the better.
The Thor movies were never my favourite Marvel movies. I actually kept postponing watching them because nothing really drew me to them. But at least the third (and final?) movie in the franchise got me excited about our favourite God-hero.
This movie was clearly influenced by Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool, while also taking parts from Star Wars, but in the end still actually making a fun movie.
Through all the studio interference you can still see Taika Waititi shine through by his casting choices and just his stile of humor.
I'm still on the fence about the "new" Hulk. They made changes about the character that I'm not sure I like, but in the end I'm glad to see him back on screen.
It's not a perfect movie, it's not the best Marvel movie, but it's fun and entertaining as hell. It's worth a watch for sure. I'm rating it 4 out of 5 stars and a like.
Monday, November 13, 2017
Devilman, 2004 - ★★★
To be honest this was way better than I expected.
Sure the plot is pretty weird and I sometimes didn't fully know what's going on, but mostly it's just people being turned into demons and killing each other.
It's not high-brow arthouse cinema. It's a fun action flick based on an anime.
The CGI in this movie had its charme. It wasn't great, but in their final form they all looked like Tekken characters which I enjoyed more than I'd like to admit.
I love that this movie starts out very personal and just about a few guys in school, but over the movies runtime actually turns into the world in danger, but it all feels like a natural progression.
It is a little boring at times and maybe a bit too long, but I still enjoyed it enough.
I'm rating Devilman 3 out of 5 stars. Check it out if you want to see something weird.
The Meaning of Life, 1983 - ★★★½
I just wanna say that there is an audio commentary track on my DVD of this movie called "soundtrack for the lonely" and it's just someone else watching the movie, laughing at the jokes, having a phone conversation at one point and much more. I just watched that version for a little bit but it almost got me to watch the whole movie again after just watching it.
The Indian in the Cupboard, 1995 - ★★★★
To be honest, I did expect this movie to be a fun childhood memory that probably won't hold up. And when I saw the beginning I felt I was right... remember the 90s, when a kid was happy to get a cupboard for his birthday?
But after the opening this movie got really good. A boy gets a magical cupboard that turns plastic figures to life (and back if he wants). So soon enough he befriends his little native american.
And damn is this movie cute. I was just happy watching it. But it's also sad in parts, but never too sad to handle.
The special effects were done really well, I expected them to look really outdated and to not really work at all, but it all looked real enough to forgive the few scenes where you could see that it was CGI.
It's just a greatly enjoyable movie with a moral lesson and it's fulfilling the wish of every little kid (and some adult kids as well), to just bring your favourite action figure to life.
4/5 stars, everyone who was a child should see this or should have seen it already!
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Sunday, November 5, 2017
The Forest, 2016 - ★★½
There's really two sides to this movie for me.
I really liked the idea, the movie set in these suicide woods. And Nathalie Dormer is great in it.
It also managed to set a right tone, get me into the right mood. It is scary at times.
But also they took this interesting story with a great tone and decided to make it one of the most mediocre movies ever. There are so many ways they could have gone with this movie but I feel like this is the safest, most boring way they could have gone.
This movie could have done completely without annoying jumpscares. It doesn't have lots of them, but they all feel just out of place, just pushed in to get more of a reaction?
And the ending was one you could see coming from miles away. I expected this ending the minute she decided to go find her sister in the woods. While watching I got ideas for at least 5 different endings that would have all blown my mind. Yet they decided to go with the most normal one.
All that hate aside, it is still a fun movie for the most part. Like I said it actually manages to be kinda scary. So it's not all bad.
I'm rating The Forest 2.5 out of 5 stars, it's really right there in the middle and I'll probably forget about it sooner or later (probably sooner).
The Screaming Skull, 1958 - ★★½
I just want someone to watch this and die of fright and then call the studio because they said they'll pay the funeral...
But yeah, that movie was not as scary as marketed. Kinda fun, but nothing special.
Kill List, 2011 - ★★★★½
I still don't fully know what happened, but I love it.
It felt very much like The Wicker Man (the original, not that remake). It's just eerie and you don't really understand what is happening, but you're sure it must have some reason.
I loved the characters and the acting.
I really can't say much more about it, it's still messing with my head a few days later. After a rewatch this might become a 5 star movie for me, but for now I'll stick with 4 1/2 out of 5.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Trick 'r Treat, 2007 - ★★★★½
Let's be real, this is just really a fun Halloween movie. I'm planning on watching it every year on Halloween because it really is perfect for that.
Because the stories are all interwoven, all going on at the same time, there isn't really one that's sticking out as boring. It's just a great time with many fun twists.
I'm sticking to what I've rated it last time and am rating it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Jigsaw, 2017 - ★★★
I watched Saw, I watched Saw II and just the day before this I watched Saw III. I wanted to watch all of them in advance but fuck it, I'll just jump right at Jigsaw. And hey, at least I watched the directors previous movie, Predestination in preparation!
Jigsaw is your typical Saw movie. So once again turn off your head and enjoy the show...
But something felt off. Maybe it's just because it's now 2017 and the dark post-matrix style of shooting a movie is gone. Or because this is a different team of directors than before. Anyway, it's much brighter.
You can go into this movie not knowing anything about the saw movies. I've seen most of them but only really remember the first 3 because I just watched them again. And I really feel not even those are needed, although it might help you guess the ending, especially once you've seen Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer, have brain surgery and his throat sawed open at the end of 3.
So yeah, just like with Predestination I managed to guess the ending.
Also I felt the traps weren't as much fun as with the previous movies, and even though it all makes sense in context, I'm coming for the exciting traps, so this was a bit of a letdown.
The gore we got was still pretty cool though.
I read some comment on reddit saying that even people who don't like the Saw franchise can enjoy this movie. And I think they have a point there. It's much more of a crime procedural, trying to find a killer, and far less about brutal traps and gore.
My problem is that I actually like the Saw movies and went into it expecting a Saw movie.
In the end it's not a bad movie, just not what I wanted. I'm rating it 3 stars, so just the same level as Saw 3, but without the added weight of a like. Take that, John Kramer!
Saw III, 2006 - ★★★½
I don't know, what can I say? I actually enjoy these movies just for what they are.
Saw III is not a great movie. Most people would probably not even call it a good movie. But I enjoy it for this one quality of just letting me turn off my brain and just watch a movie for fun.
Also this is still in that original trilogy where everything still fit together and kinda made sense, even though it is kinda ridiculous that Amanda didn't know much about the people she captured.
Still to me it was an enjoyable ride with well done gore and some pretty cool traps. I'm rating it 3.5 out of 5 stars which seems surprisingly high, but that's just my feeling at this moment, so deal with it!
Predestination, 2014 - ★★★★
Best watch this without knowing anything. I only knew a few things and I think even those ruined the reveals for me. Or maybe this movie is just easy to guess because I guessed it almost right away.
Predestination is much fun for sure. I enjoyed seeing the story unravel. Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook are great in their parts, Snook probably even more than Hawk (just because of what she had to pull off here).
It's shot very well and the story, which I don't want to get into, is really well done, it all makes sense. Only problem is that it is predictable, but that doesn't minder the movies enjoyability. I had a lot of fun and could not stop watching. 4 out of 5 stars and a like, check it out!
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King, 2014 - ★★★½
Many people hated what they did with the Mandarin. I didn't know about him so I didn't care.
I liked this one shot. I wonder if it's just a one off or if this is actually meant to further the plot, because we have not heard of the real Mandarin since...
Tales of Halloween, 2015 - ★★★
This was my first movie on the German version of Shudder. Sadly so far they only offer German dubs, so that was not that great.
It's an enjoyable movie. Lots of really short stories by lots of different directors.
I watched this a few days ago and to be honest I already forgot most of the things going on. It's fun, it's enjoyable, but it's nothing great or perfect.
If you need a movie to watch with your friends on Halloween night and you've already watched Trick'R'Treat then I'd say sure, pop this in. It's a fun time while watching, with lots of gore and a few good scares. But don't expect to have a thoughtful discussion about it later.
I enjoyed it, but because I already forgot most about it I'll have to rate it 3 out of 5 stars. It's worth a watch for sure.