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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
May 17, 2019 (Updated May 18, 2019)
Halloween offers a solid follow up to a Horror classic
Full diclosure - The original Halloween is one of my absolute favourite horror films of all time, so I wasn't sure what to think when the trailers for this started knocking around - it looked good, but I've spent years being fooled by sequels and reboots.
Thankfully, I left cinema feeling pretty satisfied.
Halloween offers that same feeling of dread the original offered up, alongside a great soundtrack (John Carpenter take a bow).
In terms if story, this movie disregards all sequels that has come before and picks up with Michael Myers still imprisoned for what happened in the original.
Of course, he eventually gets loose to reign terror on Haddonfield once again (there's a glorious one shot scene when he eventually arrives in said town), and what follows is a suitably gory slasher, that mostly ticks all the right boxes.
Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, but with somewhat of a Sarah Connor-esque makeover, and she's pretty badass - familiar yet fresh, as she fearlessly takes on a foe she's spent years preparing to face.
The rest of the cast were pretty take it or leave it for me, none leaving a lasting impact, and some plot points were a not needed (the whole story arc of The doctor springs to mind), but overall, a pretty solid horror flick that deserves your attention.
Thankfully, I left cinema feeling pretty satisfied.
Halloween offers that same feeling of dread the original offered up, alongside a great soundtrack (John Carpenter take a bow).
In terms if story, this movie disregards all sequels that has come before and picks up with Michael Myers still imprisoned for what happened in the original.
Of course, he eventually gets loose to reign terror on Haddonfield once again (there's a glorious one shot scene when he eventually arrives in said town), and what follows is a suitably gory slasher, that mostly ticks all the right boxes.
Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, but with somewhat of a Sarah Connor-esque makeover, and she's pretty badass - familiar yet fresh, as she fearlessly takes on a foe she's spent years preparing to face.
The rest of the cast were pretty take it or leave it for me, none leaving a lasting impact, and some plot points were a not needed (the whole story arc of The doctor springs to mind), but overall, a pretty solid horror flick that deserves your attention.
Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Hereditary (2018) in Movies
Oct 10, 2018
Oscar worthy performances from the cast (2 more)
A genuinely complex approach to character based horror
Grounded horror, exploring reality and supernatural settings
It may be a little too slow for some (1 more)
This is not an easy viewing, and not a popcorn flick, you will need to pay full attention!
We Are family...
This movie is....intense.
It is painful.
It is uncomfortable.
It has moments of genuine scares too, but mostly it has slow dread.
The performance of this movie are outstanding and very much worthy of Oscar consideration, especially for Toni Collette who is just beyond amazing as a mother watching her family fall apart, but whose mental fragility is questioned over the course of the movie.
They keep the viewer guessing at all times as to whether the actions of this movie are due to insanity or something else, and honestly, either way, it is nightmarish.
The actions and conversations of the main characters all seem natural, or at least plausible, and this grounds the otherwise surreal situations in a way that is rare on movies of this type.
The sound design in this movie is fantastic, using really dynamic sound effects and periods of silence to create tension and keep the viewer focused, since there are very few musical cues on offer.
It is a classic, beautifully performed, lovingly crafted, and haunting in its brutality, realism and despair.
Watch it!
It is painful.
It is uncomfortable.
It has moments of genuine scares too, but mostly it has slow dread.
The performance of this movie are outstanding and very much worthy of Oscar consideration, especially for Toni Collette who is just beyond amazing as a mother watching her family fall apart, but whose mental fragility is questioned over the course of the movie.
They keep the viewer guessing at all times as to whether the actions of this movie are due to insanity or something else, and honestly, either way, it is nightmarish.
The actions and conversations of the main characters all seem natural, or at least plausible, and this grounds the otherwise surreal situations in a way that is rare on movies of this type.
The sound design in this movie is fantastic, using really dynamic sound effects and periods of silence to create tension and keep the viewer focused, since there are very few musical cues on offer.
It is a classic, beautifully performed, lovingly crafted, and haunting in its brutality, realism and despair.
Watch it!
Rickey A. Mossow Jr. (689 KP) rated 3 From Hell (2019) in Movies
Dec 8, 2019
I just wasted nearly 2 hours of my life.
Already having issues with Rob Zombie films after he single-handedly tried to kill the Halloween franchise, I went into this one already predisposed to not have a good time watching. But, trying to partake due to my wife's love affair with this movie series, I was open-minded and objective. And then I wasted nearly two hours of my life I'll never get back.
Make no mistake, I get the series. I get the ideas behind Zombie's pet project series. A little comedy, a little horror, a little action flick, and a little bit satire. The violence, language, and nudity is gratuitous throughout, and I am one who can enjoy some violence, language, and nudity.
But this is all nonsensical BS passed off as a film. The film has more plot holes than bullet holes in random people. The characters are caricatures, hollow vessels that carry no weight or consequences. I didn't care who died by whose hand or what happened to anyone. There was blood, gore, boobs, language, and blunts. Time passed.
I don't know. Maybe that's the point. Maybe Zombie should do another film in this series. Or maybe some other pet project that tickles his fancy. Just as long as he leaves Michael Myers and every other quality iconic character alone. Please, Rob, for the love of all that is sacred in film.
Make no mistake, I get the series. I get the ideas behind Zombie's pet project series. A little comedy, a little horror, a little action flick, and a little bit satire. The violence, language, and nudity is gratuitous throughout, and I am one who can enjoy some violence, language, and nudity.
But this is all nonsensical BS passed off as a film. The film has more plot holes than bullet holes in random people. The characters are caricatures, hollow vessels that carry no weight or consequences. I didn't care who died by whose hand or what happened to anyone. There was blood, gore, boobs, language, and blunts. Time passed.
I don't know. Maybe that's the point. Maybe Zombie should do another film in this series. Or maybe some other pet project that tickles his fancy. Just as long as he leaves Michael Myers and every other quality iconic character alone. Please, Rob, for the love of all that is sacred in film.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
“Ice Age: Continental Drift” starts with Sid the Sloth telling a cute joke that sets up the whole movie plot and telling a new character how he and his friends fought dinosaurs and glaciers in the past. Manny, Sid and Diego are back on a new adventure going around the world looking for Sids prize acorn.
Manny is sadly separated from his mate Ellie and their daughter. While the trio are on the iceberg Peaches is on land trying to keep up with the cool kids of her class, which brings in a lot of new celebrity voices including Drake, Nicki Minaj and Heather Morris from Glee.
The story then jumps back to the iceberg when the trio comes across a Pirate Monkey named Captain Gutt, and a love interest for Diego in the form of a white tiger named Shira voiced by Jennifer Lopez. The Pirates try to take over and stop the friends from sailing on the high seas.
The movie tends to drag a little and songs are also now included in the dialog. The movie does deliver some rude jokes that younger audiences may not get, which makes it a family flick and a little bit of everything for the whole family. There are some laugh out loud moments and a few tears to be shed, however you would like to slice it, it will make for a nice afternoon movie with the family with younger children.
Manny is sadly separated from his mate Ellie and their daughter. While the trio are on the iceberg Peaches is on land trying to keep up with the cool kids of her class, which brings in a lot of new celebrity voices including Drake, Nicki Minaj and Heather Morris from Glee.
The story then jumps back to the iceberg when the trio comes across a Pirate Monkey named Captain Gutt, and a love interest for Diego in the form of a white tiger named Shira voiced by Jennifer Lopez. The Pirates try to take over and stop the friends from sailing on the high seas.
The movie tends to drag a little and songs are also now included in the dialog. The movie does deliver some rude jokes that younger audiences may not get, which makes it a family flick and a little bit of everything for the whole family. There are some laugh out loud moments and a few tears to be shed, however you would like to slice it, it will make for a nice afternoon movie with the family with younger children.
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) in Movies
Feb 28, 2021
On the surface, Return of the Living Dead III may seem like another zombie crawling splatter fest from genre favourite Brian Yuzna, but underneath the copious amounts of gore, is a tragic and often melancholy story about forbidden love, and hiding ones true nature. Sort of like the principles of King Kong, masquerading as a gory zombie flick, with a dash of Romeo & Juliet.
This wouldn't work quite so well if it wasn't for an equally menacing, touching, and occasionally emotional performance from Melinda Clarke, playing a character who is wrestling with her urge to consume flesh after being bought back to life following a fatal motorbike accident. Watching her humanity slowly vanish whilst her boyfriend (J. Trevor Edmund) tries to protect the woman he loves is genuinely sad. The rest of the cast are fine, but Clarke is the glue that holds everything together, whilst giving us an incredibly memorable horror anti-hero.
The effects work done on the various creatures and the subsequent gore is great. All done practically, and when it comes to the more visceral moments, this movie doesn't fuck about. It also builds up as it goes on. The last 20 minutes are absolutely nuts in almost every way.
ROTLD3 came highly recommended to me as a horror fan, and I would pass on that recommendation wholeheartedly. A hugely bloody film, with a whole bunch of heart.
This wouldn't work quite so well if it wasn't for an equally menacing, touching, and occasionally emotional performance from Melinda Clarke, playing a character who is wrestling with her urge to consume flesh after being bought back to life following a fatal motorbike accident. Watching her humanity slowly vanish whilst her boyfriend (J. Trevor Edmund) tries to protect the woman he loves is genuinely sad. The rest of the cast are fine, but Clarke is the glue that holds everything together, whilst giving us an incredibly memorable horror anti-hero.
The effects work done on the various creatures and the subsequent gore is great. All done practically, and when it comes to the more visceral moments, this movie doesn't fuck about. It also builds up as it goes on. The last 20 minutes are absolutely nuts in almost every way.
ROTLD3 came highly recommended to me as a horror fan, and I would pass on that recommendation wholeheartedly. A hugely bloody film, with a whole bunch of heart.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Jolt (2021) in Movies
Aug 3, 2021
The main thing that Jolt has going for it is Kate Beckinsale. Her protagonist is likable enough to just about carry the finished product through the finish line, and into vaguely entertaining territory. The rest of the cast ain't to shabby either - Bobby Cannavale, Stanley Tucci, Laverne Cox, David Bradley - all do pretty well with a patchy script (patchy sure, but I will admit that it made me laugh a few times...)
Other than that though, Jolt feels so familiar. It doesn't do anything new, which wouldn't be such an issue if it was exciting, but it just isn't. The action scenes are underwhelming, and it leans too heavily into the humorous side of things to be a serious thriller, whilst simultaneously trying too hard at the serious thriller aspect to be overly funny. The twist during the films finale is dumb as well - the whole thing would have worked better as a straightforward revenge flick. I also found the obvious sound stage set completely distracting. The scenery looked like and episode of Friends pretty frequently!
Got to admire the ambition to include a blatant set up for a sequel thats probably never going to happen though (complete with a mid credits scene...)
Jolt is a movie that thinks is smarter than it actually is, but it's entertaining enough (thanks in no small part to Kate Beckinsale) to justify a one time watch.
Other than that though, Jolt feels so familiar. It doesn't do anything new, which wouldn't be such an issue if it was exciting, but it just isn't. The action scenes are underwhelming, and it leans too heavily into the humorous side of things to be a serious thriller, whilst simultaneously trying too hard at the serious thriller aspect to be overly funny. The twist during the films finale is dumb as well - the whole thing would have worked better as a straightforward revenge flick. I also found the obvious sound stage set completely distracting. The scenery looked like and episode of Friends pretty frequently!
Got to admire the ambition to include a blatant set up for a sequel thats probably never going to happen though (complete with a mid credits scene...)
Jolt is a movie that thinks is smarter than it actually is, but it's entertaining enough (thanks in no small part to Kate Beckinsale) to justify a one time watch.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Black Widow Vol. 1: S.H.I.E.L.D.'S Most Wanted: Volume 1 in Books
Nov 30, 2020
Man, I so wanted to be bowled over this one! But, in the end? Not so much!
Let's see.. Natasha Romanoff is still BW? Check! Mark Waid is writing? Check! Chris Samnee is handling the art? And, check! Seriously, sounds like a recipe for "Win!", but I didn't think so. And, I am know I am in the minority (along w/hating "emo" Robert Pattison-as-Batman), but that is what makes GoodReads so great: freedom to express your opinion on books read!
I quite liked Samnee's art! I thought his (in my opinion) very Steve McQueen/1970s "spy flick"-influenced style worked PERFECT for this! I know he worked on DD (w/Waid), but I did not check it out as I <i>like</i> DAREDEVIL, but I don't <i>love</i> it! Going forward, I can't wait too more work coming Chris' way!
Now, Waid's writing? It never gelled for me! I normally gravitate towards his scripting, but for I dunno. The writing overall felt "off" and at times, the flashbacks didn't always fit as seemlessly as they should have! Even his dialogue for Natasha just didn't "Wow!" me in any way!
At the end of the day, I don't there is much else I can say that hasn't already been said! It seems like mostly everyone liked/loved, while I didn't! That said, read it, and make up your own opinion! Just like I did...!
Let's see.. Natasha Romanoff is still BW? Check! Mark Waid is writing? Check! Chris Samnee is handling the art? And, check! Seriously, sounds like a recipe for "Win!", but I didn't think so. And, I am know I am in the minority (along w/hating "emo" Robert Pattison-as-Batman), but that is what makes GoodReads so great: freedom to express your opinion on books read!
I quite liked Samnee's art! I thought his (in my opinion) very Steve McQueen/1970s "spy flick"-influenced style worked PERFECT for this! I know he worked on DD (w/Waid), but I did not check it out as I <i>like</i> DAREDEVIL, but I don't <i>love</i> it! Going forward, I can't wait too more work coming Chris' way!
Now, Waid's writing? It never gelled for me! I normally gravitate towards his scripting, but for I dunno. The writing overall felt "off" and at times, the flashbacks didn't always fit as seemlessly as they should have! Even his dialogue for Natasha just didn't "Wow!" me in any way!
At the end of the day, I don't there is much else I can say that hasn't already been said! It seems like mostly everyone liked/loved, while I didn't! That said, read it, and make up your own opinion! Just like I did...!
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Uncle Peckerhead (2020) in Movies
Oct 11, 2020
Uncle Peckerhead is a silly name for a silly movie, but dammit, it's a movie that knows how to have a good time.
There's really not too much to grumble about with this punk rock splatter flick. For starters, it has a mostly likable cast, the highlight being David Littleton as the titular Peckerhead (Peck for short). Even though he's a flesh eating demon, he still comes across as a good dude who just wants to look after this young punk band he's taken on as travel companions. The interactions between him and Max (Jeff Riddle) are pretty hilarious. In fact, the film got a few good laughs out of me during it's runtime.
As a musician, I also appreciated the fairly accurate portrayal of what it's like playing live music at ground level. Audience's who don't care, sparsely populated venues, and the occasional promoter who turns out to be a douche (not my place to say if they deserve to get eaten or not...)
The gore in this film hits hard as well. It's fairly infrequent, but when it does come, it's pretty absurd and all achieved using some decent practical work.
I also enjoyed the soundtrack for the most part, and have been introduced to a great punk band called School Drugs through this film as well - another positive!
Uncle Peckerhead is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, it's entertaining, gory, funny, and just a complete blast. Seek it out!
There's really not too much to grumble about with this punk rock splatter flick. For starters, it has a mostly likable cast, the highlight being David Littleton as the titular Peckerhead (Peck for short). Even though he's a flesh eating demon, he still comes across as a good dude who just wants to look after this young punk band he's taken on as travel companions. The interactions between him and Max (Jeff Riddle) are pretty hilarious. In fact, the film got a few good laughs out of me during it's runtime.
As a musician, I also appreciated the fairly accurate portrayal of what it's like playing live music at ground level. Audience's who don't care, sparsely populated venues, and the occasional promoter who turns out to be a douche (not my place to say if they deserve to get eaten or not...)
The gore in this film hits hard as well. It's fairly infrequent, but when it does come, it's pretty absurd and all achieved using some decent practical work.
I also enjoyed the soundtrack for the most part, and have been introduced to a great punk band called School Drugs through this film as well - another positive!
Uncle Peckerhead is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, it's entertaining, gory, funny, and just a complete blast. Seek it out!