That was certainly a movie. Two actors I enjoy couldn’t save this over simplified and yet somehow convoluted mess. Shelve this and just go watch Bad Times at the El Royale to get a similar but better fix.
Author: Verse
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) 4.5/5
A wonderful move to watch wrap around itself. I feel like I need a few more watches to really dig into the movie.
Longlegs (2024) 3/5
It is a bold movie but I felt like a lot was being overlooked. Mostly characters not acknowledging obvious things and not acting on their motivations like it would seem they should.
It was not all bad for me though, but the aggravations are akin to bad horror. Which is a shame, because so much of the movie is leagues above schlocky horror.
Armor (2024) 0.5/5
There is nothing here to be gained. In a sea of films, why subject yourself to this?
Watchmen: Chapter II (2024) 3.5/5
The story is enjoyable to watch and consider, but I think more impact could exist in various scenes if they were allowed to breath. Often things come across stilted by either delivery or a sense of immediacy in moving the plot along. How quickly awful things happen and ten seconds later acceptance emerges.
Watching Snyder’s interpretation of Manhattan is shocking, while here the story is laid out in a different order and it detracts. I am no Snyder disciple, but he has an eye for presentation that was sorely missed here.
I have Watchmen, in its written form, on my shelf. Maybe me two months from now will be reading it.
Doctor Sleep (2019) 4/5
Not perfect. It felt like some things got trimmed in editing and a couple of times the reverence for the prior film goes a little too hard. However, I enjoyed it a lot.
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) 2/5
A movie that is so far removed from the sincerity of the prior two before it. Not that it doesn’t try, it really tries but its all vapor. The cast is fine but is given very little to shine with. The cinematography doesn’t really add anything either, as sense of scale never really hits hard. The fear of the creatures is also brought down a lot here throughout various scenes.
I really wanted to like this movie, a lot. I think the first two are pretty great but this is not it.
The instigators (2024) 2/5
The Instigators struggles to feel cohesive and make sense at times. Not everything is satisfying because it feels like it is making and dropping ideas as it goes. Affleck’s character feels like he shortly devolves into a character of his character.