bernardwarchal Reviews

Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008 TV Movie)

Pure early 2000s nostalgia.

[10/10 · 31 December 2018]

I honestly don't know what to rate this film. Critically speaking it's probably not a good movie. I like this purely because i grew up with the show as a kid. The leads of Drake Bell and Josh Peck are hilarious with great comedic timing and chemistry. The story is genuinely heartwarming in that you are rooting for them to give this family the best Christmas ever. This movie does have some huge problems. For one the law just does not work in this universe. In the beginning Josh is arrested because they mistakenly think he crash the party on the roof of the premier theater. Josh is put in an actual prison (they are not just holding him at the station this is an actual prison) with no trial. Drake first tries to use a lawyer to get Josh out. Drake pays the lawyer $3000 in advance, the dude drives off with the money and you can see the licence plate say "FKELWYR". Drake then attempts to break Josh out of Prison and is caught. They have a trial in which they argue Drake had to break his brother our or he would not be able to fulfill the promise of giving the best Christmas ever to the foster family. The judge sets them free because "you can't break a Christmas promise". They are then looked after by officer Gilbert who instructs them them to not break the promise or they will be sent back to jail. Officer Gilbert throughout the film will try to hinder their chances by sending guys to steal their clothes so he can give them a ticket and towing there car because "it's blue". The film is however consistent in the law making no sense. it's kinda like an 80s shenanigans movie in that the police are just bad at their jobs. Officer Gilbert is a hilarious over the top villain. His backstory is a haunting traumatic memory from my childhood. Every actor is giving a great performance whether it be a starring role or a five minute cameo. Miranda Cosgrove is great and devious as Megan as always. Jerry Trainor is hilarious as Crazy Steve and steals every scene he's in. This is just a really fun movie that you need to just have fun with. If you go into this expecting to hate it you are but if you go into it because you liked the show and you wanna see these characters have a fun Christmas adventure then it's worth a watch.

Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008 TV Movie)

Pure early 2000s nostalgia

[10/10 · 30 December 2018]

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Psycho II (1983)

A sequel that shouldn't be forgotten

[7/10 · 21 October 2018]

Psycho II is a pretty good follow-up to the 1968 horror classic. What I love about this movie is it's not just a rehash of the first movie. It expands upon the character of Norman Bates in a terrifying sympathetic way. Anthony Perkins is once again terrifying good as Norman Bates. His portrayal is also sympathetic as this movie shows a different side of Bates as he is tormented by his mother in PTSD flashbacks. Vera Miles also plays a great villain as Lila Loomis (formerly Lila Crane from the first movie) tries to get Norman recommitted after his release by having his go crazy and kill someone. She's one of those villains where you can see the motivation but don't agree with her methods. This movie is also very suspenseful in that you're waiting to see if Norman ever breaks his sanity. The director Richard Franklin does a great job of imitating Hitchcock's directing style while still making it his own. The film has a lot of great exaggerated angles that beautifully showcase the set design. John W. Corso the production designer did a great job with the motel sets. The flashback showing "Mother's room" is beautiful. However, this movie is not perfect and has some issues. I personally found Meg Tilly's portrayal as Mary Loomis to be wooden but it's not overly distracting. The kills in the movie are also a bit to over the top. It's not that the kills aren't good but they're more like kills you'd see in a Friday the 13th movie rather than something like Psycho. But my main complaint is the twist ending in which the woman who runs the Diner in which Norman works has been committing the murders throughout the film and is his biological mother and Ms. Bates just adopted him. This ending is pointless and stupid and almost ruins the entire movie. The twist does nothing to further the plot and it would have been terrifying if Norman was doing it unaware. This twist is just attached last minute in a sort of gotcha moment when the movie was fine in fact great without it. With this twist just tacked on it make a great movie almost on par with the original just a pretty good sequel. It'd be like if they made a really good Batman movie and at the end for no reason we find out that the Waynes weren't his actual parents. I would suggest just stopping this movie right at the scene where he's eating the toasted cheese sandwiches after he gets home from the police station and you'll leave good enough alone. But overall, I felt this was a really good follow up despite the ending and is worth checking out if you're a fan of the original

Batman Returns (1992)

An underrated holiday classic

[8/10 · 1 October 2018]

Batman Returns is an underrated classic. Yes, it has its problems but for the most part it's a very entertaining film and a great follow-up to Batman (1989). Michael Keaton is still great as Batman the best in my opinion. He's intimidating yet not overly trying to be intimidating like Christian Bale. He also has a very charismatic performance as Bruce Wayne. He's suave yet cold from his tragic past. Danny Devito is terrifying as the penguin. His performance is uneasy to watch but in a good way. The penguins back story is very tragic and heartbreaking which adds great layers to his character and makes the audience feel a lot of sympathy for him. Michelle Pfeiffer is great as Catwoman. She really goes all in on the performance as someone whose gone crazy and is looking for revenge against the world. Her performance is probably my favorite in the whole film. You feel her pain of being lonely her whole life and her nearly dying has awoken this new woman to take on the world. Christopher Walken is great playing the maniacal businessman Max Shrek. You can tell he is having fun with his over the top performance. My favorite thing about this movie is the production design. Bo Welch created a very gothic and elaborate setting for the film. Everything from the buildings to the just the way people dress is just gothic and very old detective comic like. The zoo is my favorite set. I just love the giant polar bear in artic world. There's a giant crab. There's a duck car ride that looks like a ski lift. It just looks cool and thematic. The costumes are all great. The Penguin looks terrifying and is just unsettling to look at in a good way. Catwoman's suit is very accurate to the comics and fits the tone of the film. Max Shrek's outfits are all over top business suits that really look silly but in a way that works for his character and the tone of the film. The film is very comic book like. The set are straight from comic book drawings. The plot is very over the top and unrealistic, but it works but it sets up the universe in a way that just allows those things. The film is unapologetically an over the top Tim Burton comic book movie and that's why I love it.