Change Your Image
AdamVenrick
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Extremely disappointing
This movie hit theaters when I was first getting into film and so it made sense to go watch it. But sitting through this film felt a lot like being kidnapped and forced to make a video where you say you're "okay and unharmed." I truly wanted to walk out, but because it's the Coens, how could I?
I even like some of their more polarizing movies. Burn After Reading, sign me up. But this is just so forgettable, so utterly and totally soulless. My advice, skip it.
Piranha (1978)
There's a lot of stupid people in this movie
It's frustrating to watch movies like this where the characters just kind of make the wrong decision at every turn.
...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà (1981)
Um...what?
This feels like Lucio Fulci just yes-anding himself into oblivion.
Green Room (2015)
Punk Rockers vs. Neo-Nazis
This movie is awesome, but also definitely hard to watch, not for everyone and something that, even at its most enjoyable is only good for a rewatch once a year. Still, an excellent thriller with incredible performances that feels strangely relevant.
Possum (2018)
A Freudian horror movie.
Much as I prefer films that are heavy on dialogue (Possum has very little), the 80+ minute visual trio that this movie is will leave you shaken for a long time afterwards.
Are We Not Cats (2016)
A slow burn but worth the wait.
The last third of this film will absolutely destroy you.
Zombi 2 (1979)
So here's the thing...
I'd known about this movie for years before I watched it. The "eyeball scene" really made me want to steer clear. But ultimately, in watching it, I was kind of left wondering why it felt so boring. I don't personally have a problem with gore (although it's not my personal favorite), but I think that if a film is going to go that route, it should at least have an entertainment factor to go along with it, or something to say. This really didn't. And so ultimately, by the end, one has to wonder what the point was.
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
A Brechtian zombie film.
I definitely see the criticisms but I love this film.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Violence, Nihilism and Philosophy
I read the book that this movie was based on a few months back, and I'd been meaning to see it ever sense. At first, I was befuddled by the ending. Llewelyn is murdered by drug dealers, and his innocent young wife (she's 19 in the book) is killed at the hands of Chigurh. I figured it was strange, seeing the bad guy lose. But then I understood that it was just McCarthy's grim picture of a violent world. A violent place which is NOT FOR OLD MEN. The film surpassed my expectation, with Bardem playing the strangely principled human terminator Chigurh and Tommy Lee Jones playing the nihilistically minded sheriff Ed Tom Bell. The acting was brilliant, the writing and direction were brilliant. All of it was absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this film for fans of the original novel, and for people who just enjoy a good film.
Saw (2004)
It's About the Game, Not the Players
So, this is more of an essay about the series as a whole, and my belief as to the fact that at its core, the films are supposed to be philosophical. Each one tackles a different philosophical question. Although, granted they did lose some of this quality after their original director and writer left after films one and three respectively. I'll go film by film.
1. Would you kill to save yourself/your loved ones? If you've seen the film, you know the plot, and you know the big twist at the end. And while the characters of Adam and Lawrence have become two of the better known characters in the series. But it's ultimately not about them. It's about the audience having to answer that question for themselves. And it's also a parody of the ideals of masculinity (Adam means man, and he is portrayed as an angry, testosterone fueled @$$hole... incidentally, my first name is also Adam. Not important, but felt like sharing, because what the hell, this is my review.) Lawrence means blessed, and yet Lawrence doesn't see how blessed he is. Finally, we have the killer John Kramer (aka Jigsaw.) Biblically, John wrote the book of Revelation, which is about a destructive message from God. All of his victims receive a destructive message from an omnisentient being.
2. What would you do to survive in a hostile situation? That's what the group of people in the death house have to ask themselves. Ultimately, this film is my favorite of the series because knowing about the monster doesn't decrease the fear you feel for him. It makes him scarier. Same thing with the names. Daniel means God is my judge. From the beginning, Daniel was protected by Jigsaw and Amanda. Eric consequently means ruler, suggesting his authoritative, but ultimately flawed nature.
3. Would an eye for an eye make the whole world blind? A man seeks vengeance for the death of his child and (at the end) the death of his wife. Similarly, one can note that Amanda means: worthy of love. This plays into her character as she is a jealous character who has been hurt by everyone she's ever loved.
Then, they got crappy, so I'll speed up a little.
4. Is apathy ever an answer?
5. Basically a very long, gory argument for collectivism.
6. (My favorite of the post original trilogy.) If you had the power to kill with impunity for profit, should you? (The answer, even outside a fictional world is no.)
7. Is it wrong to capitalize on others misfortunes? (Yes. Very yes.)
Antichrist (2009)
The Earth is Evil
Part one of Von Trier's "Trilogy of Depression," immediately sets up the thesis statement which "Melancholia" later delivers. Namely: "The Earth is Evil, and we shouldn't weep for its destruction. Now, let me be clear, I don't necessarily agree with this, but this movie is a notch (or seven or eight) above most modern horror movies. The film acts like a cross between Ingmar Bergman's existential films and Joyce Carol Oates' psycho-sexual horror novels. The film (much like "Don't Look Now,") is an exploration of the ghost of guilt. After the death of their child, an unnamed man and woman move to an isolated cabin in the woods where the evil of nature closes in on them. Stricken with abnormal grief, she begins to suffer a psychological breakdown, as he begins to witness terrifying hallucinations of the "three beggars." The film takes its horror from graphic sex and violence, while still being psychological enough to keep its monsters mostly hidden. He, who constantly clings to good and reason through the film, is ultimately unable to save his wife, and after administering a mercy killing, he walks up the hill and witnesses the apparitions of women walking up the hill towards him. What does that mean? It means that in spite of his rationality, he has come to the inevitable conclusion, just as she did, that the earth is in fact an evil place. And therein lies the true horror. The idea that life may be meaningless.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Perfect Horror Movie
Hi, my name is Adam, and I'm a horror movie addict. God, that felt stupid to say, but it seemed like the right way to start the review. I guess if you took the word horror out, you'd still have the truth. I'm a movie addict. And this is The Perfect Movie. As a matter of fact, this film is the reason I love horror movies, and movies in general. I read the book the summer after my eighth grade year (a little too young, still to really appreciate it.) The novel, let me say, as an aspiring horror writer, is excellent and ranks in my top 10 desert island books. The film changes only minor aspects of the film, and is in itself almost as brilliant, with great writing, great directing and top notch acting from Jodie Foster as FBI agent (in training) Clarice Starling, Scott Glenn as her boss, Jack Crawford. Ted Levine plays a great villain as Jame Gumb. But of course, the crown jewel is Anthony Hopkins as the demonic cannibal madman Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who offers the key to solving the film's over arching serial killer mystery. As far as horror villains go, there are two kinds. The silent embodiment of rage: Jason, Michael Myers, xenomorphs, Leatherface. And then, there are the truly terrifying, intelligent villains: John Doe, John Kramer, the cenobites and of course Hannibal Lecter. Lecter's ego, his monstrous brain, and his constant presence throughout the work are what give him his power, and his ability to remain calm, even when committing unspeakable acts of murder and mutilation are what give the film its true "horror" quality.