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Monkey Man (2024)
Try to be Indian John Wick but fail in too many parts
I absolutely love these movies that could be call "John Wick clones". I really don't care if the originality is not really there, or that the story is simple, as long as the action is fun and well shot, and the characters engaging enough to carry the movie. Nobody and Extraction are great exemples of this.
This movie had a pretty well made trailer but the movie itself ultimately fall flat. First of all the action. There is a clear lack of it especially during the second act, and exept in the third act where it seem they made better effort, the movie is plague by shaky cams and out of frame shots that make it hard to follow and enjoy.
While not being a constant action banger is not really a problem in itself, the story has to step up to fill the rest and this is where in my opinion the movie just completely fail. Its a typical simple revenge story but maybe its because i am really not into Indian politics or religious culture, i just couldn't connect with the most of it.
Dev Patel characters is rather flat and inexpressive most of the time. Even tough we know why he does what he does ultimately, i think it would had been beneficial to be shown earlier. There is one or two other characters that are given some personality but most of the rest of the characters in general kinda feel like uninteresting NPCs.
I may be going a bit harsh on that movie but maybe its because it had the potential to be something pretty awesome, and its a genre i normally love. So my lack of huge enjoyement of this one unlike a movie where i know ain't my style from the get go but im curious to see due to reviews etc (Get Out for exemple), feel more "genuine" for a lack of a better word. Basically i gone into this movie expecting to love it, not just out of curiosity.
Ultimately its not a terrible movie. Exept some of the action shaky cams (please movies, just use this sporadically when it really mean something), the rest is all "fine" but neither great or terrible.
Not one that will join my physical collection or that i ever intend to rewatch. 6 out of 10 and im generous.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Its indeed a lot better than part 2
I recently watched part 2 for the first time and just as that one, this was my first time watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 3. Having only seen the first one many years ago and the later ones in the franchise (Freddy vs Jason and the Remake).
Part 2 was disapointing. It had a few rare bright spots but it took way too long to get the movie going and certainly didn't had enough of Freddy. This one correct this in a major way.
It seem to not really aknowledge Part 2 and be a follow up of the first but it seem to retcon some elements of it as well. Well this was something you would often see in the 80s horror franchises and im just gonna review the movie in itself ignoring that.
So as i said above, this one has a lot more Freddy. He appear quite often and the kills are creative with cool set pieces. The pacing is also very good as he show up always at the right time before it could turn "boring" like Part 2. Movie also try to expend on the lore of the character and i think it does a decent job there as well.
Obviously watching the movie 37 years later after its release, there is some dated elements, but overall i think it holds rather well for the majority. Special effects are overall cool and well done, and they do use well the concept of a dream and being able to be creative with it but there are a few who aged rather poorly, but thats really not the fault of this movie, just the effects are a product of their time. Im sure peoples who watched it in the 80s hold great nostalgia for these.
So yeah i enjoyed my time with this one. Its harder to properly rate a movie that you watch in the 2020s while it was made in the 1980s without any nostalgia googles. I hesitated between a 7 and an 8 out of 10, but i think i would rate it more like 7.4 than 7.6 so im gonna go with a 7. Its one i would rewatch in the futur unlike the previous one.
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
Apparently its the worst one... well out of 4 i seen so far, it is.
Alright, this is gonna sound weird but even if i saw TONS of horror movies in my teen years and since, i had not watched the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise for the most part.
In my early 20s, around 2005, a friend let me borrow the first one wich i watched and enjoyed fair enough despite feeling a bit dated even then (it was pretty much 20 years old already). And the only other ones i saw were Freddy vs Jason wich i loved and the remake from 2010. The remake is not anything great but i would say i enjoyed it more than this. But not so long ago i bough the compilation with the 4 first movies and got part 5 and 6 on their own. Having saw the first movie back in the day, i started my viewing with Part 2.
Where do i start this review? The movie only goes for 87 minutes and in the first whole hour, you don't see much in term of horror. You got a few scenes that are semi trying to be creepy sure, and maybe its because its almost 40 years later nowadays, but i didn't find them remotely scary.
There is a few cleaver pratical special effects that sure look pretty dated now, but must had been very solid 40 years ago. But the issue is the kills and said special effects are way too far in between.
The story is different from the first movie, and apparently its the only one that tried this idea of Freddy possessing someone instead of simply killing peoples in their sleep. I think the idea is not bad, but the execution was a bit confusing at time and as i mentioned, the movie despite its short running time felt like it dragged and dragged. Just for the record, i saw nothing of that suposed "gay tone" that the writer suposely admited doing (and main actor was gay in the closet from my readings). I saw this mentioned in reviews but never noticed anything in the movie itself while watching.
This one from my understanding is considered one of the worst if not the worst of the franchise, and based on what i saw, it could very well end up being my least favorite as well. Would i say i hated it? Nah. But i can't say i really liked it much. Its certainly one i have no wish to revisit. Not enough Freddy in that Freddy movie.
Im happy i got to see it blindly tough. I didn't look reviews or such prior to watching, or that it was the worst (had no idea) so i could forge my own opinion and approach it like a classic horror movie of a beloved franchise. I did hear the third one is the best tough so i will admit im looking forward to see that one next and i may have to be carefull to not get my hopes too high.
When it comes to "Freddy's Revenge" tough, i hesitated between a 5 and a 6 and i will push it to a 6 out of 10 because the movie is 40 years old, and still midly entertained me and got me eager to see where it was going. The special effects despite looking dated obviously are still interesting to see. A lot more than cheap CGI to say the least.
The Crow (1994)
This hold incredibly well !
About 15 years ago my cousin introduced me to some Brandon Lee movies, Rapid Fire and Showdown in Little Tokyo. The later became one of my favorite martial arts movie. For some weird reason tough i never saw The Crow yet always wanted to. Maybe its because i knew it was not a Martial Arts movie. Anyway recently the movie came in the spotlight again due to the remake and i saw Snarky Jay on Youtube mention its one of her favorite movie so i had to finally watch it.
Grabbed a few beers and started it as it was dark outside and well... the movie still hold up very well. Yes there is a few stereotypes of the 90s like those insane gang members you would often see in movies, wich i have no idea if real life was really like this as i was a kid in the late 80s and early 90s. Sometimes it feel a bit over the top, but its something im so used from that era that it pass by smoothly for me.
The story is well made, Brandon Lee is excellent as the main character. The music and visuals are a mix of gothic and grunge rock, giving a solid overall tone. Movie has its fair share of violence and touchy subject but it never goes into over the top graphics for shocking values.
Overall i had a very good time and im pretty happy having finally see it and being able to compare with the remake when it comes out.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)
I wanted more monsters in your monsters show... :/
Well on one side yes its a streaming service show, so you know the budget is nowhere near a movie like Godzilla vs Kong or such. But when your show is based around big monsters in that same universe, you still expect to see more of the monsters, more interesting stuff. Sadly this show too often drag itself in young adult drama.
So lets clear this out first, there is A FEW Monsters on screen. And when they are, the VFX are well done. Just don't expect the destruction level of the movies or such. But the issue is, these scenes are so far and between.
The main problem of the show is that it does not use any characters of the movies exept Bill Randa from the very first Kong movie. Therefore you kinda feel a sentiment of disconect. This show is suppose to be based right after the first Godzilla movie (like a year or so) so i was hoping to see some of the characters who appeared in Godzilla King of the Monsters or something like that.
Quite honestly the Monarch you see in this show compare to the Monarch from the movies seem like 2 different entities.
The show instead focus on the drama of those young adults wich are the children of the child of John Goodman in Kong Skull Island, and another third one that has a side story on her own. I didn't really cared much for any of them. Kurt Russel was what made the "present" (well 10 years ago pretty much compare to us now) hold up with his charisma but thats about it.
The scenes set in the past where more interesting to me, showing the early foundation of Monarch, maybe because the actors in general were just more interesting to follow. Yet still likely due to a harder to make transition from the show Bill Randa to John Goodman (they look nothing alike, unlike the Russels who are super believable as younger and older versions of the same character), it hardly connect much of the "middle" of this monstersverse era.
Also my memory of the first Godzilla movie is a little vague since its been over 10 years but from what i recall, he was a surprise to humanity. Yet in this, its implied they knew Godzilla and many other monsters existed all along.
Without spoiling, there is also one thing they "introduce" toward the end that kinda make no sense compare to the recent movie Godzilla x Kong and it kinda bothered me.
Sorry if this review is all over the place but in a shorter way of saying it, i enjoy the movies because they are dumb fun destruction movies or at least the last few ones were. Big Kaiju bashing each other with tons of CGI destruction, thats cool on the big screen. Making a drama out of this for a streaming platform into 10 episodes? It just does not hit for me. I completed the show but it took me a while, like 1 episode here and there.
Im still gonna give it a 6 because the show is very competent. CGI is great, its well filmed, acting was totally fine for me, its just the story and what it told i wasn't really too invested in it...
Snack Shack (2024)
Loved a lot of it, but then it felt off sadly
So when i saw the trailer of this movie i was like "WOOOAAA they dared?" Like really this movie follow well the style of the 90s. For instance the characters are portrayed as smokers and even tough i was born 85 and only made it to teen in the late 90s i do recall a lot of teenagers smoking. So this felt accurate and they were not afraid to show that yes teenagers smoked then. Never in the movie is it portrayed as "cool" or something you "have to do" and as a non smoker i never understood the point of cigarette at all, but im glad the movie kept the accuracy and was not afraid of showing it off. We should not erase history.
As for the rest, some of it was a bit over the top, like sure the 90s were more lenient, i do recall buying loto tickets for my mom at the store when i was like 10 (now its 18+) so i guess betting is also accurate but the whole making beer and such... these kids were very efficient to say the least. A lot more then i recall my friends and i ever been.
Ok ok enough of speaking if the movie is accurate or not, i think it was. It did a good job capturing the 90s.
I had a lot of fun with the romance aspect and the bro rivalry and such. Sadly in the second half the movie got a bit darker and its where it kinda loss me. Its just it happened out of nowhere and somehow shifted the dymanic of the movie.
I personally watched this as a "raunchy comedy" and was looking for a lot of "feel good". I miss these movies since the stupid woke era took on, so this look right like in my alley and for the most part it was, but then the movie decided to become more of a drama than a raunchy comedy and it just kinda came out of nowhere so it felt a bit "meh".
Without spoiling i could say the movie just dropped the ball in the last act for me and i didn't like its conclusion.
But overall i enjoyed the majority of it so i can't really say i didn't had a good time. Maybe that was the point of the director/screen writer, to make us feel uncomfortable but its not what i was looking for based on the trailer. So if the movie would had gotten an 8 out of 10 prior to this specific part, i have to lower it to a 7. And its one of those were i would even go down to 6.5 but i bump it to 7 because i feel its better than a 6.
But i was disapointed at the end to say the least. I like when movies are feel good. I like when movies give me the escapism of my boring real life. This being set in the 90s and all, even tough characters were a tad older (for today) compare to me, i was still looking for an ideal version of my teenhood. A teenhood i sadly never had.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
You want a monster bash? You got one !
So right away i have to say i have not seen Godzilla Minus One. Yes everybody says its one of the best movie of the year and so but i am waiting for a french dub version. So i can't compare at all.
I started watching Monarch Legacy of Monsters but as i write this i am currently at episode 8 and i can't say i enjoy it that much. Its not "bad" but there is clearly a lack of monsters in a ...monsters show" I supose streaming service budget is the reason. Ill review it when im done.
But basically i don't watch a Godzilla (or Kong) movie to see humans dialogues for the majority of it. What i want is big monsters bashing other big monsters head and a ton of destruction and chaos. And thats exactly what i got here !
Yes Godzilla x Kong The New Empire is really not deep in term of storyline. Yes its pop corn entertainement. But thats a perfect movie for 2h at the theatre. Its a big CGI spectacle and its FUN !
I just got what i wanted with this and thus i am giving it a solid 8 out of 10.
Outlaw Johnny Black (2023)
Would had been better 40/45 minutes shorter
I remember well when Michael Jai White announced this movie trough crowd funding a few years ago. I must be one of the only guys who never saw Black Dynamite, likely because its not a style i usually have a lot of interest in, but peoples always praise it so at one point ill watch it. Personally im a fan of MJW because of movies like Blood and Bone, Never Back Down and Triple Threat. After Scott Adkins he is likely the best "martial arts actor" in the direct to VOD format, even if he branch a bit more than Scott in term of style. But i digress. I didn't "backed" Outlaw Johnny Black because Westerns never been much of my things even tough i did enjoy Young Guns and a few others in the past, and i didn't expected this to contain martial arts. But the trailer wich i watch recently told me otherwise !
I realize yesterday the movie was on Prime Video, so i had no reason to not give it a shot. Overall i can say i "enjoyed" the movie but i had a fair share of issues with it and thats what im gonna talk about in this review.
First of all the runtime is way too long. The movie would had benefited to be 40 minutes shorter at the very least. There is definately scenes that could had been trimmed, some even removed. The second problem is there is surprisingly little action. Altough there is indeed some martial arts as the trailer suggest, it only happen a few times and you see the most of it in said trailer. I know you gonna tell me "but dude its a western"... And yes it is, but even the gun action was lacking and only happened very sporadically.
What "saved" the movie for me was the humor and jokes. Some of them landed pretty well, and MJW line deliveries and facial expressions at times were pretty hillarious. Supporting cast also had some good scenes and lines. But when the movie tried to get back to the "plot" i wasn't much interested. Its your basic run of the mill plot and the movie try to branch in too many directions with too many different vilains ultmately not giving enough screentime to neither.
When it comes to the Natives in the movie, i know this was done on purpose for the satyre/humor but it just came out weird on screen that they all of various races and portrait in a very spoof kind of way. Even Adam Sandler's The Ridiculous Six Natives look more serious... This is probably the comical aspect that landed the least for me. Thanksfully its not a huge part of it.
MJW also directed the movie and honestly in term of direction, cinematography, music and such, everything was competent and fine, while nothing stand out too much either. I would say for a first movie to direct, he did a fine job.
Ultimately i enjoyed enough of the movie to put it in the "liked" categories and give it a 6 out of 10. But its not one ill watch again or add to my physical collection.
Irish Wish (2024)
Cute rom but lack a bit of the com
I enjoyed the movie overall. Its cute, its typical romcom stuff for the most part, but did lack a bit of the "com" part. There is not much funny or awkward moments in the typical fashion of these movies and when they are present, they don't land much.
That said, i really think Lindsay Lohan was charming, cute and totally lovely in this. I remember a few years back watching the Christmas romcom she was in on Netflix, i watched it with my mother and we both enjoyed it a lot.
She had a rough time for a while and im really happy she has a career resurgeance and she ain't to blame for any faults in this movie. She played the part well. I would totally want to see her do more of these.
My "little gripes" i guess are more on the structure and story itself. Its one of these movies i could do a deep dive on and how some parts do not really make sense, but its not a movie that is suppose to be deep or well taught. Its one of these "feel good romcoms".
Overall i think its very serviceable for a Netflix movie. I guess the critics saying its a movie you would expect more on a channel like Hallmark or such is valid. Beside a few nice looking scenery its a movie that do not look expensive at all, but is it really important? I don't think so.
What matter in a movie is if you enjoy it for its runtime and i did. So im gonna give it a fair 6 out of 10. And if you reading this on Letterboxd it does get the yellow heart.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Its a simple fun time movie for the familly
From the get go i will be honest. The original Ghostbusters ain't one of my favorite movies of all time. I do like it but im not super huge into it like some other peoples who think its one of the best comedies of all time. Its probably because as a kid, Gozer scared the crap out of me with the red eyes so i didn't watched it again til a long while. I just remembered loving the Stay Puff guy at the end.
Anyway, so overall i don't have the same nostalgia some peoples may have for this franchise. When Afterlife came out, i enjoyed it, but i do recall thinking it took a bit its time. Obviously introducing new characters and being set so many years after, its to be expected, but if i could sum it up, i liked it but that was it. Saw it once.
Now finally getting to this one, the best way i would describe it is a perfect by the book familly movie. You can bring your kids, you should enjoy it as an adult. Its not perfect, its not a movie ill watch super often, but i enjoyed my time watching it in the theatre. The actors all do a fine job, the character of Pheobie especially being the center stage. Paul Rudd is charming as always.
Of course if you start nitpicking on it, you will surely find plenty of issues. I don't think its the right way to approach it. I enjoyed they tried to do something new this time, and the OG cast have more screentime. Yes Murray is once again more on the cameo side, but the rest had decent screentime and presence.
For this one i would give a 7.7 out of 10 so im definately bumping it to 8.
Paper Towns (2015)
That was fun, could had been better in "some ways" but still fun
I just saw the trailer a day or 2 ago and it intrigued me. Yes its a 2015 movie but like i often say, as much a cinephile as you can be (like i consider myself) you can't see everything, and most of all you can't be aware of everything.
I was curious about this movie because of the concept of the whole "crazy epic night" and then the idea of hunting for clue to find the girl. Im a sucker for a good love story.
Overall i would say the epic night could had been a bit more ...epic? Still it was fine enough and i felt the "spark" at least in the point of view of our main character we follow.
Yet i think the movie worked better when it comes to both his male friends and especially the former best friend of Margot as the next part of the movie start. She brough a good dynamic to the mix and possibilities.
Overall the movie is fun to watch, both in term of the dymanic between the characters and the "mystery" and where it go also bring something, but the journey is the most satisfying part.
At times i could pick a tiny bit of some "Superbad vibes" but obviously it never get to this hillarious and epic level.
Still its a good movie to watch once if you enjoy teen road trip/raunchy romcom style. I never was sure 100% what the term "coming of age" mean as english is not my first language but i do think it apply to this movie as well from what i seen.
Anyway, a good time, solid 7 out of 10.
Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006)
A fun Martial Arts movie but geared toward young teens and children
Right away i can tell you i hesitated between a 6 and a 7 out of 10 for this movie. If i could put 6.5, i would. And even tough normally you are supose to round it up to a 7 in this case, lets say this would be more of a 6.49 ... I would have to go with a 6. Why?
Because i rate movies both on my personal entertainement and the quality of the movie itself and this movie altough entertaining was a bit silly and did had scenes that made me roll my eyes a bit. That said, even if i REALLY do enjoy martial arts movies, this is one geared toward young teens and children for the most part and not a 40 years old dude. So i can give it some slack.
The main actress and the support actor i think were charming and worked well together. I would say my issues would be more on the silly parts in the story. But there is a nice message and its totally watchable. Quite honestly for a TV movie, its a lot better than the majority of these.
Im glad i finally saw it, as i had it in my backlog for so long. But that is one that ill likely never watch again. It was entertaining for the 90 minutes i spent with it.
I would recommand it if you want to introduce your kids to martial arts movies.
Halo (2022)
Season 2 is a MAJOR improvement over Season 1
When i watched season 1 i couldn't believe how bad it was. Honestly if i would rate this season alone, it wouldn't get more than a 4 from me, and that is RARE i rate stuff under 5.
It had so little action (few action set pieces there was were done great tough) and a boring story with boring side characters, a bunch of naked Master Chief, and said Chief wich didn't felt like Chief at all.
Now im not gonna say Season 2 was perfect. I had a few gripes with it too but its so much of an improvement. For a start, there is WAY MORE action scenes, a lot more Covenants in general, it does lean a lot more on what Halo actually is, even tough it take liberties that i find a bit weird on some things.
There is still the issue of Chief not being in armor as much as he should, but at least this time there is some story explanation and i assume its because its cheaper to shoot action without the armor than with it. They still did something pretty good tough so i give it a pass.
Overall, without spoiling anything, i think season 3 could finally be a lot more in the vain of the Halo we know. That remain to be seen, but after the disaster of Season 1 i had no hopes for this show going forward, so its a major surprise and its welcomed.
Road House (2024)
Watch it as its own thing. Its a fun action movie.
The original movie is a bit of a sleeper classic. It will rarely be mentioned as "best action movie" with the likes of Die Hard, Rambo, Lethal Weapon or such, but its still a pretty solid movie that most action fans have enjoyed, myself included.
Even tough remakes been around for a while, i mean pretty much every horror slasher franchise had one at a point, there was also a trend of making disconected sequels to older movies. For instance Kindergarten Cop, wich they made a number 2 with Dolph Lundgren in the 2010s. That movie was nothing special and didn't live up to its original but it was ok as a direct to video pop corn movie. Road House actually had one of those sequels as well in the 2000s but i have not watch it at this point, so i can't comment on it.
So instead of making a Road House 3, they simply called it Road House and re=use the name of the main character. But thats pretty much where the similarities end. Its Dalton in some kind of Road House, altough a very different one from the original. So more of a re-imagining than actual remake.
The rest is completely different, from his background to how the story develop. Personally i really enjoyed it as its own thing. For the most part the fights were brutal and entertaining altough with a few hiccups in term of camera work during a few, in my opinion, but not enough to be a big annoyance.
Jake's character as a confident Dalton that give the vibes of the nicest guy alive but can kick your butt major time was fun. Side characters for the most part were fine as well.
Now sure Connor McGreggor was something ... His character is litterally a caricature of himself boosted x100. He has that weird way of walking like trying to overly look confident and tough but it end up looking like he has something shoved in his ... well you get the picture. Personally i just decided to roll with it and enjoy the corny over the top performance and it worked fine. I wasn't expecting a master class of acting from an ex UFC fighter.
I picked this movie as my (hopefully) last "beer drinking movie fun time" for a while and i wasn't disapointed. It was pretty much what i wanted it to be.
Madame Web (2024)
Its neither the worst superhero movie of all time or as bad as peoples make it to be
I skipped this in theatre because i don't really enjoy theatre that much these days. I prefer to watch movies at home. I usually go only to avoid heavy spoiler movies or if its really a huge CGI/VFX spectacle like the Godzilla/Kong movies, Pacific Rim or the recently released Dune Part 2. Its just better watching movies at home for me not having to deal with annoying peoples eating, slurping soda, coughing and at times hitting the seats etc...
So that said i was still very curious and "exited" to see this one, as i wanted to see what was so bad about it for peoples to trash it so hard. Turn out its nowhere near as bad as i expected...
Yes this is not a great movie by any means and it has a fair share of issues. But for one watch i taught it was alright.
I would say the biggest issue is probably how little action there is in the movie. The problem being that Cassandra's power is predicting the futur and the other girls are just normal humans at that point while the vilain is a Spider-Man kinda guy beside shooting webs. So its a bit harder to have any big battles.
Peoples lately been complaining about "CGI messes" in superhero flicks but at least it gives us action and its more entertaining. Here despite a few explosions and such you kinda feel its very toned down and more reminiscent of the 2000s.
Speaking wich... The movie takes place in the 2000s. I guess its because they originally planned to include these characters in some "crossovers" or ensemble cast or such so it had to be set in the past but it really do not bring much to the movie.
If anything it pull out a few things that were a bit hard to swallow. For instance being able to travel right after 9/11 while being wanted by the police. Or the vilain needing some "advance tech" (for the time period) to locate the girls. There is a few situations like these where you need to really not think too long about it otherwise it does look completely impossible.
But when it comes to me, i can usually just enjoy a silly movie for 2h of entertainement and not focuss too much on these details. I think this is how these movies are supposed to be watched.
In other words when i finished Madame Web i taught "bah... that was ok, i had some fun with it". Then i watched a bunch of reviews and spoiler talks on Youtube where they dissects the movie apart and yes then i can see all these "plot holes" and issues. But on the spot... i didn't really because i didn't focuss on this.
Even tough i "review" every movies i see these days, i consider myself a movie fan, not a film critic. You can see that i enjoy about 90%+ of movies i watch to various degrees going usually from 6 to 10 out of 10. Im rather easily pleased with movies, i look for fun and entertainement, not art in them, and i usually watch what i think ill enjoy. And even when its a movie i didn't enjoyed that much, often i recognize its qualities and that it was just not in the style i like. For instance when its very slow paced.
So for me to dump on a movie, it need to be awfull. Madame Web was not the case for me. It wasn't anything special but i felt it was overall a coherent movie, it told its story.
I do have a question tough. You cast Sydney Sweeney in your movie. Why give her the role of the "unatractive dork" when you have one of the sexiest woman alive today? They gave her baggy cloathes, glasses, average haircut, but its still Sydney Sweeney ... and her big ...assets. She was really misscast in my opinion.
Well that was a long one. So overall no its not "so bad its good" like Batman & Robin. But its neither so bad and boring as Catwoman. I think i may had liked this one more than Morbius personally. I was fine seeing it once, but not really interested to rewatch it ocasionally like Phase 1-3 of Marvel movies.
Sorority Wars (2009)
Mean Girls meet American Pie Beta House ...but for TV
I have a soft spot for college movies involving fraternities or sorotities, especially when they get raunchy with parties, booze and wars among them. This movie incorporate a tiny bit of that but its very minimal.
Its more of a Mean Girls in college kinda movie, and even tough there is indeed a competition between the 2 houses, it didn't felt like the center stage at all. There is only 3 different events in the competition and they breeze trough pretty fast. I never felt any tension in the competition.
Movies is under 90 minutes and spend quite a while introducing us to the characters and following Lucy on her "scouting" of the sororities and such. So there is so few times to have the actual "war" in Sorority War.
When it comes to the characters a lot of their decisions and actions look a bit weird. Im not gonna spoil anything but the best friend and the mom especially, i don't think anyone would behave like this. I get that these movies are not meant to be realistic and i can suspend my disbelief over slapsticks, gags, and college sheninagans but these 2 "relations" and how they evolve felt off to me.
We also spend very very few times with any sorority sisters beside the "leader" of the Kappa, the best friend and the Delta "leader" wich is pretty much the main antagonist.
Overall i didn't find the same fun as in either the original Mean Girls (only one i saw so far), American Pie Beta House, Van Wilder 2 or The House Bunny.
But thats not to say i disliked the movie. I think it was alright. Good for a viewing. Since its a made for TV movie im fine giving it a bit of slack as well. I just finished it and taught "yeah well.. that was alright" but nothing more.
Chokehold (2019)
Flawed but honest effort at a B Straight to Video/VOD movie
I was surprised very recently to find this movie. Never heard of it before, probably because it is very "indy", and i likely seen almost every fight movies made in North America since 88 and up so everytime i find a new one from a few years ago, its very welcome. Trailer looked promising.
So lets start with the main character, Zoey. According to the IMDB page she is played by a real MMA fighter that only done 1 movie total (beside a few appearence as self) so therefore you have to give her some slack on the acting/line deliveries.
I watched the movie dubbed in french and since its one of those very low budget indy flick, obviously this was a rather poor dub, but im kinda used to them by now. So i can't really judge too much the actual acting myself but her screen presence was fine and she performed well during the fight scenes.
There is one complain i have to get out of the way tough, wich baffled me especially knowing she is a real fighter. Her hair are litterally in her face every time she fights. All other fighters in the movie have them tied up solid like every MMA fight you would see, but Zoey always have one eye litterally hidden. I don't know if that was an artistic choice, a demand of the actress, or else, but this is the one thing that i kept getting annoyed at because no one would enter a fight purposely obstruing one of their eyes.
That out of the movie, i think overall Melissa Croden was more than fine for this movie. Casper Van Dien is not in it a whole lot, but he does have some action and more than just a small cameo. He is obviously center stage on the cover as a marketing way tough.
Lets talk about the action. I think overall the movie delivers very well there. There is a bunch of fights and they are overall well done. Some have unique flavors like a band playing in the background or stuff like that, wich add variety. There is plenty of violence and blood for a more gritty feel. The CGI bone breakings were not the greatest effects but camera cut fast and if you don't focuss "too much" on them, its alright.
Story is your generic revenge plot in an underground fighting rig, but its something i personally always enjoy and never get tired of. So it worked fine for me.
Overall you have to watch this movie knowing its an indie flick made on a small budget. I think they did great for what they had and if you enjoyed 90s US martial arts movies you will find some enjoyement in this. For me it is a solid 7 on my scale as a movie that i found entertaining and enjoyed for 1 viewing.
Ricky Stanicky (2024)
A return to toilet humor, raunchy comedies of the past? Yes !!
I heard about this movie from Snarky Jay on Youtube and i was eager to watch it when i heard about the premise. So when it dropped on Prime i gave it a watch and i didn't laugh so hard in a long time.
Disclaimer, i had my share of beers, but i often drink when i watch these types of movie, and here i was litterally bursting in laugh all the time. Its not like its super clever jokes or anything but i truly miss trash/toilet humor and stuff like that wich has been gone for a while now due to the politically correct era, and this movie serve me on this a lot and it work because John Cena is so good at comedy.
When he was a wrestler can't say i was a huge fan, exept at the start when he played a heel rapper (Dr of Thugonamics). But as an actor, i really like him, even more in comedy than action movies.
The concept is pretty absurde and its not a movie you have to take too seriously, it has some "convenience moments" to say the least, but it work so well and its so funny i easily dismissed that aspect.
I wouldn't be surprise if the name Ricky Stanicky start to spread online as aliases like Mclovin did when Superbad was released.
I taught about giving it an 8 out of 10 but its a solid 8.5 for sure and i have no issue bumping it to 9. I feel its earned.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
A masterclass in cinematography but the story led a bit to desire
So lets say it first and loud, the cinematography just like the first movie is epic. Visuals are stunning and you never seen a sand planet looking that great, and that include any Star Wars.
Every actors performed great as well, and the music was fantastic. Honestly there is nothing i could complain about when it comes to everything around cinematography and production value. Best director? I could see this easily.
When it comes to the story tough this is where just like the first im not totally convinced. I need to rewatch the first soon, wich i wanted to do before this sequel but lacked the time for, but from memories it was a beautifull movie with a convoluted story and i taught it was a bit hard to follow in part. I got the big lines of course but some nuances may had slept me by.
This sequel is a lot more straight forward yet there is also story parts that still let me question them. Why a certain character behave a certain way, who is what again? The movie use a lot of terms that are not exactly "rolling on the tongue" and there is some mcguffins and other things that made me question what was going on.
Im sure if i would rewatch both movies multiple times ill get a better feel and grip of the story but in the year 2024 with so much movies to watch and a pretty long run time, its not as straight forward, especially as at first sight im not "that drawn" on said story.
All of this said tough this is NOT a bad story at all and like what i started with, the production value is epic. So giving it anything under 8 would be dishonest especially on my own rating scale. That said i can't quite bump it to a 9 because its not a movie i feel like i want to watch again and again like a Dark Knight or John Wick Chapter ...well all of them. But was it a pretty good time? Yes.
Argylle (2024)
Stylish fun spy parody to not take seriously
Some peoples have left some pretty low score reviews on this one and i can understand its not the type of movie that will work for everyone, but it did for me. Maybe because i knew what it was gonna be.
The movie is basically a parody of James Bond and other spy thrillers, but not in an over the top slapstick way like The Naked Gun (for the most part).
Instead the movie actually has an interesting story with many twist and turn but where it shine in my opinion is in the stylish action and visuals it goes for. Yes not everything land. For instance i am not a physician but there is a particular scene involving skating that made me scratch my head and say out loud (i was alone in my room) "thats not how it work...". Yet that scene as ridiculous as it is, was still stylish and entertaining in its own way even if physically impossible.
There is also a fair chunk of hand to hand and gun fight action and once again i really enjoyed the switching back and forth between the character of Argyll (Cavill) and the real person in the movie (Rockwell). You can see the "idolized" version vs what really happen and it makes for a good contrast.
Personally when i review a movie i score it on my personal fun i had with it and usually not on a technical level or trough the eyes of a movie critics. So considering the fun i had with Argyll i will give it a solid 8 out of 10.
You may not enjoy it as much, its clearly not for everyone, but i think if you know what type of movie you going for and its a style you usually enjoy, you will have fun. Even at 2h19 i never was bored and it pass very fast.
Red Scorpion (1988)
It may not be Commando but its enjoyable even in 2024
As a kid my grandfather would take me to the video store and we would often rent Commando because i loved it so much. I think the first time i picked it was because i loved the NES Contra game wich i played at my cousin's place and one of the character look so close to Arnold. I have no idea if some agreement was made behind the scene but if not i am surprise if Arnold didn't sue them for using his likeness because thats litteraly him.
Anyway i digress. But bottom line is Dolph was a bit of a smaller scale action star in the late 80s and 90s. Not as big as Arnold or Stallone but making some pretty good stuff. This one tough, i didn't heard of it until very late, like a few years ago. I had it in my backlog but as a lot of 80s movies i feared it would had aged poorly but actually... its not the case.
More or less if you enjoyed Commando, you would probably enjoy this. Its hard to be totally fair because Commando is my childhood while i watched this for the first time in 2024 but it reminded me a lot of it and if i had watched it in the 90s i think i would had REALLY loved it a lot as well. In 2024 i taught it was still fairly enjoyable.
The story is a bit cliché and a lot of "suspend your disbelieves", and Nicholai is not as charismatic as a John Matrix with one liners and so on, but Dolph is as bulky as Arnold was, and is totally credible in the part of a one man army kinda guy.
The movie has its fair share of action pieces and even tough the budget was likely lower than Commando or such, i think it still look good even today. Yes it has that late 80s flavor for pretty much everything but you could argue its a plus for some peoples who loved that era.
I can't judge much the acting as i watched it in dubbed french, and again it had that dubbing style of the time, but it was fine for me.
Overall i didn't had much expectations really. I litterally "shuffled" randomly my backlog for what i was gonna watch tonight and ended up on this one. And it was enjoyable. Not disapointed.
Bottoms (2023)
Throwback to raunchy comedies of the 2000s but with wokeness?
This movie was a very strange hodgepoge to say the least. I heard it was a "raunchy teen comedy" and as someone who love and has watch almost everything that was made in that style from the 2000s to i would say mid 2010s when the woke era started and said raunchy comedies died, i do miss these. So knowing a potential new one was made, had to check it out.
Took me 3 times to actually start the movie. The openning scene turning me off and giving me a vibe of very woke garbage. But on the third time i decided its now or never and watched the whole thing. Turn out the movie is better than expected...
It is a very over the top movie and it took me a little bit to understand this concept. From the football players of the school who wear their shoulder pads at the cantina and pretty much everywhere (??) to the very core of the subject (a fight club sanctioned by the school... ). Once i accepted that it would be over the top parody basically, movie became actually fun.
It does borrow a bit from the teen comedies of the 2000s and yes there is some very big vulgarity in there, yet i still see the woke envelope all over and i fear this type of movies is likely gonna be the closest ill get to the comedies i cherish from 20 years ago.
So better than nothing? I guess... Overall i have to be honest i did had some chuckles, and i did "got into it". It just took me about 15 minutes, basically the intro to the actual fight club creation. Then maybe the beer started to kicked in but i got into it.
Ill give it a 7.
Dead Reckoning (2020)
Not your typical Scott Adkins, but it was fine.
I had this movie in my Xbox wishlist for a while but never pulled the trigger on renting it. Then i saw it was part of my new Prime Video Subs so that was perfect. No more reasons to not watch it.
So at least Scott Adkins is not just a cameo. He is in a secondary role yes but he is there in the movie. A lot more than in Lights Out wich i recently watched.
This is not your typical Scott Adkins movie tough. He does not play a tough as nail fighter, soldier or agent, but an Albanian terrorist. I taught the accent was pretty good. Just don't expect the kind of action you got used to see when it comes to Scott.
Otherwise the plot was ...fine. The movie does drag a little bit but they had to establish that relationship between the 2 leads. I seen better chemistry between 2 actors for sure, but it wasn't awfull either.
Im not gonna lie, if it didn't had Scott Adkins name attached to this, i wouldn't had watch it. Its not my usual type of movie. But since i did, i did watched it and it was alright. I would give it like a 6.5 out of 10 on IMDB. But im not willing to push to a 7, so it was stay at 6. Still it will get the yellow heart on Letterboxd even if just 3 stars out of 5.
Don't Kill It (2016)
Well done for a (very) low budget horror flick
I had this movie in my backlog for what seem forever. Not 2016, its release year, but i would say probably at least 4-5 years. I enjoy Dolph Lundgren even if he mostly do direct to VOD low budget action flick these days but this being labelled an horror movie, i wasn't sure so i kinda sit on it. I finally watched it tonight in a 2 movies night after Code 8 Part 2.
Overall i was pleasantly surprised but it does feel like a low budget movie. Yet the special effects are not terrible if you are used to the style.
The movie has a huge body count and do not refrain on the blood and gore, but it use a method i seen in other low budgets before where they do a rapid cut and only show the blow on what is probably a mannequin or something. At times it does look a bit wonky but if you don't rewind and/or try to play it in slowmo, it does the job well for the type of movies they were making.
Just know its low budget and don't focuss too much on the effects and you will likely have a good time. The movie is self aware on how ridiculous the plot is, and it have fun with it. Dolph is charismatic enough as our lead to carry the movie and his costar Kristina Klebe as Agent Evelyn Pierce complement him well.
I will be honest, after having watched 1 movie tonight, played a few games online on Xbox, being a bit drunkish (but not wasted), i was kinda bored and didn't knew what to watch and reach out in my backlog of movies i have zero expectations in a mindset of "if it sucks and i fall asleep watching it whatever, at least it will be remove of said backlog" and turned out i enjoyed it much more than planned.
If you are a fan of Dolph and enjoy horror low budgets, you will surely find fun in it. Its different than what he usually do tough, and its not a movie where he has "fight scenes" or anything like it. But for what it is, it was fun. And ill give it a 7 out of 10. A bit generous you may say, but im judging it as a very low budget horror flick, and as THAT, it exceeded expectations so its deserved.
Code 8: Part II (2024)
Enjoyable and ok, but was expecting better since Netflix was making it.
The first movie came out as a surprise to me. I found it in a video store selling bing among the extra copies they want to get rid of or sometimes just low budget movies that didn't rent anymore so they sell the few copies they had. In Quebec we had video stores longer than in the USA due to our french language. They kinda got away around 2020 with a few remaining to this day.
Anyway, found this for 2 bucks, the cover looked like a generic sci fi movie but seeing both Amell were in it, i had to pick it up especially with the low price since im a huge fan of the Arrowverse.
It was a pretty cool surprise. Some low budget sci fi movie turning out to be pretty enjoyable. For 2$ i couldn't complain at all, especially since i was expecting much less.
Netflix picked the liscence and after 5 years release a sequel. I would had expected something "bigger". Like the budget being risen up, more "mutants" and different powers, bigger action set pieces. Turn out the movie is very close in tone and budget to the first one and well..its fine. Its enjoyable. Its just i was expecting more...
The story is pretty simple and i will admit its been a while since i saw the first one so outside of the Amells i kinda forgot the other characters roles. The rest follow the text book basic script you would expect in a direct to video.
Its a safe movie. Low budget, similar to the first one, not any risk at all. Peoples who enjoyed the first will likely enjoy this one too, but it does not bring anything new at all, neither it try to improve on the first or be bigger in scale.
Its your typical streaming service movie. It did its job. Its FINE. In an "all you can watch buffet" type of service its definately good enough. But i feel it could had been a lot bigger.
That said im not gonna be too harsh on it because i did had fun and i always enjoy seeing Stephen Amell (especially him but i like his cousin too) in new stuff.