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The Vigil (2019)
Another horror movie that'll be quickly forgotten, despite a unique backdrop
The Vigil has the merit of taking place on a road rarely trodden by horror films: Jewish folklore. And that's about the only original thing about the film, which follows scenes already seen hundreds of times, with a hero with heavy post-traumatic stress in the background.
Despite an original starting idea and an interesting horrific setting, The Vigil seriously struggles to excite the viewer. The usual jump scares and sudden appearances do not work. The soundtrack, all shrill saturated screams, seems more frightened than the viewer. The misadventures of the protagonist are underwhelming, and the feeling of déjà-vu that reigns makes the film banal.
Quite disappointing, as the first half of the moving was promising, and I was excited to watch a horror movie with a Jewish backdrop.
Good Time (2017)
Exhilarating, intense, unpredictable
I'm alive watching it. The film lives up to its name and gives me a good time, an exhilarating cinematic experience. The overwhelming soundtrack, the really tight focal length shots, the intense atmosphere. The characters on-screen and the situations they're in feel authentic, making it extremely hard to anticipate what will happen next.
Good Time really conveyed the desperation, futility, and cyclical nature of crime. The ending sequence of Connie getting put into the back of a police car with Ray falling off the building really hit home. What was it all for? What did it achieve? Connie just kept trying to dig his way out of the hole.
John Dies at the End (2012)
It wasn't good, but I liked it. Ridiculously entertaining.
Beyond the sometimes inconsistent pacing and somewhat unclear chronology (which I'm sure was possibly intentional) I thought the film was a fantastic mix of horror and absurdity, with a definite touch of satire. The whole movie is like living in a windowless room not knowing where reality begins and fantasy ends. Then you add in crazy things like telepathy, time travel, drug use and demons that affect all of that. It was low budget B-fun, we don't get these kind of movies often.
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Important incident to make public, okay movie
I went into this film not knowing anything about it or even the true story.
A man realizes that he needs to act right in order to stay with his daughter just to find himself dead by the end of the movie. I think the approach and structure of the story is at the very least admirable. It's the buildup to the demise of the character that creates the interest. That is why so many have such a problem with origin stories. We know the outcome, so the journey better be worth it. I felt that part of the point of the film was that police brutality targets average people, not exceptional movie characters. Him going about his daily life as an average person drove home that point well. Michael B Jordan's performance was phenomenal.
However, it just fell a little flat. The movie was way to heavy handed in trying to paint Oscar as a saint. A lot of this movie felt like it was trying too hard to make you feel bad for Oscar. Are we really supposed to believe that he was turning his entire life around the day before he was murdered? It just seemed like they were worried we wouldn't feel bad enough for an unmarried father who was arrested for dealing drugs, and was fired for having a bad work ethic. Ultimately it felt a bit like a TV-Movie-of-the-Week dramatization of a news story.
The overall point of the film is to show a regular person from one segment of society and how police overreaction can lead to unintended death.
Kids (1995)
An intelligent film that a wide range of different people will react to in a wide range of different ways.
It was more of sub culture hit. Either within the skate culture, the rave culture or just the NYC/urban culture. My guess is a lot of people didn't like it because it was ugly, or seedy, but that's life sometimes. There is no metaphoric significance, because it's not meant to be an art film. It's meant to be a "life" film, notwithstanding the amazing soundtrack. It also launched a couple careers, namely Rosario Dawson and Chloe Sevigny and Leo Fitzpatrick who have all been great in other projects.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Fills you with a sense of dread and helplessness
Regardless of it not being action packed it's extremely good at building tension and a sense of dread throughout. Consistent characters and sublime acting. The demon had a presence that was much stronger than most haunting movies that show you more.
Wrong Turn (2003)
Love the concept, movie was nothing special
It was entertaining and engaging as much as it was tired and expected. Acting and soundtrack were irritating in some parts of the movie. Very cheesy and cliche but will certainly appeal to many as an entertaining backwoods slasher.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
A masterpiece. The whole movie is as you would've found it if they truly went missing
A masterpiece, to put it simply, and one of the most influential and iconic horror movies of all time. It's a disturbing film without any violence or any monsters.
The naturalism of the actors is unrivaled. It's impossible to overstate how compelling each performance is. Our main character is a joy to behold in every scene, with the perfect tone and expression to accompany every word of dialog. Every minute she wasn't in frame speaking into the camera was a minute I wished she were. I could not imagine a better performance.
The recurring sense of "dread" as each night falls, and the slow escalation of the threat, followed by the sudden release of tension at dawn, puts the viewer through an ordeal that you share with the characters. The film perfectly captures the feeling of being lost in the woods. The panic, the anxiety, and how easy it is to get turned around. On one of the final nights as the sun is setting, you can hear the desperation in Heather's voice as they know what's coming and are powerless to stop it.
There couldn't have been a better ending. It's the stuff you don't see that makes this film so scary. Your own imagination is always more terrifying than anything on screen.
The movie had perfect timing and excellent marketing. Came out when the internet was still the Wild Wild West. It was pretty difficult to prove or disprove anything quickly and search engines were still pretty primitive. The studio took advantage of this and as a result the movie had a lot of buildup. I dont' think anyone will ever be able to recreate that type of marketing again. If you tried that today you would have blog posts, articles, videos, tweets, tearing every aspect apart.
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011)
Disgusting and very well directed, acted, and photographed.
Essentially no plot, just stark brutality in "artistic" (?) black and white. The violence is all very gritty and "realistic." I felt like the surrealism was intentional, like it was intended to put you in a state of mind that you'd be if you were actually living the movie. "This can't be happening, this can't be real". Basically a gory, graphic sequel.
Laurence Harvey put on a hell of a performance as Martin. This man is so creepy and disturbing; his mannerisms and little gestures he makes when watching The Human Centipede are so awkward, as well as his relationship with his mother make him a very interesting villain character. I watched an interview with some of the cast of the movie which included Laurence Harvey and he is such a genuinely friendly guy with a lot of life in his personality; to see him portray this character impressed the hell out of me, which speaks to his acting abilities.
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
A triumph!
Excellent performances, beautiful photography, great music. The visual storytelling and the visual motifs/metaphors (The fly, the apricots) were all very well done. The characters felt so real to me. But..
It just wasn't interesting. I tried engaging with this movie for two hours and it never spoke to me. Which is a shame because everyone seems to have found something truly special speaking to them, and I'm left scratching my head wondering if I missed something or if I'm just broken.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
City of God is a clinic of competent, bold film-making satisfaction.
From beginning to end, City of God is beautiful, pointed, enthusiastic, and adventurous in every category. The cinematography and editing deserve enormous heaps of praise. The writing, acting, and directing come together for a visceral, haunting experience.
It is one of the most diverse films I have ever seen. It is an action movie with drugs and guns; it is a romance with a harshly enlightened view on the purest forms of love in a favela; it is a period drama about the heart of Brazil in one of the most eventful periods of human history. Altogether, it is a war film about the chaos of forgotten life. This movie is a masterpiece.