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A 70's classic still delivers
"The Amityville Horror" stands out among the late 70's horror films inspired by "The Exorcist," offering a surprisingly nuanced narrative that has stood the test of time. The film weaves together multiple compelling storylines: a demonic presence, a man grappling with his new family dynamics, a priest whose faith is tested, and a persistent police officer driven by curiosity.
The movie's strength lies in its character development and the gradual build-up of tension. It explores the psychological impact of the haunting on each character, showing how the supernatural events slowly erode their sense of reality and sanity. This approach creates a more immersive and unsettling experience than relying solely on overt paranormal occurrences.
However, the film leaves several intriguing plot threads unresolved. The abrupt ending, with the Lutz family fleeing the house, leaves viewers with unanswered questions about the fate of secondary characters and the significance of certain plot elements, such as the Vietnam-veteran monk.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the film is its portrayal of the demon's influence. The scene where the priest is blinded after praying in the church raises questions about the extent of the demon's power and its ability to affect sacred spaces.
The movie's connection to real-world events adds another layer of intrigue. The actual Amityville house played a significant role in popularizing ghost hunting, particularly through the involvement of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who later purchased the house.
The film could be viewed as a metaphor for insomnia. The blurring of reality and hallucination, coupled with the prominent role of sleep-wake cycles in the story's pacing, supports this reading. This perspective adds depth to the narrative, inviting viewers to question the reliability of the characters' perceptions.
In conclusion, "The Amityville Horror" succeeds as a horror film by balancing supernatural elements with psychological tension. Its exploration of faith, family dynamics, and the gradual descent into madness creates a compelling narrative that continues to resonate with audiences. The film's infamous line, "That room is the gateway to hell," aptly encapsulates its ominous atmosphere and enduring impact on the horror genre.
Created: 11-03-2024
Another Generic AI Gone Rogue Film
Some DEI casting that is as usual the worst acting of the group. Father asks teenage girl if she likes any cute boys and she responds
how do you know I'm not a lesbian, or bi curious, or pansexual or asexual? He says it doesn't matter what she is he's fine with it. There
is a feminist girl power scene with her being victimized by a white male. The main actors are average everyone else not so much. The story
is very cliche for the AI gone rogue genre with nothing new at all. The voice of aia is done poorly as it just sounds like someone
offscreen is talking into a microphone. As is usual for these watered down PG-13 horror movies, no scares and no decent kills.
Created: 11-03-2024
Superb - albeit flawed - Transformers movie
The movie is really engaging and fun, unfortunately some woke semantics and characters made it in. Elita One is featured as a typical woke feminist, even if she marginally improves as a character while still keeping the feminist hypocrisy (The "I am better than you" 'pep talk' example). And while it is not the first time the Transformers franchise has placed diversity voice acting in prior TV shows and movies, it is a first to put such an actor for D-16/Megatron. Finally, the whole "spark [heart] that gives you the will to make your world better" does not work as the heart or soul is corruptible as exemplified by D-16's fall.
Created: 11-02-2024
Good
Good movie. Don’t listen to the other review, it’s not woke
Created: 11-02-2024
Lots of dei casting plus woman are the stronger gender
too much stuff is woke in the series but just to give you a idea the mc is a female boss and her boss is a amanda waller type of character.
1 good hard worker father figure is killed(they make him a unpacient dumb big guy with is stupid considering the work that he does)
every white man even the coomc is depicted as evil/untrust worth.
female coomc is a mary sue type of character
Created: 11-01-2024
Controversial
"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" packs a lot of action, but the plot left me in the dust. As another minus, I judge some elements as a bit woke.
Debates rage across the Internet about whether "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" is super woke, totally non-woke, or somewhere in between. I suspect that "Furiosa" has a case of bad timing with the anti-woke movement crescendoing. The main bone of contention is that for the back story exposé they chose a female character from "Mad Max: Fury Road" rather than a young Max. I'm not so bothered, as studio execs might have been thinking in terms of broadening the audience as opposed to virtue signalling. Some say she is a "Mary Sue". My "Mary Sue" radar is basically broken, sorry, though I will say I did not care what happened to her. Also, some complain that she's tough. Nothing wrong with a tough woman, but I agree that sometimes it might go too far here. My eyes rolled a couple of times, and that is what moves my woke meter from 0 to 1.
A bigger problem for me is that I felt confused by the plot. It's been 9 1/2 years since I watched "Mad Max: Road Fury". I remember Immortan Joe, but not much about the old Furiosa or the factions. I think I needed to rewatch "Road Fury" beforehand.
Also, I found the road combat ridiculous. I know, I know, it is supposed to be ridiculous, but this time it went too far, LOL. To be believable, the vehicles, weapons, and tactics have to be effective either for combat, surveillance, stealth, or psychology. I doubt anyone involved in the production has combat experience or military history knowledge. Imagine if they had Ukrainian and Serbian army mechanics and soldiers consulting on the best way to improvise armored cars, projectile weapons, and novel tactics. Imagine if they consulted the guy photographed in the meme, "Hey friend, I know the world is scary right now, but... it's gonna get way worse."
Basically, I wish I had not seen this movie, as I cared nothing for the characters and I found the combat absurd even by Mad Max standards. However, the woke elements are minor.
Created: 11-01-2024
The Hunger Games
Before "The Hunger Games" came "Battle Royale", with its similar theme. As you might expect, there is nothing woke in this Japanese cult classic. I watched with subtitles.
Both films have the government placing kids into a death match with one victor. In both, the gamemaster adds deadly hazards, apparently to herd the participants into contact and conflict. However, the author of "The Hunger Games" novel swears she didn't see "Battle Royale" before. (But had she read the novel on which it is based?)
I loved the "burikko" girly sweet voice training video for the violent, shocking rules of the game. If they had used that voice in a country-wide broadcast for each summary update, it would have wonderfully filled in a missing element. There is also the delightful absurdity of Japanese girls in schoolgirl uniforms viciously murdering each other, sometimes more related to petty conflicts than the death match itself.
The movie packs a stronger punch if you understand Japanese culture. Basically, Japan had and has serious economic problems due to its socialist government, but meanwhile there is all this "burikko" sweet voice and other childish stuff throughout Japanese culture. It is an absurd contrast, like in the film.
Although exploring an interesting concept, "Battle Royale" will not be suitable for everyone, due to the violence. And don't show it to kids.
Created: 11-01-2024
DEI Narrative
Of course you can't have a black or white couple anymore. It's gotta be mixed race. Gyllenhaal doesn't seem to fit in his own family. It feels shoe horned. But yeah, enjoy.
Created: 11-01-2024
The secret to this game is to never take your eyes off the ball
A whiff of Garp, a dash of Candide, and an eager, sort-of average American caught up in the country’s turbulent and rambunctious history, short as it is. Forrest in a way is John Q. Public, caught up in and thus blinded to his own destiny unfolding at breakneck speed.
Whatever the man has done and said since, Hanks did deliver a stellar performance in this. From his weird Southern boonies accent to the awfully literal approach to everything, he made Forrest into an immediately recognizable and endearing character.
Sinise is simply outstanding, and never quite got the career he deserved in my opinion. Fantastic George in Of Mice And Men. It seems Lt Dan led him to a good life, though, so there’s that.
I’m more on the fence about Wright, whom I’ve always considered the weak link in great movies, but I might be influenced by her character, and the borderline abusive relationship she nurtures with Forrest.
Then again, heartland America has had an abusive relationship with its coastal self-professed progressive, so-called elites, so, truth in art.
The music is nostalgic, sometimes innocent, sometimes bittersweet and always relevant. Perfect.
Being from the mid 90S, this movie only had access to primitive woke tech, such as the brave single mother (husband’s fate unknown, presumed ‘deadbeat’), female as permanent victims, rich white male ‘stepping up’ after languishing in unrequited adulation.
Maybe not woke, but definitely focused on male sacrifice and female irresponsibility.
Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make for a good story. Just that the premises are fine for fantasy, but flawed for reality.
At least it gets something right: the most obvious leftist character is a selfish, confused, broken white woman from an abusive home. At least she has excuses, but then again, it’s fiction.
The social commentary is actually pretty fair, and does not look at the past with rose-tinted glasses.
I do not condone its message of unity, though, as ‘unity’ and ‘divisive’ are and have always been leftist euphemisms for ‘submission’ and ‘independent’.
I’ll still rate this at 0 woke, and leave it at misguided, left-leaning, sentimentalist zeitgeist. Brain awry, but heart not in a bad place.
Created: 10-30-2024
For kids or adults
"The Wild Robot" is a familiar story, with a glitchy, lovable robot like WALL-E and an alliance of wildlife like Bambi. However, it's entertaining and not woke.
The robot is voiced by Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o. Ironically, if they had chosen an American black for the role, say SNL's Leslie Jones, it might have been jarring, because you might have heard the robot as black. Lupita consciously lost her Kenyan accent in favor of an American accent, she says, though her voice in interviews is like a "mid-Atlantic" accent: half East Coast, half British.
I did not find myself bored, which is saying something for me with an animated film. It is okay for kids or adults.
Created: 10-30-2024
Use only as recommended
"The Substance" hearkens back to the 1980s and earlier when teen boys went the movies just to see boobs under the guise of science fiction / horror. However, this movie is more than just boobs, as Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley deliver titillating performances that will leave you on the edge of your seat, barely able to contain yourself. Insomuch as it is cheesecake, it is anti-woke.
I felt riveted by the first part of this movie, empathizing with Demi Moore's character despite the fact that I am a man. I am close to the same age as Demi Moore, who, OMG, is 61 years old. Aging is a horror we all face.
The solution is the substance, an underground drug. It seems to have no business model. It would have made sense if it were free to start but then a $10K per week subscription model to continue. I think the movie didn't go that route, because this movie is a bit campy, poking fun at this movie genre, and because it would have lengthened the already 2 hours 21 minutes running time. Much of the screentime is dedicated to the drug's side effects, which, as you might imagine, can be pretty horrific when deviating from the instructions for use. For me, the horror dragged on too long.
Dennis Quaid utilizes an over-the-top characterization in his role as a sleezy Hollywood exec. I view this negative characterization as disparaging to Hollywood, not to men in general.
The message of the film is that aging is not something you can ultimately escape, and plastic surgery, drugs, and fillers might have side effects worse than aging itself. I enter into evidence Madonna. This is basically a conservative message.
"The Substance" masterfully pokes fun at the booby-horror genre while simultaneously executing it well and without condemning its own audience for enjoying it. I'm doubly impressed.
Created: 10-30-2024
Not a fan of the genre, but it's very good
Not a fan of Mann and his brand of urbanized modern Western, hence being 30 years late for this one.
But I have to admit, the bloke sure knows his way around a camera. The movie is tense, gripping and tight, despite the run time.
The much hyped street shout-out scene is, well, still a little Hollywood, but yeah, it's good. Furthermore, it's _legible_. Here, the multiple alternating shots and point-of-views do not create a voluntary mess as a cover for a badly choreographed scene, and one can easily make tactical sense of the fight's progression.
Characters are consistent, cast is stellar, pacing is near perfect.
I'm very much impressed.
Created: 10-30-2024
