Trakt for iOS
Works on iPhone and iPad.
Only finished season 1 so far.
It's like if Euphoria and Gossip Girl combined into some ultra toxic world with unrealistic teenaged activities.
Every person except one in this series are drinking, doing drugs, have tattoos and have absentee parents lol.
Heartbreak High is a teen drama set in NSW circling around Amerie and her classmates and the horror that occurs between them when they return from school break and Harper and Amerie's Incest Map is discovered in an abandoned stairwell. Amerie takes the fall, becomes vilified by all her classmates and makes new friends in the queer weirdos Darren and Quinni.
I loved the character development of all the side characters, but the main characters are all so incredibly toxic and unlikeable. The lack of communication kills me. There's so much sex-based drama that it's quite offputting, no one is just genuinely nice except for Quinni.
There are so many awful moments of the characters just unable to be open about perspectives of other people - which really adds to the teen-ness of it - but I struggle to buy they're all in grade 12 with all the drinking, drug use, tattoos and whatever else. The music is really on-the-nose - about as subtle as a tank driving over you. But the acting is really great. I think my favourite characters are Quinni, Malakai and Cash.
However, I am particularly wounded by the relationship between Cash and Darren insofar that the show does that thing that every single queer teen series does where: the ace person is forced into a relationship OR their identity is not discussed like other queer identities. Darren even asks what the fuck is wrong with Cash that he doesn't want to have sex with him. It's honestly frustrating and maddening that shows do this to every ace character. That not one person can go, "hey I think you're still figuring yourself out but maybe you're ace?" or if we're not labelling it, maybe we can not ask what's wrong with someone? Kind of fucked up IMO. We celebrate queer identities, but only the ones that fuck, amirite?
I also really cringed and felt so awful seeing the dynamic between Sasha and Quinni. It was so many of the conversations I've had with people about autism and how much effort autistic people have to put in to meet the standards of communication that neurotypical people have. Her depiction was just so honest and real. (If you want more neurodiverse rep, try Atypical.)
The central drama between Harper and Amerie kept me going and I really love some of the side characters, but honestly, I'm a little disappointed in some of the topics. I think it's worth watching, it's got a lot going for it, but I think I'm watching it because I dislike so much of it.
Late Night with the Devil is a horror movie presented in the format of a 70s talk show - think in the same vein as Deadstream, or those webcam horror movies that popped off in the earlier 2010s.
This movie did receive a lot of flak for using AI art for the "Be right back" screen transitions - it would've cost them nothing to hire an artist especially since this movie had a real budget and not a shoestring. I still really enjoyed the film but think that was a terrible, stupid choice. The movie was shot in partnership with Australian cinema company VicScreen and a million others - the opening credits went on for like 10 minutes I swear.
Jack Delaney is a talk-show host who is trying to get good ratings for his show but he keeps falling behind other shows in the same era and ends up selling out and going down the Dr Phil / Eric Andre route where he starts doing steadily more unhinged things before finally, on Halloween, he sets up a spook-tacular episode featuring:
* Christou, a so-called spirit-communicator,
* Carmichael Haig, former illusionist and now-sceptic
* Dr June Ross-Mitchell, a parapsychologist
* And Dr June's subject, Lilly, a girl who was raised in a satanic cult around a demon named Abraxis
The pacing of this movie definitely, I felt, was a bit slow especially towards the middle and I felt like impatient for it to move on to the real meat of the story. I did like the story threads coming together, things popping up left and right with no way of it really being addressed. The spliced footage of backstage-tv production really helped to build the atmosphere and show how tense things were getting for the crew with this being their deciding show. I loved the practical effects and the final build-up in the climax was just intensely terrifying and fun to watch.
The musical snippets when returning to the show, pokey humour and very 70s vibe were fun but there wasn't much else to the show. The scenes where Jack cried were also pretty wooden. Still. Great film. Worth a watch.
I always love seeing Australian cinema out there. And movies about demons...spirits etc. They're something I'm especially keen on.
Talk to Me is about Mia, a girl grieving her mother's sudden death two years prior. She is introduced to this unbelievable game that her classmates play where they set a ceramic hand on the table, grasp it and say "talk to me", leading something out there to come to the other side.
This movie doesn't shy away from gore, and it's especially impactful as the characters are teenagers. The tension builds in each scene, almost explosively delivered in horrifying outcomes (especially given the sound mixing and how freaking loud it is). There's not really noticeable music in this film, just the regular bush doof pumping beats but nothing I really enjoyed and it still keeps its jump scares kind of obvious with the sound cues.
The story unravels with really great pacing but I found Mia's character development to be a little weak. I can justify it by seeing her as just a teenager out there, lost and alone. She's an outcast because her family changed, no one can relate to her and she's sad and a downer. She's still grieving her mother and the movie's core concept puts her back at the start of her grief journey. She's drawn in by having a connection to someone, by feeling like she's part of a group...which leads her to make poor choices. I did feel like we needed more growth to come through - she has a found family who love her and care for her but she still almost falls to the words of her spirit mum, she's not able to see what's really surrounding her...and that didn't make that much sense to me. It's obvious she cherishes Riley and Jade, and feels loved by them. so I needed more convincing to believe that the script choices were ones she would make.
I did wonder if her wearing yellow in every scene was just style choices or a symbol of her place in her grief journey and joy...but I'm not sure.
I did really enjoy the ending sequences of the film and how it tied back to its lore. It's a solid film and worth the watch.
I have a long list of movies to get through. This was on the list.
Rent-A-Pal is actually not terrible, but it requires some suspension of disbelief. In the 90s, David, a bachelor living in the basement of his parents' old home, has had to put his life on hold to take care of his mother, who has dementia. David is using a dating service through video tapes where one records a brief description of themselves and it gets distributed to people with similar interests. David has had no luck and on his latest trip to the video store, he finds a tape called Rent-A-Pal, a sort of interactive tape where Andy, the man in the video, prompts the watcher to respond in open spaces and then develop a friendship with them. But not all is right with the tape, as things seem to change in the video and Andy becomes more unhinged.
I did enjoy this film for what it was; a mostly single-setting sort of supernatural horror about loneliness, having to put everything aside to care for someone who needs it - while you know it's a noble thing to do and someone has to do it, simultaneously you also hate being unable to live. I thought the movie had really good pacing, things seem to change and happen in ways that are unnoticable to David but really obvious to the viewer, where David is so drawn in to having one single friend (through Andy) that he seems to ignore things that don't make sense - that's why I think it needs a little suspension of disbelief.
The movie was actually just really very long, and even though I said it was well-paced some things probably didn't need to be in it, like David falling asleep to one of his dad's old film reels, which is just a sex tape of his mum and dad? or I guess maybe a random woman on the road that his dad met? I didn't think David needed to be turned into a creep. He was just a lonely guy looking for love that happened to live in his mum's basement.
Worth a watch.
I knew I had to see this. I knew I would like it, but what I didn't know was how much I would like it. This movie is funny, yes, but it's beautiful and touching as it tells teh story of Evelyn Wang, an immigrant to America with her goofy husband, Waymond. They own a laundromat that is chaotic at best. With the IRS auditing them the same day as a party they've planned takes place, Evelyn is breaking at the seams under the pressure of keeping everything going. When she goes to the IRS building with her family to submit the receipts (minus her queer daughter, Joy, who stormed off after her mum refused to answer about inviting her girlfirend Becky to the party and also introduced her as a "good friend"), her husband suddenly tells her to follow some instructions he scribbles down on a piece of paper.
From there the movie just goes haywire as Evelyn learns the plot at the same pace we do. There are amazing visual effects, it's so much fun, exciting and moving at the same time. I cried so much. The thoughtful development of the relationships between the characters and what's at stake if they fail...
What it really comes down to is Joy's trauma from her mother has led her to seek out another version of her mother from another multiverse. However, she realises that everyone is the same. Every single version of her has suffered the same trauma and treatment and she just wants existence to end. Ultimately, I know personally, that trauma cannot be solved with just one conversation and we expect to be cool about it - that part of the story while unravelled across the entire film is solved relatively quickly when it comes down to it. I did like seeing the way that Evelyn endeavours to change her behaviour.
A great film that everyone should see. See it early, it's 2 hours long.
Wow, such an unexpected cinema release!
Sing a Bit of Harmony is a bit cute, a bit funny and kind of a bit more insane than I expected. Satomi is a high schooler, an honour student and also nicknamed Princess Tattletale by everyone in the school because of something she did in the past. She doesn't seem to have any friends. She checks her mum's schedule for the next day and notices that there's an AI Test coming up and it shows a photo of a human-like robot in the calendar. When the same robot shows up the next day at school, she realises that her mum's experiment involves her and her mum's job could be on the line if it fails.
As always with new anime productions, the visual style and animation quality is absolutely top notch. I loved the backgrounds, the character designs (simple, realistic, even a little goofy - specifically how Toma has big, paranoid eyes and he isn't a typical "cute guy" in an anime), the attention to detail (background characters doing things when other characters are in dialogue) and the other visual effects utilised (like fireworks, for example). It was engaging, bright, colourful and enticing! I also felt like each character fit obviously into their archetype - Aya the popular girl, Goto as the school hunk, Toma as the computer nerd, Thunder as the jock/wrestler and Satomi, honor student and loner. I also liked the designs of the adults - you could see how Satomi and her mum were clearly related - and how the bad guy in Hoshima was clearly the bad guy (narrow eyes, sly voice).
The voice acting was pretty good and I really liked the vocal quality - the singing is so clear and rich; it really came through well in the cinema experience. The songs were decent, though a bit corny and shallow, as expected given the plot and background of the character, and a couple of the non-vocal tracks did definitely feel like they belonged in a Final Fantasy game. I would probably never Spotify any of them but they were fitting.
The story itself was decent. I could never have expected it from the poster - and I really felt quite emotional in some parts of it. I do have a few criticisms though - without Shion, would any of the characters been able to achieve anything? I understand she is the protagonist, but really she is basically a deus ex machina to facilitate communication. In the most glaringly terrible use of this, she literally sings a song about the rainy sky and hope that the two people will hold hands and shelter under an umbrella until the sky is clear again - and this somehow leads to Aya and Goto making up with minimal dialogue. These developmental scenes between the two are also only shown twice in flashbacks - given that they're such minor characters, it may have been unnecessary to do that at all and just have it be part of the natural dialogue seeing as Aya's friends constantly pine over Goto and tak about how amazing he is.
Despite that, I really do think that Goto himself was a really well-developed side character, over Aya and Thunder (who seemed amost completely 1-note the entire film). I really liked the growth of the characters Satomi and Toma and the history of their friendship. It's tough to balance so many main characters, but the movie really did its best.
Worth a watch, such a charming film!
This movie was...really a let down. There were just lots of atmospheric shots and not a whole lot else. I loved the practical effects though, they were definitely disturbing. The movie needed 1 million times more backstory and development and also some more exploration of myth.
Antlers is a horror movie set in a small town following a teacher who finds disturbing drawings in her student's desk and the student who is trying to survive and protect his family. It happens that there is a monster in the town and his dad, who is a drug addict and single parent, runs into the monster at the start of the movie and things start to change with him from there.
The movie tries to drop hints that the teacher has a tragic backstory as well and to use that to entice the student to trust her to support him. Unfortunately, we are given perhaps exactly 3 flashbacks for the teacher and one additional scene where she and her brother argue briefly about their childhood. There's no depth given to this at all. There's also very little depth given to the actual myth of the monster. Spoilers ahead - the first lines in the movie are a native american myth or something which gives away that the movie is about the Wendigo. The retired cop actually brings this up immediately and shows them a book about the Wendigo myth and they decide alright this is the monster...practically instantly because all signs point to yes. Except the brother has to doubt it...of course. There were too few exploratory scenes behind the monster myth as well - this was quite a low-hanging fruit when it comes to Native American mythology - it was like seeing a movie version of Until Dawn, which did explore the Wendigo myth well IMO.
The movie, despite being so atmosphering and spooky, doesnt seem to utilise its artistic shots very well, a few times the filming and effecst really bring the movie down, especially in tense combat scenes where you can't tell what's even going on. I found myself rolling my eyes at the typical stupid cop stereotype that pervades the horror genre. Plus some events in the movie don't seem to make sense to me at the end. Like, for example how did both the brother and son get infected with the wendigo spirit if the protective charms are there and have held it in the cave for decades? and where did the original wendigo go after they killed the drug addict and possessed the dad? there were definitely more than 1 wendigo, why would they need to leave their body and possess a new human?
It...could be worth just watching the film but it wasn't amazing.
"WE HAVE TO CUT OUT THE CANCER."
Hear me out...this movie is actually really good. Yes, it's CAMPY and some parts are stupid, suspend your disbelief, but the jump scares are legit, the scenes are tense, the effects are really good, the music is great and the cinematography, just wow.
Madison is pregnant, living with her husband, who we quickly find out is abusive, so in a moment of calm as he goes downstairs, she locks the door and stays in their room for the night. Unfortunately, an entity is in the house with them and it brutally murders her husband and then attacks her, killing her baby. The crime is reported to police, but shortly after Madison starts seeing deaths as they are happening. the police think she's crazy, but they can't deny it when they find the first murder victim.
This was such an unexpected film for 2021. I expected it to be another generic demonic possession or supernatural film but really, the story was so good. There are some really creative filming techniques. The acting in parts is really good, other parts its a bit shit - very much Youtube horror movie vibes. But the dialogue in the tense scenes was so believable, my favourites being the scene where the detective sees the killer scaling down the fire escape and chases after them and the scene in the holding cell where Madison opens her own skull up. I think my enjoyment of this film was boosted by the good viewing experience (10 people in the cinema, about 5 of them left before the movie even started and never came back).
There were some missed opportunities, I think, especially in the scene where the old man is lying down for bed and the red light can be seen under the bed - if the blood had flown out over the edge of the bed or through the mattress that would have been such a great shot. Plus, there were a few logical leaps that don't exactly make sense given the outcome of the story - this being why did the sofa seat have an indentation at the start when the monster is not invisible? Why are none of the psychic powers/experiments really explained? How come Madison can manipulate electricity? Where are the other people who were interred at that facility? And why can Sidney just enter the old facility - it's not patrolled by guards?
The characters are so charming and have quite well-developed through the course of the movie. I actually loved Sidney so much, she was so caring and real. I thought Kakoa was so badass (and also kind of hot?) and the dynamic with Regina felt like a deliberate play on good/bad cop/tired detective over this shit.
The music in this film is particularly noteworthy and atmospheric. It's overall such a great soundtrack. I'm so glad I saw this, do not miss it. Go in expect it to be kind of poor but please be wowed.
Content warnings for: suicidal ideation, physical abuse, suicide attempts (on screen), violence, death and dead bodies (on screen).
I have complex feelings about this movie. I watched this as part of the 12th Korean film festival in Australia.
Sunggil is a funeral director working in his own failing business. One day he is approached by the owner of the local branch of Happy Endings funeral services, who offers him the chance to become a franchisee. Sunggil is caring for his disabled son, Jihyuk, by himself. There are a couple of characters in this film but it is more like a moral life lesson with several unrelated but loosely connected narrative points (ultimately with no climax or resolution).
In the movie we also have Eunsook, a woman who moves in next door with her daughter Noeul. She has been served a court order to undergo rehabilitation otherwise face the removal of her daughter from her custody. At the start of the film she quits her job as a cleaner because the office men keep shitting on the floor. She overhears Sunggil berating the employment agency for their poor quality of staff in that they keep quitting as caretakers for his son and Eunsook takes the job telling him she isn't a normal caretaker and can handle it.
Mr Jang also, a minor character, runs a run-down noodle shop that feed homeless and elderly people living locally. He suffers a heart attack and dies outside the building so he becomes the city council's problem. They hire Happy Ending to bury him on the cheap, which offends the people he supported, who want to give him a funeral in the city square.
Then there are some city officials who want the city to be clean and tidy so they are nominated for a beauty pageant. "CLEAN SONGYEONG!" is their slogan.
While I ultimately see the point the film was trying to make, that we can bond with each other through shared traumatic experiences and we need to have spirit and drive to overcome it (together - loosely) I believe the film never really managed to accomplish the goal through the lack of scenes developing the characters and bonding them together.
Jihyuk is severely depressed to the point of actively being suicidal and often there are times that he is completely left alone unrestrained by Eunsook. I didn't expect to have to suspend disbelief watching a movie based in reality but here we are, watching a woman wrestle a knife from a man intent on dying or pulling on a bandage as he tries to hang himself (yes, he was able to attempt suicide twice). We learn about Eunsook's past through a couple of the scenes with Jihyuk.
In the meantime, while Sunggil is working, he faces a dilemma in giving the deceased respect but also balancing having to make money. There are some really meaningful scenes where he is told by his boss that everyone needs to work and make money to survive, where his son's health is lorded over him like blackmail to keep him in line with the company policies. I really liked seeing him try his best to support the people he works for while also maintaining his integrity and trying to please the business. It's ultimately a vicious cycle that every industry, as it grows, becomes more focused on the growth and income than providing a good service. The goal of a business is to be sustainable and grow (infinitely). We even see this start to affect him when he ends up partially going through with Happy Ending's directive. He still tries to give some support to the homeless people.
While I do like the outcome of Sunggil's story, I wish there had been some more development around his failing business and whether he had a good reputation prior to be taken over by Happy Ending. We do not learn his backstory until one of the final scenes of the film, which is also included with one of two(!) scenes that develop his son's backstory too. - This particularly bothered me because we couldn't really be sure who was the main character. We see one photo of Jihyuk standing in a photo with his dad and one almost meaningless scene of Sunggil meeting one of Jihyuk's old friends who is doing placement as a medical doctor. He implies Jihyuk was injured in an accident overseas which his dad told him to not go on.
I really struggled with some aspects of the film especially the scenes around trauma and mental health. In a movie that is supposed to be realistic we are shown the extreme versions of people in society. The good characters are supposedly infinitely good while the bad are infinitely bad. Here I mean specifically Mr Jang, who went so far as to give his organs to the homeless people (so to make you feel especially disgusted towards the council members and Happy Ending).
Something I find is that Korean filmmakers like to push the boundaries without really understanding the depth of trauma and depression (despite practically having an epidemic of depression). Here this is the scene where Eunsook discusses how she was brutally attacked with a Eunsook by her ex husband when she stood up to his abuse. She says that the sounds of life outside didnt make her more depressed but instead inspired her to live more so if she could overcome that, Jihyuk should be able to overcome his paralysis and learn to live again!
Her form of therapy is being endlessly positive and pushing Jihyuk to overcome his hurdles (despite her and the audience barely knowing him and with no backstory to describe why he feels that way - or even why his relationship with his dad is so cold - we spend most of the movie wondering why his dad won't let him go outside). It's basically the film equivalent of going "don't be sad" to someone with depression. She shoves it down his throat by talking about her dreams, singing and dancing around the apartment while he wishes to actually die until it suddenly works. There is no evidence that Jihyuk is medicated (except for his pain medication which I assume is morphine) or accessing therapy.
We are supposed to buy into it and give this movie a 10 out of 10 because it made us cry.
The final scenes of the film are such a kick in the face when Eunsook is forcibly dragged away by court marshalls for her rehabilitation and her daughter is left screaming and crying because she doesn't know why - then she has to live with her grandmother. All this happens while Sunggil is at the shops. We never see Eunsook again as the movie ends with her and Sunggil sending letters to each other.
Korean films do need to move into more sensitive spaces but with better research and considerations to real life situations.
If I do need to praise something, my favourite scenes were:
- Sunggil performing funeral rites for YangYang, the stray cat that Noeul was feeding.
- Jihyuk dragging himself to the ground to hug his dad who is having a nightmare.
- The silent scene where Sunggil cleans Mr Jang-s body, which gives us an idea of what Korean funerals look like.
Ultimately I'm satisfied with having seen this movie but I'm not sure we are in a place yet to expect quality cinema around mental health from Korea.
That was incredible. There were so many good lessons, so much growth and development. I think my favourite characters were Alucard and Isaac.
After the incredible emotional journey in season 1 and 2, I wasn't sure what they could do in season 3 and 4. I just have no idea how to express myself about this show. I'm so glad I undertook the rewatch of season 1/2 so I could have better context for the rest of the series.
There were so many simultaneous storylines that were each so equally gripping and emotional. I loved Isaac's journey. Alucard being manipulated, feeling alone and turning into his father, then meeting people again and finding value in human connection. Trevor and Sypha are literally the perfect couple - something I particularly liked was seeing then get worn down and drained to the end. Trevor's cloak even becomes more tattered. Hector never gives up his childishness and innocence really, but finds freedom in his own way.
Things just got so insane by the end I was practically screaming at my computer.
I think for me, though, I really needed that tragic ending. Sypha, Alucard and Trevor overcome things almost so spectacularly easily. Yes, I know they're incredible warriors...they're practically immortal when it comes down to it, despite being human, I think I needed Trevor to die at the end of the show - but it all worked out too nicely. Even Lisa and Vlad came back from hell after being used for the Rebus...and they were completely fine.
The magic concepts in the show were so vast and deep, so mysterious and overwhelming. I loved the sequence with Saint Germain - dude you're really going to destroy the world so you can get a li'l pussy?
I will say that.. I did feel that a few of the characters did kind of have some 2edgy4me lines like "God is standing right in front of you and soon, very very soon, he's going to have sex again", or "Why is it that only human hands can reach into hell? Don't you think that's weirdly fucked up?" - is it though? humans can decide who can go to heaven and hell through some magical god - they burned Lisa Tepes as a witch and she went to hell despite not being evil - does it matter than that humans can access hell?
Amazing show, comparably emotionally (for me) to Devilman Crybaby. Do not miss it.
"There has to be a connection!"
Not sure why I enjoy this so much. I think it's the modern equivalent of Saw with better characters and a more interesting plot.
Zoe and Ben return in the sequel to Escape Room. Zoe is too scared to fly after her mother's death in a plane crash and so she and Ben decide to drive to New York following the revelation at the end if the first movie, showing the Minos logo is a really a set of coordinates.
I really liked the puzzles, I liked the tension, the interwoven clues in the rooms were so well crafted and create something complex yet not so hard that the audience can't solve it (considering Zoe is a physics student or something, right?). The story progresses much in the same way as the previous film yet the threats are much more dangerous.
I liked the mix of characters, it's more thrilling to have a good span of backgrounds and skills. I did feel, however, that there wasn't enough time devoted to the other main characters as there were to Ben and Zoe. The movie shows their bond of friendship and the characters' growth through their circumstances. It even reinforces the traits we saw in the last film. Zoe is selfless. She always tries to save someone else and whenever they solve a puzzle she always let's the others go through first.
Ben has picked up these traits from Zoe and he works together with her to supplement her skills. They know each other so well that Ben can tell immediately when something isn't right.
Really just an amazing and believable friendship through trauma (yikes).
If I have to criticise something, it's that the puzzles do unravel much in the same way with a couple of setbacks, lots of short time deadlines and yelling. I also felt like the priest character was definitely the least developed and one-note type of character.
Given a part of the film reveals that off screen deaths are not deaths and Ben sinks into the sand as the priest does, they really dropped the ball on Nate.
I don't even care if this franchise outlived itself, I really enjoyed this one.
Leave all logic at the surface prior to entering the elevator.
Anna Ferdorova(?) is an epidemiologist working on a vaccine that goes horribly wrong and kills her colleague. After she vanishes, the Russian military find her again and ask her to investigate the disappearance of the staff working in a facility based around a drill site in the Russian wilderness.
Claustrophobic horror is one of my favourites, along with unfathomable evil; but this movie just failed to deliver. Any scientific sensibility is discarded for the purpose of having cool and badass senseless scenes. Even as a layman I can see that Anna takes risky and unsafe actions when investigating infectious and toxic microorganisms. She puts herself at risk constantly and proves to be a liability for the team. There isn't much context around the underground facility or the discovery at the bottom, very little towards the ultimate goal of the research expedition - really just one or two lines.
Even less about Anna's background and how that shaped her reactions. I almost felt like she let herself have the movie happen to her.
The group becomes stuck in the facility when Gorgiev(?), the lead scientist refuses to allow them to resurface and steals the key to the elevator after forcing the elevator to go hyperspeed which knocks everyone unconscious. There are a mix of American and vaguely European accents amongst the cast.
Also there's a really gross and forced relationship between Anna and one of the soldiers who actually shoves her into a wall while brawling with another character lmao. If anything the physical effects are very very good. The special effects are not amazing, especially the spores and the places where lots of CG is used. I felt disappointed by the poor filming and direction around the final climactic scenes.
Ultimately this movie reminds me of Underwater with Kristen Stewart and Last of Us 2 (you'll see why) but significantly worse than what a combination of this could have been.
What I wanted: An atmospheric and tense movie with good scares.
What I got: An atmospheric movie lacking tension and scares.
Ed and Lorraine Warren, real life swindlers, return in this movie about a young man who kills the manager of a local dog kennel. As he is going to be likely found guilty of murder and executed, Ed and Lorraine must prove that it was demonic possession that caused him to kill the kennel owner rather than it being of his own volition.
I did like the atmosphere a lot. It's much different seeing a high vs low budget horror movie especially one in such an established franchise. I liked some of the music, I liked the characters and the visual effects, especially in the initial scene where David is possessed by the demon. The body contortion was really cool and spooky. I liked the religious symbols and interwoven lore. I always loved demonic possession as a horror trope.
I felt like the villain of the movie was refreshing and unique. I liked the colour palette of the film as well.
Unforunately, there were quite a few things that I didn't like. Ed, in this movie, is essentially useless. He also doesn't seem to care enough about his wife's happiness to actually take care of himself and ends up in some really terrible precarious positions in the movie. The police presence in the movie is practically mitigated, furthermore, by how useless they are. The comedy and light-hearted moments are out of place in the film, as there are only 2 or 3 scenes that are supposed to be funny - and serve to develop the characters more.
None of the main characters really do anything actively except Ed and Lorraine. They let things happen to them, mostly.
The story is also very long-winded and predictable. It felt like the middle arc about the girl who killed her best friend was just to pad the movie runtime. I felt like it was an out-of-place story arc. Especially since the payoff was so little. The character reactions to tense and frightening moments was understated - like the monsters needed time to "charge up" - specifically the cadaver in the morgue scene. There were also some story elements that were inconsistent: the priest's daughter who is the satanist has an altar that is up the top of some stairs with a bannister - when they are actually there, it's on a flat platform at the end of one single hallway. The same thing, when the priest says there are old tunnels beneath his house, the altar should be somewhere in there - it's basically at the bottom of the stairs.
The story ended up being very predictable. I found the overall conclusion shallow, cliche and overdone. Enough to actually roll my eyes. Why would I care about it? Definitely the weakest in the series.
Also the police lmao. If you want them to show up somewhere quickly, it won't happen in this movie.
IMO the best movies in this entire franchise are the original Conjuring and Annabelle: Creation.
I was definitely excited for a sci-fi thriller, but this movie was so underwhelming. The visual effects also looked really bad. I thought there would be more manipulation of time, sort of in the same vein as Gravity/Interstellar(?) but I felt let down by that. This was advertised kind of as a timey-wimey scifi thriller but it's barely that.
Steve and Dennis work as EMTs in New Orleans when they attend to a series of strange calls of people catatonic, seemingly overdosing on drugs, injured in strange and horrible ways. There's a drug being distributed making waves, called Synchronic, that works by manipulating the Pineal gland in your brain. However, by adulthood the gland is no longer functional, so the drug has different effects on teenagers. As one can guess, the story is pretty obvious from here - I was actually hoping there would be more to it, but it was honestly very straightforward.
I felt like the structure of the narrative was overblown - seeing the different conversations about and between Dennis and Steve had almost nothing to do with the drug and the overarching plot. Why do we need to see different snippets of a conversation when the drug takes you to a different timeline IN THE PAST. The drug emphasises how it shows you a different time and how all time is happening all at once - but it literally sends Steve to the distant past at different times depending where he stands when he takes the drugs. None of the timelines are exactly explained. I also felt like the attempts at humour were really poor. Plus the sad moments didn't affect me either. When Steve takes his dog into the past and loses him there - we could have known that without seeing a weird flickering dog whining in the background.
The characters are so self-deprecating but it's just depressing because it plays into the dark tones of the movie. I liked the dynamic between Steve and Dennis but the side characters were not developed that much. I didn't understand the bonding scenes with Brianna or with Dennis' wife. The one scene where Dennis bonds with his daughter over her future - is that meant to explain why she turns to drugs? Anyway, I was just very disappointed by this film. It was trying to be a human and sympathetic story, but I didn't feel the emotions I would have if I had read this as a book. I would say it would be in the same camp as books like The Last Policeman, The Gone World or The Space between Worlds, but it just didn't hit me the same.
I did like the filming techniques and the colours of the different environments.
I unashamedly loved this movie. What an unexpected great horror film for 2021. The shots, maybe they're not that amazing, but everything is so clear and beautiful with incredible scenery of the Appalachian trails in the USA. And ON SCREEN deaths. WOW. Amazing deaths. Just so gory. Wow.
Jen is seeking herself and as a last hurrah before she decides what she wants to do, her boyfriend and 4 others (couple Gary(?) And Luis, and 2nd couple Adam and Mila) go to hike the Appalachian trails together. However, the group runs into trouble when Darius decides to go off the trail, ignoring warnings from locals, to end up pursued by a mysterious group of mountain dwellers.
This story does not hesitate to drag our characters down into the true depths of their psyche. Unfortunately some of the most interesting characters are thrown away within minutes of the action starting. I wish there had been more development given to the characters, especially outside of the main duo, but I still really liked where the movie went. I had so much fun watching this and learning about the mountain dwellers. I did like the diversity in the casting and the story behind the mountain dwellers.
This story could have gone down the stereotypical route its predecessor did, and I'm so glad it didnt. There were times when the film felt long and then where the action was quick and tight and we had only 30 minutes left. I liked the musical cues for the mountain people. I also loved the end credit song. I could watch this again.
I also want to note how the trap that Jen finds herself in is meant to be bad but it was totally a daddy scenario I'm just saying...
Music is a hard film to describe my feelings about. It sort of doesn't really have a good plot that you can describe straight up. If you even look at the description it starts with a story about Zu.
Millie and Music live together, with Music's routine the same every day. She is a non-verbal autistic young woman who has headphones to help with sensory processing. She goes for a walk every day outside in her neighbourhood - which I found quite unsettling as they let her go out by herself unsupervised practically, plus she doesn't have a care worker. One morning, the landlord comes to the apartment to find that Millie has died and Music is having a behaviour due to stress from a change in her routine. The movie is laced with musical numbers that are so bright and colourful and also really interesting (loved the costumes) but the lyrics are so on the nose, there is no deeper meaning. Lines such as "I hope my body listens to me today" or "Inside my head I express myself" were quite unpleasant for me to listen to, when describing a person with autism. I doubt that Sia did much research into the autism spectrum or how people with autism live.
The most jarring thing about the musical numbers is that once they end, the scene has completely changed and they represent a passage in time between two scenes! So you are dropped again into a completely different storyline. A lot of the side characters are given developmental arcs, but they are only to show how good they are, before they are cruelly deposed by the nonsensical story. I thought this movie would be about Music, but as the characters are developed, it actually turns into a love story between Zu and Ebo.
Zu's entire goal is to save money for Costa Rica and leave Music in a care facility. Her cruel and blase treatment of Music really puts Ebo off, but somehow he still seems to be falling for her. I felt disgusted by Zu and never really felt like she cared about Music. She's honestly really selfish and immature - Ebo even describes her as having dark girl vibes.
Particularly I want to mention how Music is used as a tool to prop up the neurotypical characters and improve them. Even at the end, Zu still tries to take her to care facility and then says to Ebo after crashing his brother's wedding - "I couldn't give her away!" as if she was a possession.
Somewhere on the scale from barely acceptable to disgusting.
Pretty interesting idea of a "time travel" movie. Similar vein as The Lake House but it's a thriller instead. There are a few logical flaws which have nothing to do with the time travel segment.
Seoyeon lives in an apartment alone. She hates her mum because as a child she left something cooking on the stove which led to her father dying in the subsequent fire and her leg being scarred by burns. One day she receives a mysterious call of a woman crying for help. As she receives more and more calls she learns more about the woman, Yongsook. Yongsook lives with her abusive stepmother who believes her mental illnesses are actually demonic possession. Seoyeon helps Yongsook feel like she isn't alone and fight back against her stepmother. In exchange, she goes to Seoyeon's house in 1999 and stops the housefire from killing her father. However, when Seoyeon spends all day with her parents and doesn't answer Yongsook's call, things get tense and deadly.
I liked the idea of the story and the two timelines connected. We follow one iteration of the women as the days pass. The story is very singularly focused so we don't learn a lot about the two women's histories. I think the acting was pretty good and the setting interesting and spooky. The house is in a rural village so it is very isolated. What's more is there's a strong sense of community so everyone knows everyone else. Unfortunately, the logical flaws really detracted from the movie.
When the police are investigating the crime, the notebook says that they caught the killer by having evidence handed in. However all signs point to Yongsook as the killer. Her abusive mother went missing, so did the strawberry farmer and she had strawberries in her house. In what universe would the police do nothing about the circumstancial evidence, especially if, at that time, she had her mother's chopped up body parts in the fridge? The other part is the memory thing. Seoyeon doesn't seem to realise things have changed. She only has memories from one timeline. So when her dad is back she doesnt have 20 years of memories with her dad. When she is tortured in the final timeline, she doesn't have cPTSD from being tortured and she doesn't remember her mum surviving or dying in the final confrontation. She doesn't even notice her mum disappearing in the final timeline. Another thing is, in the post-credit scene, we see Yongsook calling herself from the past and warning her. So the phone can call more than 1 iteration of itself now? How do you know? How do you choose the exact time to call? Plus, the phone could never call anyone except itself in the future. So it never calls the police or anything. I felt like these really took away from the story.
Ultimately it is still a decent movie and definitely worth a watch.
This movie just screams KyoAni.
Not 100% sure what to say about this. If you are not familiar with Violet Evergarden the anime, this movie will require a steep learning curve.
TLDR: Violet was a war orphan trained to fight against enemy soldiers. She was found abandoned on a battlefield and adopted by Gilbert Bougainvillia who showed her compassion and care. He and Violet are trapped in a bomb attack and he dies while she loses both of her arms, but he tells Violet something before he loses his life and she Carrie's that with her into her future. Violet now works as an auto memory doll, a person who writes letters from others who don't know how to express themselves.
This movie is essentially a check in on past characters from the series and the OVA from whenever. A lot of it is just feel good moments interwoven with two major plot lines:
Daisy attends her grandmother's funeral and while her neglectful parents go to work for the day, she finds a box of letters for her grandmother written by Violet on behalf of her deceased great-grandmother. Daisy becomes interested in Violet's story.
Phones have replaced letters and now the Postal company has closed. In the past we learn about why Violet left the postal company.
I felt like the little vignettes were so disconnected from the main plotline and really only served to hype up how great Violet is and how much she's grown as a person. When we check in with the past characters they've all achieved their dreams thanks to Violet and she goes on to help other characters. We meet these people in one or two scenes before they have a major emotional revelation and we are meant to empathise with them.
What really took away from these scenes is that the anime tropes were laid on so heavily. There are many scenes in this film where there is just no animation. Like still frames and single shots. It was meant to be poignant but they went on for too long. In particular when Violet remembers the day the Major died, she sits in the chair not moving for almost half a minute.
There are many many major close ups of eyes and wide shots to show the background artwork more.
With how gripping the main plotlines are I felt like these side stories were just there to pad the runtime and make the audience emotional. The movie really didn't shy away from showing graphic and traumatic content. Like dead children, or Violet's severed arms falling off. (At least those things don't move; you don't need to animate them.) Which I really appreciated, honestly. Maybe they censored the series for Netflix.
The conclusion gradually comes along and in a way I sort of didnt expect. Spoilers ahead beware.
Old mate Gilbert is alive and he is living on an island helping the locals. When he sends a letter on behalf of the children to someone but messes up the postal address, their mailing company intercepts it. Violet and the captain head to the island to meet Gilbert but he refuses. Through some very emotional scenes, Violet decides to leave but not before sending her letter to Gilbert. The letter is enough for him to change his mind so he races after Violet who is already on the ferry. She leaps off into the ocean, destroying her robotic arms and meets Gilbert on the beach. He confesses his love for her again and holds her while she cries, telling Violet he wants her by his side.
I honestly felt pretty disgusted by this revelation. I can't believe they went there and Japan's sick fascination with this never ceases to disgust me. I loved the mystery of the anime series and how much Violet grew as a person but that same draw isn't here in this movie. They just cram feel-good/feel-bad moments down your throat until they made a 2-hour long movie.
Overall this movie doesn't have any development and is based on a light novel that collects a bunch of short stories about Violet. I am disappointed it ended this way but I liked the flash forward into the future. Good for fans of the series but I think I can't stomach anime anymore.
This was actually awful. It's the drama and stress of a romantic comedy set during Christmas with the most irrational characters. It's like any other movie with a central couple but the twist is they're gay.
Pros:
- John
- Abby's hair
- The inclusion of LGBT characters.
- Not everyone is hot.
- The bonding scene between Riley and Abby at the drag bar and Riley's story about Harper.
- John's coming out story.
- Some of the jokes are actually funny.
Cons:
- Every interaction with Harper and Abby once they're in the car.
- Not a single problem is addressed until it blows up in one big fight and everyone is happy now that they've aired their dirty laundry. Jane doesn't need therapy from her parents shitting on her. Abby is okay with being called an orphan every time. Harper has self-awareness. Sloan realises that she's just a fucking bitch.
- No one apologises for the things they said in the movie. No one apologises to Abby for accusing her of theft. No one apologises to Jane for how they treated her. Harper can't be clear with Abby even when they're alone.
- Jane's one big scene where she gets upset at her painting being destroyed is ruined by it instantly turning into a joke.
- Every romantic comedy has issues stemming from a breakdown in communication. Harper and her parents. Harper and Abby. Sloan and Eric.
- Not a single person in this movie is realistic so I can't root for any of them.
Comments:
- We only see 1 happy bonding scene with the couple during the opening, then days and days go by of Harper shafting Abby and then the single moment where Abby expresses how unhappy she is, Harper calls her clingy.
- Harper's parents are horrible caricatures of rich people constantly shitting on Jane and making it obvious how Harper is the golden child.
- No one has any boundaries and it isn't funny.
Had such a great opportunity to be a unique Christmas film but then just fucked it up by being cliche and basic.
What a crazy film. It was hard watching someone you're rooting for just be stomped on over and over again. There are some really interesting elements in the film but it is definitely a bit all over the place. The movie felt like it was 2 hours long, which is something that you dont notice in some films.
The protagonist is a woman working as a companion for an old rich lady when one day the lady suggests that she be seated with Mr. De Winters, a rich widower who is holidaying in France. Protag catches his eye and they start a whirlwind romance eventually marrying to stop the lady from taking protag with her to New York. Back at the Manderley estate there are remnants of De Winters deceased wife everywhere, and now protag feels like she will never fill the shoes of the deceased wife.
This movie throws struggle after struggle at the protagonist who seems to constantly suffer at each point and breaks down in tears. She is manipulated by almost everyone around her, gaslighted, bullied and psychologically abused and through this she never seems to grow until the final arc of the movie. I admit that the unravelling of the mysteries were really good and looking back so many of the reactions of characters make sense in a different light and are much more chilling.
I liked the dynamic between the two protagonists. It sas obviously a bit strained and way too stressful. I did feel like it was all a bit over the top, but I think it was worth a watch. The music is pretty decent, maybe a bit too loud compared to the volume of the rest of the film.
I'm literally so disappointed. This movie is so whack. Even compared to the original film, which was NOT that good, and did not age well with horrible racist jokes, this movie is like 40 year old women trying to write teenagers. It's like fake woke and cringey as hell. And the pacing is so bad? We didn't have any bonding scenes until AFTER the girls had been saying their I-love-yous to each other. It was almost a direct copy of the first film's structure with none of the development. I can't even structure a coherent review for this.
Lily is a girl moving with her mum to a new city to live with her mum's new boo and his 3 sons. The first day of school, Lily has PCOS-levels of bleeding unexpectedly which embarrasses her as her male classmates harass her. She is rescued by the three girls who are always seen hanging out and they give her a pair of shorts. When she gets home she hears the screaming of a woman in distress and walks in on her middle step-brother watching violent pornography. Additonally her stepdad seems to write toxic masculinity novels about being a true man by crushing any emotional weakness.
The four witches have barely any development across the entire film and make gross out-dated references to movies that they wouldn't have even watched at their age. (Twilight.) The writer missed the memo that we're into Kpop now. How can you stan Twilight? The first magical instance they make a salt circle to keep the good magic in and anything evil outside; it is stated that this is necessary for their magic, however they never make a salt circle again - in face they barely even cast any spells. The next spell they cast is to make Tim in their image, implying that they use an old tissue ;) they find in his room. He ends up woke as fuck but like toxic woke - woke in ways that woke people don't talk. Like the writer skimmed the most toxic parts of twitter and decided to run with it. BTW one of the witches is trans, but it isn't even covered in a respectful way - like as part of developing her character - they just talk suddenly about being able to have babies and the character goes, I can't! and then says something like 'trans girls have their ways'? What the FUCK was that? That is not how you be inclusive.
Tim ends up being a really understanding and kind guy (I genuinely ended up liking him), but a weak misdirection in the plot fractures the girls' friendship. I felt like this was arguably the worst part of the movie, because there was SO much opportunity and so much evidence leading to the actual resolution of this plotline. The girls end up binding their own magic, but it can be so easily unbound what's the point in doing that? The villain doesn't really have much backstory either, to really explain why he's like that or his powers. Some cheap jump scares are used to misdirect the audience and are never ever touched on again; for example, the oldest brother's sleepwalking, Tim and the oldest brother having a sexual encounter. Why add all this information of you don't develop any of the characters that well? Additionally the volume between the normal scenes and Lily's prophetic dreams were of such a great difference that it was like being blasted with a wall of sound.
Tim used the ouija board wrong. The letters are the ones in the hole not that you point to...
In almost 30 years, CGI has seriously improved, but the final confrontation was a weird weak-ass chanting where the bad guy eventually burned in a fire under a tiny storm cloud with one lightning strike. None of the actors except the dad are famous - where did the budget go? In the original film they had a massive fight by the ocean in a storm or someshit. But we couldn't even manage a legit final confrontation? Even the shapeshifting looked shit. The father's backstory made no sense to me - where do his powers come from? We barely learnt anything about the world's version of witchcraft. It's like all these props were handed down - with the excuse being that the girls have been doing witchcraft for years. Uuughhh.
Do not watch.
I definitely think this deserves a 7 or an 8. There were some issues I had with this; shallow plot and poor development, no explanation behind motivations except racism, which makes for a funny feeling afterwards.
Veronica is a successful and educated woman who has written books on intersectionality around race and been part of many political debates in her career. She's married with a cute daughter and lives a happy, carefree life with her husband.
In the distant past, Eden is a slave who lives a systemic, abusive life as part of a plantation run by Confederate soldiers who have kidnapped her from her normal life (based on the introduction of new slaves to the compound). At the start of the movie we see that she has been caught after escaping and another couple faces execution for being part of the plot.
These two stories slowly come together over the course of the film. The camera shots are dramatic albeit quite common and tense scenes are brought up by loud and erratic orchestral pieces. I honestly felt shock and horror as the plot unravels and thought it was very clever in the end. I loved the sense of helplessness and the reality of the slaves was made more horrible by the twists in the movie.
This movie was maybe a bit less than 2 hours, but I felt that a lot of content could have been utilised better. Some more background development for the villains, which were disgusting people (but their actions were never something people reacted to(?)), and some more information about what was happening in Victoria's life would have been greatly appreciated.
Spoilers ahead.
I felt like the scene with the hotel room was a massive throw away and didnt contribute at all to the story since we never see Veronica react to it; all her documents being thrown around, her toilet having piss in it, did she honestly believe the hotel staff did that?
We only have one or two scenes explaining her job and career, barely enough to contribute to the reason for her kidnapping. Plus the cult that re-enacted colonial USA is never confronted by anyone - until the FBI. Surely a string of highly educated and controversial black people disappearing would raise red flags? - the black man that is killed by the colonel was called professor by Veronica.
However, I must admit I felt like something funny was happening from the start; only the white people have accents, which they drop when with other whites, and the black "slaves" all have neat eyebrows and piercings. I also felt like the butterfly motif was a massive red herring.
Overall an interesting film but not as deep as the other two the producer backed.
Completely average movie that feels way longer than it is. Joonwoo is a gamer who lives with his family and wakes up late one day finding a note that theyve gone to get groceries. As he logs onto play, he hears one of the others mention something on the tv. When he checks it, all hell breaks loose as people start eating each other downstairs and outside his apartment. Having no food, Joonwoo must now try n survive until he can either get rescued or leave the apartment.
The pacing of the movie was pretty off. Joonwoo spends almost 3 weeks at his apartment and only manages to survive after finding that someone in another apartment is alive. They communicate via phone messages across the gap between their units but they cant reach each other. I felt like Yoobins character was all over the place. She is clearly adventurous and loves camping but she's conveniently clumsy and weak when the story requires it.
I found the lack of foresight on her part a major character flaw that would not make sense based on what she has done with her apartment. Joonwoo's ineptitude and poor strength make sense. I liked the one emotional scene about his reason for living.
I didnt understand the zombie behaviour and why they would find the apartment building interesting at all if they didnt originally live there. The zombies are more so that they can become zombies while still alive, but also that dead people can become zombies too. I thought there was some interesting discourse about the virus but it wasn't explained and it's unclear whether other parts of Seoul or korea were experiencing this. In one frame we see a regular Seoul skyline with some CG explosions, however there is a lot of traffic safely going across the bridge.
The characters eventually find their way out and have to face a stupid trope character that contributes nothing to the story. I felt like this final section of the movie was a blessing because it was finally over. The music was tonally all over the place. I couldn't think of a single moment that deserved upbeat music and it shouldnt have a place in zombie films.
While I do enjoy the genre this isn't really worth it, I would skip this one.
This movie has some pretty famous young actors in it. I'm pretty surprised lol. Anyway, this was really honestly not that good and there was so much over the top and bad CG.
Dani Moonstar is a native American girl orphaned after a tornado destroys her community and kills her entire family. She is taken to a hospital to learn to control her mutant powers, but the hospital hides some dark secrets.
With Dani are 4 other young mutants and their caretaker, Dr Reyes. The girl from Witch, Arya Stark and the older brother in Stranger Things are the "big" names in this movie. I felt like the mystery and the technology were really well done and interesting, but the whole thing is really a very slowly paced film with overt and terrible-looking CG. This movie sold as a horror superhero movie but it's only capable of jump scares. I can't remember any good music in this film either to complement the story.
There was an unexpected romance in the film that I thought was really cute, but it was way too quick. I thought about them being teenagers locked in a building and it sold it a bit more but still...
The charaters' powers are all pretty crazy and powerful which makes sense really in the context of the film but it was a bit over the top them trying to outdo each other. I felt like the climax of the movie was really underwhelming and relied a bit on more power of friendship elements we find a lot in anime. I didn't really like that.
I also thought that Rahne's character was stupid. She's a werewolf but transforms just into a wolf like an actual dog. Her mid transformation form is much more powerful. Additionally they CG her some dog ears. Why not just get her prosthetics?
This would be a fun film to watch with friends but not in cinemas, not for the cost of the ticket. Especially when Logan is the previous film, it's disappointing to have this be the finale.
Only in the most vague way is this related to Train to Busan. This is a zombie movie based in South Korea set 4 years after the outbreak we saw in Train to Busan. I can admit that Seoul Station wasnt that good either, but at least they tried even with the choppy animation.
But here they go full ham on terrible, terrible CG and law-breaking physics. 4 years of disuse and the cars work, the roads are totally clear, there is electricity and functioning machinery. It just can't be.
This movie is clearly targeted towards fans of the original because there are some lines in English, awful awful cheesy dialogue that belittles the experience of living in a zombie infested wasteland and just contextually makes no sense at all.
And everyone in this movie is ugly and mentally insane. I liked Captain Seo, great character that makes sense, but Hwang is just bad to be bad. The military went full evil and now they're doing death matches. You also can't start a movie with heart wrenching scenes and expect us to care about the characters. Motivation for the main group also isn't really developed or explained and only really is justified by a flashback or singular line here and there.
All the English casting also makes no sense. I just can't understand why this film was made this way.
Large sections of the movies are completely in CG, they're actually awful and they look so bad. Skip this film, it just ain't worth it.
A spooky and tense horror movie that doesn't really get there in the end.
Broke and new to America, Yacov is part of a support group for Jews new to America. He is invited to be a Shomer for a recently deceased man for $400 so he can make rent. What follows is a movie that reminds one of The Conjuring and Insidious. Frightening monsters and strange demonic presences, hallucinations and eerie visual effect. The atmosphere in this movie is tangible, and there are some great and dramatic camera shots, however the movie overall is lit too poorly to even really see anything. There are scenes that are purposefully shot blurry which sometimes ruins the tension. It started off innocently enough and the tension did build but cheap jump scares really ruined it for me. I also thought that the final battle resolved too easily. The music and sound effects were overbearing and overused. DUNDUN SKREEEEEEE SKREEE. It was all too much. Yacov's backstory is also very very barely explained, which made it feel like it wasn't necessary for anything except to explain the monster's presence. I liked learning about orthodox Jewish myths and religion. I liked that the film was heavily in another language - that is something we don't see often here in Australia and we certainly don't have a strong Jewish subculture.
The film also falls into the - "it's not over" trope in the end, where the character didn't really defeat the evil,
Anyway I would say it's worth a watch, but maybe once it's on Netflix.
What an experience going into this film blind. Truly awful, an actually bad movie. I normally am pretty forgiving to movies, as long as I have a good time I don't rate it this low.
This is a movie about vlogger Cole, who is celebrating 10 years of vlogging and 1 million followers. His friends take him on a trip to Moscow, Russia as a surprise to do an escape room like nothing he has experienced ever before(!).
My first point is the story, I thought it was a good idea but all of it felt really formulaic and nothing was really that revolutionary. There are sections of the story that remind me of "video game logic" - like when Cole throws a pipe to distract the enemy. I thought the traps were interesting and the first set of puzzles for Cole to solve to rescue his friends were really stressful and scary. I loved that a lot. I liked the unusual setting (who sets a movie in Russia!), and I liked the integration with modern culture - online streaming. HOWEVER, the streaming effects were not that great - the hearts and thumbs up are reflective of Facebook live streaming - and they do that thing where they pop text up on the screen for a second and play clips - but it's a live stream so IDK how they do that. It was all a bit cheesy.
The characters are pretty racially diverse but not very well developed. Even less developed for a horror movie than expected. Cole's friend is a massive douche and every moment on screen made me hate him more. Cole is a childish and extroverted streamer. His friend Thomas and girlfriend Erin have almost no development, and the black chick also has no development at all. This means none of the deaths are impactful or upsetting, they aren't really even that graphic because you only see them from afar. Cole takes it very hard and sits down to cry a few times. Felt like a waste when he could've been trying to rescue the other people instead.
The effects are all around pretty awful and so is the continuity. In one particular scene they spliced clips and the blood changes on the character's face between shots. It was not believable or real-looking. I guess this can play into the story more rather than just be chalked up to poor effects. I did like the twist ending. I think that was the only reason I gave this 3 stars. Not worth a watch. Sucked.
On another episode of filmmakers don't know what computers look like...
Matias, in a rocky relationship with his deaf girlfriend Amaya, buys a new computer from craigslist to develop an app called papaya to turn his words into sign for her. His friends decide to do games night online via skype, so appropriate for today's climate, however Matias is having issues with his computer crashing. As the movie goes on it is revealed that Matias wasn't telling the truth and he must save his friends from an evil dark web-based group of rich psychopaths to rescue his girlfriend.
The movie is very light on gore and interesting kills especially compared to the first movie. I think the decision to tie it to the unfriended movie was only so they could use the same computer interface. The characters weren't very well developed or interesting. I was glad to see a few characters that were not white and an LGBT couple.
The story was not very believable and unfolded way too fast. The drama around amaya and matias was so boring and forced. Matias isn't a very good boyfriend also. There are some logical leaps and things that don't make sense, like matias app being used to contact amaya when he's riding his bike to come meet her. I wonder how they even worked as a couple enough to fall in love because he can't sign at all.
The computer effects were decent but inaccurate. You can't get fb notifications if you are signed out. Messenger cannot be a floating window. You cant stay in a video chat if all your apps crash etc. The poor decisions in this movie really killed it for me, aside from knowing it would be bad it was worse than I thought it would be. Do not watch.
If you want to see a good movie that utilises a computer interface watch Searching.
One night David, the protagonist of this story, pulls out an old drawing given to him by his childhood friend Meg. Meg and her disabled sister Susan are adopted by their aunt, Ruth, after their parents die in a car crash. Unfortunately for them, it's the '50s, a horrible, sexist and old-fashioned decade where women are the lesser race. Ruth starts slowly to abuse Meg, using Susan for leverage and getting her sons and neighbourhood kids in on it. David can't stand watching his friend be abused but what can he do?
I was horrified by the torture in this film, but that really seems to be all that was on offer. David is reflecting on his life, and how little he could do back then. He tried to reach out to a few people but never really said anything because that was "none of his business"; he's a child also manipulated by the adult in the situation and overwhelmed by the "bystander effect" and intimidated by Ruth's sons. It's hard to say I really liked anything in this film - none of the shots were particularly amazing. I think the effects were quite good and the whole thing was very twisted.
Unfortunately there were no redeeming factors - I felt like there were no lessons to be learned. David never really developed as a character. We don't learn about what happens to Susan after she is rescued. We don't see the perpetrators get punished and it is presumed that Meg dies of her injuries. Sort of a waste of time overall. 4/10.
A scifi thriller about a man whose wife is killed suddenly one night by a group of men after their electronic car crashes in a slum. Grey becomes a quadriplegic, wheelchair-bound living alone in a voice-activated apartment. One day his friend Elon, whom his wife met shortly before her death, proposes inserting a chip into his neck to allow him to regain control of his body. This leads Grey to go on a revenge mission to find the killers of his wife.
I am shocked by how much fun this movie was. Grey was a compelling, albeit a singularly focused/poorly developed character, who is shocked and appalled by what he can do now that he has the help of STEM (the AI chip). I loved the humanity that Grey displays contrasting with the calculating monstrosity that is STEM, especially after his first murder. The small cast keeps the story going and there are brief hints of the kind of world they live in now and what technology is available. The fight scenes were fun and interesting; when STEM takes over, the camera tracks his movements, which help add to the atmosphere, especially seeing how quick and strong STEM is compared to Grey.
As the movie progresses things become a bit more mysterious and tense and Grey loses track of his quest after uncovering more poorly-hidden secrets. I personally didn't like the ending but I loved the buildup and definitely recommend watching this film. I'm glad I got to see it as I didn't happen to in cinemas.
