Outcast Comments: Aladdin (2019)

So, the other day I took some time to take in Disney’s new live action redux of their classic animated film, Aladdin. It just happened to fit into my schedule, as I had not really planned on seeing it. I thought the trailers looked awful, I was not sold on Will Smith playing the Genie, and I fail to see the point in Disney’s recent fascination with remaking all of their animated properties. So, I was fully expecting to not like it. Well, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it. It is not perfect, and is little more than trifling entertainment, but I would have no problem recommending it. Now, I am not going to review it, but just wanted to throw out some quick thoughts.

Movie Review: Dark Phoenix

The first X-Men movie appeared way back in 2000. While it is far from the first comic book adaptation to hit the big screen, it seems to be the one that would kickstart the superhero saturated market we have today. Now, here we are, 19 years and 10 movies (12 if you count the Deadpool films, which I guess we probably should) in and we have reached the end of an era. Hugh Jackman has donned the prosthetic claws and coiffed his hair to play Wolverine for the last time and Disney has completed its purchase of Fox, thus making it possible to reunite the mutants with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (thus far dominated by Avengers related characters). The big question is, do you go out with a bang and do you fizzle like a dud sparkler? Sadly, in my estimation, it is the later.

Movie Review: Brightburn

When I first saw the trailer for Brightburn, I have to admit to being a little confused. On one hand, it certainly looked intriguing, but on the other hand, I could not help but be reminded of the origin of Superman. It is a story everybody knows, I feel that Superman’s origin is like the tale of Frankenstein’s Monster at this point, everyone is born knowing it. There is no need to tell and retell the story time and time again, there is nothing new you can bring to the table. It is possible to tell a story about Superman without starting with his origin. I have felt that there are lots of origin stories that can be skipped. The worthwhile origins are those like in the Unbreakable-verse, which i new and fresh (not commenting on whether you like it or not, just that it is new), or in the case of Brightburn, where an element gets turned on its ear and makes the familiar new again.

Movie Review: The Dead Don't Die (2019)

The Dead Don’t Die is a movie that came to my attention quite literally out of nowhere. I seem to recall hearing something about a movie being made locally, to me, and it turns out it was this. I do not know precisely where, but the locations seem vaguely familiar to me. I was also clued in by the majority of the audience at my screening were zombie extras in the film. In any case, the movie itself is a dry-witted, masterpiece. I absolutely loved the simplicity of everything.

Movie Review: Hellboy (2019)

So, Hellboy, a movie that caused a stir among the masses when it was announced, or rather, that subset of the masses that care about such things as genre and comic book movies, and even then, a further subset of the masses that cares about remakes and reboots. It is a stir that has lasted right up to and through the movies release this weekend. Fortunately, I am not a part of that subset. I am a part of the movie loving public that likes to see movies prove their worth on their own terms, and not have to fight off non-existent foes before their time. With that said, I quite enjoyed this new interpretation of the source, it felt true in spirit but does not find itself beholden to what came before, meaning it has a distinctly different flavor than Guillermo del Toro’s vision. This is a good one.

Movie Review: Pet Sematary (2019)

When it was announced that a remake of Pet Sematary was in the works, it was met with a mixture of interest and derision. For my tastes, I like the 1989 version, but cannot say I have any particular love for it, so I clearly fell on the interested side. On the other side of the coin, I know someone who loves the original, and while interested, was certainly approaching it with a good deal more skepticism than I. Now that it is here, it is open season for everyone to compare the two, as well as its value as another Stephen King adaptation. I cannot comment on the last bit as I have not read the book, which is amazing considering how much I love King and how much of his older output I’ve read.

Movie Review: Hotel Mumbai

The first time I heard of Hotel Mumbai was a few weeks ago from a friend who had seen it. He mused about how involving and well saged it was, while simultaneously wondering who would want to recreate such events. I must admit, it is a thought I have often had when it comes to a movie that seeks to depict, often in great detail, such horrible events. It come to mind when I decided to see this film. I sat there and thought, in succession, why would anyone want to recreate these events, then who would want to watch such a thing, and then about how I was there watching such a thing. I have to admit, the movie was quite an experience.

Movie Review: Venom (2018)

It has been a long time since I have really followed Venom in the comics. That really goes for pretty much all comic books, these days I get my superheroes on the big screen rather than the printed page. With that said, there is likely a good portion of you out there that have now discounted anything that I have to say about a Venom movie. So be it. Even without an extensive knowledge, I still have some thoughts of this as a movie, with, perhaps, a bit of what I do know tossed in. Now, would it surprise you to know that I actually liked the movie? Granted, it could be because my expectations were on the low side, or it may be that I don’t expect greatness from every movie.

Movie Review: Peppermint

When people ask me what I thought of Peppermint, my answer is always the same. I tell them that the movie is nothing but a collection of missed opportunities. On some levels I liked it, but on other, more, levels, I just did not. I was relatively excited to see it, too. There are things to like about it, but when you watch it you will notice things, things they should have done, beats they should have taken, moments of genuine character they should have let happen. After awhile it just becomes annoying. However, anecdotal evidence proves that the people around me enjoyed it considerably more than I did.

Critical Capsule: Slender Man (2018)

Using Moviepass of late has turned into a sad game of Whack-A-Mole. I had intended to see The BlackkKlansman, but since those showtimes disappeared from the app, I turned towards the next available film. I was sent down the rabbit hole of Slender Man. I guess it should be said that I never cared about Slender Man, never looked into the modern viral phenomenon that gave birth to the guy, I also feel like the golden time for a movie is long since passed. In any case, I went to the movie and swear I found a cure for insomnia.

Slender Man crawls at a snail’s pace, relies on jump scares, and aside from a couple of neat camera tricks feels like a crappy version of The Ring mixed with a touch of Sinister. I never felt interested in the creature or the characters, the characters never really felt genuine. I think I would have been better served reading on the spawning of modern legend. The movie has nothing to say and gives the characters very little to do other than go through the motions of a mainstream, teen-targeted horror film. I would love to see more theatrical horror films let go and not be afraid af getting truly bizarre and scary. I think that might be asking too much. Slender Man is a hard pass.

Movie Review: The Tortured (2010)

While looking for movies featuring Bill Moseley, I stumbled across The Tortured on Netflix. I read the description and must admit to being intrigued, if not exactly wowed. I decided to give it a shot, being less than 90 minutes, it wasn’t exactly going to be a complete time suck. So hit play an settled in. The first thing to great me was the familiar Twisted Pictures logo, that I have ingrained in my mind as the start of a Saw movie (like Village Roadshow with The Matrix and the Fox fanfare with Star Wars). In any case, this movie doesn’t really need this much of a preamble, if you couldn’t guess from the title, this is your standard torture porn feature.

Critical Capsule: Skyscraper (2018)

Skyscraper would likely be more entertaining in a world where Die Hard didn’t exist. Unfortunately, this is not that world. Perhaps if you are just getting into movies, are young, and don’t know of the great Die Hard yet, you may like this. If you couldn’t figure it out, this is like a copy of a copy of Die Hard, the more layers of separation, the more generic and bland the replications get. On the other hand, Skyscraper does star the Rock, and he has large enough personality to actually carry this and keep me somewhat involved. This is fun enough. The story follows Rock, hobbled by having one leg, work his way through a burning tower to save his family and stop the bad guys from getting to the building’s owner. This is hardly must see cinema, but you could do worse if you stumble across it one night on cable.

Movie Review: Blindspotting (2018)

The first time I saw the trailer for Blindspotting, I was a little confused as to what it was. The trailer begins by making you think it is some sort of comedy and ends looking more like a drama on race relations and perceptions. As it turns out, the movie is both. We follow a young man whose parol is nearly up, navigating the complicated relations and his own changing perceptions in the wake of witnessing a police shooting. Now, I do not have the words for a full review, but I at least wanted to share some of my immediate reaction in the wake of seeing it.

Critical Capsule: Blumhouse's Truth or Dare?

Sometimes you hear bad things about a movie, but you have to see it for yourself. That is what happened in the case of Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare? It is a movie that looked to be all right while also feeling familiar in a Final Destination sort of way. The movie was a big waste of time. Soulless, heartless, and pointless, a product designed to separate you from your money. It centered on a group of unlikable college kids who get suckered into a possessed game of truth or dare that doesn’t end until everyone is dead. Best part had to be the fart face the people make when under the influence of the game. It really was annoying he way it played out, and then that ending…. Can’t get much worse. Funny thing, I think the idea has promise, sadly, this was made as a product, not a movie.

Critical Capsule: Ready Player One

When I first saw the trailer for Ready Player One, I was immediately interested. It was my introduction to the source, as I had never heard of the novel before. I was caught up in the nostalgic references to pop culture of decades gone by. Now, having seen the movie, I enjoyed playing spot the reference, as well as the lengthy horror movie sequence and the appearance of a certain mechanical monster. On the other hand, the story felt like a lot of what I have seen before and the lead actors did not have all that much personality. I had fun enough with it, but that is due to the references to things I like a lot better. Overall, I felt this was a mediocre movie banking on nostalgic recognition rather than doing anything interesting with it.

Critical Capsule: Hellraiser - Judgment

The Hellraiser franchise has never been a great. I love the first two, I like the third and fourth, but after that, well, the less said the better. So, the idea of a new film, one without Doug Bradley, would seem like a fool’s errand. Surprisingly, I quite liked Hellraiser: Judgment. Writer/director Gary Tunnicliffe brought some interesting concepts to the film and has made the first genuinely interesting Pinhead film in years. There are some nice gore effects and I would have liked to have seen some of the ideas (like the Auditor and Surgeon Cenobites) expanded on in a longer film. On the other hand, I felt it fell into the same traps as many of the DTV entries where it is just some detectives tumbling into the Hellraiser world rather than being more about that world. Feels too much like two different movies shuffled together. Still, I have no problem recommending this.

Critical Capsule: The Strangers - Prey at Night

The Strangers was a scary and effective horror film that had an unsettling realism about it. Now, we have the sequel that I don’t think anyone was really asking for, bearing the subtitle Prey at Night. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it has some well shot sequences. The movie itself seemed intent on doing nothing like the first one, thus defeating the purpose. Rather than terrifying the characters, it was more about terrifying the audience with unearned jump scares. On one level, I can sort of enjoy this, but then I get distracted by the terrible choices made by those behind the camera. It is as if they are seeking to undermine the elements that made the first so effective. In many ways I hated this movie.

Critical Capsule: Game Night

This movie was a complete surprise. Don’t get me wrong, I am not calling great or anything, but it is genuinely funny, involving, and actually kept me guessing throughout. Game Night is a legitimately fun movie that just when you think you see where it is going, it swerves and changes everything. I liked the cast, Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are a good lead pair. I also liked that the makers tried to do stuff with the style to further the concept of games, most notably using tilt shift to make the town look like a game board and the cars as game pieces. This is he sort of surprise I like to have, when hoping to be entertained, and walk away genuinely liking it.

Critical Capsule: Annihilation (2018)

Alex Garland is a name that perks my ears, he is a filmmaker who is adept at bring intelligent genre fare to the big screen. His latest is an adaptation of Annihilation, I am not familiar with the book, but after seeing the movie I am curious. The movie is mesmerizing and while I sort of get it, I cannot explain it. It is fascinating to watch this movie unfold and seemingly refuse to answer any questions. It is sort of like the tree in Empire Strikes Back, Luke is told all that is inside is what he brings. Inside the anomaly called the Shimmer there may be more than what the women bring, but the influence of what they bring has an impact. Then there is the final act, some of the freakiest stuff I’ve seen in a mainstream release. This is a movie that begs for multiple viewing to unlock its secrets.

Movie Review: A Quiet Place (2018)

It seems like every year has that one genre film that breaks out and gets on the hype train. In many cases, the hype is deserving. Even though hype has a way of leading to backlash, i have found the films to get the positive hype to be more than deserving. One thing that I am liking is that in recent year the films are retaining the quality and are skewing closer to mainstream success. I love the idea of more people discovering genre films and letting the sickness spread. In case you didn’t know, the movies I am referring to are It Follows, The Babadook, The Witch, Get Out, and now we have A Quiet Place. I make no secret that I love them all.