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Castlevania: Nocturne (2023)
A Flawed But Entertaining Story
The original Castlevania series from Netflix was fun and well made. The voice acting and dialogue felt odd at some times (Nocturne suffers from that too) but for the most part I really enjoyed it and would love a third season although that seems unlikely.
Nocturne is a pretty big step down from the original in almost every way. That doesn't mean it's bad by any means, but just about every aspect of the original is better.
The characters - Our main character Richter is not as well acted or interesting as Simon, but is different enough to not feel like a carbon copy. I enjoy how he doesn't feel as powerful as Simon; that helps add some tension. Some of the other characters are forgettable - Maria, Drolta, Eduard, Annette. Annette has some stand out moments in the story, same with Eduard, but when you try to introduce so many new characters that only have important moments they start to feel more like chess pieces than fleshed out characters. One of the more intriguing characters, Olrox, feels like he should have been the main villain. Plus, McClarnon's voice performance is easily the best. The real antagonist of the story feels like a hurdle and nothing more.
The animation and art - I feel like the art is significantly better than the original series. In that show, characters had moments where they looked really off. With Nocturne it feels like they've spent a lot more time on the art. The animation in my opinion doesn't feel as smooth. It looked pretty rough at points except for a few moments in the last 2 episodes where it looked incredible.
Briefly touching on the end - no spoilers - I am cautiously optimistic for season 2 based on the ending of the show. I'm hoping that our Nocturne characters continue to get most of the focus and aren't set aside for an alternative.
I enjoyed the first season. It was a bit dull at times and the characters lacked the intrigued of the original trio, but I'm interested enough for a season 2.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
An odd and predictable addition to a decent horror franchise
For Halloween I have been marathoning the Saw movies. I watched the first two a long time ago, but decided I would finish them all starting with the third movie. From what I could remember I enjoyed Saw quite a bit. The second one not as much, but still entertaining. I was thoroughly surprised that, for the most part, the Saw movies have a pretty cohesive plot that carries through each movie. I had heard from friends that the films exist purely for gore and brutal kills, but they are quite a bit more under the surface.
Fast forward to Jigsaw, the previous film. We're given some of the most realistic characters in the Saw franchise. It's in this film, however, that I noticed a serious drop in quality of the two most important aspects of Saw (in my opinion). The plot and the traps. Spiral suffers from the exact same problem and its characters are a major step down.
Spiral tries to lasso it's former fans and make some new ones by bringing in two well known actors: Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. Not always is this a bad sign, but here it definitely is. Chris Rock is unbearable in this movie and since he's the lead he's in just about every scene. He looks completely uninterested and sleepy. Sam Jackson is heavily underutilized, but his performance is at least decent. The other characters are disposable and forgettable. The best performance by far is Max Minghella as Chris Rock's partner. He's pretty realistic as far as Spiral's characters go.
The inevitable twist towards the end is beyond predictable and Spiral might just have the worst ending to a Saw movie yet.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Has not aged well.
Anchorman follows "legendary" news anchor, Ron Burgundy played by Will Ferrell and his news team (Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner) as they challenge their new anchor, Veronica Corningstone, played by Christina Applegate.
For a long time I have hated Will Ferrell movies. I found him loud, annoying, and unfunny. Films like Daddy's Home, A Night at the Roxbury, and Zoolander made me want to stay away from anything else he had to offer. Elf was one of my least favorites for a long time, but for some reason I don't hate it as much anymore. It may be due to the innocent nature of the film. Talladega Nights rides the line of acceptable humor nowadays, but it works better for me than Anchorman.
I watched the film years ago but I remebered nothing about it. That's not a good sign. Upon rewatch, I wish I still didn't remember it. Anchorman is filled with some of the most childish and random humor I've seen in a long time. I understand that humor is subjective and it's effect changes over time. What I don't understand is how anyone can think this is a funny movie when we have humor on the level of poop and fart jokes along with some bottom of the barrel slap stick. Sex jokes are rarely funny in an R rated movie. To put a bunch in a PG-13 film is a risk that doesn't oay off. Sexism is a major theme of the movie and I get that the humor has to reflect that, but it doesn't land. Especially when Burgundy clearly loves Corningstone, but also doesn't want to work with her. Burgundy's crew of idiots are unbearable to watch.
Steve Carrell gives the cringiest performance of his career, Koechner does nothing but cry and sing the whole time, and Rudd just smells bad. How do these people have a legendary status?
Positives - The costumes are great. Applegate's performance is by far the best. There are some pretty good believable stunts and some relatively clever humor in the last fifth or so of the film.
If you're still somehow a fan of Ferrell's movies then you have probably already seen this. If not, you'll enjoy it without a doubt. For me, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
17 Blocks (2019)
Not a story worthy of a documentary
I went into this documentary knowing absolutely nothing about it. It started off promising - it was set up to be an intriguing and heartbreaking story. Unfortunately it's lacking in substance and didn't feel like a story worth telling. Also, most of this documentary consists of random and unimportant moments with the Sanford family that are poorly edited together. You'd think that with 20 years of footage they would be able to put together some interesting clips related to the death of Emmanuel which is the focal point of the doc. If 30 minutes were clipped from the second half, that would be a major improvement as most of the second half drags on without a story left to tell.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Surpassed All Expectations
Top Gun: Maverick is the long awaited sequel to the 1986 film starring Tom Cruise. Cruise returns as Maverick, but the film also stars Miles Teller who plays Rooster, the son of Goose, Maverick's former wingman. The basic story is that Maverick is reluctantly hired to teach a bunch of cocky young pilots how to complete a very difficult mission while he also repairs his relationship with Rooster.
I don't have much nostalgia or love for the first Top Gun mainly because I didn't see it until several years ago. I think it's a fine movie that does what it sets out to do. It's extremely cheesy, but a fun time nonetheless. When Top Gun: Maverick was announced many people were very excited. I wasn't. In a world were many unnecessary prequels/sequels are being made, this just felt like another addition to that collection. I was wrong. This movie has no reason to be as good as it is. It improves upon the first film in literally every aspect. The acting and writing is ten times better while still keeping a smidge of that original cheese factor. The cinematography and directing are really what makes this film shine though. The shots of the interior and exterior of the jets as they are moving at reall high speeds are unlike anything I have ever seen before. You really get a sense for how fast and dangerous they really are. The decision to use real jets instead of miniatures or CGI made everything feel authentic and it added several more layers of intensity to every flying scenes. If I absolutely had to find some things I didn't like about it, I would say that I could have done without the romance altogether. It felt a bit too forced for me, but the resolution of it was worth it. Also the last act or so of the movie felt a bit out of place compared to the rest of the film, although I found it very enjoyable.
Top Gun: Maverick surprised on all levels. It's one of the few new movies I've seen in a long time that I can easily say deserves a 10/10.
Citizen Kane (1941)
Greatest Film Of All Time?
A quick rundown of the plot: Citizen Kane tells the story of wealthy newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane through flashbacks as reporter Jerry Thompson tries to uncover the meaning of his last words. For many, Orwell's Citizen Kane is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. Many critics consider it THE best film ever made. It took me several attempts over several years to watch Citizen Kane mainly because I wasn't as willing to watch older films as I am now. Watching it recently I became captivated by it. I wasn't confused or turned off by the old look of the film. I thought that the acting and cinematography in particular were superb. Suprisingly, one of my favorite things about the movie was the makeup work. For all of the major characters we get to see them at different ages and the makeup they are wearing is very convincing especially for the time. What makes it more impressive is that many of the actors had never acted in a movie before. You wouldn't know it if it wasn't mentioned at the very end of the film. My one complaint is that things tend to drag a little bit at the beginning and end. Do I think it's the greatest film ever made? No, but maybe after a few more viewings I could be convinced.
9/10.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
Cruel and Gripping
City of God is one of those movies that has been on my watchlist for years now. I would always see pictures of it and reviews of people praising it, but up until the past year or so I had no real drive to watch foreign films. Thankfully, I finally got around to watching it because this movie is extremely impressive in many ways. Almost too impressive. There are few films that are difficult for me to watch, but there are several points during this movie where I felt like I was seeing something illegal. Nothing in the movie seems like it's fake or acted out. In the best way possible the film feels like a documentary. The cherry on top, is that at the end they tell you it's based on true events which makes all of the brutal events of the movie so much worse. I can't even imagine all of the effort that all of the staff and actors put into this movie. Touching on the acting, it's superb all around. I think the child actors are some of the best I have ever seen and their older versions are just as good. The cinematography/directing is very creative and almost like a Tarantino movie in some ways. Anyone who is even halfway interested in checking out this movie, definitely give it a shot because you may never see another movie like it again.
10/10.
Toscana (2022)
Somewhat Enjoyable Movie
Toscana is a pretty interesting movie. I stumbled upon it on Netflix and decided to watch it without looking too much into it. I haven't seen the actors in anything else and I haven't watched many Italian or Danish movies. I was hoping for a similar feeling to the movie Chef and I partially got that. The scenery is gorgeous as Italy typically is, and the acting is overall solid. The film is lacking in a few areas though and they are it's two primary focuses: the cooking and the romance. Since the story surrounds to chefs that fall in love with each other you would expect there to be more cooking and really great looking food. The movie Chef almost made me want to go start up a food truck with how incredible the food looked in it. I can't say the same for Toscana. A seemingly minor complaint sure, but what about the romance aspect? While there does seem to be some romantic tension between our two main characters , it's not enough to warrant them having the "relationship" that they have in the film. Sophia is about to get married and she is willing to risk it all on a guy she's known for about a week who also upset her? Not exactly realistic. It feels very forced and by the end I wasn't buying it. Also, There's some missing info regarding Theo's parents that would have added a lot of depth to his character, but they chose to leave it out for some reason. Since his parents apparently played such an important part in his life and he acts the way he does because of them, it would have been nice to see why he hated them so much. Overall, I was never really bored with the movie as the scenery and somewhat intriguing characters had me invested enough to see the ending through. I couldn't help but think that by the end it felt very predictable and underwhelming, however the purpose of the movie is accomplished and I would say that it is a solid film overall and worth the watch if you are anyways interested.
6/10.
Army of the Dead (2021)
Painful In Many Ways
This movie was definitely made and advertised to be a "shut-your-brain-off" action movie. Typically that's fine. Most films with Arnold Schwarzenegger would fall into this category. Some more modern movies like The Purge or even The Raid could be also be considered. The problem with Army of the Dead is that the creators shut their brains off and some how thought that was a good plan. The plot is absolutely nonsensical. Yes, the idea of a zombie outbreak being contained in Las Vegas is stupid, but what makes it worse is the heist element because it has no reason being there. Sanada sends Bautista and his group to get some money from Vegas when he actually plans on betraying them to get the head of a zombie to make an "Army of the Dead". Why not just send someone in to get the head instead of betraying them for no reason? The stupidity and the amount of unnecessary things does not stop there. The zombies hibernate - for no reason. There's a zombie baby - for no reason. Some of them are dried up and come back to life when it rains - for no reason. So many things are introduced or foreshadowed in this film just to have no pay off whatsoever. That to me is the most confusing part of the movie. I would love to know how that happened and if it was just to get people to watch the movie in previews. The comedy was also supposed to be a big part of this movie and it's not there at all. I can't think of a single funny moment in the film at all. The character Dieter is more or less the comedic relief and I would say that he is one of the better characters, but he is under utilized and the movie suffers for it. Saying that he's the best is not setting the bar too high. Aside from him, none of the characters are likeable and they all make the worst decisions possible that it just blows my mind. The movie is at least an hour too long because Zack Snyder thinks every movie he makes is and has to be a 3 hour long epic. Seriously one of the worst movies I have seen in years and I would not recommend it to anyone.
3/10.
The Last Duel (2021)
A Great Attempt at Something Original
The Last Duel is one of those movies that even if you see it and enjoy it it is somehow still forgettable. Why is that? I think it has something to do with its structure which will make or break the movie for those watching it. As I'm sure you know if you've read any other reviews or watched this movie, the film is split into three sections each following a different actors perspective on the same event. The first follows Matt Damon, the second Adam Driver, and the third follows Jodie Comer. Following the same event 3 times back to back with very slight differences can make the film a bit of a slog. Going off of that, it has a 2hr 30min run time which is pretty lengthy. Each section has scenes that are new, but some are exactly the same. What would have made it interesting is if there were some major differences in the way each character interprets what happened and how. There are a few examples of this like the rape scene itself, but for the most part the overlapping scenes are identical. I'm sure they're like that to show that time has passed and to give us an idea of where we are at in the telling of the story, but it can really get boring because of it. For some cutting the movie like it is could be a good thing. I fall somewhere in the middle. I respect Scott for wanting to try something new and partially succeeding, but it could have been done just a tad better. My score is as high as it is because the rest of the movie is genuinely very good. The acting across the board is fantastic, particularly from Jodie Comer and Matt Damon. The film looks beautiful and has some extremely impressive shots. You get a great sense of scope especially from the large battle sequence that happens in the beginning of the movie. The sound and score are also great and will probably go unappreciated by many. I would recommend this film to a lot of people, but I can't imagine that everyone would like it.
8/10.
Yip Man 4 (2019)
Disappointing Finale in an Otherwise Solid Series
I would consider myself a fan of the Ip Man series. The first two films in particular I would consider some of the best that modern martial arts movies have to offer. The third installment dropped in quality, but not to a point where I would say I disliked it. With the fourth and final film in the series that's no longer the case.
First though, let's talk about what I did enjoy out of this movie. Donnie Yen is always great as Master Ip and fights just as well as he did in the first movie. Going off of that the action is still pretty strong in this movie. Comparing it to the first 3 I would say it's not as good, though there isn't a major difference in quality. All of the acting from the Chinese actors was great. Some standouts were Danny Chan Kwok-kwan as Bruce Lee who I thought did a great job imitating Lee's quirks and fighting style. Ip's son Ching played by Jim Liu also had a fine performance. I only wish that they had more screen time especially considering that the plot mainly revolves around these two characters. Bruce Lee in particular is on a lot of the posters and summaries and it seems unfair to not include him more in the movie.
Now on to what I didn't like. The largest complaint I have with this movie is the acting from the American characters. The acting throughout the series has been good up until they started adding non-Asian actors. The main reason for this is because the actors playing them are primarily fighters/stuntmen. What doesn't help either is that the lines that are given are so bad that it made me want to turn the movie off at certain points. I understand the importance of having American characters and the convenience of having fighters play their roles instead of a real actor, but it would make the film much more bearable if they hired real actors instead. Another complaint is that the movie feels a bit long. By the end I was sort of checking out and didn't really care about the story anymore. What would have helped is if they stuck to one plot because they were essentially 3. You have three characters with three different plots: Bruce Lee, Ip Ching, and Yonah Wan. Sticking to any one of these plots instead of all three would have made the move shorter and more focused so it doesn't feel so boring at points. These films are about fighting and we could have had some more of that if we weren't trying to touch on all of the story notes.
Overall, this movie is definitely the worst in the franchise and you could go without watching it. Part of me wishes that they would have stopped after 3, but at least we know they won't be making anymore after this one.
5/10.
The Revenant (2015)
Brutal and Beautiful
The Revenant was released in 2015 and was directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. It won 3 Oscars for Best Performance in a Leading Role, Best Achievement in Directing, and Best Achievement in Cinematography. The Revenant is based on true events and a novel of the same name written by Michael Punke.
Plot Synopsis: The film takes place in Montana in the 1820's and follows fur trader Hugh Glass - played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Members of his team include John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), Bridger (Will Poulter), and Hawk (Forrest Goodluck). The movie opens up with Glass and his Native American son, Hawk hunting for deer. Soon after this, Glass's team is attacked by a Arikara tribe and the few that are still alive escape to their boat. Back on land, Glass is mauled by a bear and barely survives. Fitzgerald grows tired of carrying Glass so he plans to leave him for dead. Hawk tries to save his father, but is killed by Fitzgerald. This event starts the journey of revenge for Glass as he hunts his son's killer across frozen Montana.
____________MY REVIEW______________
Story and Characters: The story is relatively simple, but there are certain elements to it that set it apart from other "revenge stories". Typically in a story of revenge, the chase is the focal point. You have your characters developed at the start of the film and once the trigger event happens, the mission of revenge is all the movie has left to offer. What The Revenant does differently is instead of being told about our main characters we are shown through imagery, visions, and dream sequences across the film's entire runtime. The dream sequences in particular offer us a look at who Glass is spiritually and where his mind is at currently. They are also the only scenes we get to see of him with his wife. The film focuses greatly on the relationship between Glass, Hawk, and Fitzgerald. Hawk and his deceased mother are Pawnee which makes Fitzgerald very uncomfortable. We first think of Fitzgerald as a cold, ignorant man and ultimately the villain of the story. However, we soon find out that he has a scar on his head where he had been partially scalped by a Native American tribe which shows us that he views the natives in a much more negative light than the other characters. It's the difference in perspective for Glass and Fitzgerald that drives the plot forward and sets the movie apart from others with a similar plot on the surface.
Directing, Cinematography, and Visual Effects: Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki have created one of the most beautiful and impressive movies I have ever seen. There are many long, continuous shots of the landscape that give you an idea of brutal and unforgiving the world is, but also how beautiful and untouched it seems. There are so many of these shots that the landscape and world becomes its own character. The sense of scale that these shots bring is also very effective. There is very little CGI used which makes each shot even more impressive and immersive. Sometimes CGI can compromise an otherwise good scene and that didn't happen for this movie. There are some visual effects that are used and they all look very convincing. For instance, the scene with the bear was done in so convincingly that you really believe that Leo is being thrown around and mauled. In other scene, DiCaprio and his horse fall off a cliff escaping some pursuers. Of course, stuntmen and visual effects were used for this scene, but it all comes together nicely and doesn't seem unrealistic in any way.
Acting and Writing: The performances across the board are great; DiCaprio won a well deserved Oscar for his. Despite not having much dialogue, he gives a very emotional and convincing performance. DiCaprio is a very familiar actor at this point. He has had many great, memorable performances, but I think he does his best in this film. Hardy also gives a good performance. He's extremely unlikable and you can't wait for him to get killed by DiCaprio's character. He has his typical Tom Hardy mumbling, but I think it works for his character. Forrest Goodluck gives a strong performance as Hawk. Even though his part is relatively small, he leaves a big impact. Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson both have smaller roles, but they are important for the plot and they do a great job. The writing for The Revenant is good, but most of the storytelling is visual which is a positive in my opinion. There's no dialogue that sticks out as unrealistic and the characters speak in a way that would be appropriate for the time period.
Other Comments: I can't find any flaws with this movie. I can see how some people might get annoyed with the dream sequences or find it too brutal, but I feel that everything is there for a reason. I also know that it took five years to make and that it was difficult for virtually everyone involved, but the results speak for themselves.
10/10.