mattflohr

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Reviews

Kotoko
(2011)

WOW
The Solid Metal Nightmares collection is amazing. Tsukamoto is a mad genius. I got to this film late in my watching but I think it might be my favourite one. Virtually everything about it is masterful. I love the way it plays with surreality, hallucinations, anxiety, and just about every emotion one can feel. I felt that I could instantly relate so much to all of it, both as a sufferer of mental illness and as a human being. The characters feel incredibly real, and Cocco's performance is spellbinding. Her musical, writing and artistic contributions to this film are staggering. Her character is so tragically broken, yet has so much inner power and grace that everything in the story feels earned. Shinya's direction and cinematography have never been better. This entire film had my rapt attention from scene one until the last frame. My hand was over my mouth constantly. I gasped and screamed. I laughed and I felt sorrow. It's such a wonderful, heart-wrenching, beautiful portrait of mental illness that I found very therapeutic to watch. This film completely blew my mind and needs to be seen by everyone.

Ang-ma-reul bo-at-da
(2010)

Does everything I love for 144 solid minutes. Epic on all levels
I Saw the Devil sees special agent Soo-hyeon (Lee Byung-hun) taking on vicious serial killer Jang Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik of Oldboy infamy) when the man brutally murders someone close to him. Soo-hyeon embarks on an odyssey of revenge and risks becoming a monster himself. Sound familiar? Well this film takes modern serial killer tropes and throws them out of a car window going full speed. When the cop catches the killer, mercilessly breaking bones and delivering other forms of brutality, he doesn't find satisfaction in the ideas of killing him or arresting him. Instead he lets him go again, giving him money, tracking his movements electronically. The killer goes right back to hunting victims and even meeting with a fellow killer who is a cannibal. The cop sadistically catches and releases him again and again, each time more bloodied and disfigured than before, but will he finally break and complete the ultimate revenge? Or will staring into the abyss be the cop's undoing? Both men become more and more unhinged over the course of the film; the more pain inflicted, the more the killer fights back, and the more desperate for closure the cop becomes.

This film is such a ride from start to finish. It's got great horror, tons of practical gore, thrilling suspense, heart-wrenching drama, poignant thematic beats, top-tier performances, and of top of all of this, it's a great ACTION film as well. It may sound like torture porn on first glance but it is so much more than that. There are a great many jaw-dropping fight sequences with fantastic camerawork and eye-popping stunts aplenty. Extremely inventive, shocking and unpredictable throughout. This film never lets up for the entirety of the runtime. It is absolutely brutal but it's absolutely entertaining as well and extremely well-made. One of my personal favourite Korean films!

Funny Games
(1997)

Characters are always slaves to the script that they're in
This is my fourth Haneke film after watching Cache, The White Ribbon and The Seventh Continent years ago. I thought they were all good but didn't demand a rewatch. After one viewing of Funny Games 1997 I immediately ordered the Criterion. This is easily my favourite of the Haneke films I've seen.

The long-take cinematography is top-notch, extremely tense and eventually harrowing. The acting is unbelievably good. Just when you think you've seen every side of a character they surprise with new emotions and expressions. One moment of explosive emotion near the end was particularly startling, because of how relatively quiet the performances and the relationships had been until that point. Susanne Lothar is particularly brilliant as the increasingly broken yet complex Anna. But I also rooted against her because she was very dumb. Then the movie asked me who I wanted to root for, and suddenly I wasn't so sure.

This movie subverts all expectations at every turn. Brutal violence happens just offscreen while a character casually makes a sandwich. Many things are implied to have happened offscreen in effectively chilling ways. The dialogues between Paul and Peter really got some laughs out of me and I love how they constantly try to guilt-trip and gaslight the family. It never becomes a full-on psychological thriller, but something else entirely. The family is almost comically useless which actually works somehow, and each one of them has a moment where hope is dangled in front of them only to be cruelly snatched away. I found myself rooting for the kid more than the parents, but then realized that it doesn't matter.

There are many surprising fourth wall breaks and winks to the camera. Arno Frisch's delivery of these moments is legendary. The film practically calls you a sicko if you enjoy it. And it tells you that it's cheating you. But the overarching subversion of genre tropes and screenwriting in general is really brilliant. The screenwriter in fact seems to be the one torrmenting the family, and keeping Peter and Paul in this endless loop of sick games.

Paul likes to think he's in control, with his rewind trick, but he's just a character in a movie too. The existentialist dialogue on the boat at the end kind of hammers this home. It also asks the question of the audience whether they want their expectations satisfied or subverted, and whether or not we accept challenging cinema or simply want to be comforted. I always want to be challenged and stimulated intellectually, and this film did that for me. Well done Mr. Haneke.

Rebel Moon - Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness
(2024)

Made me love Shredded Wheat again
Faithfully adapted from the seminal video game series Farmville, Rebel Wheat 2: the Cerealgiver is the new cinematic tv sci-fi farming epic from Zack Snyder. Takes the brilliant concept of Spaceballs: The Breakfast Cereal and runs with it. The best film of its kind since the sci-fi yeast farming saga Gentlemen Broncos. Probably the best wheat-farming cinematography ever put to screen. The endless shots of scythes slashing through the air in slow motion evoke the mortality of man and the great circle of wheaty life. And they make a man hunger for a good hearty breakfast. Beautiful stalks of golden deliciousness swaying in the space-winds and lens flares. And the shots of the grains gracefully flying through the air are a breakfast cereal lover's dream come true. Casting Wil Wheaton (and cameos from the band Wheatus) as the wheat was a stroke of genius, and he should definitely be considered for the academy award. Truly life-changing and tasty. During this film I drank 8 tall cans of German Weissbeer in celebration of its wheaty glory. My only question is, how do the bad guys know what tasty wheat tastes like? Maybe what they think tasty wheat tastes like actually tastes like oatmeal or tuna fish? Either way we all need more whole grains in our diets, and this film advertises this health benefit to great effect. I've since bought 10 bulk cases of Shredded Wheat and now it and wheat beer is all I consume.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things
(2020)

Fugue state poetry
Maybe I'm a Charlie Kaufman stan but this film is really exceptional. Not quite up to the level of something like Synecdoche New York, but that's my third favourite film of all time, so it's okay.

Experiencing I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a bit like thinking that you're awake, but then slowly realizing that you're having a strange dream, that continues to get more strange and uncanny, with no escape in sight. Like having a psychotic break, identity, time, and reality begin to fray apart and then merge back together into something else entirely. A beautifully mad kind of sense emerges from the weirdness, something that needs to be felt more than it needs to be pieces together. Are we awake or not? Who are we? When? It doesn't matter. It's intelligent, beautiful, captivating and the meaning can be whatever the viewer thinks it is.

Jessie Buckley instantly became one of my favourite actresses. The whole cast is great, but Jessie in particular is wonderfully nuanced and very well-suited to this type of challenging and surreal storytelling. She held my attention the entire way through. I will say that the story of the movie is pretty depressing and the ending is extremely baffling but I got a lot out of it. It's largely an existential dialogue between the two leads that is truly mind-bending and constantly made me think. It's a poignant relationship drama, a surrealist roller coaster and has loads of Kaufman's signature brand of quirky dark comedy, and I'm really appreciative of films like this. Just want to get it on physical media someday.

Kamera o tomeru na!
(2017)

A horror comedy gem, and surprisingly a heartwarming story about family
This film really took me by surprise. The first section of the film was campy and corny and I thought the trope of one-shot filmmaking wasn't very original and the meta-commentary felt tired. But 35 minutes into the film everything changes and the entire rest of the film makes the opening so much better, when all the corny moments begin to pay off in surprising and ingenious ways. The finale is so much fun, hilarious and brilliantly executed. All of the actors shine. It becomes a true love letter to gonzo indie filmmaking, and a touching story about family, friendship and overcoming challenges together. I didn't expect this movie to get me in the feels but it really did. I absolutely recommend everybody checks this one out.

Gokseong
(2016)

Top tier horror thriller
Just watched this finally for the first time. This movie left me nearly speechless. It has a slow burn buildup as it sets up the horror and the mystery, but patience is absolutely rewarded. The middle act is completely wild and the third act to the finale is the most bonkers thing I've seen in a long time. It's an absolute ride that threw me for a loop multiple times. Plot twists, mysterious supernatural occurrences, harrowing family drama, moments of wicked dark comedy, scenes of horrific bloody carnage, adrenaline-fueled revenge pursuits, this film has it all. The father and daughter deliver maybe the two best Korean performances I've ever seen. Absolutely heart-wrenching demonic or ghost possession drama. Possibly a disease or zombie outbreak. Maybe witchcraft or necromancy. You never have any idea where it will go next or what the truth is until the end. The story has poignant themes about scapegoating and mob mentality. But also about normal people faced with forces completely beyond their reckoning. The character arcs are perfect. The pacing is perfect. The gore and makeup effects are top notch. The cinematography isn't the best I've seen from Korea but it services the story very well by not doing too many things too often. There are some great shots in this movie of course but it's all part of a balanced, focused whole. The direction is impeccable. A jaw-dropping film on almost every level. One I will definitely be rewatching as well.

Ripley
(2024)

I love the Mingella film but this is so good that it puts it to shame
I have not read the books or seen Purple Noon, saw Ripley's Game which is decent, but this feels like such a better adaptation than the Matt Damon one. That film gave too many motivations to the character, oversold the importance of his sexuality, made Dickie an unsympathetic bully. Here it's more intriguing by being more simple, Tom's actions seem more morivated by pure jealousy, but are also somewhat ambiguous, which I think works so much better. Making him more straightforward and focused actually makes the character more interesting whereas the movie's choices undercut him. "He's too weird to have a normal sexual relationship" says Margie in episode 4, and in this whole scene she really gets him in a way that Mingella's script never did.

Still working my way through the episodes, but it's already a 10. Scott, Flynn and Fanning all deliver tremendous performances. I really think Flynn in particular is going to get a lot of attention after this role. I also liked him in The Outfit. I also want to say that the legendary Robert Elswit's cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen on a small screen. The black and white is so gorgeous, and the shots so Imax-level huge it feels like I'm watching the arena scene from Dune 2 again. There's a sense of scale, attention to detail and nail-biting suspense that reminds me of Hitchcock, particularly in episode 3 which feels like an homage to him, and it's masterful.

Andrew Scott's understated brilliance also carries nearly the entire show, with his sinister intelligence coming through in the ways he meticulously enacts his plans, but it feels like there's always a chance he won't get away with it. I love the pure luck of some of the things that happen in his favour. Blatantly showing people the passport with the wrong photo is a huge risk. Makes me think he's after the life but also the adrenaline rush of it all. There is no inner monologue from Tom, everything about him we learn visually and from how he speaks. Sometimes to himself. Sometimes to his ghosts. Sometimes putting the pieces of the character together yourself is more fun than having the whole picture handed to you. Ripley is nuanced, challenging, suspenseful and undeniable. A must-watch.

Midsommar
(2019)

The perfect breakup movie
Midsommar is a film that gets better each time I watch it, I finally got the DVD and it's a more than worthy addition to my collection. So nych more than just s horror film. It's not just visually and atmospherically unnerving, it's loaded with nuance, subtext, and foreshadowing details that pay off very satisfactorily. Basing it all on real cultural practises is both respectful and poignant. Florence Pugh's performance is a 10/10. She's strong, but vulnerable, damaged, but capable. Broken and triumphant. She's gone through hell, stands strong and still gets treated like a nuisance. Her boyfriend tries but he doesn't really understand her. He lets his douchey friends push him into resentment and negativity. This story is at its heart about letting go of the things in life that hold you back. And not fighting back against the inevitable. And Dani finds a way through her pain, a path of strength and endurance, a path of fire and blood. This is an extremely good film on all levels.

Nightmare Alley
(2021)

Sloppy, meandering
Really expected more from Guillermo. Performances are okay, particularly from Rooney Mara. However this film has boring style and a dearth of substance. Technically it's dull and safe. Doesn't have Del Toro's signature stamp on it. Story and character beats fall flat, the subject matter feels too familiar and obvious in the modern day, dialogue is clunky and inaudible, and at several points is totally mismatched to the movement of the characters' mouths. Editing issues abound, both structurally and within scenes. Bradley Cooper is serviceable but overrated in my opinion, and he fails to elevate this material. Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, and Holt McCallany are totally wasted. David Straithairn is pretty good. Toni Colette is excellent. Richard Jenkins I would watch read the phone book. But the story doesn't pay off the good performances in any satisfying way. The ending falls flat. Overall would not recommend.

Mandy
(2018)

It shouldn't work at all... but it does
Panos Cosmatos delivers a very solid blow to the pineal gland in this absolutely exhilarating psychedelic grindhouse throwback. A blood-soaked odyssey through realms both tangible and phantasmagorical. Enchanting and horrifying.

Demon bikers, drug trips, evil cultists, visions from other worlds. All of this and more wonderfully realized on camera, Cosmatos truly showing his technical mastery. The narrative is basic but that never matters. It's endlessly entertaining. This film is wild but if you let yourself get immersed in the eye-popping visuals, the unhinged weirdness, and the heavy metal of it all, you will not be disappointed. It's somehow absolutely brilliant, an unforgettable cinematic experience.

The whole cast completely sells this story and more, but Andrea Riseborough feels like something from another world, and Nicolas Cage is astonishing beyond words. His transformation throughout this film is mind boggling. He goes from an everyman to a broken man, to a man remade, reforged. The action sequences are excellent and he absolutely embodies the spirit of a warrior imbued with divine purpose.

The script is jam packed with insane moments and instantly memorable one-liners. My only negative is that some of the more surreal elements just seem to be there for no reason, such as the insect-sting drug and the caged tiger. Think David Lynch but the worst parts of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. It all looks interesting but I'm lost to explain what some of it means. But this film does have heart and substance so I forgive its few indulgences.

Films like this and Beyond the Black Rainbow are proof that you can take any ludicrous idea and make it work on screen through hard work and meticulous execution. I for one cannot wait for the next film from this mad genius.

The Green Knight
(2021)

Best fantasy film in years
What an underrated gem this film is. Rich, beautiful and enchanting from start to finish. Dev Patel owns the screen as do Sean Harris and Alicia Vikander. Barry Keoghan is brilliant as always. Kate Dickie also needs to be in everything ever. After seeing Dev in Monkey Man and loving it I had to go back and watch this. I'm very glad I did and on physical dvd as well. The cinematography is like a moving painting. The music is haunting and immersive. The story is absolutely brilliant, very intelligent themes throughout, much celebration and subversion of mythology and archetypes, many surprises and a great many things to ponder. Great poetic dialogue that adds to the wonderful atmosphere without feeling stilted. Swept me up like an intoxicating dream.

Immaculate
(2024)

Zzzzz
Not a good horror film. Sydney Sweeney tries but nothing about this grabbed me. Right from the opening scene most things that happen are completely pointless. None of the women wear bras and you can constantly see their nipples through their clothes. Very pedestrian. Obvious jump scares. Cheesy religious overtones and a derivative story you've seen a million times. Performances are forgettable. There is little direction to speak of. Visuals are boring. The music is okay. Characters I didn't care about. Main girl is too squeamish to butcher a chicken, but does it later anyways just for a selfish reason, which happens offscreen with no impact on her character. Plot is ridiculous nonsense. Script and editing is a mess. Extremely predictable. Totally humorless. Almost fell asleep in the theatre. Zero artistry, zero scares, felt long at 90 minutes.

Monkey Man
(2024)

Art-house action spectacular
Monkey Man is the new action film from first time director Dev Patel, who also stars in, wrote and produced the film. On all counts his work here is excellent. He lays it all on the line and his passion is in every frame. The film is a stylish smorgasbord of violence and beauty loaded with interesting cultural themes and wonderfully executed fights and stunts. The story is a predictable hero's journey but that's okay. The film's sweeping, dreamlike visual storytelling and rock-solid performances more than make up for it. The blockbuster fight sequences rival those of modern classics like John Wick and The Raid. Best camerawork I've seen in years. It's gritty, kinetic and visceral. My favourite part is when the trans people get in on the fighting. Great lgbtq representation. If I have one complaint it's that the accents were a bit too thick at times to understand. Might rewatch with subs. I had a great time seeing this on the big screen, many people clapped at the end and I was one of them. Big recommend!

Edit: I just watched it a second time and noticed numerous cool details that I missed the first time, and have subsequently upgraded my rating to a 10/10 :)

Late Night with the Devil
(2023)

Fun and interesting
Had a great time seeing this last night on the big screen. A friend from work recommended it. I've liked David Dastmalchian in everything I've seen him in so far, and he doesn't disappoint leading this indie gem. His performance is understated but very entertaining. The supporting cast is also excellent, in particular Ingrid Torelli as Lily taking the trope of a demon-possessed little girl and making the role unique and very spooky. Great quirky tone and atmosphere keeps the proceedings fairly light and gleefully creepy. The film has a lot of laughs, many gasps, nice sound design, lots of great practical gore effects, and nice digital effects working well with the 70s feel to the cinematography. The story is well thought out, full of little clues and details that elevate it beyond a typical genre piece. The ending makes a lot of sense and left me thinking about it a lot. It's not a masterpiece but definitely a cut above most horror fare that gets released these days. Definitely worth seeing and supporting!

Dune: Part Two
(2024)

One of the greatest films of all time. The most immersive cinematic experience since Lord of the Rings
I love all six original books. I've now seen this three times so far in Imax. This film is perfect in every way. Passionately realized from start to finish. The performances, the music, the visuals, the sound design, the worldbuilding, the props, the story. Everyone who says it's narratively hollow has likely not read the books. Anyone with a real understanding of the Dune universe will appreciate how honestly and bravely it approaches its subject matter, how it nails every idea and theme that Frank Herbert crafted, and the importance of where it goes from here.

I love everything. Not a scene, word or frame feels out of place. Every speck of sand feels immaculately placed. Cons? Maybe Florence Pugh's delivery is at times stilted. . Information is repeated at a few points... But I would change virtually nothing. Denis Villeneuve has achieved his dream and the dream of many other filmmakers before him. The visuals are unforgettable but the film is also filled with substance, emotion, gravitas, romance and even humor. Javier Bardem in particular is so wonderful to watch on screen that I would consider him for a best supporting actor award. The whole rest of the cast also delivers near career best performances. Austin Butler is a revelation as the sadistic but complex Feyd Rautha. Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista are everything you want them to be and more. Souheila Yacoub lit up the screen. Rebecca Ferguson is equal parts terrifying and enchanting. Charlotte Rampling and Lea Seydoux - stellar. Zendaya has never been better. Timothee Chalamet cements his place as one of the best actors of his generation, playing one of the most complex characters in all of science fiction and nailing every nuance. He absolutely commands the screen.

This film is like a moving painting, utterly gorgeous. Completely spellbinding. I didn't want to leave Arrakis at the end. It feels like the kind of film I've waited all of my life to see. I feel very happy to be alive in this time and place to witness it and I thank every single person who worked on this film, every person who dreamed and willed it to be, Frank Herbert and David Lynch, and humanity as a whole for accepting this universe into their hearts and making it a success. Dune Part 2 is titanic, psychedelic, dark, intelligent, complex, sumptuous, and spectacular. Made with absolute care, respect and love in every regard. I don't want to say too much else except that everyone should see this masterpiece and I hope the series continues into Messiah and beyond. It is a cinematic dream come true. I daresay the best science fiction film ever made. Possibly my favourite film of all time.

Outlaw Johnny Black
(2023)

Has some flaws, but also has a lot to like
Flaws:

It's a bit long and heavy on plot

Not much action and some poor computerized effects

It's a bit uneven, silly sometimes and dry at others

I've seen some of these jokes before like the "stretching my calf on the windowsill" one or the lamp-broken-by-erection gag

It's a bit racist towards Native Americans, who are all played in a silly way by white people and people of other ethnicities but this could also be seen as a clever sendup of other westerns that have done this unironically. Indian-Canadian Russell Peters has a nice cameo as the Native chief.

Pros:

Michael Jai White is amazing, hilarious, and can still do great stunts. And his writing and direction of the film are pretty good too. He and Byron Minns really show off their acting abilities a lot more than they did in Black Dynamite which is nice to see.

The story is engaging though some of it's twists feel sitcom-ish. The messages about faith, revenge, forgiveness, justice, community and truth are poignant. This movie has a good heart.

The movie isn't always extremely funny, sometimes it's focused on plot and that's okay, especially in the first act, but when it does go for laughs they mostly hit big time. The ensemble cast that comes together in the second act really propels this film into truly gut-busting hilarity. Erica Ash in particular delivers one of the funniest performances of the film and deserves recognition.

Overall it's not as funny as Black Dynamite, but it's not trying to be, it's a totally different animal. It's in some ways better than that film. It's more structured and less screwball. Feels like a lot of heart was put into making it. By taking itself just a bit more seriously it's able to tell a really good story while still being fun and funny. It's definitely not perfect but I enjoyed it enough to get the dvd! Great job MJW and crew!

Poor Things
(2023)

Lanthimos does it again
Poor Things is a wonderful, weird erotic black comedy fantasy film from the director of The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite. His deadpan absurdist humor is on full display here and the visual style of the film is gorgeous. His fish-eye camera that he used in The Favourite shows up again here, though sparingly and effectively. Here the disorienting style of cinematography adds to the feeling of the strange steampunk world the characters inhabit. The colours are eye popping but the film also contains some very nice black and white sequences. The musical score is also very unique and kind of mesmerizing.

Every actor in this film is great. Dafoe, Youssef and Ruffalo are all very good and Dafoe in particular remains one of the best actors working today. But of course this is Emma Stone's film and she owns it from start to finish. She's bluntly hilarious, effortlessly sexy and fascinatingly feministic.

The story is a really good, honest exploration of modern womanhood, romance, sexuality, freedom and love. It never feels woke or anti-men. By exploring her sexuality in healthy ways she continually grows and gains understanding of herself and the world. There is a lot of sex in this movie and though I wasn't really in the mood to be aroused by it, I never felt disengaged by it. Bella chooses to be a prostitute in Paris in order to learn about life and the film has powerful things to say about people that choose to be sex workers, and it dismantles a lot of the stigma that people often have about it.

This movie is really weird but I love films like this. Half-pug half-chicken creatures? Sure why not? Weird naked men doing sexualized crab-walks? Go for it! Characters burping acid bubbles into the air? Okay! It takes huge swings at every turn and hits nearly all of them. I hope and feel like this will be a major award winner this season and I hope more people check out other Lanthimos films. He continues to be one of the most interesting and audacious filmmakers working today.

Terrifier 2
(2022)

Oh yeah.
Damien Leone is a wizard of gore. Art the Clown is so much fun. I had to get both of these on dvd. Been working on my collection and these films were needed. This world needs films like this. Absolutely unhinged and ultraviolent but with an undercurrent of gleeful dark humor. Takes everything that made the first film great and cranks it up beyond all limits. The film is full of huge surprises and unforgettable characters, my personal favourite being the little girl clown who is jaw-dropping. Her performance is extremely impressive and David Howard Thornton owns the screen again. He's effortlessly... terrifying... and absolutely hysterical. Leone's direction and story are ambitious and the film manages to succeed in every crazy thing it does. The Clown Cafe sequences in particular are a stroke of genius. The weird fantasy twists near the end? Sure why not! People somehow surviving impossible amounts of pain and mutilation only to get literal salt dumped on them. Maybe it's my sense of humor but I love stuff like this. Looking forward to part 3!!

Hobo with a Shotgun
(2011)

Canadian tax dollars well spent
This movie is absolutely bonkers. Unabashedly vulgar and profane from start to finish. Filled with some of the strangest happenings, dialogues and characters I've ever witnessed. This movie does not care. It's pure blistering grindhouse.

Brian Downey is great as the deliciously evil villain The Drake. He's wild and unhinged and a lot of fun. I remember seeing him on the series Lexx as well which was also excellent. Robb Wells of course from Trailer Park Boys gets a great scene in the early part of the film. The scene also sets the tone with a sexy girl dancing in a geyser of blood for some reason. It's best not to question things too much here. This movie has tons of gore and great action but also a lot of dark comedy. There is also a great amount of sexual humor to be had. The script is filled to the brim with memorable lines, which are also sometimes completely ridiculous. This is fine. There's something of a visionary quality to all of this insanity. It's often extremely inventive and surprising. The filmmaking is top notch. The crazy lighting, the film grade, the crazy Dutch angles, and the incredible energy of the cameras, I love it all.

Rutger Hauer is incredible in this film. His performance is really the lynchpin of the whole thing. He gives humanity, gravitas, and intensity to this character in a way that few actors probably could have. Molly Dunsworth is great too, daughter of the late great John Dunsworth and sister of Sarah Dunsworth who also did costume design. And of course well known Canadian television personality George Strombolopolous has an ingenious cameo. The Nova Scotia production of this film is to be commended and I wish we had more Canadian films like this and directors like Eisener who are willing to risk it all to bring something this wild to the screen.

Trailer Park Boys: Jail
(2021)

Exceeded my expectations
The boys continue their reign of Canadian stoner comedy glory from behind bars in their most recent series. I love everything about this. So many huge laughs and some heart as well. All the performances are still on point. All the people they got back are awesome. Randy, Alex, Corey and Jacob, Tyrone, all get great moments to shine. The writing is brilliant. Bruce McCullough directs with a perfect balance of focus and sillyness. Dave Lawrence from Fubar is awesome to see here. The guards are hilarious. But of course it's all about the insane hijnks the boys get up to behind bars. I can't wait to see what they get up to in season two. This show is much better than the majority of their Netflix episodes. Jaw droppingly funny and wonderfully ridiculous! Enjoy and puff puff pass.

Hausu
(1977)

A bizarre, baffling, wonderful piece of cinema
I love this film so much. Kimiko Ikegami stars as Gorgeous and she fits the name, but really this whole film is gorgeous. Even when things look objectively cheap or ugly, it doesn't matter. The sheer energy of this film is like a hurricane. All of the women are incredible and stunningly beautiful. But looking past the 'fanservice' which this film does have plenty of, these are all extremely memorable and fun characters. Even if they seldom develop past their archetypes, it doesn't matter. The story uses their character traits against them in some very artistic and thought-provoking ways. It expresses the fears of a child with extremely striking imagery and very entertaining spookiness.

Kung Fu is an absolute blast. Gorgeous is solitary and mysterious. Fantasy is an excellent lead girl. The Aunt is an incredible villain. The rest are fun and all the performances are great, but it's the visual style that really makes this one a home run. The director uses every crazy idea in the book here and somehow they all work. It's hard to do it justice with words, you really just have to experience it and let it take you where it wants. The film ends with an incredibly moving song called Yes I Thank You by a group called Godiego and I absolutely adore it. I'm proud to say that this is my first Criterion DVD as well, and it will not be the last. Hausu is a timeless masterpiece that everyone should see!

Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare
(1987)

What's not to like??? Unironically pretty good
So this movie was practically begging me to buy it on DVD. I'm a Canadian hoser, I love Canadian bacon, I live in Toronto, lived in Mississauga where I can attest that there are absolutely no groupies, I'm a big metal fan, usually the more extreme side. But I like the music in this movie. Jon Mikl Thor absolutely rocks. And I love all kinds of movies. When I started looking into this "B" cult movie made the year I was born I realized that it wasn't a B movie at all. This is a very solid movie. The director John Fasano (RIP) did a really impressive job filming this in just 7 days. And his direction is actually really good. The atmosphere is great, the rock is great, the story from scene to scene makes sense, even though the script overall is pretty bad, but it's got great twists, memorable characters, tons of romance and hot steamy love scenes and a lot of fun horror effects. Great camerawork, editing and all around good filmmaking. There's not too many things here you might expect from a typical "bad" movie. I honestly don't believe this deserves a 3.8. I'm aware that the endless driving was added to pad the movie. The final two shots are completely inexplicable. And the absolute cheese of some of the acting and the final fight scene don't detract from my enjoyment. It's absolute magic. The behind the scenes footage on the dvd is wonderful too. This movie is an insane amount of fun and I highly recommend it to metal fans and horror fans alike!

Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar
(2023)

A great finale. Epic and entertaining from start to finish
Army of the Doomstar is everything a Dethklok fan could have hoped for. It's got laughs, it's got callbacks, it's got great cameos, all your favourite characters, Doctor Rockso singing Amazing Grace is a standout moment. Tremendous animation. Some truly horrifying scenes particularly with Murderface that really hit. It's very cinematic and extremely well made. All the epic craziness you expect from the band of course. My personal favourite Pickles is hilarious here and also really shows his leadership qualities. His speech about the importance of another character sucking is immortal.

This film has something that you might not expect from a film about an extreme death metal band: It has heart. It tells a challenging story about trying to find one's deepest truth. About people from different walks of life coming together as brothers. About redemption, forgiveness, and the power of music to change the world. It's extremely poignant and surprisingly moving.

Many fan-favourite characters meet a gruesome and heart-wrenching demise. And I felt something for each and every one and that's something I can't say about the animated series, whose forays into gore-soaked mayhem sometimes became tiresome and repetitive. But here they mean something. A character goes down and it's a punch to the gut. You think a character might go down and you're on the edge of your seat. Mark Hamill gets killed off and it's a million times better than his death scene in The Last Jedi. The fans showing up and the zombie chef from the first episode making a cameo in the final battle floored me completely. I almost shed a bloody tear.

As a long-time fan, thank you to everyone who made this film possible. It's absolutely beautiful. Wonderfully absurd. Perfectly hilarious. And oh yeah it's pretty metal too :)

Double Down
(2005)

Edge-of-your-Breen thriller
Neil Breen's debut feature film Double Down stars Neil Breen as Neil Breen, a genius computer hacker and rogue government agent and bioterrorist and vigilant killer and former air force pilot who is tasked with destroying Las Vegas with bioterror, which Neil Breen made himself.

Neil Breen can control satellites and nobody notices. Nobody can track Neil Breen even though Neil Breen has a tracker in his arm. Neil Breen has an invisibility shield that also kills things that touch it which seems like it would be bad for the environment, but isn't. Neil Breen is also sort of a bad character, at least compared to Neil Breen's messianic figures Neil Breen portrayed in later films. Neil Breen is torn between stopping terror and causing terror, which is quite the moral conundrum for Neil Breen. But Neil Breen is also tormented by visions of Neil Breen's murdered wife and of the two of them as kids. Neil Breen also has a special rock and a lot of army medals. And Neil Breen only eats tuna. Truly Neil Breen is a complex and interesting character.

Stuff happens. High-octane action thriller stuff. People talk to each other very seriously. Mike Brady delivers a standout performance as Agent. Seriously, pretty good. Neil Breen climbs mountains. Neil Breen broods and talks to Neil Breen's dead wife. Neil Breen sleeps in Neil Breen's car and sometimes outside of Neil Breen's car in the middle of the day in the middle of the desert. Neil Breen calls some people on Neil Breen's satellites and tries to stop the terrorist attack that Neil Breen caused. But will Neil Breen be in time to stop Neil Breen? Can anyone? Watch Double Down and find out :)

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