Category Archives: Long Reviews (>400 Words)

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Houses October Built 2 (2017) Movie Review

Should I start off conversation on The Houses October Built 2 by addressing the logical miscalculations of its very first scene, the cold open which picks up where the first film left off. Last we saw of Brandy (Brandy Schaefer) she was buried alive in a shallow grave, screaming for her life. Now, we find her back in the trunk were she was before being buried in a coffin, being dropped off on the side of the road by the Blue Skeleton haunt crew.

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So, did she fall unconscious again before the masked men took her out of the coffin? Are they magicians? Or was their an awkward moment where they unburied her and dragged her screaming back to the trunk? That would be a bit anti-climactic.

The Houses October Built 2 follows the same formula as the first film, in which the crew of haunted house thrill-seekers travel to Continue reading The Houses October Built 2 (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Halloween Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Sombre (1998) Movie Review

This review of Philippe Grandrieux’s Sombre is part of the New French Extremity Retrospective series.

Sombre is a film that is best described as “rattled.”

The film returns most often to two locations: the home where Jean (Marc Barbe) brings women to kill them and the car that he takes to either dump their bodies or watch the Tour de France.

In both locations the camera is often bouncing around on tight shots of the action. The camera is so tight and frantically moving, in fact, that it is often impossible to discern exactly what act is being carried out and to whom.

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This process of understanding what is happening is not helped by scenes that appear to be shot with natural light at night (at the very least, there is the absence of a three-point lighting system), making these scenes hard to Continue reading Sombre (1998) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Houses October Built (2014) Movie Review

The found footage horror film The Houses October Built begins with documentary archival footage and inter-titles that describe how dangerous haunted house attractions can be.

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This intro is appropriate, given that the film is a restructuring of a 2011 documentary film by the same filmmakers. It is seemingly impossible to find a copy of this documentary, so one can only assume that Continue reading The Houses October Built (2014) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Battle of the Sexes (2017) Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes, in name and historical story, appears to be a feminist film, and in a sense it is. Mostly, though, it is merely a safe movie about a feminist figure.

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The crux of the film is the tennis match between self-proclaimed chauvinist Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) and #1 women’s tennis player Billie Jean King (Emma Stone), but the action begins with Continue reading Battle of the Sexes (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

American Made (2017) Movie Review

One thing that American Made is not is moral. Whether it is political, however, is a different question entirely.

The Doug Liman-directed, Gary Spinelli-penned film tells the pseudo-real life story of pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), who is tapped by the CIA and, eventually, the Pablo Escobar drug cartel, to run product between the U.S. and Nicaragua in the early 1980s.

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The film weaves the conspiratorial story of excess and escalating stakes through Cruise’s charming persona, which feels Continue reading American Made (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Brad’s Status (2017) Movie Review

All of Brad’s (Ben Stiller) friends from college went on to do great things. Craig (Michael Sheen) has created a television career out of his time working in the White House. Billy (Jemaine Clement) sold his company and retired by 40. Jason (Luke Wilson) manages a hedge fund. Nick (Mike White, who also directs) is living it up the Los Angeles way as a Hollywood director. Brad, well…he runs a non-profit.

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Now that Brad’s son Troy (Austin Abrams) is looking forward to college, Brad is faced with Continue reading Brad’s Status (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

I Stand Alone (1998) Movie Review

This review of Gaspar Noe’s I Stand Alone is part of the New French Extremity Retrospective series.

Rage is a palpable force in I Stand Alone, the first feature film from Gaspar Noe. It is a rage against French society. Philippe Nahon’s The Butcher displaces this rage, his inner monologue tearing apart anyone in his path. What results is a protagonist that comes off as sexist, racist, homophobic, and overall nihilistic.

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But The Butcher is also a sad man. All he wants is to Continue reading I Stand Alone (1998) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Indie Films, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Romance (1999) Movie Review

This review of Catherine Breillat’s Romance is part of the New French Extremity Retrospective series.

“You don’t deserve my faithfulness”

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The complicated sexuality of Romance is problematic. Not entirely so, as the film explores a side of sexuality that is often left unexplored. But the screenplay reduces sexual philosophy to a binary matter. Even when the shoe is on the opposite foot, entering the perspective of Continue reading Romance (1999) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Movie Review

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is, like its predecessor Kingsman: The Secret Service, a violence-obsessed take on the James Bond formula. In the same Bond vein, the plot revolves around a megalomaniac’s scheme to decimate the world population and the spies who follow the convoluted path to stop the evil plan in time.

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The evil plan involves the chipper and sociopathic leader of a drug cartel (Julianne Moore) whose latest batch of drugs infects its users with Continue reading Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Horror, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) Movie Review

“The bourgeoisie has never hesitated to kill its children”

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As drenched in infamy as it is, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s final film Salo remains a dedicated feature of film criticism, with articles written to this day about the film’s place in the canon of cinema.

Quite possibly the most debauched film in history, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, is a narrative of Continue reading Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) Movie Review →