xentrix667 Reviews

Batman: Hush (2019 Video)

Batman Hush comic is far superior

[4/10 · 3 March 2024]

I don't want to get into spoilers here but I will say that, if you want to experience the brilliance of the Hush storyline, you have to reach the original comic storyline by Loeb.

Compressing the story and changing key parts to fit in the animated universe just do a major disservice to comics. I'm ok with most adaptation as they capture the atmosphere of the books, but this just feels flat. I think the voice acting is one major reason - it all feels monotonous and unable to capture the essence of the characters. Just a badly done adaptation on almost every level (the animation itself is solid)

Maniac (1980)

Deeply flawed and offensive, but also an interesting time capsule

[6/10 · 16 February 2024]

Many people at the time of this films release and even now do not like this film. At all. There is a lot of anger directed at the film because of its crude handling of the material and its complete nihilism. There is no redeeming quality, no humanity to these proceedings which I feel is a lost opportunity.

Comparing to Psycho, for example, you can just about see the damaged little boy behind Norman Bates eyes and how tortured he is by the memory of his mother. While a similar idea is covered here, with Joe Spinell trying to inject some tortured soul into his maniac killer, there are just too many pieces missing here, and Spinelli is not that good of an actor, to really bring this movie alive.

There is a lot to like, if you're a slasher/horror fan, especially of films from the 70s and 80s, because the death scenes are quite extraordinary in themselves. Maybe a bit too over the top in some instances, but still really well done. The subway scene is probably the most effective scene in the movie and is worth it just for that.

I don't really mind this movie too much, but could not really argue with anyone who hates it. Lustig has one good film, a couple of average films (of which this is one) and a lot of duds. I can't help but wonder how this film would have turned out in the hands of a stronger director.

Collateral (2004)

Jamie Foxx saves the day

[10/10 · 2 February 2024]

There are so many reasons why this movie is great: Jamie Foxx goes from average guy with the unfulfilled dreams to a hero, Tom Cruise is so good as a villain you wonder why he hasn't done more of that, Michael Mann's direction is his best work that isn't called Heat (the peacefulness and serenity in the first few scenes with the cab driving through the city with chill music contrasts so well with the coyote scene and Audioslave) and Jada Pickett Smith is perfect as the tough as nails public prosecutor with an inner strength and instinct for survival who Jamie falls for in one short cab ride (enough for him to turn into a believable hero in the end, believable in that nothing he does is perfect and he's clearly untrained in and unused to any form of violence)

There are questions I have about how the intel Tom Cruise has is so perfect to know where each person will be exactly (nightclub, office, etc) and why the description of the assassin in the script is someone who is unnoticeable but then they cast Tom Cruise (who is excellent in the role so who care I guess, but even if he weren't the famous actor Tom Cruise, he would still be very noticeable).

This is definitely up there with my favourite rewatchable early 2000s action thrillers. The type of movie that pulled audiences in because it was directed by Michael Mann, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, and not because it was The Hulk versus Ms Marvel or whatever else Marvel wants to do next.

Bring back the age of the film star, please!

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Effective low budget horror

[9/10 · 1 February 2024]

Stan Winston is a legend who has worked on some of the biggest films of all time and with the best directors of all time.

Pumpkinhead was his directorial debut, and what a debut it was. Looking at his history as a director it's sad that he never really had another success and just went back to what he does best. Pumpkinhead is a marvel of a movie that is more effective in its thrills and chills than a lot of other, bigger budgeted films.

The fact that this was all in-camera and done for a small sum is a true testament to how much passion, creativity and vision Winston had when making this.

Lance Henriksen plays a father who suffers a tragedy early in the film. He recalls seeing a monster killing another man when he was a young boy, and figures the only thing he needs to do is to seek revenge (not go to a hospital, or call the cops, but track down an old woman who can help him call up the monster he witnessed as a kid).

I won't go into anymore detail because if you've not seen this, you need to experience every second of it. All I can say is that Henriksen is one of our finest actors, and Winston is a genius who made an incredibly fun, thrilling, and effective film at his first go, and that's something many people would die to be able to say.

The House That Screamed (1969)

An absolute gem of the genre

[8/10 · 31 January 2024]

What an outstanding film this is. A Spanish production filmed mostly in English that fits quite well in the Giallo style of films, and allusions even to Hitchcock's Psycho.

Why this film is called Finishing School here in Australia when The House That Screams is so much better of a title, I guess we will never know. Sensibilities at the time, I guess.

I didn't know about this film until I saw Arrow Video releasing a new transfer of it and the title alone is why I purchased it. That it's a really good movie was purely a bonus.

The acting is not universally good, but there are some strong performances, and the cast are quite believable in their roles as late 1800's difficult young women, the mistress in charge and her son.

It's a toss up between Norman Bates and this kid as to who has the bigger mommy issues, but it definitely makes for a great story.

I loved the slow-mo murder scenes, the chilling atmosphere, the setting and the dynamics between the characters. The production design was strong even though I sometimes had to remind myself it was supposed to be set in the late 1800s. Not everything made total sense (being trapped in the chute seemed an unnecessary plot point with no real jeopardy ultimately) but the build up to the finale was well done and the ending of the film, giving the film its title, was chilling.

Vigilante (1982)

Average Death Wish copycat elevated by strong supporting cast

[7/10 · 29 January 2024]

1982's Vigilante is a film I had not seen before but it captures my idea of what America was like as a kid. I didn't grow up in America, I've never lived there or even visited, so my experience comes directly from movies.

My dad is a huge Death Wish and Dirty Harry fan, so I grew up with those movies and the version of America contained within those movies. New York, like Frank Millers version of Gotham City, was a dark, scary place filled with murder and mayhem. The only people who could save the city were not the corrupt cops or dirty politicians, but the fed-up citizens resorting to vigilantism.

And so enters Vigilante, which, come to think of it, is also a bit like The Crow, except no one is raised from the dead, and the soundtrack isn't near as excellent.

The film starts with a run down of the crime statistics, which is grim listening. I was tempted to look up current crime stats but held off because I'd probably spiral into a pit of despair.

We then see a rape-murder followed swiftly by vigilante justice (which we sadly don't really see happen only know that they broke every bone in his body). It's crazy to me that an old lady who witnessed the rapist run past her as he exited would get into a panel van with vigilantes and almost immediately spot the guy, but I don't think I'm meant to think too hard about all of that.

Then enters Robert Forster, an everyday man who loves his wife and son, orders coffee at a bar, and is inquisitive about the vigilante justice doled out by his workmates (oh, it's worth mentioning that he works with the vigilantes but for some reason is the only one in the workplace who isn't involved and who doesn't have a clue it's happening until the same day as, but just a few hours before, the stab-stab of his wife and the shotgunning of his little son.

Forster really hit my radar with Jackie Brown. He gave one of cinemas best ever performances in that film and made me care for a middle aged romance like none I've cared for before. In Vigilante he takes up the Bronson role, kind of, and vows to avenge the death of his son and the multiple stabbing and left for dead of his wife. At first he trusts the criminal justice system, but in this film there is no dun-dun Law and Order, just corruption. His lawyer also says they should just try to prosecute one gang member, rather than all of them, because the jury would be intimidated by the gangs.

All that talk of jury and yet the lawyers just negotiate a plea deal and the kid killer is free, and Forster, for being angry that the guy got away, goes to jail. Ok, he attacked the judge, but rightfully and reasonably. It seems way too harsh that he should go to jail when the guy who stabbed his wife and killed his kid (well, he did one of them and another gang member did the other, but what he's on trial for isn't too clear) gets a slap on the wrist. I want to believe that this is just the fiction and injustices like this don't happen in real life, but I've been brought up on American entertainment so it's more likely than not, to be fair.

In jail we get Woody Strode, as Rake, who's an old badass who everyone is scared of and who beats up two prisoners who took a disliking to Forster. Strode eats up the scenery and spits it out like it's nothing and delivers such an impactful performance that I'm tempted to rate it all ten out of ten just because of it. I am deducting ratings, though, because he's not in it near long enough.

I won't go too much further in my review because I don't want to spoil anything. Though I'm sure you can guess what happens.

My final comments are for Williamson, who carries this film on his broad shoulders, and. Steve James, who I wish was the lead of the movie. No bad words for Forster, but I think James deserved a lead role and he died way too soon for someone with his talent. I want to know more about his character. Why is he a vigilante, what happened to him?

Forster is great, and he plays the role of a straight laced guy who transforms into a badass vigilante so well, that I feel like I'm betraying what he was doing by saying that James and Williamson had the better characters that I would have preferred to see more of. A sequel or prequel focused on just them two would have been so good. Maybe add in Rake just so we get more Woody Strode too.

This was a terrific film that falls apart if you think too hard about everything that happens and how it all happens, but is elevated by four strong performances. Woody Strode is an absolute legend and I felt like applauding (alone on my couch) every time he was on screen. Williamson has a screen presence that's hard to emulate. James deserved more leading roles. And Forster shows the kind of nuance that would lead to him playing Max Cherry 15 years later in his finest performance.

Psycho II (1983)

The perfect sequel

[9/10 · 10 January 2024]

Psycho 2, set 22 years after the classic Psycho, is a very worthwhile sequel that works almost better than the original.

I'm a huge Hitchcock fan and feel the original Psycho, for the time it came out, and it's sheer impact on the cinematic landscape that is still being felt to this day, should forever stand up as the "best" psycho film. That the sequel is even in the conversation, and is in fact lauded as one of the best horror sequels of all time, and has many fans who prefer it to the original, is a remarkable achievement. As a film I enjoy purely on it's own merits, I might even rank this higher, but without the first Psycho we wouldn't even have this debate, nor would we have the horror cinema we have today.

Norman Bates is released from the psychiatric ward (this is a man who murdered his mother, and at least four other people, so being released 22 years later seems a bit odd, but it's the 80's and we need a movie, so, meh). He almost immediately gets a very young woman as a lodger and, without spoilers from me, this seems even more implausible for a serial killer, especially when the full story is told - revenge can make people so horrible things.

His psychiatrist makes the occasional visit, but complains that due to funding they can't have anyone checking in on him more regularly (not sure if this is part of the whole, we need a movie, so this is what we need to have happen, or it's a commentary on the American health care system). For the most part he is left to his own devices and things start to go very wrong very quickly.

Why thia movie works so well is the chemistry between the two leads (who hates working with each other due to petty rivalries, which makes Meg Gilley's performance even more impressive), the murders are well choreographed, and the reveals are nicely handled.

While there are implausibilities throughout the film, it's still an incredibly effective horror film, with an amazing cast and a director who pays respect to Hitchcock while adding his own flair.

I love this movie and have probably seen it more than the original, and am likely to continue that trend moving forward. As much as I think Psycho is a 10/10 film, I have more fun with the sequel.

The Psychic (1977)

Up there with the beer Giallo

[9/10 · 31 December 2023]

I felt this film was a lot more linear than some of the other Giallo films I've seen. And I mean that in a good way. I enjoy all Giallo, even when it's style over substance (sometimes especially), but this film has the right balance for both aspects for the story it wants to tell.

Fulci is one of the grandmaster directors that I don't think gets enough love compared to his contemporaries (Argento mostly), but his skill with pacing, direction and staging is second to none. Every shot in this film serves a purpose and tells its own story, and what a story this is.

I thought the ending was especially strong for this genre, even if it might be slightly predictable, I thought the clues and non-clues were used well, and there were enough red herrings to keep you guessing until the very end.

The seven notes are iconic and serve the story so well, even if the last time we hear it doesn't really make sense if you consider how close to the previous time we heard it that was (I don't want to give too much away, but in the context of the film we really should only be hearing it 12 hours later) Overall, fantastic film and one of the absolute best of the Giallo films.

Child's Play (1988)

Really good film that holds up

[9/10 · 29 December 2023]

I remember being a young kid and getting this from our local video store. I don't think my mom knew that it was a horror film and wasn't too interesting in watching it when I had it on.

Man, it scared the bejesus out of me and made me paranoid about my own toys and teddy bear for years afterwards.

But, I loved it and over the years I've returned to it and the sequels more often than any other horror film.

The first entry is the best, but the whole line of films and now the tv series are so in line with the vision of Mancini that you need to view each one as a part of the whole. Tom Holland directed this film and has gone on record as saying he didn't want to be a horror guy, so never returned to the sequels, but he really got what the film was trying to do and helped sell the idea so well.

This film works where the remake fails in that it keeps it so simple and builds the tension so well that you become invested in the story from the beginning. This isn't a knock on the remake, because I did enjoy that for what it was, but the original was able to capture lighting in a bottle and my attempt to remake it was always going to fail if it didn't have Mancini behind it.

Incidentally, Megan is actually the better film for being inspired by Child's Play but creating its own story and lore. Being inspired by is much better than remaking, in my opinion.

Anyway, back to Child's Play - it's as close to the perfect horror movie as you're likely to get and knows exactly how much seriousness to give such an absurd premise. I love this film and to see it newly restored in 4K glory, as I've just recently watched, elevates it even further. If you do pick up the 4K release, the HDR and the Atmos track are superb. It's never looked nor sounded better and is a vast improvement on my first viewing of it on VHS in the very late 80s.

Home Alone (1990)

The best Christmastime movie of all time

[10/10 · 24 December 2023]

There's an argument for a few movies to be the best Christmas movie ever, but I genuinely believe this is a perfect movie for all ages at christmastime and, 33 years later, still has not been surpassed. It's a Wonderful Life is probably the only film that might surpass it, but I'm not aa big a fan of it as this.

Macauley Culkin is so good in this movie that it's hard to imagine anyone else who would have been able to play this role. How he plays off Pesci and Stern is fantastic and the level of slapstick is incredible.

That we also have Catherine O'Hara, a comic genius, who gets to share screen time with my favourite comic actor of all time, the affable, loveable and sorely missed John Candy, is a huge bonus.

That this isn't rated higher, or in the top 250 films of all time on IMDB, is a travesty. If you've never seen this film, which is something I can't believe is possible, you are in for an absolute treat and I guarantee you will come back to it over and over again.

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Underrated gem

[8/10 · 22 December 2023]

This is one of the most underrated and underappreciated films from the 90s. Possibly because there were quite a few westerns being released around the same time and Hollywood had deemed westerns too derivative at this stage, but it never felt like this film got a fair shake by critics and audiences alike.

Apart from Casino, this might be Sharon Stones best performance, and she leads it with a fierceness that you've only really seen men with no names show in the old spaghetti westerns.

Gene Hackman is also so good in this, as he always is when playing evil characters.

Russell Crowe showed why he would go on to be one of the biggest Hollywood stars and Leo di Caprio was a superstar on the rise.

The rest of the performances are great and the homage to spaghetti westerns doesn't come off as copying, but shows reverence and admiration for a genre of film that allows us to explore the absolute depths of human cruelty and the peaks of human bravery and compassion.

I think this film might have come out at the wrong time because I'm sure if it came out just before or almost anytime after, it would have a lot more admirers than it does. It doesn't look to reinvent the genre, but plays to all its strengths, which might be why it wasn't as feted as other modern day westerns who turned the themes on their head and delivered something fresher to audiences.

What may seem a criticism (when compared to, say, Unforgiven) is what I think counts as it's strength - a good, old fashioned western with a very basic but engaging and rewarding plot and great performances.

Passenger 57 (1992)

Deserves more praise, not much more, just more

[7/10 · 19 December 2023]

Wesley Snipes in the 90s was near untouchable. New Jack City and Jungle Fever came out before this, and cemented Snipes as a star. I loved him from Major League, which was my favourite film when it came out and I was around 8 (I don't think it holds up), and after Passenger 57 we got Demolition Man (still the best of his movies) and Blade, amongs many. It's Passenger 57, however, that begins and ends with Snipes and his screen presence. The film is not great. Bruce Payne and Wesley Snipes seem to be in two different movies tonally, and the supporting case are all terrible, even Sizemore can do better than this.

Oh yes, who can forget the stunning Liz Hurley.

All the pieces of a good movie are here and if they were tied together better we would have a dead cert 90s classic. Unfortunately, the only thing really keeping people watching and making it worthwhile is Snipes, and it's regrettable how everyone around him seems to have let him down.

Payne's performance would be better in a Seven or Silence of the Lambs type movie. Here, it's hard to see how cruel he is against the sightly more breezy Beverley Hills Cop style of the movie Snipes is in. It just doesn't gel together, which is a shame.

Passenger 57 is just under the level of an all time classic, and is definitely worth you watching if you've not seen it before, but you'll wish they made choices that were just a little better in almost every scene.

The Untouchables (1987)

Spectacular film, even with plenty historical inaccuracies

[9/10 · 10 December 2023]

The Untouchables has always been one of my favourite films of all times, and my favourite of de Palma's (more so than even Scarface).

Every single scene and set piece is perfect, and the acting on another level.

In my opinion, out of the three main actors (de Niro, Costner and Connery), I think the person who won the Oscar actually gave the worst performance. De Niro cements himself, in my mind, as the greatest actor of all time. A reputation perhaps sullied in more recent times, but his overall oeuvre and range of his work is second to none.

Connery, however, is still great and for a lifetime of work, the Oscar is deserved. I'm just not sure it was deserved more so than his two co-stars.

The music here, by the elite Ennio Morricone, another Oscar winner, also contributes and elevates every scene.

David Lynch has a reputation for precision and perfection in his directing. De Palma, in my mind, was the original perfectionist and, while his more recent output is not up there with his early work, should be considered one of the greatest directors of all time. Freeze any scene at any point and everything there serves a purpose. Nothing is out of place.

Why I'm taking one point off is the historical inaccuracies. I wish I could take this film purely as an entertainment, but I think it does disservice to many of those who were instrumental in bringing down Capone by putting all the focus on one man. History be damned because this film will be what people remember most about Eliot Ness and Al Capone and that's a shame.

Finally, my favourite scene in the Naked Gun films is directly a spoof on this, and I love this film all the more for leading to that!

Leave the World Behind (2023)

It's the end of the world as we know it

[9/10 · 10 December 2023]

This film got its claws into me early and, 24 hours since I finished it, it's still digging in deep.

There are so many questions I still don't know the answers to, and I don't think rewatching it will help me come to answers, but that's ok. That's what life is all about - things happen, we move on and adapt, and then more things happen.

The acting in this movie was incredible. Mahershela Ali, in a role originally to be played by Denzel Washington, is the standout here. It's fitting that he takes over from Washington, because he brings that same gravitas. He is extremely charismatic and watchable that the film feels a little deflated when he's not on screen. Yes, Roberts and Hawke are great too, as is the cameo by Bacon, but Ali seems to be on a different level entirely.

The ending has people either angry or delighted and it's easy to see why. I'm neither - I think the ending made sense for the film, even though I kind of wanted more resolution.

Overall, really well directed and well acted movie with strong acting all round and one standout performance from Ali.

The Blob (1988)

The way horror needs to be done

[10/10 · 10 December 2023]

What The Blob gets right, that so few horror movies do, is the focus on characters and setting. The town in The Blob is a living, breathing place and we are quickly up to speed with all the key players. The Sheriff has a crush on the diner waitress that may be reciprocated, the footballer and the cheerleader are going out for the first date, the bad boy of the town lives on the outskirts and is easy to blame for the first few deaths as they start to happen, and so on. You feel like you know them, understand their motivations, and want them all to make it. That they don't all make it, with some truly surprising deaths to characters who would be the heroes in other films, is why the ultimate payoff works. The stakes are high, we care about all the characters, and we see them grow. All this within a movie that is about an alien blob that is devouring everyone.

Frank Darabont helped create this and it tells. His focus on character above anything else is why he has the most loved movie of all time under his belt in the Shawshank Redemption and why he was able to apply his philosophy to The Mist. That both of those films started with books by Stephen King is no surprise because it's clear that King and Darabont have in common the ability to tell horror stories that focus on characters first.

The Blob is a great movie. It might be the greatest remake there's ever been. It's definitely the best movie about a blob of goo devouring people you'll ever see. In the world of 80s cinema, this stands out to me as the best horror/sci-fi of that decade.

If you've not watched it before, the 4K release is spectacular and is the definitive way to check it out.

U.S. Marshals (1998)

Tommy Lee Jones makes this 10/10

[10/10 · 22 November 2023]

If this weren't a sequel to one of the best movies ever made, I reckon the ratings and reviews would be a lot more positive than they are. That being said, there is still a lot of love for this movie.

In the 90s when this came out, I even felt it was better than The Fugitive. I was a huge Wesley Snipes fan and seeing him as a fugitive rather than an ordinary middle aged man was way more exciting for me then. Snipes I could believe kicks ass and gets out of tough spots. Of course, I was wrong, and The Fugitive is a better movie and now one of my all time favourites.

However, U. S. Marshalls is almost as good, and a lot more propulsive for sure. Snipes is always good, especially in his prime 90s action star days, and Tommy Lee Jones is someone you could watch reading the phone book for hours. Weakest link here is RDJ who is so under-utilised and boring whenever he's on screen that it's hard to believe how good he has been in almost everything else he does.

It's such a shame that we didn't get more films with TLJ chasing fugitives because he was born for this role.

Saw X (2023)

Tobin Bell is amazing

[10/10 · 20 November 2023]

When the first Saw came out, I remember loving it much like the rest of the world did.

Tobin Bell, however, had a small, but important, role and never really got to demonstrate his acting prowess.

Luckily, a franchise was born and, even though he died a long time ago, there have been many ways to bring him back. A prequel, set between the first two Saw movies, is how they've gone with it here and, even though Tobin the actor is almost twenty years older at this point, Jigsaw/John is around the same age. And I don't even really care because, firstly, John is very unwell, so looking more aged helps sell that and, two, Tobin Bell is amazing in this movie.

I'm not sure in what direction the Saw movies can go from here because, like Spiral (a movie I actually enjoyed, even though I admit it's the poorest of all Saw films), a film without Jigsaw is no film at all.

Tobin Bell carries this film on both shoulders from start to finish and if this is the last we have of him, what a fine way to go out. This might be the best of all Saw films because the narrative is strong, and the acting from Tobin Bell is stellar. In fact, this movie will make all the rest of them better by the fact that the motivations for John to become Jigsaw and get people to play a game have never been clearer.

I hope we get more Tobin Bell, but it not, this is a fine way to go out.

The Creator (2023)

Great film

[10/10 · 14 November 2023]

Gareth Edwards has been one of my favourite directors of the last decade. He swings for the fences and creates visionary works of art that are understandably not always jackpots. Audiences aren't quite sure how to take it, and critics are frustrated because he clearly has potential for much more.

I think of him like Neil Blomkamp, they're both high concept with middling results. When I watch their films, however, I'm fully invested in what they're trying to do and appreciative of the effort it took to get movies like these made. We need more of this and less of the superhero one template fits all genre.

This being rated around 7 by IMDB users is probably the fairest rating, and I would agree if I looked at this completely objectively. I am completely subjective when I say, this, for me, is 10/10.

Regardless of where you fall, this is a movie we need to see more of and directors like Edwards and Blomkamp are vital for that to happen.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Rare film where the remake is better

[6/10 · 4 November 2023]

1972 - 12 years before Wes Craven's seminal Nightmare on Elm Street, two years before Black Christmas would redefine horror, and the same year as Deliverance, which shares some of the same barbarity and deptavity . Wes Craven, in his directorial debut, based this film on The Virgin Spring, albeit set in modern times and set out from the start to make an impact by creating a film that even 5 decades later, still has the capacity to shock audiences.

It's hard to view this in 2023 knowing how far we've evolved from the male gaze of a film that opens with a postman talking about how Mari is a fine piece. This is a very old mailman creeping on a 17 year old girl. And that's almost the first line in the film. It was unnecessary and immediately establishes the young, good looking women as objects that will have things happen to them and have no agency. Victim blaming is established from the start - she's a good looking girl, she hangs out with a bad influence, she wears a top that shows her nipples and she's going to a dangerous neighbourhood.

The only way to view this is to accept that it was a different time and try to find some of the redeeming aspects of the film. It's almost impossible, though. The men are truly vile and what they do is more than sick. Did it need to be as graphic as it is? As exploitative as it is? No, it didn't. But then it is likely it wouldn't be remembered 50 years later.

Wes Craven knew the movie he wanted to make, and the great film director he would become shows its first signs here.

My discomfort with the film doesn't take away from how effective it is. I can't say I enjoyed the movie, but my rating of 6/10 is based on how much respect I have for Craven as a director, and how well made this low budget film is. Craven has a knack for realising his vision for a film better than most. I also enjoy revenge thriller/horror films and this definitely set a template for others to follow.

A few words on the remake- , I feel it goes a long way to address all the issues of the original and produces a film far less problematic and much more effective. Whatever the thoughts on remakes are, I think in this case it was important to update the film's themes for a modern audience.

Enter the Ninja (1981)

How is this so lowly rated?

[10/10 · 25 October 2023]

Can someone tell me how this movie is so lowly rated on IMDB?

Is it because the opening training sequence shows people's heads literally being chopped off, but turns out to all be a training sequence?

Is it because the acting is so wooden that not even the most skilled ninja would be able to chop it?

Is it because the main ninja (white ninja as I call him, both for the colour he wears and his skin) is less stealthy than a drunken teenager coming home at 3am?

Is it because there's a weird impotency subplot which results in our lead taking on the manly duties with his best friends wife?

Very likely for all these reasons. But are also all the reasons this movie needs to be treasured. They don't make them like this anymore and that's a shame. No 8 year old will find a similar gem of a movie on late night tv and obsess over ninjas for the rest of his life. It's impossible to stumble your way to movies like this anymore and that's a travesty!

Trust me, you will have fun with this movie. It's one of the better ninja movies from the 80s. It has everything you need in a movie and more.

The Fog (1980)

A creepy masterpiece

[23 October 2023]

Is there any director who managed to pull out a string of classic films over two decades like Carpenter was able to? The fall in the time since Prince of Darkness is spectacular when you consider he was behind Halloween, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from LA, and so many other classics from the 70s and 80s.

The Thing is quintessential Carpenter and is the film he will be best remembered for. Halloween reinvented the horror genre and the has been copied to this day in many different ways. But I would argue his true masterpiece is The Fog. The characters, the setting, the lore and the payoff all work together so well. The only weak link is that I'm not a fan of Atkins and how this old man seems to bed women half his age with no problems at all. (Halloween 3 is another example). Luckily the rest of the movie is even creepier than Watkins and doesn't spend that much time with him.

The Mist has moments where I was genuinely creeped out and, viewing it as an adult, I am fascinated by how well constructed the build up of tension to get to the scare was.

I love this movie and think it's criminally underrated. It knows what it set out to do and does it so well. There isn't another movie like it except for the remake, which shows you how good Carpenter is as a director when you see how bad it could go in inferior hands. 10/10.

Frasier (2023– )

Made me cancel Paramount Plus

[1/10 · 15 October 2023]

I love the original Frasier. It was one of the smartest, funniest and warmest shows on tv and still holds up today.

This reboot/sequel or whatever you want to call it just doesn't not work at all. The jokes are forced, the characters are pale imitations of the original cast and even Grammer looks like he would rather be doing something else. Not getting other cast members from the original run (I know not all are still around, of course) should have stopped this before it started. Frasier has a best friend we never saw in all of the other hundreds of episodes we have of Frasier, a son who takes after his grandfather and a nephew who is there purely to get laughs about how much of a klutz he is.

I'm sorry but this just does not work. Watching the original Frasier for the fifth time is way more appealing than this dreck.

Millennium (I) (1996–1999)

Prestige TV started a lot earlier

[10/10 · 29 September 2023]

Common consensus is that the age of prestige television started with Sopranos, or Oz, but I would argue that the 90s created so many excellent series that paved the way for more intelligent television. Buffy, X-Files, Angel, American Gothic and, in my mind the best of the bunch, Millennium.

Lance Henriksen is immense in this show, and the storyline's were perfect. The fact that it's so hard to find this show now (I had to find an old DVD box set online to rewatch the series) is a travesty when all the other shows I mentioned are easy to find.

It didn't find a mainstream audience, unfortunately, and ended after three seasons.

I hope Chris Carter can create more shows in future for us to enjoy, because there aren't many creators out there like him.

The X-Files: Born Again (1994) Season 1, Episode 22

The highs and lows of early X-Files

[3/10 · 19 September 2023]

Season 1 of the X-Files is, in my mind, one of the greatest first seasons of any show ever. It was a cultural institution, giving us something we had never seen before and inspired the next generation to build on this formula (Supernatural being the most obvious example).

I have fond memories of almost every episode in the first season, but in rewatching it I realise just how weak some episodes were, especially in relation to the really strong episodes of this season, and of what will come in future seasons.

This episode, to me, is the weakest of the whole bunch and I think never should have been made. Unless you're a completionist like me, who insists on watching every episode, taking the exceptional with the awful, I would give this a hard pass. It makes no sense.

I've given it a couple extra stars because I love Scully and Mulder so much so they're adding at least 2 stars to every episode. (It goes down to 1 star when we have no Mulder for a while) Also, there's Janice too, but without Chandler she's just as pointless as this episode is.

Affliction (1997)

Masterpiece

[10/10 · 2 September 2023]

I was sixteen when I first watched Affliction, late night when I should have been asleep. It's been stuck in my head ever since. How this doesn't have a more mainstream blu ray or even 4k release, I don't know. Not can I find it on any streaming platforms or VOD (here in Australia at least).

The movie digs deep from the beginning and, like a growing toothache, the tension keeps building and building until we have one of the more satisfying endings that isn't satisfying at all, but suits the story perfectly. Nick Nolte gives an acting masterclass in this film and Coburn, Spacek and Dafoe are incredible. Schrader is one of the best filmmakers of his generation, and Affliction might just be, in my opinion, and outside of Taxi Driver, his finest work.

Affliction will haunt you, and I mean it in the best possible way.