Films Watched in 2020| Bml93

- Rewatched

- Rewatched

If you're going to make a film that completely ignores any sort of character development and emotion, is really heavy on the exposition and features an extremely loud sound mix - you better do it as Christopher Nolan did with TENET. Because this film fucks you up in the most delicious way. Also a film that demands repeated viewings. Can't wait to see it again.

- Rewatced

- Rewatched

- Rewatched

I would really like to know the reasoning behind having 95% of your film consisting of the dutch tilt. Why did they think that was a good idea? I can understand that microbudget filmmaking would put a lot of limitations on you, but to shoot almost your entire film in that angle is a purely creative choice. It's so weird.

MARY is awful. A lame ghost ship story that is horribly executed with a narrative structure that adds nothing of value to the film. The editing is sloppy, the cinematography is atrocious and the film is filled with the worst kind of CGI jump scares. Don't waste your time on this.

- Rewatched
If you've never seen ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST before, then there's hardly any better time to do it than now.

Some of Ennio Morricone's absolute finest work.
Sleep well, maestro.

This was exceptionally sweet, charming, heartwarming, absurd and fun. A pure delight of a film.

I love Eurovision. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Will Ferrell and the rest of the filmmaking crew behind this clearly loves Eurovision as well, as even though the film is kinda making fun of it, there's a lot of sincere affection towards it - and a genuine understanding of what Eurovision is (even though the film kinda makes it seem a bit smaller in scale than what it actually is). It was however fun to see the songs they made for it. But aside from that initial charm itself, the film itself is a bit of a let down. The story is bland, the jokes doesn't really strike home that often and I think the portrayal of Icelandic culture is way too silly for its own good.

- Rewatched

- Rewatched

- Rewatched
As far as funny bad movies go, I really appreciate the fact that TROLL 2 actually looks like a movie when it comes to all the technical aspects of it. It is a film that has been semi competently put together -- which just goes to show how bizarre the screenplay of it actually is for it to have garnered such a reputation. My favorite moment is probably all the singing.

As far as all the Len Kabasinski films I've endured these past days go, HELLCAT'S REVENGE is easily one of his better efforts. It's still not particularly good -- it is pretty bad -- but at least here the film is not hampered down by loads of technical issues. The sleazy tone that he has set in many of his films also feel more at home here, so it's not a total nightmare to watch it.

A very bland and mediocre script is elevated by fantastic filmmaking. A slowly paced, atmospheric horror with gorgeous production design and some of the best cinematography I've seen in these past years. It's not as precise in its slow burn approach as something like THE WITCH, but yet it is uniquely captivating in how confident and dedicated it is to its style, even though it is treading on very familiar story grounds. It won't be for everyone, as seen by the negative reception it has gotten, but I can imagine myself warming up to it even further on a rewatch.

I don't think I ever saw someone credited as the DOP for this film in either the end or opening credits of it -- but seeing as the camera work of this film is a complete mindfuck in its awfulness -- it's not really that surprising that no one wants to take the credit for it. BLOOD MERCURY is all around terrible (even when you consider the lack of budget), but that cinematography needs some explaining.

"I think women can do anything" Kristen Stewart says while looking straight at the camera. This is the opening line of the film. I'm not one to argue against that, but a film about a couple of beautiful, rich and privileged women running around in fancy dresses and playing super spies is hardly the right vehicle to empower that message for those underprivileged women out there who needs to hear it.

Now -- if only the clunky corporate t-shirt feminism that this film shamelessly throws at you, while proudly patting itself on its shoulder was the worst thing about it, then I guess you could somehow excuse it and keep it as light background noise. Unfortunately it also manages to have a lame and outdated spy plot, horrible comedy and shockingly unimaginative action scenes - that somehow tries to masquerade its ineptness under the guise of a shallow pop style and its clumsily told girl power attitude. This film is so poorly crafted that it's an anti-feminist's wet dream. Something that renders this film completely useless for all of us.
Kristen Stewart deserves better.

Not as campy or trashy as the other films I've seen from Len Kabasinski. This is him attempting do something that is slightly more serious and dramatic. It doesn't really work, and all of his flaws as a filmmaker just stands out even more when they can't hide behind that initial camp that something like SWAMP ZOMBIES draws out out.
However, Kabasinski really tries to make something here, and you can tell that he absolutely does his best. God bless his little heart for that.

But... he really needs to start to clean up the sound mix and sound design of his films. His films sound bloody awful and makes them so much harder to sit through than necessary.

- Rewatched

Obviously a massive improvement over Len Kabasinski's first film when it comes to the technical aspects. Better equipment is naturally the main cause of that, but Kabasinski also seems to have gained a least some more understanding of how films works since his original SWAMP ZOMBIES. Making it at least somewhat watchable this time. It's still not very good though. There are sound issues and jarring edits, but at least it feels more tonally consistent this time.
And it had one really funny death in it. Which is at least something.

Whatever it was trying to be was ultimately let down by glaring technical issues and incompetent film making that rendered it pretty much unwatchable.

I honestly think this would have been a lot more watchable if they had reduced the amount of dialogue by about 70-80%, replaced some of the stock music (particularly those recognizable quirky tracks) with something that felt a lot more mood appropriate and taken another look at the sound mix of it, as it seems to be way off, especially during the first act. Some of the visuals are decent enough, so there is potential here for a slightly surreal and atmospheric horror film that is simultaneously embracing its more shlocky nature, but then it would have to be massively reworked and the intent of it slightly changed.

- Rewatched
I would not really recommend any one to watch SPACE COP.
Made by Red Letter Media, the guys behind that 70 minute long PHANTOM MENACE review that you've probably seen throughout your time on Youtube (as well as a bunch of other great stuff), it is a film that is more or less only worthwhile to watch if you're already familiar with them. If only to be able to deal with the hammed up performances by Rich Evans and Mike Stoklasa. And even then, it is a bit of a stretch. It is quite simply not that good.

The film do look cheap, but that's fine considering the budget of it.
I think that the problem for me is that a lot of the humor that the film relies on is too heavily inspired by things we've already seen Red Letter Media cover in their other content (Rich and Mike running slowly for instance), so whenever those type of jokes pops up in SPACE COP, I'm pulled straight out of the film. It was difficult for me to get engaged in the story as it felt like I was watching something like an overlong HALF IN THE BAG intro, and as a result of that, everything pretty much fell flat for me. I would chuckle every now and then, but the laughs doesn't come as frequently as I would expect from these guys.

It's also at least 20 minutes too long.

- Rewatched

- Rewatched
Not only is this film dreadfully boring and a complete misunderstanding of what it's supposed to be, but the cinematography and lighting in it is so bloody awful that it is at times extremely difficult to figure out what's even happening. So it's one of those rare films that manages to bore you to death, kill your brain cells and simultaneously wear out your eyes. So it's like you're bored and exhausted at the same time.

- Rewatched
The storytelling is a bit disjointed, the editing occasionally sloppy and the performances a bit underwhelming - but when it comes to the body horror and practical effects/make-up, HELLRAISER truly shines. For all of its flaws, it is a morbid and quite captivating watch.

- Rewatched

- Rewatched
I'm digging a lot of what Jordan Peele does with US. How he utilizes his visual style and the sound design in order to create atmosphere and to pinpoint his themes, makes for a very distinct horror film. It's something that truly feels personal, and not something that was just cooked up by some executives in a board meeting. It's a very ambitious effort. I do think that it struggles a lot on a story level and that it gets a bit jumbled in its message, with a twist ending that is clunky at best - but I still really appreciate US for being something entirely different.

- Rewatched
If you want to make an opening scene for your ghost ship movie, then you could do a lot worse than what GHOST SHIP does. That scene is an immediate mood setter in its wickedly demented gruesomeness. It's just such a shame that the rest of the film falls straight on its fucking face.

Following the success of THE WAVE and THE QUAKE, Norwegian filmmakers seem to have embraced the genre that is disaster movies. This time with THE TUNNEL, as a fire breaks out inside a tunnel following a car accident - trapping people inside the tunnel with deadly smoke all around them. The premise is solid enough for a disaster film of a minor scale, for as we all know - tunnel fires are extremely dangerous and difficult to deal with.

It opens up promisingly enough. Characters are introduced and given some sort of emotional bit that we can latch on to. The disaster starts to evolve in a natural and realistic manner. The emergency services are acting as calmly, rationally and professionally as they should. The film does a solid job of building up the tension. The ticking clock in the musical score keeps us on the edge as we know things are about to escalate even further. Which they eventually do, and that's when the film starts to lose me.

Everyone starts making the absolute worst decisions possible. And they're not doing so because of some understandable character motivation leading them to it, but quite simply because the plot demands them to do so. It's backwards of what it should be. Another issue is that the film suddenly don't know what to do with half of the characters they've introduced. Some of them just disappear entirely from the film, rendering their introduction as completely pointless.

So what we have here is ultimately a decent premise and solid opening of a film, but one that the filmmakers probably didn't quite know how to finish.

What should have ended up as a very humane and emotionally empowering watch about exploring trauma and psychological healing is aggressively undermined by schlock horror and fantastical elements. An ambitious effort that unfortunately used the wrong framework around its themes.

- Rewatched
THE OTHERS is such a beautiful and richly crafted character driven ghost story that it plays just as well even if you know all the twists.

- Rewatched
As a Norwegian, I'm a bit disappointed that Norway has never really, with a few exceptions, embraced horror - and that what we end up with is usually garbage. It's also a bit a disappointing that the gorgeously looking snowy landscapes that our beautiful country has is not more utilized in Norwegian films. DEAD SNOW is mash of everything. Norwegian horror. Snow. Comedy. Nazi zombies. In that case, it's a little bit of a treasure - and a film I find myself rewatching every now and then.

It is extremely flawed though. The first act, despite a fun opening scene, is a bit of a snooze fest. It is purposely treading on cliched horror grounds with a bit of a self-aware wink, but the humor doesn't entirely land. It's not until the last half of this film that DEAD SNOW truly shines, when it finally becomes a glorious fest of comedic violence. From then on and out, it's all good fun.