Category Archives: Live Action Movie Reviews

Rambo Review

Posted on by
Reply

This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version of the movie would be more negative.

Lets look at the 4th Rambo which just so happens to be the weakest one in the series so far. It’s definitely going for a dark angle right from the jump and that aspect of the film is quite unrelenting. It takes a long while until Rambo himself gets involved to fight back and it’s one of those films where even once the heroes win, there are a ton of casualties and you know there are other villains running around. There’s nothing particularly light hearted/happy about this movie which is rough.

The movie starts with a quick introduction to remind us just how evil the villains are. No worries they’re going to do this a whole lot as the film goes over but it’s definitely an awful way to kick the movie off in general. Instead of building up hype or getting you excited it is giving you reasons to want to avoid the film. Like why would I want to be seeing any of this? Well, we eventually cut to Rambo himself who now works by capturing snakes and putting them in the cages to get ready for animal cruelty fights. He is approached by a group of missionaries who want to head deep into enemy territory to spread the good word.

It’s a noble goal but unfortunately these characters are incredibly naive. The main pastor even believes that you cannot take a life even in self defense so when they are attacked by pirates he doesn’t do anything about it. He even threatens to get Rambo in trouble if he can. Needless to say, after Rambo drops them off at their designated location they are captured almost immediately. So much for that eh? Of course you feel bad for them, they’re just written to be such unlikable characters the whole time that it’s crazy. So the Church hires some vigilantes to go save them and Rambo decides to come along and do what he can. Are the missionaries even still alive by this point?

Well, only the power of plot armor is able to help them here because by all accounts they really should have been long dead. I’m not sure why the villains spared them for so long. They’re stuck in cages but mostly everyone else had already been murdered. I suppose they had the luck of the draw on that one. Not much of a consolation because their living conditions still sucked but at least they were able to last. Nobody else is so lucky so even while the heroes are heading over there to free them, we see countless people getting tortured and murdered. The film is going for maximum shock value the whole time so if you can picture a dark plot element then you are going to find it in the film.

Naturally all of the vigilantes tend to be rather crass and not very heroic at all. They are here for the paycheck and are happy to murder anybody but they don’t have any real kind of honor code. Rambo has to actively threaten the main one in order to keep him going or the guy would have left almost immediately. Rambo himself looks good at least. He does smash up a ton of the villains and shows why he is still one of the strongest agents around. He hasn’t forgotten his skills at all, that’s for sure. He’s on a completely different level even from the trained mercenaries.

The action scenes can be good when they aren’t being too try hard on the violence. When they do that is when they really start to lose the plot. Lets just say this is a regular occurrence in this film as well. The film is plenty violent the whole time even with the TV edits. So again the film is just trying too hard instead of letting the narrative talk for it. The problem there is that the actual plot isn’t very good either. Of course I have a lot of respect for people who go into these active war areas to spread the gospel and try to help out. It does feel like they’re creating more chances to become a hostage or get into trouble but if they can save anyone then it’s a win.

It doesn’t make for a great movie though. Even if you think of this like a power fantasy, the problem is that the first half is all about the villains dominating and having their way with the heroes. In no way is this a particularly captivating story and you want a film that’s fairly uplifting. Seeing Rambo beat up on the villains is the goal so you need to do that sooner. Focus more on the heroic comeback than on the villain slaughter to start things off. As a starting point you at least need to get rid of the opening montage showing off all of the villainous exploits.

Honestly the film has so may issues that it would still have gotten a fairly low score though. The Rambo series is just cooked at this point and it will be hard for it to make a true comeback. We unfortunately didn’t have the usual hype man for Rambo either. There are reasons for that but they should have invented a new character to take up the role. It may be a little cheesy but I always thought it was pretty fun and it made the films more memorable. Perhaps that aided in making this the worst Rambo title. There is still another one I haven’t watched so perhaps that will be even lower but we will have to see.

Overall, Rambo is a pretty awful film. It’s definitely over the top violent the whole time with a ton of dark themes and the film doesn’t allow itself to really have any fun moments. It’s a slog to get through and you can see why Rambo didn’t even want to get involved at this point. The amount of casualties and criminals appear to be endless so why even get involved in all of that if you don’t have to right? You absolutely get what he is feeling in all of this. So you should just skip this movie as well. It’s rather unnecessary and doesn’t really add anything to the series.

Overall 1/10

The Goodbye Girl Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a rom-com that’s definitely got a good amount of drama in it. One of the main messages here I would say is to be careful who you decide to date because things can easily move sideways. Ultimately the film is entertaining and you’ll have a good time but you can’t really buy into the romance considering how much both characters hated each other for a while there. Well, mainly it was on Paula’s side towards Elliot but he didn’t really help matters.

The film starts by introducing us to Paula who has had a rough time of things. She and her husband divorced so now she takes care of her daughter Lucy by herself. She meets a guy named Tony who seems all right except for the fact that he is already married but Paula makes the terrible decision of getting with him too. Inevitably he ditches her shortly after. Additionally, he ends up renting out Paula’s apartment over to his friend Elliot. Paula has to vacate the place immediately and well she’s not happy about that. So when Elliot moves in, Paula decides not to move out. Can these two manage to get along?

Now both characters are jerks to each other for a while there but I will say I am a bit more sympathetic for Elliot here. The guy actually did pay for the apartment for several months in advance so yeah he does own the apartment. legally. The whole time Paula is giving him a ton of attitude but he’s actually being very tolerant since he really could have her kicked out. At the end of the day he is a good guy who doesn’t actually want to kick her out mainly because of the kid. I do think he’s restrained a whole lot so as not to make things tough for Lucy.

Yeah during the movie he retaliates a whole lot but I can’t blame him for that. Additionally he was expecting to have the place to himself so he could do whatever he wanted and now he basically has roommates. Paula starts giving him a ton of different house rules right out of the gate. Elliot quickly comes up with his own rules, some of which are a bit much I’ll admit. The morning yoga with burning incense comes to the top of my mind. Playing the guitar during the night isn’t a big deal if you ask me though.

Basically he’s trying for a reaction at times and Paula makes it really easy since she has a big reaction to everything. As for Paula, she’s been through a lot so you feel bad for her. You’d expect her to be a little less aggressive to be honest since she doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on here though. If she ever gets Elliot really upset he could really just kick her out since their whole temporary agreement isn’t legally binding in any way. She’s certainly been jaded by the men in her life but it has also removed her tactical experience. Every time Elliot messes with her she reacts in the wrong way, it’s almost funny how badly she is losing the battle initially.

Lucy is used as a contrast here where we see how she isn’t bothered by anything that he does. Elliot playing guitar through the night? Lucy doesn’t notice. Elliot starts chanting in the morning? Lucy notices but doesn’t care. Every single time Paula looks to Lucy to have a comrade in arms who is really upset but Lucy has already fallen asleep again or doesn’t really care. So Lucy does well I would say. She’s also very reluctant about having another man in the house and I don’t blame her since the last ones have all struck out. In that way I’d actually say she is being more sensible as well. The whole roommates to lovers thing just seems like a weak foundation for a romance if you ask me. Both of them are just charmed in the short run to have someone nice to talk to but that’s about it. It’s probably why Paula has been running through relationships.

Now I should say for a romance like this where both people are fighting, there are ways to make this work. Basically you can’t have either character go too far with how much they dislike each other. You establish that part of it is a defense mechanism and for the most part there should not be any prior baggage. Part of why this one doesn’t work is because for Paula at minimum this is the third guy. The squabbling romance works better when it’s an initial romance. Additionally it just doesn’t feel like there is any reason for each character to fall for each other because of all the bitterness here. I would say Elliot does put in most of the work here though. While Paula is still being rather rude and petty at times, Paula does his best like helping out with expenses and not intentionally messing with her. Aside from his early trolling with the yoga, he typically doesn’t start any of the fights. It still doesn’t make the romance work any smoother but I can at least say it’s not quite as fast as some other movies where it happens immediately.

As for each character’s individual plot, Paula is trying to become a dancer again but the problem is that she has been out of the game for too long. She’s gotten a bit too old and dancing is really a young person’s game. Ultimately she tries and it doesn’t work out which does make sense. It’s hard to compete with other dancers who have been doing this their whole life. When that doesn’t work she tries other jobs like being a car salesman but things don’t go too well. She is trying so you have to give her some credit there, it’s just tough to really get into a job sometimes with no prior experience at the ready.

Meanwhile Elliot’s definitely got a tough road here as well. He is an aspiring actor about to finally get his big role but the problem is that the director’s kind of a hack. He wants to butcher a production of Richard III by completely changing his character and personality. All of Elliot’s previous training and rehearsing has completely gone down the drain now. I’d be upset if I was him as well. Unfortunately the director does have way more power than the actor in this case. He tries to make the best of it and ultimately does get a few concessions from the director.

Overall, The Goodbye Girl is a film that’s fun enough. It tend to land more on the comedy than the romance though so the first half ends up beating the latter. It’s actually a decently long movie so at least there is plenty of time for the fun comedy before things get serious. With films like this it is always inevitable that the main two are going to get together no matter how improbable it is. You’ll be rolling your eyes a bit at all of that but the banter before then is handled well. I’d say the writing is on point as well and so this is a movie that I can recommend.

Overall 6/10

Kin Review

Posted on by
Reply


All right so it’s time for a sci-fi film that could have started some kind of big franchise but ultimately that was not in the cards. Wasn’t even close to be honest since I never saw anybody talking about this film. It had some interesting ideas but the main problem is that you could make the case that the whole film is set up for the actual film. The cool sci-fi robot/aliens don’t get to do anything until the very end. In a way you could have easily cut the sci-fi stuff out and just made this a film about bonding with family and letting go of the past.

The film starts off with some robots running around and fighting something but no worries that won’t matter for a long time. The main plot starts by introducing us to Eli who is having a tough time at school. His home setup isn’t exactly great which doesn’t help matters. His step father Hal is a fairly strict guy who isn’t a bad person but he hasn’t done much to connect with Eli. He seems to have a tough time opening up and unfortunately he won’t get much time for that. Hal’s son Jimmy shows up one day as he’s finally out of prison but he wants some money to pay off a dangerous person he took a loan from.

Hal isn’t about to break the law so he says no but Jimmy ends up breaking into his shop with a few gangsters. Unfortunately Hal is gunned down during the battle so Jimmy runs off with Eli who doesn’t realize that Hal is dead yet. They are being pursued by Taylor who wants revenge for Jimmy bumping off his brother. A lot of drama going on for sure. Will they be able to stay safe with so many enemies around. Also, what does any of this have to do with the aliens??

So yeah like I said in the beginning, this doesn’t really have much to do with the sci-fi angle at all. The only element that is relevant is that Eli finds a sci-fi gun that one of them drops and this helps him out a whole lot. It can take down just about anyone in a single hit. It takes a little time to master the gun but it definitely comes in handy. Again though, it is something you could remove from the film and almost nothing changes. That’s why it feels like a really odd direction for this movie.

The climax ends up feeling like a completely different movie all of a sudden. We learn about different concepts and some crazy stuff happening in space but that’s all for the sequel. So a lot of potential here but that sequel’s probably never actually going to happen which just makes the whole thing even more pointless. At least I did like the visuals though. They did a great job on the armors and the future plot did sound interesting.

Now while that all sounds negative, I actually did like the movie. Because the foundation is good even considering the fact that the sci-fi part didn’t really add anything. First up, Hal’s actually a solid character. The film achieved a much better balance with him being a strict Dad but still a good person compared to many other films that cross the line and just make this kind of character an antagonist. He handled Jimmy well even if his son didn’t see things that way. Hal can’t just hire him out of the blue, it wouldn’t make sense and the guy was just trying to get him back on the right path. I do think he handled the robbery attempt rather badly but you can chalk some of that up to shock and part of it to underestimating his opponents.

Meanwhile Eli’s a good main character. It does take him a little while to get going but he is young so I can cut him a little slack. I do think he’ll end up being better in a hypothetical sequel. For now I can at least be satisfied with his heart being in the right place. He also ends up going all out with the alien gun which was good. When you’re being attacked you really can’t worry about holding back, especially when you are outnumbered.

Jimmy though, I did not like at all. I know he goes through the whole character arc about finally being mature and everything but it takes too long. He made way too many mistakes here. Owing all that money to a bunch of gangsters was a really bad idea, then taking Eli to a strip club, getting drunk, etc. He was really his own worst enemy in this film and made things a lot tougher for everyone. If he could have wizened up a lot sooner then that would have really made a difference.

Meanwhile Milly is a solid character. She does call out Jimmy for how irresponsible he is being the whole time. The guy definitely needed a lecture. The whole strip club venue did feel like a rather cheap attempt to get some fanservice into the movie though. It really has nothing to do with anything except to further show how far Jimmy has fallen but we didn’t need that. There comes a point where you make a character a little too unlikable after all and this is really that point.

As for the villains, I mean they’re basically just generic gangsters so there’s not much to say about them. Taylor comes across as not really thinking things through. His brother got shot because they started a gun fight so the whole quest for revenge feels like an ego trip. I would have much preferred fighting some aliens or something a little cooler at the end. The climax is only tense in the sense that Jimmy could get bumped off which isn’t the worst thing in the world. I’ll give the film props for having one of the cops actually help out a bit as opposed to everyone dying immediately though.

Overall, Kin is a reasonable action film. It’s at its best when it’s not worrying about the sci-fi stuff. Having the main characters be on the run from a bunch of gangters while the main character doesn’t even know they are on the run is pretty intense. Jimmy may be annoying but on the whole the writing here is good and there are definitely way more positives than negatives. The soundtrack could be decent at times and there aren’t a lot of issues to be found here. Just treat it as a solid one-shot and you should have a good time here.

Overall 7/10

Safe in Hell Review

Posted on by
Reply


When you’ve got a title like this you already know that the main character’s probably stuck in a rather tricky situation. It’s definitely a film where the heroine has to go through a whole lot. There definitely is a lot of tension but I can’t say that it’s the kind that really helps to elevate a film. Ultimately there are very few likable characters here at all and it’s always hard for a film to really survive that.

So the movie starts off with introducing us to Gilda who has had a rough time of things. She has not been able to hold down a steady job for a long time due to one guy who basically blackmailed her into an affair and then his wife found out. So Gilda was blackballed from every industry and ended up becoming a lady of the night. Well, one day that guy returns and Gilda accidentally murders him in self defense. Her boyfriend Carl shows up just in time to save her from the police. While he’s not thrilled about what Gilda has been doing, he takes her to an island to hide from the cops for a while. He’ll go figure something out but she’ll have to stay on the island for at least a month. That wouldn’t be so bad except…this is an island inhabited by a bunch of criminals and degenerated and they’ve all got their sights on her. Can Gilda remain faithful amidst all this temptation and can she even remain safe?

So now you can see how none of the characters are particularly likable. They’re all just throwing themselves at her the whole time despite knowing that she is already with a guy. None of them have much in the way of class at all. Of course some are worse than others. The worst of which is a guy who shows up at the island later on after a plot twist. Definitely the kind of villain you don’t want the heroine to go easy on. Just bump him off and everyone will be happier off for it. He’s the kind of villain who actively brings down the quality of the movie.

Another thing that brings it down is the ending though. It’ really a rough way to go out and I definitely prefer for a movie to have an ending with a bit more hope. You basically have to stomach the fact that the villains won in the end. Perhaps not in all the ways they wanted but they still got a win which is absolutely undeserved. I get the feeling that the film didn’t want Gilda to have a happy ending after the mistakes she made but they were all under rather drastic circumstances. She’s certainly not without fault but is nowhere in the same league as the other characters. The whole film just doesn’t feel all that fair to her at all.

I’d argue Carl should absorb some of the blame here. He ditches her for months at a time on his job which always leaves her to fend for herself. Yeah Carl’s a sailor so he’s gone a lot but it seems like there is absolutely no way to reach him. So when Gilda was out of a job with no hope in the beginning, there was no way to reach Carl. Then when she was stuck on the island, there was no way to contact him easily again. She is constantly left on her own in the absolute worst circumstances. Now she does send a letter later on so there is at least a way to eventually reach him. Maybe she should have trusted him a bit more and reached out sooner but I get why she figured she had to stick it out. Ultimately she does still get more of the blame because she didn’t trust Carl when it counted. Sometimes trying to stick something out by yourself doesn’t work, particularly in a realistic setting like this.

So if she has to have a bad end, then that should apply to the rest of the characters. At least Bruno who ends up being just as demented as the other characters. In fact he was the second worst beyond the first guy. Nothing happening to him is really a shame. It’s like the film could have used an extra segment at the end. It is really short as it stands, the film is barely over an hour. So maybe extend this to 90 minutes and have an epilogue where various characters are taken out. Have a big revenge scene where Carl shows up and blows everyone away.

You could also have just included the moral of trusting him at the end. Instead of doing the false confession to get executed, have her make her speech which is when Carl shows up. Maybe have one of the other hotel guests reveal that he saw the whole thing with her being handed the gun. There are so many ways you could have written around the ending to have her actually make it out of there in one piece and given Bruno the chair instead.

Overall, Safe in Hell is definitely a pretty awful film. It’s one of those never ending stories of misery the whole time with a bad ending to boot. None of the characters do anything to actually help Gilda out which is where the film really fumbles the landing. With this kind of premise you’d assume that by the end most of the guys would actually be decent and would end up defending her. Maybe bumping off the corrupt cops or just lying about the whole thing when the real authorities get there. Just about any of those endings would have been more appreciated. Instead Gilda is consistently punished for her use of self defense in what I would call the most valid situations to use it. Definitely stay as far away from this film as possible!

Overall 2/10

Destination Inner Space Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for one of those classic creature feature films. You can always expect a whole lot of action out of a title like this. It’s a retro film that has aged well with solid pacing and a fun monster. I definitely won’t say that it’s out of this world or anything like that but it gets the job done. Your interest will be maintained the whole time and the simple plot makes for a good amount of replay value.

The movie starts with some kind of underwater object being spotted. It doesn’t appear to be a submarine or any kind of life that we have previously known. A few experts are brought in and Commander Wayne is ready to lead the team. Technically this falls more under the doctor’s authority than the marines so Wayne is a bit more limited in power than he normally would be but he is still ready to do what must be done. Unfortunately there is some drama though as a guy named Maddox is here and he keeps insinuating that Wayne did something really terrible a long time ago. It’s some kind of conspiracy that must not be uttered and it’s threatening to tear this crew apart.

While this is a creature feature film, you could definitely say that most of the stakes and danger actually come from the human plot. Maddox is really a loose cannon and definitely the worst character in the film. All of these passive aggressive jabs he takes at Wayne just feels really petty. It gets much worse once we actually find out the truth about his past. The guy was making a whole lot of noise for something that really wasn’t Wayne’s fault, even remotely. Seriously, the guy’s doing a lot of squawking when he should only be blaming himself. It makes him look super bad to be honest and I would argue that he never recovers from this. Just a really bad character all around.

The most surreal part of the film though happens once we’ve learned the tragic backstory. The heroine who likes Maddox suddenly says that she has gained respect for him. It’s supposed to be a touching moment since he just came clean about everything but instead you’re just rolling your eyes. You can’t take this seriously at all because one, it had to be completely dragged out of him. He was ready to keep up the pretense the entire time and blame Wayne for everything. He was actively lying about the events and if Wayne wasn’t persistent enough then this would have really gone sideways. It’s only after enough pressure was applied that he cracks. And second, it just makes Maddox look terrible.

Even if you make some excuses for the guy, at best you don’t lose respect. I don’t see how you could gain it though. So yeah that romance plot was pretty bad. Wayne’s romance plot wasn’t much better though. In his plot he tries convincing a girl to give a guy a chance. This lady is super jaded about men in general and I don’t blame her since Wayne’s first instinct when coming aboard the ship is to flirt with both of the women there. So it does make him come across as rather shallow I have to admit. This romance definitely doesn’t need to be in the film at all.

Wayne’s a solid main character aside from that though. He’s focused on the mission and doing his best to keep everyone alive. He knows what he’s doing which is more than I can say for most of the other characters. The main scientist/doctor here looks really bad. The guy is so concerned with getting a big discovery and achieving new science that he is willing to risk everyone’s lives without a good plan. The guy is actively getting everyone into trouble and does so very unapologetically. Having this guy around is really like having an enemy on deck. Things would have gotten a lot smoother without him.

Now how about the monster? Well the creature is definitely a lot of fun. It’s got a very colorful design and is an aquatic type creature like the Gill Man. The aliens are fairly high tech with the UFO and it made for a good antagonist. It is far from being the strongest villain on the block though. The humans are able to overpower this creature physically which does mean that it would be absolutely stomped/devastated by the average opponent. It would certainly not be going toe to toe with a Xenomorph for example.

The design is what counts though. It also got lucky with one of the humans pouring water on it so it wouldn’t die. Giving water to a water based alien creature is probably the #1 thing you should not do if you want to survive an alien encounter. The humans make a lot of pretty bad mistakes here but I would still say the writing itself is good. Sometimes characters are bound to make some really bad moves and that can be realistic in its own way. It’s not like these guys have to be super geniuses or anything like that.

Like I said earlier, the pacing is pretty good too. Things tend to move fast but you have to really enjoy the situation itself since the creatures take a while to do anything. This is definitely a film about the tension of the unknown and the human drama as much as it is a creature feature film. The action scenes hold up when they occur though and this film just makes for a good time. It’s really got everything I could want/expect from this type of movie.

Overall, Destination Inner Space has a clever title and this makes for a good movie. Even today the ocean is filled with mysteries and you can imagine a lot of spooky stuff being down there. Perhaps no humanoid aliens like this but it makes for a fun element. The movie isn’t flashy so don’t expect a bunch of giant explosions or anything like that. At the same time, what you can bank on is a lot of good fun. This is a film that delivers all the way and you aren’t going to forget it.

Overall 7/10

White Noise Review

Posted on by
Reply


White Noise is one of those desperate horror films that actually snagged an interesting idea but rushed to churn out some random product that barely made use of it. I can’t say I was all that disappointed because to be honest I had fairly low expectations going into it. The movie’s fairly bad as you would guess. The villains are overpowered with no weaknesses and the whole film is an exercise in futility. At least the film has some restraint and doesn’t go too crazy though.

The film starts off with Jonathan being married to Anna and she is even expecting a kid which is hype. Unfortunately she dies after that so Jonathan gets rather depressed. He ends up meeting a shady guy who was following him around for a while though named Raymond. He dabbles in the arcane arts and explains that Sarah’s spirit can still be heard through the computer. They just have to listen hard enough and he’s a pro at the electro voice phenomenon and has made it his life’s work. He’s been helping another lady named Sarah as well. Now she can help Jonathan a bit because Raymond gets bumped off soon after. The spirits don’t appreciate this intrusion and plan to keep on murdering people. What can Jonathan do against these demonic entities?

Nothing to be honest. Lol you thought this guy could do anything about it? These ghosts are intangible, they’ve got super speed, super strength, endless stamina, they can control your body and make you jump out a window, etc. Their abilities are basically limitless so all Jonathan can do is flail around for a while until the ghosts have had enough of him. That’s my main problem with some titles like this. You have to at least introduce a concept that gives Jonathan some kind of a chance in this fight. Otherwise, what is even the point of watching the film? It’s just pointless if his only escape is his inevitable death. At that point then what are we even doing here?

The film also gets rather boring at times. It’s good that Jonathan is super good at hearing because half the time I couldn’t even get what the ghosts were saying through the computer screen. It could be like gibberish at times and I’m someone who tends to like white noise. I use it every night to create that hype atmosphere although I’ve thought about buying a more custom noise like a rainforest sound or something. I think those could even be more fun although I haven’t tried that yet. But even so it’s not something that can carry a movie. I did appreciate that most of the transitions were done using white noise though. The general colors, backgrounds, and effects weren’t bad either.

There just isn’t a lot of them to go around and they tend to be very repetitive. Also, it goes through the annoying cliche of only the evil spirits having power while the good ones can only repeat one or two phrases like an NPC. Anna shows up a few times to tell Jonathan to run but she never gives any more details than that. Also lets face it, running’s not even going to do anything at this point although I appreciate the attempt. No, he’s doomed no matter how you slice it.

One plot point that starts kind of late is how Jonathan can quickly see into the future. He is given glimpses into different dark fates that await various characters but with enough time to save them or help out in time. He does help out a bit but I’d be annoyed with this ability because it doesn’t come with any hints or anything. He just has to run around until he finds out what is going on. It’s also usually a half victory as someone still dies or gets injured while he saves someone else.

Ultimately though, it’s all rather futile like I mentioned. Jonathan never stood a chance at winning or doing much of anything. Depending on how you interpret the ending, it’s not looking much better for the other characters either. Part of the ending is a little funny though with some more static noise showing up and we get one last line from one of the characters. Everyone looks either shocked or happy except for the driver who is over the whole thing. He just drives off looking rather annoyed and I don’t blame him because from his point of view the whole thing’s probably been a real drag. Now he’s going to have to compete with a legacy that will probably be dramatized a bit. If he was in the sequel I’d bet that things would not go well for him.

Ultimately the message here is really not to mess with the dead and spirits. Once someone dies then you’ve gotta move on and fast. No trying to contact them or anything because you’re just going to be going around in circles and contacting demons anyway. I’d also say you should never trust some random guy who’s been following you around and telling you all of these weird stories. I get that Jonathan was desperate but yeah you definitely need to be able to move on. Not rebound of course, but just keep it calm and not chase after her spirit.

The film also has a really random plot twist near the end of the film that doesn’t make any sense. Feels more like a shock value moment than anything to be honest. Lets just say there is one human villain here to make things a little more tense at the end but there’s just no point to that. We already know that the demons can do anything they want so why involve a human? Just to mess with the main character? That seems like the only possible explanation. The demons strike me as really unreasonable villains who always have some kind of a chip on their shoulders even when they are the ones who created the situation. Yeah they’re not winning any points in my book any time soon.

Overall, At the end of the day there’s not much to positive to really say about the film. It’s a very by the numbers horror film but it doesn’t have a ton of good jump scares. The computer screen moments tend to be on the boring side and you’re really waiting for some action. Unfortunately there’s not much for the main character to even fight for most of the film and by the time we get a human villain the film is ending. This is a film that should have had more fun with the electronic setup. That should have also played into the demons weakness somehow. You know, just give us something with a bit more substance instead of dwelling on the computer screen for so long. Additionally the whole sub plot of Jonathan playing superhero by seeing into the future didn’t make a lot of sense and felt shoehorned in. The film just didn’t have time to really go into this plot so it felt pointless.

Overall 3/10

Bad Day at Black Rock Review

Posted on by
Reply


All right it’s time for one of those films that I hadn’t heard of before but was actually really solid. There’s a lot of good tension here and at times it can even play out a bit like a Twilight Zone episode. The main character did annoy me at times with how much disrespect he was taking from the other characters but ultimately it was a tough situation and the movie was careful not to give him any easy outs. It makes for a tense watch the whole way through.

The film starts with a guy named John getting off of a train and into a small town. For some reason nobody is happy to see him and he is given the cold shoulder immediately. The concierge straight up tells him to go home and nobody wants to give him a car to drive. He’s told all of the hotel rooms are booked, people threaten him, etc. John came here in search of a guy named Komoko but the instant he brings up this name things get even worse. The local sheriff is completely drunk and refuses to help while everyone else just acts like a villain. It’s clear that nothing good happened to Komoko and now something is about to happen to John. Someone lets him know that he will be murdered by the town at the end of the day. Outnumbered with no vehicles, weapons, and 1 dead arm, can John find a way out of here?

You can see how the situation is definitely not in his favor. I’d say the biggest issue is really that he only has 1 good arm. It means that even with the element of surprise, any attack option will be incredibly risky. One bad hit and John will be on the ground with no real way to defend himself. Yeah it’s possible to fight with one arm but it gives you dozens of new weaknesses. You have to really fight perfectly and even then winning is only a possibility. Particularly with a whole town against you. Yes, it’s a small town but we’re still talking around 6-8 guys against 1 man. Those are not good odds.

John does his best not to pick any fights and to keep his head low but it’s clear that this won’t work. Now that he’s entered this town he won’t be allowed to leave. A good chunk of the film is really about the town making veiled threats against John as he tries to figure out what to do. Actually to be honest the threats are barely even veiled by the end. For most of the movie I was expecting there to be a twist like John could use his second arm or he had some kind of gun but that’s not the way things go. He is actually able to fight reasonably well but like I said, that’s not enough to really make him feel safe. If I was him I would have finished off the first attacker during the bar fight though. At least you take one guy down before dying.

In these kinds of situations I always feel like it’s better to die quickly than risk a slow death. So you jump into the fray which will force the enemy to shoot you a few times and then bam, you’re out of the picture. So you either win or you die fast and there’s no middle-ground. Now I should say that in the town not everyone is super evil. Some are just weak willed and don’t have the courage to stand up to the mob. It’s particularly tough in a small town like this. As one lady says, John will at least be dead in short order but the rest of them have to continue living in the town. It’s not even much of a town either.

They are running out of food and water, nobody ever visits and the place is completely isolated. There are less than 20 people living in the village and it doesn’t look like they will be having any kids anytime soon. It’s like watching an extinction in real time. The fact that the survivors actively try to prevent anyone from visiting definitely says a lot too. They are really making history here but the wrong kind.

As for what happened to Komoko, well it is explained. You can probably guess almost immediately what happened to him though based on how the town is. It’s definitely a pretty tragic event and it makes everyone look really bad. Even the characters who try to help out by the end I still don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for. They didn’t act when it counted the first time and that made everyone complicit. It’s almost worse in a way for the “good guys” who did nothing compared to the villains who are openly evil. If you don’t do anything then you really helped out in the end. The Sheriff in particular is rather toothless as he gets threatened as well and pushed around. That was definitely not a good look.

The movie sticks the landing and has a satisfying conclusion. I had a good time watching the movie. There are a decent amount of characters all things considered and they are written well. The villains have a lot of screen presence and all of the characters seem rather realistic. Like I said, I’d have liked John to do some things a bit different but who knows how things would have gone. At least keep the gun once you knocked the first guy out, that could have been super handy.

Overall, Bad Day at Black Rock is definitely an intense film. I would say part of what makes it rather scary as well is that you can picture this happening in real life. You always do want to be careful where you travel and you should always do some research first. Even the best of countries have rough areas, neighborhoods, and yeah even towns can fall into the picture. If you go unprepared then you are likely to vanish in the wind. Back in the day it was harder to actually do research like that though. John certainly had no idea what he was walking into. The movie tackles some serious themes and does so without missing a beat or overplaying its hand. I would certainly recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Blood on the Moon Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a fairly emotional western title. It’s one where the romance can definitely be a little bit on the weaker side but I do think the story is more engaging than the last one. We once again have different factions here but it’s a more obvious good vs evil scenario this time. It just takes the main character a little long to actually make up his mind and pick the right group.

The film starts by introducing us to Joe who really just enjoys doing his own thing. He’s always wandering around from place to place but he is short on funds at the moment. His old friend Tate shows up and wants Jim to help him with a mission that’s going to pay super great. Basically they have to keep John and the other livestock owners from getting them off the property in time. See, Tate wants to buy up all of the animals from John’ family but he only wants to pay bottom dollar. So this forced John to have to get out fast because if he stays too long then I think he would be over the deadline and it would be trespassing. Of course it’s not like this is really legal but back in the day it was hard to patrol everything. So Jim is on board since he needs the money but his conscience isn’t a happy camper.

Jim slowly gets to be a little close to John’s family and sees just how cruel Tate’s group is. Tate’s group doesn’t really trust Jim as it is so he has to be extra careful when he leaves them. Meanwhile, John’s daughter Amy doesn’t really care for Jim either after a big misunderstanding during their first meeting that doesn’t really get much better after that. She really made up her mind about him early on though so here wasn’t a whole lot for him to do about this. It’s part of why it’s hard to see a romance really going anywhere here. Amy was completely murder him when they first met. Yes, she sees why that would be a bad idea but jumping all the way to romance feels rather extreme. I just couldn’t buy into it.

It’s still better than her sister Carol’s plot though. In a storyline as old as time, Carol believes that the bad boy Tate actually likes her and so she is ready to sell out her father immediately. Sure he gives the usual lines like he won’t actually murder John but why would she actually believe that? She feels like a massive sucker throughout the film and it’s all a really bad look for her. Even if Tate wasn’t going to murder John, he was still going to steal all of the cattle and put them in a serious jam. There’s no way she bought into his half hearted logic the whole time. So that means she just overlooked it in order to be with him which is definitely not good. She’s just a traitor plain and simple. There was no way for her to go up from there.

Meanwhile I actually thought Tate made for a good villain. Yeah he got really lucky to have a traitor at the ready but even beyond that he was a quick talker and always had a plan going. So the guy definitely wasn’t lazy like some main villains. He also had skills of his own but at the end of the day he just wasn’t skilled enough to win. That’s really what it boils down to. Romance aside, Amy was a solid heroine here. I give her points for having a gun and being ready to fight at all times. Her enthusiasm often tended to be on a higher level than her actual skills but she does actually land some good hits in the climax.

The climax is one of those classic shootouts where the heroes are all in a cabin and trying to fire at the villains who are right outside. It always felt like it would be really difficult for anyone to land a hit here since you’re both walls or rocks that wouldn’t easily be shredded by bullets. I suppose it’s all about how risky each side gets and who lands a lucky hit first. Also if you run out of bullets then that’s another issue. Amy and Jim had help from one guy who was avenging his son so they made for a really good team.

Then we have Jim who is a decent main character but I can’t say that he was all that great. Again, it took him a while to actually choose the heroic side in the conflict here. Things could have easily gone in a way where he never got to defect from the group and the main problem here is that a main character with good morals would have never faltered in the first place. The fact that Jim was originally doing this for the money is a bad look for him. So he did improve by the end but ultimately he’s not one of the best western lead characters.

Then John was okay. He actually had some fairly good ideas and traps here like giving out fake directions on a map to see who would take the bait. Ultimately there are only so many plans you can come up with in this setting though and in the end you need muscle to win in these battles. You’d think more of the people who wanted to keep their cattle and stay safe would have fought back but for the most part these guys are just watching the whole time and not doing much of anything.

Meanwhile the writing is solid as you would expect. The script is good as always with a lot of fun dialogue and everyone talks in that very retro way of speaking. The story is well developed with a lot of moving pieces as well. We even get the local government involved at one point which was nice. These guys definitely wasn’t as smart and tend to get themselves into trouble but I liked that angle since you don’t often see the government in these films. It helped add an extra oomph to the movie without a doubt and I’d like to see this become more of a thing. It’s technically still a very small element in this movie so another film could definitely take it farther.

Overall, This film had a good plot going and the main cast was solid. You are fairly well engaged the whole time and the action scenes are pretty good. The pacing is on point and the climax is really solid. I would have liked it if the main character wasn’t just ready to work on super shady dealings for the money but at least he did switch up once he saw just how bad his group is. That definitely worked as a wake up call for him. The ending is definitely wholesome and so I would recommend this film. Get ready for a fairly rushed ending in terms of romance but otherwise it works out. The main moral I’d say here is to watch out before you start shooting all over the place because there could be a misunderstanding.

Overall 7/10

Joe Kidd Review

Posted on by
1


Time for another Western type title. It’s always fun when you see Clint Eastwood on the poster because you know that the main character is about to be really fun. He really doesn’t put up with a lot from anyone and the film starts off really strong with the opening scene. I’ll admit that after that the plot isn’t super interesting though. You’re mainly just watching for the action scenes and to see the main character talking tough to everyone. Ultimately it makes for a good watch though and does beat the average western in the genre.

The film introduces us to Joe who is in prison and is just about ready to get out. One of the other prisoners makes the mistake of messing with him and gets his lights knocked out for the trouble. Joe’s bail has been paid by a guy named Harlan who is looking for another guy named Chama. There is a pretty big dispute going on and so Harlan and his posse are getting ready to take down Chama’s gang. Joe doesn’t care about any of this and is ready to get home but it turns out that his neighbors/friends were beaten and murdered by Chama’s men. So now Joe has a stake in all of this and is ready to set out. Is everything as it seems though?

One thing I will say from the jump is that neither Chama or Harlan are particularly heroic. This film is more about the grey in between as both groups have their share of secrets and issues going on. It means that in a way you just need the lesser of two evils to win or you need Joe to destroy them all. I just don’t think the film gives you enough reason to care about either side. To me they both seem super corrupt. I would say Harlan’s group is more villainous ultimately since they are picking fights and using force to take what they want. Chama’s group are mainly like the resistance but Chama was ready and willing to let everyone in the Church get murdered because he figured as the figure head of the group he had to live.

A very selfish gesture all the way through. He gets called out on this and tries to do better but yeah to me this was basically a gang fight. Ultimately Joe gets his revenge on what happened to his friends and then takes out everyone in his way. The most notable moment of the climax was definitely when he rode a train through the enemy base and started shooting. That was pretty fun in large part because it was so unexpected. It’s not every day that you see someone bring a train to a gun fight right?

The action scenes are on point as always. There aren’t quite as many as you would expect but they are always handled really well. As expected Joe is also a pretty fun main character. The romance here was definitely on the very weak side and that’s the weakest aspect of Joe’s character since he moves so fast on this. He is great in all other areas though. The guy has confidence and there is one fun plot where one of the villains is constantly picking fights with Joe and always gets humbled. It’s crazy how vast the skill difference is between them but that’s why Joe is a legendary figure while this guy is just some nobody.

I’ll give some good kudos to the preacher at the church that was taken over by the villains. Sometimes in these things the preacher will make a big deal about not being able to help since peace is the way to go but there’s nothing preventing you from using some good ole self defense. In this case that means getting Joe a weapon so he can fight back when he doesn’t have one at one point. So getting him the weapon was a great idea and it also meant that the inhabitants had a new lease on life. Without Joe they would have been absolutely doomed.

While the end of the film may not have been super strong since the romance was super weak but it did have a nice callback to the opening scene that was really good. Someone takes a big punch that was absolutely deserved considering how useless the character was during the whole film. It’s also a moment that shows how Joe isn’t going to be forgetting anything. When it’s time to make a move or get revenge for a slight that happened earlier, he’s going to keep it in the back of his head until it’s time. I like to think he was waiting for this moment throughout the whole movie and he probably was. The punch had to feel good. Once again, he was just a really fun lead character.

Overall, Joe Kidd is a pretty fun film. The film is mainly carried by Joe himself but that’s probably why the film is named after him. That was always going to be the film’s focus and it’s not a bad idea. A great main character can really take you very far. Even when the plot isn’t quite as sturdy, if the main character is good enough then it barely matters. That’s just the way that it goes. So I would recommend this one. It’s fairly basic as far as western films go but that means you can enjoy pretty much all of the usual ropes in this kind of title. There are a lot of betrayals and twists running around but at the end of the day Joe just needs to tackle anyone who gets in his way.

Overall 6/10

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a film with a pretty awful main character. I think he got off way too easy the whole time which definitely hurts this one a bit but you’ll stay engaged throughout the adventure. The film’s not super long or anything so it goes by quickly and it doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. A better main character would have absolutely taken the experience to the next level though.

The film starts off by introducing us to Kees who has worked hard as a Clerk for many years. He’s really been hoping that some day he could get a promotion and move up a bit considering all of his loyalty. Well, his plans are dashed when his boss decides to run off with all of the money and basically doom Kees. Well, Kees has had enough of that and he murders the guy. Granted, he wasn’t intending to murder him initially although he was approaching that guy in a threatening manner but the boss falls into the ocean and Kees doesn’t help him. Now Kees has a briefcase filled with lots of money and he can finally live out the adventurous life that he has always wanted. His first stop is to meet up with the lady that the boss was running away with and have an affair.

For context, keep in mind that this guy is married with kids so right off the bat we know that he has no morals here. A life of adventure is all fine and well as a family, like if he had decided to travel with them using the stolen money then you can at least be sympathetic since a lot of the stolen money would have turned into his salary in the future. By doing this and betraying his family you have no sympathy for the guy. The film keeps showing how this guy is a total amateur when it comes to living a life of crime but it’s not like that’s going to have you feel bad for him. No, instead you’re just shaking your head and waiting for him to get his.

At times it feels like Kees is also stacking the deck against himself. A main supporting character is Lucas, who is a detective on the case. They bump into each other a lot and Kees makes himself look incredibly suspicious in every single encounter. In a way you feel more annoyed for Lucas than anything though as the guy absolutely suspects what is going on but just has no proof to confirm it. It’s not like he can just arrest Kees after all. He’s got to go through the process and everything.

Lucas is my favorite character though. He’s at least trying to do the right thing and is very persistent. Just about every other character in the film is really an antagonist so you want him to just arrest everybody. Back to Kees though, he’s just really annoying to follow as a character. He is so desperate to finally have adventure that he basically thinks the main villainess will get together with him just because he has a lot of money now. He’s extremely lucky that she didn’t have him bumped off early on. Kees doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who can stay strong when getting beat up either so I think he would crack right away.

It seemed like a stretch to be playing the long game here. Michele is a big villain here of course but she’s always been a villain which is why I have more respect for her than Kees. At least she has some dignity and does well in her long term planning. There’s not a lot that I can say to really defend Kees in contrast to that. Meanwhile Louis is another guy who likes Michele and he’s always ready to use violence to solve his problems. Michele has to save Kees from him on several occasions but again I think this was a strategic blunder. Louis would have gotten the answer out of Kees with ease.

Kees is only a tough guy when confronted with someone who can’t fight back. He gets tough with Michele at some points when he’s not being obviously manipulated but Louis would take him down easily. I would have liked to have gotten some closure with his family back home since they really vanish after the opening scenes. If they were portrayed as more antagonistic then that would have maybe helped Kees be a bit more sympathetic but it didn’t work for me. I feel like the film was at least trying to go for that angle but ultimately I did not think that they succeeded here.

Still, the premise was good so I think it would be easy to do a remake of this film that’s actually fairly solid. For starters, he should be a novice at being a criminal but shouldn’t be absolutely helpless. Don’t have him dash towards the villainess hoping to score when there is no reason why he should. It would make much more sense for him to be spending the money a little too loosely when treating himself to some foods and then the villain approaches him. After that he gets suckered of course but at least keeps some dignity. Ultimately it won’t save the character since he’ll still be annoying, but not as bad and that will help the film by extension.

If you are going to go this route though, then you have to make Kees meet a tough end. He absolutely should have been bumped off or scolded a bit more about deserting his family. I’d argue he shouldn’t have gotten any wins by the end either. He should have been outsmarted and then arrested to show how he was not able to keep up with the career criminals. That would have really been a good way to make the story go full circle.

Overall, The movie has a fairly interesting plot about an average guy becoming a big criminal by being in the wrong place at the wrong time but the execution wasn’t totally on point. I think it loses a bit of steam with how utterly corrupt Kees was from the start. Honestly a huge change that would have helped would have been for him not to have a family. That would have even tied well with his not really having much of a life and wasting it all on the job. It could actually make him a whole lot more sympathetic, but that’s just how it goes sometimes I suppose. In some ways I found the opening scenes before the boss died to be the most interesting and having the whole film take place in town could have been more fun. Like Kees has a ton of money and has to spend it carefully without letting anyone know that he’s rich. That would have been pretty interesting.

Overall 5/10