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The Perfection (2018)
Not Perfect, But Intriguing
I'll say SPOILERS just in case, but I'll try not to include any. Just better safe than sorry.
I like to find elements of other films in newer ones so in this case I would say The Perfection pays homage to Black Swan and Whiplash. Now, while this film does not really contend with the caliber of those two Academy award winning films, what puts it in common is the desire of the teacher to infect perfection, and the desire of the pupil to have perfection be infected on them. It's an interesting and intriguing concept that does work very well in the psychological horror genre. Granted, Whiplash was not considered a psychological horror, the borderline insanity of the instructor could convince one of such.
The Perfection establishes the notion of wanted to be perfect and the pain of being replaced when not. Much like Black Swan, you see the turn of the "replaced" with the naivety of "the next best thing," the insane lengths at which the former wants to bring the latter down, but the motive then becomes the turning point to create a brand new characterization of what was once believed to be the antagonist. The realization is shown a bit hastily, with a visual headache inducing "rewind" series that almost pays homage to Darron Aronofsky again with his visual cuts in Requiem for a Dream. But if you can get past that, the story moves along with its new turns fairly well. The bad guy is not who you think.
Others on here may be unsatisfied because the film is not what the trailers probably made you believe it was going to be, or that the film was too predictable and my response to those two points would be: if a trailer makes you believe and lures you in with one thing, and the film shows you something completely different, how is that such a bad thing? I would think good storytelling is when multiple points can be approached within the same story, and not to mention that then if the trailer wasn't deceiving, then of course the film was predictable as most films then could be from just their trailers. In 2019, especially in the horror genre and if you have been exposed to most psychological thrillers/horrors of the last 30+ years, most are predictable because there's only so much you can really do anymore in storytelling. It's how the audience is brought to that conclusion that's intriguing.
The closest thing this film was to perfection was its own title, but it's subject, characters, and twists were what kept it somewhat original and for that effort, I give it 6/10. Don't expect much, go into it with an open mind, and let yourself decide.
The Walking Dead: Last Day on Earth (2016)
#whowasit?
I was a day behind watching this episode, and after seeing all the hate posted from other users in their reviews on here, I decided to wait another day to do a review of my own. Now don't get me wrong, my initial reaction was not unlike many others'. I was livid that Robert Kirkland and Scott Gimple robbed their audiences of the knowledge of who Negan's victim was at the end of the episode. Readers of the comic wanted to see if the show was going to follow the comic's storyline, or take a turn of its own. With a 15 episode hype for the character Negan, and knowing blood was going to be spilled, viewers were understandably furious that there was no closure to their blood lust for this season. I read a review on here from another user that said, "A cliffhanger is not writing," or, "A cliffhanger is not good writing." I forgot exactly which one it was, but I do want to address either statement. A cliffhanger is absolutely a writing tool and a good one when done well. Audiences of The Walking Dead at this point in the series may feel that using a cliffhanger at this point in the series is unnecessary because the writers should not have to be concerned about retaining their audience after six seasons. But that's just it, it's been six seasons, and we have not seen an ending like this yet. In the last five seasons, viewers have, for the most part, been fulfilled with an ending that offered a good amount of closure to ride through the summer months. Not this time. With that being said, let's reflect on some classic cliffhangers which I'm sure if social media existed then like it does now, we would see similarities. Flashback 36 years to the spring of 1980 (8 years before I was even thought of). Who shot J.R.? For 8 months, this was television's battle cry. A cliffhanger that had most all of America talking. Fast forward 15 years to the spring of 1995 when Dallas was parodied by another popular, American-loving television series involving characters that seemed to all be suffering from jaundice. For the summer of 1995, The Simpsons had all of America asking, "Who shot Mr. Burns?" and became one of the most popular cliffhangers since, well, Dallas. Interestingly enough, both The Simpsons' cliffhanger and now The Walking Dead's cliffhanger occurred at the end of their sixth seasons, if nothing else but to ensure their already tight stranglehold on their viewing audiences. And it works. Anyone out there upset over "Who was it?" (or #whowasit? - because everything post 2010 has to have a tic tac toe game in front of it), and claiming to boycott The Walking Dead because they feel they were done wrong by the writers is full of complete crap and I have no issue willing to bet my entire life savings (which is about $0.37) that everyone will tune in this October to find out the answer. I know I will. And just because we have the technology now to leak information (that may or may not leave us exiled in Russia), doesn't mean that it's not a gigantic slap in the face to the writers and developers of this beloved show that they work so hard to keep their audiences entertained every season. Leaking any information uncovered as to who was killed by Negan is a bigger slap in the face than how big of a slap it may have felt to us that we weren't told who has died. All this now being said, I felt that Negan should have had much more screen time in the finale for how much his character was built up for 15 episodes. 15 minutes at the very end was not nearly enough and there's no justification for that. Sure, we'll get him all next season and I'm sure for a long time even after that, but TWD audiences did deserve more. There was no reason to have the group drive, come to a blockade of Saviors, backtrack, and repeat two more times. Also, way too much time on Morgan tracking Carol. That should have been settled before the finale and literally write the finale to focus only on Negan. If Game of Thrones can sacrifice one episode to focus on a major event like the Battle at the Wall (Season 4, Episode 9), with no other story lines taking place, than so can The Walking Dead.
5/10 for Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance and giving America what I'm sure will become another classic cliffhanger in a beloved series that can be discussed and speculated on for months to come.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
6 Oscars, huh?
Well, I just had to see this one. After seeing it snag 6 Technical Oscars (costume and production design, make-up, editing, sound, sound mixing), I figured, "Wow, this must be really good." It did beat out Star Wars: The Force Awakens in a couple of those categories after all. So of course my first step was to IMDb it and see what the general consensus was, and I was never more... confused. The first thing I saw was a 90 Metacritic score, and the second was a B-line of 1 star ratings coupled with brutal reviews from users. Hmm... Alright. Now I never saw the original Mad Max films (shame on me, I know). Going into this movie completely blind, I just didn't get it. Yeah, lots of action right from the get go, but it took forever to even know what was going on. Post-apocalyptic world. Guy gets visions of a haunted past, gets kidnapped, OK, old guy villain with a messed up face, thousands of followers, obsessed with breeding, tyrannical, got it. That's the first 5 minutes, then characters in cars (more like dune buggies and a tank) leave, go rogue, get chased by the bad guys just mentioned, meet up with the main character through a series of events and dozens of people commence to die in the next hour and 45 minutes of the film during what seems to be just an endless car chase that winds up ending in the exact same place it started. Wait, I get it, the people that like this movie also like NASCAR. That had to be it since I fell asleep about the same amount of times during this movie as I do during a NASCAR race on the rare occasion it's actually on my TV. However, anything being discussed during all of this action between characters was just meaningless as by this point after a good amount of intense car-chasing action and explosions were just thrown in my face, I just didn't care about any of these characters. Was the action pretty sweet to watch? Actually, yes. Everything looked cool, but that's not enough. I'd say 2 maybe 3 of those 6 Oscars were actually deserved. 4/10 for good action and looking cool, "meh" acting, but not much else earning points. Also big points taken away for being more recognized by the Academy than Star Wars this year.
American Horror Story: Checking In (2015)
Hotel Creepy-fornia
This premiere definitely grabbed my attention more so than any of the other seasons'. I enjoyed the homages to The Shining, Hostel, and even a scene that seemed to be a nod to a scene from the video game Heavy Rain. Even the flashback year to the event in the show just so happens to be the same year Heavy Rain was released. Cool coincidence if not intended. But many intense scenes that just made me want to know what was going to happen next. Honestly, don't watch if you're squeamish.
One thing consistent since season 3 is Kathy Bates being absolutely outstanding, and this has potential to be her best AHS role so far. Although I was skeptical about Lady Gaga's casting for the series this season, I found her character has a classic AHS depth to her that should be the driving force of the season, and she can definitely pull off a creepiness in her character that this show strives for. I very much enjoyed the cinematography of the episode and even thought some of the camera techniques were similar to those used in the Saw movies. In particular, the shakes-twisty cam.
A strong start to what could very well be a great season for this anthology show, but even NFL teams that start 1-0 don't make playoffs. 7/10,
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Peter Parker Listens to Phillip Phillips...
I went into this movie with high hopes, and don't get me wrong, it was entertaining. But no movie, especially with the campy, friendly neighborhood Spiderman, can go without flaws. I knew the main villain was going to be Electro, which I thought was cool considering 2014 is the 50th anniversary of his original publication date. Yes I'm a nerd and looked at Electro's Wikipedia page after viewing the article for this film. Anyway, awesome - a character not normally touched on. But then the film makes the same mistake as its predecessors by introducing Harry Osborne AND going so far as to make him a secondary villain for Spiderman as the New Goblin (no, not the Hobgoblin as many might think). But that's not enough, the last 15 minutes of the film introduces AND allows a final fight scene with a third villain, The Rhino. Did director Mark Webb not learn a lesson from Sam Raimi's mistake(s) with Spiderman 3? The Amazing Spiderman 2 is a fun film to go to the theatre to see. I went the extra mile and did 3D and its absolutely worth it. Believe it or not, there's a lot more going on in this movie than Spidey fighting three baddies, with an obvious setup for a Sinister Six film or franchise on the future. Peter Parker listens to Phillip Phillips... On that note and alliteration aside, check out this fun film. There's a lot of cool fight scenes, CGI web-slinging scenes, just don't let the end get to you.
Noah (2014)
Not One of Aranofsky's Best
I am a big fan of Darren Aronofsky's work, but Noah just did not hold up to the likes of Black Swan, The Wrestler, or Requiem for a Dream. As in most Aronofsky films, there is the usual internal conflict of the main character having some psychotic episode that puts the protagonist at a struggle, but unlike the struggles presented in his earlier films, I found myself at some points actually losing support for the protagonist. The character development of Noah just seemed too uneven and there are moments where the style of character that Noah had become, or at least seemed to become, I think should have put him at odds more with The Creator vs himself than anything or anyone else. Also, especially for a third time collaboration, I thought the chemistry between Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly could have been stronger. They were more believable as Mr. And Mrs. Nash respectively (A Beautiful Mind). Other than that, it wasn't a bad film. I thought the sets, special effects, and cinematography were very good, and the supporting cast was very good as well. I wish the film would've spent a little more time on the supporting characters, but then the film wouldn't be titled just Noah, and at already over two hours long, no additional time is incredibly necessary - just better time management I suppose. I would recommend going to the theatre, if you're inclined to see this movie, just for the way it looks on the big screen. Other than that, its good for a Red Box Friday night in three months.
The Ward (2010)
Rough
It's been done. I suppose its tough with psychological horrors - there's only so much one can do. From start to finish, this film lacked any real originality. I would expect much more from a horror genius like John Carpenter. I liked the asylum setting, but that was about it. Elements of the movie made me think I was watching someone play Batman: Arkham Asylum (and if you've played the game, you'll know what I mean in one scene in particular). The characters were not developed nearly enough for me to care about any one of them - not even the main character. You might wonder why the director might bother given what happens throughout the film, but it was like a speeding train coming to a screeching halt, yet still somehow hitting a brick wall. There were a few shock scenes that grabbed my attention, sure, but they faded quickly and I found myself chuckling or rolling my eyes afterwards. I expected more. I guess it was worth the instant streaming in Netflix at best.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
See it for Nostalgia Sake
Black Hawk Down is probably my favorite war movie. So well paced with battle scenes vs. non-battle scenes and ultimately memorizing. Forgetting any probable claims of inaccuracy to what actually happened in October '93, but solely as a film, and as a work of art. I know that you're thinking, "what about Saving Private Ryan? It's Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and a pleasant addition of Matt Damon," I know, and don't get me wrong, an extremely respectable film, but I suppose if I had to choose, it's gotta be BHD. Maybe because of my age and that this event occurred while I was alive (i.e. more modern weapons and tactics being demonstrated), whereas SPR is WWII, so, in a very respectable way, dated for me(?) A really tough call, but I suppose "Desert Island" rules, and I had to choose a war film specifically, BHD takes the gold. The movie is more than 10 years old, if you haven't seen it already, do yourself a favor at least once.
Frozen (2010)
Very well done
Three snowboarders become trapped on a chairlift and must fight the elements, animals, and gravity (not in that order) to survive. My first thought after finishing this movie was "I wish this would've been on DVD when I was in the ski club in high school." If you're a rider or skier, give this movie a chance. It should freak you out, even just a little, the next time your chairlift comes to a halt. Yes, some scenes are dumb ("why would you do that?!" moments) and the dialogue could be better, but give it a chance. The acting is not bad at all for young, relatively unknown actors. I found it ironic that the actor who played Iceman in the X-Men movies was cast in this film. The camera-work was what impressed me the most though. Even if you don't ski or snowboard, this isn't a bad film to check out.
The Crazies (2010)
No more or less
A decent zombie film. This film offers a fair amount of the pop out scares as most horror movies would and relies on a lot of build up for the more intense scenes. I found myself saying what was going to happen next at times of build-up, and sure enough I'd be right on or very close. Having not seen the original or any other remakes, I can't really compare. Timothy Olyphant does a good job with the leading role as sheriff (better than his lead in Hit-man), and the supporting cast is good enough where you can wary the story and not be upset at what happens to them. There is really nothing bad about this movie as long as the viewer knows not to take it for any more or less than what it is. A good film for a rainy night when you don't want to have to think at all about what you're watching.
Sons of Anarchy: Una Venta (2011)
Not Bad
This is my first IMDb review and this episode of the very good television show is the last thing I've watched, so this episode has the honors. The 4th episode of the 4th season starts off classy as the story continues with the club beginning to mule drugs for their new Mexican allies. As this is a new business for the Sons, one that causes great conflict internally, the viewer is brought in with a Spanish, acoustic rendition of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'". A good chase scene later on as the club is pursued by a tail, but mostly the episode consists of dealings and dialogue as past concerns brought up begin to come together on all sides of this complex story. Kurt Sutter knows how to keep the story hanging for his fans each week. This episode will only make sense to those who have been following the series for some time. New viewers stay away, but I highly recommend this show as a whole.