Flash Reviews

Furious 7 - 8/10

So, I went to the theater earlier today and went to see this film. I've liked this franchise from the start andI truly felt that this film was a fitting end. Getting to see Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, and Jason Statham all in one film is always nice. The film over all had a lot of over-the-top stunts, which were not too unrealistic. Everything from the previous films is all stitched together very well, including when Dom goes to Tokyo to meet the new DK. They even introduced a female hacker, so +1 for that. I don't really want to spoil too much for anyone, so I'll keep specifics to myself. At end of the film was a very good tribute to Paul Walker's contribution to the films, and ended the film very well. While I'm sure they could make another Fast and Furious film, I'm more than sure the main plot is finished, and it'd be a side story or continuation of Tokyo Drift. Truthfully speaking though, while I enjoyed the ride, I's like this to be the finish line.

 

Chappie - 7/10

It was an Ok movie, I only scored it so high because I'm a big fan of Die Antwoord. Some would say bad acting but that's just how they are.

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron - 5/5
Honestly, I don't think there's much to say, other than it's one of those rare sequels that is actual magnificent - rivals the first. They brought a bit of drama to the franchise and some new faces, both were well-received. Acting and action was AMAZING as always. I LOVE IT! To me - I think Natasha (Black Widow) rose above the team, and took this one.
Raymond Reddington - I mean James Spader killed it as Ultron.

Spoiler

The biggest twist for me was Hawkeye and his hidden family. Who would've thought?!

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Another Earth - 4/5
This was a brilliant movie.

 

It Follows - 8/10
I can understand why some didn't like this movie but I personally think it was a fresh original concept and had an almost 80's horror movie vibe that you don't see much of anymore. I did not like the ending though. I cant say much more without spoiling it.

 

Would you rather - 8/10

It was a pretty decent horror movie. Just like the game would you rather but of course grim,violent and somewhat entertaining for me at least.

 

Jurassic World - 4.5/5

It's definitely the best sequel to the original. It's entertaining and packed with great acting and some humor.

Focus - 3.5/5
This was good from Will Smith, but I think they focused - no pun intended - too much on the romance.

Just Friends - 3/5
The friend zone - so stupid

Armour of God - 4/5
I miss this side of Jackie. Time really changes all.

Insurgent - 2.5/5
Meh!
Just what the hell happened?! I loved the first, but this....

Armour of God II: Operation Condor - 4/5
Good old Jackie!

Creed - 5/5
I absolutely love this!
The story, acting, fighting was amazing!

The Revenant - 5/5
This has great acting and amazing camera work! I felt like I was in there the entire time.

 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: 4.5/5
Unlike everyone else, I actually loved this. Lex is the only character that I didn't really like in the beginning, but he grew on me. It was written that he's not like the Lex Luthor we know, because he really isn't that Lex as yet seeing he has hair.
Batman was amazing!
Superman with the same performance as the prequel.
Really great dark theme.

 

Captain America: Civil War - 5/5
As Spider-Man said, "you got a metal arm... awesome!"

 

Look Who's Back 5/5

Loved it so much. As close to perfect as a movie of it's kind could get.

 

Captain America: Civil War

8/10 - Very good story telling. A bit dragged out and a wasted cameo here and there. But, overall a good movie.

 

The Jungle Book (2016) - 4.5./5
This was amazing!

Me Before You - 3.5/5
I liked this. It was great seeing Emilia in a different role.
Will loves the wild; he's wild. He's that way because once he sets his mind to something I just didn't feel the LOVE between them. How she changed because of him. I didn't like the song choices, because they seemed too modern. I liked it nonetheless.

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13 Hours - 4.5/5
Pretty one-sided storytelling, but I loved it. Loved it! "Explosive Michael Bay" at it again!

In the Deep - 3.5/5
I finally found a shark film that I like after years of waiting.

 

Detention (2011) - 7/10

From the director of that edgy Power Rangers fan film and that Fast and Furious parody that made as much sense as the film it's mocking (Torque), Joseph Kahn brought us a slasher comedy filled with lots of meta references to '90s pop culture (along with a few references to the 2000s). This is a rather niched film that the '90s kids (born between '85 and '89) would get a bigger kick out of. I personally didn't catch some of the references because I'm not American, but I like the throwback to the '90s slasher movies, especially the blatant homage to the OG slasher satire, Scream. So meta indeed, a satire parodying a satire.

 

This Is The End - 8/10
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James Franco: We're actors! We bring joy to people's lives!
Jay Baruchel: Yeah but we don't do it for free. We get paid handsomely much higher than the average professional.

I am personally not a fan of stoner comedies, or most of the stuff Seth Rogen was in, so to see him and other celebrities take the piss outta themselves was, not just amusing or entertaining, but admirable.

What I am a fan of is meta-humor, and there's a lot of those in here, the self-aware, self-derogatory jokes featuring celebrities making fun of celebrities. For the more savvy among you who follow celebrity news, you might pick up some of the in-jokes here, like how Michael Cera's often described as being "too nice". He would always be this down-to-earth cheerful guy on movie sets, and there were parodies back then where he acted like an asshole, the total opposite of what he's like. That running gag is featured here in the movie, among other 'memes' or rumors these celebrity would be involved with. Jonah Hill mocked for being the odd man out, the "academy award winning actor" among these stoner comedians was an especially funny gag.

Aside from the humor, there's actually a sort of cathartic feeling that comes with showing how imperfect celebrities might be (even if they're just acting). The drama in the movie emphasized that aspect, showing how they're just people like us goofing around, which was an enlightening side of celebritydom not often explored.

The movie, however, did drag a bit too long with its gags at times, which is the same flaw that's seen in, appropriately enough, stoner comedies. When the wit has died down, the comedians' attempts to keep the laughter going can sometimes feel awkward and stale, like a good joke ruined by its retelling. It doesn't help that the background story to this movie - the apocalypse itself - fills up a significant amount of screentime in the form of filler content. The ending that serves to wrap up said apocalypse plotline was also in danger of creating a lackluster and predictable conclusion for the movie, but I have to say, having Backstreet Boys coming back was not the most terrible way of ending a movie.

Overall, I had a good time, and ironically enough, despite this being a stoner comedy, if this is a Jeremy Jahns review, he would probably give this movie a rating of "It's a good time - no alcohol required."

On a sidenote: There was a fan-theory back then that this was the spiritual sequel to "The Cabin in the Woods", and if you've seen that movie, that theory does make some sense in certain aspects. It's also my official headcanon.

 

Shadow of the Vampire - 7/10

This is one of those films where I don't really have anything interesting to say, or at least not a lot. It's a witty satire of Nosferatu's movie production mixed with a horror element of vampirism. It's a pretty strange movie, I won't lie. It skips between taking itself seriously and straight up farcical nonsense. That ending, especially, felt kinda ambiguous, like as if this whole story was a farce, and the vampire wasn't even real.

Maybe I'm just tripping.

 

Das Experiment - 8/10
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Films that explore the dark side of human nature are always disturbing. Their villains are not some generic monsters of fantasy, but the you and me we see in the mirror everyday. With a story that's inspired by true events (the important elements of it remaining unchanged), it makes for a far more chilling story.

The Experiment is based on Mario Giordano's novel, Black Box, which was further based on Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment of 1971. The film examines a very traditional question often asked when dealing with human nature - what happens when you give power to people without? While contained within a microcosm of society, the people with power are gradually reduced to their Alpha Male primal selves.

If the characters from Lord of the Flies are rewritten into adults, this would be that movie. I was glued to the edge of my seat as the story escalates into a bigger train-wreck with each day that passed in the simulated prison. What's eerie and what separates this movie from something fantastical like Lord of the Flies is that similar institutions like this simulated prison do exist in real life, albeit under more controlled condition. The situation suggested by the movie, the abuse of power, is not something unimaginable in real life, and it happens very often even today. To see it in such extremity and such realism at the same time would, naturally, leave the audiences incredibly uncomfortable.

On a personal note, such abuse of power is one reason why I don't trust the military. Having enlisted myself in conscription before (by law), I have suffered the abuse and I can tell you it can be terrifying to be subjected under power.

Being an adaptation of a fictionalized version of true events, there are of course some contrivances that dampen the film's realism. For example, the love interest, whose role in the story symbolizes destiny and fate, or as the protagonist puts it, how "everything happens for a reason". It's kinda cheesy, particularly with the addition of the romantic ending, but it doesn't take much away from the suspense of the movie.

Another minor imperfection is the edgy factor. Without even researching the original Stanford experiment, I could tell which of the events in the movie are made up. There is rape in this movie, and not the male-on-male kind. For a movie that plays something as edgy as Linkin Park at the beginning and the end, this is actually kinda tasteless, as it feels like the filmmakers were going for a cheap shock factor rather than adding anything meaningful.

In the end, however, the movie serves as a fantastic thriller for those looking to be disturbed.

 

Pan's Labyrinth is directed by Guillermo del Toro, who also helped produce a similar movie exploring the guilelessness of a child, The Orphanage, which was released a year after this film. Much like The Orphanage, Pan's Labyrinth isn't merely a movie, but an entire world come alive - or at least that's what its immersive atmosphere would have you believe. From its music to its set design to its realistic characters, the movie is able to draw you in in a very magical way, making you forget you're watching a movie.

As it should be. The enchanting nature of the movie perfectly represents the labyrinth that calls to Ofelia, as well as the seductive nature of fairy tales. Having to deal with an abusive step-father and an ailing mother, Ofelia seeks escapism from the harsh reality, dealing with the circumstances she has no control over the only way she can - by retreating into a labyrinth of her own imagination. Much like your standard fairy tale, Ofelia's own little world has its own princess, a kingdom, and magical creatures. But something is amiss. It's not your Disneyfied version of fairy tale with sunshine and rainbows. If anything, Ofelia's fairy tale land resembles the grim reality around her very much - dark and gloomy, filled with morbid imagery.

Depending on your interpretation, this is either a bittersweet movie, or an incredibly depressing one. For me, I see the labyrinth as Ofelia's own interpretation of how her world works. You have the rather oppressive faun that resembles her step-father, the Cronus symbolism that represents humanity's obsession with worldly gains (namely the Fascist soldiers here trying to conquer the land), and also Ofelia's exploration with her own sexuality (as represented by the tree in the shape of a vagina).

Given that it's her own interpretation, this makes the ending that much more depressing. And yet, like The Orphanage, this ugliness is also very beautiful at the same time.

I've been putting off watching this movie for a long time now because I never had the time for it, but I'm thankful that I finally get to see del Toro's masterpiece yesterday.

9/10

 

Part 1 of 4 "Screamathon" Review
SCREAM (1996)

"It's all one great, big movie. Only you can't pick your genre."

"There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie.
1. You can never have sex. Sex equals death.
2. You can never drink or do drugs. The sin factor. It's a sin. It's an extension of number one.
3. Never, ever, ever under any circumstances, say "I'll be right back," 'cause you won't be back."

I have seen Scream at least more than five times now, and although many people have watched their favorite movies more than that, this is a big number for me because I usually don't enjoy rewatching movies. I like to seek new content. But Scream has a very special place for me. It's one of the earliest movies that introduced me to the horror genre when I was a kid - and boy, did I have a good time.

Directed by Wes Craven, the master of horror, and written by Kevin Williamson, the heart and soul of the first two movies and the reboot, Scream is filled with tons of references and in-jokes for horror movie fans, some of which I didn't even notice during my previous rewatches. Prom Night, Terror Train, Carrie, The Fog, Basic Instinct, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Silence of the Lamb, I Spit On Your Grave, and even the obscure The Town That Dreaded Sundown were mentioned and joked about in this movie, so there's plenty of little treasures to be discovered. I had a lot of fun just laughing to myself whenever a reference comes up and I was like, "Aha, I get that joke," thinking I was so clever. It's silly, but it's what makes the film so fun to watch for a horror fan like me.

Aside from the humor, however, there's also a well-written drama centered on the main heroine, Sidney Prescott. Movie fans of older generation grew up with Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley, and while I had the fortune of encountering those badass ladies as well, I felt just a bit of pride growing up with the horror heroine of my generation, Sidney herself. Neve Campbell gave a great performance throughout the entire Scream series, even in the latest movie reboot. I feel like the thing that's special about Sidney was that, unlike other horror movie franchises, the Scream series was centered entirely around her character journey from a wounded victim to a hardened survivor by the third film. I especially love her in the second film, but that's for another review.

I love that it's not all just goofing around in this first film, and there's an actual tragedy written in the main heroine. The curse of her mother's brutal murder haunts her through the story as a series of similar murders begin to take place once again in the quiet town of Woodsboro. The cool thing about Sidney's character arc is that there isn't a lot of expository dialogue going on that explains what she's feeling like a cheesy b-horror movie might do; a lot of that relies on the audience's ability to connect with what's happening in her life and her mother's tragedy. And of course, thanks to Neve Campbell's subtle but succinct performance, her character's pain and suffering are easily conveyed through her body language.

Another star performance in this movie belongs to Jamie Kennedy, who plays Randy Meeks the movie trivia nerd in the film. Randy is the one that carries most of the film's energy as he strings along the savvy audiences that understand the jokes. He's the relatable movie fan that we could see ourselves in, making him easily a crucial part of the movie to form a connection with the audience. There were a good number of classic memorable quotes from him that are worth the ticket price alone, such as "This is standard horror movie stuff. "Prom Night" revisited, man," and of course, who could forget, "There's a formula to it. A very, simple, formula! EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT!"

And how true it is. Throughout the film, there are teases of whom the actual killer is, from Sidney's father to Dewey the deputy to even Randy himself. The film keeps you guessing with red herrings right from the very beginning of the movie, accompanied by an equally misleading score that serves to thrill and bewilder.

Speaking of the suspenseful score by Marco Beltrami, I like the music a lot in this movie as it not only brings out the presence of the dangerous killer running about, but there's also a softer and more tragic tone to the soundtrack reflecting the broken life of Sidney Prescott and the heavy burdens she must carry. A few noteworthy tracks in the movie include "Trouble in Woodsboro" and "Sidney's Lament", both of which reflect the two aforementioned points. One of them is an iconic theme song that sets in the edgy mood of the story (and I mean that in a good way this time) while the other serves to remind the audience that this is more than just a horror story, but also a tragedy.


When we move on to the second movie tomorrow, Sidney will face a greater trial as she finally matures into a survivor fighting against the horrors. Till then, I'm gonna give my rewatch of the first Scream a 9/10.

 

Part 2 of 4 "Screamathon" Review
SCREAM 2 (1997)


"The battle for the soul is fought in the forum of art. You're a fighter, Sid."

"Rules of the sequel:
1. The body count is always bigger.
2. The death scenes are always much more elaborate - more blood, more gore. Carnage candy. Your core audience just expects it.
3. If you want your sequel to become a franchise, never ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead."

The opening kill for Scream 2 seems to have established a tradition in the series that all opening kills for follow-up Scream movies must be dramatic and unpredictable so as to to grab the audience's attention. Unfortunately, this unrealistic expectation, among other attributing factors, led to the series' inevitable decline in quality.

That said, the opening kill of Scream 2 is my favorite opening in the series. The first Scream played with your expectations that a certain famous celebrity wouldn't be killed in the first five minutes of the movie since she was America's sweetheart at the time. The second Scream, on the other hand, reflected a gritty realism regarding the desensitization of horror fans, and how the audience in the movie was unable to differentiate fiction from reality. Considering that murders at the theater during opening night isn't uncommon today, this scene can be considered, in retrospect, very brutal when viewed today. I like how the scene almost criticizes the horror movie fans that cheer when a victim dies in the movie even though those kills were written to evoke horror, not pleasure. It's a very smart way of opening a horror movie and it gave us a fresh perspective of the horror genre and its viewership.

The rest of the movie brought back just about everything I liked about the first movie, so it was very easy for me to like this sequel when I first saw it. It's got the same wit, the drama, the twists, and the character development. Like the first one, there were a number of 'aha' meta-moments here where sequels are talked about and, in one particular scene, criticized. The film class scene was one of my most memorable moments in the movie because the entire scene was just so witty with its dialogue. After the movie nerd Randy Meeks pointed out that all sequels suck, the film students went wild, calling out on such classic sequels like Aliens and Terminator 2.

Cici Cooper: "Yeah, well, there's no accounting for taste."
Randy Meeks: "Thank you. Ridley Scott rules."

It's also the first time that I learned what a trilogy really means.

Mickey Altieri: "Empire Strikes Back."
Randy Meeks: "Not a sequel. Part of a trilogy. Completely planned."

Although I enjoyed what humor Scream 2 had to offer, it has less of that this time round and settled for a more serious tone - which worked terrifically in its favor. Like any good sequel, there's a stronger focus on developing the characters that were established in the first movie, particularly both Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers. Both of them are great candidates for the most well-written character in the movie. Sidney's now a survivor struggling with PTSD, while Gale the sexy and sharp-tongued she-devil reveals her struggle between being professional as a reporter and being emotional as a fellow survivor.

The thing with Gale is that she's a pragmatic bitch you can't really hate. Yes, she's ruthless, but only to get the job done. And to be fair, it was fun to watch the catfight between Gale and Sidney - particularly when Sidney gets to unleash her classic right hook once more on Gale's pretty face. The romance between Gale and Dewey is not only sweet to watch, but also serves as great character growth for Gale as she struggles to be 'professional' without pissing Dewey off too much.

And as for Sid, she gets the meat of the writing as she undergoes her maturity from a survivor into a fighter. The scene with Sidney talking to her drama class instructor was easily my favorite scene in the movie. It perfectly captures Sidney's inner pain and her neverending battle with her demons, both external and internal. I particularly liked the analogy her instructor had used to describe why Sidney was ideal for the role he had for her. She was compared to Cassandra of Troy, the oracle nobody believed. Much like Cassandra, Sidney knows of the horrors awaiting her as she helplessly watches everyone dying around her. "She saw it all coming; the wars, the murders, the madness. She knew she was cursed. It was her fate and she embraced it." That scene symbolizes Sidney's strength as a very realistic trauma survivor, one that many similar victims could connect with.

By the end of the movie, the story comes full circle, with Sidney surviving again and coming out as a much stronger person, no longer hiding in a broken shell. This sequel was less about spoofing the slasher genre than the first one because its focus was on Sidney's personal character journey, which is why I almost prefer this one over the first movie. Almost.

Although there were many things I like about Scream 2, it also has some very noticeable flaws that bogged it down. The twists revolving round the whodunnit are just as fresh as ever, with even Sidney's new boyfriend coming under suspicion for the second time in the series. However, that one kill after the opening one was a little stale and merely served to move the plot forward while providing no interesting twist to the movie. The cops are once again useless in a horror movie. Even though these are supposed to be "special agents", they acted like complete goofballs, foreshadowing the nonsensical tone of the next sequel, Scream 3. Last but not least, the revelation behind the accomplice of the killer was weak. It didn't feel as chilling as a revelation as the first one. It was anticlimactic and, like the cops, kinda goofy too. I don't really have a problem with the main killer though, since it serves well in bringing the story to its aforementioned "full circle".

All that said and done, I still treasure this sequel very much due to its excellent character writing. It's a shame that the movie series went down the drain from this point - one part due to Kevin Williamson's departure in the next film, and another part because reboots are often shitty cash-ins made out of compulsion rather than actual inspiration.

8/10

 

Part 3 of 4 "Screamathon" Review
SCREAM 3

Sidney: "Hey detective, what's your favorite scary movie?"
Detective Kincaid: "My life."
Sidney: "Mine too."

"Horror Trilogy Rules:
1. You've got a killer who's gonna be superhuman. Stabbing him won't work. Shooting him won't work. Basically, in the third one, you've gotta cryogenically freeze his head, decapitate him, or blow him up.
2. Anyone, including the main character, can die. This means you, Sid. I'm sorry, it's the final chapter. It can be fucking Reservoir Dogs by the time this thing is through.
3. The past will come back to bite you in the ass. Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest. Any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you."

Scream 3 was the self-proclaimed "final act" of the story that went on to get a reboot later anyway. Much like a number of other third installments that had long wrapped up the story in the second movie, Scream 3 quickly fell into self-parody less than 15 minutes into the movie. It has a more comedic tone, and features a lot of celebrity cameos, ranging from Jay & Silent Bob, Carrie Fisher playing a parody of herself, and even Lance Henriksen, who has quite a significant role in the story. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson was no longer involved with the project, and you could immediately tell that this felt like a pale imitation of the first two movies. The new writer, Ehren Kruger who's writing for his third time since "Killers in the House" and "Arlington Road", tried to copy those little witty subversion that existed in the killer's murders during the first two films, but ended up falling into genre cliche territory in the stupidest ways possible. The eventual tone we arrived at was goofy and nonsensical, with the script riddled with plot-holes and logic lapses.

That being said, Neve Campbell was still the best thing that happened to this series, and she carried this film all the way through with her stellar performance. Despite the humdrum of the third-rate storyline forcing the movie into b-horror territory, Neve's character was the one saving grace that stood the test of time, proving that Sidney was too well-written to be ruined by even another writer. As Sidney recovers from the past two movies, she's taken greater precautions via the use of home security, the adoption of an alias, and moving into the middle of nowhere to hide herself away from the terrors that still haunt her in her nightmares. The PTSD still occurs, she has anxiety attacks as seen with her uncontrollable shivering hands, and even though she's even tougher than before ("It's time for you to scream, asshole!"), she's still a very real person in the story with very real symptoms of trauma attacks.

The ending twist of the movie is as ridiculous as the side characters of the movie that weren't recurring roles, not to mention saturating with melodrama. On the other hand, the twist does provide Sidney's character with a good closure, particularly the stuff dealing with her mother. They said that "the greater the hero, the greater the villain must be." In this case, it's the reverse, as Sidney finally breaks free from her curse and comes to terms with her trauma and her demons. In an ironic twist, the villain trying to break her ends up molding her into a stronger survivor. At the final scene, Sidney abandons her security features as she leaves an open door to her life, now freed.

Scream 3 is an incredibly flawed attempt at closing the story, but in light of what it attempted to do - to give Sidney the closure she deserves after so much suffering - I have a soft spot for this threequel. It at least has a more justified reason to exist than the next one coming up tomorrow.

6/10