Every film you've watched in 2020


Missy

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Hostage: For a movie that is supposed to be set in the real world there is some serious Bullseye stuff going on here...

Spoiler

plus Mars becomes a ninja taking out tactical unit sent by the Mafia with ease despite being stabbed in the face earlier. That is some really absurd no-selling. He goes from a psycho teenager to a slasher like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.

Films Watched: 35

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That said, I liked Hostage. It seems like Bruce Willis always plays Bruce Willis, but that is not a bad thing. He is usually really good no matter what role he plays. He also has apparently discovered immortality, as he does not age.

Spoiler

Killing a child early in the movie was just cheap heat, though. There was no reason for that, especially how graphic his death was. That was needlessly exploitative.

I thought for sure this was a re-watch when I added it to my Netflix list, but I don't remember a frame of it.

 

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Mean Girls: Because it was 10/3.

Spiral: I had problems. I wanted to like it because Queer Horror is hard to come by but there are some absolute big problems to the film. I wish I could love it but it just kept on getting frustrating to watch.

Blood Quantum: You don't see many positive portrayals on First Nations people in Horror, usually just the Indian Burial Ground or The Mystical Native American. It's a zombie movie, it's bloody and so well shot. Its also very human. An early candidate for best movie for the month!

The Cabin in the Woods: One of my five favorite Horror films of the 2010s. Just so good!

Suspiria: I'm always the first one to say a film could be improved by cutting the fat. For being 2 and a half hours, I don't know what's fat. It's interesting to view, filled with interesting sequences, bloody and so good most of the time. Just... I know it could be shorter but finding what could be safely cut is hard.

Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives: For a series in it's 6th part, still likely one of the best of the series. Making Jason an undead force of nature works so well, especially since he kind of already was, we're just codifying it.

Films: 129
Documentaries: 1

Rewatches: 3
Mst3k/Rifftrax/Other Assisted: 14

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Aftermath: Another film by Governor Schwarzenegger, this one from 2017.  Schwarzenegger shows some real acting chops here, in arguably the best performance I have ever seen from him. Overall, a very effective drama. My biggest problem was the ending.

Spoiler

Having Roman only spend 10 years in prison for murdering a psychologically broken man in cold blood in front of his wife and child was offensive. I was hoping the victim's son would splatter Roman's brains all over the wall at the end, but he did not.

Films watched: 36

On 10/5/2020 at 9:03 PM, dc20willsave said:

Mean Girls: Because it was 10/3.

I just saw a package of Toaster Strudel in the grocery store this past weekend. It had a picture of Lacey Chabert on the box and "Fetch" was written in icing on the pastry.

Well, what do you know. She actually made Fetch happen.

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The Silence of the Lambs: Jodie Foster deserves every accolade she received from her performance here. That's all I really have to say. It's a well-crafted film and I see why it was huge back in the day -- and why people still love it -- but it's never quite landed with me. Can't say why.

Interestingly, it seems Tom Hiddleston took some inspiration from Anthony Hopkins for his Loki. There are moments, especially early on, where you can draw a direct line between the two. And that's not exclusively to the scenes where Lecter taunts Starling and Loki does the same to Black Widow; there are little things Hiddleston absorbed into his performance, and that's quite fascinating to see.

The handling of Buffalo Bill's sexual identity is coldly clinical and exceptionally wrongheaded. Maybe by 1991 standards it was considered acceptable to question Bill's sexual identity and gender, but that does not fly nowadays.

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On 10/7/2020 at 4:49 PM, The Master said:

The handling of Buffalo Bill's sexual identity is coldly clinical and exceptionally wrongheaded. Maybe by 1991 standards it was considered acceptable to question Bill's sexual identity and gender, but that does not fly nowadays.

I am by no means the guy to speak with any authority on trans issues, but I'm willing to bet this is more on Thomas Harris than the filmmakers. I read the Hannibal trilogy in my teens and the actual Hannibal novel is SO appalling in terms of characterisation, that I retroactively dislike the preceding novels.

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Yeah, everything with Buffalo Bill in that movie is sketch as fuck. Like, everything is super wrong-headed and kind of harmful to trans people and how it's handled. There's a reason I will likely never watch Silence of the Lambs again.

Fright Night: It's somehow existed in a blind spot for me for the last few years. It is a really good vampire movie, both genre savvy while never feeling like parody. Also, Jesus Christ the gay subtext in this thing. I'm half convinced the Vampire only lusts after a teenage girl (which is also VERY gross) is so the audience doesn't notice that he's obviously sleeping with his servant. Then there's Evil Ed who is 100% gay which might also have something to do with actor choice.

The Omen: Atmospheric, moody, just the right amount of "What the fuck?". Just the raw star power they got. The 70s were definitely an interesting time to make horror.

Children of the Corn: The Children of the Corn are either Brainwashed or idiots. I lean towards the second. It's weird seeing Linda Hamilton playing the Damsel in Distress considering so much of her career would end up revolving around playing Sarah Connor.

Films: 132
Documentaries: 1

Rewatches: 3
Mst3k/Rifftrax/Other Assisted: 14

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On 10/8/2020 at 2:27 PM, slothian said:

I am by no means the guy to speak with any authority on trans issues, but I'm willing to bet this is more on Thomas Harris than the filmmakers. I read the Hannibal trilogy in my teens and the actual Hannibal novel is SO appalling in terms of characterisation, that I retroactively dislike the preceding novels.

The scene in front of the mirror was actually entirely Ted Levine's idea. He auditioned and they were like "thank you." Walking out, he was like "I did have another angle," and they were like "show us." He left the room and came back in naked with that moment.

 

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21 hours ago, The Master said:

I really want to read those books, but never have I heard a good word about Hannibal. If you can set aside the retroactive disliking of the series, are Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs good books?

I honestly can't remember. My brain wants me to think that the SOTL film was such a success that Harris just went into full fan fiction mode with his own damn characters.

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2 hours ago, Dread said:

The scene in front of the mirror was actually entirely Ted Levine's idea.

 

The Spoony Experiment did a parody of that scene in one of the Ultima reviews and it was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen.

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I started to read Red Dragon a couple of years back after watching Manhunter, and it's well written but soooo super-clinical in its writing that I fell off about a third of the way through. Maybe I'll pick it back up some day, but I certainly am not feeling it atm.

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Tragedy Girls: Fun little horror comedy. I like a film that succeeds in celebrating platonic female friendship. Even if they're both psychopaths.

Jennifer's Body: I owe Megan Fox an apology for years of bad mouthing. I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! Definitely worth reassessment.

Films: 134
Documentaries: 1

Rewatches: 3
Mst3k/Rifftrax/Other Assisted: 14

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Revenge (2017) - Shockingly, it is a revenge film.  It was okay.  Main problem I had was the pacing.  It took too long to get going.  Then every scene afterwards went on a tad too long.  Very linger-y.  I get that was the style they were going for, but didn't work for me.

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Along came a spider: Morgan Freeman is great as usual in this effective drama.

Two quibbles:

Spoiler

No, you're not shooting someone in the forehead from 50 yards away with a pistol while in a moving boat. Again, Bullseye wouldn't buy that, and neither does the audience.

And...

Spoiler

The ending was needlessly complicated. Two Secret Service agents hatched their own plot to get a ransom separate from the main kidnapper's cat-and-mouse game with Alex Cross? That is a Jigsaw level scheme that requires a lot to go right.

Still, I recommend it.

Films watched: 37

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The Church: review forthcoming.

Hubie Halloween: this was stupid but fun. About as enjoyable as Happy Gilmore, which I've rewatched relatively recently. I still don't like Sandler, but my kids really do.

Kick-Ass: this movie is fucking great. I don't care what anyone says. It's wonderfully acted, choreographed and violent. In fact, the fight choreography is some of the best I've seen in an American film in the past 20 years. Certainly big blockbuster films. 

Kick-Ass 2: I hadn't seen this before, but I liked it too. There's a major step down from the first film, but that's not out of the question for sequels. Dig it.

  • Features: 96
  • Shorts: 2
  • Documentaries: 13
  • Rewatches: 3
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Batman: Death in the Family: A "Choose your own Adventure" meets Marvel's "What IF?" series revolving around the Under the Red Hood movie. I bought this off iTunes, so my "choices" weren't realized as much as me watching each different segment one at a time.

I have to say I was a little worried going into this with the "R" rating, thinking it'd be another "too adult for youuu" wannabe Batman story. There's a couple of moments of extreme violence, but they're used sparingly (both involving Black Mask). 

This was great. The wrap-a-round of the original Under the Hood movie is dovetailed by scenes coming right before the flashback events of the movie and after the events of the very end of Under the Hood. It's a 30 minute recap narrated by Batman, but I dug that as you get inside his head during key moments, like Nightwing's involvement in the movie. But the new stories positing what if Jason survived differently were terrific. I can't spoil too much as they're very surprise laden, but we do see more of the Bat-Family, and Jason's psychology is explored more directly. Whereas Under the Red Hood truly is a Batman story with him as the protagonist, this is Jason Todd's movie, and I think fans of the character will love how much of a mental workout the character gets in each segment, covering potentials that see him both as more of a traditional good guy, and more of a psychopath.

I really recommend this to fans of Under the Red Hood, and Batman fans. The comic book references delighted me, and at no point did I think the different scenarios didn't make any sense with how they went down. Like Batman meets the Ninja Turtles last year, this was the animated surprise that I really came away loving.

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Halloween: It's a classic. In someone else's hands, it might have been less successful but everything worked out so well that it shaped the slasher genre basically.

Suspiria (1977): A beautiful and interesting film, just a sensory overload at times with the music, color, and sound. It's also very straight forward as to the morality of the witches.

Witch-Hunt: Blah. They wasted a perfectly good story about witches and a haunted card game.

Silent Hill: There's a lot of good set pieces though the problem comes that so much of the plot is dictated by trying to match up to the game.

The WNUF Halloween Special: Gods, I love VHS!

The Exorcist III: I knew it was supposed to be good, I wasn't expecting this good. I've been thinking of the Nurse's Station Scene since I watched it yesterday!

Event Horizon: Sci-Fi Horror is always an interesting genre. Portals to hell are a bitch.

Urban Legend: Of all the Scream Knock-offs, it's probably the best. Rebecca Gayheart and Loretta Devine are definitely the highlights of the film!

Films: 142
Documentaries: 1

Rewatches: 3
Mst3k/Rifftrax/Other Assisted: 14

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On 10/15/2020 at 6:50 PM, dc20willsave said:

 

The Exorcist III: I knew it was supposed to be good, I wasn't expecting this good. I've been thinking of the Nurse's Station Scene since I watched it yesterday!

 

At this point, I've seen that movie, probably 30 times and the nurse station jump scare still gets me. It's PERFECT.

Ready or Not: review forthcoming

  • Features: 97
  • Shorts: 2
  • Documentaries: 13
  • Rewatches: 3
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Spontaneous: it has to be one of the best movies of the year.

Underwater: this is like The Descent meets Alien underwater (duh). It's solid and occasionally surprising. Very well-acted.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Been a while since I'd seen this one, but rewatched it with the boys last night. It holds up really well. Shocking that it's the worst of the trilogy, but it's still so good.

  • Features: 100
  • Shorts: 2
  • Documentaries: 13
  • Rewatches: 3
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Inferno: Crazy dream logic horror film. Is it as good as Suspiria? No but it's still a fun ride.

Host: On one hand, Kudos on doing a film using Zoom as your basis. On the other, ehh?

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-rama: Is it good? Fuck no! Is it fun? Fuck yeah!

Halloweentown: Debbie Reynolds is what makes this film. Definitely more for the kids.

Twitches: I liked it a bit more. Also, obvious villain is obvious.

Paranormal Activity: I was honestly kind of bored. I dunno, I'm not the biggest fan of found footage films to begin with and maybe it's just because all the things that are supposed to be scary are part of the lexicon at this point?

Halloween H20: It's far from a bad film but it's definitely a Post-Scream Halloween. I do love that the last 20 minutes are basically just Laurie Strode vs Michael Meyers.

Films: 149
Documentaries: 1

Rewatches: 3
Mst3k/Rifftrax/Other Assisted: 14

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11 hours ago, dc20willsave said:

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-rama: Is it good? Fuck no! Is it fun? Fuck yeah!

Been seeing this one get some traction online this past year-plus, so I gave it a go as my insomnia movie last night. And it was a good, silly way to spend 80 minutes. Had I been drunk or high last night, I'm sure I would have loved this. And had I seen this when I was 10 or 11, I can tell you it would have been in the repeat rental rotation.

Tonally it's all over the place. What starts out as a pervert comedy with three college-age guys trying to sneak a peek at some T&A turns into a bumbling heist movie. Once Uncle Impie shows up, the movie takes its final form: a template for Leprechaun. Somehow I was both expecting that puppet and was also like, "Yeahbuhwhat?!" (I must have watched a Red Letter Media or Dead Meat video on this movie, but I can't seem to find any videos to confirm this.)

Each set of actors seem to be in their own movies. Lisa and Keith are still in the teen pervert comedy with a lot of full frontal nudity, Spider and Calvin are in a then contemporary horror movie, post-transformation Rhonda and Frankie are in a 1950s B-grade horror, Babs is in a sorority house / women-in-prison T&A movie, and they each play it that way. It's shockingly adept at keeping these tones going as long as they can.

Robin Rochelle (Babs) is basically playing Kim Cattrall's Samantha 10 years prior to Sex and the City, and it's great. Carla Baron (Frankie) is hamming it up as The Bride. Had Shana not been sleeping next to me as I watched this movie, I would have straight-up laughed my ass off (in a good way) as she ran around hissing at everyone. And Linnea Quigley's Spider is perfect as the hard-edge punk with a heart of gold. It wasn't until after the movie finished that I realized Quigley played Trash in The Return of the Living Dead. Which I should have realized sooner because, well, without being creepy about it, Trash's dance scene in Return was eye-opening for a young Mike.

They guys are mostly inconsequential, but Calvin looks like he could be Matt Bomer's older brother.

Will I revisit this? Maybe if I'm high and want a laugh. Should you see it? Sure! Grab some beers and some friends and have a great laugh at the puppet.

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