Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 250

Gonna peep that this weekend

Did Locked this week and it felt very Trap-adjacent. Skarsgaard locked in car rigged by Anthony Hopkins. Big dumb fun.

 

I loved it

 

Some new and/or notable watches in April:

The Monkey - 8/10
So fun! I didn't know Perkins had it in him. Unlike Longlegs, this seems to know exactly the tone it's going for, and it nails King's voice better than maybe any adaptation of his work since 1408. Even when the writing feels a little on the nose or the third act goes completely off the rails, this is wacky enough in the kill department and visually interesting enough to stand out as something unique in Perkins' filmography. Don't believe the haters.

The Birthday - 8/10
For some reason, I was under the impression that this was a lost film, and while that may not be true, I'm hoping it finds a new audience on Shudder. Even with Feldman hamming it up, The Birthday is a darkly funny and feverish cosmic horror odyssey that would likely land well with the A24 crowd today. It's not particularly artsy, but it's strange enough in a Beau is Afraid type of way that it deserves to generate discussion amongst horror fans that might not know about it. Visually, it looks like it could have been released in the past 10 years, and the final "creature" design is pretty unforgettable. Don't miss this one.

Invoking Yell - 7/10
Nothing really happens in this movie -- there a lot of walking in the woods a'la The Blair Witch Project, and the scares never really pay off -- but for a certain audience that enjoys a) black metal and b) movies that feel like extended V/H/S segment, BOY is this simply a good vibe.

Opus - 6.5/10
Fun! A lot of the criticism I saw for this is that it mimics a bunch of other "weird things happen at an isolated location" movies, and to be fair, it it basically a 50/50 blend of The Menu and Midsommar beat for beat. But it also doesn't try to say anything deep, and at the end of the day, it's just a lot of fun to see this cast (especially Malkovich) get to do something weird. Far from ground breaking but worth the watch for genre fans regardless.

Mickey 17 - 6.5/10
Mostly good fun but good LORD did Ruffalo's space-Trump schtick take me out of it. We may have been spoiled by how thoughtful Parasite was, because this mostly feels like an exciting sci-fi adventure (complimentary) with some extremely surface-level satire (distracting). Cut about 20 minutes of that stuff, tighten it up a little, and this could have been great.

Abruptio - 7.5/10
Adult Swim Presents: A Scanner Darkly. Really uniquely dark and unsettling stuff, even if the reveal feels a bit "I'm 14 and this is deep." I've never seen the medium used quite like this and I don't expect to forget it anytime soon.

Ash - 6.5/10
The Thing, but in space, so also kind of like Life (2017), but with more distinct music and visuals. Pretty good even if it feels cobbled together from many pre-existing pieces. Flying Lotus obviously knows what he's doing when it comes to aesthetics and I hope he continues to grow.

Heavy Metal - 8.5/10
Truly taps into the primal 14-year-old boy in me. High fantasy and cartoon boobs are just too potent a combination. Animation looks like shit in the absolute best possible way.

 

The Wedding Banquet was amazing. I laughed. I cried. Give everyone involved all the awards