Awkweird Me

Wherein I write about films I've seen and whatever else...

[awkweirdme]

damilstephens’s profile

damilstephens uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 603 films watched.

So, I’ve decided to stop writing my film reviews for this Tumblr. It just doesn’t make sense anymore.

However, you can find me on Letterboxd at the supplied link. I’m still in the process of adding all of the films I’ve seen, but yeah, new reviews will be posted on there only from now on.

I don’t know if anyone still visits this Tumblr, but if you do, or ever have, thank you!

See you around.

[awkweirdme]

The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

With all these spin-offs of The Conjuring (2013), I want to say I hate the idea of this whole cinematic universe, but honestly, if most of them were good, I wouldn’t care. This wasn’t as bad as I’d been led to believe, but it wasn’t good. It was mostly just generic; very formulaic with lots of clichés. The third act was particularly lame - lots of plot contrivances and characters making dumb decisions. Linda Cardellini was good. Raymond Cruz and the kids were not. The direction was fine and there were a couple of well-constructed scares, but ultimately very forgettable. 

[awkweirdme]

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

I quite enjoyed this. Yeah, the story’s not that original, and the structure is huge goddamn mess, but I thought it was cool. I’m not even familiar with the source material, but it might be the purest live action adaptation of a manga/anime I’ve seen. The visual effects were absolutely incredible, especially in regards to Alita herself. Rosa Salazar was great, too. Really fun action sequences and nice production design, too. I really hope this gets a sequel, not only because I want to see more, but because it frustratingly didn’t really have an ending.

[awkweirdme]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

I heard nothing but good things about this, and while it didn’t quite live up that huge hype, I really enjoyed this. Probably the best thing about it was the animation - it was absolutely brilliant. It was bright and colourful and clever and kinetic and just a pure comic book brought to life. I just loved watching it. The story was fun, and I liked the characters and their respective voice actors, too. It also had a nice “anyone can be Spider-Man” message. I can’t help but compare it to the live action Spider-Man movies, especially since I recently saw Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019), and I think I prefer the live action kind. But that’s just a personal preference - I wouldn’t blame anyone if this was their favourite Spider-Man movie. I don’t have much else to say about it - it was funny and heartfelt and a total visual feast.

[awkweirdme]

Midnight Run (1988)

I don’t think I’d heard of this movie before recently, when I heard it described as a great buddy/road trip comedy. And yeah, I’d agree with that - it was pretty fun. Robert De Niro was great, and although Charles Grodin wasn’t as good, I enjoyed their chemistry together. It’s definitely one of those movies that makes you say, “They don’t make ‘em like this anymore”. Some pretty funny moments, a couple of good action sequences, and a bit of an annoying score make this a pretty quintessential ‘80s action comedy.

[awkweirdme]

Pet Sematary (2019)

First of all, I love the book, so any change is immediately going to bother me in some way. I actually ended up kinda split on the changes - some were dumb, but some were not bad. I weirdly had the opposite experience to the one I had with Pet Sematary (1989). In the original, I wasn’t that into it until the third act. In this one, I thought it was pretty decent until the third act, where it all fell apart for me. I didn’t think the direction or editing were very good, and there were some pretty average visual effects. The young actress who played the little girl wasn’t really up to the task either. So, yeah, I guess overall, I didn’t really like it, apart from what was already in the novel.

[awkweirdme]

Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

I really liked director S. Craig Zahler’s first film, Bone Tomahawk (2015), but after Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) and this film, I’m still not quite sure if he’s a genuinely great filmmaker or a bit of a hack. I guess he’s good, because he does make entertaining films, but I don’t know if there’s much artistic merit here. It’s a slow burn, but there’s plenty of good tension towards the end. I thought Mel Gibson was better than I’ve seen him in a very long time. Definitely some good scenes but also some very pretentious dialogue. Worth watching.

[awkweirdme]

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

So, I hated it. Chances are I was never going to like it - it sounded like a weird, dumb idea from the beginning. And I’m a Pokémon fan. More so when I was a kid, but still. I still just don’t understand why this was the first live action Pokémon movie. You could easily do an adaptation of the anime or something similar but instead it’s this bizarre neo-noir hybrid where Pikachu talks. Anyway, yeah, it sucked. I didn’t think the CGI Pokémon looked very good, and they seemed to use the same 20 or 30 of them over and over. The main Pikachu was annoying and basic and I just don’t get why there’s this sassy Ryan Reynolds Pikachu in a movie! Who made this decision?! Sorry, I can’t get over it. Anyway, the story was generic and predictable as hell. The main guy’s performance was bad and not compelling. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t charming, there was no heart to it. I honestly can’t see how this would appeal to anyone besides very young children who will just point out their favourite Pokémon when they appear on screen. I’m so very baffled by this movie’s existence and I want to erase it from my memory. 

[awkweirdme]

Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

My knowledge of British history isn’t amazing, so I did find this interesting in the sense that I didn’t know a lot of it. However, it was a little boring. The direction just wasn’t that inspired, the structure was odd, and it was just kind of dry in general. It sort of just made me want to watch The Favourite (2018) again, which was much more entertaining. Still, the cinematography was beautiful, and the performances from the leads were good. Especially Saoirse Ronan. I’m happy I saw it, but I wouldn’t go around recommending it.

[awkweirdme]

The Beach Bum (2019)

This was more or less what I expected from writer/director Harmony Korine. It fits in well with his other films, and especially his previous effort, Spring Breakers (2012). I had a fairly good time with it. I didn’t expect too much from it, and that’s what I got. I though it was well shot, and it was funny, and the performances from Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron and Martin Lawrence were all great. So, yeah, even though it felt familiar being from Korine, it still felt fresh and unlike most films out there, especially ones starring big Hollywood actors.

[awkweirdme]

Shazam! (2019)

Everyone’s already said it, but this is a nice, lighthearted change for the current DC movies. I don’t know if it’s the best one they’ve made, but it’s probably the one with which I had the least problems. It’s a fairly simple story but it’s a got a lot of charm and it’s genuinely funny. The dramatic parts didn’t work quite as well, but I liked how it riffed on a bunch of superhero movie tropes. Zachary Levi was good, but I couldn’t say the same for his younger counterpart. I thought the other lead young actor was way better, not realising until later that he was in It (2017) as well, so that makes sense. The DCEU is still a mess, but this is another step in the right direction, and I’m totally keen for a sequel.

[awkweirdme]

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Is Marvel ever going to make a bad movie? I wasn’t even super-enthused about this one, especially since we already had the huge movie a few months back with Avengers: Endgame (2019). But yeah, this was great. Just a solidly entertaining, really fun movie. It’s a good superhero movie and also a good teen movie. A lot of likable characters that have compelling relationships. Tom Holland’s such a fantastic Peter Parker. The chemistry between him and Zendaya is really nice. I enjoyed Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio. The action sequences were cool and the visual effects were awesome. It was really funny, and yeah, just a good time at the movies. I’d have to see it again, but I’d say this is as good as Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), if not better. Can’t wait to see the characters again.

[awkweirdme]

The Fisher King (1991)

I’ve seen most of Terry Gilliam’s films, but I don’t think I was even really aware of this one. It’s an odd film, but a whole lot more subtle than his other work, which I kind of enjoyed. It had some visual flare without being over-the-top. Robin Williams was good, even if he wasn’t really doing anything I hadn’t seen before, and it was another reminder of what a tragic loss his death was. It was a bit too long, and it didn’t hold my attention throughout, but it was alright. Not one of Gilliam’s best, but still probably worth watching.

[awkweirdme]

Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)

I’m not quite sure if I liked this or not. It kind of seemed straight up bad at points, but I still enjoyed the ride. It certainly didn’t feel as original as Bone Tomahawk (2015), the director’s previous film. It definitely had the trademark brutal violence though. It was a slow film, but I liked that it took its time. I wish a lot of the plot points didn’t feel so contrived. Vince Vaughn isn’t exactly an actor with a wide range, but he works well enough here. I probably wouldn’t recommend it, but I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from watching it either. 

[awkweirdme]

Deadwood (2019)

Well, I’ve waited 13 years for this, and it’s finally here. And thank god it’s not disappointing. I absolutely love Deadwood, like top 5 TV shows ever love, and I’ve never really forgiven HBO for canceling it in the first place. And for years, I was also very bitter that they never delivered on the, I believe, two movies they were going to make to wrap up the series. This movie doesn’t make up for everything, but it helps a whole lot. 

It was really solid, overall. It proves that revivals of TV shows can work, despite what examples like Arrested Development will tell you. It didn’t feel exactly like the show - how could it? - but it was as close as it was ever going to be. It helps that pretty much all the main actors returned (except for Powers Boothe, sadly), and that they all seemed to settle back into their old characters very easily. I got emotional more than once just seeing them again. It was one of the best casts ever assembled, and they were all great again here. It wrapped up some of the major plot points that were left hanging from season 3, and fairly well considering they only had 2 hours in which to do so. I loved listening to David Milch’s incredible dialogue again - it’s like Shakespeare with a lot more swearing. Part of me wishes they would do another full season, but mostly I just feel grateful we got to see this town and its inhabitants one last time.

[awkweirdme]

Rocketman (2019)

I quite enjoyed this. I didn’t know it was going to be a jukebox musical as well as a biopic going in, so it took me by surprise at first, but I really dug that style. The musical numbers were great, of course - Elton John has so many good songs. Taron Egerton was fantastic. He embodied John really well, and sang very well too. Because the comparison is inevitable, it was a way better film than Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). It was fun as a fantastical musical and interesting to learn about John’s life. I had a good time with it.

[awkweirdme]

Fighting with My Family (2019)

I was interested in seeing this because I’m a big fan of Stephen Merchant, but this hardly even feels like his work. As a sports movie where you watch an underdog rise up through the ranks and ultimately triumph, it’s fine, I guess. We’ve seen it, but it’s fine. But since it’s wrestling, I found it hard to like. I really don’t like wrestling, and knowing that it was officially sanctioned by the WWE, who are shitty people that rip off their employees, just made it all the more unlikable. I didn’t hate it, and it was okay for light entertainment, but the subject matter just wasn’t for me.