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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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Ten Minutes to
Midnight OK/G
Caroline Williams playing a radio host? The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 much? Not
quite. That’s where the comparison
ends. This was also Nicholas Tucci’s
last role, he likely most famous for You’re
Next, in which this film was dedicated (he was only my age when he
passed!). Caroline’s character shows up
to work one night before her retirement after being bitten by what appears to be
a vampire bat. The night gradually gets
more bizarre, and bloodier, even going down David Lynch territory towards the
end. There was something hypnotic about
this film and there appears to be good metaphors for certain topics, I won’t
reveal which in case I’m wrong, which I have been before (I’d love to hear your
thoughts). It’s barely even 72-minutes,
so time spent will not be an issue, the vampire designs (when present) are old
school too (meaning worthy), but I can’t ultimately say it was as good as it
could’ve been (especially with its potential).
It did feel like one of those films that might age better though, and
I’d still tell horror fans to check it out.
I wonder if a character eating Chinese noodles was a nod to The Lost Boys? R.I.P.
Nicholas Tucci. 8/12/2021
A Quiet Place Part II OK
I wasn’t too excited about this sequel, not just because it
was a sequel, but because I wasn’t too crazy about its overrated predecessor
(you can read my review for it here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2018/04/mooby-reviews-4818.html). The first film wasn’t that bad, I just wasn’t
a fan of the creature designs, which can totally make or break a creature
feature, the first film being a good example of crappy effects ruining an
otherwise decent movie. Maybe if their
heads didn’t expand they wouldn’t be too bad…I don’t know, that’s just me. This sequel picks up where the first one
ended right after a flashback scene to when the end of the world began. It’s more or less the same film with more
characters added and the creatures not making as much of an appearance…I think. That can either be a good thing (for me)
since I’m not a fan of the creature design (they are the same here, obviously;
why wouldn’t they be?), or a bad thing if creatures are more absent in a creature feature. I did like this one a teeny bit better,
possibly because there weren’t as
many creatures present, or perhaps because I knew what to expect of their
appearance and wasn’t disappointed like I was the first round. This film has its moments, but some other
complaints I have are that it’s often predictable and it ended too soon,
feeling incomplete. That could either
mean I did enjoy it more than I thought since it ended too quick (it was
roughly 90-minutes), or there’s a third one planned and this was just a
segue. I’m not the biggest fan of this
franchise so far (predominantly because of those creatures), but curiosity will
get the better of me, like it did here, if they make a threequel, and perhaps that
entry will be the best one. I’m not
expecting a damn thing…8/10/2021
Bonus review:
Profile OK
Has the “first-person POV entirely on a computer screen”
film become a subgenre yet? Searching and Unfriended (and its sequel) are the only ones that come to mind, so
I don’t think there are quite enough yet (you can read my review for Searching here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2018/09/mooby-reviews-92118.html
and Unfriended: Dark Web here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2018/10/mooby-reviews-102818.html;
I wasn’t writing these blog entries when Unfriended
was released, but my archives indicate I gave it an OK/G rating). This title can be added to the list as it
follows a female journalist from the U.K. pretending to be a Muslim convert in
order to track down ISIS members, all shown via a computer screen. I don’t know how watching a computer screen
for an entire film can manage to work; it certainly worked for Searching and Unfriended was decent (the sequel, not as much), and this was
undeniably engaging for a decent amount of time (a little over 100-minutes
too). However, the payoff was totally
anticlimactic (as well as unsurprising in the least), even though this was
based on a true story (hell, what isn’t these days?), but true stories are
often (and can be) twisted to a degree in entertainment, no? 8/13/2021
Other movies and TV show(s) I’ve seen and their ratings (see above):
Aftermath (2021) >>>EH
(Netflix)
The Arbors >>>OK
Home Before Dark (Season
2) >>>OK/G
(Apple TV; 10
episodes)
Hostage House >>>EH
(Netflix)
Last Summer (2013; dir. Mark Thiedeman) >>>EH
Pray Away >>>OK/G
(Netflix)
The Swarm (2021) >>>EH/OK
(Netflix; In
French with subtitles)
Twentynine Palms >>>EH/OK
(In French and
English with subtitles)
Vivo >>>OK/G
(Netflix)
---Sean O.
8/14/2021
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