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chrisvizzini
Reviews
Violent Night (2022)
A Good movie, rather than a great one
Worth the watch. Anything over 6 is worth the watch, but this one is definitely fun. The issues with the film are only that it could have been so much better.
It tries to do too much. It has a Santa story, a child's story, a couple's story, a villains story...That's only the main stories.
It is Home Alone, Die Hard, and John Wick rolled into one, and you're left not really knowing which one it was.
And that itself is a great concept. You pitch me those three movies rolled into one, and I'm there.
But again, they did too much with it.
It should have been the girl and Santa vs. Everyone else.
But I digress.
Solid performance from all involved. All of the actors are clearly performing to their strengths, and it shows in a great performance.
The Camera, Lighting, etc. Is really good. The whole movie was well shot and the audio was great alongside it.
The score could have been better. I didn't really get a the best feel from the soundtrack.
Really fun premise just really wish they would have focused on the Santa/Child Home Alone aspect more. That really could have been more fun than trying to involve John Wick style fight scenes.
Otherwise just do a Santa all the way John Wick style. That would have also been fun.
This just seems like it's trying to please too many people so it's not it's own thing.
Troll (2022)
Trollzilla
This movie is similar to older Godzilla films in it's overall style and story.
Acting: 6/10 - Better than a typical B movie.
Story: 8/10 - Compelling with a deeper expression of lost adventure and folklore in a scientific area.
Audio: 5/10 - Sub par. Not sure if that was a "me issue."
Visual 6/10 : Well shot; CGI was better than an average B movie, but lighting has issues (expected with CGI), and the scenery was lacking for what was it's geographic location.
Overall: Dull but entertaining. Worth 1 watch. It's a fine film. Could have done more but accomplished what it needed to.
6/10 Recommend.
La noche más larga (2022)
BETTER THAN EXPECTED
I read a lot of negative reviews before deciding to give it a watch. Sure, this has it's issues. But overall it holds up. I think it takes a great premise, and executes it as best as was possible; which may or may not be up to some people's standards.
I think they overcomplicated the plot and the characters in a way that takes away from a show this size. Many of the supporting characters are far more interesting than the primary roles, save for maybe Simon.
Honestly I would like to see this concept remade. It's like Hannibal Lector meets Assault on Precinct 13. What a wonderful pairing of thriller themes.
Spree (2020)
It brings up an interesting concept, but ultimately fails to deliver it any with any confidence.
General Score: 6/10
You could argue the film shouldn't be made, because it itself inspires copycats. This is a terrifying premise because it speaks true.
Cinematography- 5/10
The cinematography was incredibly conceived, but ultimately very confusing. You would need to watch this movie 2-3 times to fully appreciate the detail, and I don't really mean that in a good way. It's an integration of real world concepts that while keeping the tone of the film very well, don't help the viewer fully appreciate the entire story.
Audio- 6/10
Same general confusion as Cinematography but it wasn't quite as busy.
Acting- 7/10
The acting was 8/10, with strong performances from Joe Keery and Sasheer Zamata, who (SPOILER ALERT) ultimately becomes the understated protagonist to Keery's "anti-hero". I put "anti-hero" in quotes because, likely due in large part to direction and Joe Keery's performance, you never truly hate nor like the story's main character. The direction and performance truly incapsulate the character they are trying to portray. Zamata performs very well also, coming across as a genuine quasi-version of herself in an almost cameo. However, some of the other characters are written and directed in such a way they are caricatures of people. This was likely done to accelerate the story and not develop these victims, but it comes across as processed.
Concept- 9/10
As I illustrated above, it resonates. Its a terrifying concept and it's well conceived, at the very least.
Story- 3/10
You really had to suspend belief on this one. There is a lot of artistic license in this story. There are entire scenes which don't make sense, especially towards the end of the movie. And ultimately the movie defers taking a position, ultimately glorifying the entire ordeal; and in it's finality, glorifying the next "Spree killer".
Ultimately unsatisfying in general, it is worth watching. Would recommend if you like unnerving movies.
Antlers (2021)
Worth a watch
Overall good film about how the sins of the father are passed on to the son(children). Well shot with solid performances from Keri Russell and Paul Meadows. Interesting, but oddly paced storyline that generated a ominous tone throughout the film.
Positives: Great monster - Interesting take on wendigo and wonderfully executed concept. Suspenseful. Beautiful landscape. Overall well executed film.
Negative: I think the film could have focused itself more. Felt like this could have been stretched into a series, but as a film it was torn between two story lines, the two sets of siblings each battling with their own pasts. The parallel worked, but it left both sets of character (especially the children) feel not well rounded enough to truly invest in the characters.
Apex (2021)
SPOILERS
Bruce Willis plays Thomas Malone, a two dimensional protagonist who we mainly see resting against trees while the story unfolds around and without him. His past is eluded to, but you're left to mainly assume he's the most dangerous, cunning person to have ever done absolutely nothing for the first 95% of the film.
As Neal McDonough does his best to save the film, it becomes immediately clear that The Most Dangerous Game is Bruce Willis' contract that forces the hunters to have to kill each other to avoid paying Willis too much money for actual action scenes.
After nearly all of the hunters kill each other for essentially no reason at all, Bruce Willis comes in at the end for a montage of him casually killing a small army by walking around and shooting them from a few feet away. The entire, ridiculous montage lasts a few minutes and then the film somehow ends with Willis victorious.
I kept wondering why use Willis at all if you're going to have to re-write in such a ridiculous way in order to avoid having to make Willis do anything. They might as well have cast Clint Eastwood in his 90s.