movies - Anecdotal Abe

Anecdotal Abe

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movies

A collection of 19 posts

The Batman: B-

A solid reboot of the Batman franchise, The Batman breaks new ground in several ways. It eschews the "Marvel-style" glossy, fun thrill ride in favor of a gritty noir style - it's firmly (and unrelentingly) dark, serious, and bleak. And Goth AF. It thankfully skips committing yet another variation of

Moonfall: B

Roland Emmerich movies are almost always ridiculous extravaganzas. Most of them are ludicrous enough and/or dumb enough to break my suspension of disbelief right away, so I'm not a fan in general. 2012 is an outlier for me: it's definitely ridiculous but it's also interesting, engaging, and compelling enough

Gerald's Game: B+

Gerald's Game: B+

I've enjoyed many shows and movies by Mike Flanagan over the past few years. I didn't know him by name after watching The Haunting of Hill House or Doctor Sleep although I loved both of those shows, but after watching Midnight Mass Mike Flanagan was solidified in my mind as

Colony: B+

This new Netflix post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie runs a tight ship. Things get going immediately with a handful of space colonists landing on Earth hundreds of years after they left it. The first act is pure action: fast, furious, and compelling. The second act transitions into interesting drama as we learn

Near Dark (1987)

Near Dark (1987)

I joined the trial version of "AMC+", a streaming service, just so I could watch Near Dark, a 1987 dark "neo-western" vampire movie that I've been wanting to watch but never had. Notable elements: * It was released a year after Aliens and stars three Aliens actors: Lance Henriksen (Bishop), Bill

Inhuman Kiss: B

Inhuman Kiss: B

Inhuman Kiss is a Thai supernatural horror movie with a bit of a tragic love story to boot. Set in rural Thailand of the 1940s, it tells the story of a young woman who is a regular girl by day but unwittingly turns into a demon called a krasue at

Freaks: B

After seeing a preview a while back, Freaks fell off my radar. It just popped up as iTunes' Movie of the Week so I gave it a try on AppleTV. Vaguely similar to 10 Cloverfield Lane, the protagonist of Freaks is a little girl whose father has always kept her

Dracula (2020 Netflix): B-

Dracula (2020 Netflix): B-

Dracula is a mixed bag. The Good It's definitely a fresh take on the old story and it contributes some interesting new ideas to the evolving mythos. It has the signature mysterious feel and mind-bending twists of series co-creator Steven Moffat (Sherlock, Doctor Who). The lead heroine, Sister Agatha, is

Knives Out: A

Knives Out is written and directed by Rian Johnson, who also wrote and directed The Last Jedi - a controversial and divisive movie which I was unhappy with. So for Knives Out I was skeptical of the direction, the writing, and the star-studded cast, which often signals an artsy, goofy

Stellar: Jupiter Ascending (A)

Rolling in on a wave of bad advance publicity, Jupiter Ascending is pleasantly amazing! Haters gonna hate, but I think adventure and sci-fi/fantasy fans gonna like this latest Wachowski venture. Ever since they scored a direct hit with The Matrix it's become apparent that the Wachowskis march to the

Army Bros: Alien Outpost (C+)

Set in the more-distant-than-it feels future of 2031 (where apparently we're using the same army uniforms, weapons, and vehicles as today), Alien Outpost is an unsubtle allegory about soldiers in "post-war" Iraq. Largely a "day in the life" pseudo-documentary about army base life, Alien Outpost slowly develops some reasonably interesting

Let's Be Cops: B

I came, I saw, I laughed a lot. I laughed really hard sometimes. The whole theater was laughing as well. Things get a little more serious and actiony towards the end. NBD, still good. Definitely not a waste of money and in fact is a good use of money. Check

Divergent: B

I finally saw "Divergent" on video tonight. I really enjoyed it! It didn't have a very compelling preview and it got mixed reviews so I was expecting a tedious action film that pulled its punches. I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find an engaging, taut, and gritty movie that gets

Odd Thomas: B+

After having a couple of friends recommend this movie I finally checked it out on Netflix. Really good! Based on a Dean Koontz book, Odd Thomas is the story a young man with clairvoyant powers who does his best to prevent murders and catch killers. Starring Anton Yelchin (AKA Chekov

Transformers: Age of Extinction: D

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me four times - well, I'm just fooling myself. I have no real reason to expect that Transformers movies would suddenly "get better" (I realize how crazy that sounds when I say it out loud) but there's always a part of me that

X-Men: Days of Future Past - B+

Generally well done, X-Men: Days of Future Past starts out slow and builds to a strong and satisfying finish. The film does slightly disappoint in two areas: First: I'm certainly not a fan of relentless action, but DoFP drags its feet a little too much for modern sensibilities - like

Godzilla (2014): C+

Godzilla 2014 starts off really well. It's dark, serious, and moody in tone, it explores an intriguing and eerie mystery for the initial third of the movie, and it seemingly provides a slow and thoughtful build-up of tension to an implied payoff of epic monster battle. The issues begin -

RoboCop (2014): B- (minor spoilers)

*What have I become?*This RoboCop remake is a technically excellent film that nevertheless lacks the heart and soul of the superb original - as well as the grim satirical humor, which is abandoned after a couple of cursory attempts in the beginning. Conversely the 1987 movie is still very

Vampire Academy: B

In a nutshell Vampire Academy is Veronica Mars meets Gossip Girl - with fangs. It's the story of two best friends - the charismatic, compassionate aristocrat Lissa and her savvy, tough bodyguard Rose - along with social intrigue, drama, action, and mystery at St. Vladimir's Academy. The film - based