Looking Back at the Films of 2021 Part 8 - Last Night in Soho

 

Well, Halloween season is coming to an end sadly. Luckily I'll be ending this with a horror film by the one and only Edgar Wright. So guess I can't be to bummed out. So welcome back and welcome to part eight of this segment.

Why Didn't I See Last Night in Soho?

It's simple, there was no showing at my theater. Which really sucked because I really love Edgar Wright's work. Especially he's Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy. Those films are just awesome.

What is Last Night in Soho?

Last Night in Soho is a psychological thriller film. It was produced by Film4 Productions, Perfect World Pictures, Working Title Films, and and Complete Fiction Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures. Last Night in Soho was written by Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns and directed by Edgar Wright. The story is Ellie is a young woman dreaming of becoming a fashion designer and also a lover of the Swinging Sixties. One night she has a vivid dream where she's in the 60's and sees a young inspiring singer named Sandie. However, these wonderful dreams quickly turn into a horror show. Now Ellie wants to know what happened to Sandie in this anything but glamorous decade that she loves.

 

My Thoughts

The Good: One thing that's spectacular about the film is the cinematography. While the film is dark, the overall look is beautiful. Great set designs for both the modern setting, and the 60's. I especially loved the way the 60's looked, whether it was glorified or not, that part was amazing. I also really dug the use of color. Gorgeous stuff with the color grading. Then we have the performances. Thomasin McKenzie did a fantastic playing an innocent woman, who while scared, also needed to find the strength to power through the horror, and find what's going on. Anya Taylor-Joy. She played not only a beautiful aspiring singer, but also the tragic victim. Matt Smith plays a guy named Jack. Not only did he do great as a charismatic gentleman, but also did a great job with the dark turn his character takes. Now Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp also have roles in this as well. Neither of them don't do much until the near end but, they still managed to do an incredible job with what they're giving. What you're also gonna love about Last Night in Soho (if you haven't seen it already) is Edgar Wright's directing. If you liked his previous more serious work with Baby Driver, then you'll definitely like what he does with this movie. This is probably he's most artistic work I've ever seen. There's this one shot with a bloody knife that I thought was a nice shot. But where that artistic part comes from is all of the stuff he does with Ellie's visions/dream. There's so much beautiful/dark stuff going on, that my words do those scenes no justice. You gotta see them for yourself. The last thing I'll praise is the overall mystery. I was surprised by how interested I was in it. But the best part was I didn't know what was gonna happen next. I was clueless through and through. I also thought the twisted worked as well. I didn't actually see it coming. Nicely done Edgar, nicely done.

The Bad: Nothing for this section. Continue with the next part of this review.

The Okay: I've got nothing, just move on.

Final Verdict: A Must Watch.

Okay, I'm all finished here. Come back on Thursday, Nov 3rd, for my review of season three of DC's Titans. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Evil Dead (2013) Review

 

Evil Dead (2013) is a supernatural horror film, and the fourth film in the Evil Dead franchise. It was produced by TriStar Pictures, FilmDistrict, and Ghost House Prictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Evil Dead (2013) was written by Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues and directed by Fede Álvarez.

The story is four young adults are taking their drug addicted friend Mia to a remote cabin up in the woods to help her through her withdrawals. Things take a horrifying turn when of them reads an incantation from the Book of the Dead. Now an evil force is coming after them, and all five of them must try to find a way to survive.

• Negatives

Now some people probably aren't gonna agree with them of this, which is fine, but I really didn't care for the post-credit scene. Sure, it wasn't spent on something stupid like most post-credit scenes seem to be doing. But I feel as though, in the grand scheme of things, it really didn't add anything to the movie.

• Mix

The slight issue here is the same slight issue I had with The Evil Dead, and that's the characters. Really the only two who have any sort of character was Mia and her brother David. Some of fine as who they are, but others you just don't care about. The latter are clearly there just because it's important to the plot and/or because they're just there to raise up the body count.

• Positives

One truly amazing thing about this film were the effects. Thankfully this film continues the film series tradition of practical effects. There's stunning makeup effects and of course the more gory effects not help making the carnage look realistic, but are done to a top notch level. The only time there was CGI was just for touch ups, but even then you can't really find it anywhere. It just perfectly blends in.

What also made this film worth watching was Fede's directing. He shot a truly horrifying film. Filled to the brim with great creepy shots, and of course, very bloody images. Not only that, but he gave the film a nice dark look to it.

Another great thing about Evil Dead (2013) was the tension. To be honest, I was expecting this film to be nothing but blood and guts. Yes you still get that, but first you had to wait. Because the film takes it time setting things up and building suspense. We want the characters to leave the cabin, but because they have someone detoxing, they don't believe her. So you're left terrified because who know that's not the case, and you're left wondering "Okay. So where's the evil spirit, when is it gonna show up, and who's gonna get possessed?"

Like I said previously, this franchise is known for being gory, and this film delivers on that. Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell were the producers on this film, and anytime someone just got covered in blood, all I can to is imagine them behind the director, and giving a big round of applause. What I also liked was the Deadites' designs. In the older movies, they were either skeletons, a bloated looking corpse, or just looked like demons. Which is very good designs, and I did like. But here, what made them look creepy was how infected they looked. Whenever someone got possessed by these things, it makes the person look like they caught a disease. Again, great design choice, but at the same time whenever I looked at them, I felt like I needed to take a shower afterwards.

Evil Dead (2013) may not be a perfect film, but I feel like this is a movie where the good, outweighs the bad. You got great effects, fantastic directing from Fede, great tension, and some nicely delivered gore. The characters could've used some work, but nothing to damaging. The post-credit scene on the other hand, I'm sorry folks, I know a lot of you like it, but I just didn't do it for me.

My final rating is Good.

So, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Oct 30th for part eight of Looking Back at the Films of 2021. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Army of Darkness Review

 

Army of Darkness is a comedy horror film, the sequel to Evil Dead 2, and the third film in the Evil Dead franchise. The movie was produced by Dino De Laurentiis Communications, Renaissance Pictures, and Introvision International and distributed by Universal Pictures. Army of Darkness was written by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi and directed by Sam Raimi.

The story is, after the events of the last movie Ash finds himself trapped in the medieval times. After a rough start, Ash soon takes the lead and agrees to help these people stop an army of deadites, while at the same time find his way back home.

• Negatives

My only real complaint with Army of Darkness is the lack of horror. Now this franchise is no stranger to genre hopping. The first film was straight up horror, and it's sequel was a horror-comedy. Here however it's a a fantasy adventure film, with some horror elements. If this happened to be a fantasy-horror film then I can definitely see this more in line with the horror genre as a whole.

• Mix

I've got nothing. So just keep scrolling.

• Positives

If there's one thing that's always been consistent throughout the whole franchise, is Bruce Campbell. I really don't know what to say that I haven't already said before. Bruce once again becomes the best and most entertaining aspect of the Evil Dead series.

Speaking of things I given credit to before, I yet again find myself loving the special effects. While I did have a slight issue with the stop motion from the last film, here everything's been improved. From the stop motion to the makeup, it's all just amazing and still hold up today.

Much like how Evil Dead 2 had comedy in it, this film is no different. Sometimes it doesn't work, but for a huge proportion of the runtime I was laughing. One scene I laughed at was when Ash was talking about what model his gun is, how it works, and where you can by it...to a bunch of people who are in the medieval times.

What I'm shocked by is how I forgot just how great the dialogue is. Ash has so many great lines that not only does it make even more of a badass, but how quotable the dialogue is. You've got "See this? This...is my boomstick!" It's a great line, such a great line that it  became a trope, but my favorite as always been  "You ain't leadin' but two things, right now: Jack and shit...and Jack left town." Oh how I love that line.

While there's a lack of true horror in Army of Darkness, there's a lot the film does to make up for it. Such as Bruce Campbell himself, great special effects, good comedy, and some really good dialogue.

My final rating is Good.

That's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Oct 27th for my review of the 2013 version of Evil Dead. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Black Adam Review

 

Hey guys. For this review I'll be doing something different. At the end I will be discussing the mid-credit scene. The reason being ever since it was leaked, there's been a lot of talk going on. I'll be giving my own opinion on it. So if you don't want to be spoiled, back out after the second warning!

Black Adam is a comic book movie, based on the DC Comics' character of the same name. It serves as a spin-off to 2019's Shazam and is the eleventh installment of the DC Extended Universe. The movie's produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPictureCo. and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Black Adam is written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.

The story is after losing so much, Teth Adam was given the powers of a god. After using them for personal vengeance, he was imprisoned. Now 5,000 years later, he was awoken. He's first order of business is to use his powers to bring his own from of justice. This soon grabs the attention of the Justice Society. Now it's a clash among the mighty, and Black Adam plans to reign supreme.

Initial Reaction

I'll keep it short and sweet, the reason why I wanted to see this because not only am I DC fan, but also because Black Adam is one of DC's very interesting characters. So when I heard a movie about him was coming out, I was in.

Cons

I've got nothing, so let's all move on.

Middle Ground

There's quite a lot to go through with this section, and one of those is the pacing. There were times when things were just the right amount of a perfect slow down period. Other times not so much. There are a few scenes where things just didn't have enough breathing room. So there's gonna be times when it's just too much and you'd wish for another slow down period. The other mix bag was the humor. Some of it worked. I remember a certain moment between Atom Smasher and Hawkman that got a huge laugh. But those times when it didn't, it really didn't. When those unfunny scenes happened, the audience I saw it with made it clear it wasn't funny, because they would absolutely go dead silent. My other minor issue came with Collet-Serra's directing. Don't get me wrong, for the most part he did a fantastic job. But man, he really overdid it with the slow-mo. It worked for some scenes, but there were other times when it was just unnecessary. What also wasn't bad, but still could've used more work was character. Black Adam and Hawkman's were fairly serviceable. As far for Dr. Fate, he was awesome. He's truly the MVP of the entire film. But then we have Cyclone and Atom Smasher. While I didn't hate them, I also wasn't all that invested in them. Then there's the villains....they sucked. There's nothing to them. No depth, no nothing. They were very generic.

Pros

Now for something positive, like the action. Not only was funny and exciting, but I wasn't expecting a lot of violent moments. Guys get electrocuted to the point of being a skeleton, one dude got dismembered, and another gets ripped in half. That last one really took me by surprise. What I also liked was the visual effects. Not only were they flawless, but the best was from Cyclone when she's using her powers. Those effects were just gorgeous. The last thing I'll praise is that mid-credit scene. That was truly a crowd cheering moment.

Black Adam isn't a flawless film. While things like the pacing, Jaume's directing, humor, and character aren't entirely bad, they still could've used some improvement. What truly helped was the action, the effects, and that mid-credit scene.

My final rating is Okay.

Alright! Here it is! This is your second warning! If you don't want to be spoiled, just go. You've read my review, this is the second warning, now's your chance to bail!

Okay, so during the mid-credit scene, Henry Cavill fully dressed as Superman meets Black Adam, and he said they should talk. Yes, Henry actually makes an appearance. He's not a headless cameo like Shazam, and not silhouetted like in Peacemaker. He's fully there, says some lines, end of the movie.

The reason why I'm writing about this is even since the scene was leaked, there's be a lot of speculation of what this means for the DCEU. Everyone's got a theory. People been saying maybe this could mean we're getting closer to a restored Snyderverse, maybe Henry will finally get another solo Superman film, all sorts of things.

The truth is...we don't know. That's it. If there's anything I've learned when it comes to the DCEU, it's best to play the waiting game. Cause ever since 2016, this franchise has been hit time and time again with speculations and rumors. And this is no different. A matter of fact, ever since David Zaslav became the president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, things feel even more unpredictable than they were before. We all thought we'd get a Batgirl, next thing ya know it's cancelled. We were supposed to get The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, this year but they all got pushed back to 2023.

So honestly I really feel like it's too soon to predict what's gonna happen after this film. Like I said, right now, it's all a waiting game.

I hope that was some what in sightful. Like I said, too soon to decide. But that's all for me. Come back on Monday, Oct 24th, my review of the third film in the Evil Dead series, Army of Darkness. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons Review

 

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is a direct-to-video animated comic book film, based on the DC Comics' characters, Damian Wayne (aka Robin) and Jon Kent (aka Superboy), and their comic series, Super Sons. It's also first DC direct-to-video film to be animated in full CGI. The movie's produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is written by Jeremy Adams and directed by Matt Peters.

The story is Jonathan Kent has not only discovered his dad is Superman, but that he has his own superpowers. He soon meets Batman's son, Damian Wayne aka Robin. Just as soon as they get to know each other, Starro launches an attack. Now these two boys must put a stop to him....that's if they can stop being at each other's throats.

Initial Reaction 

The reason why I wanted to watch this was not only because I'm a DC fan, but because I really do enjoy the Super Sons by Peter J. Tomasi. It's a really good and fun read, and I was bummed when the series was cancelled. Not only that but DC had a lot of story potential with Jonathan Kent....that was until Brian Michael Bendis decided to stupidity age him up, and Tom Taylor made things even worse by having him be bisexual for no reason at all, because who needs good stories when you got a token quota to fill. But, ranting aside, it did seem like it was going to be a fun DC animated movie.

Cons

When you think of something that's titled Battle of the Super Sons, you'd think that there'd be a huge fight between Jon and Damian, but no. They don't have one fight scene between them. Yes, I'm aware nobody truly wanted a Robin vs. Superboy movie, but that still doesn't excuse a very misleading title. If you're not gonna have a fight between them, then they should've renamed this. You can still keep Batman and Superman in the title, but call it something like Batman and Superman: Super Sons, and other titles that exclude anything related to battle.

Middle Ground

Now I'm gonna come right out and say it, yes the story can be predictable in some aspects. However, I always feel like even if your story is predictable, you can save it by giving an entertaining experience. And this movie is a pretty good example of that. Even though I saw some moments coming, I was willing to forgive that because there's still a fun experience to be had.

Pros

One pro to the film is the animation. There might have been a couple of times when it was stiff, but a majority of the time it's pretty good. I've seen many direct-to-video 3D animated movies that are just terrible. Movies you really need to stay away from, because their 3D animation is just off putting, an eye sore, or every other negative thing you can think of. Here on the other hand that's not the case. For the home entertainment side of DC, they did a really good job with the 3D animation. What I also enjoyed was the humor. There was a lot of good funny moments. Especially from Damian and Jonathan. Hearing them go back and forth with their banter was very entertaining, and I just couldn't get enough of it. Which now brings me to the voice acting. The two who really stole the show was Jack Dylan Grazer as Jonathan Kent and Jack Griffo as Damian Wayne. Their chemistry was just amazing and truly the highlight of the entire movie. I enjoyed them giving these characters their voices. And if they were to be the guys to star in more Super Sons movies or even an animated series, I wouldn't be against that.

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons while flawed is still pretty good. It's got good animation, funny moments, and two really great stars. While the story can be predictable, you can forgive that because of the experience. The only downside was the misleading title.

My final rating is Good.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Oct 22nd, for my review of Black Adam. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Evil Dead 2 Review

 

Evil Dead 2 (also known in some public materials as Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn) is a comedy horror flick, and the sequel to The Evil Dead. It was produced by Renaissance Pictures and distributed by Rosebud Releasing Corporation. Evil Dead 2 was written by Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel and directed by Sam Raimi.

The story is despite surviving the events of the first film, Ash is still trapped at the cabin. While Ash is not only trying to survive once again, but he is also trying to maintain his sanity. Just to make matters worse a new group have arrived. Now Ash and this new group must work together to not only stay alive, but find a way to put a stop to this evil.

• Negatives

I've got nothing. So, just move along.

• Mix

We've got a bit of stop motion this time around. While there are a lot of moments were it's pretty good, like that dance sequence with a headless deadite. There were a few times when it wasn't good. It's mainly towards the end, but it still does leave a bad impression.

• Positives

Now for more positive things, such as the humor. There was a bit of that in the first, but here it's definitely comedic. Especially with the slapstick. Seriously, Bruce was amazing during those aspects, just like he was with the horror elements.

Your probably wondering about the gore. I mean, the first movie had a lot of splatter, what about this? Yep, you get some gore here as well. Whether it's for horror, comedy, or a mix of both, Raimi and co. did an excellent job with the blood and stuff. But much like the first movie the filmmakers use it wisely, as suppose to use as a desperate need for scares.

I once again have to praise the make-up artist. With an increased budget they were allowed to get more creative with the deadites. We've got deadites that are decaying to nothing but bone, or they're corpses but they're very bloated. That last one especially grossed me out. And it wasn't only humanoid designs either, this time around there was also some really good looking creatures as well. So once again, props to the make-up artist.

Now to talk about our main star, Bruce Campbell. I don't know if there's any I can say about him in this film, that hasn't already been said. He's just fantastic. It didn't matter what the scene was, he nails it. He works great with the comedy. He was fantastic with the more scary parts, but he was amazing when it was time to be a charismatic badass.

The last thing I'll praise is Ash himself. More specifically his transformation. The writers did what you're suppose to do with a character for a sequel. You change them. What I mean by this is Ash in Evil Dead 2 isn't the same Ash from the first flick. His experience in the first clearly changed him. In The Evil Dead, he's much more quiet and scared of everything that's going on. In this, he's taking everything he learned from his previous encounters, and becomes the badass that we all know and love. Which was a fantastic display of character development.

Evil Dead 2 is a fantastic sequel. We've got great dark humor, nicely done gore, outstanding make-up, Bruce Campbell being amazing as always, and our main character going through great transformation. While a major of the stop motion is good, there are times when it just can't be forgiven. But you can let that pass because of the overall experience.

My final rating is Great.

I had a blast with the sequel just as much as I did with the first. Anyhow, once again I'll be stepping back from the horror genre. Because on Thursday, Oct 20th, I'll be reviewing the newest DC animated movie, Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Halloween Ends Review

 

Halloween Ends is a slasher movie, a sequel to Halloween Kills, as well as the thirteenth installment of the Halloween franchise. It's also the final film it what people have dubbed "The H40 Trilogy", which started with 2018's Halloween. The film is produced by Miramax, Blumhouse Productions, Trancas International Films, and Rough House Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. Halloween Ends is written by David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Chris Bernier, and Paul Brad Logan and directed by David Gordon Green.

The story is it's been four years after the events of Halloween Kills. After his last rampage, Michael hasn't been seen since, and has vanished without a trace. As for Laurie, she has finally just let go of her fear and rage of Michael, and has embraced a new life with her granddaughter. But this peacefulness comes to an end, a new brand of terror has come, and there's only one person who bring such a thing. Now Laurie wants to put a stop to Michael, once and for all.

Initial Reaction

I think it's really simple as to why I wanted to see this one. It's the final film to this story. Sure, this hasn't been a perfect trilogy, but it has done a great job at respecting the 1978 film. So, I was very curious as to how this story was finally gonna conclude.

Cons 

There's one thing I can't defend the movie for, and that's there's no balance with the story. We've got the Allyson story, and the Michael/Laurie story. One definitely got more attention than the other, which in return means Michael very much doesn't get enough screentime. The writers really should've found a way for there to be an even balance between the two, that the very justifiable complaint of a lack of Michael wouldn't be so present with a lot of reviews.

Middle Ground

Now while the send off to both Michael and Laurie was handled fairly well, there still was a lot to be desired. I'm saying we needed full insanity like we did with Kills, because it was clear that wasn't what the writers were going for. I'm just saying we could've gotten just a tiny bit of intensity. Especially for Michael and Laurie's big fight. Although I did dig what they did with Michael during the ending, it was brutal and effective. Sure people can say it was melodramatic all they want, but I liked it.

Pros

One thing I practically liked was how character driven this was. That may have been a problem for most fans, but not for me. We really got do see what our characters have been doing after the massacre of the last film, how they've either still been carrying that weight around, or in Laurie's case, move on and stop letting it consume them. It was a nice touch, and definitely something different. What I also enjoyed was the cycle of fear and violence. We're told and shown how after Michael's massacre violent crime has gone up, especially during Halloween. And the fear part stems from how people are still scared Michael will come back. People even fear Laurie because they believe she taunted Michael to come back and kill again. But we know that's not true, cause in the 2018 film, it was someone else's obsession that brought Michael back, and if anybody was "taunting" Michael, it was the angry lynch mob in Kills. The last one is especially true because Laurie couldn't do anything, unless she had some serious pain killing medication to help her move. So this cycle not only showed just how much of a hold Michael has on Haddonfield, but also added another new layer to this movie. The last thing I'll write positively about Ends is the question it brought up. That was what creates a boogeyman? This question was used for a new character introduced for this trilogy. It's really left up in the air of how he became what he became. Was he always liked this deep down inside, and the moment he took lives his true self came out? Or was Haddonfield in such a desperate need for a boogeyman, that they just pointed the finger to him? We don't know, because the answer really it's so simple. Which also really makes me give the writers props for that. Sure, they could've given an answer of what creates a boogeyman. But much like how John Carpenter's original Halloween film, we're never given the answer of why Michael kills. So much like that question of why Michael kills, and the never given straight answer, we'll never know what creates a boogeyman, because maybe the question just can't be answered, or the answer just isn't that simple.

Halloween Ends is definitely the end of a story. While at the same time it can be viewed as an epilogue. Which makes sense, to me anyhow. We got our prologue (the 1978 film), the crazy big story (the 2018 movie & Kills), and the winding down epilogue (Ends). Although that still doesn't change the big unbalanced storylines. While the send off is by no means terrible, there was still some stuff that was left desired. But I think what saves the film was the character driven story, the cycle of fear and violence, and the boogeyman question.

My final rating is Okay.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Oct 17th for my review of Evil Dead II. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.