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Streaming
Andor (Disney+)
Star Wars or not, this is just great television! If your Star Wars needs to
have Jedi, aliens, and lots of action, this may not be for you. But if you enjoy
good writing and personal stories it's absolutely worth your time. It may seem slow at the start, but I promise you it all pays off. Cannot wait for the next season!
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)
Overall a pretty solid anthology of eight horror stories. I've seen Lovecraft fans not happy with the two adaptations here but I haven't read those stories in quite some time and thought they were decent.
Unsolved Mysteries (S3, Netflix)
Even though they spaced out the new episodes, I still went through them
quickly. I don't think I knew I had a thing for true crime until this series
started up. They're not all crime, a couple are unexplained phenomenon and the
UFO episode is pretty wild!
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022, Disney+)
This was a good way to revisit the Guardians again while waiting for the next movie. They do get into "wacky antics" but it's all good holiday fun. My one problem with it is what the flark happened to Groot?! He looks like he came from a third rate theme park.
Movies
This was shot during Universal's Halloween Horror Nights which matches up
perfectly with the premise of a slasher set inside a haunted attraction.
However, this thing is all over the map tonally. You've got your required
kills but there's also sitcom base-level humor complete with weird musical
montages. It feels like a bunch of friends making a movie because they can
which somehow makes it oddly charming even though it doesn't really deliver on
scares/gore.
Rating: 5/10
aka Top Gun The Maverick Awakens. I liked the original when it came out but
probably haven't seen it in 30+ years so I don't have all the love for it some
people do. This a lot of rehashing the original mixed with checking off action
movie trope boxes like it's Bingo night at the church. And did I mention the
Death Star trench run? For all these "gripes" the movie looks fantastic and the aerial stuff is
pretty thrilling the way it was shot.
Rating: 7/10
Hellhole (2022, Netflix)
This one is best seen without knowing too much. All I will say is that it's a
Polish movie set in 1987 that it involves demonic possession and cults. The
story is well laid out and there's that wonderful sense of dread that I adore.
I'm still mulling over the ending trying to decide if it fell flat or was a
brilliant choice.
Rating: 6/10
I got to see this with an audience which made it a lot more fun. From the
synth score to the masked killer to the over the top gore, it's an 80s style
throwback through and through. Unlike most 80s slashers, the villains don't
just show up and start hacking, they're actually introduced as characters. The
acting isn't always the best but hey, I'm here for a holiday slasher! Have you
ever seen someone murdered with a whisk? You will!
Rating: 7/10
This was a pretty good time. Some of the kids dialog can be stilted but they feel like a real group of friends that would fight off an alien invasion. It was shot around Baffin Island in northern Canada and the scenery is beautiful.
Rating: 7/10
I feel like I'm the last person to see these. For the most part, they're
decent action flicks, each one better than the last. These have to be the most
"video game" movies not based on a video game. The way they're structured I
felt like I was watching someone play a game. It's like cut scene - plot - goon
fight - plot - fight - plot - boss fight.
Several times, Wick is facing off
against nameless goons and it just goes on so long I lose interest...in the
action! I respect his professionalism and commitment to the double tap but
there's only so many times I can watch someone get shot in the head before it
loses the novelty. What really pulls me in though, is the world building
that expands with every movie. I always say if a movie makes me want an RPG
and/or video game based on it so I can spend more time there, they're doing
something right!
Ratings: 6.5 - 7 - 8
Monthly Total
New: 8 Rewatch: 0
Year to Date
New: 86 Rewatch:4
New: 8 Rewatch: 0
Year to Date
New: 86 Rewatch:4
I really like the first John Wick, and have seen it multiple times over the last few years. As for the sequels, 2 has it's moments, and 3, well, I only made it about 15 minutes in before stopping; it was just too over the top for me.
ReplyDelete3 did get a bit crazier but it livened things up for me
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