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Flatliners (1990)
Flatliners (1990)
1990 | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Stupid, to be sure (Kiefer Sutherland gets his ass kicked by a supernatural 8-year-old on multiple occasions) - and I do side with the critiques that this could have been a lot deeper, but this is still completely righteous. A ghostly, heavily portentous, lush modern day gothic-medical melodrama that came out in the 90s yet *screams* 1985 right down to the haircuts. Try to picture 𝘚𝘵. 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘰'𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 as a gen X YA horror flick. One of my all-time favorite film premises, and even Schumacher's (RIP) supporters I don't think give him enough credit for making all these interesting camp spectacles that - of all things - you can hardly say are unoriginal *nor* forgettable. A bunch of medical students chill out in an old cathedral thing which doubles as a medical lab where they perform clandestine death experiments on each other out in the open and argue about who can die the longest lmao, it's whoppingly silly stuff that thankfully takes itself dead (no pun intended) seriously. Pulpy, moody, atmospheric, and just looks extraordinary to boot - the visuals really tie that bind between our world and whatever lies beyond in an increasingly unstable way, as if some sort of constant (losing) struggle. So good that I actually even liked the infamous sentimental ending.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated 47 Ronin (2013) in Movies

Jan 12, 2021 (Updated Jul 4, 2021)  
47 Ronin (2013)
47 Ronin (2013)
2013 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
As expected this is a lot of eye-popping visual work in service of a story void of even a single drop of weight. Too much gorgeous design fetish on display to truly dislike in spite of it being executed as plainly as can be otherwise - for every mechanical, generic expository beat there's a splashpad of stunning locales, vibrant costumes, luscious CGI, sweeping sets, excellent props, and fully realized art backing it up. It's super atmospheric and the money is *definitely* on the screen but everything underneath the hood is not only lackluster but genuinely problematic. The idea to take one of the most legendary events in Japanese history and not only turn it into another passive whitewashed popcorn flick is gross all on its own, but to frame the entire thing around a bunch of wronged Japanese men + women having to constantly praise and apologize to a white man for bullying him or whatever is - quite frankly - beyond insulting. As much as I won't soon be forgetting the pop aesthetic experience this delivered upon, I'm also glad it bombed. A screenplay this goofy has no right being so tame. And see the skull guy on the poster? He's only in the movie for like 30 seconds so fuck you.