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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Friday the 13th: Vengeance EH/OK
This is a new fan-made film available on YouTube that is
allegedly a direct sequel (set 30 years later) to Friday the 13thPart VI:
Jason Lives. Jason Lives is one of my favorite
sequels in the franchise (largely for nostalgic reasons; it was the first one I
saw) and nothing indicated this took place in the same timeline. There were references to Part V: A New Beginning (not
too bad) and Part 2 (kinda bad), as
well as an attempted re-enactment of the first double murder in the original
first (almost very bad). It’s clear the
makers (which were fans supposedly) had their hearts in the right places, but
it’s also clear they didn’t have the right means to make it (kickstarter?), yet
they somehow managed to get legendary composer, Harry Manfredini (who scored the
majority of Friday films among others). It may be that YouTube might not be the
greatest platform to distribute a movie on despite being great for many other
things (I do use YouTube); I just didn’t feel like I was watching a real movie,
like it actually was a fan-made film specifically loaded onto the channel. Wait a minute…nevermind. There was gore, but often the camera would
cut away and show the aftermath which might’ve been smart for budgetary or rating
reasons, but it was mostly an annoyance making it look even more unprofessional.
I felt myself getting bored quite a bit
too and the ending leaves it open for a follow-up. I’m all for another Jason movie as long as it’s
made with the right means and looks like an actual film (all filmmakers are
essentially film fans are they not?). That
doesn’t mean a remake though; this may have actually been better than that 2009
remake, but I would still like a movie better than this. 9/17/2019
The Dead Don’t Die OK/G
Another zombie movie?
This one comes from non-horror filmmaker, Jim Jarmusch, known for simple
films like Coffee and Cigarettes and Broken Flowers. It takes place in a small town containing
several different characters played by familiar faces before becoming a
standard zombie movie, not right away though, and certainly isn’t without gory
moments. Some of it was a bit too
tongue-in-cheek though---RZA working for a company called WU-PS
(hardy-har-har), Steve Buscemi playing a farmer with a red cap stating “Keep
America White Again” while conversing with a black man (Danny Glover), and the
fact both Bill Murray and Adam Driver know they’re in a movie. If the script can’t take itself seriously,
how does it expect us viewers too? It
still wasn’t bad as a typical zombie movie (the zombies being filled with dust
was new-ish), or even just as a movie period; I just don’t think I’ll ever
watch it again. In other words…forgettable,
but still watch it at least once. 9/17/2019
Bonus reviews:
Mindhunter: Season One and Two
Netflix series about FBI agents trying to figure out why
serial killers/murderers do what they do, taking place in the late Seventies up
to the very early Eighties. There is
really no action in this series (especially the first season) as this is
strictly about the characters, and if you don’t like the characters, this may
not be the series for you. I grew quite
fond of Jonathan Groff (Looking; also
a fellow queer in real life) and even the hulking Holt McCallany (I still can’t
believe he once played that American Indian thug in Creepshow 2). I know the majority
of visual media is from an omniscient viewpoint wherein the viewer plays God,
but you basically shadow these people as they do their jobs, hence the no
action. The characters did play a huge
part, but I never felt like I forced myself to continue and there was something
strangely compelling that made me want to keep watching. The topic of serial killers has been done
countless times before too (Ed Kemper, David Berkowitz, and Charles Manson among
others are portrayed here). There was a
bit of a mystery during the second season, shot in a True Detective-ish fashion, surrounding Atlanta murders of the time
that are allegedly still unsolved to this day (according to end credits). David Fincher (Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac), the
executive producer and director of several episodes, likely had a part in stylizing
this dark drama. I didn’t give this a
rating (either season since I binged it as one long one) because I don’t want
to feel unfair and I don’t want to feel like I’m giving it too much
credit. Put it this way, I’m a bit
bummed I have no more episodes to watch despite sitting through 19 of them (none
of which were exactly short). Supposedly
Mr. Fincher plans on making five seasons.
Well, he better get crackin’ before I forget what already happened and
I’m not re-watching these two seasons (Wikipedia might prevent me from doing
that too, of course). 9/17/2019
Battle at Big Rock OK
(haiku review)
Jurassic World
short.
Fine as 8-minute segment.
I still wanted more. 9/17/2019
Other
movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
Among the Shadows >>>VB
Girls with Balls >>>EH/OK
My Son >>>OK/G
Rocko’s Modern
Life: Static Cling >>>OK
The Wind >>>OK
---Sean O.
9/19/2019
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