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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) (1993) in Movies

Jul 4, 2021  
Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) (1993)
Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) (1993)
1993 | Drama, International, Mystery
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Look, I swear I'm not trying to be a buzzkill - but it's not my fault 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵 (2011) was such a staggering masterpiece that it retroactively ruined most films which tackle the same sorts of subject matter for me. I can't deny how formally unique this all is, and I ultimately think that it mostly? semi? kinda? works in the end (the finale in particular is a bracing work of art - if only on the surface). But I also found a lot of this to be heavy-handed and/or pompous - including but not limited to those cheesy "MTV Jackass"-style fade-outs paired with the capable but intrusive score which get overused into oblivion. I understand that the feeling of detachment with itself is purposeful - and sometimes it leads to successful results - but I have the same issue with similar-type films like 𝘒𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦 (which - to be fair - this is better than) where it gets so lost in its sea of purposeful ambiguity that it trades out substance for an artificial sense of mystery. And again, I get that this is all the point. Maybe this would have resonated better with me had I dealt with such grief as depicted here? Is this even for me? Maybe not, but even still this is home to some hard facepalm schmaltz in general. Another unpopular opinion while we're at it, this looks good in the beginning but after that it mostly really looks various shades of okay-to-bland imo. But I'm a sucker for nuance - which even in its faults this is in entirety - so sure, I'll take it. I definitely won't be forgetting it any time soon.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Jarhead (2005) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020  
Jarhead (2005)
Jarhead (2005)
2005 | Drama
3
5.0 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. At least 90% surface-level and even more largely reductive - of course it is - but it's also totally incompetent. A 2+ hour torture session slog through a barren wasteland visually (Deakins of course shoots the living hell out of it, so there's some damn fine imagery every now and again but Jesus Christ could we do more than two fucking [mawkish and over-obviously symbolized] colors for this whole thing?) but moreso narratively, where this has absolutely nothing to say. You'd think this intentionally dances right around any sort of gift-wrapped commentary about the Gulf War, toxic masculinity, the late 1980s, the American military for young men, or literally anything at all with how dead and non-thematic this awkward crawl is. It can't even be bothered in exploring its own characters lives, I kept forgetting who these people even were - the movie clearly didn't care about them so why should I? Also has the same problem most of these one-dimensional, pandering, tedious war flicks have where it rushes right through the supposed pivotal moment all of this arduous buildup was clearly meant for when they all return home and it's only like 5 minutes of soap opera-level crap and a cheesy 'mic drop' finisher. At its best when it gets weird and Sam Mendes-y, and I can't say it's without solid moments of haunt - plus Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard, and Foxx keep it marginally more tolerable - but even if it *could* handle its tone (spoiler alert, it can't) this still plays like it was made by complete idiots who only cared about this being would-be Oscar bait.
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999) in Movies

Oct 6, 2020  
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
1999 | Horror
3
4.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Alternative/goth female lead? Check. Atrocious CGI? Check. Casual homophobic slurs? Check. We are deep into shitty 90s straight-to-video territory here.

Wishmaster 2 is a big step down from the first film in almost every way. In its defense, it had a pretty small budget, but Christ it looks cheap. All of the characters are boring and under-developed, the lead character is somehow more irritating than the girl from the first Wishmaster, some of the acting on display is pretty horrific and the sound mix is just all over the place.
I found myself forgetting the general plot as I was watching it - what the fuck was that Russian gangster side plot all about?

If there are some positives to take from Wishmaster 2 (and believe me, there aren't many) then the best one is obviously Andrew Divoff, returning as The Djinn. He hams it up a storm, and provides the only entertainment value this movie has to offer. I will also say that the make up work on his demonic form looks pretty good.
Aside from that, there are a couple of good gore scenes, the guy forcing himself through the prison bars is a particularly gratuitous and bloody moment and the practical effects are decent enough, it's just that these fleeting moments of something resembling quality are few and far between. There's also a bit where a guy contorts his body to literally fuck himself, so there's that...

Overall then, Wishmaster 2 is pretty crap, which is a shame, as the flawed but entertaing first movie showed some franchise potential. Can't wait to put myself through Wishmaster 3 and 4....