Dylan's Top 10 Best Films of 2020

 

Aw hell yeah, the shit stain of a year known as 2020 is finally coming to a fucking end! Not everything was bad though, because we were blessed with a few good movies this year! Today we are going through the 10 movies I enjoyed the most this year! 

Here's a few honorable mentions!

Birds of Prey, Onward, The Hunt, Da 5 Bloods, Unhinged, Fatman, Just Mercy, Extraction, Happiest Season and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On the Run

Now, on to my top 10!

10.  Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog may not be anything special or groundbreaking, but it's a fun comedic adventure that has some cool action sequences, some good laughs, and a fucking amazing performance by Jim Carrey! It may not be a perfect film but it did provide some levity and fun to an otherwise horrible year.

9.  Bad Boys for Life

Who knew a movie from January would be so much fun? Bad Boys for Life is absolutely that! It managed to have the same amount of energy that the first two films had, the action was exciting and brutal, and it was also one of the funniest movies of the whole year! Will Smith and Martin Lawrence proved they still got it, they kicked ass, they were hilarious. What else can I say other than I loved this movie?

8.  Freaky

My last pick was an action comedy, my next pick is a horror comedy. Freaky was fantastic! It was a laugh riot, the kills are gory and creative, and Vince Vaughn gives probably my favorite performance of the entire year! This was the best slasher film I have seen in a long time and I look forward what director Christopher Landon does next!

7.  The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man was one of the best horror films in the past 10 years! Leigh Whannell once again proves how great of a director he really is. The story was fantastic, the tension was non-stop, the acting was great! Elisabeth Moss is awesome here, she definitely redeemed herself after being in that dumpster fire of a movie from last year known as The Kitchen!

6.  Spontaneous

I am not much of a romantic comedy guy, most romantic comedies are trash! Some examples of great ones are The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and The Wedding Singer. Spontaneous definitely joins the list of great ones! The humor is beautifully dark and hilarious, the romance is great, and this movie is extremely well directed! If you love romantic comedies, or great movies in general, give this a watch!

5.  Love and Monsters

Love and Monsters was just pure fun! It's fun, it has great action sequences, the monsters were cool, and Dylan O'Brien gives a fun, charismatic performance. This movie had a surprising amount of heart too! You can't go wrong with that!

4.  Promising Young Woman

Promising Young Woman tackles the issue of sexual assault with darkly humorous but tasteful fashion. The film is a great dark comedy, and a fantastic thriller at the same time! The movie is timely, entertaining, extremely well written, and much like every other movie on my list, featuring some of the best acting I've witnessed all year!

3.  Possessor

Possessor is one of the most compelling and entertaining gore fests I have ever seen! The story was just so intriguing and I always wanted to see where it would go! This was one of the goriest films I have seen probably since the 2013 reboot of Evil Dead. The ending of the film was a standout, this film has one of the best endings I have seen all year!

2.  Soul

Soul is one of the best kids movies in years! This film was so, so good! The animation is beautiful, it has tons of heart, the voice acting is flawless, and wow, the music phenomenal! PIXAR is on a roll again, I am glad their movies haven't been disappointing lately, Soul is a wonderful addition to their library and I can't wait for the Blu-ray to come out!

1.  Tenet

Here we go, we finally made it to my favorite film of 2020, the movie that made me the happiest through the depressing trainwreck of a year! Christopher Nolan has done it yet again with another challenging but rewarding, endlessly thrilling action film! Tenet is the film that entertained me the most, the story was amazing, the action sequences were exhilarating, seriously some of the best action these eyes have ever seen! The acting was seriously on point, the special effects were mind blowing! I could spend hours gushing on this film! This may not be the absolute best film Nolan has made, Inception and The Dark Knight are still his masterpieces, but this is still a wonderful addition to his filmography and everyone who loves movies should absolutely check it out!

So there we go, that was my top 10 best films of 2020! I can't wait for what next year has to offer and let's hope that 2021 is better than this year!

Wonder Woman 1984 - Movie Review

 Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Wonder Woman 1984 is the anticipated sequel to the fantastic first film from 2017, director Patty Jenkins returns for this film, and the film stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, and Pedro Pascal. Taking place in 1984, Wonder Woman now must take on two new villains, Maxwell Lord and Cheetah, and there's also some wishing stone in this movie too. Released in theaters and HBO Max on Christmas day in 2020, the film received mixed reviews and is so far a decent hit at the box office.

THE GOOD

Before I rip this trainwreck to shreds, I do have like 3 good things to say. There's a decent action sequence that takes place in the white house. The acting is good. The opening scene is fine. Yeah that's about it.

THE BAD

WOW! This film was terrible! I haven't been this bored with a superhero movie since last year's Dark Phoenix. The film is painfully boring, it looks terrible, it doesn't even fit in with the rest of the DCEU films. This film has some of the worst pacing I have witnessed all year. This movie is 151 minutes long and you really feel that run time! The movie moves at a snail pace, nothing significant really happens in the entire run time, there's a horrible lack of action in the film. Now, I don't mind if a superhero movie has little action, because I adored Avengers: Endgame, Shazam!, and the Ant-Man films, but those movies had plots that I was on board with, and I loved the characters in those films! This movie lacks a compelling plot, and the characters this time around are not interesting in the slightest. You only actually get to see Wonder Woman in action twice in the first 100 minutes of the film. Out of the couple action sequences in this film, the best one was the white house scene. The rest could have been great but they had zero emotional weight, and the CGI and green screen are TERRIBLE! During this car chase sequence in the desert (oops, I meant in front of a green screen) about 90 minutes into the movie, the green screen is painfully obvious, the CGI was unconvincing, it was such a let down. It wasn't the worst action sequence in the film though. The final fight between Wonder Woman and Cheetah was the lamest and most poorly done action sequence I have witnessed in a superhero film in quite some time. At least Dark Phoenix had mostly competent action sequences. The CGI on Cheetah looked like it was straight out of Cats! Yeah, I was just shocked when I saw how awful she looked. Now you may be wondering, what happens in the film while there's no action happening? Nothing, most of this film is either a hallmark rom-com, or it's too busy taking plot points from other superhero movies, mainly Spider-Man and even Batman of all things. Cheetah's entire plot is basically Electro's plot in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Riddler's plot in Batman Forever. Wonder Woman's arc here is straight out of Spider-Man 2! The romance is so boring. While Gal Gadot and Chris Pine give good performances, their chemistry is completely absent, it's executed like a hallmark movie, there's nothing to praise about it. The story is awful, nothing makes sense, and it just takes from other superhero movies as I mentioned before. Steve Trevor's return was weird and confusing, I'm not going to spoil anything for any of you who want to see this thing, but yeah it's weird and confusing.

CONCLUSION

Wonder Woman 1984 is the worst event film I have seen since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the worst superhero film since Dark Phoenix. It's boring, cringey, there's very little action, there's just nothing here that reminds us of how great the first one was. The first film was fun, action packed, I loved the characters, the story was engaging, this film was none of those things. If you liked this movie, that's fine, enjoy what you like, but I personally don't enjoy this one. This is the worst DCEU film so far, and if you manage to make Justice League look good, you know you fucked up. I wanted to love this movie, I was rooting for Patty Jenkins to make another great Wonder Woman film, but she failed big time.

2.8/10

FILM INFO

Rating:  PG-13 (for sequences of action and violence)

Run time:  151 min

Release date:  December 25th, 2020

Studio:  Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films

Here's a picture of Cheetah to really spice up this review:

Krampus - Movie Review

 Krampus (2015)

My original plan was 4 Christmas reviews but I decided on 5.  My 2nd review is for a horror comedy called Krampus, based on Austrian folklore and directed by Michael Dougherty, who also directed the fantastic horror comedy anthology film, Trick R' Treat.  Released in 2015, Krampus received positive reviews from critics and was a modest success at the box office.

THE GOOD

Krampus as a movie may be far from perfect, there's still a shit ton of greatness to it! I love how realistically the movie portrays the family, it's not sappy or sentimental whatsoever! They fight, argue, call each other names, but despite that, I actually did care about most of them. I love the tone and atmosphere of the film, the comedy never gets in the way of the eerie, dark vibe, as a horror film it's actually pretty effective. The performances are pretty solid, even the child actors do a pretty decent job. The humor can be hit and miss at times, but when it lands, it's pretty funny. There is this incredible scene involving hand drawn animation about half way through the movie explaining a character's experience with Krampus, it's compelling and beautiful, it's the best scene in the movie. The effects and production value are marvelous! It's almost all practical, and there is endless amounts of creativity on display. It's grotesque, surprisingly so for a PG-13 movie, creepy at times, humorous at times, it's all fun to watch. I can compare this to Gremlins in a way because of some of the mayhem involving small creatures in the movie. The scene where you finally see Krampus blew me away, it was nothing short of amazing.

THE BAD

As I said previously, this film is far from perfect. Some of the comedy does not work. Pacing is a real issue at times. There are sequences in this film are boring, the movie doesn't flow as well as it should. I REALLY hated the aunt character in the film, her constant complaining and bitchiness got to the point of being excessive, it got on my nerves really fast.

CONCLUSION

Krampus has its flaws, but this movie never falls short on creativity. There are highly entertaining scenes while also having scenes that are dull. This movie has fantastic atmosphere and tone, which is what I expect for a horror film. It's festive enough to be a nice watch at Christmas and if you can look past some of the film's few shortcomings, this can be a delightful experience.

7/10

FILM INFO

Rating:  PG-13 (for sequences of horror violence/terror, language and some drug material)

Run time:  98 min

Release date:  December 4th, 2015

Studio:  Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures

Die Hard - Movie Review

 Die Hard (1988)

Welcome to the first of my Christmas reviews! This is the first of 4 Christmas movies I have planned to review for the week of Christmas, and there's no better way to kick it off than Die Hard! Yes, Die Hard is a fucking Christmas movie, stop with the fucking debates! Seriously, whoever says Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie obviously hasn't fucking watched it! Released in 1988, the film initially received mixed reviews, but overtime has been widely considered to be one of the best action films of all time, and was a major box office success, becoming a franchise with 4 sequels, one of which was the disaster I reviewed earlier this year, called A Good Day to Die Hard.

THE GOOD

Die Hard is one of my favorite films of all time. It has everything, action, suspense, humor, twists and turns, romance, you name it, it has it! This movie is exciting, it has top notch action, it's violent, the tension is relentless! Bruce Willis does an amazing job as John McClane, part of what makes the movie so exciting is that he is vulnerable, he shows fear, he faces near certain death many times, and you always hope he survives! John McClane is very likable as a character, he's pretty much a lovable asshole, and he provides much of the film's humor with quotable lines and awesome one liners! Alan Rickman is an absolute scene stealer in this movie playing as the villain, Hans Gruber. He is one of the greatest action movie villains of all time! You understand his motive, he is intimidating, immediately when he's introduced you know he means fucking business! It's especially impressive knowing that this was Alan Rickman's first role! The editing is fantastic, the movie moves at a rapid fire pace. The film never drags on, there's never a dull moment to be found. The writing is amazing, there's so much great dialogue, and the story is engaging. Like I mentioned before, the action sequences are phenomenal. The gun battles are exciting, the stunt work is out of this world, the blood effects and explosions are cool, the hand to hand combat is brutal, and all that is thanks to the amazing direction by John McTiernan, who directed many other great action and thriller movies like Predator, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard With a Vengeance and the underrated Last Action Hero. One thing I really gotta praise is the sound mixing! If you watch this movie, you absolutely must watch the film with the loudest sound system you can! The gun shots and explosions sound so cool, same with the punches, kicks, neck snaps and whenever heads get smashed towards hard objects, it all sounds like it really hurts!

THE BAD

Nothing is bad in Die Hard!

CONCLUSION

Die Hard is a fucking classic! It's both a great Christmas movie and a fantastic action movie! Featuring amazing action, tension and fantastic performances by its cast, Die Hard is a must watch for every Christmas, or even all throughout the year, it's that good!

10/10

FILM INFO

Rating:  R (N/A)

Run time:  132 min

Release date:  July 20th, 1988

Studio:  Twentieth Century Fox

Mulan (2020) - Movie Review

 Mulan (2020)

Mulan is a remake of the fantastic animated Disney musical from 1998, it was directed by Niki Caro and stars Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee and Jet Li, and tells the story of a girl named Mulan, who pretends to be a man to join the military in order to prevent her crippled father from fighting in war. This film was highly controversial, with some of the film being filmed near Chinese concentration camps, Disney thanking many organizations associated with the Chinese Communist Party, the lead actress supporting the police in the Hong Kong riots and getting many aspects of Chinese culture wrong. I am not getting into any of that because I just want to review movies. Released in 2020 on Disney+ for a ridiculous $30 fee and select theaters, Mulan received mostly positive reviews for critics, but was trashed by audiences.

THE GOOD

I have not been a huge fan of the Disney remakes, this isn't the worst of the remakes, but there still isn't a lot that I liked about this movie. Some of the action sequences are shot competently enough, Jason Scott Lee gives a pretty solid performance, and some of the cinematography and scenery is nice. Yeah that's about it.

THE BAD

This movie was BORING! Seriously, this movie bored me to fucking sleep! I had to rewind a lot of the movie to watch the whole thing, because I found myself falling asleep several times throughout the film. There's no fun to be had here. There's no fun characters here, Mushu is gone, none of the army guys have fun personalities here, not much even happens in this movie. This movie tried selling the fact that this is a more mature, action filled film, but it's not. This movie has some pretty annoying humor in the first act, and for a supposedly more action filled film, this movie didn't have much action in it, most of the action sequences are in the last third. While some of the action is competent, there are times where it's not that impressive, it's shot in an insanely high frame rate, and it doesn't look very convincing. I'm all for action that's ridiculous, I love action films like Commando, Face/Off, Die Hard 2, but there's a right and wrong way to do it! There's no emotion in this film, I didn't care about anybody, there's no montage where Mulan is preparing to join the army like in the original, there's literally nothing here. There's very little consistency in characterization, but biggest flaw in that regard is Mulan's father. In the beginning of the film, he supports Mulan in the beginning but then literally like a couple of scenes later he is preaching to her that she needs to learn where her place is! The girl power message is stupid too! Now I have no problem with strong women in movies, Kill Bill is one of my favorite movies, Wonder Woman is one of the best superhero movies in the past 10 years, but this movie suffers from the exact same problem as Captain Marvel where in order for the female hero to be strong, she has to have zero flaws and have an extreme lack of personality or emotion. It seriously contributes to how fucking boring the movie is.

CONCLUSION

Mulan is a horrible remake that's boring and lacks any passion whatsoever. There's little action, no interesting or fun characters, nothing makes sense, there's no reason for me to care about Mulan in this film. I would not have cared about the lack of action if I was invested in the story and characters, but because I wasn't invested in fucking anything, the lack of action just made everything even more boring, and the action wasn't even that impressive in the first place. I have completely lost all hope in Disney remakes being good. It's not as bad as Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Beauty and the Beast and ESPECIALLY The Lion King, this remake still didn't convince me that these Disney remakes are anything more than desperate cash grabs with little effort and passion.

3.8/10

FILM INFO

Rating:  PG-13 (for sequences of violence)

Run time:  115 min

Release date:  September 4th, 2020

Studio:  Walt Disney Pictures

 

Fatman - Movie Review

 Fatman (2020)

Fatman is an action comedy film starring Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, and was directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms. Fatman tells the story of a broken, fed up Santa Claus who must fight an assassin who was sent to kill him by a vengeful kid. Released in 2020 on VOD, Fatman received mixed reviews from critics, but was generally liked by audiences.

THE GOOD

Fatman is a delightful film with good action, a phenomenal performance from Mel Gibson, a glorious twisted, dark tone and sense of humor. The story was fantastic, I was never bored throughout the entire run time, the movie moved at a smooth pace. Mel Gibson gives us one of the best portrayals of Santa Claus of all time in my personal opinion, he really sells that Santa Claus is a broken guy who is fed up of kids growing increasingly violent and naughty. I love how he still has elves in this pretty grim, dark comedy, and they actually look like elves, and their diets are like an elf diet. Walton Goggins is fine in the film, he gives your typical Walton Goggins performance. Chance Hurstfield, who plays the kid, just might be the best part of the movie. He does a fantastic job at playing a selfish, psychotic kid. It was easily one of the best child performances I have seen in a while. The action is surprisingly great, it's all in the final act but when we get into it, it's exciting, brutal and bloody. Yes, this movie is rated R so you parents out there beware that this is not a Santa Claus movie for kids. Actually, cool parents would let their kids watch this, so yes, I recommend this for family movie night. This movie is darkly funny and the tone is delightfully grim.

THE BAD

I don't have any major gripes with this film. I think there could have been a bit more action in the film, for an action movie, there is a lack of action in the first two acts. The story is really good though so it's not a huge problem.

CONCLUSION

Fatman is a fun Christmas flick that demands to be seen. The story is fun, Mel Gibson is a fantastic Santa Claus, the kid is by far the best part of the movie, and the final act is great violent fun. If you find it on Blu-ray like I did, or if you rent it on VOD, give it a watch, you might just enjoy it.

9/10

FILM INFO

Rating:  R (for bloody violence, and language)

Release date:  November 13th, 2020

Run time:  100 min

Studio:  Saban Films

GREAT MOVIES: Ratatoing

Ratatoing (2007)

Ratatoing is an animated comedy short film made in Brazil in 2007. It tells the timeless and heartwarming tale of a rat who must steal ingredients from a house in order for his restaurant to become successful.

THE GOOD

This is without a doubt one of the greatest films I have ever seen! The animation is gorgeous, the dialogue is perfectly written, the emotions are powerful, this is all around a fantastic film. The voice acting is great, they act their asses off. The story was consistently engaging, while mostly dialogue driven, it still provided enough excitement and intrigue to keep me invested. The animation is absolutely flawless, it's too perfect! The character design, the visuals, everything! It completely blew me away! The comedy is some of the best I have ever experienced in the movie! It's much better than the comedy in its shameful ripoff from Disney! The voice acting is orgasmic, move over Seth MacFarlane, these voices top every voice in Family Guy! This film was a tear jerker as well. The emotional impact of this film was so powerful, it had me in tears so many times!

THE BAD

This film was way too good, it was beyond perfect!

CONCLUSION

Ratatoing was a masterpiece! I have never seen a better animated film than this! This film was beautiful, it brought new meaning to my life! Ratatoing has mastered its craft and gave us a phenomenal example of what great cinema is. If you haven't seen this brilliant film, do yourself a favour and see this!

FILM INFO

Rating:  Not Rated

Run time:  45 min

Release date:  2007

Studio:  Video Brinquedo

 

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter - Movie Review

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (yeah, totally the final chapter) is a slasher film directed by Joseph Zito and has a mostly unknown cast but does have Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover. Just like before, it's a group of teens going to Camp Crystal Lake and get killed off one by one. Released in 1984, the film received largely negative reviews from critics but was a major success at the box office.

THE GOOD

In my opinion, this is the best film in the franchise, and my favorite slasher film of all time. It gets everything right, Jason is frightening, the kills are amazing, the atmosphere is fantastic, and wow the characters are actually likable and memorable! In terms of the kind of Jason that is just right for a straight up horror movie, this is the best Jason. He's creepy, which keeping Jason in the shadows most of the time helped with that. When he is unmasked, he is grotesque looking. He is also extremely brutal. Speaking of brutal, let's get into my favorite part of this movie, THE KILLS! The kills are brutal, flawlessly executed and gruesome as fuck. Yes they did cut some stuff out but unlike some other installments in the franchise, you actually can still see a lot of the gore and carnage on screen! Whether it's getting an arrow in the crotch, head mangled with bare hands or getting your throat slit with a hacksaw and then getting your neck snapped immediately after, this movie definitely delivers the goods! The atmosphere is absolutely perfect, it sets a fantastic mood and it does amp up a surprisng amount of suspense throughout the film. The characters are awesome, they all surprisingly have real personality to them and are likable and even relatable. Corey Feldman's character, Tommy Jarvis (spoiler alert, he becomes a major character later on in the franchise) is not only awesome but he actually feels like a real authentic kid, which feels refreshing compared to most mainstream movies. Crispin Glover's character is my favorite, he is socially awkward, just like I am, and he also has the best dance scene in movie history! Seriously, nothing in Saturday Night Fever (which is a great movie) and those shitty string of dance movies from the 2000s sure don't have shit on the dance scene in this!

THE BAD

This is the first Friday the 13th film where I have no issues.

CONCLUSION

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a fantastic slasher film. It nails absolutely everything a good slasher movie should have. Good atmosphere, a great villain, and most importantly, great kills! I can't recommend this film enough!

10/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (N/A)

Release date:  April 13th, 1984

Run time:  91 mins

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

Vampire in Brooklyn - Movie Review

Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

Vampire in Brooklyn is a horror comedy film directed by the horror legend himself, Wes Craven (may he rest in peace) and stars Eddie Murphy as a vampire named Maximilian, who goes to Brooklyn to find a special woman, and will do anything necessary to get her. Released in 1995, this was the final film in Eddie Murphy's lengthy contract with Paramount Pictures, and much like the last film I reviewed, Phantom of the Paradise, this film bombed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, but over the years it became a cult classic.

THE GOOD

In my opinion this film is criminally underrated. This film mixes horror and comedy pretty well. Eddie Murphy is fantastic in this movie, he's very menacing and gives a very different performance than usual. You find out he means business early on in the movie when he rips the heart out of a mob guy. He also plays a preacher who by the way is part of the funniest scene in the movie. The tone of the movie is very different than I expected, it's basically a comedy with a horror movie tone, the tone is surprisingly dark for an Eddie Murphy film. There's very little gore in this film but when there's corpses shown, or the ripped out heart scene, the makeup looks pretty good. The musical score is surprisingly good, it's gothic and feels kinda epic scale sometimes.

THE BAD

While most of the time the horror and comedy blend pretty well, sometimes the horror overpowers the comedy. There are pacing issues, sometimes scenes go on way too long and even not long enough the odd time. My last issue is that sometimes the comedy REALLY falls flat.

CONCLUSION

Vampire in Brooklyn is a flawed, but really fun. It's nowhere near as bad as critics say. It may not be Eddie Murphy's best work but I do think it's a pretty solid film in his filmography. It's funny for the most part, the horror is solid, even if it does overpower the comedy aspect at times, and Eddie Murphy himself really gives a damn good performance.

7.7/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (for strong language and vampire violence)

Release date:  October 25th, 1995 

Run time:  102 min

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

Friday the 13th Part 3 - Movie Review

Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)

Friday the 13th Part 3 is a slasher film directed by Steve Miner (the same director as Part 2), and has the same plot as the first two, especially Part 2 because Jason isn't in the first one, a group of teens arrive at the campground, and Jason kills them. Released in 1982, the film was the most successful film in the franchise for over 20 years, and like every installment, received harshly negative reviews.

THE GOOD

This is the most well made and most entertaining Friday the 13th that I have reviewed so far. The production value is much better than the first two and the cinematography is definitely a lot better than the first two. This also has a MUCH better Jason than Part 2, he's much bigger and far more intimidating. This Jason is much more unstoppable than in Part 2 and he's much more brutal, so this Jason is much scarier than he was in the previous one. Also, I have to mention that this is the first film to have Jason in his iconic hockey mask! The kills are actually really good in this one, they don't cut away from the violence quite as much, there's some decent gory bits here and there, by far the best kill is where Jason chops a guy in half while the guy is doing a hand stand. You don't see that much at first but it does show the body shortly after in spectacular gruesome fashion. I think part of that is thanks to the fact that the movie was shot in 3D, so we actually get to see more of the carnage. This movie does exploit the 3D to the max, but I know it would be fun to experience it in real 3D. There isn't quite as much atmosphere this time around but for what there is, it still works.

THE BAD

This film does improve with the violence and pacing, but one thing that is worse here is the acting! This film has by far the worst acting in the entire franchise. I won't explain it, I will have my favorite example down below to just provide an example of the terrible acting. Also the ending is just a complete carbon copy of the ending of the first film.

Bad Acting Example #1:

https://youtu.be/0CKs19MGLyA

CONCLUSION

Friday the 13th Part 3 is mostly an improvement over the first two just for the filmmaking aspects and entertainment value alone. The kills are better and Jason is much more intimidating than in his first outing in Part 2. Despite that, the acting is NOT good at all and the ending is a complete rip off of the ending of the first film.

7.5/10

FILM INFO

Rating:  R (N/A)

Release date:  August 13th, 1982

Run time:  95 mins

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Movie Review

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical horror comedy directed by Jim Sharman and stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien and Meat Loaf. The film tells the timeless story of a couple who comes across a mansion during a horrible storm, which is inhabited by a large group of eccentric people, led by Dr. Frank N Furter, the sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania. The film was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews at the time it was released and bombed hard at the box office, but has since developed an incredibly strong cult following and has become one of the most popular movie musicals of all time.

THE GOOD

The film is filled to the brim with fierce energy and fun. Everyone in the film is having a great time, especially Tim Curry! Tim Curry is by far the best part of the film, his singing is phenomenal and his screen presence and charisma shine through! The songs are all great, I struggled to find a weak song, they range from fun and energetic to actually quite beautiful. The music in the songs is amazing, if you like 70s rock music, this movie is right up your ally! My favorite song is Hot Patootie/Bless My Soul gloriously performed by the legendary Meat Loaf. It's everything, catchy, fun, the singing is great, and wow does the 70s shine like a charm in it! Much like the other horror themed musical comedy I reviewed way earlier this month, Phantom of the Paradise, this film is cheesy, and in all the right ways! It's a great throwback to all the cheesy 50s horror films, and it does a great job at both parodying it and paying respect to them as well. The film is visually really good, it's vibrant, colorful and the production design is flawless! The pacing is perfect, it moves at a breakneck speed, there's never a dull moment in this film.

THE BAD

I don't actually have any issues with this one.

CONCLUSION

This film is one of the best movie musicals of all time. It has everything a musical needs, great songs and fun characters! It's a fast paced film that any of you people who somehow haven't seen it should watch! It's still October so definitely add this to your watchlist!

10/10

FILM INFORMATION

MPA rating:  R (N/A)

Release date:  August 15th, 1975

Run time:  101 mins

Studio:  20th Century Fox 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Movie Review

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper and tells the story of 5 young people who in search of gas for their van, stumble upon a house inhabited by a family of cannibals, but escaping won't be easy, because one of their family members, Leatherface, is after them. Released in 1974, it's one of the earliest films in the slasher genre. The film was a box office success and recieved critical acclaim, and is regarded as one of the best horror films of all time.

THE GOOD

We're talking about a classic here, and yes, it's indeed an absolute classic! This movie is a flawless blend of relentless suspense, terror and realistic violence. This entire film has a very unsettling tone, it's very different from something like Halloween or Friday the 13th. The film is feels very different than normal, there's a lack of musical score, it never feels theatrical, it's very unique. If this movie came out today it would probably be a found footage film. The directing is absolutely perfect. The movie flows very well, it feels natural. The tone as I have said before is very unsettling, which is the tone you want for this film. The violence is very realistic, but not gory at all. There's very little blood but you can tell the characters are in pain when they get killed, and when they get hit in the head, their bodies twitch, and unlike a lot of future slasher movies there's no terrible editing to hide all the violence. The acting is really good, nothing Oscar worthy but it works just perfectly for this movie. The cinematography is artistic, Tobe Hooper does a great job of letting shots breathe instead of cutting constantly. The final act is extremely intense, it's relentless and vicious. It's a great example of perfect horror filmmaking.

THE BAD

My only problem is the victim characters. They are just there to die. Yes, this is a slasher film but this was before Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, this isn't really a trope yet so it would've been nice to have us care a bit more about the characters.

CONCLUSION

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a fantastic horror film. It's wonderfully directed and filled to the brim with relentless tension. It's not the goriest slasher film out there but if you love horror and want to get into the classics, this is one to check out!

9.5/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (N/A)

Release date:  October 11th, 1974

Run time:  83 mins

Studio:  Bryanston Distributing Company

Phantom of the Paradise - Movie Review

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Phantom of the Paradise is a musical horror comedy film written and directed by Brian De Palma (who also directed classics such as Scarface and Carrie) and tells the story of a musical artist who sells his soul for the woman he loves so she will perform his music, but vows revenge on an evil record producer who steals his music to open his big palace, The Paradise. Released in 1974, the film bombed at the box office and received negative reviews upon release, but has since received a much more positive reception and has become a cult classic.

Check out the album review by me and my friend, Rick!

https://themusicalbloggyblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/spectacular-soundtracksthe-phantom-of.html

THE GOOD

This movie is gloriously campy and cheesy, has tons of style, has fantastic music and is quite funny! The performances are over the top in just the right way, and the characters are delightful! The music is catchy and quite memorable, it's a rock musical and as a lover of classic rock I found the music to be quite a treat! You get the styles of Elton John, The Beach Boys and much more! (Disclaimer: those actual artists aren't in this film but the movie does replicate their style.) This is a beautiful looking film, it's stylish and colorful, it's never dull in terms of visuals. There's great humor here too, whether it's the dialogue, the campiness or the acting, there's some laughs to he had here.

THE BAD

I do have a couple of negatives, one of which is while this film is labeled a horror comedy, there's virtually no horror until the last 10 minutes of the movie. Also this movie does drag a little bit in the middle.

CONCLUSION

Phantom of the Paradise is not perfect, but it's still a damn solid 70s rock musical! This movie definitely earned its cult following. It's fantastic music and delightful campy tone make this a joy to watch! It does have a lack of horror and it does drag a tiny bit in the middle portion but those are my only issues with it. This film is awesome and I highly recommend it!

9/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  PG (N/A)

Release date:  October 31st, 1974

Run time:  91 min

Studio:  20th Century Fox 

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_the_Paradise

28 Days Later - Movie Review

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Days Later is a zombie film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland and stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson, and is about a group of people who must survive a zombie apocalypse after infected chimps are released by animal liberation activists. Released in the UK in 2002 and in the US in 2003, the film was critically acclaimed, gave birth to the kind of zombie film we know today and was a box office success, grossing $82 million on a $8 million budget.

Let's review this film shall we?

THE GOOD

28 Days Later is a horror masterpiece! It's tension filled, exciting, extremely intense, and character driven! I loved the characters in this film, they are likable and charismatic, thanks to fantastic performances and a solid script! This movie focuses on the characters more so than the zombies, which is a breath of fresh air for the zombie genre and makes the zombie scenes more impactful when one of them die. When the zombies show up, this movie gets super intense really quick, it is white knuckled and suspenseful, and the gore and makeup effects are absolutely top notch! The tension is executed with perfection, there's rarely a moment where you can take a break from fear that zombies may be around, ready to attack.The musical score by John Murphy is nothing short of iconic! It's very somber and fits the tone of the film perfectly, it also helps that the score is used sparingly, as most of the film is very quiet and subtle. The cinematography is wonderful and unique, Danny Boyle shot this film in low resolution, which may bother some people but in my opinion it works beautifully! It really adds to the dirty, grimy feel of the film. Everyone gives phenomenal performances, they really sell the fear, despair and depression given the situation their characters are in.

THE BAD

None, I think this film is perfect!

CONCLUSION

28 Days Later is one of the best zombie movies ever made, it has all of the zombie stuff you could ask for without compromising story and characters. It has nail biting suspense, great characters, an engaging story and great cinematography and effects. If you haven't seen this film and love good horror, you owe it to yourself and check it out!

10/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (for strong violence and gore, language and nudity)

Release date:  November 1st, 2002 (UK), June 27th, 2003 (US)

Run time:  113 min

Studio:  20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures 

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Days_Later

Ghostbusters (1984) - Movie Review

Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters is a comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and is about 3 guys who lose their jobs and form a business hunting ghosts. Released in 1984, the film was critically acclaimed and was a massive box office success, and was the highest grossing comedy film of all time at the time.

THE GOOD

Ghostbusters is a classic, pure and simple. It has everything, comedy, action, and even horror. All of the characters are likable and memorable, thanks to a perfectlly written screenplay. The dialogue is flawless, full of quoteable lines and deadpan humor. Bill Murray delivers the best performance in the entire movie, he has the best lines, and has the best line delivery. Rick Moranis is excellent here too, he really sells the whole annoying socially awkward neighbour guy. Sigourney Weaver's performance is great too, her chemistry with Bill Murray is wonderful. The action sequences are exciting, the glorious 80s special effects help make them tons of fun. The climax of the film is especially exciting, like the fight between Gozer and the Ghostbusters, and of course the giant sentient "Stay Puft" marshmellow man! It's classic stuff! Elmer Bernstein's musical score is fantastic as always, right up there with Heavy Metal and Airplane! in terms of phenomenal Elmer Bernstein musical scores. This film is also the prime example of why I love 80s PG movies, back when PG movies could get away with adult content, like swearing and sex jokes. Seriously, it's not every day that you get to see people get blowjobs from ghosts in a PG movie! The genre blending is perfect! This film manages to have action, comedy and horror while never compromising the consistency of the tone, it's a great example of good filmmaking.

THE BAD

My only issue is that while most the special effects hold up, the only time they don't is when they decide to use green screen. Whenever green screen is used, it really sticks out like a sore thumb.

CONSLUSION

If you haven't seen Ghostbusters yet, what the fuck are you doing? It's a must see for everyone! It's extremely entertaining, perfectly written, has delightful characters, it's everything a true classic should be! If it's streaming, or if you can find it on Blu-ray or DVD, I don't care just do yourself a favor and watch it! It's essential Halloween viewing!

9.7/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  PG (N/A)

Run time:  105 min

Release date:  June 8th, 1984

Studio:  Columbia Pictures 

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters

The Lords of Salem - Movie Review

The Lords of Salem (2013)

The Lords of Salem is a horror film that was written and directed by Rob Zombie and stars Sheri Moon-Zombie as a radio show host who has a vinyl record sent to her with a song by "The Lords", as she listens to the song, she starts having horrific cult visions and nightmares. Released in 2013, the film was divisive, receiving mixed reviews from critics and mostly negative reviews from audiences, the film only got a limited release in theaters.

THE GOOD

This movie was....weird! I loved it for that! This was a very different film, even for Rob Zombie! The movie didn't rely on gore and extreme violence either, it relied on atmosphere and disturbing imagery. The story was thoroughly engaging and never boring. I loved the visuals in this film, they were delightfully freaky, grotesque and it was all practical, no CGI to be found here. The acting was really good, Sheri Moon-Zombie was fantastic! Whenever she was fearful or bad things were happening to her, it was actually pretty convincing! The actresses playing the 3 creepy old ladies were fantastic too! The musical score is also a stand out, it's not overbearing, it sets the right tone for the film. The ending of the film was very unexpected and mesmerizing, and that especially is where all the weirdness and crazy visuals shine! The uniqueness and how different this movie is something I can't praise enough! The soundtrack is fucking badass too! You get Rick James, Manfred Mann, Rush, Velvet Underground, it's fucking awesome!

THE BAD

Considering this is pretty much the black sheep of Rob Zombie's career, if you don't like this movie, I get it! It doesn't offer all the stuff you expect from a Rob Zombie movie. I don't personally see it as a bad thing but I understand if you do. My only issues are that this movie does have some weak dialogue from time to time. It's a similar problem I had with his version of Halloween, I do prefer that film to this but that is an issue that this film shares with that. Another issue is that this film could have used more scares. As a horror film this movie did surprisingly lack scares.

CONCLUSION

The Lords of Salem is a different, unique horror film that should be given a second chance. Sure it suffers from some weak dialogue and lack of scares, but makes up for it with insanely creative and unsettling visuals, good atmosphere, fantastic performances, great story and of course a kickass soundtrack. It's definitely not for everyone but if you are a horror junkie like me, it's definitely worth checking out!

8.3/10

Check out my review for Ghostbusters

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (for disturbing violent and sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some drug use)

Run time:  101 min

Release date:  April 19th, 2013

Studio:  Anchor Bay, Alliance Films

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lords_of_Salem_(film)

Friday the 13th Part 2 - Movie Review

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Friday the 13th Part 2 came out in 1981, directed by Steve Miner and is about a new group of counsellors going to Camp Crystal Lake, 5 years after the events of the first film, and this time, Jason is after them! The film received negative reviews from critics, who bashed it for being "gross exploitation". The film was also a huge success at the box office, while grossing less than its predecessor, it grossed $21.7 million on a budget of $1.25 million.

Now we shall get to the review!

THE GOOD

Much like the first film, there is some solid atmosphere here. It always feels like something bad is going to happen at any given moment. Most of the acting is pretty good, although not quite as good as some of the acting in the first one. The cinematography is very good too, there's great wides, the POV shots are really good too. The movie does have a slow pace but does move faster than the first one so I do prefer watching this one over the first one. The characters, while two dimensional, are quite fun! The kills are okay, my favorite being where Jason jams a machete into a handicapped guy's face. I really love the campfire scene where they tell the legend of Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake, it's perfectly executed and sets a great mood for the film. I also love how different Jason feels here compared to the rest, he just kind of feels like a hillbilly, just one who happens to be a serial killer. You also don't really see him much either, he feels very mysterious throughout most of the movie. The musical score is fantastic, which is something I will say for nearly all of these movies.

THE BAD

While more entertaining than the first one, in many ways it's nowhere near as effective as the first one. There are a ton of terrible cuts in an attempt to make the movie less gory. The climax is entertaining, but it's nowhere near as exciting as the climax from the first movie. It's quite heavy on the slapstick. 

CONCLUSION

Friday the 13th Part 2 may not be as good as the first film purely in the horror aspect, but it's more entertaining than the first one. The film does have great atmosphere, fun characters, a wonderful musical score, and some okay kills, but its slapstick heavy climax and butchered editing during the kill scenes really prevent it from being one of the best in the series.

7/10  -  GOOD

Stay tuned for my review of Ghostbusters, coming October 1st!

Film details

MPAA:  R (N/A)

Release date:  May 1st, 1981

Run time:  86 mins

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

Sources

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_Part_2

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water - Movie Review

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is the second film of the now trilogy, all the voice actors for the main characters from the show and the first movie reprise their roles plus we get Antonio Banderas as the villain, Burger Beard. The film is about SpongeBob and Plankton teaming up to find the krabby patty secret formula after it magically disappears, and once they discover where it is, the whole gang team up on land to get it back and get Bikini Bottom back to normal. The film was released on February 6th, 2015 (5 and a half years ago, that's fucking crazy!), and received positive reviews from critics and mixed reviews from audiences. The film was a box office success, earning $325 million on a $74 million budget.

THE GOOD

I highly enjoy this film! It's got very good fast paced humor, the 2D and 3D animation is extremely good, and I loved the story. SpongeBob and Plankton carry the first two acts splendidly! They have terrific comedic chemistry, I genuinely wanted to see them succeed at their mission! The thing about this film is that it keeps the characters as likable and funny as you remember them. The story was tons of fun, very creative and never dull! This movie offers everything, it's a fantasy movie, a superhero movie, a dystopian apocalypse movie, a time travel movie, you name it! There are times where this movie kinda felt like a stoner movie too. During the time travel part of the movie, there are these trippy as fuck transitions between times they travel to. The thing I appreciated the most about this movie is that most of the movie is 2D animation! Technically it's false advertisement judging by the trailers but I was happy that this movie didn't go all CGI happy! The final act, where the CGI aspect really comes into play was pretty exciting, granted in a SpongeBob fashion, it's not large scale like Avengers or anything. I really enjoyed seeing the characters use their powers given to them in a creative way.

THE BAD

I really didn't like Burger Beard as a character. Whenever they cut to him I was always like "Can we get back to SpongeBob please?" It was the same feeling I always had watching a SpongeBob episode featuring Patchy the Pirate. There's also a couple of pretty lazy jokes.

CONCLUSION

Is Sponge Out of Water perfect? No, but if you like SpongeBob, it's definitely worth a watch! It has a fun story, it embraces 2D animation, the characters are as great as ever, for the most part the comedy is great! 

8.2/10 - GREAT

Pros:

- Great animation

- Fun story

- Characters are still funny and likable

- Humor is mostly great

Cons:

- Burger Beard as a character

- A couple of lazy jokes

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  PG (for mild action and rude humor)

Run time:  92 min

Release date:  February 6th, 2015

Studio:  Paramount Pictures