EvilPhoEniX

An enjoyable teen comedy, not many of them are made anymore, so I had a good time. It's not as funny as I had hoped, maybe because of the lack of an R-rating (Good Boys is simply different in quality), but it's decent entertainment for a boring evening that doesn't offend, nothing more. The party could have been wilder and the girls could have let loose more too. 55%

An enjoyable action debut from China, with my favourite Andy On excelling once again. The plot is classic B-movie fare, there's a detective looking for his father's killer and we also have a guy whose daughter has been kidnapped by a criminal organisation that deals in people trafficking. The theme of people trafficking is a very popular one for me in these action movies, so even though it's nothing new, I'm happy. The best thing are the action scenes, they are very mature for a debut. Well choreographed, with great cinematography, they are gritty, even quite brutal. Andy On is again excellent in the action scenes and he's well supported by veteran Terry Fan, both do a great job here and I thoroughly enjoyed all the scenes. An honest old-school martial arts romp that passes by quickly thanks to the intense pace and likeable cast. Only for genre fans. 7/10.

There's this new found footage one on youtube, featuring the debut of Curry Barker, whom you may know from his good horror shorts (the excellent The Chair). He’s made a feature film for little money and it's surprisingly good! The film is only an hour long and is about a failed birthday prank that takes a very unexpected turn! The twist is quite unexpected, but what really got me was how this whole situation escalates to really disturbing and creepy proportions! It's got solid acting, decent dialogue, a very disturbing atmosphere. The whole thing feels very authentic, you believe this is really happening, and the finale is really traumatic, absolutely fucked up. The transformation of one boy into a human monster is really unprecedented! Good! Not for everyone, though, because of the form. 7/10.

I like Jeremy Saulnier's films and Rebel Ridge may not be one of my favourites, but it certainly didn't disappoint, even though I was expecting a more intense spectacle in some ways. The first half is excellent, I was downright impressed, it has a cruel and despondent atmosphere, a great Aaron Pierre, he commands respect and gets into a very uncomfortable position. The confrontation with the cops is also delivered very well, they're terrible scumbags, and the whole thing is very entertaining. I also liked the dialogues (army banter), but in the second half they drop the ball a lot, dealing with some kind of conspiracy with a lawyer, who is a completely unnecessary character and because of her the film loses its pace. So you hope for at least a satisfying finale, but the big problem here is that the protagonist is a good guy and realizes that he can't kill anyone, so the action is a bit bland without violence and rough kills, and that honestly bothered me quite a bit. Overall it's an interesting film, but it's more of a thriller with less action at the end, but it's well acted, well shot with a good script and decent atmosphere, just the pacing is quite jarring and the finale is not to my liking.

I have some mixed feelings about this one in the end. I found the plot quite uninteresting, there are only a couple of characters, the whole thing takes place slowly in one house and garage and it's not very engaging and attractive, on the other hand it's quite an interesting concept, the make-up effects were good and there was a little bit of grossness. It's a kind of demon body horror that's okay to endure, but unfortunately it's not a big hit. Pure average for me, but the demon definitely looked cool and unconventional, unfortunately it didn't appear much. 5/10.

The Italian version of Castle Freak! A great tribute to Italian trash films of the 1970s and 80s and the famous Lucio Fulci. The Well is a likable horror B-movie that looks slightly made for TV, the plot is pretty rubbish and it can't be said to be a good film, but the horror is functional and combines elements of the occult and exploitation, which I love and are very rare these days, so I can't be dissatisfied. The female lead is very pretty, the setting of an Italian castle, the disgustingly over-designed monster- or rather mutant (perfect make-up effects!!) and most importantly the excellent gore! Fuck me, some of the scenes were over the top, and the brutal scenes are surprisingly not few. It's got pace, it's functional horror-wise and fans hungry for gore and quality make-up effects can't complain, but it's not much for the average random no names. 7/10

How did this anticipated Korean thriller turn out? Solid! I liked it better than the recent Hijack 1971. Run Away was one of the anticipated South Korean films, it's quite a substantial and unconventional theme that I was looking forward to, and it's gripping, suspenseful and quite clever. The main character is a smart North Korean army sergeant who is even hailed as a hero, but he wants to make a shocking decision: to escape to the south for a better life! And so every day he secretly gets out of the base and maps out his surroundings, surveys the minefield, makes the perfect escape plan, but as it happens in such films, nothing goes according to plan and the main character goes from one crazy situation to another, and when you start thinking “this is hell, he's not getting out of this one”, there's a twist! The film has a brisk pace, the shorter running time of 90 minutes makes it really move along nicely, the main character is entertaining, all the situations are nicely suspenseful and clever, and the villain played by Koo Gyo-Hwan, a ruthless Major, is also great. The final half hour is more or less a duel between two men, with one risking his life to cross the line and the other doing everything he can to stop him. The highlight for me was the scene in the car, it was so intense! And the Korean Nomads were a delight! 7/10.

Apple has once again pulled out the stops and delivers an excellent crime drama driven by courtroom procedure and it's a blast! Jake Gyllenhaal, as a lawyer, is accused of murdering his colleague/lover and his colleague Peter Sarsgaard is hell bent on his neck. The first half of the series is a bit slower, but once we move into the courtroom, it's quite a ride. I haven't seen such a tense court atmosphere with perfect performances and great verbal shootouts in a long time (Anatomy of a Fall could learn something), and the final two episodes are great, there is twist after twist and the final one, well, that one blew me away. Gyllenhaal's speech in the finale is downright awesome, and there was no shortage of emotions either. The second season will be a different cast and a different case I suppose?? 8/10.

While the international acclaim and impressive trailers promised the event of the year and a film with a cult status in the style of Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs, the result is different and it shows in the final rating, which isn't around 80%. I for one have to say that I haven't enjoyed a crime film like Longlegs in a long time. There's more or less everything I love about the genre, the horror label is only there because of the satanic overtones and the supernatural, otherwise it's a proper crime thriller, with an increasingly better Maika Monroe on the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering families. Nicolas Cage doesn't appear until halfway through the film, but his devilishly creepy performance deserves praise. The atmosphere is suffocating and unpleasant, the audio-visuals are perfect (the sounds were very creepy), the acting is top notch, there were some nasty shots, though we don't get to see outright gore. I'm also happy with the ending, it gives the crime genre a completely fresh and original touch. I almost didn't breathe for most of the film despite the slower pace (I also praise the well written dialogues!). Good film. 8/10.

A Slovak gangster caper that would make even Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro sit on their asses, have a shot of whiskey and light a cigar! By our standards, it is a very good thing in the European style and it can compete with the Poles, the French and the Spaniards, I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. In my opinion the film suffers most from the fact that it is only half of the story, we have to wait until January for the big finale, and that is why I’m not giving it a full score, but otherwise great satisfaction. The atmosphere is intense and uncompromising! Milan Ondrik with his Pablo Escobar look is just perfect, the soundtrack and the technical side of the film are also amazing, the whole film paces perfectly and I didn't find any dead spots; there was sex, violence and murders, everything that a proper gangster flick should have. There could have been more violence, but I'll bite through it, because this 90s mafia Opus Magnum hit my taste exactly. 8.5/10.