The harder they fall
It was pretty, and the acting seemed good, but the story is kinda pointless and depressing, and the body count is higher than i like.
Lots of good riding. I wondered if the actors did that it if they had a lot of extras.
Update to the Luther movie. The second half was worse than the first and we didn’t finish watching it.
Finally saw Everything Everywhere All At Once. I have to disagree with most people- I hated it. To me, it answered the question “what would it be like if David Lynch was drunk and sleep deprived, then dropped some acid and filmed a game of Calvinball?” Too trippy for my taste. And those damn hot dog fingers- ewww.
I’m with you. I really disliked Everything Everywhere All At Once. It didn’t help that i watched it shortly after my son told us his spouse is leaving him.
According to the creators, it was trying to recreate the experience of living with ADHD. Which explains why I didn’t find it all that disorienting.
I think it’s a very good film, and original, and thematically rich, but I have some quibbles with it. The messaging is muddled at times and the ending has about forty climaxes. I’ve seen it twice and it bothered me just as much on rewatch.
One thing I have learned about myself through watching more films is that I am really sensitive to deviations in traditional story structure. It’s not impossible for me to like films that aren’t structurally predictable, but it’s a harder sell. I had the same trouble with Banshees of Inisherin, which I generally liked but cannot rave about. And Slaughterhouse Five. Etc.
Yesterday, I finally saw Triangle of Sadness, as it was available for free on Hulu. It was OK.
Braindead
Called Dead Alive in most American releases. I was able to see the full, uncut version, which I think I saw a few years ago as well. Peter Jackson directed this movie a mere 9 years before releasing Fellowship of the Ring.
Yes, so I think it is safe to say that this is probably the most violent movie of all time, though I am open to suggestions for another pick. The movie is actually quite fun and I think it is the best movie Jackson made before Lord of the Rings. It boggles the mind to think they would give Lord of the Rings to someone who made this movie, but they did.
I will admit…I felt a bit sick to my stomach a few times during this movie. It reaches levels of disgusting that were just pushing past fun to the “ugh, I hate this” level, but overall it is an impressive movie.
Anyone else seen this one?
A long time ago. If I recall, there’s a scene where someone falls off a cliff and cracks his open, with his brains (which looked like clam chowder) oozing out. I don’t know if it was that movie, but that scene strikes a chord as I was eating clam chowder as I was watching it.
Dead Alive may have more violence, but it’s almost all intended “humorously over-the-top.” The considerable violence in Ichi, the Killer is for the most part not humorous, making it more cruel, unusual and disturbing. Though I liked Dead Alive the one and only time I saw it (especially the stop-motion Sumatran Rat-Monkey - a sign for it can be seen in Jackson’s King Kong), I have no desire to see it again, ever. I still wish I had never seen Ichi…
IIRC a lot of the Ichi killings were rather gratuitous, too.
Finally watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I’d been avoiding it, because it seemed grim and had mixed reviews. But I think I loved it. And it ended up being more inspirational than I expected. It was both stylized and grittily realistic at once. Now, I think I’m ready for The Banshees of Inisherin.
For some reason the trailers put me off, and I probably wouldn’t have ended up seeing it if we didn’t watch all the nominees every year, but I really did end up liking it too.
I saw it this weekend. It’s about a bear that eats a lot of cocaine.
It’s essentially a slasher flick but instead of Jason Voorheis, it’s a coked up bear. A lot of gratuitous violence, funny deaths, drug use, severed body parts and quips.
It was a fun enough watch.
Thanks, you saved me the effort.
I’ve seen Ichi and even more intense to me was his episode of “Masters of Horror” called Imprint, which was so intense, Showtime did not air it. It’s free to stream on Hoopla. Insane.
Martyrs, a French horror movie, is also insane with its brutality.
Rambo 4 and Braindead are probably the bloodiest, though.
Triangle (2009)
You need to be careful because there are many movies either called Triangle or something very close. The one I’m recommending stars Melissa George.
This is a really great movie and it streams free on Tubi and many other free services, like Freevee and Plex. A group of people are taking a vacation on a small ship(yacht?) and they hit a wild storm. They are lucky enough to find a larger ship that they are able to board before theirs goes down.
When they get on board, the larger yacht/ship is entirely empty.
From there, it goes in directions that might surprise you. I recommend going in blind other than what I’ve just told you. A surprising movie and an underseen one.
That’s from Bad Taste, another early low-budget Peter Jackson gorefest.
Luther: The Fallen Sun. We were kind of surprised at the Silence of the Lamb with a side of Superman’s ice fortress thrown in for good measure vibe it had going but I really enjoyed it.
I wholeheartedly second this movie.
Burn (2019, Prime) Solid B. It was ok, much better than it’s horrendous critic and fan rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It reminded me of The boardgame The Bloody Inn, the players kill for points but then have to start killing just not to get caught. The horror and hijinks is a strange combination. Plenty of strange parts in this and I am not sure not all of it worked but it was entertaining and different. So as a shoot-from-the-hip, an ‘I don’t know anything about it, let’s just try it we can turn it off it it sucks.’ it was a success.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019, Hulu) A PG-13 flick for the kids and I. B+, It was alright. Lotta generic YA tropes, but the action and the world kept it moving. Setup from the beginning to have a sequel or even a series, if it or they ever come out I’ll be in the seats.
Small Apartments (2013, Prime) Strange but decent, A-. Odd cast of characters in a movie that begins at maximum weirdness but as the film goes on and the characters gain depth their situation makes more sense and it’s not as weird as it seems. That is a neat cinematic trick that is more difficult to pull off then it looks. For that alone I can forgive it’s weak points, it was fun to watch.
Sebastian Maniscalco: Is It Me? (2023, Netflix) Yeah, it’s you. Show sucked, lets get the fuck outta heeere, D-. My wife and I love Sebastian, love his shows, we have seen his previous 3 specials more than once. This one had 5 minutes of humor in the beginning and we were both laughing, then he started insulting his wife and it was gettin’ a little strange and then after that it was a hour or more of grumpy old man bitching. He was not on that night, he needs to work on his material, this shouldn’t have been released. If you like him and have also seen his previous 3 specials, reread all of the above now with his voice and delivery.
Faraway on Netflix. It’s a German film but most of it is in English because that’s the common language between the German and Croatian leads, both of whom turn in excellent performances. Quite charming and funny.
