Post by Martin Stett on Jan 15, 2024 15:39:07 GMT
Full River Red (2023) - Complex to the point of inscrutability, but that ridiculousness is all part of the over-the-top charm of this movie. Beginning as a clever murder mystery concept (discover who murdered a diplomat before his death sparks a war) and turning into a wild bloodbath in which a suspect is killed off (openly, without any mystery) by one person or another every three minutes or so, to the point that none of the detectives can have any clue what is going on because half their leads have been justifiably killed at some point or another (more often than not by the detectives themselves). I wish I liked it more, because this is a true original. However, the *HOPELESSLY* confusing plot and flag-waving patriotism of the final half hour (which comes out of nowhere) really drag this down a lot. 6/10
Death and the Maiden (1994) - A pretty standard rape revenge story told in a pretty standard one-location theatre adaptation with pretty standard acting. It's all standard enough - nothing terrible about it, but nothing exciting. 6/10
Angel's Egg (1985 rewatch) - Production Design: The Movie. This thing looks incredible, but the story is so thin that one can rely only upon the design of this world to immerse the viewer. For the most part, it succeeds. 7/10
A Good Person (2023) - Top tier normie bait. I could point out all sorts of problems I had with this movie - the awful editing, the out-of-place sitcom humor, the terrible subplot with the teenage girl who inexplicably is wearing several kilos of bling as she plays soccer - but I don't care. Because I was bawling like a baby through the whole damn movie. This is a bloodletting of the emotions, aimed at a casual audience. Florence Pugh - who has never impressed me before - carries this movie through every openly manipulative turn, and Braff's writing is kind and sympathetic to this fuck-up. I'd have loved to see Braff hand this to another director or a co-writer, as this could have been the Ordinary People of 2023... but I don't think he's interested in telling that kind of story. He's going for full cathartic release, and despite my issues with the movie, he *nails* it. 7/10
Ethnic Notions (1986) - Interesting subject, but the standard PBS documentary style is dry and uninvolving. I'd love to see what Riggs would make of something like Black Panther, which I see as an evolution of the same racism that he fears American blacks internalized back in the 80s. This is certainly an educational documentary, regardless of being a bit boring in presentation. 6/10
Tori and Lokita (2022) - The Dardennes have lost their way. They could crank out a script like this in their sleep, and probably did. There is a newpreachiness "anger" to the film in the laughable epilogue that I haven't seen in their movies before, and I don't like it. 5/10
Death and the Maiden (1994) - A pretty standard rape revenge story told in a pretty standard one-location theatre adaptation with pretty standard acting. It's all standard enough - nothing terrible about it, but nothing exciting. 6/10
Angel's Egg (1985 rewatch) - Production Design: The Movie. This thing looks incredible, but the story is so thin that one can rely only upon the design of this world to immerse the viewer. For the most part, it succeeds. 7/10
A Good Person (2023) - Top tier normie bait. I could point out all sorts of problems I had with this movie - the awful editing, the out-of-place sitcom humor, the terrible subplot with the teenage girl who inexplicably is wearing several kilos of bling as she plays soccer - but I don't care. Because I was bawling like a baby through the whole damn movie. This is a bloodletting of the emotions, aimed at a casual audience. Florence Pugh - who has never impressed me before - carries this movie through every openly manipulative turn, and Braff's writing is kind and sympathetic to this fuck-up. I'd have loved to see Braff hand this to another director or a co-writer, as this could have been the Ordinary People of 2023... but I don't think he's interested in telling that kind of story. He's going for full cathartic release, and despite my issues with the movie, he *nails* it. 7/10
Ethnic Notions (1986) - Interesting subject, but the standard PBS documentary style is dry and uninvolving. I'd love to see what Riggs would make of something like Black Panther, which I see as an evolution of the same racism that he fears American blacks internalized back in the 80s. This is certainly an educational documentary, regardless of being a bit boring in presentation. 6/10
Tori and Lokita (2022) - The Dardennes have lost their way. They could crank out a script like this in their sleep, and probably did. There is a new
