Movies I watched in July 2020

Date: 7/1/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
First Viewing

Note: I'm on vacation at the beach in Delaware at the moment (In a private own beach house), so I decided to watch a beach theme movie to fit my current vacation mood. Seeing that today is a hot and sunny day, I felt like this movie was the perfect choice to watch. I bought the Blu-Ray at Walmart over a year ago and I didn't watch it until now. This is also the very few movies from Andy Sidaris that I have not seen yet, so I was so hyped up to finally watch it. After watching this movie, I was not disappointed at all.

This movie has everything that you would imagine in a cheesy 80s action movie. It has over the top action sequences, ultra-violence, macho manly men, hot women, gratuitous nudity, and cheesy dialogue. The story is really silly and makes very little sense, but that's the charm of it. There's so much schlock in this movie that you won't get bored when watching it.

I can't add any more to say about this movie and you have to watch it for yourself to see the craziness of this movie. I highly recommend this movie to people who enjoy bad movies.

Date: 7/1/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-watch

Note: I decided to kick off my July Horror Hunt with this movie because I was in the mood to watch it today. This movie is well-known to be a bad movie and was even featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I honestly never hated this movie as most people do. Don't get me wrong, this is not a good movie at all. I do think the story is very messy and the characters are one-dimensional. However, I don't think the movie is the worst movie ever made.

The movie does have a cool premise and I do like the idea of a sci-fi horror equivalent of Death Wish. Too bad, the script is not very well written, and they should have polish the script more before they filmed the movie. I also think the movie does have a message on what happens with a powerful weapon is used in the wrong hands. Sadly, the message is not very well executed.

Despite the major flaws that this movie has, the movie is still a lot of fun to watch. It's always cool to see stuff get blown up by the laser blaster. This movie has enough explosions that it will give someone like Michael Bay a boner. The stop motion alien creatures have always been my favorite part of the movie because they always looked so cool. You also have a surprisingly good music score from both Joel Goldsmith and Richard Band. The music in this movie has both a moody and haunting feeling to it. It also almost makes the story feel quite tragic.

Overall, Laserblast is a fun guilty pleasure movie and it is worth checking out if you are into bad movies.

Date: 7/2/2020
Viewed: 4K UHD
Rewatch


Note: Seeing that Jaws recently turned 45 years old, I felt like it was the perfect time to rewatch it again. I have watched Jaws so many times growing up, it never gets old for me. I watched the movie in 4K UHD and the movie looks amazing. It felt like I was watching the movie for the first time. Everything looked so crisp and clean-looking. The 4K UHD release made the water look so realistic looking. For a 45-year-old movie, nothing in this movie looks dated (Other than the outdated fashion trends).

I don't have anything to new say about this movie because everyone has talked about this movie to death. If you haven't seen this movie before, do it now!

Date: 7/2/2020
Viewed: Hulu
First Viewing

Note: I have seen people talking about this movie on my social media feed and I decided to give it a watch on Hulu. It's also a short movie and I had nothing else to do for the rest of the night. I went into the movie knowing nothing about the plot and hope for a fun movie to watch. I did want to like this movie, but I didn't. The acting in this movie is pretty bad and the movie is so boring. For a movie that is only 72 minutes, it felt like it took forever to be over. I almost wanted to turn this movie off because I didn't care about anything in the movie.

I normally like experimental movies and I respect the filmmakers for trying, but the movie did nothing for me by the end of the day. It's hard for me to care about the movie being experimental if the movie is so boring. Don't bother with this movie unless you're curious.

Date: 7/3/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
First Viewing

Note: I always remember seeing the VHS cover of this movie at the rental store as a kid. It was a horror movie that was super easy to find because nearly every video store had one. I always wanted to rent this movie as a kid, but I never did (Probably because I kept on forgetting about it). After many years later, I finally watched this movie on Blu-Ray. To be honest, I honestly enjoy this movie a lot.

This movie may not be considered to be a good movie, but it's a lot of fun. I love the atmosphere that this movie because the movie has the feeling of being at a hot drowsy beach. Seeing that I'm currently on vacation now, this movie feels right at home for me. The soundtrack from Claudio Simonetti is awesome in my opinion. Claudio Simonetti's music fits perfectly with the movie's sleazy tone. Everything else about this movie is super late 80s and I don't consider that to be a bad thing.

You have the fun outdated fashion trends, wet t-shirt contests, and the 80s rock music mixed into one cool horror movie. The story is pretty basic and the characters are not that great neither. Even the villain is a killer wearing a motorcycle helmet similar to the killer in The Nail Gun Massacre (1985). I still think the movie is very entertaining regardless because it's so much fun to discover the mystery behind the killer in this movie. The death scenes are a lot of fun too and I was surprised how tame the death scenes are in this movie compare to most 80s horror movies.

Overall, Nightmare Beach is a fun sleazy slasher movie and I had a genuinely good time with it. I recommend watching it if you are into slasher movies or trashy movies.

Date: 7/3/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I decided to rewatch this movie because Spawn has recently got a resurgence in popularity thanks to him being in a guest fighter in Mortal Kombat 11 and the comic has broken a new world record for longest-running creator own comic. I have always been neutral about this movie because I don't hate it as most people do and I don't love it.

This movie is pretty bad and I will never defend it as a good movie, but I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I remember seeing this movie in theaters with my older cousin and his girlfriend. This movie along with The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Fifth Element, and Men in Black were the hot summer movies that people in my 1st-grade classes like to talk about back in 1997. When the movie came out on VHS, I would watch it multiple times until my copy broke. I still own some toys of the movie too.

This movie did get me interested in Spawn as a kid and Spawn became a huge influence in my life. After watching the movie as a kid, I later started reading the comics and watching the HBO animated show shortly afterwards. Without this movie, I would probably be a different person today because Todd McFarlane is a huge influence on me as a creative artist.

The reason why this movie didn't turn out so good is that they didn't do a good job of adapting the source material. The movie is PG-13 and the comics are hard R. The movie is pretty campy and has plenty of dumb humor that is not funny at all. The movie is also lacking character development because the movie does not give you a reason to care about Al Simmons (Spawn). In both the comics and HBO animated show, Spawn has more room to develop and you feel more sympathy for the pain that he goes through. The movie only runs at 96 minutes and that's not enough time to develop Spawn as a character in the movie. Everything feels so rushed and you can tell that the movie cares more about having cool special effects than trying to tell a good story.

The best thing about the movie is the cast because everyone did a good job playing their roles. John Leguizamo, Michael Jai White, Martin Sheen, and Nicol Williamson (RIP) are easily the best actors in the movie. I still hate how they whitewash Terry Fitzgerald and Clown had way too much screen time. The makeup and the costumes in this movie are very good and still hold up well. The CGI was very awesome back in the day, but it has aged poorly. You also have an awesome soundtrack that it is worth listing to as well.

When it comes to Spawn, I recommend reading the comics and watching the HBO animated series instead. Only watch this movie if you're super curious.

Date: 7/4/2020
Viewed: TubiTV
Re-Watch

Note: Today is the 4th of July and I felt like today was the perfect time to revisit this movie. I haven't seen this movie since the late 90s on VHS, and I was curious to see how well this movie holds up. After watching the movie on Tubi, the movie is a mixed bag in my opinion.

The movie starts off pretty slow and boring, to be honest. I was starting to lose interest in the movie during the first half-hour of the movie. After 35 minutes into the movie, the movie starts to pick up and becomes entertaining. The death scenes are pretty cool and creative in my opinion because they are done with practical effects. The dark humor in this movie is pretty funny at times because the movie knows not to take itself too seriously.

The movie also has nice lighting and solid camera work. You even get good practical makeup too. This movie is a direct to video film and does not feel like one at all in my opinion. The acting in this movie is not the best, but it's passable. I also like the movie's social commentary of people in war bringing pain and suffering while we celebrate our independence. You also have a message that not all the people in the military are heroes, and they can be bad people if they abused their power in war.

If Uncle Sam's first half of the movie was as good as the last half of the movie, it could have easily been the next Maniac Cop franchise in my opinion. Overall, Uncle Sam is a decent horror movie and it's worth checking out if you've got time to spare.

Date: 7/4/2020
Viewed: 4K UHD
Re-Watch

Note: If I had to pick a #1 favorite movie of all time, it would have to be 2001: A Space Odyssey. The reason why it's my #1 favorite movie ever because it left a huge impact on me and many other people. My oldest memory of this movie when I was very little (Probably maybe 3 years old), watching the movie on TV in my parent's bedroom and having the last 20 minutes being stuck in my mind for so long. For the longest time, I felt like I dreamt of the entire movie and the classic bedroom scene was just my imagination. It was not until I was in High School at the age of 15 when I started to watch this movie for my Technology Education class and really appreciate it as a true piece of art. After that, I became obsessed with this movie and became a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C Clarke, and other deep Science Fiction.

Talking about this movie is so hard to do because I feel like that I can't add anything new to say. For over half a century, 2001: A Space Odyssey has become a major work of cinema and many people have analyzed it to death. After watching the movie, it felt like falling in love all over again because the movie has a fantastic 4k transfer and it makes the movie feel like a brand-new movie. I still feel like it's very rare that a film as profound as 2001: A Space Odyssey still gets made even today. I consider it to be a perfect movie in every way because I feel like the direction, the camerawork, the writing, the score, the lighting, the atmosphere, and the visuals are absolutely perfect in my opinion.

Watching this movie puts you in a trance because it makes you feel like that are you in a surreal journey into outer space. The surreal imagery and atmosphere have a dream-like quality feeling to them giving you that feeling the scope of outer space.

I also love movies that make you think and have you use your brain to figure things out. 2001: A Space Odyssey is the perfect example of a movie that will you figure out the bigger piece of the puzzle as the movie makes the viewer ask questions about the future of humanity. If you don't like this movie, I totally understand that because this movie is very slow and it's not everyone's cup of tea.

If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend doing it now.

Date: 7/5/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: I've seen some positive buzz for this movie on the web and decided to check it out. After renting the movie on Amazon Prime, I have mixed feelings for this movie. I do think it's a very well-made movie and the acting is solid in my opinion. They did a great job of making a very suspenseful movie because the movie will keep you on the edge of your seat on seeing what will happen next. You also have some decent special effects as well.

The biggest negative about this movie is that the movie has the viewer asking for more questions than having answers in a bad way. The movie almost reminds me of It Comes at Night (2017), but at least this movie has some real build-up to it in my opinion. We don't know what the monster is in this movie and where it came from. The majority of the movie is flashbacks, and we still don't know what happens to the main character's girlfriend. The ending in this movie is also anticlimactic and it almost made me angry that they did a terrible job with the ending.

At least the monster in this movie was pretty cool looking. I really wanted to like this movie and I end up being disappointed with it. I do appreciate the effort that went into this movie, but it was just not for me. If you're curious about this movie, give it a watch and maybe you will like it better than I did.

Date: 7/6/2020
Viewed: Shudder
First Viewing

Note: I always wanted to check out this movie for the last few years now after hearing amazing things about the movie. After watching this movie on Shudder for the first time, I was not disappointed with this movie at all. This movie truly lives up to the hype in my opinion. I love that this movie is a slow burn that does not overstay its welcome because the movie only runs at 1 hour and 40 minutes. The movie's story didn't need to be any longer or be cut down to be shorter.

My favorite thing about this movie is the dark and chilling atmosphere. You can really feel the dark and chilling late-night atmosphere of the movie. The movie is super relaxing to watch because the movie's atmosphere sucks you into the story of the movie. The overall direction of the movie reminds me of movies from Jim Jarmusch, Abe Ferrara, and Michael Almereyda in my opinion. They also did a fantastic job on the lighting and having the movie shot in black & white was a perfect idea. I don't think this movie would be the same if the shot the movie in color because this movie needs the bleak black and white colors to capture the general tone of the story.

The story in the movie is fascinating because the movie deals with drug addiction and prostitution in Iran. It's always nice to see movie cover serious themes set in another country that I'm not super familiar with. It's also a vampire story that deals with personal redemption and moral lines. You really get invested with the characters because they did a wonderful job of making them interesting and you care about what happens to them. I also like that the movie has minimal dialogue because it makes the movie feel even scarier in my opinion.

Overall, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a fantastic movie and I highly recommend watching it.

Date: 7/6/2020
Viewed: TubiTV
First Viewing

Note: This is a movie that I always wanted to check out for a while now because I remember hearing good things about this movie for the last 10 years. After finally watching the movie for the first time on Tubi (As of 7/6/020), I really enjoy this movie. This movie is very funny and it knows how to use dark comedy without coming off as tasteless. This movie does a great job with the main cast of characters because they are super likable and you care about them. The movie deals with the madness of humanity and speaks the truth about joining terrorism.

I don't want to spoil anything else about the movie because you have to see it for yourself. Overall, Four Lions is a great comedy and I'm glad that I finally saw it. Check it out if you've got time to spare.

Date: 7/7/2020
Viewed: 4K UHD
Re-Watch

Note: It's been 10 years since this movie came out and it is hard to believe it was that long ago. The year 2010 still feels like yesterday to me. I haven't seen this movie in the last 10 years and decide to rewatch it. I saw it twice in 2010 (Once in theaters and again on Blu-Ray) and I remember liking it. After watching the movie again, I still enjoy this movie.

I don't think this movie is nowhere as great as the first two movies, but I still think the movie is pretty entertaining. I like the suspenseful atmosphere that the movie has and the premise of doing a Most Dangerous Game (1932) type of story on another planet is very cool. You also have solid production values as well.

The movie looks fantastic in 4K because the picture and sound quality are amazing. Everything looks sharper and you get to see more lifelike colors on-screen. The characters in this movie are nowhere as cool and memorable as the original cast from the first Predator movie, but at least they try to make them interesting. At least, I still remember the characters in this movie a decade later unlike the forgettable cast of characters in The Predator (Predator 4). All the actors did a good job on their roles in the movie except for Topher Grace. I could not take him seriously at all in the movie.

The biggest issue with this movie is that it tries to rehash the first Predator movie and you even get many callbacks scenes to the first Predator movie. It does come off a bit annoying at times because they are trying to bring back that nostalgia from the first movie. This movie is like the Force Awakens of the Predator series before the Force Awakens was even a thing. Unlike Force Awakens, at least this movie didn't make me quit the franchise. I still wish that they could have spent some more time to flesh out the characters more. This movie would have been less divisive with people if it had better characters and more originality to the story.

Overall, Predators (Predator 3) is not a bad movie and it is worth checking out if you enjoy the first two Predator movies.

Date: 7/8/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: I always have been curious to check out this movie for a while now because it looks interesting. I also had people recommended this movie to me because they told me that this movie is right up my alley. After watching the movie for the first time, I was not disappointed at all. I really dig this movie.

I'm glad that I went into this movie knowing nothing about this movie at all because it made my experience with the movie better. The less you know about this movie, the better. Several scenes in this movie made my jaw dropped and you have to see it to believe it. This movie is almost like an acid trip version of Rosemary's Baby (1968). Antibirth is super entertaining because you get to see the physical and mental changes that the main character goes through. You also get a lot of cool neon colors and weird imagery in the movie. There is a classic David Cronenberg vibe to the movie and I really love that.

I also love the Cinematography in this movie because this movie is wonderful to look at. The movie also has a cold weather atmosphere to it and it has that cold nights in January-February feeling to it like The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) did. This movie did a wonderful job of handling the cast of characters because they felt believable and everyone did a great job of acting. You also have great symbolism and a solid social commentary on American consumerism. Most people are probably not going to like this movie and I get that. However, I do think the movie deserves a higher rating than a 2.5 (As of 7/8/2020) in my opinion.

Overall, Antibirth is a great nightmare fuel movie and I find myself liking it more after thinking about it. I do highly recommend this movie if you are into strange gross movies.

Date: 7/9/2020
Viewed: Shudder
First Viewing

Note: I was looking forward to watching this movie because this movie has a very cool premise. I'm a sucker for stuff that involves demon hunting or secret organizations that hunts monsters. I really want to like this movie because it feels like my type of movie, but I didn't.

The thing that I hated the most about this movie is the comedy because the movie is not funny at all. I probably chuckled once or twice during the entire movie. This movie did almost remind me of Guns Akimbo (2020) because both movies had a cool premise, but they were poorly executed and try way too hard to be funny. I also didn't care for any of the characters and the monsters in this movie didn't look very cool except for the last villain of the movie in my opinion. The main character's best friend is probably the worst part of the movie because his only purpose in the movie is to be an annoying comic relief sidekick character. You also have some terrible plot holes because the story is pretty convoluted and constantly contradicts itself. The movie was trying to focus more on world-building than trying to tell a good story.

Despite all the bad things in this movie, I do give this movie credit for the effort that was put into the movie. You do have some really cool special effects for the most part because they did use practical effects for several scenes in the movie. Too bad most of the blood in the movie is bad digital effects though. I also dig the cool lighting that this movie has and the actors also did a pretty good job with the material that they had to work with. You can tell that the filmmakers had a lot of fun making this movie and the director (Kiah Roache-Turner) does have a creative art direction.

Overall, Nekrotronic suffers from wasted potential in my opinion and it does make me a bit mad that an awesome idea was completely ruined by poor writing. I don't recommend this movie unless you have nothing else to watch on a rainy day.

Date: 7/10/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: Thanks to Matus1987 for recommending this movie to me

I honestly never heard of this movie until now. I rented the movie from Amazon Prime and went into this movie knowing nothing about the movie. After watching this movie for the first time, I'm very impressed. Seeing that this movie is still pretty new, I won't go into much detail about it (I don't like writing spoiler reviews unless I have too). I also like that the movie is over 2 hours long and it didn't drag at all.

This movie has a fantastic story that deals with the problems that people are going through in Brazil such as lack of water, and corrupt government officials. The movie also offers a lot of heart-pounding action and drama that will have you on the edge of your seat when watching this film. They did a wonderful job of creating a cast of characters that feel very grounded to reality. I also like that this movie is a modern western movie that is pretty strange at times with some scenery in the movie.

Overall, Bacurau is a fantastic movie and I highly recommend watching it. I can see myself watching it again in the near future and I do hope that this movie will be nominated for an Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards.

Date: 7/10/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I decided to rewatch this movie because I wanted to check out the 4K restoration of this movie. The 4K restoration is absolutely fantastic because it felt like I was watching a brand-new movie. The New York Ripper is one of those movies that gets better with each viewing in my opinion and deserves a better rep than being a total trashy movie.

I love the dark and sleazy feeling of New York City in this movie because It really captures the grubby areas of New York City that exist around that time. Watching this movie feels like I'm watching a time capsule of the early 1980s in New York City. You can feel the dirtiness in New York City when watching this movie similar to other movies that are set on 42nd Street in New York City such as Taxi Driver (1976), The Drill Killer (1979), Maniac (1980), and Ms. 45 (1981).

Lucio Fulci did a wonderful job of making New York City feel like an inescapable hell by creating a dark and suspenseful atmosphere. This movie does an amazing job of capturing the feeling of the tension that's always somewhat present in the back of most women's minds when they go out and meet/talk to any given guy on the street for the first time in their lives. The movie has that feeling paranoia, and how unbearably terrifying it can be when you are being killed by a stalker. Even in today's world, that feeling of paranoia still exists and will probably keep on existing.

The music score from Francesco De Masi is great and super iconic in my opinion. I can listen to the movie's soundtrack on a 24-hour loop and never get bored with it. You also have fantastic gore in this movie that still looks great in my opinion. The movie also has a tragic ending to it and plenty of surprises that are not worth spoiling.

Overall, The New York Ripper is a great movie and it is worth checking out. I don't recommend it to squeamish people though.

Date: 7/11/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I recently bought the Solid Metal Nightmares boxset from Arrow Video a while ago and I decided to rewatch this movie because I haven't seen it in ages. Arrow Video has done it again because the HD transfers for the movie and the other movies in the boxset are fantastic. I still love this movie and I consider it to be a great work of art. It's almost impossible to describe this movie because it's a very strange movie.

This movie left a huge impact on me when I first saw it nearly 20 years ago when I would try to find Japanese movies and other movies from Asia by getting stuff from Tape Traders. I love the overall direction because this movie is so bizarre. The movie mixes gross body horror, tokusatsu, and surrealism similar to Eraserhead (1977) into one. I love the special effects in this movie because they are so unique. Everything about this movie will have you glued to your seat because the nightmarish imagery is so fascinating in my opinion. The movie came out during the time period when surreal exploitation films were being made such as Nekromantik (1987), Begotten (1989), and Singapore Sling (1990). You also have a great music score from Chu Ishikawa that is super fun to listen too.

I also love the story because the main character slowly loses his humanity as we see him become more machine over time. People becoming monsters while they fight for their humanity is easily one of my favorite tropes when it is done right and this movie does that trope very well in my opinion. I don't have anything else to say about this movie because this is truly a movie that you have to see to believe.

This movie won't be most people's cup of tea because not everyone likes weird movies. I still highly recommend this movie if you are into surreal horror films.

Date: 7/12/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I decided to watch this movie because it's been ages since I have seen it. I do remember watching this movie when I was 6 years old on VHS around Halloween time back in 1997 and I loved it. After watching it over 20 years later, I still enjoy this movie. While it is a flawed movie, the movie is a lot of fun to watch.

The story is pretty silly and does not take itself too seriously. The movie has a fun cast of memorable characters and Julian Sands as the Warlock is awesome. The Warlock is a fun movie villain with a cool design and I do like his evil plans to wipe out life in the universe. Lori Singer as Kassandra is also a fun main female character, and she was probably the first horror movie crushes that I remember having as a kid. I also totally forgot that Rob Paulsen (Animaniacs) has a small role when watching this movie. It felt super random seeing him in a horror movie.

Another thing that I enjoy about Warlock is a dark fantasy atmosphere that the movie has. The movie has a medieval fantasy feeling while mixing in modern gothic horror into one spooky atmosphere. I also like how the movie knows how to handle humor and seriousness without coming off as awful. The humor is actually pretty funny in my opinion. Jerry Goldsmith does a great job of creating music for the film and it's probably his most underrated music score in my opinion.

The biggest flaw that this movie has is the script. Like with most time travel movies, the writing is pretty messy and you can easily count the plot holes when watching the movie. Some digital effects in this movie have not aged well meanwhile the other special effects hold up pretty well. It must have been cool seeing the movie on the big screen and seeing those early green-screen effects back in 1989 (or 1991 for the US).

Overall, Warlock is a fun fantasy horror movie and I'm glad that I revisit this movie. Check this movie out if you've got time to spare.

Date: 7/13/2020
Viewed: TubiTV
First Viewing

Note: I remember hearing about this movie for over 10 years now and I never watched it until recently. I had no idea what to expect from this movie and went into it knowing nothing about the plot. After watching this movie, I thought it was pretty awesome. This is a movie that you really have to experience yourself to understand what is going on. Reading spoilers for the movie will ruined the experience when watching this movie in my opinion.

The movie starts off pretty convoluted, but the story makes sense when you really start paying attention to the movie. This is a movie that you need keep your eyes wide open during the entire movie in order for you to understand what is going on. I can see why most people will be turn off by this movie, but I'm glad that I watched this movie for the first time. I highly recommend checking it out when you get the chance.

Date: 7/13/2020
Viewed: Hulu
First Viewing

Note: I almost saw this movie in theaters back in February, but I was unable to do it due to a lack of time and money. This is probably the most divisive movie of 2020 so far from what I've seen because many people like it or hate it. I finally watch this movie seeing that it is available on Hulu (As of 7/13/2020) and I really enjoy it. This movie felt like a mix between The Shining (1980) and Hereditary (2018) in my opinion.

I love the dark and cold windy weather atmosphere because you can literally feel the cold temperature when watching this movie. The movie is a slow burn movie with many surprises that do not overstay its welcome. If this movie went on for over 2 hours, I would have been bored with the movie. The movie knows when to end the story when it needs too. When watching the movie it feels like a punch in the stomach because the movie ranges from sheer terror to complete hopelessness and sorrow. You can really feel the exploration of family tragedy and grief through characters struggling to cope with life. It shows the cruelness of humanity and how far people are able to go when they lose someone close to them. There is plenty of symbolism in the movie and it knows how to use the symbolism pretty well. You can find many clues in the story when watching the movie and things make more sense when you really start to think more about the movie.

If you are not into slow burn movies, you will probably not like this movie. However, if you are into slow burn movies then check it out.

Date: 7/14/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime
Re-Watch

Note: I haven't seen this movie since I was 13 when it was playing on TV and decided to revisit it because it's now on Amazon Prime at the moment (As of 7/14/2020). After watching this movie again, I still think the movie is excellent. I will probably consider it to be an underrated movie because the movie deserves a higher rating in my opinion. 52 Pick-Up is not a masterpiece, but I do think it is overlooked.

Roy Scheider plays a pretty cool main character and does a great job of acting. Clarence Williams III as Bobby Shy is probably my favorite thing in the movie because he plays a cool memorable character. Everyone else in the movie including Vanity does a surprisingly good job on their roles. The story in this movie may not be 100% original, they still did a good job of writing a pretty well-told story. I also love the dark and gritty atmosphere because it captures the dark underworld of pornography. This movie even has a sleazy grindhouse feeling to it as well.

If I had to pick one thing that I didn't like about this movie it would be the pacing. The first act of the movie starts off slow in my opinion, but the rest of the movie makes up for it. Even the music score from Gary Chang is surprisingly good too. Overall, 52-Pick Up is a very good movie that is worth watching.

Date: 7/14/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I wanted to revisit this movie because I haven't seen this movie in years, and I was curious to see if I still like this movie or not. This was the first Schwarzenegger movie that I saw on the big screen. I remember seeing it at the cinema with my friends back in 1999. To be honest, I still enjoy this movie and I do admit that it's far from good. This is also one of the better movies that Schwarzenegger did after Batman & Robin in my opinion (I know that's not a very high bar).

The movie's script is filled with plot holes and some dialogue in the movie is pretty bad. The story itself is super dated because it was made during the Y2k fear at the time. However, I still think the movie is a lot of fun because you do get plenty of cool action sequences in this movie. I also love the dark urban feeling that this movie has. They did a great job of creating an atmosphere of dread and uncertainty. Peter Hyams himself did a great job on both the direction and cinematography in my opinion. I love the dark and gritty choices of colors that he picked for the color scheme for the film.

You also have many cool shots of New York City and the neat camera work really gives it out that fear of something above humanity exists. Everyone did a pretty good job on their roles in the movie and seeing Udo Kier in a small minor role is also cool. The one thing that this movie does not get credit for is Arnold Schwarzenegger's role because he is playing a more down to earth character. In this movie, he is not playing a robot or some macho action hero with character shields. He is playing a normal person that is suffering from his own emotional trauma after he lost his family and has no longer have faith in god. Gabriel Byrne is also a lot of fun playing Satan as well.

This movie also has a fun soundtrack that is the super late 90s and I still listen to it from time to time. It's a nice mix of industrial rock and nu-metal. I still can't help to laugh when they add music from Limp Bizkit during a random surreal horror moment in the movie. The one thing that I didn't like about the movie is the pacing because the movie is a bit long. I would have liked the movie more if they cut down the movie a bit and not make 2 hours long.

Overall, End of Days is a fun nostalgic guilty pleasure to me. It may not be a good movie, but it's not as awful as most people make it out to be. It's worth checking out if you're curious.

Date: 7/15/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I decided to watch this movie because this movie recently turn 30 years old and I felt like it was a perfect time to revisit it. When I was a kid, I thought Gremlins 2 was even better than the first movie. As an adult, I still feel the same. Gremlins 2 is bigger, crazier, and funnier than the first movie in my opinion.

The movie may be more lighthearted compare to the first movie, but I don't consider it to be a bad thing. I like that the movie even spoofs the first movie during certain scenes in the movie. The special effects still hold very well even after 30 years later. The humor is hilarious because the movie is filled with plenty of funny moments that still make me laugh hard. Joe Dante also does a great job of making the movie into a capitalist satire. The movie pokes fun of people's obsessions with people wanting to create more products to make more money. I still love all the cool movie references that this movie has too.

You also can't forget that Christopher Lee plays a minor iconic role in the movie. This movie was my first exposure to Christopher Lee when I was a little kid in the mid-90s. It was super cool that he was casted into a mainstream Hollywood movie seeing that he is mostly known to be in low-budget films. After all, this was over a decade before the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars II-III came out.

Overall, Gremlins 2 is still awesome and I consider it to be Joe Dante's best movie in my opinion. If you like the first movie, you will probably enjoy the sequel.

Date: 7/16/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime (4K UHD)
First Viewing

Note: I was really looking forward to watching this movie because I hear so many good things about this movie. I went into the movie with an open mind and hope for the best. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by this movie because the movie didn't live up to my expectations. I didn't care much about the main cast of characters at all because I felt like that I didn't connect with any of them. The movie is boring and it moves at a sluggish pace. Barely anything happens at all with no real substance or thrills. A movie with elements of mystery needs to create generates suspense to keep the viewer invested with the story in my opinion. This whole movie leaves me empty after the movie was over because I felt like nothing really paid off.

I also felt like there was no major risk for the characters which is one of the reasons why I didn't care about any of them. Even though I didn't like this movie, I still respect the effort that went into making the movie. I do like the aesthetics that this movie has because they did a great job of making the movie feel like an old school 1950s Sci-Fi movie. You can tell that Andrew Patterson (the director) was inspired by the original Twilight Zone TV show and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). The actors also did a great job of acting too. This was also the first movie that Andrew Patterson directed and it's not a bad start. I hope his future movies will be an improvement.

Overall, The Vast of Night was average at best and it could have been so much better. I know many people like this movie and I can see why people like it. Sadly, this movie was not for me.

Date: 7/16/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
First Viewing

Note: I remember when someone in my Drawing II class at my college a few years ago recommended this movie because he told me that I will probably like it. I keep on forgetting to watch it until now, and I was lucky to find a copy for $5 at my local Big Lots. After watching the movie for the first time, I thought it was okay.

The movie does have some cool action sequences that are well done. This movie has plenty of nonstop action and I did enjoy some gory kills in the movie. The special effects are a mixed bag because you do have some nice practical effects. The digital blood really annoys me when watching this movie because it looks so cheap and fake. The acting is not very good, but at least they did try their best.

My biggest issue with this movie is that the movie tries to be super serious while having bad cringy humor mixed into it. The humor is in this movie is not funny at all. They also try to create emotional tension with the main cast of characters when I felt like that I didn't have any major connection to them. You also have stuff in the movie that is not properly explained very well. I still appreciate the effort that went into this movie because I can tell that Kiah Roache-Turner has a very creative mindset and has a passion for film making. I also do love over the top and gory movies. Too bad, his two movies didn't live up to my expectations.

Overall, Wyrmwood is an average splatter movie and I only recommended if you have nothing else to watch on a rainy day.

Date: 7/17/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I haven't seen this movie since 2010 on DVD and I bought the Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber from a while back. After over a decade later, this movie is still fantastic. It's strange to think that this movie is now 11 years old because it does not feel an older movie for me. I do consider it to be the best modern vampire movie in my opinion. I love this movie because it's a cool take on the vampire genre. People act like Twilight ruined the Vampire genre in the late 2000s and early 2010s when you still had good vampire movies around that time.

The movie runs at 2 hours and it goes by pretty quickly in a good way. I love how Park Chan-Wook is able to tell a great vampire story that feels so brutal, poetic, and tragic. He is able to make all the characters in the film feel so complex, and realistic. Everyone in this movie feels like you can relate to them because they feel like people who you would know in real life. I also love how the movie shows that being a vampire is not a good thing and it's a curse than a blessing. If you haven't seen this movie before, do it now. I highly recommend this movie for horror fans and fans of Korean cinema.

Date: 7/18/2020
Viewed: TubiTV
First Viewing

Note: I grew up with Full Moon movies both on VHS and TV, but I don't think I have seen this movie before. Seeing it's now available on Tubi (As of 7/18/2020), I thought I might as well check it out. After watching it for the first time, I thought it was okay. It's not a bad movie because I do find it to be watchable.

The story and characters are nothing that special, but the seed alien creatures in this movie are pretty cool. I do dig the special effects in this movie because they are not bad for a low budget movie. John Carl Buechler did a great job of making the special effects in my opinion. I also like the atmosphere that this movie had as well. The movie is under 90 minutes and the movie is surprisingly not boring at all. Being entertaining helps a bad movie from being god awful in my opinion.

I don't have anything else to say about this movie, to be honest. If you enjoy movies from Full Moon or low budget sci-fi horror movies, give this one a watch.

Date: 7/19/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: Seeing that today is a hot summer day, I felt like this movie was a good choice to fit. It's been so long since I have seen this movie, I probably have not seen it since it was on VHS when I was little back in the mid-90s (25 something years ago). This movie was never my favorite Godzilla movie growing up, but I do enjoy it for what it is. The movie has a tropical feel to it and the movie is colorful to look at.

The story is pretty simple and that's okay for this movie. You have a fun cast of human characters that are super enjoyable to watch on screen. It's also nice to have Godzilla fight something on a smaller scale seeing that Godzilla fought a planetary threat before with King Ghidorah in the last two movies.

You also have Masaru Sato returning to do the musical score for the movie. His music in the movie is pretty iconic and almost has a James Bond vibe to it. Godzilla himself acts differently in the movie because the movie was originally written as a King Kong movie. It never bothers me because it does show that Godzilla changes as a character. He has become a good guy at this point and is no longer a villain. I watched the Blu-Ray from Kraken Releasing (Sentai Filmworks) because it has the English dub and the picture quality is better than the one from Criterion (shocking isn't it?). The dub is super cheesy and not very good at all, but I do love those old dubs because of nostalgia.

Overall, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster is a fun and simple Godzilla movie. If you're a fan of the series, you probably already seen it already. I do recommend it to kids who have not seen any of the Japanese Godzilla movies yet.

Date: 7/20/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: Before Sunrise is one of those major classics that I never saw and I had people say “Wait, you haven’t seen that”? to me in the past. Even one of my aunts had this movie on VHS when I was growing up. I guess the real reason I never bother with this movie for so long because it never sounds interesting to me. After watching it for the first time, I really enjoy this movie.

The movie is super relaxing to watch and I loved every bit of this movie. This is a movie that I can sit back and relax after a long day of hard work. For a simple movie, they did a wonderful job of making the movie so entertaining. I can listen to these two characters talk about random stuff for hours and never get bored. The Cinematography in this movie is beautiful because everything is wonderful to look at.

Both Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy do a wonderful job in this movie. They both played two believable people who you would easily meet in real life. This is probably the best and honest look at relationships that I have seen in a movie. I found myself loving these two characters on-screen and I felt sad when the movie was over. Overall, I loved this movie and I can't wait to check out the sequels. I highly recommend this movie.

Date: 7/20/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: I was quite eager to check out this movie for years now because it has a cool line up of directors. I'm a big fan of some of the directors that work on this movie such as Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock) and Richard Stanley (Hardware). After watching this movie for the first time, I did enjoy it. It's not the best anthology film and I would not call it a great movie. However, it is very entertaining to watch and it moves at a nice pace. I love how this movie has a dark and spooky energy to it. The movie has many strange moments because the film makers had the freedom to create many cool ideas that they would normally not able to do for a mainstream Hollywood film. The directors did a great job on making a strange adventure for the audience to sit through.

You also have some awesome practical effects in this movie too. I always appreciate when film makers try not use computer-generated imagery when making movies unless they have too. The mechanical puppets is also another thing that I dig about this movie because they look super cool and have an authentic feeling to them. The movie has six stories and I enjoy most of them. The Mother of Toads story from Richard Stanley is the one that I was disappointed with because the story was rather confusing and the ending to it made no sense.

I Love You (Buddy Giovinazzo) was alright. It's a story that deals with a dysfunctional couple and it shows that both couples are terrible people. It's very atmospheric and gross in my opinion. I do wish the ending was better though. Wet Dreams (Tom Savini) and Vision Stains (Karim Hussian) are my favorite stories in the movie because they both had fun stories and many cool surprises that I didn't see coming when watching them.

Many people love The Accident (Douglas Buck) story, but I didn't care for it. I get what they were trying to do with the story in that segment, but I honestly find it to be super boring. I like the piano score in the segment because it did a great job on capturing the feeling of despair. However, I give it a A for effort though. The last story directed by David Gregory is very cool because the ending made my jaw drop.

Overall, The Theater Bizarre is a cool movie and it is worth checking out if you enjoy horror anthology films.

Date: 7/21/2020
Viewed: Shudder
Re-watch

Note: I decided to revisit this movie because I haven't seen in over a decade. I remember when it first came out on VHS back in 2001 and it was a very popular movie. The people on alt.horror (Very old Google groups for people who don't know) were crazy over the film. During the 2000s, I thought the movie was a bit overrated. I always felt like the movie was good, but not great.

After watching it again as an adult, I do like the movie better than I did when I was younger. I still consider Dog Soldiers to be my favorite werewolf movie of the 2000s, but that's just me. I do love the practical effects in the movie because they look awesome. You get really awesome looking gore and the makeup work is excellent. The Werewolf in the movie looks fantastic and I love the effort that went into the movie. When the Werewolf is on screen, he looks like an actual creature and not someone in make up or a guy in a suit. I also thought the acting was really good too.

The story is pretty solid and I love how they made all the characters feel multi-dimensional. The movie always remind me of Cronenberg's remake of The Fly because both movie deals with the changes of someone becoming a monster. The only thing that I never like about the movie is the ending. I always felt like the climax was a let down in my opinion. Overall, Ginger Snaps is a solid horror movie and it is worth checking out.

Date: 7/22/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime
Re-watch

Note: This is another classic movie that I have not seen since I was a kid back in the Mid-late 90s when it was on TV. After watching this movie again for the first time in ages, this movie is still awesome. For a movie that has a silly idea on paper, they did a good job on handling the story and characters. This movie shows that having x-ray vision is not always a good idea and the power of seeing through objects can be dangerous if it's put in the wrong hands.

You have some really cool visuals and seeing those visuals must have been epic on the big screen back in 1963. You also have a excellent performance from Ray Milland and he does a great job on playing a character who curse with a power that ends up back firing on him. The actors in the movie also did a pretty good job as well. It is amazing that the movie was made under 3 weeks and it does not feel rushed at all. The movie is under 80 minutes and they were able to tell a solid story from start to finish in my opinion.

The worst thing about the movie is the ending because it feels so abrupt. Growing up, I always hear that the movie had a different ending that was filmed and it was never used. I'm not sure if that was proven true or not. Overall, X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is a fun sci-fi horror movie and it is worth checking out. If the movie had a better ending, I would give it a higher rating.

Date: 7/23/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie and I decided to watch this movie because I did hear fun things about the movie earlier this year. The plot summary for this movie sounds awesome and I went into this movie hoping for something fun, and trashy similar to movies like Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) or Father's Day (2011). Instead, I got a boring, stupid, and lame movie. I'm honestly mad that I wasted my time and money on this movie. This movie could have been a cool throwback to horror movies set in a movie theater such as Demons (1985), and Popcorn (1991). This entire movie is a huge waste of potential because this movie does have awesome lighting, great camerawork, and surreal imagery. I also love the practical effects and the glorious synth soundtrack that this movie has too.

I love all the great colors that this movie has because the movie is very pretty to look at. You have plenty of neon colors similar to old Italian horror movies and I'm a sucker for neon-soaked colors. However, pretty colors are not enough to save a movie because a movie needs to have something going for it. This movie is boring because none of the characters are interesting and I didn't care for anyone in the movie. The story is predictable and has nothing creative or new to offer. I almost fell asleep twice when watching this movie and I wanted to turn it off so badly. I didn't turn it off because I was waiting for something cool and interesting to happen.

The movie is label as a horror-comedy and nothing about this movie is funny. I didn't laugh at all during the entire movie. There was no attempt of humor at all in this movie. I thought Nekrotronic (2018) was bad for trying too hard to be funny, at least that movie has humor in it. Even Evil Bong (2006) is funnier than this movie and that movie was terrible. The movie is also even homophobic because you have a plot twist where one of the main characters is gay and their best friends consider it to be a bad thing. Having your movie being set in a Christian town does not give you the right to create an awful cringy moment in the movie.

Porno is a terrible movie and I highly recommend avoiding it.

Date: 7/23/2020
Viewed: Amazon Prime Rental
First Viewing

Note: This is a movie that I always wanted to see for years now, but I never had the opportunity to see it. I finally rented the movie from Amazon Prime and I loved it. This is a great disturbing horror thriller from start to finish. It's been a while that my skin crawled when watching a horror movie (no pun intended). This movie is raw, disturbing, and crazy without being a gorefest. I loved the atmosphere that this movie has because it feels cold and it gives you the chills down your spine.

Everyone in this movie did a fantastic job of acting. Antonio Banderas really steals the show by playing a great creepy person. The story almost feels like a modern take on Eyes Without a Face (1960) in my opinion. You get a fantastic story that deals with a person that is obsessed with beauty by creating using a human guinea pig to create a new type of skin. The beautiful cinematography from Jose Luis Alcaine really helps captures the tone of the movie and the music score from Alberto Iglesias makes the movie feel even more disturbing. Also, don't read any spoilers when watching this movie because the movie has some great surprises that will make your jaw dropped.

Overall, The Skin I Live In is a fantastic movie and I highly recommend watching it. I look forward to watching more movies from Pedro Almodovar in the near future.

Date: 7/24/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: Godzilla vs. Gigan is one of my favorite Godzilla movies during my childhood. When I was a little kid that was getting into Godzilla back in 1994, I would watch this movie on VHS multiple times. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), and Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974) were the Godzilla movies that I would watch religiously on VHS and TV.

I try not to let my nostalgia cover my critical thinking skills because I don't think it's a healthy way of thinking. I decided to rewatch this movie without any nostalgia goggles on and see if the movie holds up well as an adult. I think the movie is a lot of fun for what it is. The movie is filled with fun giant monster action and the special effects are solid as you would expect from a Japanese Godzilla film. I love the theme park setting because you get a lot of cool miniatures. It's so much seeing buildings getting destroyed in the movie.

The story in the movie is honestly not even that bad. Sure, the movie does have several flaws and I'm not going to defend this movie as high art. The plot is fun and simple for a Godzilla movie. You have a fun cast of memorable characters and the villains in the movie are goofy in a good way. Toshiaki Nishizawa as Kubota steals the show as a fun and goofy villain. Shosaku Takasugi (Minoru Takashima) is one of my favorite characters in the movie because plays a silly goofball and is always funny when he is on-screen.

When I was a kid, I love seeing all the neat artwork created by Gengo Kotaka (Hiroshi Ishikawa). This movie was probably my first ever exposure to Japanese comic book artwork (manga) without knowing what manga was at the time. The worst thing about the movie is the overuse of stock footage. It does get annoying at times because you can obviously tell that it is from another movie.

Overall, Godzilla vs. Gigan is a ton of fun and I recommend it for a Friday movie night with some friends. Grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the giant monster action.

Date: 7/24/2020
Viewed: Criterion Channel
First Viewing

Note: This is another classic movie that I never saw growing up. I always wanted to check it out, but I never did. I finally watch this movie for the first time on the Criterion Channel and I really enjoy it. I didn't love it as much as Wings of Desire (From the same director), but I'm glad that I watched it.

The movie is over 2 hours long and it is not boring at all in my opinion. This movie is super relaxing to watch because the movie sucks you into the movie's slow-burn atmosphere. This is a type of movie that I can see myself popping in for a nice relaxing day.

Everything in this movie is beautifully shot and you get to see a good deal of wonderful scenery of Texas in the movie. The movie is almost like a time capsule of Texas during the 1980s. It's cool to see the old clothing that people used to wear during that time period and many buildings for places that no longer exist in today's world. I love the acting in the movie because everyone including Travis Henderson does a wonderful job of playing realistic characters. Watching this movie, it felt like I was watching real-life people on the screen instead of actors just playing regular people. I don't have anything bad to say about this movie, but I can see why some people won't like it.

The movie is super long, and the slow pacing will probably turn off some people from watching it. Paris, Texas is a fantastic movie and I do recommend watching it.

Date: 7/25/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
First Viewing

Note: I was always curious to check out this movie for a while now because it looks fascinating. Even Martin Scorsese enjoys this movie and has recommended it to people before. I decided I had to bite the bullet and bought the Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber because you could not watch it anywhere on any streaming services. After watching this movie for the first time, I thought it was a pretty cool movie.

I didn't love it because the movie felt like an academic exercise for me. I could not get invested with any of the characters and the movie is pretty slow at times. The movie does have solid acting and amazing production values. I do love how this movie is shot and the set designs in the movie are pretty cool. I'm still glad that I watched this movie and I can see why people consider it to be a hidden gem of the 1940s.

Maybe if I watch it again in the near future, this movie will probably grow on me over time. I still recommend this movie if you are into classic horror movies or movies from the 1940s.

Date: 7/26/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray (Red Box Rental)
First Viewing

Note: I decided to watch this movie out of morbid curiosity because my local red box did a "Rent two movies and get the third one for 75 ¢". I did grow up with Scooby-Doo as a kid back when Cartoon Network used to play re-runs back in the mid-90s and I haven't cared about the series in ages. Seeing that I only paid 75 ¢, I felt like I had nothing else to lose. After watching this movie, I didn't like it at all. I went into this movie with zero expectations, and I thought it was not very good.

The movie has plenty of dumb humor that is not funny at all. I probably chuckled twice during the entire movie. I know this movie is made for young children, but that's not always a good excuse when you are making a big-budget movie aim towards a wider audience. The movie tries so hard to be self-aware and it comes off as annoying. This movie thinks it's so smart and funny by having characters pointing out the plot holes in the story. They were probably like "Our script is badly written. Let's have ourselves make fun of our writing as excuses for our shitness. No one will be mad at us if we are self-aware".

This movie is also filled with obvious pop culture references, pointless cameos, and references that it comes off as so frustrating. It's like the creative team that made this movie was like "Hey kids, Scooby-Doo is still cool. They have iPhones and use social media". The music in this movie is the same type of garbage that you find on the radio and it's irritating to listen too. I also dislike the voice acting in this movie because most of the actors sound like they are badly impersonating the original voices (At least they got the original Scooby-Doo voice actor back as Scooby).

This movie also tries so hard to build up a cinematic universe by mixing in other characters from Hanna-Barbera. You get little-no character development with any of the characters at all and there is no reason to care about any of them. They also try to make the movie feel like one big epic adventure and you get no sense of adventure in this movie whatsoever. Also, why make a Scooby-Doo movie when you also have no monsters and mysteries that are worth solving? The Scooby-Doo live-action movies from the early 2000s may have sucked, but at least they try to stay faithful to the series roots.

The best thing about this movie is the animation because the movie is very well animated. You get many eye-popping colors that really capture the look of the original show. It was also cool that they remade the original TV show intro in 3D animation. Too bad, they wasted a great animation budget on a movie with a bad script.

I honestly don't recommend this movie at all unless you have a 4-year old that needs to be entertained for 95 minutes.

Date: 7/26/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray (Red Box Rental)
First Viewing

Note: The reason why I watched this movie is because of the hype behind this movie. I thought I might as well check it out because you can rent it cheaper now than you did back in March-April. I really wanted to enjoy this movie because I went into it with an open mind and hope for something decent. What ruined my enjoyment for this movie was the sheer awful dialogue and the general vibe that this movie has.

I think the action in this movie is pretty fun at times because you have some awesome gory kills in this movie. One eyeball stabbing scene feels like something from a Lucio Fulci movie which was super cool. Even some humor in this movie made me laugh. I dislike everything else about this movie because this movie was trying so hard to be this edgy political satirical spin on The Most Dangerous Game (1932).

For a movie that telling people that both sides suck, even though the movie makes it clear that the Left are the real bad guys, and they do more harm than good. The general message and tone of this movie make my eyes roll when watching it. The characters in this movie are one-dimensional and I didn't care about anyone in this movie. It felt like the writers created characters based on comments from Reddit, Youtube, 4chan, etc.

I know people will probably tell me that I'm taking this movie too seriously and it's a satire. That's the biggest problem with this film because it is trying so hard to be funny while having this serious message on how both political sides are bad. It does not know what to do with it or where to go with it. If this movie was in the hands of a better director such as Paul Verhoeven or Bobcat Goldthwait, this could have been a great movie.

At least this movie only runs at 90 minutes and it goes by quickly. Overall, I didn't like The Hunt (2020) at all and I can see why some people will enjoy it. I recommend watching Happy Hunting (2017) instead if you want a modern take on The Most Dangerous Game (1932).

Date: 7/27/2020
Viewed: Hulu
First Viewing

Note: I wanted to watch this movie since 2009 and I never had the opportunity too. I also knew nothing about the story of this movie other than some small details. Seeing that it's now available on Hulu (As of 7/27/020), I can finally sit down and watch this movie. After watching this movie for the first time, I thought it was great. I don't love it as much as Memories of Murder (2003) or Parasite (2019), but I still consider it to be a very noteworthy movie.

The movie has a moody atmosphere that really captures the tone of the story perfectly. Bong Joon Ho is able to create a thrilling story that puts you on the edge of your seat with many twists and turns. The movie has several scenes that made my jaw dropped on the floor because I didn't see it coming. The long run time is perfect for the movie because it gives the movie more time to create depth and development for the characters in the movie. You have many layers to the characters in the movie making them feel multi-dimensional. The fantastic acting from the actors also makes the characters feel so realistic. You can really feel the emotions in these characters when the actors are playing them on camera.

I really don't want to talk about the rest of this movie because you have to see everything else to believe it. I highly recommend this movie if you haven't already seen it.

Date: 7/27/2020
Viewed: Netflix
First Viewing

Note: This movie is the lowest rated horror movie in my watchlist and I don't even remember why I put this movie on my watchlist, to be honest. Seeing that this movie is now on Netflix (As of 7/27/020), I decided to give it a watch. I went into this movie expecting the absolute worst and I thought this movie was going to piss me off. Instead, I was like "Meh" after this movie was over.

This movie is very bad because the movie is boring and not much happens. I still have no idea what this movie is supposed to be about because the story goes by so fast and the subs disappear so quickly after the characters are talking. People thought The Tatami Galaxy was bad by having speedy subs, but this takes the cake in my opinion. Honestly, I didn't hate this movie because nothing about this movie made me angry that I wasted my time with it. I went into the movie hoping for garbage and I got what I wanted.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't like this movie at all and I will probably not watch it again. However, I don't find this movie to be offensive or god awful, to be honest. It's a super low budget movie that most people probably didn't pay for it when it came out (I doubt it came out in theaters) and there was no real potential for this movie. At least, the special effects are done in a so bad, it's good type of way. Not to mention, the synth music was somewhat decent. The movie being amateur in production almost gives it that shot on video vibe to it. I can totally see this movie being shot on VHS if it came out in the 80s or 90s.

The movie also tries to be atmospheric by having it be set on a cold windy day in the woods. I will give this movie some credit for trying. Overall, I didn't hate Romina and I have sat through worse. I'm going to forget this movie by the end of the week.

Date: 7/28/2020
Viewed: Criterion Channel
First Viewing

Note: This is another classic movie that I never saw before until now. I always knew about this movie for ages, but I never had any opportunity to watch it. I finally sat down to watch it on the Criterion Channel for the first time. Holy fuck, my stomach is still in my mouth. This movie was incredible. I'm totally speechless about this movie, to be honest.

I don't know what to say because everyone has talked about this movie to death and I'm not sure if I can add anything new to add. I love the movie's atmosphere because this movie feels so atmospheric. The atmospheric tone of the movie creates a haunting feeling of despair. You can feel the chills going down your spine when you see people get killed on screen. Not to mention, you can also feel the cold and dry weather that the movie has.

This movie has breathtaking cinematography because everything in this movie is wonderful to look at. You get a powerful story that feels like symbolic poetry in my opinion. The movie is a story that deals with anti-war and the impact that war has on people. In this movie, you get to see the main character go through the pain and suffering that he goes through when he sees that people that he cares about get killed. The movie reminds how terrible the Nazis were and how much of an impact that they left on the world. Even 75 years later after WW2 has ended, the evil impact that the Nazis created is still with us today.

This movie is over 2 hours long and it went by quickly in a good way. This movie didn't feel like it was over 2 hours long at all. There is not a single dull moment during the entire movie in my opinion. I also love how particularly effective the use of Mozart was in this movie. It was able to use music from Mozart without feeling out of place.

Overall, Come and See is a raw and powerful anti-war movie that is worth checking out. I highly recommend this movie.

Date: 7/28/2020
Viewed: Youtube
First Viewing

Note: I have always been curious to check out this movie for years because I always thought the story behind the Jonestown Massacre is very interesting. For people who don't know, the Jonestown Massacre was the largest single incident of intentional civilian death in American history before 9/11. You can find documentaries and history articles if you really want to dive in more on the topic.

This movie is directed by René Cardona Jr., who is considered to be the Ed Wood of Latin American cinema. It's still interesting that they made a grindhouse horror biopic of the actual events a year after it happened. It may not be the best adaption of the real-life story, I still enjoy watching this movie. I still think it was bad for them to make a movie based on a tragic event that happened so soon because it's gross and wrong.

Stuart Whitman did a good job on the lead role because he was able to play the part very well. Jim Jones was truly an insane man and the movie shows how crazy he was. The movie holds no bars back with the violence because you get to see many graphic scenes of blood in this movie. I do feel like when you are making a movie that is based on a tragic event where mass murder happened, you need to see how graphic and disturbing the event was. History should never be censored and people need to know how terrible the events of the Jonestown Massacre were. The Kool-Aid scene was so disturbing because you can feel the pain that these people were forced to go through. I had serious chills down my spine when you hear people screaming and crying that they were forced to die. I didn't think this movie would be able to pull off a disturbing scene so well, but it did.

It wasn't just adults that died, you had many children that were killed too. It's terrifying how people will blindly follow a self-proclaimed messiah, and we still see it happening today in the 21st century. I do like the music from the Jimmie Haskel and Alfredo Díaz Ordaz because it feels both haunting at times and catchy at the same time. This could have been a great or even a good movie, but the pacing ruined the movie for me. It takes a while for this movie to kick off and you had several scenes of not much happening. You had also had some changes to the real-life story that I was not too crazy about. I still want someone to do an HD release of this movie because the movie was not in good quality when I was watching it on Youtube. Some scenes look so dark that I had no idea what was going on.

Overall, Guyana: Crime of the Century is a flawed movie, but it is still interesting. The Jonestown Massacre is a major event in history that we need to teach people, and we can never forget about it. After all, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to relive it. Even though the 1980s Guyana TV movie is a better-made film, I still think this movie is worth a look, especially if you like history.

Date: 7/28/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: I'm going to keep it short because I don't have anything new to say. This movie is still one of my favorite sci-fi movies that came out last year because I love the dark and atmospheric tone. This movie always reminds me of other works of science fiction such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gravity, Rendezvous with Rama, and The Black Hole because it has a similar vibe to them. Some people really dislike this movie for being slow and having gross moments. I can understand that, but that was never an issue with me.

I still highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi movies.

Date: 7/29/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Re-Watch

Note: It's been a while since I have seen this movie and I decided to revisit it for the 35th anniversary (I know I'm a month late). It's not as good as the first two George A. Romero's Dead movies, but I still consider it to be an awesome movie in my opinion. I love the fun memorable cast of characters in this movie. I can't think of a single bad character in this movie, to be honest. Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman is a cool lead female character in a horror movie and Joseph Pilato as Captain Henry Rhodes is a total badass. I also love Terry Alexander as John and Richard Liberty as Dr. Frankenstein are also both very enjoyable characters too.

The special effects from Tom Savini are amazing, and they still hold up very well. I love how gross and slimy the blood and gore look in this movie because it does a great job showing how nasty they look. Tom Savini really knows how to create an authentic feeling of blood and gore when he is working on movies (As seen with Maniac, Dawn of the Dead, etc).

George A. Romero does a great job of making a claustrophobic horror movie by showing us the lack of human communication. The general theme of this movie is that the human race will collapse if we have no real communication with each other. Overall, Day of the Dead is still a noteworthy movie and I highly recommend checking it out.

Date: 7/29/2020
Viewed: TubiTV
Re-Watch

Note: I first watched this movie last November and I gave up on watching it because I felt like the movie was terrible. I think I was a bit harsh on the movie because I was not in a good mental state at the time. Seeing that it's currently on TubiTV (As of 7/28/020), I give this movie a second chance. To be honest, I still don't like this movie.

I do appreciate the aesthetics that this movie has because they did a pretty good job of making it look like it was recorded off an 80s TV set. I also like some of the gore effects in the movie too. Tom Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet, and Jon Salmon (The directors of this film) seem like really nice people and I do respect their passion to get this movie made. The reason why I dislike this movie so much because this movie is not funny at all. Dude Bro Party Massacre III wants to be like a Troma movie with the raunchy humor and it does a bad job at it. Many of the jokes in this movie are not clever at all in my opinion.

This movie is mostly filled with fart jokes, dick jokes, sex jokes, etc. and they get old fast. Being a parody movie is not a good excuse to be bad. You still have to put effort into your jokes and storytelling if you want your B movie parody to work. I decided to change my rating from a 1.5/10 to a 3/10. I still dislike this movie and I will probably not watch it again.

Date: 7/30/2020
Viewed: DVD
First Viewing

Note: This is a movie that I always wanted to see for so many years, but I had no way of watching it because the movie is only on VHS in the United States. It was never released on DVD or Blu-Ray in the United States at all. Back when I was in High School, we watched clips of this movie when learning about Franz Kafka, and we never watched it because the movie was not approved by the School curriculum. Thankfully, a friend of mine was nice enough to lend me a Region 2 copy of the movie and I end up watching it on my laptop. After watching this movie for the first time, I loved it. This may be my favorite Steven Soderbergh movie so far.

I do love how the movie is shot in black and white because it works well for the weird tone of the film. The movie has unique camera angles and surreal imagery that is very well done. I love how the movie feels like a classic film noir from Orson Welles while mixing elements from German expressionism in my opinion. Instead of doing a biopic of Franz Kafka, Steven Soderbergh did an original fictional story that does adapt elements from his stories.

Jeremy Irons does a great job as Franz Kafka, and I also enjoy Alec Guinness as Chief Clerk too. My favorite thing about the movie is the theme of the story which deals with Kafka being suffocated by the surrounding environment. Kafka is going through the seemingly endless trip with the surrealistic figures that he encounters. It reminds me how Naked Lunch from David Cronenberg was (Another movie that came out the same year) because both movies reflect the lives of the authors and how their journeys help inspired their creative works. You also have the movie that will later switch over to color representing the two worlds that exist in the film. I thought it was super cool on how they were able to handle that gimmick.

Overall, Kafka is a fantastic movie and it's a shame that it has no proper release outside the Region 2 market. Criterion really needs to give this movie justice.

Date: 7/30/2020
Viewed: 4K UHD
Re-Watch

Note: After rewatching Predators (Predator 3) a few weeks ago, I decided to revisit this movie. The last time when I saw this movie was when it came out in theaters. While I do agree it's the weakest in the franchise, I still enjoy it. I do think people do over hate on this movie because I don't think that it's that terrible. The main cast of characters in this movie are not as memorable as the ones in the previous movies. The main character in this movie is a typical military marine, and he is going through the typical divorce garbage that I'm so sick of seeing in movies. He is bland as a piece of paper in my opinion.

The other cast of characters in the movie are okay and I still have a hard time seeing Olivia Munn as a scientist, to be honest. However, I still think the movie is still a fun movie to watch because you have plenty of fun gory moments in the movie. It did felt refreshing to see a new original story instead of doing another rehash. I think it was nice to see that Predators have other reasons to hunt besides the thrill of it and seeing them updating themselves into stronger warriors was pretty cool. The humor in the movie is a mixed bag because the movie does have funny humor in it. Meanwhile, the humor in the movie can also be really stupid and annoying.

It's also hard not to talk about this movie without addressing the Elephant in the room which is autism being used as a tool for the story. I do admit it does feel nice that the autistic kid in the movie is treated with some respect and the movie does not shove autism down the audiences' throats. It still felt dumb that they use it as a main plot point and should have never been added to the movie. Also, the Predator dog severs no purpose in this movie whatsoever. Who thought it was a good idea to write that character into the movie?

Overall, The Predator is a decent movie and I only recommend it if you are curious. Rating: 6/10 (My original rating was a 7/10)

Date: 7/31/2020
Viewed: Youtube
First Viewing

Note: I finished all 31 movies of the July Horror Hunt and I decided to save the best for last. This is a movie that I always heard about growing up from other Japanese movie fans and I never had the chance to watch it. I finally got the chance to watch the movie on Youtube and this movie was amazing. This movie is pretty long and it does move pretty slow at times, but it is totally worth sitting through.

This movie is a samurai theme horror movie that deals with greed, betrayal, and vengeance. You have plenty of powerful emotional moments in the movie that really punch you in the gut. The graphic violence and the very creepy atmosphere really helps make the story feel even more powerful. You also have fantastic acting from a great cast of actors that know how to act by showing off their emotions. I love the black and white cinematography because it really captures the bleak tone of the story. I don't think this movie would have worked at all if it was shot in color. This movie is truly a special type of horror movie in the jidaigeki genre.

If you watch this movie hoping for actual demons to show up, you will be let down. The Asura in this movie is mostly used as a metaphor to show the mental state of a human being obsessed with greed and violence. This movie is also filled with so many brutal moments it will make your jaw dropped to the ground completely. I hate to sound like a broken record in my reviews, but you really need to watch this movie without knowing about the movie. You will really appreciate this movie if you go into this movie blind.

Overall, Shura is a masterpiece and I highly recommend watching this movie.

Date: 7/31/2020
Viewed: Blu-Ray
Rewatch

Note: I haven't seen this movie since I was a senior in High School back in 2008 when we had to learn about the Mississippi Burning murders in History Class. After watching this movie again, this movie holds up very well. Kino Lorber did a wonderful job of restoring this movie because it felt like I was watching a brand new movie. The movie has a great cast of actors and everyone did a wonderful job of acting on screen.

Brad Dourif is also great in this movie and most people never give him enough credit as an actual actor. People only know him as the guy who voices Chucky, and he is more than just that. Michael Rooker did a wonderful job of playing a bad guy as well. R. Lee Ermey is in the movie, and he does a good job as you would expect from him.

For a movie that is set in the 1960s, I feel like this movie is still very relevant in today's world. In this movie, we see many racist crimes happening and plenty of people get killed by white supremacists. You still see it happening in today's world such as the Charleston church shooting in 2015 and Unite the Right rally in 2017. This movie shows how terrible racism is, and we can't allow people to die in the hands of racism.

While the movie is not historically accurate, you still get a strong story with great drama and a solid message by the end of the day in my opinion. Overall, Mississippi Burning is a very important movie and it is worth checking out.