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Martyrs 2008
I loved the first 30/40 minutes of this as we're thrown into a world with little information and a terrifying mystery that then jumps into extreme action without really offering anything for the viewer to make sense of beyond the barest minimum. After the midpoint though, as the explanations start to come in, things got a little tedious. I understand that that might be the point, but knowing what is going on and not much happening is far less interesting…
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Halloween III: Season of the Witch 1982
Found this largely uncompelling and even bored at times, which may partly be my lack of enthusiasm for them removing Michael Myers from the equation entirely.
Truly out-of-place performances from everyone save for Dan O'Herlihy as evil Walt Disney (or just Walt Disney?).
Bit random, but, after watching this and the Fog, does Tom Atkins only pair up with costars who are ~23 years young than him?
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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 1988
Just a really well-done slasher featuring the Boogeyman himself, with an all-time killer of an ending (if only the franchise followed through on that promise).
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Shin Godzilla 2016
Anno does the most with the editing and camera movements to make bureaucracy as thrilling as possible, but I still wish there was more Godzilla because holy shit that night sequence is one of the best things I have ever seen.
Also baby Godzilla is equally adorable and upsetting with its giant googly eyes.
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2016 Favorites ranked -
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The Ordeal 2004
This surreal French homage to the Deliverance/Texas Chain Saw/Straw Dogs school of horror probably has a deeper meaning. Possibly it can be read as a French fantasy about rising up against America, with its scenes of everyday French villagemen terrorising the clean-cut entertainer "Marc Stevens". But whatever the point of it is, Du Welz's League of Gentlemen-style approach to the tale results in a first feature which is deeply entertaining and darkly, weirdly funny.
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The Ordeal 2004
Genuinely not sure what to think which I guess is good?
Feels like 80% Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 20% Straw Dogs with a New French Extremity twist.
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The Swordsman 2020
There are a lot of expository reveal flashbacks that honestly get a bit confusing, but goddamn the fights are good.
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2021 Favorites ranked -
Jurassic Park 1993
I've been noticing a tendency for some years now that is, to me, odd. Namely the veneration of Jurassic Park as a timeless classic and one of Spielberg's best. Until tonight I'd only seen it once, in the theater opening weekend in 1993, at which time the picture registered as a very skillfully done bit of Spielbergism, with some solid jump scares and an anticlimax of an ending. Not the worst thing I'd ever seen by any means, but when…
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