Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead (2013) is my favorite horror movie, so I was very excited for this. Overall lots of things to like about this film: the world building in the first act is wonderful, the idea of the synthetic gaining/losing IQ is a neat touch I haven’t seen done before, and the practical effects and just general look of the entire film is epic. Those shots of the ship with the ring!
As a cursory Alien fan, I didn’t…
Just as creative as the first and executed perfectly. I really really enjoyed this.
I saw so much of myself in Riley, particularly as a kid who played a lot of sports growing up, and who even went to a few “camps”. A lot of those scenes were familiar - the overzealous coach, trying to fit in with older peers, the pressure to perform during a game. Actually looking back, I always associated sports with anxiety and this film makes…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
"Courage is the solution to despair, reason provides no answers. I can't know what the future will bring; we have to choose despite uncertainty. Wisdom is holding two contradictory truths in our mind, simultaneously, hope and despair. A life without despair is a life without hope."
I would never have expected a film about a reverend's struggle with faith to be so characteristic of the ills of our time, but Paul Schrader's "First Reformed" achieves something special.
In this post…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
An epic fantasy anime with lots of heart, Princess Mononoke is the first Ghibli film I ever saw, and it remains my favorite throughout the years. I still vividly remember my reaction to the grotesque, corrupted hogs and the uncensored, bloodied violence that takes place towards the beginning of the movie. As a kid, I was shocked that an animated movie could be so visceral. These more adult-forward choices are what elevate the movie over its peers in my mind, and while the movie still retains that childlike Ghibli wonder, it's much more serious, and the stakes feel real.
