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Hideout (2021)
Slow burn, character driven tension done very well.
Following a robbery gone bad...Four criminals on the run (including a brother & sister desperate for enough money to afford treatment for their ailing mother) stop at a remote farmhouse to evade the police that's occupied by an old woman and her mysterious, manipulative granddaughter, whose mind games become increasingly sinister.
One of the best/most well shot independent, shoestring budget horror movies in recent years with minimal but quality effects work and a foreboding atmosphere that does an excellent job of keeping the supernatural element fairly ambiguous building up to the climax.
Slow burn, character driven tension done very well with as much of a fresh take as one could hope for in the familiar home invasion sub-genre. 👍🏻
Black Friday (2021)
fun nostalgic throwback to both old school sci-fi and gruesome, campy 80's horror/comedy...
A disgruntled department store staff band together to survive the night when pieces of a broken meteor turn Black Friday shoppers into ravenous, flesh-eating aliens.
A fun nostalgic throwback to both old school sci-fi and gruesome, campy 80's horror/comedy...
Featuring the lovely Ivana Baquero of Pan's Labyrinth, Michael Jai White being a bad-@$$ with hardware tools, Bruce Campbell's trademark smug charm, and fantastic practical creature effects by one of the best effects masters to ever work in the genre Robert Kurtzman...
With a giant monster finale that's especially impressive in scale considering its low budget. 👍🏻
Unmasked Part 25 (1988)
One of the most effective genre-benders ever made...
Set in London...A horribly disfigured, Jason-esque serial killer (named Jackson) scarred (literally and figuratively) by a traumatized childhood develops a romantic relationship with an attractive, blind would be victim that causes him to reconsider his life of murder and aspire for something deeper.
One of the best genre-benders that balances the incredibly difficult task of being highly effective as a hardcore gory slasher, an offbeat dark comedy, and a tragic love story.
As good as satire gets using its meta style to explore both the horror genre and the idea of inescapable fate in a way that's as thought provoking as it is amusing. 👍🏻
The Curse of Humpty Dumpty (2021)
Much more clever than the campy creature feature poster indicates...
Two sisters take their mother who's suffering from dementia back to their old home from before their father/her husband left in hopes of reviving fond memories as she believes that a sinister doll is committing murders around the property.
Ambiguously supernatural/psychological horror with a disturbing look at suppressing trauma and declining mental health that's far more clever and thematically layered than the campy creature feature style cover indicates.
One of the best indie British horror films in recent memory. 👍🏻
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
The best example I've ever seen of a movie that feels like art in motion...
My annual Good Friday tradition since its release on 2/25/2004.
The best example I've ever seen of a movie that feels like art in motion...bringing to life beautiful paintings of Christ's Passion before the eyes of the viewer to create the most intense and deeply affecting look at the essence of Christ's redemptive sacrifice that anyone has been able to experience within the past two thousand years...far surpassing any other film, live performance, or any other artistic expression on the subject matter.
Definitely the single most powerful and important film of my lifetime that should be seen both by believers and by those that value the artistic side of cinema. Every shot in this film makes you feel like you're inside of a renaissance painting (inspired by the likes of Caravaggio and Michelangelo).
In addition to being the first movie to give a raw look at the degree to which Christ suffered for humanity that was not overly sanitized, this also conveys the idea of spiritual welfare as poignantly as I've ever seen on film...drawing Biblical allusions to Genesis and Satan's temptation of Christ to add crucial thematic context from the very beginning...and this is quite possibly the best movie at showing the humanity of Christ without diminishing His divinity, depicting a beautiful mother & son relationship that anyone can relate to.
It also offers insight into the heated political climate between the Romans and the Jewish Sanhedrin at the time, with one of the most thought provoking looks at the moral dilemma of Pontius Pilate when Jesus is brought to him for sentencing.
The directing, editing, acting, Middle Eastern inspired music score, cinematography, production design, visual/prosthetic effects, authentic languages from the era, etc... give this movie as much attention to detail as you could ever hope to see/hear onscreen to create an unforgettable emotional and visceral experience (as well as a spiritual one, for those of us open to its message).
A medieval Passion play in the form of a masterfully crafted, unparalleled cinematic achievement unlike anything modern viewers have ever been able to experience before...culminated by arguably the most Biblically accurate and powerful depiction of Christ's Resurrection to date...which may be the single most uplifting, awe inspiring final shot in the history of cinema.
"Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
- Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV)
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
"He Himself bore our sins" in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by His wounds you have been healed."
For "you were like sheep going astray," but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- 1 Peter 2:22-25 (NIV)
The King of Kings (1927)
The most sublime movie of the silent era...
The most sublime movie of the silent era and a rival to Jesus of Nazareth (as the best 'Life Of Christ' movie ever made (I wouldn't put The Passion Of The Christ in that category, as I consider it more of a cinematic Passion play).
One of the best Biblical movies that much like the sacred scripture it's based on has withstood the test of time and manages to compare to if not surpass any other cinematic depiction of the subject matter so many generations later...with a combination of gorgeous spectacle and devout reverence for the subject matter as only Cecil B. DeMille could have delivered it...one of the greatest cinematic showmen of all time and this imo surpasses even the widely beloved Ten Commandments as his finest production.
DeMille adds some especially tender and poignant emotional touches...including the most heartwarming onscreen reveal of Jesus to date, seeing Him for the first time through the eyes of a blind child He's healed...Jesus "healing" a broken doll for a little girl...every passerby seeing his own sin written in the sand while condemning the sinful woman that Jesus saves from stoning...and this is the only Biblical epic to date to depict the mother of one of the thieves crucified alongside Christ being consoled by Mary...also even showing one of their dogs grieving at the foot of the cross. He deserves bonus points for managing to incorporate a fun, whimsical sense of humor into some scenes without making light of the story.
Overflowing with shots that feel like sacred art work of old come alive before the viewer with such beautiful visuals as a shimmering Jesus and an ethereal symbolic use of doves at key moments...some of the most natural performances of any film from the silent era fronted by H.B. Warner (who appeared in It's a Wonderful Life and Ten Commandments 1956 in addition to this film) in the best performance of his legendary career as Jesus Christ...grandiose sets with huge crowds that give the film a sense of scope that was especially impressive for its era...and special effects that are still phenomenal even today, including an earthquake sequence during Christ's crucifixion that's as jaw dropping as many disaster movies made today...and arguably the most beautiful & powerful cinematic depiction of The Resurrection ever put onscreen, presented in color to emphasize the glorious, triumphant majesty of the most important event in all of history (contrasted by the black & white throughout the film).
Thanks to The Criterion Collection this is now available in a fantastic 2-disc set DVD with the original 155 minute release and the somewhat condensed 112 minute release...also featuring a beautiful music score by Donald Sosin composed strictly for the DVD release.
This movie was remade in 1961, which was also an excellent film, but it doesn't compare to this one.
This and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 1925 are the two most essential films of the silent era and absolute must sees for anyone interested in the history of film...both capable of winning over audiences that aren't typically fond of silent filmmaking. 👍🏻
Unplanned (2019)
Effective as both a love story and a beautiful redemption story.
At the center of this movie is a great romantic relationship that shows someone growing to love their partner despite incredibly deep ideological differences. That's something anyone should be able to appreciate.
The people calling this "one-sided" have no idea what they're talking about and would inevitably react that way to anything depicting this subject matter other than pro-abortion propaganda.
The movie showed the worst side of pro-life movement, and the perspective of abortion advocates that think they're doing the right thing. The boss of the main character is depicted as a borderline sociopathic scumbag because that's what she was. That's what people at the head of the abortion industry that profit from mass murder for a living are very likely to be, it's not at all that surprising. The movie does not depict every person that supports abortion as being that brazenly evil.
The below review on this site sums up the misguided (to put it nicely) view of most of those that despise this film perfectly.
"Imagine a movie about a talented young doctor who is an advocate for organ donation. One day she sees a kidney transplant go awry, and decides that henceforth she should work to prevent all organ transplants for everyone, everywhere. No matter how much good they do and how important they are for society, she doesn't like them so nobody should get them.
This movie is her story."
Actually no. Organ donation doesn't involving killing a living human being with either sharp instruments, vacuum devices or poison. Abortion in fact does. This is as false as a false equivalence can possibly get.
People talking about this movie proposing some "stone aged" ideas seem to think that finding creative ways to dehumanize your children so you can justify slaughtering them in the womb and discarding them like trash is some "progressive" new idea...it isn't. It's been happening longer than anyone reading this now has been alive.
If you want progress, stop dehumanizing others based on arbitrary standards so that you can justify killing them in the name of "choice."
If you need religion to help you understand why killing a human being that's as innocent and vulnerable as any human being could ever possibly be (which you shouldn't, as the many secular pro-lifers can easily tell you. Look up Albany Rose, Kay Fellows and Secular Pro-Life on social media for a good start), then you yourself are a better argument against secularism than any theist could ever possibly be.
Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
As much adrenaline and all out entertainment as one film can have crammed into it....
Wow. This movie is quite simply entertainment and adrenaline personified.
I can't think of a single film that's packed with more jaw dropping stunts, setpieces, and dialogue that's as cool as it is hilarious. Terrific performances from the big three cast members that actually sell lines that wouldn't have worked with other actors delivering them, Owen is now up there with the McClane and RAMBO of the 80s as one of the greatest movie bad-asses to ever live, easily one of the best sleezy villain performances I've ever seen from Giamatti who gives facial expressions that are as unique and sytlish as the dialogue, Monica plays the role with just the right blend of fragility and toughness, especially good in a scene where she has to convey her fear as Giamatti tortures and interrogates her, and a heartfelt scene between her and Owen that got me genuinely invested in how things turned out for them. This is the best of every one man army movie ever made from the Stallone, to Willis, to Bronson...blended to perfection with the so over the top that you can't take your eyes off the screen escapist adventure of Sin City, Grindhouse and Kill Bill, but executed in a way that it makes it all its own.
This is the most original, unique cinematic experience of the year by a longshot, and if not for Pan's Labyrinth, it'd be the best film I've seen all year. In a year loaded with great action films from 300, to Death Sentence, to Live Free or Die Hard, to Hot Fuzz...this blows the doors off of all of them and stands ahead of the pack as the definitive action film of the year, and rivals the classics as one of the greatest ever.
I'm hard pressed to think of a handful of films that gave me a better theatrical experience than this one. It's definitely Clive and Giammitti's best film, and it's Monica's best American film.
I already had obscenely high expectations, and this blew them away.
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Absolutely phenomenal
Aja hits you out of nowhere in the beginning, then spends a while with the characters after seeing exactly what's in store for them as you're getting to know them makes this probably the most unnerving film I've ever seen in theatres. The pacing and the atmosphere were right on target. People's complaints about the characters "pointlessly bitching and moaning at each other" were just what I thought they'd be, a great way of making them feel like real people and not clichés. I don't have any siblings, but I have two step-sisters, and the way they act around each other mirrors the interaction shown in the film beautifully. We all engage in petty bickering with the ones we love, especially under certain circumstances, and although it may annoy the hell out of us there will come a time when we wish those people were there to annoy us. I loved how well Aja showed this. It added so much more impact to the horror. The fact that I was teary-eyed at the end is a testament to Aja's characterization. Michael Bailey Smith needs to play Jason. Pluto was so damned cool that I couldn't help but love him even after he'd made me hate him. He gave me a chance to see what it was like to see the Jason of the 80's on the big screen. Aja's direction is spot on. I love his contrasts. Inter-cutting glimpses of deformities during the main titles with warm-hearted music playing over it to show the shift that happens in the area after the nuclear testing; the beautiful shots of the desert landscapes to offset the ugliness that lies within them; the use of visceral music that you almost feel more than you hear that keeps that sick, uneasy feeling in tact throughout the film, countered by the heroic orchestral themes used when the victims start to fight back... The political themes were a bit heavier than I expected, but Aja integrated them into the story without having them consume it. The film does have one scene in particular that has a great message about creating your own problems that applies heavily to the world today. I love Aja's use of things that have been done before in these types of films, such as the area where the killers keep the vehicles of people that came to their land and never made it back, this time showing them in a huge pit with crows everywhere to add a further sense of eerieness to the atmosphere. The fight scenes were incredible, and brutal enough to keep it from turning into an action movie. They don't feel choreographed, they reflect the mental state of the killers, and the victims after what the point that the killers drive them to. Aja's ending works both ways. I felt the same joy the family did when the survivors were reuinted, but Aja still left that sense of dread that there's still more members of another family out there lingering. I was going in expecting as close to perfection as it gets, and that's pretty much what Aja gave me. Anything I found wrong with the film was just a minor nitpick, Aja went a little nutts with the jump scares, but they still worked on me, which they often don't; but he delivered a film that made me feel the same brutality, intensity, terror, sorrow, and joy of what the characters were going through like films ever have.