Alita: Battle Angel (Robert Rodriguez) 7.5/10 Robert Rodriguez does an excellent job with a fun (if at times, silly) script. Amazing action sequences, great performances, and love them or hate them, the visual effects are undeniably fascinating. It gets a little messy in the third act -- feels like a lot of loose ends that I wish were reeled in or not simply there to tease a sequel -- but even as an adaptation, it still manages to feel original and quite refreshing.
The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson) 4/10. Seemed a lot like fanfare. Was definitely a very interesting way to tell short stories but none of the stories were gripping enough to get super interested in, and somehow they all went on too long. Easily the worst of Anderson's work. This premise was great, the execution was poor.
Seems as good a place as any to share my horror-skewed Top 10 Films of 2021 (all an 8/10 or higher): 1. Dune (Denis Villeneuve) 2. Censor (Prano Bailey-Bond) 3. Inside (Bo Burnham) 4. The Green Knight (David Lowery) 5. Malignant (James Wan) 6. The Tomorrow War (Chris McKay) 7. A Glitch in the Matrix (Rodney Ascher) 8. V/H/S/94 (Various) 9. Fear Street Part One: 1994 (Leigh Janiak) 10. Pig (Michael Sarnoski)
I haven't seen The Tomorrow War, but this is the first remotely positive impression of it I've seen. Really think it's worth watching?
Lol I genuinely had a great time with it, but I'm easy to please (especially when it comes to original stories). Here's a portion of my Letterboxd review and you can decide whether it sounds up your alley. "It's a big dumb throwback blockbuster that excels in meshing multiple genres while being an original IP - not an adaptation, sequel, reboot, remake, etc. Want huge action set pieces? You got'em. Comic relief that actually hits? Sam Richardson and Mike Mitchell are your guys. Genuinely terrifying Aliens-esque creature design? It's here in spades. And on top of all of it, The Tomorrow War winds up packing a bit more emotion and sentimentality than your typical big-budget action flick. While it does start to feel it's length after the second act, the Russian-set finale is totally worth it. Chris McKay knocks it out of the park by paying homage to blockbusters of the past (Star Wars, Jaws, and even a reference to one of his favorite films, The Thing) while forging something relatively original."
I also just wanted to say that I randomly remembered being mocked and chased out for posting in the AP.net version of this thread when I reviewed ABCs of Death (I don't even think it was that positive of a review lol) and I'm really glad this site isn't like that anymore.
I had no interest in that movie, but your review is changing my mind a little. Might be a Monday middle of the week when I'm burnt out and don't want to think much type of movie.
Any of y'all have Letterboxd? Figured I'd drop mine since that's where I post my reviews! https://letterboxd.com/landondefever/
Yes we do! Dropping mine as well. Will be popping in with reviews of Greener Grass, There's Someone Inside Your House, and Citizen Kane once I get a minute to breathe today. https://letterboxd.com/avmook/
While we're all promoting stuff, I actually have a bi-weekly film podcast I do with my buddy Eric where we alternate recommending a movie/talk about recent watches! We've talked about Shrek, Hereditary, Almost Famous, Tokyo Godfathers, Saw, and a bunch of others! linktr.ee/filmsforthevoid
Someone should host weekly with two guests. Topics can rotate (early Kubrick, Christmas movies, Will Smith movies).
Greener Grass (Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe) 7.5/10 Sporadically very funny movie that should click with fans of I Think You Should Leave that also watch SNL and/or listen to Doughboys. Beck Bennett is so fucking funny. There's Someone Inside Your House (Patrick Brice) 7.5/10 Shockingly effective in both kills and humor. A sufficiently bloody Scream throwback and satirical slasher that takes aim at topics like privilege and redemption. It falls short in that aspect, but the movie is so colorful and over-the-top in other ways that it's easy to forgive. Citizen Kane 9.5/10 Movies about corruption tend to age very, very well. Scary Tales 7/10 Only watching SOV films for the rest of my life
A podcast where each week Tetra integrates a different guest for voting incorrectly in his bracket, with a segment at the end to explain his wardrobe.