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Iron Man 3 2013
I had some minor issues with Iron Man 3 - mostly that the story is treated as fairly featherweight while still feeling overcrowded, leaving little to really 'latch on' to at times. I also had a few problems with The Mandarin. Otherwise the action was top-notch and exhilarating - every major action scene had me wondering how they would top it with the next... and then Shane Black would do just that.
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Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge 1989
What a ridiculously terrible and hilarious movie. Featuring Pauly Shore in one of his earlier roles.
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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master 1988
The Dream Master might not be quite as bad as I recall, but it's still pretty... weird. Chock full of stupid shit that makes absolutely no sense (The dog pissing fire), even within the realm of the is-it-a-dream-or-isn't-it? framework. On the brightside, some of the effects are killer (another Letterboxd user rightly praises the Freddy re-birth and the icky cockroach transformation). Unfortunately, other scenes suffer from being undercooked, so to speak. Invisible kung-fu? What?
The Dream Master will mainly be…
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TerrorVision 1986
Ted Nicolaou directs this silly and entertaining creature feature goof for Charles Band's Empire Pictures. Gerrit Graham, Diane Franklin, Jon Gries and Jennifer Richards all put in gloriously unhinged cartoon-inspired performances, spitting out intentionally cheese-ball dialogue and one-liners.
Terrorvision seems to work solely because of how committed everyone - Ted Nicolaou included - is to the material. It also has a pretty wicked sense of humour. There's a fair amount of sincerity and love of the genre beneath all the lame gags and neon-lighting. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Terrorvision held up over the years.
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The Big Wedding 2013
Ouch - punishment flick for the See You Next Wednesday podcast.
This movie was the fucking worst. Horribly unfunny, stuffed to the gills with useless plotting devices, tired comedy tropes, not-so-subtle racism, terrible messages, and stupid-as-fuck gross-out humor. Worst of all, it pretends like it has some sort of emotional depth, despite not having earned a single iota of it.
Ouch, indeed.
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Taxi Driver 1976
Toronto screening with Paul Schrader in attendance. Great to see on the big screen, unsurprisingly still an incredible film experience. Albert Brooks kills me every time in this, he's so great even when he is just hiding behind a pillar in the background.
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Upstream Color 2013
I don't really know how to put Upstream Color into words, but I know that I've been thinking about it a lot since I saw it - and that I'm looking forward to watching it again and seeing how it holds up upon repeat viewing.
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Trainspotting 1996
Yes, I just watched Trainspotting for the first time. Yes, I pretty much loved it.
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Evil Dead 2013
I had a lot of problems with the Evil Dead remake - mostly with the characterizations, some acting, and small story issues - but it is an admirable attempt to update the original without being a complete carbon copy. I was happy to see that it wasn't all "Platinum Dunes" style sheen, and that it did have a fair sense of style with the imagery. I wasn't quite sold certain aspects of the plot entering the final third, but where it ended up taking the movie made me forget all about it - the finale was definitely the strongest point of the film.