Change Your Image
stevenvenn
Reviews
Beast (2017)
So what's the real story?
I thought this movie was leading up to Moll being the one who committed the murders (like she had stabbed the girl in her teens). Her mother was so overbearing and manipulative that it seemed like Moll's autonomy was taken away as she was kept at home (under her mother's thumb). So she cracked - was the doting daughter upstaged by her family while maybe being schizophrenic and sneaking out to kill the other girls as she had tried to as a teen. Even the scene where she has a dream of people breaking into Pascal's house only to reveal that it's her attacking the girl that was found. Also the scene where Moll sits on the living room couch covered in dirt and scratching her dirty nails across it seemed like a perfect tipoff. But in the end it seems like it was Pascal who did it along, boring! I would have loved if the jeep crash with her crawling along the road revealed that Pascal was never there and that she tried to kill herself telling her split personality (the weaker, suppressed one) that it was "over." As in it's over for both "Molls". The final reveal would have been great to see Moll being the only one who crawled out of the crash only to die on the street from injuries. Cut to black. You know this had to be an alternate ending that wasn't chosen (but would have been a great twist).
Infinity Pool (2023)
Acorn doesn't fall far from the effed-up Cronenberg tree
While I loved Mia Goth's performance in this it was an interesting concept that seemed to collapse under its own weight. The second and third acts seem to descend into a nihilistic pitch black satire on the rich. I think the ending was a bit confusing too. Is it him? Is it a double? Why did he stay? What's going to happen out there in the real world? Are all the tourists all clones? Is the razor wire to keep them in rather than keep people out? Original for sure but weird AF. I think it was easier to follow Possessor and it might have been the better of his works in comparison to this and his debut Antiviral.
Red Island (2018)
Alex Essoe was done no favours here.
Glad to see Alex Essoe getting her due in Mike Flanagan productions and after Starry Eyes in spite of this effort. This film is embarrassing to her talent and hopefully it was one of her first (or a favour to a friend). She's the only thing about this that makes this even worth watching at all. Her talents are wasted here in a dark film (darkly shot but not dark in mystery or story, just bad cinematography). It looks horrible and acted poorly. Back Country this is not. Skip it unless you are an Alex Essoe completist. Zero talent outside of her. The guy playing her husband was a real zero. 3/10.
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
A Rock n Roll Classic!
This movie is a cartoon of ridiculousness and hilarity, and so amazing! A great time capsule of 1980 and high school films exaggerated to an incredible degree!. Only a mix of Roger Corman and The Ramones could produce something so classic! One of the best rock music movies/comedies.
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004)
Had high hopes but it's a one joke show really
I love British comedies and I love spoofs of 80s TV shows. But this seems to be neither a very funny comedy nor a successful parody. I think aesthetically they have the 80s style of a Glen Larson show down pat but that's where the joke ends (and it gets repeated over and over again). I think that satire works best when there is a certain seriousness and earnestness to the writing and the performances, that the characters aren't in on the joke. That doesn't seem like the case here. This just seemed like it was riding on the strength of how weird and wacky the 80s were for TV production and for bad writing and acting. One joke. But the show doesn't go further and becomes just as bad a show or worse than the ones that would have been cancelled in the 80s. I think they could have taken the aesthetic but had tighter, more comedic writing. I like Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry in IT Crowd who are mostly wasted in this show.
No this show is not the best comedy since The Office, that award goes to Peep Show which is something I recommend people go and check out. Alternatively The Mighty Boosh or Spaced are miles ahead in creativity and humour.
Linda Linda Linda (2005)
3 chords and sass: Just you and me, punk rock girl.
I just saw this film at the Toronto Film Fest and this is what Josie and The Pussycats should have been. This charming little Japanese film will have you singing the Blue Hearts title song over and over. A group of aspiring teenage girls form a band to perform for the high school rock festival, can they get it together? Kudos to Nobuhiro Yamashita for putting together such a cute and impressive cast of young women who make up the band who are all skilled actresses. This is a sweet film that will win over any teenage girl who ever thought that they could start an indie band (but also wins over an adult crowd with it's modest charm and it's humor). Fans of Japanese female bands like Shonen Knife and the 5678s will also dig this film I think.
BAE Du-Na (Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, Take Care of My Cat) as Song wins my vote as the most endearing oddball in this film who wins you over with her big eyes and teenage awkwardness (not to mention a lot of funny misunderstandings because she is a Korean exchange student who speaks little Japanese). Generally this is a movie that will be talked about a lot I think when it gets a full release. Hands down one of the best at the Toronto fest this year (2005).
Les rivières pourpres (2000)
Interesting movie bad dub
Be sure to watch this in french with subtitles.
The english dubbed version has some of the worst audio mixes I have ever come across. The dialogue is way too low and sits far behind the foley and environmental sounds. Watching this had me longing for non-foley quiet sections of the film. Dubbing is by far one of the worst things that can be done to a foreign film and this is an all-time low. It's noisy and annoying in all the wrong places. Maybe American film fans can finally learn to read subtitles and save us from earaches like this.
Generally an ok film ruined by a slow and plodding plot and an even worse audio interpretation and mix. Cassels dubs are terrible and the guy who does his voice is an amateur.