Category: Movie Review

Society

Billy Whitney is a good, normal kid living with his rich family in Beverly Hills. His parents favor his sister, Jenny. They don’t like his taste in friends nor care much about his school activities. Billy feels like he can’t escape their vain, detached, materialistic world. How right he really is. When Jenny’s old beau plays a troubling recording for Billy, his whole world turns upside down. People die. He sees things. Jenny’s acting just like their parents, his therapist, and the kids at school. Is Billy losing it, or is something deeper going on?

This was a movie I’d heard about for years but never got to experience until recently. The movie is great at making you wonder what the hell is going on and keeping you glued. The finale is batshit insanity with incredible effects. The acting is solid. I appreciate the uncanny, otherworldly feel to the whole movie. I like the social commentary on the rich feeding off the poor, but it never gets heavy-handed. There’s some really funny moments that don’t spoil the dread the movie maintains. My only real gripe is I feel like they should’ve had Billy’s statis hungry ex girlfriend pop up in the end. Overall, I’d call Society an underrated gem that’s relevant and has one hell of a disturbing ending. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Captain America: Brave New World

Some time has passed since Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Sam Wilson faces his first crisis as Captain America. When former Cap and friend, Isiah Bradley, tries to assassinate former Hulk antagonist, now president, Thad Ross without any recollection, it’s up to Sam to prove his friend’s innocence. With his new Falcon, Joaquin Torres, they find a network of conspiracy and mind control led by a familiar foe out to not only ruin Ross but make him the thing he hates the most…

Captain America: Winter Soldier is one of the best movies in the MCU. Brave New World feels like a dumbed-down callback with unused Hulk sequel assets. Anthony Mackie tries his best to keep this weak script afloat, but he ultimately fails. Giancarlo Esposito gets wasted as a villain who ultimately doesn’t go anywhere; bless the man for trying. What really cripples this movie is Harrison Ford phoning in his performance as Ross; the late William Hurt damn near played the obsessed, power-hungry general in Incredible Hulk as well as the smaller return cameos in the MCU til this. The main villain is the Leader, who was also set up in the Incredible Hulk movie, and he looks godawful. He also doesn’t have his psychic powers from the comics, nor does he want to dominate a world of gamma-radiated evolved monsters. He’s a salty, sickly looking broccoli man who spouts your typical end-credits spiel. And Red Hulk is basically a glorified cameo in the end. The action scenes are fine. The movie runs at a decent pace and isn’t overly long.

In the end, Cap 4 isn’t the worst I’ve seen from the MCU ( I’m looking at you Thor: Love and Thunder ) but it’s totally skippable. Fantastic 4: First Steps gave me hope for the MCU and I’m hoping Mackie will get some good Cap time in the next 2 Avengers movies, but until then, stick to the Chris Evans trilogy. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Conjuring: Last Rites trailer

Nothing in modern horror has possibly made me sadder than the decline and implosion of the Conjuring universe (that should never have been a cinematic universe to begin with). This film looks better than The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It but after the flood of pointless spinoffs and steadily bad sequels, I can’t say I really care about the “final” Conjuring. All I can hope for is that the saga goes out on a fairly positive note. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Predator: Badlands trailer 2

Wow…this movie is starting to look pretty badass. I love the direction I see it going in. I think Badlands looks like a cool way to expand the Predator mythos. The monsters and fauna look cool and I can’t wait to see a young, fledgling Predator face off against them. I like Elle Fanning so far and how it looks like a weird buddy journey with her and the Predator. In the end I’m super hyped. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Zombie (aka Zombi 2 aka Zombie Flesh Eaters)

Ann’s father has disappeared while on vacation. Along with Peter, a journalist, and two vacationers, they bum a ride from, they set off to a tropical island to find them. This island has been ravaged by death. A plague or something more supernatural, maybe both. The dead have begun to walk, and they are hungry.

Zombie (or whichever title you prefer) is one of Lucio Fulci’s most well-known works. The Beyond is my favorite, but Zombie was my first. I’ve heard it said the movie is a knockoff of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead , but I disagree. Zombie doesn’t hold a candle to Dawn’s memorable characters, good acting, or the sheer scope of the film. What Zombie does have is nightmarish zombie effects and top-notch gore. The zombies are well-detailed and absolutely gross to look at. I do really like the movie’s theme. The story and characters are meh; the dubbing isn’t as good as I’d like it to be. The slow pace kills the movie. When things happen, the movie is great, but a lot of it feels like the main characters wandering around. My favorite moment will always be the zombie fighting the shark at the bottom of the ocean. In the end, there’s definitely better Fulci films and zombie films all around, but this is a solid horror with great effects, blood, and some absurdity that’s worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Avatar: Fir and Ash reveal trailer

I’ve never been one for the Avatar bandwagon. When the trailer for the 3rd movie dropped during Fantastic 4: First Steps , it didn’t do much for me. It looks nice. I’m happy the fans of the series didn’t have to wait over a decade for this sequel as opposed to Way of Water. In the end I hope the fans are pumped and it lives up to hype. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Beyond

What do a rundown hotel, a blind woman, a bleak old painting, and a brainwave machine have in common? Eliza is in the midst of renovating the old, dilapidated 7 Gates Hotel in Louisiana when strange things begin to happen. Dangerous, deadly accidents and the appearance of a mysterious blind woman named Emily, who is seeking Eliza. Her message is clear: leave the hotel. Desperate, Eliza refuses only to discover the true horror of the hotel- it was built on one of the seven gates to Hell itself.

A long time ago I talked about House by the Cemetary , the third part of Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy. The Beyond is the middle entry, the most renowned of the trilogy, and for damn good reason. The Beyond is just short of a horror masterpiece. The cinematography is both breathtaking and uncanny, which makes you feel unsettled throughout. The music is haunting and even operatic, compounding the surrealness of the whole movie. The gore is absolutely disgusting without ever feeling comedically overboard. The english dub is pretty good, but I do give the actors a lot of credit; their expressions add to the terror. While I deeply love the movie, their’s some flaws that make you scratch you’re head and don’t make sense. Eliza knows someone, somehow you never see her interact with; the one dude might be possessed or something and randomly vanishes at the end; clearly fake spiders on string at one point. The movie isn’t perfect but it is pretty ambiguous with some reality-bending. The ending is bleak as hell and a perfect fit. The Beyond ain’t for everyone- the gore alone will deter a lot of people- but I seriously recommend this Italian horror classic. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tron: Ares trailer

15 years ago I saw Tron: Legacy in theaters. It was fun, popcorn theater experience that I forgot about a week later. Ares looks to be about the same. It looks to be a movie that will look and sound cool but as to why it exists, I can’t really say except money. I can’t really see a reason otherwise why Tron has returned nor do I know anyone who asked for it. Maybe I’ll be wrong but given what I’ve seen, I think we’re getting another helping of disposable eye candy. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fantastic 4: First Steps

The 1960’s have been defined by 4 heroes who have fought villains, shaped the world, and made it a better place not only for themselves and the people around them, but the newest bundle of joy joining their family. They are no strangers to danger…until a new threat emerges from the stars, announcing the imminent death of the planet- the coming of Galactus. When faced with an impossible threat, an impossible choice, can the Fantastic 4 pull off the impossible?

I’ve been through the ringer of Fantastic 4 (1994) , Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer , and the abomination known as Fant4stic so I was scared. I’m proud to say we actually got not only a great Fantastic 4 movie, but one of the best Marvel movies in years. There was a ton of love given to the comics as well as the visual aesthetic. The movie harkens back to classic 50’s/60’s sci fi and golden age comic books. I loved the actors all around. The 4 have great chemistry and true to the characters. The Silver Surfer was awesome. The true standout was Galactus which, my god, was absolutely terrifying. The movie is well-balanced between drama, comedy, sci-fi action; I’m so happy it stands on its own and doesn’t rely on the greater MCU for its characters and story. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of the MCU end credit scene, most of us knew it was coming. In the end, I was greatly surprised and I highly recommend the MCU debut of Marvel’s First Family. May the Galactus bring you…glory? Yanno.

Mortal Kombat 2 trailer

Ok, no joke I lost when this trailer finally dropped. I enjoyed the first movie but it wasn’t perfect. Everything I see for the sequel looks like a MK fan’s wet dream. Karl Urban seems like a perfect fit for Johnny Cage. Shao Khan looks intimidating as hell. Of course the highlight is the showdown between Scorpion and Noob Saibot in hell. I’m insanely pumped for this movie and have seen the trailer a bunch of times. May the gaming gods bring you glory.