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The First Omen (2024)
Same story (80%) than Immaculate
It looks like hollywood greenlighted the script twice. Once with Immaculate and once with the First Omen, and set up the release date a couple weeks apart. Unfortunately for this one, I saw Immaculate first. Because of this, it took a good half hour before I start to get engaged in the movie.
The First Omen is technically competent and brings the 70's to life quite well. Acting is good across the board. However, I can't believe that Charle Dance is there just as a cameo and that the production dismissed him like that!
The tension build slowly and the feeling of unease and dread slowly creeps in, ramping up in the third act of the movie.
There are some kills in the movie that are done in a very Final Destination way, which is in line with the deaths you saw in The Omens. The camera like to linger on gruesome practical FX that are expertly executed. There is a scene, in the third act, that I never thought I would see on the big screen...
Overall, good movie that falls victime of Immaculate.
Ordinary Angels (2024)
Ritchson is more than Reacher
What an emotional roller coster ride this movie is! Hilary swan give her all, like usual, and demonstrated how good an actress she is. The girls are pretty solid too, warming up my old and cynical heart and bringing tears to my eyes, which do not happen often.
But I have to say, Alan Ritchson is the revelation of this movie. I'm a big fan of Reacher, where he delivered funny one liner while beating the crap out of henchmen for the entertainment of the crowd. Here, he offer a down to earth performance, all in restrain and nuances, making the audience feels the hopes and the crushing pains that his character experience throughout the movie.
A Dark Song (2016)
How to make 1h40 feel like 4h!
Two actors are trapped into an house for an eternity. This movie is beyond slow. It just keeps dragging on forever.
A grieving women want to communicate with her dead son and undergoes an excruciating process (both for her and the viewer) that will open some sort of portal between the world of the living and the world of the dead. And that is it. We watch the process going and on and on until we reach a climax that is not really a climax as there is practically no payoff.
However, it would not be fair to point out the qualities of this movie. The acting is very good. The cinematography is beautiful. The depiction of the several steps of the incantation process is gorgeous. The sound design provides a life of its own to the old house. This movie definitly don't look like a $50,000 budget movie!
Immaculate (2024)
Devil is in the details
This is the story of sister Cecilia, who moves to Italy to fulfill a life of devotion to the church. Once in the covent however, everything is not entirely what it seems to be and her faith is slowly put to the test. Is she the chosen one? And if yes, by who?
I will not say more than that as I do not want to spoil the movie.
The movie allow Sydney Sweeney to fully express the range of her acting talent. The Italian supporting cast feel real and add an authenticity layer to the movie.
Even if this movie has a lean run time of 90, it is a slow burn that can feel longer than that. However, the reward is high at the end. The suspense and the unease build up slowly until it reaches the climax where everything go wild.
The cinematography is beautiful but intimate, making you feel you're trapped in this remote location with the rest of the nuns.
The special effects are gory and well executed, and while providing efficient shock value, they never feel gratuitous.
Overall, it is a very well executed movie.
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Interesting concept that falls short on the third act
Late Night with the Devil is a movie directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes and stars David Dastnalchian as the host of Night Owls, a late night show living of the shadow of the grat Jimmy Carson.
In a last attempt to save the show, they invite the author of a demonic possession book and the allegebly possessed girl on which the book is based on. While live on tv, they attempt to summon the devil.
This movie re-invent the found footage gendre by giving the viewer an immersive experience on a 70's variety tv show. The story develop on the screen as a regular tv show broadcasted on tv, while backstage camera help build the tension and moving the plot forward.
David Dastnalchian and all the supporting cast are believable in their roles and appeared to had a blast doing this movie.
While the movie expertly delivered during the first and second act, it may loose a good portion of the audience with the third act, which broke from the tv show concept.
Is this movie an horror movie? Lightly yes. Is it scary? Not really. However, it is highly original and entertaining and I do recommend it!
Road House (2024)
Pure 90's fun!
This movie captured all the 90's silliness extravagenza that made that era of filmaking fun and entertaining!
No gender studies or political agenda here. This movie want to do one thing and one thing only: entertain!
Same story (almost) as the original.
Good popcorn movie with good action set piece that do not take itself too seriously.
Jake is good in his doorman role, as always.
Connor McGregor turned out to be a way better actor than the rest of washed up UFC fighter ending up in one of the 4 Expendables. The bad guy have some good lines.
Stupid minimum amount of characters requires. We should have the right to do one liner review!
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023)
I was not a fan until...
Just to give you an idea from where I came from to write this review: I'm a head banger. I'm an Iron Maiden, Death, Kreator fan. I like heavy rift, yealling and impressive guitar solos...
Yet, I had a very good time enjoying this concert film. It is technically speaking the best concert show I've ever watched. Very good sound editing and camera angle shot. The movie is very immersive and provided the viewer with a unique up close point of view that uou would not get other wise.
As for the music, Taylor Swift have a wide range of musical genre that can please a lot of different group. She is a top notch performer that never missed a beat or a note.
And most importantly, she know what her fans want and she give them exactly that.
Kateo (2022)
Total mayhem!
The movie feels like the director thought about adapting his best run at Modern Warfare into a movie. It seems they have a lot of cool looking action sequences in mind and decided to put it together on the big screen before having a scenario at hand.
Disposable bad guys that wait in line to get killed? Check.
Invisible voice that provide clue to get to the next stage? Check.
Car chase? Yes. Motorcycle chase? Yes. Motorcycle/bus/cas/airplane fight scene? Double check!
Indiana Jones suspended rope bridge hommage? Check.
Zombi? Yeah!
This Korean flick do not reinvent the wheel, but it spin it quite fast! The only thing it lack to be a great B movie its one liner. However, It is very entertaining if you like movies like Jason Bourne and Extraction. I had a good time!
Oh I forgot, don't worry about things like gravity, physics and skin burnt for driving motorcycle barefoot lol.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
Disturbing watch.
This movie is a faux documentary about an elusive serial killer that terrorized a small town over a long period of time. It is not an easy watch.
The day following the watch, I kept thinking about that movie. I did not enjoyed watching this movie. In fact, it made my skin crawl on several occasions, which I believe to be the goal of the director. The scene showcasing the abuses the captured victim endure are beyond repulsive. However, I would recommend to give it a watch.
As a faux documentary, I think the movie is enhanced by the bad acting it feature. The cops are notorious to give bad interviews and this is captured quite well in this movie. The serial killer don't have any acting skills, which make him more believable in the role. He just sounded insane and sadistic.
The gratuity of his acts and the torment inflicted on his victimes, as well as how randomly he selected them, is what make this movie horrible.
Fast X (2023)
Such a chore to sit through!
There a saying for this movie:"you can do a bad movie out of a good script, but you cannot do a good movie out of a bad script."
What about when there is no script at all, only a story board of different action sequence that could look cool?
I wish I could tell the story is utterly stupid, or made absolutely no sense, but that would imply there is story to begin with! I have absolutely no idea what is going on. It seems the movie just jump to one exotic location to another. How the most wanted people on earth made it to Rome to Rio de Janiro to Portugal to Antartica to L. A. without being arrested? Don't know! Don't care!
Vin Diesel is a terrible actor without any range of acting. The only facial expression he can display is a dumb face. He is probably wondering what the hell is going on, where the hell he is, and how could a studio could pour 300 million into his project!
The movie is packed with disposable low level vilains that pop out of nowhere, without any type of context, just to get their ass kicked by one or some of the protagonists.
I forgot to mention, the law of physics don't apply here. Same for the protagonists. None of them can really get hurt. So, there is really nothing at stake or worth carring in this "movie".
Jason Momoa is probably the only good thing this movie have. I wish that he is given the chance to play a vilain again in a good movie.
Vivarium (2019)
A strory streched too thin
A young couple met with a strange realtor and end up visiting a neighbourhood where all the houses and streets look exactly the same. From there, they ended up stranded in this peticular place and learn that they must raise a child to be release.
What could have been a great Twilight Zone epise resulted in a weak movie due too a story streched too thin in order to make the required 90 minutes to qualify as a movie.
Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots delivers a good performance, as always. However, it would be unfair to not mention the performance of Senan Jennings, who play the creepy boy the couple need to raise.
You People (2023)
Long and boring.
There is nothing worst, for a moviegoer, than a comedy that is not fun. It was an excruciating experience were I find myself staring at the clock constantly. I may have laugh once or twice, but that's about it.
There is absolutly zero chemestry between the two main characters. Hill is as bad and uncomvincing an actor can be. Eddie Murphy delivered one or two funny and uncomfortable scene as the hostile in law, but that's about it. David Duchovni could have been replaced by a green plant and nobody would have noticed. Such a waste!
I gave it 4 stars as it is far from being the worst movie I've ever seen, but between watcing that again or pick up a random Steven Seagal movie, it would be a hard choice.
I onde dager (2021)
Let the Trip take you on a wild ride!
I went into this movie expecting nothing, and god was I surprised!
The Trip follow a delusional couple at the worst of their marriage. He's a washed out director who never made it and now trapes into directing cheap soap opera. She's a failed actress who never get her big brake and she's stuck acting in cheap commercials. They don't make love anymore, cheat, are on the verge of bankruptcy and hate the hell out of each other.
The solution to their problems? Spending a weekend in their cabin in the wood and kill the other one for the insurance.
Of course, everything go wrong when they encounter three stupid escaped convicts.
The script is superb, mixing dark comedy, suspense and horror. The tempo is very good, resulting in a movie that keep its momentum until the end.
The characters are all interesting, all contributing to the plot without purely serving as plot devices.
The use of flashback is well done, resulting in some comical moment. And if you ever had any trouble with an electric car, you will find the scene with papa hilarious!
Do yourself a favor and watch it!
Ambulance (2022)
Ambulance... or Speed 3?
It look like director Michael Bay dusted off the script of Speed, replaced the bus with an ambulance and the bomb by a wounded cop! Et voila, we got a wild chase that last over two hours!
There is only three acts in this movie.
Act 1: They introduced the main characters. Two brothers that don't look like brother, to quote a forgettable character.
Act 2: The bank robbery. Without surprise, everything go wrong and most of the bank robber got killed, letting the two brothers alive for the third act.
Act 3: Cars pursuit involving an indestructible all terrain armoured ambulance that could give a run for its money to the batmobile! The chase lasted for 3/4 of the movie and Bay used that as a pretext to destroy everything in the city!
That's it.
If you don't care about logical explanation, law of physic and plot convenience and enjoy mass destruction, you'll have a good time!
Point to note, I think the camera crew was on cocaine when they shot the movie...
Terrifier 2 (2022)
Terrible 2
I liked the first Terrifier. I will not go as far as calling it a masterpiece, but it was definitely a breath of fresh air in an era ruled by CGI.
I went to see Terrifier 2 with great expectation and god was I disappointed. Don't get me wrong, main part of what made its predecessor great was there: brutal, insane, imaginative kills. All displayed on screen by very skilled XF and makeup team, especially when you consider the small budget of the movie.
Another positive point is that there is no doubt that all the money was spent on the kill scenes!
The problem of Terrifier 2 is the lack of story and suspense. I have no problem with bad acting, in fact, it probably enhance the entertainment factor. But the lack of story and suspense, that's another thing.
Story. It appears that Mr. Leone didn't have a script, only a series of gruesome scene that he was eager to shoot. I can't even say that the story was bad or stupid, because it would imply there was a script to improve!
Suspense/pacing. This is by far the biggest weakness of this movie. There is absolutely no suspense. Not even a jump scare. After 45 min, I find myself bored, which is a very bad sign for that type of movie. As for the pacing, it is atrocious. It just keep on dragging for 2h30 min. Same for the post-credit scene. But at least, the post credit scene was in par with the reste of the movie: completly incoherent and way to long.