Red Rocket

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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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Red Rocket                                                                  OK/G

Sean Baker directed The Florida Project, a realistically entertaining feature (which you can read my review for here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2018/03/mooby-reviews-3818.html).  His Tangerine was also good (I didn’t write a review for it, but my archives tell me I gave it a G rating).  Apparently he made four other movies before Tangerine, the only one I saw being Starlet with no recollection (Netflix said I rented it back in 2013 and my archives say I rated it G as well), and I might like to check out the others.  Judging by the three movies I have seen (that I remember), he appears to make fictional pieces depicting very real people and situations (the people not exactly of the highest class).  This newest film is mostly no exception.  In it, Simon Rex, I still remember him from the 90s-era MTV days (he still looks somewhat good for his age; 47, to be exact) and his appearance here is the sole indication this is fictional, much like Willem Dafoe’s in The Florida Project; anyway, he plays a porn star from L.A. returning home to Texas City, proving you can be “on top” one minute and down on the bottom another.  He ends up living with his ex-wife and her mother while looking for work, eventually meeting a 17-year old girl that works at a local donut shop.  I enjoyed this movie a decent amount of the time, but it ended up feeling too much like a romance involving a dude with a midlife crisis.  I may not have liked it as much as the aforementioned two features (the ones I remember), but it’s still not bad to check out and Sean Baker is definitely a filmmaker to follow.  3/17/2022

Other movies and TV show(s) I’ve seen and their ratings (see above):

Children of the Night (1991)  >>>B

Maid  >>>OK/G

   (Netflix; 10 episodes)

Mystery Road  >>>EH

Windfall (2022)  >>>EH

   (Netflix)

---Sean O.

3/21/2022

Turning Red/Cusp

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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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Turning Red                                                                OK/G

Newest Pixar movie so I had to see it.  All of our bodies change once we reach a certain age.  The young female protagonist here, an Asian-Canadian (for those that like diversity), turns into a giant red panda when getting emotional once becoming a teenager (you’ll learn why).  I didn’t think this was too special and the message of always being your true self is a tad dated, but there’s probably enough here for most of the family to enjoy, and while the message may be dated, it will always be relevant.  It’s primarily about early teens simply being early teens in 2002 (no, that’s not a typo, that’s when it takes place).  3/13/2022

Cusp                                                                            OK/G

Documentary available on Showtime following three teenage girls during one summer in Texas.  It’s generally as entertaining as a typical teen movie; or, what I should say is that it’s set up like a typical teen movie, because it should go without saying that not all teen movies are entertaining.  Being that it’s a documentary though, it makes me wonder how much of it may have been staged since they knew they were being filmed.  Kids felt very documentary-like but wasn’t, so this could’ve taken a similar approach, although it kind of did, because I don’t recall the characters speaking directly to the camera too much; just a lot of voiceovers.  I did enjoy getting to know these girls, but I’d like to have gotten to know them more.  I’d like to see how they live every other time of the year.  I’d like to see their lives in school.  Therefore, I think a series with these girls, doc-style or not, could very well work.  3/9/2022

Bonus review:

Bull Shark                                                                   EH

(haiku review)

Shark in Texas lake.

It’s not that bad.  Ha, ha.  Right.

Shark sucks, so do kills.  3/14/2022

Other movies and TV show(s) I’ve seen and their ratings (see above):

Above Us Lives Evil  >>>B/EH

The Adam Project  >>>EH

            (Netflix)

Amityville Witches  >>>EH

Pieces of Her (Season One)  >>>EH

            (Netflix; 8 episodes)

The Weekend Away  >>>EH/OK

            (Netflix)

---Sean O.

3/15/2022

The Djinn

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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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The Djinn                                                                    OK/G

A young mute boy in the late Eighties summons a djinn (basically a supernatural entity in several different cultures, for those unaware) from a book he finds in his new apartment to make a wish (I’m sure you can deduce what that wish might be).  You know what they always say though…be careful what you wish for!  This film is well-shot and the primary single location manages to be used very effectively; some parts may be chilling to some.  It does lose a bit of steam towards the end, even at roughly 80-minutes, but it’s still not a bad film worth checking out.  It feels like one of those that might get better with time.  3/5/2022

Bonus review:

Two Sentence Horror Stories (Season Three)

Read my review for season one here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2019/10/anna-and-apocalypse.html and season two here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2021/03/two-sentence-horror-stories-season-2.html for an outline of the show (and if you want to read my analysis of the previous seasons).  I don’t think you would care to check out this season if you haven’t watched any of the last two, even though you don’t need to watch episodes of an anthology show in order.  You’ll see that I said this at the end of my review for season two---Even though I can’t say this is my favorite anthology show after just two seasons, yes, I will watch a third season and so on, but I just hope they’ll contain more hits than misses, thank you very much!  Well, I did watch this third season as I said I would, but I can’t say there were more hits than misses this time (unfortunately, but not surprising).  Out of these ten episodes, all roughly 20 minutes each (watch on Netflix instead of The CW to avoid commercials), my favorites of the bunch were “Toxic,” “Teatime,” “Heirloom,” and “Homecoming.”  “Toxic” involved demons/zombies in the woods, “Teatime” involved a babysitter in charge of an evil little girl with a special doll collection (I was slightly reminded of Dolls from 1987), “Heirloom” was a decent ghost story with a unique take on racism, and “Homecoming” involved a literal and figurative demon wherein the creature design wasn’t too bad.  As for the rest?  “Crush” was kind of lame; “Plant Life” wasn’t too interesting of a tale involving a failing relationship that gradually becomes body horror (some might claim the ending is somewhat bittersweet); “Teeth” may have worked had it been expanded since it felt a bit underdeveloped; “The Killer Inside” was probably my least favorite, involving, among other things, a woman trying to save her Dad; “Patel Motel Cartel” probably looked better on paper because the script was fine, but the creature effects were terrible; lastly, “Erased” may have been a clever metaphor on colonization, but the execution wasn’t too compelling.  Obviously this isn’t my favorite series, but I can’t resist horror anthology shows.  You figure, a little over three hours isn’t long for an entire season, but it is still precious time you could use on something else worthwhile.  You decide what you want to do; that’s your choice (I gave you my opinion).  Just like it was your choice to read this review.  And thank you, like always, if you did.  3/2/2022

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Belfast  >>>OK

Blue Ridge (2020)  >>>EH/OK

---Sean O.

3/6/2022