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Khaugh10
Reviews
Barbarian (2022)
Didn't know what to expect going in
There's so many intriguing questions that this film leaves unanswered. If they actually followed through with half the things they alluded to, then sheesh this might've been best horror movie of the year. Yet it kept me tense asf and entertained the whole time, despite naive character decisions that had me shaking my head. And the humorous tonal shift with Jason Long was brilliant to keep this film feeling well paced. The jump scares & dark humor made it extremely entertaining, although not too scary, but I was tight asf. The camera movements also attribute to the creepiness and the decent scares.
This felt a lot like another timeline version of Don't Breathe (2016)
After Yang (2021)
Slow, unfulfilling conclusion, but still worth my time
So slow and tender. The opening credits sequence had me lit. Beautifully shot, well acted, and edited flawlessly. Although sometimes it's disengaging by the slow pace. A24 always does a great job of using highly intellectual concepts that test your ambiguity, but usually lack a little oomph in the narrative that makes this feel fulfilling, this film included. They surround it with too much mystery just to leave it open ended, which feels like lazy writing to me.
Regardless, I was intrigued and although some moments were a bore, I actually enjoyed the revelations of these sweet moments.
Love Hard (2021)
Predictable yet entertaining
Predictable, cute, and hilarious. I may be biased because I'm a Jimmy Yang fan, but damn he's just so funny and lovable. He's not the best looking but he sure knows how to hold a conversation. The chemistry between him and Nina Dobrev was a little odd, yet endearing at the same time. The plot was so predictable, but I think they at least danced around it in an entertaining way. The characters & actors 100% make this an enjoyable movie without much help from the script or story. They play their stereotype well and carry out the cliche plot with a respectable and heartfelt ending. Kinda weird watching a Christmas love story so early in November but I'm here for it.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Y'all wrong for gassing this up like this
I'm so mad at this big mess I could cry. I'm a fan of Marvel, DC, Archies Comics, anybody can get this love... AND hate. I was so excited for this and No doubt, there are some things that I loved about this movie such as Peacemaker, Polka Dot Man, kinda Harley Quinn, and Pete Davidson's character. Otherwise, this movie was terrible to story writing, characterization, and just directing in general. Idk what those critics are smoking.
James Gunn clearly wanted to show off some beautiful visual effects that had no substantial impact on scenes whatsoever. So many scenes in general lacked depth & substance, so I didnt care about multiple scenes. Is Amanda Waller a joke to y'all? This was just a corny Marvelesque movie in the worst way. This movie carried no weight and had no power system structure so basically anybody could up each other or die in the most dumb or unrealistic way. If you're gonna give your characters paper thin characterization or kill them off carelessly, then don't develop them with lame things like unconvincing daddy daughter issues.
I'm so upset. The humor in this was clearly prioritized but in the worst way. I freaking love me some vulgar male part jokes, but I don't think I laughed at a single one. The suicide squads humor comes from them as people just being a joke. So they have to think of lame jokes to make them seem funny and endearing.
Straight up I'm convinced this movie was catered for John Cena/Peacemaker so they could drop his TV show on HBOmax.
The Paper Tigers (2020)
Not great, but I still had a great time watching
I really enjoyed this movie. The premise is easy money for an entertaining martial arts comedy movie. There are plenty of exciting and funny moments, although some heartwarming moments are forced. Many of the fights are shot with wide angles and show off some engaging choreography that let the fights breathe, and occasionally throwing in subtle comedy.
A major thing that I believe held back this movie from being a great overall film is the lack of detail and logic. It kind of gives off corny anime vibes when the protagonists wins because of the strength of friendship. There was almost no development to the characters that was reinforced by real action even after all the nostalgic flashbacks of their past mistakes. The story almost seems pointless by the time the credits roll around and feels like it was rushed and left a lot on the table. Honestly I could even go on about some more complaints, but idk, I still enjoyed this one. Felt like more of a mindless watch.
Resort to Love (2021)
This movie was lovable, y'all are just cowards
Not really a fan of netflix original films but the Jay pharaoh stan in me made me check it out. The premise is nothing new, you've basically seen this storyline a thousand times in vacation movies, but the whole cast has so much charisma that it's just a lovable movie.
This romance movie is so mature that I'm sure people will have issues that it isn't so straightforward, but there were a lot of platonic moments that just felt right. Normally you'd think running into your ex in a random resort that somebody would act stupid goofy to get out of the situation, but nothing like that happens here. Yeah it felt like there should've been more comedy in those moments, but honestly that stuff is played out. It's more interesting to see people sneakily be mature about it. I think people will feel disappointed in the comedy aspect but forget that, I like the way they handled the situations, the feelings felt so pure that it actually feels earned. Aside from that, In general this movie just looks well made and the scenery is gorgeous.
The likability of this movie will solely depend on your taste for this cast. If you don't like any of them, then this will be a slog to get through, otherwise you'll find yourself captivated but their genuine performances.
The Killing of Two Lovers (2020)
Slow burn with some raw substance
My mind feels so strained... Lol From the very first scene, your mind is racing with thoughts as you see a man standing over a couple with a gun, then quickly scurrying away down the street to his home. From that moment, the mysterious story begins to unfold as you see many raw moments happening intimately in a linear timeline fashion from the perspective of the main character. The title is misleading depending on your artistic understanding, but realistically this movie is an ambiguous metaphor in a class of it's own. I love the 4:3 format and felt like it completed the wholeness and gravity of scenes. This film won't likely catch everyone's eye but this is a beautifully crafted project that was created with thoughtfulness and heart. Excellent acting is also worth mentioning considering it singularly follows the story of a family. This slow-burn may not have the initial eye-popping pizzazz, but deep down it is an obscurely vitalized story.
Wrath of Man (2021)
Expected generic but was a delightful surprise
Now this is the Jason Statham I'm trynna see. The Guy Ritchie style of this film is so sleek, dark, and suave, and I can't get enough of it. I thoroughly enjoyed the different perspectives utilized in the storytelling and how it all came in full effect. Jason Statham played a character that he could easily portray, while not having to push any boundaries. The mystery behind his character wasn't really explored but the obscurity behind it was enticing. I wish there was some more hand to hand combat, but I'm all for trading it in for moments where he's just radiating pure badass energy. Overall pleased with what this combo, Statham & Ritchie, produced, and it has more than enough substance to make it a worthwhile watch.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Solid new material to an already crowded genre
The Tomorrow War, a Sci-Fi movie with tough competition these days. Alien invasion sci-fi thrillers are very common in today's movie market, yet this movie still offers plenty of refreshing and unique aspects to the genre even with a slogging runtime.
The first thing I have to compliment are the visual effects and CGI. Whoever came up with the idea to make the aliens white just did wonders for shooting in the daylight and I think it allowed the cinematography to thrive because it didn't have to adjust background lighting and compensate like they usually would for black or grey aliens. Being able to see the aliens in daylight up close in great detail was intense. The visual effects in general are amazing like their time jumping sequences when they turn into small particles looked incredibly soothing. I think the visual effects are where this movie shines the brightest.
This movie was at its best when it was boasting its large team of popular supporting cast members. I love Chris Pratt but I found his acting to be stale most of the time, mainly when it was just him and another actor on screen trying to share emotional moments. However, he still has his charming moments throughout. The supporting cast was what I wanted more out of this movie. Everyone they introduced had great moments, but were eventually tossed to the side.
The runtime is really my biggest complaint aside from some bland Chris Pratt. The plot isn't incredibly thick, but stimulating enough. The emotional moments really made it drag a little. I remember thinking the movie was about to be over, only to see that I was 1 hr and 30 mins in, with about 40 mins left, which felt dreadful, but the last act was actually pretty dope.
Overall I have more good things to say about this than bad, which is always good when comparing projects in this overly saturated genre market. This alien movie really brought some new material to the genre.
Quick random thoughts on actors: Yo who Tf told JK Simmons to get buff for this?? It was nice to see Seychell Gabriel back in the business since the ice princess in the last avatar. I was worried about Yvonne Strahovski, but she was solid. Sam Richardson was pretty funny, him and Chris Pratt meeting and having an instant bro moment was cute.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell (2020)
My super spoiler explained review
Many people seem to have taken away that Fred has been on a drug trip this whole time & he's just an addict, but personally I think the drugs are just a catalyst to experiencing life at its rawest form. You can still have access to these higher dimensions without mercury, but I think that it can push you closer to that point such as shrooms, acid, etc. Once Fred takes the drug, this movie transitions from a movie about drugs to a supernatural movie about quantum mechanics. So the movie soon becomes about traveling through these timelines & acknowledging time as an obstruct.
The main thing to understand in this movie is that the editing is the story teller of this whole movie. Every frame is shown for a reason & it has a deeper symbolic meaning beyond visuals. The director primarily uses wipe cuts, jump cuts, or sound to transition between timelines. These timelines are all simultaneous no matter if it shows the past, present, or future.
The movie starts with him as a baby experiencing life. A baby crawls to the door as the screen fades to the black & transitions to a shot of the mom in bed. This already loops to the ending by showing the creation/experience of life while being trapped in the mothers confinement's (Prison)
@ 7:02 - the first image of his mother's mouth, a reminder to stay confined & suppressed. It's also what he's drawing on the paper. Be aware of the jump strobe cut of the mothers mouth throughout the movie. It happens multiple times as a neurological reminder.
@ 9:28 - is when you as a viewer need to pay special attention to edits/cuts bc this is where the viewer should piece the scenes congruently. He's drawing & then the scene switches to a flashback, both happening at the same "time" hence why he's drawing.
@ 15:33 - Fred sees the clock at 3:08 & it reminds him of a flashback & transitions to him in class answering a test with the number 308 = spiritual #.
Right after that scene, Fred goes to the bathroom which uses the peeing sound as the transition to him using the bathroom in high school to him looking at a stall wall, still happening simultaneously. While in the bathroom he hears the kid say lobby. It then Cuts to his current self, drawing, still experiencing time simultaneously. After it cuts back to him chilling & drawing, he pieces together the sentence "I'm in your lobby" all deciphered through different timelines. At this point every cut/transition is him experiencing time all at the same time.
@ 21:25 - flash image of his mothers mouth. (The Prison)
- right after he wakes up, the next scene cuts to him visiting his mom.
While at the hospital, Fred shows his mom a painting of a yellow house. This yellow house reminded him of how awfully he treated his mother in the past, kind of kickstarting her riddance of him & the memory of him. While still in the hospital, Fred sees a picture of Sebastian, then it cuts to the next scene of Fred being introduced to drugs in high school.
@ 25:54 - the edit shows a transition of Fred walking away, kind of a symbolic thing of how he walked out of his mothers life.
@ 28:27 - theres a swipe cut as Sebastian throws Fred a ball of drugs, transitioning to a flashback of a paper ball, before his first experience on merc.
@ 31:45 - Fred experiences his first true time lapse/crossover. He starts walking on his own in a mini adventure, then he still realizes hes still in the same room. The transition starts with him hearing noise, then transitions again back to the room when he hears their laughter.
@ 32:22 - You see Cindy getting up & walking away, meanwhile there are other images of her. This is a way of showing you the different timelines with visuals. The slow motion trail images are to subtly show the minuscule time between different reactions & decisions. Right after Cindy gets up, you see Sebastian & the other guy soon follow suit in the same way.
@ 34:55 - remember this light. This is the light of the universe allowing him to be one with all. During this image you will see a barrage of images of his mothers mouth, the spiritual portal and prison into earth.
@ 39:44 - the sound is the transition along with a wipe cut, which jumps to another experience, meanwhile not on merc.
@ 41:02 - Cindy goes in a long ass tangent about life. It seems excessive & A lot of people are going to tune her out because she sounds like an angsty teen just trynna stick it to the man, but take the time to really listen & analyze the details in her message. The metaphorical & physical prison isn't the Govt, society, policemen, soccer moms, etc. The prison is the way we choose to live our life in comort, as opposed to getting new experiences.
When Cindy is explaining the now, her first couple are in rhythm, & the last one is delayed. By messing up the cadence she has the power of choice, and it seems headass like of course we have the power of choice but if she said the last now in cadence with the others she still has the power of choice, but the hesitation & choice to not snap emphasizes our true power
When Fred is tripping on pure mercury in the crack house, he decides to buy in & just go with it & soon heard a message from the kid. The kid & the older version of himself said this sentence alternating words on a split screen:
"The system you are using to interpret reality is not one of your choosing. Numbers language color shape all a misinterpretation of the information around you A misinterpretation in both human basic life form which is trying to control your consciousness the substance you ingested temporarily counteracts the influence of the invasive life form that's been trying to force you to perceive information in the same manner as itself in a linear fashion to perceive choices as having an escapable outcome outcomes of those dictated to you thereby controlling all your choices in effect eliminating them it achieves it's goal by influencing you to misinterpret the most elaborate of all interpretations. Time."
This is a strong statement & scene. He chose to listen to this kids message in not only 1 but 4 different timelines in a way in which he could understand the message in its entirety. If you only listen to the muttering of ones side then it doesn't make any sense so being able to comprehend all of these individual's cohesive statement eliminates any variables of misinterpreting the message.
@ 1:02:30 - The bright yellow screen with the white ball in the middle is the light of the universe. This room would usually be classified as the 5th dimension where you're able to experience multiple timelines & dimensions all at the same time. Then shortly after it leads to the darkness, (The mothers womb & portal to the earth)
1:03:28 - an image of his mothers mouth interrupting his connection.
At this point you need to open your mind & realize all these events are happening at the same time, differently in infinite alternate timelines. So the details of what happens next doesn't matter bc Fred & Cindy can access any point in time whether it's past, present, or future bc it all exists at once.
1:07:27 - The mom is talking to Fred & is upset. She says "I don't even know who you are anymore." All over Fred being ill prepared for a final exam. This is when she chose to forget him, hence the predicament he's currently in, visiting a mom in the hospital who has totally forgot him.
1:07:36 - there is a jump cut in the middle of her chewing Fred out, to the mother in the hospital bed mid sentence.. in case you were confused why she forgot him. (She's the prison)
This all set him on the path of his meltdown acting out in the coming scenes bc his whole life was lived to impress & make his mom proud.
@ 1:10:35 - Fred's mothers mouth pops up as he's running away from the police, as a reminder to stay in line in society which Fred thinks is the prison. So then he remembers Cindy's speech about "the now" & he decides to act out by him making sporadic choices bc he thinks society determines the choices therefore not allowing it to be his actual choice because he's just trying to push against society.
@ 1:11:42 - at this point Fred partially understands the true meaning of "the now" & that he can make these decisions at any time which lets him avoid those meltdowns by just leaving the scene entirely beforehand.
@ 1:12:42 - finally Fred realizes time is a construct & he can manipulate it at any time bc of the multiple dimensional timelines.
@ 1:14:46 - reminder of his mothers mouth @ 1:14:52 - reminder of his mothers mouth
@ 1:15:46 - as opposed to earlier, when Fred chose to end the conversation Cindy & leave the rooftop, Fred now decides to use the present to kiss her. This is visually corroborated by after image affects.
From this point on Fred can access a totally different part of his life that he can experience all at once, hence why he goes everywhere & lives a whole lifetime with Cindy.
@ 1:16:51 - another shot of the universe, which begins Fred & Cindy's lifelong montage in infinite timelines.
@ 1:20:33 - Fred finds the necklace then he later presents it to her. At this moment Fred drops the necklace. He's upset because she can't wear it, but she replies "it's OK I'll find it again" When she sees it, she goes back in time before we see her in the class to get the tattoo on her left shoulder blade bc time doesn't matter.
This broken necklace inspires Fred to go back & fix the figurines that he broke from his mother after that one Christmas in the past so he could be a good son & she'd have a good relationship.
@ 1:24:50 - this is when Fred sees his mom's mouth & realize she's the prison & says "it's you, it's you". So parents suppress us from experiencing the world & becoming one with the universe bc they restrain us. At this point he decided to leave but then his mother chose to speak at that specific moment, so he just chooses to stay with her anyway & he's OK with it.
One and the Same (2021)
A valiant attempt at creating something original. It wasn't great but I can't stop thinking about it's complexity??
Very interesting concept that was vaguely explored, resulting in a poor execution, but the story still kept my interest. This concept is hard to thoroughly explore because you have to be able to coherently piece it all together at the end with a central idea. It is a valiant attempt at trying to venture new concepts.
I don't want to write a long winded review but this movie had a lot going on and still manage to be an intriguing watch. In general, I'm kind of picky about choosing anything with drama because I hate seeing stupid people make stupid decisions and wallow in pity because they cause of self inflicted pain. That trope is still prevalent in this movie, but not entirely unrealistic. I think it was overly ambitious that couldn't fulfill all the aspects of the story, but still a commendable attempt.
Now to the nitty gritty about why this film has a great basis but fails to deliver. Scientifically, energy transference makes complete sense and can hold up well for the most part, but the main problem is they barely scratch the surface of information. In order to understand this concept to the fullest the explanation needs to be fleshed out to make a cohesive story about how this energy flows in life, whether it follows a pattern or not. Without that explanation, most of the actions throughout seem too coincidental, and come off as lazy writing. The idea of energy coming back and being identified through humans electromagnetic field is a good concept to explore and can serve as a logical reason as to why we encounter certain people throughout our lifetime. It seemed like they would make this a mind blowing experience, but the company that specializes in this area, in the film, could offer little to no answers and had minimal involvement in assisting the story line other than saying a supernatural phenomenon is happening.
In terms of the script and acting I was pretty lenient considering these were all unknown actors and tbh they did an alright job. They showed some corny moments but also some glimmers of impactful and emotional acting. I will say in some moments the script didn't help them. Some of the dialogue was corny no doubt. But then you would hear some interactions that sounded corny, but were very realistic to real conversations and the writing almost felt socially self aware of how conversations actually would go. However, neither of these properties overwhelming hurt or helped the project enough to have a definitive position in likability.
The character development is so far left weird it's hard to understand what they're going for. The main girl is an angsty civil activist/protestor who is a straight up bitch most of the time, yet there were definitely moments that I liked her, but for no reason at all really. Granted once you find out more info towards the end I guess it is plausible to have these 2 contrasting personalities based on their reasoning, but still, they kinda just throw stuff at you and just want you to take it as so.
Now the antagonist.. whew boy.. he'll make your blood boil from start to finish and for what reason? I really don't know but he does the job he needs to by making you loathe him. I do wish there was more introspective work or development on his character specifically, but I'm not upset because I get the gist. Aside from the 2 main leads, I actually enjoyed every character on screen. Some were quirky, some witty, and mostly endearing. They were also partially irrelevant and were present more so for emotional impact which still hits in some aspects.
Even as I list out the Pros and Cons for this this movie I still feel mixed about how I feel. On one hand this is an admirable effort and on the other it is a poorly executed idea that bit off more than it can chew. A part of me wants to give it a 7 stars and the other part wants me to give it a 5 stars. Regardless, this movie will probably reside in my thoughts way longer than I was expecting to, so I guess at least it's thought provoking???
Hiteumaen (2020)
Everything you're looking for in a action/comedy
What a fun and pure spirited movie. The main character is a legendary spy who doesn't want to kill, he just wants to draw cool cartoons. It's a serious action movie that sprinkles in genuine comedy that keeps you laughing and love the characters bonds all the more. All the characters are likable whether they're good or bad and the choreography of the fights are crisp. The Korean shtick of superiors slapping and kicking their subordinates throughout the film may have hit overkill towards the end but, I laughed every single time. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable movie and another great product for Korean film.
Looks That Kill (2020)
I wasn't ready for this
Yoo what??? This movie got me emotional asf. The storyline is hilarious and had some cute quick witted and facetious dialogue. It's been a while since I felt so optimistic about a romance movie. The storyline spun in an unexpected direction, yet a very reasonable perspective.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021)
Only for the brave
If you are a hardcore Batman comic junkie, it's likely that you will not enjoy this movie. However, if you can understand that Batman can be put in situations out of his depth, you will absolutely relish this movie. This movie is about Richard dragon and for good reason! There are hella people that are way more cold than Batman in terms of combat. These martial artists are the experts and Bruce Wayne is the student. The characters are extremely delightful that display exquisite action sequences that only reinforce how gnarly they are. Just sit back and enjoy the adventure.