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leahcsykes
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Servant (2019)
Confused but still hopeful
So, I'm just going to ask what everyone's thinking. What happened? No, I understand the plot, if you can call it one, but I mean what happened in the first season. Did anything happen? If you can name one important and clearly notable thing that happened let me know. Other than the ending, of course.
I will compare this to one of my favorite pieces of internet literature, NES Godzilla. Nothing happens in that story. Pretty much nothing. Then, suddenly, everything happens. I won't spoil it, but we learn that multiple important plot-related events have been hiding in plain sight the whole time.
I am hoping that the first season of this was like the first chapter of that story. If not, I'm going to be very disappointed. Honestly, this has some potential, but the plot seems to be just crawling along at an unbearable pace. If, by the end of the third season, there's not some kind of reveal or things haven't started to pick up the pace, this rating will be much lower.
I must admit that this is a well-written show that deserves far more than it was given in terms of plot. It excels in the way it is directed, and the acting is good too. Now it's up to the plot to decide where it stands.
Emergence (2019)
One of the most underrated shows I've seen
There are some movies and shows out there that are undeniably brilliant. Things you see and say, "yep, that's one of my favorite shows now." Admittedly, this was not one of those shows for me. I watched it a year ago, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was good. That was it.
I recently learned that it was canceled and decided to give it a rewatch. After watching it again, I was sad. I actually really thought it was good and was surprised it hadn't gotten good reviews. So I want to put it my two cents.
Without spoiling too much, this show reminds me of stranger things, but it is absolutely a whole different game. It takes a story that is inevitably a bit complicated and plays it out over 13 episodes. The pacing in this show is some of the best, with each episode feeling like no time is wasted, and every scene we see something new or interesting.
It is absolutely one of ABC's best recent shows and even if there are one or two plot holes by the end the execution makes it well worth a watch.
Grave Encounters (2011)
Quite good actually, but maybe a little overrated
Found-footage movies are kind of polarized. It always seems like they are either an excuse for a low budget or a way for a big company to make free money on Halloween. It's very rare to find a found-footage movie that's actually good. I can think of three right now: Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project, and Cloverfield. Oh, and Trollhunter. There's probably more but my point is that they're hard to find.
This movie is now added to that list. To be totally honest though, it's probably the lowest on that list.
The basic plot of this is that some ghost hunters who fake their incidents running into a real ghost. This honestly sounds like a spoof and it is for the first half hour or so. It's a legitimate comedy and I was loving it all the way.
However, it quickly turns into a slightly formulaic horror movie.
Frankly, I can see why people call this the scariest movie of all time. Just the mention of a tongueless man should give certain viewers some mild PTSD. I personally think that in a vacuum it's scarier than anything in the Conjuring franchise and might even be more scary than Paranormal Activity. That's the keyword though, in a vacuum.
I had a couple problems with this movie, mainly, the characters and the plot. Let's start with the characters. They were kind of meh. Now, I'm fine with having characters that aren't 100% developed in movies like these because they don't have to be in the situation they're put in. One very good example of this is Cloverfield. They aren't the most three-dimensional characters but they don't need to be to be interesting. However, Cloverfield's characters were at least clear. You knew their personalities. In this movie, they're kind of limited to screaming and asking "how can we get out of here?" The only exception to this would be the main character, who was supposed to be a parody of ghost hunting shows. He was better developed than everybody else. Now, in a movie like this, it didn't bother me too much. But it was still there in the back of my mind the whole movie.
Now for the bigger problem, the plot. It was good for the first hour but then it got weird. The characters went into the tunnels, and then....something happened. I've rewatched the ending a couple times and I'm still not sure what happened. So...there were doctors in the basement? Demonic ghost doctors? Who did a surgery on the main character? Were they all patients at the hospital? Where did that come from? They don't even try to imply anything, it's just ghost doctors. I left the movie a bit confused. If there's some kind of symbolism here, it's going over my head.
All in all, this was a very good and scary movie. If you're looking for a night of fun with some other movie fans, this is a good move and the flaws don't really detract from how good it is. It's nothing new, but it's worth watching for fun. I would definitely watch this again.
2081 (2009)
Not nearly as good as the short story
A bit ago, I read the short story Harrison Bergeron. Good commentary on government, felt a bit angsty, good but not Vonnegut's best story. 8/10, easy.
When you're making a movie based on some sort of successful source material, there are certain questions you must ask yourself. Sometimes, it's not whether you can, but whether you should.
2081 should've been perfect, I'll give it that. I appreciate whoever made this movie for trying so hard, and getting so many others who were also willing to try very hard. I believe that with that kind of work ethic, you can go somewhere.
But when we look at the actual movie, we run into a bit into a bit of a problem, and you don't have to be a detective to notice it. Namely, that the concept is...kind of boring, honestly.
Kurt Vonnegut has never really gotten a good movie adaption, and I think I've run into the reason why. His concepts are just sort of ok. As much as I like his work, and I like the work of whoever made the movie, the film adaptions will always be hindered by the concepts.
The reason the stories worked so well is because of the way Vonnegut wrote them. If something wasn't as amazing or awe-inspiring or bleak as he wanted it to be, he could write it so that it was where he wanted it to be. Directors don't get that luxury.
My point is this: no matter how much work you put into it, this mediocre movie is as good as Kurt Vonnegut movie adaptions will ever be. Stop making them, and let the stories stand for themselves.
Lord of Tears (2013)
Not sure what to think
This is one of those movies that I have much respect for. I honestly thought the concept seemed creative and fun. Big problem though: I only thought that after the movie ended.
For pretty much the rest of the movie, I was in one continuous facepalm.
Like I said, the concept of (spoiler) a guy who meets his childhood babysitter who hasn't aged at all, is smart and could've made for a great movie. If, say, James Wan had made a movie with the exact same concept, it would go down in horror history. But, for some reason, it seems like whoever wrote the concept for this just sort of left before the script was written.
The dialogue in this movie was horrible, just awful. And not even in a fun way, just kinda bad. The actors, which I do not blame for this, clearly didn't know how to react and weren't able to deliver those horrible lines in anywhere near a realistic way.
The owl man was nonexistent. More of a narrator, really. He shows up in the forest for a bit and says an incoherent monologue, then shows up in the background of a couple shots so the characters can point at it and talk about how mysterious it is. He returns at the very end to talk about how dead the main character is when the real antagonist, the babysitter, is chasing him. Then he sits on a toilet while the main character's brother drowns him in the next scene. And no, he's not going to the bathroom, but the shot frames it that way which I admit got a laugh out of me from pure randomness.
As for the main characters, they are terrible. The protagonist is childish and sometimes seems like he is barely reacting to anything that is happening. His performance was just a bit below average and made me bored more than anything else.
Meanwhile the ghost babysitter Eve who is both an antagonist and a protagonist at times (this plot is a bit all over the place) was downright bad. I don't know if it was the atrocious script that led to her bad acting but it was awful. I actually started actively hating the character before the twist was even revealed because it was just so BAD. All of it.
One other notable bad thing about this movie was the pacing. Sometimes it was moving so fast it felt like some kind of fever dream and other times, it was atrociously slow. I was specifically annoyed by a specific scene. Just as we were being introduced to the characters, there was just a 10-minute dance sequence. For no reason. It was immediately followed by another 5-minute dance sequence, making 15 minutes of dancing. Why? Why would you do that? Why put that in a movie?
Now for the very few good parts. As much as people complain about the plot being confusing, I didn't mind it. Really, the base plot about the protagonist and Eve was fine. It's just the way it was framed and executed. The owl man felt like a bit of a last-minute addition, but even he didn't bother too much plot-wise. And he did have a purpose in the end, being the god that the protagonist's family sacrificed Eve to.
The other good thing about it was the scares. There were a couple of scenes (notably the forest scene) where I felt like they were trying a bit too hard to get a negative emotion from me. But all of the others were surprisingly effective. I found Eve to be a more effective villain while she is standing at the top of the stairs, not attacking us at the bottom, if that makes sense. The few times they did that, it worked fine. My main problem with Eve as a villain is that they made her too in-your-face. Again, the execution, not the plot.
Honestly the biggest scares for me were the basement scenes. If you remove the incoherent ramblings of the owl man, you get some effective scares. Note that I say scares, not jumpscares. The scares they did have hinges on being disturbing, not "scary" which I appreciate.
No good scares work though if there's literally nothing else good in the movie. 2/10
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
Literally the worst movie of all time
I'm serious. This is it, people. Bask in its glory. No movie will ever outdo this.
If you feel the need to watch this, or perhaps just read about it, well, don't. Don't. Please don't.
The thing with this movie is that it's not even entertaining. While movies like Sharknado and The Room have unintentionally funny dialogue or occasionally absurd ideas, this is different.
This movie has every problem possible. Sound design, cinematography, dialogue, acting, concept, LITERALLY EVERYTHING. It's a little funny at first but about 10 minutes in it get increasingly tedious. There's a 2 minute sequence of a man installing a solar panel which has no impact to the plot.
It's horrible. It was the longest hour and a half of my life. Every little detail was bad. It was like watching the opposite of The Godfather.
Please don't watch this. For the sake of your brain cells.
Wayward Pines (2015)
It's annoying how good it is for the first few episodes
Oh my God, this was insane. A thrill ride of a plot line for the first few episodes and then a whole lot of nothing until the season finale.
This show is so irritating because it's so good. The mystery of the first few episodes really got me hooked from the first minute of it. But then, it let us all down.
It really was a compelling mystery. Until episode 5. When they just gave up and decided to just tell us everything.
No joke, they literally reveal the whole plotline of the series. Sure, they could've done something smart, like waiting until the climax or at least until they actually had all the characters established, but nope!
Basically, the two stories are happening in two different time periods. Which is legitimately a good plot twist. And also why it's such a letdown when the series is basically over halfway through.
And don't even get me started on season 2. Thank God they canceled this.
Interstellar (2014)
Interstellar Theory
Interstellar is a brilliant sci-fi movie about time and what it does to us. But Interstellar cannot be taken at face value. In fact, I have created a theory on what this movie is truly about.
Interstellar is a movie about mortality and the frailty of humanity. The clues are all there for us to find, but the true meaning of it all is hidden behind the superficial story.
The first clue is the state of the planet at the beginning. Crops are slowly dying and people are starving. Clearly, this is a major symbol of death, and Matthew McConaughey's character wants an escape from it all.
So he goes out into space, to try to save the planet, but also for the selfish reason that he wants to escape from a life where he was slowly dying,
But even in space, he runs into his planet's mortality. He must find a new habitable planet, but one by one, he finds out that nothing will stop death from finding the humans.
Eventually, he finds a planet that will sustain the humans. He ends up going into a black hole and literally traveling through time to avoid the death of the human race. Even then, as the humans come to the planet, only a few can come. The majority of people die.
Then, the most important clue, the movie ends with both him and his daughter dying. In the end, it was all pointless. They both die no matter what he did.
Also, note that when he finds the tesseract cube that lets him speak to his daughter, there are no humans there. They all died. It makes no difference whether or not the humans find the planet.
In the end, this is the sad story of how the humans all die eventually, no matter what we do. But I think that makes the movie better. Noticing the little details makes it cooler to watch the second time around.
The Ring (2002)
The best thriller I've seen in a long time
The Ring is probably the best horror movie I've ever seen. There. I said it. I feel like this movie doesn't get enough recognition compared to stupid things like Friday the 13th with no substance.
I feel like this movie is the right balance of mystery and horror. Movies like Poltergeist that are pure horror or like Seven that are (almost) all mystery are interesting on their own. The Ring manages to juggle these genres effectively, without ever feeling like you're watching two movies.
Inevitably, a lot of you have probably seen the scene where Samara crawls out of the TV.
This scene, and the scenes leading up to it, make one of the most underrated plot twists ever. It's brilliant because it's so simple. Oh yeah, that girl you were helping the whole movie? Turns out she's not so nice.
But it my opinion the best shot of the movie is a shot of a car driving from above. It perfectly captures Washington with its greenish colors and beautiful views. Gore Verbinski is an amazing director and there's not one shot I'd change.
Beautiful with a compelling story. A must watch for all movie fans.
Insidious (2010)
Incredible start, bad ending.
When I first went to watch Insidious, I was unsure what to think of it. Most reviews I'd read were either very positive or negative and I wasn't really sure what advice to take.
So I turned on Netflix on my tv. This was a good decision, as after a second watch I find it's much better on a bigger screen. The opening sequence began, and I was reminded of other movies such as Birdemic: Shock and Terror, that used long opening credits to compensate for lack of runtime.
Seriously though guys, this sequence is LONG. It's pretty much 5 minutes of creepy music and imagery. Things weren't looking up.
But in the first few scenes of the movie, I was pleasantly surprised. The movie had set a pretty good atmosphere, and it felt like there was ok character development.
Then came the scene that might make or break a horror movie: the first scare. Dalton (the kid) was climbing a ladder to turn on a light, but we already knew that one of the rungs was broken. I was physically cringing as he climbed the ladder, knowing exactly what would happen.
Basically Dalton hit his head and there may or may not have been some kind of demon. Then the parents did the natural thing and sent a child with a concussion to bed!
Admittedly, the parents in this movie are classic horror protagonists. And by that I mean stupid. They make about 4 terrible decisions throughout the movie that made me scream at the tv.
So, next thing you know, Dalton's in a coma, and the parents have to take care of him. They have to go through their day again, this time without Dalton.
What follows is one of the most effective sequences in the movie, in my opinion. One of the other kids asks the mom to move him out of Dalton's room because, "I don't like it when he walks around at night."
Then the parents go to bed, but are woken up by an insanely annoying alarm. The dad goes downstairs, and finds the door wide open. Then, we get jumpscared by the alarm again. It's annoying, but actually effective.
Then, later, the mom is writing a song. Oh, I forgot to say, she writes songs. She hears something weird on the baby monitor, and goes upstairs to check on the baby.
So we see a weird guy standing over the baby, and the mom gets scared. The dad didn't see it and he doesn't believe her.
The parents go to bed, but the dad, Josh, gets up. The mom, Renee, sees a guy walking outside of the window. For some reason, he teleports inside. Weird but actually very scary.
Renee wants to move so Josh and the rest of the family agree to so they buy a new house and move Dalton, who's still in a coma, by the way.
But even when they move, the problems still bother them. Renee, in the scariest scene of the movie, sees a little boy dancing to Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through The Tulips"
She goes inside to see where he is, but he's gone. So she calls her mother, who leads her to a woman who says she can solve it named Elise. She sends Josh into a world called the further to rescue Dalton.
So far, I was amazed at the quality of this Conjuring-style thriller. But things go way downhill from here.
First of all Darth Maul shows up. Literal Darth Maul. I'm not kidding. The creature design is so laughable that it's more funny than scary. And later he turns into a spider. Yes, a spider.
But Josh comes back and meets a childhood nightmare THAT WE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT SO FAR, turns into it, and kills Elise. Dalton wakes up, but he and Renee are left on the run.
Normally, I love ambiguous endings, but this feels like they just didn't really want to write one. No resolution at all, it's almost like they didn't bother finishing the story.
This movie is a mixed bag which sometimes feels smooth and well written and sometimes like the writes just gave up. The last third of the movie is a stark contrast to the rest of it.
But overall, this was enjoyable. If you separate the good from the bad, this was a pretty good movie.