MiniReview

Home of Mini-Reviews and occasional miscellaneous posts about movies, making-ofs, behind the scenes info, interesting trivia tidbits,essay-style deep dives and pretty much any other pop culture or entertainment media. Horror, fantasy and action are primarily my focus - but that purview will occassionally differ

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Scream VI Mini-Review

Scream VI is the latest entry in the long-running horror franchise and the sequel to the meta-reboot-quel by the Radio Silence crew. 

If I had to summarize Scream VI in one word it would be ‘satisfying’. Satisfying in its approach to the various character arcs, Easter eggs, set pieces, etc. Everything was just so damn satisfying.

The film has probably one of the most shocking opening sequences since the original Scream film and really leans into the legacy of this series Which is fitting because this film stays pretty focused on the notion of legacy and what it means to families just as much as franchises. Thematically, it’s a return to the first few films. Melissa Barrera takes these weighty ideas and runs with it, injecting a ton of personality into our lead, Sam Carpenter (just for the record, I thought she was fantastic in Scream V, but I do have to agree she brings her A-game here). She’s given probably the fullest and most intriguing arcs in the entire film, and nails it.

 Jenna Ortega’s returning Tara is likewise giving it her-all, as is the rest of the ‘core four’ (dubbed in-character by the surviving gang from the last film). Of course, it wouldn’t be Scream without some mysterious and untrustworthy additions to the cast and friend-circle and all the newcomers are all pleasant additions. 

Radio Silence really upped their game here with one especially harrowing ladder sequence (which, quality of the film aside, isn’t really worth the 3D). The film is a visual feast in general, every whodunnit clue felt fair and this time they spun me for a loop and I fell right into a red herring. 

This film is a must-see, despite - and probably even enhanced by surprisingly enough- Neve Campbell’s absence, it’s time Sydney Prescott got a break, she’s earned it and the ‘core four’ is finally finding their footing.

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Raven’s Hollow Mini-Review

This movie is okay. It’s fine, it’s a film.

The problem, largely, with okay movies is there’s little to discuss - with a bad film, there’s at least more interesting things to talk about (ie. how things went wrong with an okay movie there’s not much to discuss but I’ll try. 

Raven’s Hollow is a Shudder Original (which actually tend to put out some decent sleeper hits like PG Psycho Goreman and Hellbender) that’s plot centers around a young Edgar Allan Poe solving a murder mystery as a West Point cadet. Unfortunately, that awesome setup amounts to quite little, beyond a functional, if average creature feature. 

Raven’s Hollow acting is okay, the framing is okay, the sound design is actually pretty bad (voices are low in the mix). It’s just fine and that’s ultimately what dooms it into obscurity. It’s unfortunate because a detective story about one of the founders of the genre is a great premise, but it feels pretty wasted here on a weak execution. 

The issue further was not the low budget, there’s plenty of micro-budget indies like The Battery that punch way above their weight. This film just felt hollow and pretty by-the-numbers by comparison unfortunately. To its credit, the plot was easy to follow, if only because it was following fairly standard tropes (town with secrets, Doctor Who-like monster, etc). The movie lacked a voice or identity, and it felt so plain and barren. In short, boring.

This movie made me sleepy

5/10

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Adult Swim’s Yule Log (The Fire Place) Mini-Review

A few years ago, there was a viral video called Too Many Cooks. It’s creator, Casper Kelly blended sitcoms, with sci-fi, horror, and surrealism. In short, it was fantastic and utterly original.

This year, Adult Swim presented a live broadcast of one of those yule log fire videos, but about two minutes in, it turned out we were getting a feature length narrative feature. The result ‘Adult Swim’s Yule Log’ also known by the alternative name ‘The Fire Place’ was equally as chaotic, surreal and intriguing as you’d expect a feature horror film from the creator of Too Many Cooks to be.

The film follows our lead couple Zoe and Alex as they’ve booked a cabin (where, as we learn, Alex is shooting the fireplace video for his YouTube channel) and Alex plans to propose. The couple gets an unwanted visit from the local sheriff and deputy telling of recent murders in the area, and later it turns out the cabin was double-booked (between this and Barbarian, it seems to be an emerging trope). From that fairly grounded set-up things spiral wildly out-of-control and descend into the surrealism you’d expect from Casper Kelly. 

The film takes its time, sticking to it’s ‘fireplace video/found footage’ set-up for longer than expected before taking a hard-left turn about 30 minutes in. The beginning is necessary to establish characters, plot, and some surprisingly clever and insightful theming. There’s discussion of intergenerational trauma around Zoe and her mother, how we dwell in our personal failings and regrets, and fear for the future (and especially around how our children will fare). Surprisingly festive in that there’s frank discussions about family, and the film does indeed involve the ‘Yule’ tradition, the film likely will go in my holiday horror rotation. 

The film does have its flaws, notably, some of the dialogue was far quieter than I would’ve liked, and the first act may go too slow for some, but it’s more than worth it for its bonkers experimentation (the framing of an early scene involving a reflection was one of the best ‘found footage’ scares I’ve ever seen). The closest you can even come to comparing this film to is a sequence with a tiny man standing in the fireplace being reminiscent of a David Lynch-like fever dream experience, but Lynch never made a holiday horror film, nor one with as much camera trickery and genre subversion as this.

8.5/10

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The intriguing shared history of Horror and Punk

On the surface it should be pretty clear why these two have been fitting mates. Both have progressive themes and ideology, and both have a rebellious energy to them. The 1980s in particular saw a wave of anti-establishment acts like Black Flag, Minor Threat and was the era of Britain’s ‘video nasties’ on the horror side. Both horror and punk would have, and are considered outsider culture. In an interview with Revolver, Glenn Danzig (former singer of horrorcore pioneers, The Misfits) had this to say,  

“I related more to those kinds of movies. Of course, there were movies I hated because you only get to see the monster in the last two minutes of the movie. But I saw the correlation between society and the monster and why there was a need for a monster.”1

The Misfits logo, inspired by 1940s film serial ‘The Crimson Ghost’

Danzig’s words here echo the sentiment expressed by many that punk and horror are adjacent to one another. Horror reflects the current society’s fears throughout the decade whether it be atomic bombs, teenage rebellion, sexual liberation, and so on. Punk, meanwhile notes society’s fears, and stands opposed to those in the way of progress. Both art-forms have been created and performed by outsiders. Directors like Sam Raimi or John Carpenter had to make their films independently outside of the ‘studio system’ and punks like the Sex Pistols who’ve never preformed ‘proper’ music with ‘proper’ backgrounds, similarly worked outside the typical systems. Both often had immediate and vital messaging about societal woes.

Halloween (1978) was made for just $300,000. A low budget film for the time, as a result, wardrobes and props had to be purchased second-hand or pulled from whatever they had already. The film went on to make $70 million.

Even towards the beginning of punk’s roots, there was the emergence of horror punk, a subgenre that meshed the themes of punk and aesthetics (and storytelling) of horror. Bands like The Misfits and The Damned were at the forefront of this wave. Artists like Ice Nine Kills have featured whole albums inspired by horror films and horror punk has spiraled into further deviations like psychobilly (a fusion genre of horror themes and rockabilly)

Alongside ‘The Misfits’, ‘The Damned’ were some of the first of the horror punk subgenre: “We got our name from two 1960s films: Luchino Visconti’s The Damned, about the Nazis, and the horror movie The Village of the Damned. It was perfect for us...Audiences hated us. Motorcycle gangs chased us. It seemed like half the country wanted to beat the shit out of us.” 2

In film meanwhile, there were stories like Return of the Living Dead, Green Room, and Uncle Peckerhead that feature punks or punk bands in their narrative or ones like Evil Dead 2 or Night of the Demons that exhibited more of a broad aesthetic ‘energy’ or punk ethos to them. Despite featuring a punk band as his protagonists, Jeremy Saulnier (director of Green Room) felt his movie was a follower of the latter philosophy saying:

“I know a lot of filmmakers who try to make quote-unquote ‘punk’ movies,” said Saulnier, stopping through Chicago on a publicity tour that also tends to confine him to one building, albeit under less stressful circumstances. “But most bog themselves down in ideology and punk references left and right. [‘Green Room’] is about taking the energy, aesthetic and propulsive qualities of the music and using them in support of a genre siege thriller.”3

Even books and graphic novels like Robert Brockway’s Vicious Circuit series or Dan Watters Home Sick Pilots chronicle the ongoing history of the two meshing cultures.

A lot of these same films feature punk artists like Pet Semetary’s song of the same name by The Ramones. Stephen King himself was a noted Ramones fan, and they come up in discussion in the book proper. Connections like this tie both communities even further.

Home Sick Pilots by Dan Watters stars the titular fictional band, and meshes punk rock with genre fare like haunted houses and kaiju cinema

Both sub-cultures experienced a golden age of sorts in the broader counter-culture of the 1980s as this was the era of Reagan, Thatcher and the previously mentioned ‘video nasties’. Conservative governments were the norm in the west, and moral policing had reached a zeitgeist. Games like Dungeons & Dragons were treated as scapegoats for societal issues. Artists of all kinds were displaying their anti-authority messages.  

While a sillier take than Night of The Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead begins with poorly stored toxic waste and ends with the military calling in a nuclear warhead. Environmentalism and anti-war messages have long been punk staples.  

A film like Evil Dead 2 meanwhile displays its punk ethos not through it’s characters or its story but through its DIY approach. Sam Raimi made his original Evil Dead film for almost nothing with the help of family and friends. It also featured an absurd amount of fake blood and was subsequently banned in the UK for many years becoming one of the legendary Video Nasties. It’s this anti-establishment and DIY approach that has bonded many of these two genres creators and put them on a collision course with each other. 

Ultimately, punk and horror are like two parallels in art, sound and film – both reflecting the swirling chaos of modern life, by its fear or by its failures. Its creators and their art, whether figures like Sam Raimi or bands like The Misfits, becoming folk heroes for the destitute, the downtrodden, and the oppressed in society.

1 Steve Appleford, and 2018 October 31. “Glenn Danzig on Horror Favorites, ‘Crazy’ New Verotik Film, Rob Zombie's Advice.” Revolver, 18 Oct. 2019, https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/glenn-danzig-horror-favorites-crazy-new-verotik-film-rob-zombies-advice.

2 Guardian News and Media. (2018, March 19). The damned: How we made new rose. The Guardian. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/mar/19/how-we-made-the-damned-new-rose 

3 Tobias, Scott. “How D.C. Punk Influenced One of the Year's Most Anticipated Horror Movies.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 21 Apr. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/how-dc-punk-influenced-one-of-the-years-most-anticipated-horror-movies/2016/04/21/21718f88-063a-11e6-a12f-ea5aed7958dc_story.html.

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Barbarian Mini-Review

Barbarian was a lot better than I was expecting - competently made and full of interesting performances. Barbarian is a 2022 horror film directed by Zach Cregger in his feature debut, and if this is anything to go by, could be quite promising. 

Cregger’s film features a lot more dark humour than you would expect from the trailers - but I imagine this revelation was kept quiet to really make an impact upon release. 

The film is broken into two halves - the first following our leads Tess (Georgina Capmbell) and Keith (Bill Skarsgard) are double-booked at an airbnb-like service. Keith noting that the area seems to be not the safest suggests Tess share the place, and they can call the owners in the morning. 

The second portion of the film follow’s Justin Long’s AJ, the owner of said house (and where much of the dark comedy comes into play)

To say much more about the plot would ruin a lot of the film’s fun surprises but suffice to say the film has a fair amount to say.

Barbarian dabbles into themes of abuse, generational trauma, and how men can can value their reality/experience over anything else and how this can have consequences on a macro and micro level.

A later point of the film makes this plain when we see a flashback to a Raegan-era Detroit suburb and then jump forward to its current state. The film puts this hubris, ignorance and indifference on full display. 

The set design aids the plot in this as this scene almost has a dream-like aesthetic to it until reality comes crashing down on it.

The lighting is also dimly-lit (but not poorly shot) for much of the first half of the film, until we meet AJ and his blissfully ignorant perspective. 

Despite it’s heavy subject matter (and it should be noted despite these heavy themes, nothing is shown on screen - a character hears horrific audio though) the film does have levity when needed. The film chooses to almost, mock some of its characters, who it should be noted, deserve it - and gives the audience a bit of a breather episode until the next gruesome scene

If I were to levy some fault at the film, I might address that the film’s (intentional) misdirection may leave one feeling a sense of disorientation and disappointment as the threat in the film turns out to be a lot more domestic than one could go in expecting given the labyrinthine, and ancient-seeming horror hinted at in the trailer but for me anyway, it was only a brief betrayal and I felt the story came together in the end. 

Overall the film manages to find the right balance of tone, humour and horror, and nails the landing in the back half. Definitely one of the better horror films of the year.

9/10

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Everything Everywhere All At Once Mini-Review

I’ve never seen the Daniels (film-making duo, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schneinert) previous film, Swiss Army Man so I had no sense of the talent these guys had. 

Now I do.

This movie is a masterpiece. The pacing, editing, effects, stunt choreography, the acting - everything is meticulously crafted to work the way they want it to.

There are scenes in this film that, not unlike a multidimensional consciousness hijacking, jump between comedy, drama, suspense, action, and moments of tenderness. Sometimes, in the span of minutes or less. This film is so finely crafted, that I wanted to watch it again immediately afterward, to not only catch all the little details but to immerse myself in the emotional heft of this story once again.

Everything, Everywhere - without spoiling this movie’s numerous delightful surprises - follows Evelyn Wang, the proprietor of a laundromat that she runs with her husband, Waymond (Waymond played by Ke Huy Quan is a scene stealer by the way, and carries many of the film’s most heart-warming and heart-breaking moments). Evelyn treats her daughter poorly, not intentionally so, but as a vestigial carry-over of the treatment her father had placed on her. The day starts simple enough with a meeting with an IRS agent played with gusto by Jaime Lee Curtis, but quickly goes off in wild directions as soon as Waymond requests Evelyn do some odd tasks like switch shoes during the meeting and cross her eyes. Waymond for his part suddenly acts more assertive and claims to be from the ‘alpha’ universe. To say more about the plot however, would be to ruin a lot of excellent gags, and exciting turns.

Michele Yeoh gives a career-best performance here, along with Ke Huy Quan returning after many years away from acting, but truly the entire cast is giving it their all. Stephanie Hsu as their daughter Joy, may not be as flashy of a part as her on-screen parents but gives an equally involved performance for instance.

There’s effects here that rival much larger blockbusters (seriously how did they pull off that fractured universe shot?) and stunt-work that is likewise stellar. There’s a very creative fight involving an...erm, butt plug award.

Do yourself a favour, go see this one - possibly in a theatre if possible, it’s some of the finest and most original film-making you’ll see

10/10

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Halloween Kills Mini-Review

Halloween Kills, is the sequel to Blumhouse’s 2018 hit soft-reboot/sequel Halloween. Continuing from where the original 1978 classic left off, the film followed Michael Myers once again terrorizing the small town of Haddonsfield. That 2018 film worked by being an intimate, suspenseful well-shot thriller that went back-to-basics and focused on the thorough-line of Laurie’s trauma and intergenerational trauma in her family, to get into why this film didn’t work quite as well, I’ll have to include spoilers after the break

Like the previous film, Halloween Kills still has solid cinematography, steady camera-work, an incredible soundtrack (courtesy of John and Cody Carpenter) but fumbles in what it tries to add to the formula. Halloween Kills can be faulted for several things, but ambition was not one of them.

In an attempt to tell a grander story, the plot this time around focuses on the trauma of the entire community of Haddonsfield and what a town will do in the absence of real justice, and how mob justice turns us all into monsters. The problem isn’t the concept but in the execution - it’s handled far more bluntly than one might hope. The infamous hospital scene from the trailer often stumbles and elicits unintentional humour. This scene is a microcosm of plot threads that simply didn’t work throughout this film.

To the film’s credit, the initial introduction of this plotline with Tommy recruiting and organizing members of the community worked really well, and felt properly tense. The cracks in the plot only show when these same characters act ridiculously incompetent, as they’re only there to serve as filler and fodder for Michael. It takes you out of the scene, and reminds you that this is a movie, but not in a clever meta fashion, but a clumsy b-movie way. It is understandable that this is the middle film in a trilogy, but it feels to the audience like the characters only fail to lengthen the time, and expand it out to a third film - or essentially, for reasons beyond the plot’s conceit of evil dying.

 It had the option to be subversive, maybe kill Michael in this film, or at least send him running, instead we get a montage of character deaths in the last minute or so of the film with no real impact or weight to the film, leading once again to the conclusion that this film could’ve used another pass in the script-writing process.

Hopefully Ends will be better 

6/10

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Malignant is a bit of a doozy - destined to become a camp classic (which is telegraphed by the overdramatic opener with the Doctor character and the grainy VHS filter), it’s met with some wildly varying reception.

Malignant is a horror comedy played straight to a fault. This may go a length to explaining its split audience reception on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB. It expects you to follow the joke and never has a winking nod at the audience, there’s just wacky bullshit - and that’s kind of what it expects.

To get into that wacky bullshit I’m going to have to talk spoilers so we’ll do that now-

Among other things, there’s a goddamn hospital horror castle on a cliff (Why is it there? Doesn’t matter. This film runs on the ‘Rule of Cool’ trope), a parasitic demon twin with the ability to possess and interfere with lights and radio, and a house that like Dr Who’s TARDIS is geometrically bonkers

This is all for a purpose - that purpose clearly again, to homage campy B-movie Horror classics. James Wan isn’t shooting for Birdemic per se, but something closer to a high budget Phantasm sequel, or Killers Klowns From Outer Space, or even something like Ravenous or Bad Taste. It’s highly enjoyable shlock like you’d see on late night cable TV back in the day.

I’ve also heard some compare it to giallo (the Italian mystery horror subgenre), this comparison I can sort-of see with the mystery killer element, but I think this comparison falls a bit short (where’s my cast of mostly Italians and one Brit hmmm?) - Honestly, to me it feels like a wackier denser Friday the 13th sequel or one of the later Halloweens where shit goes off the rails and they try to see what sticks.

To be fair, I can see why some would absolutely hate this approach given the trailer going in - expecting something similar to Wan’s more recent works like The Conjuring or Insidious might leave you disappointed, but this is clearly a love letter to wonky slashers and falls closer to something like his previous Dead Silence film.

The cast is game, and clearly in on the humour of it all, Annabelle Wallis plays Madison Lake, our lead, and gives a ridiculously straight-man performance, even as the mad-cap plot ramps up, the detectives and sister character are both enjoyable, the only brief moment where the straight-laced approach slips is possibly when she commits on the absurdity of the mental asylum straight out of a horror movie - in the middle of a  horror movie - Lastly, Gabriel is memorable as new horror antagonist and I could honestly see him becoming a wacky horror icon similar to Freddy Krueger’s character around Nightmare on Elm Street 3, I especially loved the goofy gravely voice bit.

Slightly shifting gears from the cast, we have to talk about the stunt-work in this film because Marina Mazepa does incredible work here. In that incredible chase scene and prison / police station fight, she does all her stunt performances backwards as per the reveal that Gabriel is controlling Madison’s body/brain and putting her in a mental prison and he’s taking the “wheel” so to speak - that is attention to detail and craft right there.

The score is fuckin’ fantastic and has that adrenaline pumping synth work and really hits at the right points, it gives the film this mood straight out of a cheap video store rental in the best possible way -Joseph Bishara did great stuff here.

All in all, It won’t be a film for everyone, but those who will love it will looooooove it.

9/10

future cult classic for sure

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Midnight Mass Mini-Review

After Mike Flanagan’s Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor and Doctor Sleep - I had pretty high expectations which I’m glad to report were met once again. Seriously, this man is wildly consistent. Will this topple his best works? Not necessarily for everyone, and I did have minor quibbles with it.

Firstly though, the good -  the cast is fantastic again. Rahul Kohli returns from Bly Manor here as one of the central characters and once again blends perfectly into the Flana-verse (please please please keep using him, he was probably the most enjoyable thing out of a lot of enjoyable things in iZombie).  Hamish Linklater though is the standout as the preacher come to replace the Monseigneur, he’s given lots of dimensions and angles throughout the series and Linklater is capable of embodying each one. The sermon scenes legitimately felt like church service. He’s damn good and I hope he gets an Emmy nomination. 

The pacing here is fantastic, it’s a slow-burn but a purposeful one - hell - you won’t know what the show is really about until the ending of the third episode but the time before that is spent building the characters and setting. 

The plot is truly unique, without spoiling much, it takes familiar tropes and creatures and gives them very good context to how these might play out. I wish I could say more, but it is worth preserving the big reveals.

Now the quibbles, the monologues can tend to drag -but if you like Flanagan’s writing and whimsy it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker and some of them to me, felt very impactful (especially Kohli’s)

The other quibble is the spooks were a bit more spread out here and not as intense as say, Occulus or Hill House - again, not a deal breaker and Flanagan has always made more horror-drama than pure horror, he’s a character first kinda dude and if you enjoyed those, youll still enjoy this (and there’s still plenty of fake blood to spill here, trust me, especially in the later half)

Overall, it’s an 8/10

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The Suicide Squad (2021) Mini-Review

Absolutely fantastic film. Let’s get that out of the way. James Gunn’s new rebootquel of the Suicide Squad is objectively-speaking a do-over aesthetically, story-wise, and in tone for this franchise. Instead of Gunn-lite, we get the real deal and boy, does he deliver. 

The comedy actually nets hearty laughs (There’s an early scene between Peacemaker and Bloodsport attempting to one-up each other and the payoff is worth it), The returning cast, including Jai Courtney, Margot Robbie and Joel Kinnamon all bring their A-game. the drama carries the right amount of weight, and the film doesn’t feel strung-together in the editing room (Ayer Cut please DC). These characters feel real instead of one-note cutouts, *cough* Diablo *cough*. It’s just on another level entirely.

The score/soundtrack/design is par for James Gunn, stellar and fitting. It sets the right moods at the right times - the set pieces are ridiculous (by the way, Gunn’s use of Starro is great and tragic- and he’s not treated as a joke, thank goodness). The action is well-shot (a highlight being a mid-film Harley Quinn prison break spotted in the trailer), clear and colourful surprisingly. 

The plot here is pretty much, outright borrowed from the 2016 film, but here with far better execution. The characters actually have arcs, there’s some solid foreshadowing (basically everything in Milton’s van) and the payoff for those arcs feels amazing. There’s a scene towards the end, that admittedly, sort of espouse the thesis of the film directly, but it is such an emotional high I didn’t give a flying fuck - it felt great and the characters deserved that moment.

Daniella Melchior is probably the standout here, and man does Rick Flag 2.0 work where the first film’s writing failed him. I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone watching this film has a few new favourites (King Shark, Blood Sport and Ratcatcher-2 namely)

If we can expect more of this from his DC output, this is going to be must-see cinema

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The Empty Man Mini-Review

Not unlike, As Above So Below before it, this film has been criminally undervalued by mainstream audiences -to be fair though - this film asks  a lot of the audience.

It asks us to be patient - there is in fact a 20-minute prologue, a long mid-section, and an equally long if not longer third act - all of which feel like different films tonally, and that has a lot to do with the unexpected directions the plot curves in

It asks you to follow its meandering, labyrinth-like story trappings. This tale takes some wild turns - there are moments here you will just be utterly confused, terrified or shocked by. In the end, you may not be able to understand it all - and that’s okay

Finally, it asks you to bask in it - this cinematography, sound design, and visual imagery (seriously, keep an eye on all the bridges -metaphorical and literal) is really solid - the director worked on features for some of the DVDs of David Fincher’s films and it shows - this film exudes craft, and it is undeniably a great film just to sit and absorb everything around you

Now some of these may be turn-offs, true, but that’s why this film is destined to be a cult classic -it’s not for everyone-but for those who it is for, this film is a can’t miss

This is one of those films that rewards the viewer upon multiple viewings, where piece-by-piece things fall into place. It’ll also scare the pants off of you - not with jump scares (but there are some very effective ones) but with ideas, and tension that twists and tightens until you or it burst - namely the campgrounds scene springs to mind here. 

9.510 (only minor point of contention for me was that middle act did drag a little, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of that tonal shift to that particular brand of horror it was emulating at that point)

One more thing: James Badge Dale is fantastic, and turns in a great performance here and I wish and hope the fella gets more work

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Takashi Miike and the act of anti-mythmaking

After watching Blade of the Immortal, Miike’s 100th film, I noticed that as a director, he has an uncanny ability to subvert and deconstruct the tropes of the jidaigeki (period piece, basically) genre. In both 13 Assassins and Blade of the Immortal (and likely Hara-Kiri Death of a Samurai, but I have not seen it - but knowing the original -very likely) the samurai are depicted less as noble heroes, and more as brutish hitman, xenophobic, and bloodthirsty.

Miike shows this in Blade of the Immortal through the treatment of the antagonist, Atsuno, whose admonished for using a ‘foreign’ weapon - Rainy Dog and Ley Lines have similar things to say about immigrants to Japan. Similarity, in 13 Assassins, our leads are viewed fairly critically - as they seem gung-ho to brutalize and kill the shogunate’s heir.  Here, we’re meant to sympathize with the samurai, but importantly, the movie doesn’t tell the audience how to think either - it’s simply shown that they are itching for bloodshed. This revisionist depiction is not exactly original, hell, Kurosawa is exactly known for this - what makes Miike standout is how far he goes with his criticism. He doesn’t pull his punches when he wants to make a point. 

Another point of the story I liked was that when Rin arrived to recruit Manji -he initially refused to help - intentionally breaking the whole ‘defender of the weak’ trope you see in films like Zatoichi or even somewhat, in Seven Samurai (though that film at least shows the mistrust between the famers and the titular characters)

This may come down to preference, but I find having a slightly sanitized rendition, even while pointing out injustice, can be detrimental, as it’s essentially going soft on your target. Miike wants to take the punk-rock route and flip the bird at the samurai and rigid classism in general - and there’s always room for films that do that.

Even outside of the thematics we can find in his films about ‘outsider’ culture in Japan like in Blade of the Immortal or Rainy Dog - this film has some damn fine cinematography and editing. If you’re even remotely interested in Takashi Miike, give it a shot

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Possessor Uncut Mini-Review

Before we begin, I'd like to suggest not to watch this movie unless you have a strong stomach. The violence in this film, while purposeful, is often quite brutal and difficult to watch -even as a fan of sci-fi horror, this one was a rough but rewarding watch.

Now onto the review!

Possessor is Brandon Cronenberg (yes David Cronenberg's son) second feature and hews close to something like one of his dad's earlier body horror features (something like Scanners for instance). That said, Brandon manages to establish his own voice here, finding interesting new avenues to explore here by pushing on concepts like data-mining, corporate subterfuge and what it means to be human. The latter two themes have obviously been explored before in science fiction, Cronenberg stands out though by taking an especially bleak, dystopian take.

The most basic description of the plot is that it follows Tasya Vos an assassin working in the near future for some shadowy group with tech that allows one to briefly possess a person's consciousness- the risk being that if one is 'out of sync' too long they may become permanently trapped in their target's head.

Her current assignment sees her take over Colin Tate, a low level grunt at a data-mining business that happens to be dating the CO'S daughter. The movie tends to draw parallels between these characters (both are nearly detached from their lives and coasting both do incredibly dehumanizing work) and of course things quickly go awry. The only issue I found with it, was the pacing in the first half was a touch slow -but this could be argued to be for necessary build-up.

The cinematography is excellent -the city scapes often look alien or off-putting. The score, meanwhile, is mostly minimalist - it springs up in moments of tension but outside of that the film is mostly carried by the dialogue.

The cast is on top form. Especially Riseborough and Christopher Abbott as Tate. Sean Bean has a brief, if not effective turn here as well.

If this is the standard to expect from future works from Brandon Cronenberg, then he is definitely the heir apparent to his father's legacy.

9/10

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Lupin III : The First Mini-Review

Lupin III is an anime and manga franchise that doesn’t require a ton of introduction, partly because it’s lasted more than fifty years, and partly due to it’s relative simplicity. 

The series follows literary character Arsene Lupin’s grandson - Lupin the III in his many hijinks and heists, often accompanied by his occasional love interest, Fujiko Miine, and his cohorts, Ishikawa Goemon (with a sword that can cut pretty much anything, forged from meteorite) and Daisuke Jigen (with the dopest hat and revolver, the man ooooozes style)

This particular entry follows Lupin as he hunts after a diary to a treasure that the remnants of a Nazi science division are interested in - there’s a proper heir to this fortune that Lupin teams up with, and off the story goes in several different locales.

Lupin, as a franchise, is structurally not unlike that of Indiana Jones or Tintin (which animation-wise, this entry often reminded me of) -lots of globe-trotting and interesting locales, lot of great action set-pieces (a highlight is an escape from an airship) and a greater focus on characterization above the plot

This entry, in particular, in style is quite similar to Castle of Cagliostro (directed by famed anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli) - it felt familiar and yet the animation, score, and overall characterization held up despite a little been there, done that

To enjoy Lupin, often the key is enjoying the characters - and they nailed the characters here. Lupin is often aloof, ridiculous and courageous -- which fits his characterization to that of Castle of Cagliostro in particular. 

The score, as mentioned is the typical Lupin jazz numbers for the most part, which, as a fan of Cowboy Bebop is entirely satisfying.

I believe Monkey Punch himself would’ve appreciated this one, as it’s fairly grounded and yet, the scale of the picture is quite grandiose - which is fitting for a worldly gentleman like Lupin

9/10

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The Night Comes For Us Hidden Gem Mini Review

This one is an absolute banger.

This film is honestly the best stopgap for those waiting for any sort of The Raid 3 announcement (which may or may not ever come, Iko Uwais and Gareth Evans both seem pretty content right now)

Aside from lifting the entire cast and crew from The Raid films and starring Joe Taslim as a slightly more world-weary character than Iko’s Rama from the previously aforementioned Raid films, The Night Comes For Us brings along their incredible energy and talent. Let me tell you, do they have it in spades. Of course, again, there’s the jaw-dropping action scenes (an apartment siege is a particularly brutal highlight) this time almost bordering on splatter-horror.

The plot is nothing exceptional, it follows Joe Taslim’s elite Triad hitman as he decides he wants out - and follows the cascading effects of that decision. Adding a wrinkle to this is the fact that he saved a child he was supposed to kill (again, not the most original, but it’s the execution of said plot that matters)

The cinematography is somewhat unique for an action drama, feeling like a splatter horror from the 80s - hooks and saws hang menacingly in scenes and are used to great effect. The screen is often painted in deep reds, and usually with a copious amount of fake blood. The reddish tint, does feel very warm, which is appropriate given most scenes are elevated to controlled chaos - perhaps to mimic, Taslim’s assassin unraveling.

The cast again, does solid work with underwritten characters. Taslim, feels like he’s been at this work for years, and is truly beaten down - this also comes out in the action scenes, moments of brief humanity. Iko Uwais meanwhile, is cleverly subverting his heroic stature that he’s built up over several films already, by playing a former ally, and triad up-and-comer and when things between Taslim and Uwais’ character finally reaches its boiling point, the scene felt earned.

The soundtrack is workmanlike, and will do the trick. However, the audio cues are a delight. The crunching of bones, whizzing of saws, all have the proper weight that they should and stick out never feeling underwhelming or underutilized. The sound design here is spectacular.

What this film lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in entertainment - The Raid 2 may have become a compelling character study that was broken up by stunning action - The Night Comes For Us is stunning action and gore broken up by plot. If you’re okay with that, then this film is nearly the best of it’s kind.

9/10

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A Company Man (Hidden Gem Mini-Review)

A Company Man is an excellent South Korean action thriller from 2012 and if you know anything about international cinema in the past twenty years this should not really come as a surprise. Korean cinema is currently producing some of the most visionary, excellent work in almost any genre their creatives can get their hands-on. A more well-known and highly regarded action film from the country is The Man From Nowhere - I didn’t review that one here as its accolades and accomplishments have been talked about in many corners of the internet (essentially, picture John Wick but ahead by about four years).

Meanwhile, I haven’t heard much about this film which is a damn shame because while not re-inventing the wheel, it is a highly competent piece of cinema. The plot is a little by-the-numbers (stop me if you’ve heard this one: assassin gets cold feet, wants out, falls in love, fights to protect his new life/love) but the action and romance/comedy is so well-executed it hardly matters. The cast is game, especially our lead played by So Ji-sub who simply oozes cool. One of the highlights is when he walks back into the ‘office’ strapped up and looking to give his resignation so to speak.

Eight years on, if anything, the themes of the film are more relevant (pretty obvious given the title but it is very critical of corporate culture). The plot is a little thin-on-the-ground  but all the leads do a great job with what they’re given. Ji-sub notably does a lot with just a smile. The film doesn’t overstay or pad its runtime and sits at a serviceable 90 minutes.

The cinematography is competent, if workman like. The action composition is again, the standout here. A Company Man is a film about indulging in style and substance - giving enough characterization to our leads (this film has some solid social commentary to make about corporate culture which is sadly, still very relevant in 2020), while giving them enough room to kick a fair bit of ass and make it look fantastic (the aforementioned office gunfight being a real treat). A solid buy, A Company Man deserves at least a watch or two

8/10

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Evil (CBS All Access) Mini-Review

Let’s get this part out of the way and state that the show is in fact, a 9/10 or 10/10 easily. Could I nitpick regarding certain elements? Absolutely. For instance, the critique of social media as being an organiser of evil felt a little CBS-y for lack of a better word -but, given how the POTUS uses Twitter I can’t say the commentary is not observant.

That’s the trick of the show, it takes some typical CBS elements, and uses authenticity and earnestness to offset those issues in a similar way to how Elementary did. For one really standout example, they address the sexual tension of the leads very early on, whereas a lesser show might take multiple seasons to even push that narrative forward . Beyond that, this is a supernatural drama/horror/thriller, a genre that is definitely not in CBS wheelhouse. However, the Kings (show-runners of The Good Wife) do a stellar job here.

Their masterful balancing of the science vs. religion question is perpetually in-check. The writing staff do a wonderful job of not pushing too far in either direction and leaving much ambiguous, forcing the audience to draw their own conclusions to the questions this series poses. And boy, does it pose a lot of questions. Among others, if God exists, does he allow Evil? if he exists, why does he not doll out miracles equally to those who need it? If he doesn’t exist, why does humanity allow evil? To it’s credit, the show offers many suggestions, but no definite answers. This gives the show breathing space.

None of it would work without the cast’s game performances all around. Special mention has to go to Mike Coulter’s David Acosta, whose character is a priest-in-training who serves as such a calming presence publicly but battles with his doubts privately.

The show is also properly scary - especially, the first few ‘night terror’ sequences. The effects work here is economical, but well-done. “George” the Incubus is especially well-made and teeters on the right side of campy and horrifying.

The soundtrack is mostly strings, but this does serve to give it that grandiose dread, the series is going for. A highlight in particular are the dramatic cues (like when Leland arrives for his date with Kathryn's mother - the strings build exquisitely)

If the originals keep this level of quality, All Access may in fact be worth it. This one is a definite binge.