Last Seen Contemporary Movie

[Tommy Jarvis]

Malcolm X 1992

This one has been sitting in my DVD collection for so long that I cannot even remember how it got there in the first place.

As a biopic, it has the merit that it does not sugarcoat things off the way other biopics do. It shows X's ugly side as well, like with his coke problem. It also does not shy away from the notion that, in spite of their talk of elevating, some people within the Nation of Islam were not above all too human treats like petty jealousy – brother Malcolm gets too much attention – or Malcolm's disappointment in Elijah Muhammad.

Now if you are not fully immersed, these epics tend to drag a bit here and there. As a viewer with a bit more distance from the subject matter, I sometimes if a few more cuts could have helped the tempo. That said, I understand that a lot of these details were necessary to paint the picture needed to understand the complex person that is Malcolm X. Where he came from, what he (and his family) had to endure on the way to become the person he ended up being.

With a lot of beautiful shots in the process. Because let's not forget that this is a technically very accomplished film. People talk about Denzel being snubbed, but an award in on of the technical categories ( likeediting or cinematography) would have been welcome, not to mention directing. Spike Lee turned this into a passion project. He really goes out of his way to turn this an epic historic immersing the viewer in the historical significance of X.

And if you thought young Will Smith was charming... Good lord. He had nothing on Denzel.

Lowlifes 2024 ★★★★

Talk about a pleasant surprise.

The plot synopsis and the opening had me set up for some Texas Chainsaw/Hills Have Eyes-ish mayhem with city slickers being tortured by hicks from the sticks. But then... sweerve!

People say the twist was predictable and judging from similar titles like Little Bone Lodge, one could see why. For me, however, it came out of nowhere and for the rest of the movie's runtime, it had me hook, line and sinker.

Rather than a genuine feast of scares, it turns into a dark comedy. And a good one at that, mind you. Fairly early, it gave me an idea about the final survivors, but the screenwriter still does a good job in keeping you guessing with some twists and turns.

The characters are often a bit stereotypical, but I liked them. Wether it was the Roy Scheider looking dad or the daughter (who kind of gave away a Maya Hawke-vibe). And to be honest, it was in the writer's interest to make the guys in the opening scene as cliché redneck as possible. Raising the question: is it harder to write a likable character or make an unlikable character interesting enough to keep you invested in the story?

In closing: a) don't sleep on this one and b) the less you know going in, the better

[Tommy Jarvis]

Roadkill 2024 ★½

A Hitcher-knockoff with a twist that's pretty obvious 20 minutes in, making the later reveal a tad underwhelming. And the reveal with the cop is ridiculous.

Nonetheless it's still an entertaining mess of B-movie schlock. With the type of offscreen kills and horrible greenscreens that are kind of adorable in their own way. Also, we get a bit of Danielle Harris, but her character is completely irrelevant to the story.

Half star extra for the coroner with the Friday the 13th T and a separate mention for the weed scene. I believe this strain is called Nancy Reagan.

For fans of B-movies and/or Danielle Harris.

Tarot 2024 ★

A crossover between Final Destination (minus the gore) and Evil Dead (without the intensity or the fun).

The result is Womp Womp the movie, where the “best” parts only remind you of better movies.

Character: Death is coming for me.
Tony Todd: And you don't wanna fuck with that mack daddy.

Character: You're bleeding.
Jesse Ventura: I ain't got time to bleed.

Character: Fuck faith.
Me: Hey! You leave Buffy out of this!

Also why do the above mentioned have… more

Liz Drives 2017 ★★★

A solid short with two sisters traveling to see their mother.

It's a decent moodpiece with the tension under the surface while they travel. Then they stop to get gas and a snack before everything goes south, leading up to a creepy ending.

Decision to Leave 2022 ★★★★

A very stylish and visually impressive thriller with a vibe that reminded me of Hitchcock.

One that also demands a rewatch some time in the future.

Well recommended, that's for certain.

[Tommy Jarvis]

28 Days Later 2002 ★★★★½

One of those gems that easily survive and even improve upon a rewatch.

Upon this rewatch, I appreciated how well structured the opening scene with the animal activists was. Not one shot too much. You see just enough to get a full picture of what's going on.

Then of course, there is the iconic image of Cillian Murphy in an abandoned London. A logistic masterpiece to get that all worked out. Only making you wonder if it gives more chills before or after Covid. Not in the least helped by that amazing song by Godspeed you black emperor.

Speaking of which, the score deserves a separate nod. Apart GYBE, there's Grandaddy accompanying the standard zombie flick shopping scene. I had kind of forgotten how beautiful that song is and upon this rewatch, I was also struck by the timing. How this song coincides with the relief after a nailbiter of a chase sequence.

Bringing me to the action scenes. Wether it's Jim being chased by the infected or the flat tire scene I just referred to. Edge of your seat stuff. No reinventing the wheel, bust excellently done thriller stuff and the horror of the scene where Frank is infected. With the relatableness of the characters helping in further intensifying the horrors they go through.

On this rewatch, I got around to flipping through the extras. While I like the ending as it is, I am also piggybacking between the more optimistic ending we have now and the one where Jim dies. I can imagine that working as well.

Up a half star from my previous rating. Great stuff.

The Pope’s Exorcist 2023 ★★

Between an unconvincing Russell Crowe, atrocious CGI, a dull plot and clichés like the ever growling "devil", this one only proves why Immaculate and The First Omen are good.

Also, what's with the dad jokes in an exorcism film?

The second star is for one or two scary moments with the family and Russell Crowe bothering to learn Italian.

There are better religious horrors out there.

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

The Strangers: Chapter 1, 2024.

This movie can join the other two POS.

[FryeDwight]

RUSH (1991). This involves the efforts of two undercover Police Detectives attempting to take down a local Drug Lord -taking place in late 1974, it's almost beyond genius to cast Greg Allman in that part, as He was seriously involved with them during that. The main part is going undercover and getting too involved in pulling off the part convincingly. Well made, but after awhile, You get weary of watching them descend into the lower depths-in fact, Jason Patric already looks strung out when introduced to Jennifer Jason Leigh. **1/2

[Tommy Jarvis]

Winston ★★★½

Solid mood piece by Aram Sarkisian on isolation, madness and paranoia.

Nice touch to make it an animated film as well.

The Camp Host 2024 ★★½

Based on the cover and the synopsis, I expected more of a run of the mill slasher.

Now it's a bit better than that and the two main characters do get a bit of a character arc. But it contains enough bollocks to make it a fitting Tubi-original.

With a at times suitably campy performance by Brooke Johnson, and Rachel Colwell has a future in the genre.

Not bad for a Tubi-original.

The Fall Guy 2024 ★★★★

The Fall Guy was a very entertaining romance action flick with for me a vibe that felt a lot of its contemparies from the eighties. Romancing the stone and Jewel of the Nile being the first that come to mind.

First of all, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have great chemistry and both deliver excellent performances. Between the charming meet cutes and the silly action banter, they alone make it worth the price of admission.

The stunts are well done and at least feel more practical than CGI. *insert cheapish rant about CGI cheap and lazy and the work of Satan and yeah, there's some truth to it, but... good God* I also appreciated the overt ode to stunt people and how they are still ignored by the academy, even though they often literally put their life on the line for their craft.

Another thing I wanted to point out was the humour. A lot of rollercoaster action flicks of this kind tend to go for easy and lame jokes and groanworthy puns. This one did not give that impression. The jokes landed and even made for some laugh out loud-moments, like the whole Jean-Claude bit with the dog. Was that supposed to be a Van Damme-joke?

Only time I noticed this was a remake was at the end credits, when they played the original theme song and mentioned the cameo for Lee Majors. Otherwise, this movie stands on its own and it looks good at it.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 2024 ★★★

Easiest full circle review in a while: a solid mainstream production.

A few scares were well executed and Madeleine Petsch and what's his face make for good leads. The killers – aka Betty Boop, Burlap Sack Jason and Baby Shark (duh duuh – duh duhduh duuh) – look better than in the original and the editing and the cinematography work in the movie's favour. Kudos to Renny Harlin there. First scenes that come to mind are the cheeseburger bit and the scene in the crawlspace. Ending with a serious whoopsie Daisy moment.

Does that mean it's all great? Nah. It is after all mainstream horror. So for one thing, the quality of the connection depends pretty heavily on the mood of thre screenwriter. Of course, we get a pretty on the nose “he's too good for us”-line and some other mainstream horror silliness and ditto bollocks.

It is my understanding that this supposed to be part 1 of a trilogy with parts 2 and 3 coming either later this year or even next year. Turning this story into a three parter is certainly off a big chunk or possibly more than the makers can chew. But for now, they get the benefit of the doubt. Make this the more psychological “warm up”, take some time in part 2 to add some more characters, rack up a bit more of a body count and then three part 3 as the big climax. Where the latest Halloween-trilogy could have gone.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Jack Frost 1997 ★★½

A fun little nineties slasher with just the right amount of stupid, a cartoony killer with plenty or either cheesy or groanworthy puns and an actor playing him with a nice, thick slice of ham.

Christopher Allport's performance is interesting in a sense that he kind of tries to play it straight, but at the same time... he's in on the joke. He knows what's going on.

Fun fact: this one has both Brad Wilczek (Ghost in the machine) and the diabetic cop that Scully was in love with.

Martyrs 2008 ★★★★★

If you talk about living up to expectations...

The opening with the shot of young Lucy running immediately has you hooked, just like the rest of the film.

It raises some questions, like how did Lucy and Anna become such close friends to stick together like this? A bit of a messed up version of Heavenly Creatures, even if only for a few minutes, could help give a bit of context. Does not have to be long, since the other moment of repose is quickly interrupted as well and pretty damn brutally as well.

Thoughout the movie's runtime, you can only wonder what happened to Lucy to traumatize her to this level and it's not until the final act that you get some genuine answers. Only that the answers are so gruesome that even the otherwise stonefaced Lady Of The Illuminati can not handle it.

Martyrs has shock moments galore (like the dad getting shot), disturbing images in abundance and equally disturbing gore and special effects. Best exmple is what I can only describe as the 99% Körperwelten-effect near the end. Good lord.

This is a five star horror classic. But not for everyone. No sirree Bob.

The Last Christmas 2021 ★★

Acting and dialogue were subpar. Second half did not really do much for me.

The Mask 1994 ★★

Cartoonish nonsense that completely depends on wether or not you like Jim Carrey.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Requiem 2021 ★★★½

A solid mood piece about forbidden love in the aftermath of the dark ages.

Nothing new - we've seen this before - but this is a more effective and better acted version of Fear Street 1666.

Boris in the Forest 2015 ★★★★

Excellent dark comedy about a fan's journey to Boris Karloff's birthplace.

Maybe a tad predictable, but it wonderfully pokes fun at fanboys.

Snakeeater 2024 ★½

This looks like a horror that wants to be surreal. But it feels too non sequitur to fully engage you.

Only fun came from recognizing Ghost Dog's ice cream buddy.

Black Mirror: Striking Vipers 2019 ★★★½

On a surface level, it looks like another story on tech going too far.

For those willing to delve in deeper, it provides food for thought on subjects such as monogamy, infidelity, friendship, gender,...

Anthony Mackie hits one out of the park here, further solidifying BM's status as something you as an actor can sink your teeth into.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Dr. Giggles 1992 ★★★½

For a 1992 release, this still looks and feels very eighties. The self awareness of Scream and its many, many knockoffs was still ways away.

This movie knows what it's doing and embraces it's silliness from start to finish. From the titular doctor's backstory to the fellating the sax moment. It pours a layer of cheese over all the doctor related kills, and if there is a doctor-pun this movie did not think of, feel free to put them in… more

The Forever Purge 2021 ★★

The Purge is an odd franchise.

First, the original Purge became a good idea turning into mostly a straightforward home invasion flick.

Then sequels like Anarchy and Election Year expanded on it, making for better movies. But this one mostly shows why it's time to end this series. Not in the least because the storytelling has the subtle flavors of chugging a bottle of hot sauce.

Baghead 2023 ★★

The opening scene had some lazy looking CGI effects. Baghead then picked up a bit of steam and all in all even looked a bit promising. But over the cours of the second half, the characters and the plot as well as the jump scares became more and more meh.

Slumber party fodder.

The Nest 2013 ★★★½

A short with a bit of a found footage vibe to it because of the POV style of shooting. With gonzo-ish production values to booth.

The story is a “psychologist/surgeon” in what clearly is a garage trying to talk a female patient out of breast surgery. You can see her unstableness throughout the course of this short and you can only imagine how he came to the conlusion that playing along with her madness is probably the only way to keep her from doing worse things to herself.

Perhaps not essential Cronenberg but a good way to complete your collection.