Bad Times at the El
Royale OK/G
There is definitely a whole lot of bad happening at the
titular hotel situated on both sides of the California/Nevada state line (it
costs $1 more to stay on the California side).
Richard Nixon was on a TV so it takes place around that time (late Sixties/early
Seventies). Other indications are a soul
singer, a war veteran (likely Vietnam), and a Manson-like cult leader. This is an ensemble film. It’s also an interconnected anthology film,
sort of. It’s also Tarantino-ish, sort
of. It may be a bit long and slightly
derivative (it’s almost impossible not to be these days), but I definitely enjoyed
my stay here much more compared to the Hotel
Artemis. 1/7/2019
The Bill Murray
Stories: Life Lessons Learned
from a Mythical Man OK
Haddon Heights High School, class of 2001. The director, Tommy Avallone, and I were both
in that class (as you may remember from my Ghostheads
review). Yes, I knew Tommy since seventh
grade. I hated high school and the
majority of people there (my grade and several above and below). To be fair, they all hated me first. Tommy was one of them at one point (as you
may remember from my Ghostheads review),
but not by the end of high school (that marketing class was a joke!) and
several years after that (Westbrook Lanes!).
Anyway, if you recall from my Ghostheads
review (if not, archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com),
I wondered why Bill Murray was the only Ghostbusters
actor M.I.A. considering he is still alive, but here he has his own
documentary. This is one of those films
where any famous person could’ve been substituted and it would’ve been the same
movie. Who doesn’t like Bill Murray
though? Especially those born in the
Seventies and Eighties. It actually
bothered me in Happy Death Day when
the main character said she didn’t know who he was, and even the little girl in
Zombieland, because I didn’t think
we’ve come that far where people of a certain age wouldn’t know who he was. This documentary chronicles everyday people
in locations ranging from South Carolina to England (I do hope you planned a
whole trip there Tommy instead of just visiting one subject) having random
encounters with the actor doing everyday things like washing dishes at a party
and playing kickball (I wanna play kickball again!). As for whether Tommy himself gets to
encounter Bill Murray, well…this is barely over an hour so why not see for
yourself; it’s currently available on Netflix.
In regards to the scant run-time, I’m not sure whether to think there
was too little material or just enough to avoid being too much. Regardless, good job Tommy for accomplishing
your goals, you were always determined. 1/1/2019
Dark River B
Lame British film (I thought it was Irish until the credits
and research told me otherwise) about a woman that had a troubled relationship
with her father who recently passed away.
It shouldn’t be hard to figure out why the relationship was so troubled
even before it’s hinted at early on, especially after she claims he treated her
foul after telling a co-worker about his passing. Off she goes to the family farm after a
15-year absence and ends up fighting with her brother over tenancy; their whole
relationship is contentious due to past and present afflictions. These kind of familial dramas have been done
many times before and this entry is entirely unworthy. I quite hated this movie, yes indeed. My New Year’s resolution should’ve been to
end movies if I hate them right away or well before the ending, but
unfortunately I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. 1/8/2019
Dead Again OK/G
In a recent article I read about the upcoming movie Us, Jordan Peele claimed he made some of
the stars watch a list of movies in preparation and this is the only title on that
list I haven’t seen, so onto my Netflix queue it went. I did like Mr. Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, but felt it was overrated and I
very much look forward to his sophomore feature which I think might be better
(at least I hope). Judging from the
preview and promotional art for Us,
I’m guessing the connection is scissors (which surprisingly was my favorite
aspect of this movie). In 1991 (when this
came out), I would’ve been 9 so I doubt I would’ve had much interest in this
film involving a past troubled romance with themes of déjà vu and
reincarnation, and the only time I heard the title before was from a Type O
Negative song. I thought this began with
an interesting concept, but it doesn’t get too thrilling until the end. It does have that “it gets better upon each
viewing” vibe though. Maybe I’ll watch
it again after seeing Us in two
months. 1/11/2019
Frenzy EH
Here we have another “crappy CGI shark movie.” Well, the sharks don’t look too bad when
they’re underwater; it’s when they come above the water or while attacking
humans that the crappy CGI becomes apparent.
Simply “crappy shark movie” is more like it. A group of people filming a show end up in
the ocean after their plane crashes on the way to their next shoot somewhere in
Southeast Asia (I think). The rest of
the film involves one or two survivors on a float, then a raft while trying to
avoid being eaten. You mean to tell me
it took one of the three sharks (I hardly call that a frenzy) as long as it did
to bite the float and none attacked the wooden raft? There are flashbacks in between that attempt
to humanize the characters both dead and alive, but they’re really just
distractions to an already subpar movie.
This SyFy Original was neither fun nor frightening. 1/5/2019
High Voltage EH
David Arquette plays an aging musician that recruits a younger guitar player and the chick of his affections (although he, the younger guitar player, has a kid with another woman) to form a band. The female singer is electrocuted to death along with her mother in a car via lightning bolts but somehow she’s revived. I thought you were supposed to be safe from lightning in a car? Whatever, the once reserved girl is now rebellious with the ability to shock people momentarily or fatally by oral contact. I’m not sure whether this was intended as more of a fictional rockumentary or a cheesy supernatural thriller, but it definitely felt lacking as both and ends too abruptly. 1/9/2019
David Arquette plays an aging musician that recruits a younger guitar player and the chick of his affections (although he, the younger guitar player, has a kid with another woman) to form a band. The female singer is electrocuted to death along with her mother in a car via lightning bolts but somehow she’s revived. I thought you were supposed to be safe from lightning in a car? Whatever, the once reserved girl is now rebellious with the ability to shock people momentarily or fatally by oral contact. I’m not sure whether this was intended as more of a fictional rockumentary or a cheesy supernatural thriller, but it definitely felt lacking as both and ends too abruptly. 1/9/2019
Kusama: Infinity OK/G
I knew nothing of Yayoi Kusama, a female Japanese artist
born in 1929 and still living, before this documentary. It appears she’s known for art featuring dots
and objects with protrusions (dotted or not) that are really bizarre, among
other things (the dotted pumpkin sculptures looked really cool). According to this documentary, she is
currently the most famous or successful (I forget which) living female
artist. How come I’ve never heard of her
before? Or how come I didn’t recognize a
single piece of work shown? Granted, I’m
not exactly an art enthusiast, so perhaps I should ask those that are how familiar
with Yayoi they are, if they’re fans, and what they think about this documentary
if seen. Growing up in a strict
household and conservative society where art was frowned upon, she eventually
moved to New York where she wasn’t taken seriously in a “man’s world” and quite
possibly for being Japanese as well.
There are probably countless artists though, both famous and non-famous,
with similar stories (specifically being a woman in a “man’s world”) who don’t
yet have documentaries about them or never will, so what makes Yayoi so
special? I, for one, do like to be
informed and educated, and thanks to this documentary, I now know about another
person sharing this mortal coil with me and will recognize her art if I ever
come across it. That’s the beauty of
documentaries---to shed light on subjects we know nothing about, don’t know
everything about, or to entertain us with what we do already know about---and
while there definitely are countless other artists with similar stories without
their own documentaries (which I would welcome every single one with open arms),
this one is specifically focused on Yayoi Kusama and that’s what makes her
momentarily special. 1/8/2019
Monster Party OK/G
A trio consisting of a girl and two boys that habitually rob
homes get a gig as servers through a connection for a party at a mansion. The title should tell you this party isn’t
exactly a wine tasting gathering and the trio realize they picked the wrong
house to try and rob. I can see
comparisons made to The Purge, at
least stylistically, and the premise appeared to begin as a joke but it does get
more serious and bloody and I’d recommend it for that alone. The ending is a bit over-the-top though
despite being somewhat integral to the overall story. 1/9/2019
Monsters and Men G
An unarmed black man is killed by the police, usually a
white one. I’m kind of tired of hearing
about it (as many likely are), but you can’t deny the issue isn’t relevant now more
than ever. This movie involves three
connected stories revolving around characters somehow affected by one of those
incidents. They include a Latino going
down for recording and posting it online, a black police officer torn between
his professional devotion and his status as a black man, and a young black
athlete feeling he should protest after being racially profiled himself. I think it was wise to focus on three
different characters to avoid tedium and we learned plenty about each one in
the short times spent with them. I’ll
never forget a meme I once saw that said, “Not all cops are bad, not all white
people are racist, and not all black people are thugs.” That’s a very true statement and it’s a shame
the media doesn’t show enough of it. 1/10/2019
Night School B
I thought a comedy featuring both Kevin Hart and Tiffany
Haddish would’ve worked, or at least have been funny. There may have been a chuckle or two (in the
entire film) which couldn’t nearly erase how truly terrible this movie
was. I knew it was doomed from the start
and it doesn’t get any better during its 100-plus minute length. The
Breakfast Club this is not. This is
not even The Perfect Score which this
tried to be at one time and that movie wasn’t even that good. I hated, hated this movie! 1/3/2019
Patient Zero OK/G
The title sounds as generic as any other generic zombie
film. Technically it’s not a zombie
movie though, just set up as one, since people are infected with rabies-like
symptoms, making it conceptually similar to 28
Days Later. They’re even dubbed “the
infected.” Real subtle! I was also reminded a bit, just a bit, of
George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead. Those not infected live underground,
periodically bringing in those that are in hopes of finding the titular
infected to create a cure for the virus.
There’s a rather clever twist towards the end but the last third is also
where it becomes too familiar a zombie (or infected) flick. This apocalyptic/zombie/infected entry wasn’t
too bad though (I actually cared about some of the characters); it’s likely
forgettable but not exactly unnecessary.
1/5/2019
A Series of
Unfortunate Events: Season Three OK
Has it really been almost a year since season two
premiered? Well, nine months if you want
to be exact, but it doesn’t even seem that
long and it was still fresh in my memory where it left off. For those with short-term memory, there is a
recap before the first episode spanning from the beginning of season one to the
end of season two. This final season
consists of seven episodes (none even an hour) covering the last four books in
the series which this is based (The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto,
The Penultimate Peril, The End).
You can read my reviews of the first two seasons in the archives (www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com)
because I don’t feel like repeating anything I’ve written in those. The book series as well as this Netflix
series is diverting at best, nothing spectacular and nothing entirely
time-wasting either, and both seemed to be better during the first half. This season was my least favorite as, much
like how I remember the books, I seemed to continue just to finish what I
started and couldn’t wait to finish, making it feel like a chore. If you’ve been watching until now though, I
can’t imagine why you would stop no matter what I say. For those that haven’t been watching, I don’t
see why you even read this review (unless you simply like reading reviews like
I do). 1/3/2019
Watership Down OK/G
New Netflix series based on the novel by Richard Adams
totaling roughly 3 ½ hours in four episodes.
I never read the book but I have seen the animated movie from 1978 and a
search informed me there was another TV series in 1999 which I haven’t
seen. I don’t remember much about the
movie other than there being rabbits and one depressing scene featuring a
montage with a sad song after one bunny died.
If this story is any indication, it really sucks being a bunny. Their god seemingly created them to be hunted
by predators (humans and animals) initially, providing them with long legs and
long ears as “protection” thereafter.
They battle with other bunnies too.
This is probably a bit dark for the little ones even though they might
be curious being that it’s a cartoon with bunny rabbits. There’re many adult themes and I know it’s
taught in high schools (in Donnie Darko
it was and my younger brother said he at least watched the movie through a
teacher I didn’t have), so I’m guessing the target audience is teenagers, but adults
may like it if they still like cartoons and/or like bunnies. I do like cartoons and I do like bunnies and
while they may have been CGI (a modern technique I really can’t stand) and
obviously so, I actually forgave it because it wasn’t distracting to the
content. The first two episodes were
great while it starts to lose steam by the third, but it was all still
thoroughly entertaining. 1/1/2019
Welcome Home EH/OK
A straight couple from New York books a home in the Italian
countryside for a week in hopes of rekindling their relationship after one of
them cheated. I’m not entirely sure
being isolated in a foreign country is the best move after a serious issue like
that, but whatever. I also don’t think
it’s the best idea to have a creepy local guy drive you back to the place
you’re staying whether you need a ride or not.
At least we’re shown right away that the couple is being filmed and that
he’s the one viewing them through the hidden cameras. That makes the filmmakers slightly aware that
people have seen other movies before, but it still doesn’t make it any less of
a generic thriller with an inevitable (and eventual) confrontation and an
ending that’s way overdone by now. 12/30/2018
---Sean O.
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