Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[dannyboy121070]

The Halloween movie train keeps rolling along....In the past week I've watched:

THE VIGIL, which was a snorefest.

THE INNKEEPERS, which was the cinematic equivalent of watching paint dry. The story could have sustained (maybe) a 20-minute short in a film like V/H/S, but stretched to feature-length, it was just unbearable. The tone was all over the place....ominous opening credit music, which then switched to some weird-ass jaunty music when they're "investigating".....was this supposed to be a Horror film or a comedy? It felt like a lost CLERKS film. My third exposure to Ti West. I think the guy might have talent as a Director, but he shouldn't be writing. I'm going to try THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, and if that doesn't click, I'm out of the Ti West business.

DON'T BREATHE was....OK, I guess? I expected more. It was just an old blind nut chasing kids around his house.

HUNTING BIGFOOT was a bait-and-switch documentary. I came for Bigfoot, but I got a sad story about an old nut who ditched life, career, and family to live in the woods looking for Sasquatch. Didn't scratch my Bigfoot itch, but it was well worth watching.

I'm kind of getting burned out on newer films, so I think I'll devote the next few nights to some oldies that TCM has on-demand. The classics rarely disappoint.

[Sock Monkey]

t

Great review, Jeff. You did the exact same thing that I did....I kept sitting there mumbling "Why...? What were they thinking?"

A movie like this should write itself. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM set up a stupid, but fun, premise for the third film in the trilogy: Dinosaurs are loose in civilization, and running wild. So we're going to finally see dinos running amuck in cities, people fighting for their lives as a T-Rex smashes into their house, kids and pets being snatched up by Pterodactyls!!! Fuck that! Let's do giant crop-eating locusts instead! That's the same kind of mentality at work here. WE KNOW BETTER THAN THE FANS. They want THIS, but we'll give them THAT, and they'll fucking love it, or else. Jamie Lee Curtis and the filmmakers have been giving interviews where they laugh about how much fans are going to hate this film. So....why make it?

I was blown away by the 2018 HALLOWEEN, and it ended on a perfect note. Michael was dead, Laurie beat him at his own game. The film was good enough that I had faith the filmmakers would be able to pull off a trilogy, but I wondered what they could possibly do to fill two more films. Now we know they had no plan at all. I enjoyed HALLOWEEN KILLS for the great gore and kills, and the beast-mode Michael Myers, despite some REALLY cringey dialogue (EVIL DIES TONIGHT!!) and the lack of Laurie, but, taking the trilogy as a whole, it was clear that they had no idea what to do after the first film.

Spoiler!

Soooo many things about HALLOWEEN ENDS bothered me. One year after Michael kills what looked like everyone in town on Halloween night, things are completely back to normal? Everyone is out trick-or-treating, partying, roaming the streets like the HALLOWEEN KILLER ISN'T STILL ON THE LOOSE??? I would expect the streets to be deserted, cops patrolling everywhere, nationwide news crews reporting on the town that banned Halloween celebrations.....

Even from the first scene, Corey is a weird guy. I wouldn't leave my kid with him. And the granddaughter immediately falling in love with him, to the point of wanting to run away with him a day or two after a REALLY FUCKING WEIRD first date? OK.....

So Michael has been hiding three feet inside a storm drain, killing people in front of the old homeless guy for four years....and the police never looked there?

Laurie was chased by Michael for a few minutes 40 years ago, and went nuts and became a survivalist hermit....but after he kills her daughter and half the town, and IS STILL ON THE LOOSE, she decides to become Betty Crocker? Sure, that would happen.

It still would have sucked, but what I was expecting to happen was that Corey was committing all of the murders WITH Laurie's granddaughter, and that the big twist would be the cops finding Michael's skeleton, with him having been dead for years. I expected Pennywise Michael to be a hallucination by Corey, and the murders were being seen through his skewed perspective. He was dressed like Michael, and the granddaughter was wearing the other mask, and the end would see Laurie fighting and killing Corey and her own granddaughter, who had been corrupted by Haddonfield's evil. I mean, the choppy editing showed Corey killing the Doctor and the slutty Nurse, and then he was riding his bike with the granddaughter. That said to me that they were committing the murders together. Which would still have been a shitty movie, just shitty in a different way.

Despite assurances when the first film came out in 2018 that we would learn why Michael was so fixated on Laurie, we never did. So he just randomly chased Corey to her house top pick up his stolen mask...? OK.

This was just....bad. Insulting. The choppiness of the editing makes me think that there is a whole other film out there somewhere, that will probably be cobbled into a Director's cut at some point. It probably won't make it a GOOD film, but it might make it a bit more coherent.

At the end of the day, I can tell myself that three generations of Strode women trapped Michael in a burning house, and evil died there. That was a fitting, satisfying ending.

This seems to be the consensus: that ENDS is just not a good movie. I wasn't too thrilled with KILLS so ENDS was already low on my to-watch list, but between your post and Jeff's, it has sunk even lower. Pretty disappointing considering how well-received the first of the new trilogy was. I'm sure I'll get around to watching it, probably do a marathon of the new trilogy, but it sounds more and more like punishment than enjoyment.

[dannyboy121070]

t

I saw it. I posted a review. My theory is that they realllllly wanted to kill Michael Myers and make sure he stayed dead so they murdered the entire franchise with this atrocious movie. They killed any love anyone could ever have for the series and then they burned it to the ground, salting the earth to ensure nothing new can ever grow there.

Great review, Jeff. You did the exact same thing that I did....I kept sitting there mumbling "Why...? What were they thinking?"

A movie like this should write itself. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM set up a stupid, but fun, premise for the third film in the trilogy: Dinosaurs are loose in civilization, and running wild. So we're going to finally see dinos running amuck in cities, people fighting for their lives as a T-Rex smashes into their house, kids and pets being snatched up by Pterodactyls!!! Fuck that! Let's do giant crop-eating locusts instead! That's the same kind of mentality at work here. WE KNOW BETTER THAN THE FANS. They want THIS, but we'll give them THAT, and they'll fucking love it, or else. Jamie Lee Curtis and the filmmakers have been giving interviews where they laugh about how much fans are going to hate this film. So....why make it?

I was blown away by the 2018 HALLOWEEN, and it ended on a perfect note. Michael was dead, Laurie beat him at his own game. The film was good enough that I had faith the filmmakers would be able to pull off a trilogy, but I wondered what they could possibly do to fill two more films. Now we know they had no plan at all. I enjoyed HALLOWEEN KILLS for the great gore and kills, and the beast-mode Michael Myers, despite some REALLY cringey dialogue (EVIL DIES TONIGHT!!) and the lack of Laurie, but, taking the trilogy as a whole, it was clear that they had no idea what to do after the first film.

Spoiler!

Soooo many things about HALLOWEEN ENDS bothered me. One year after Michael kills what looked like everyone in town on Halloween night, things are completely back to normal? Everyone is out trick-or-treating, partying, roaming the streets like the HALLOWEEN KILLER ISN'T STILL ON THE LOOSE??? I would expect the streets to be deserted, cops patrolling everywhere, nationwide news crews reporting on the town that banned Halloween celebrations.....

Even from the first scene, Corey is a weird guy. I wouldn't leave my kid with him. And the granddaughter immediately falling in love with him, to the point of wanting to run away with him a day or two after a REALLY FUCKING WEIRD first date? OK.....

So Michael has been hiding three feet inside a storm drain, killing people in front of the old homeless guy for four years....and the police never looked there?

Laurie was chased by Michael for a few minutes 40 years ago, and went nuts and became a survivalist hermit....but after he kills her daughter and half the town, and IS STILL ON THE LOOSE, she decides to become Betty Crocker? Sure, that would happen.

It still would have sucked, but what I was expecting to happen was that Corey was committing all of the murders WITH Laurie's granddaughter, and that the big twist would be the cops finding Michael's skeleton, with him having been dead for years. I expected Pennywise Michael to be a hallucination by Corey, and the murders were being seen through his skewed perspective. He was dressed like Michael, and the granddaughter was wearing the other mask, and the end would see Laurie fighting and killing Corey and her own granddaughter, who had been corrupted by Haddonfield's evil. I mean, the choppy editing showed Corey killing the Doctor and the slutty Nurse, and then he was riding his bike with the granddaughter. That said to me that they were committing the murders together. Which would still have been a shitty movie, just shitty in a different way.

Despite assurances when the first film came out in 2018 that we would learn why Michael was so fixated on Laurie, we never did. So he just randomly chased Corey to her house top pick up his stolen mask...? OK.

This was just....bad. Insulting. The choppiness of the editing makes me think that there is a whole other film out there somewhere, that will probably be cobbled into a Director's cut at some point. It probably won't make it a GOOD film, but it might make it a bit more coherent.

At the end of the day, I can tell myself that three generations of Strode women trapped Michael in a burning house, and evil died there. That was a fitting, satisfying ending.

[jeffingoff]

Halloween Ends....oy. Such a disappointment. I need other people to watch this, so we can discuss it.

I saw it. I posted a review. My theory is that they realllllly wanted to kill Michael Myers and make sure he stayed dead so they murdered the entire franchise with this atrocious movie. They killed any love anyone could ever have for the series and then they burned it to the ground, salting the earth to ensure nothing new can ever grow there.

[Ben Staad]

Watched a movie called Flesh and Bone. Dennis Quaid, James Caan, Meg Ryan, and Paltrow. Very good drama with a simple story of past and present. Some fairly impactful stuff in this film. 3.5 out of 4 stars. The last line was fantastic.

Maybe not verbatim but close.

Spoiler!

Female: "What's that on your pocket?"
Male:Looks done at his shirt. "Nothing. <pause> It's just blood."

[Ben Staad]

You are the second person I've seen that was less than thrilled with this. Thanks for the warning.

Halloween Ends....oy. Such a disappointment. I need other people to watch this, so we can discuss it.

[dannyboy121070]

Halloween Ends....oy. Such a disappointment. I need other people to watch this, so we can discuss it.

[Sock Monkey]

Halloween Horror Movie #3:

LES DIABOLIQUES (1955): I've had this movie on Blu-ray for years, but I haven't gotten around to watching it. This movie about the murder of man by his wife and mistress is simply fantastic. It's easy to see why this has been praised so much by so many, even by the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Though nearly seventy years old, there are very few moments in the film that feels dated. The two performances by Vera Clouzot (wife of the director Henri-Georges Clouzot) and Simone Signoret are fantastic. My only wish is that I hadn't known the ending prior to watching the film because it does give so much away and diminishes a little bit of the fun.

Grade: A

[Sock Monkey]

Halloween Horror Movie #2:

I SEE YOU: Probably the easiest way to explain this movie would be: "Estranged by an affair, a married couple and their teenage son begin to experience weird occurrences around their house while the husband, a police detective, begins to investigate the possible return of a serial killer." To say much more about the plot would spoil the twists and turns that the movie takes and, to be honest, that might be the only reason to take this ride. This movie seems to have split audiences quite a bit between people who love it and those decidedly don't. I somehow fall right in the middle. The film is quite ambitious in what it is trying to accomplish and I appreciate the big swings it takes. Unfortunately, some of these twists make some of the characters make decisions that don't quite make sense in the moment. Couple this with the fact that the movie moves at a breakneck pace, the movie starts to show its cracks. If the movie had just taken its time to build up some of the families' motivations better, I'd have walked away being able to give this a higher recommendation. As it is, its worth a watch on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Grade: C

[mulleins]

Craig: Mr. Harrigan, has anyone ever tried to take advantage of you? How'd you deal with that?
Mr. Harrigan: Harshly.

[Ben Staad]

Yes! When I mentioned this movie screams SK those scenes are what I am referring to.

People equate King with scares, but, to me, the scenes of Craig and Harrigan sitting around talking were the best parts. King excels at dialogue and relationships, and this film was a perfect example. I really enjoyed it.

[dannyboy121070]

Thanks for talking up MR. HARRIGAN'S PHONE....I had no idea this was available already. Netflix puts out these movies with absolutely no fanfare, advertising, or publicity. I couldn't even FIND it on Netflix until I did a search. Netflix should pretty much know my viewing habits by now, so I expected this to pop right up, but, no....I had to search for it.

Solid film! Great performances, and an engaging story. Typical King, in a good way. People equate King with scares, but, to me, the scenes of Craig and Harrigan sitting around talking were the best parts. King excels at dialogue and relationships, and this film was a perfect example. I really enjoyed it.

HALLOWEEN ENDS tonight....

[mulleins]

Mr. Harrigan's Phone. 4 out of 5 stars.

Solid film all the way around. This screamed SK to me and it was so very well done. The lead actor was fantastic. Donald Sutherland was cast perfectly and the rest of the supporting cast fit their roles very well. Atmospheric, thoughtful, and suspenseful.

Yes, a very well done movie. I was hesitant myself because I enjoyed the story. Highly recommended.

[Ben Staad]

Hope you like it.

Glad to hear that. I really loved the story and liked the two main actors. I had fears they could make it corny, glad to hear that they did not. Will try to watch it this weekend! Thanks!

[Martin]

Mr. Harrigan's Phone. 4 out of 5 stars.

Solid film all the way around. This screamed SK to me and it was so very well done. The lead actor was fantastic. Donald Sutherland was cast perfectly and the rest of the supporting cast fit their roles very well. Atmospheric, thoughtful, and suspenseful.

Glad to hear that. I really loved the story and liked the two main actors. I had fears they could make it corny, glad to hear that they did not. Will try to watch it this weekend! Thanks!