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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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Stranger Things: Season Three VG
I liked the first season of this Eighties-set Netflix
series, but didn’t love it. I didn’t
like the second season as much, but it was still decent (my reviews for both
are in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com). This season, set in 1985, is the best one
yet. It incorporates the communist fear
of the time in addition to consumerist culture being at an all-time high while
still focusing on the young characters dealing with otherworldly (as well as
human) beings in their small town of Hawkins, Indiana. I knew it was going to be a good season from
the get-go when some of the kids snuck in to see Day of the Dead at the mall theater (granted, that isn’t the best
of the Romero movies, but the kids could’ve snuck in to see countless other
movies released in 1985). I believe this
season was the most horror-oriented although still having a very sci-fi plot. In addition to the pop culture references, I
noticed nods to The Terminator (the
main Russian baddie was an obvious stand-in for Mr. Schwarzenegger), Tremors, Evil Dead 2, and for a brief moment was reminded of The Faculty (even though that was
released in the Nineties), just to name a few, but never thought any were cheap
knockoffs. The creature is obviously CGI
but completely passable (a big improvement over the “demadogs” from last season
and even better than the Demogorgon
from the first). I binged the entire
season in one day with obvious breaks in between, never forcing myself to
continue, and was only bored for maybe three minutes during one of all 8
episodes wherein 7 were between 50-minutes to an hour and the last one being
78. Otherwise, this season contained
nary a single moment I didn’t want to watch, so it looks like season four has
some competition…7/8/2019
Bonus reviews:
Pet Sematary EH
As much as I frown upon the notion of remakes and always
bitch about them yet still watch them anyway, I’ve learned to try and give them
a chance by telling myself not to hate them beforehand and not compare them to
the original. It is often very hard to
do that though. Michael Gingold said in
his Rue Morgue review that this version was an improvement on the
original (Seriously? Did you even see
the original? I know you obviously did,
but WTF?!). I completely disagree with
Mr. Gingold. The original Pet Sematary will always hold a special
place in my heart (the nostalgia factor).
The first half of this version was almost exactly the same as the
original with different performers (aside from the obvious change in child
death). The second half attempted to
change things up but was absolutely not an improvement on the original and
might have worked in another movie (or if the original didn’t exist). This version just wasn’t as dark and
depressing (in the effective way) as the original. I wasn’t convinced by the grieved
performances in this version as much as the original. Victor Pascow wasn’t as memorable this time,
nor did he make as much of an appearance.
The Starcrawler version of “Pet Sematary” during the end credits wasn’t
nearly as good as The Ramones version in the original (The Creepshow did a
better cover of the song). It may have
been well-shot, but the best thing in this unnecessary remake was the animal
masks that weren’t even featured as prominently as the trailer suggested. Plus, I’m not going to deny that the ending
was a bit dark (in a different way than the original was). You can pick your version to like, but I’m
sticking with the original 1989 version I grew up with! 7/9/2019
Pyewacket OK/G
Usually, at least in the movies, it never leads to anything
good when you perform a dark ritual.
Such is the case here when a gothic teenager summons the titular demon
to kill her mother after a serious argument.
Not much happens but you know something eventually will and I thought
that’s what made it effective and kept my attention throughout. I didn’t feel like it was over when it ended
though, not exactly in the Gone Girl
way either, so I can’t rightfully give it a strictly G rating, even though I lean
much closer to G. I am a fan of the
director’s other much different film, Backcountry,
and was mostly a fan of this, so I am interested in what he (Adam MacDonald)
puts out next. 7/9/2019
Other
movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
Animals >>>OK
Sicilian Ghost Story >>>OK/G
Trail of Blood >>>OK/G
---Sean O.
7/10/2019
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