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jjburchard
Reviews
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
A movie that tries to be everything, everywhere, all at once - and succeeds
Instantly in my top 10 movies of all time. It's rare a movie manages to be as absurd as it is heartfelt and as whimsical as it is thoughtful. Some things you see coming from a mile away - and still love them when they happen - and some things just hit you like a ton of bricks. This movie *will* require repeat viewing, but it's just so incredibly fresh that it feels like you want to watch it again as soon as it's over.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
This is not a good movie
I always try to give creators the benefit of the doubt. I've had to do reviews professionally in the past for music before, and I always try to approach it as "Who would like this?" as opposed to "Is this good?"
But when it comes to Licorice Pizza...this is just not a good movie. Like, yes, technically it's shot well and the audio is good. There are some really nice frame compositions and it does a good job of feeling like it's taking place in the 70s. There are a few random scenes that are entertaining enough to watch on their own (the Bradley Cooper Jon Peters bit, Tom Waits/Sean Penn). But it's not worth wading through 2 hours and 15 minutes for. In fact, the best scenes in the movie do nothing to advance the plot, which I suppose could partially be the fact that the plot isn't really interesting or noteworthy. Even a coming-of-age movie should have some sort of through line. There are no stakes in this movie. Any time you *think* there might be stakes, they are deflated almost immediately and never brought up again.
For starters, the main premise of the movie has no real purpose. A 25-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy "falling in love" is only interesting if the age difference matters or presents any actual challenges to their romance or commentary. The boy could just as easily be a 40-year-old man. He acts like one and faces none of the issues a 15-year-old boy would face. The 25-year-old woman is just kind of moving through life trying to figure out what she wants. Nobody ever gives them even the smallest amount of grief for the age difference in their relationship, nor does their age difference represent any major personality or life experience differences.
Neither character really goes through much change throughout the movie. Gary isn't really a believable character, and Alana isn't particularly strong or likable. There are some nice chemistry moments between them, and plenty of really bad chemistry moments. I don't know if the edit was just sloppy or the performances were awkward, but there are a lot of scenes in this movie that feel like bad improv.
Not to mention the fact that the movie features a few scenes of blatant racism for the purpose of a punch line that is cringier than even the concept of a 25-year-old dating a 15-year-old.
Stop rewarding sloppy, self-indulgent movies just because they came from a director with some Oscar nominations.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Exactly what it needed to be
This movie was definitely made for the fans, and anybody who was hoping to see a reboot after all those years should be pleased. It also sets up the sequel nicely, and I think will allow them to dig even more into the whole Mortal Kombat universe in the future. That said, this one definitely paid homage to some of the great characters in the game and it was fun to see them come to life with modern VFX.
Yearly Departed (2020)
Take the "hate reviews" with a grain of salt
Comedy is subjective, so pretending your opinion will matter to anybody else when it comes to that is kind of silly (friendly reminder that Larry The Cable Guy is worth over $100 million). Personally, I thought there was some great material, and some slightly more obvious stuff that just kind of fell flat with me.
In terms of raw talent, great lineup of comedians/actors and it's really technically impressive what they were able to pull off (which you get to see at the end of the film). Unfortunately, I think the fact that all of it was ultimately digital kind of adds to some of the downsides of the whole piece. In a lot of ways they weren't able to play off each other in a normal context, which really is such a huge part of comedy. I don't think they needed to consistently have reaction shots from the other actors when one was giving a eulogy. That took me out of it a bit. And some of the acting did kind of come across as over-the-top (again, likely because of the circumstances).
Ultimately, I thought it was a clever way to put together a comedy special for this year and a great opportunity to shine a light on some really talented folks. And anybody who is surprised by some of the views expressed in these bits probably doesn't follow the comedians themselves.
That said, Amazon tends to be one of the first places people go to "hate review" something if it's perceived as political or trying to "even the scales" by giving representation to underrepresented groups (i.e. women and women of color in comedy). So ignore those, watch the first few bits, and decide if the humor fits your mood/style. If it does, then it's a nice little end to the year.
Krampus (2015)
A Pleasant Surprise
When I first heard about it, I was excited about Krampus for two reasons:
1) The concept (gotta love German folklore)
2) The man at the helm (Michael Dougherty knows what he's doing)
Then I heard it was going to be PG-13 and suddenly my expectations hit the floor. Not that violence and language are necessary for a good horror movie, but I kind of took it as a sign that the film would mostly pander to the teen audience and aim to make its money back because teenagers notoriously see bad horror movies.
But I was wrong, and I was pleasantly surprised about it.
Krampus is, in many ways, not unlike cult hit "The Babadook." Both films use practical effects brilliantly (only 1 of the "monsters" in Krampus is CGI, and it's used mostly in a humorous way; without any spoilers, I'll say it reminded me a bit of an important character in Shrek). Both films tie their overall aesthetic to an important motif — The Babadook with confronting grief and Krampus with appreciation and conviction in humanity as it applies to the microcosm of family.
Krampus features a great performance (grandma Omi), several good performances, and no bad ones. The characters are fairly archetypal but they all serve the story quite well and pack plenty of humor (that, as others have mentioned, crows increasingly dark). There are plenty moments of genuine humor, but not in a way that distracts from the terror available for a PG-13 movie (again, I'm not saying it would've been served any more by more gore).
The movie is also pretty genuinely beautiful, from its slow-motion opening that is not subtle about the movie's take on commercialism and the irony of the holiday season, to the blizzard- engulfed neighborhood the whole movie takes place in. The pre-horror set design is not an after-thought, as it often can be in scary movies.
And I will also say I was pretty satisfied by the ending. It's one of those movies you appreciate even more as you think about it after seeing it.
If you're at all enticed by the concept of the Krampus or holiday horror, you'll enjoy the movie. It's entertaining from start to finish, both for its humor and its scares.