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Film Review: RETRIBUTION (2023): Liam Neeson is Back in Action Hero Mode in a Successful, Fast-Paced Thriller https://film-book.com/film-review-retribution-2023-liam-neeson-is-back-in-action-hero-mode-in-a-successful-fast-paced-thriller/?feed_id=85064&_unique_id=64ebccf6e5320

Retribution (2023) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/29apheon

Happy 30th Anniversary, “Army of Darkness”! There honestly is so much I could say about this film. It’s a constant inspiration anytime I watch it and it always makes me feel better. #armyofdarkness #brucecampbell #samraimi #josephloduca #embethdavidtz #screamfactory #4k #billpope #necronomicon #hailtothekingbaby (at Eastpointe Apartments) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co32WhggbDl/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Now showing on DuranDuranTulsa's Horror Show...Army Of Darkness (1992) on glorious vintage VHS 📼! #movie #movies #horror #armyofdarkness #theevildead #evildead #evildead3 #SamRaimi #deadites #brucecampbell #bridgetfonda #IvanRaimi #tedraimi #EmbethDavidtz #PatriciaTallman #billmoseley #90s #vintage #vhs #durandurantulsa #durandurantulsashorrorshow

Bicentennial Man (1999)

Bicentennial Man is science fiction for people that don’t like science fiction, don’t understand what robots are, and don’t want to be challenged. It teases many thought-provoking topics and then barely scratches the surface on any of them. Why dig deep when it can instead rely on clichés and cheap tricks?

In 2005, the Martin family home is introduced to their new robot helper, "Andrew" (played by Robin Williams). Somehow, a defect in Andrew’s programming allows him to innovate, learn, and evolve. As the years pass, Andrew becomes much more than a household appliance and embarks on a journey to become human.

You'd assume the film would ask questions like “What makes a human human?”, that to spark deep questions, it would take something decidedly not human and give it the ability to feel. That sounds hard, so what if - instead of a robot - Andrew was a silver man, complete with eyebrows and facial expressions? You instantly know he's going to gain sentience and will develop a Pinocchio complex. Whew. Can you imagine if Andrew was wholly inhuman, like a grey box on wheels claiming it wanted to be considered our equal? That might've been hard.

The film fails from the beginning by introducing two stories, neither of which it commits to. The first is the love story between Andrew and the Martin family. The second is the robot's quest for humanity. Does that first element add anything to this 200-year-plus tale? No, but how else will the dummies in the audience understand that he's human if he can't have sex with a woman? The android can enjoy music, make friends, create art, and eventually becomes indistinguishable from a human due to extensive upgrades. It’s just a cheap trick.

This picture forces its conflicts. You listen to the arguments used by the World Congress for why Andrew can't attain "man" status and it holds no water. Bicentennial Man doesn't even try to expose the prejudices of human beings towards different classes or races. No one could leave the film upset or wondering how they'd react in this scenario because Bicentennial Man never actually explores the real difference between man and machine. The reason I don’t consider my computer to be a human being isn’t that it’s made of plastic and metal, or that it doesn’t need to eat or go to the bathroom. It’s not about it being built instead of born, it’s about the fact that my computer can’t think or create original ideas. It can’t relate to human emotions because it’s a machine. The people in this movie would disagree with me. It’s not an injustice, it’s just bad writing.

That's all sci-fi stuff. These sort of questions probably won't occur to most viewers. Even so, this movie isn't great. Bicentennial Man is a drama-comedy, but the drama is manufactured and crumbles under scrutiny. The comedy? it’s lame. Andrew is shocked when he hears about how humans reproduce - like that's never been done before. Predictably, we also get the usual jokes about him not understanding humor, turns of phrases, or human emotions. We've seen that a thousand times.

The love story is banal. Not only because there's no chemistry between the leads but also because you can see every development coming from a mile away. The social stigmas they must "overcome" are shallow, the physical differences non-existent. We never see what this case does to the world, or how other robots react to it there are hardly any robots in this movie.

The worst thing about Bicentennial Man is that it's not immediately bad. It sucks you in with obvious injustices, what appears to be a torn romance, and a man's quest to be declared human. There's even a poor lonely dog that wants to be adopted. It's so cheesy and earnest most will think it deep. Give Bicentennial Man a long hard look and you’ll recognize it for what it is: countless missed opportunities. (On DVD, March 25, 2016)

#evildeadii #evildead2 #armyofdarkness #deadites #ashwilliams #necronomicon #samraimi #ivanraimi #brucecampbell #embethdavidtz https://www.instagram.com/p/CSnLwZVJgiT/?utm_medium=tumblr

@marawilson #Robinwilliams #EmbethDavidtz #matildamovie ❤🇱🇷💙🎬🌻🌸🤍💕👏👍 #janedefloripa1 #janemthvdefloripa #janedefloripasc https://www.instagram.com/p/CGxZi9hnYtO/?igshid=anx409on9og4

Fallen

Thoughts : Old (2021)

One of my DOOMonFILM blog projects for 2021 was to pick a director a month, watch all of their films and rank them according to my own personal set of criteria and opinions.  Most of the directors chosen were either old schoolers or directors who focused on independent ventures mostly, but out of the few high profile directors chosen, one of my favorites was M. Night Shyamalan.  Ironically, like one or two of the other directors I covered, once I made a catalog hierarchy, Shyamalan decided to drop a new film.  The premise of Old was certainly intriguing, but I seemed to not have a sense of urgency in regard to seeing it.  All of this changed within the last few weeks, however, as a friend at work started speaking extremely high of the film after his recent viewing.

Old does a great job of managing and fulfilling expectations while still clearly holding the ace in the hole of the famous M. Night Shyamalan twist in the back pocket, making it the most sound offering since The Visit.  Much like The Visit, this film is strongly bolstered by themes of family and time breeding estrangement (though Old takes the second theme from a number of completely opposite perspectives), and it is also a showcase for some strong child acting.  Viewers will be very frontloaded going into the film by the title alone, and while age is an obvious factor in the film, we are more so forced to look at life and time in a sort of microwave fashion, meaning that the fear of lost times, lost special moments and lost loved ones are stacked on top of one another at a horrifying rate, removing any room for rationalization and acceptance.  While all of these factors are horrifying enough in terms of the way that they wreak havoc on the adults, it becomes horrifying on an existential level as well when the children not only age physically, but emotionally as well, meaning the weight of awareness is forced onto them at light speed.

Old shares a space with Midsommar in the sense that it occupies a space in the realms of what I like to think of as “uncanny valley daylight horror”.  It also falls a bit under the ironically-titled category I like to think of as “bottle movies”, where the events take place chiefly in one location, which means that the true horror has to come from the premise of the film, and the tension from our expectations of events versus the way we take in what actually happens.  Much like us, the characters in the film attempt to rationalize the horror they are facing by imprinting their personal and professional skill sets onto the events that take place, which leads to further tension as each characters approach must be accepted or discredited with minimal time to process due to the way that things rapidly fall apart.  The entire time, we are essentially shown the magic trick that M. Night Shyamalan is trying to pull on us, with him bringing things home via the right amount of additional detail and context during the resolution (as previously mentioned).

The cinematography during the resort moments sticks to your standard Hollywood big budget approach of long lenses and slow pushes, but once the main cast arrives at the preserve, there is a wonderfully radical shift in the cinematography full of odes to horror movie styles from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, not to mention plenty of kinetic handheld work.  The preserve is a fantastic location, with its golden sands, arresting cliff walls and caverns, deceptively beautiful waters and the always visually stunning coral.  The special effects and makeup work is surprisingly powerful and expressive due to the fact that it is extremely subtle, seemingly opting to work in conjunction with the old school horror visual tricks and unsettling score rather than trying to take center stage.  The moments of violence and body horror are riveting and leave an impression without having to stray too far into the realms of excessive gore.

Gael García Bernal has the monumental task of serving as the most sound presence in a large group of people suffering from a litany of different psychoses and accelerated medical problems, making him a strong baseline to measure the many shades of frantic natures we face as viewers.  In comparison, Vicky Krieps carries in literal worlds of pain, both emotional and physical, and essentially allows herself to be broken down and built up again through the course of events.  Rufus Sewell is one of the most terrifying presences in the film as he manages to play his character’s schizophrenia right up to the point of trope territory, settling nicely within the realms of a threat that could go off at any time.  Abbey Lee plays vain and personally damaged in a very withdrawn manner, making her connection to Sewell’s character a dangerously tenuous one where she is too self-involved to care for the welfare of others who suffer at her husband’s hands.  Ken Leung and Nikki Amuka-Bird attempt to bring different levels of rationale and logical thinking to the table, making them an interesting volatile element in the camp.  Aaron Pierre takes his mysterious and dominating presence and uses it as a sort of distraction to the fact that he is one of the most calming presences within the film, with his pained look being the only thing that doesn’t fit into his mostly pained persona.  Appearances by Kathleen Chalfant, Gustaf Hammarstein, Francesca Eastwood, Matthew Shear and director M. Night Shyamalan round out the main adult cast.

A special note must be made about the casting and collective performance for each of the child characters.  The character of Trent is largely carried by the quirky and inquisitive nature of Nolan River and the emotionally unstable fear portrayed by Alex Wolff, with Luca Faustino Rodriguez bridging that gap during the moments that the terror on the beach unfolds and Emun Elliott bringing everything home via the wisdom of adulthood.  When it comes to Maddox, Alexa Swinton sets the table with pre-teen angst before handing things off to Thomasin McKenzie, who does most of the heavy lifting for Maddox in terms of emotional rationalization and coping with fear before Embeth Davidtz brings things home in one of the final fear-based story beats.  Finally, the chilling character arc of Kara is portrayed via the combined innocence of Kylie Begley and Mikaya Fisher before Eliza Scanlen steps to the plate to bring Kara through two of the most jarring moments in a film full of them.

Old is definitely a huge win for M. Night Shyamalan, and a proper return to form that proves The Visit wasn’t just a fluke during a 15 year run of ridings the ups and downs of mediocrity.  Films like this are always the hardest to place in year end lists, as there is just as much technical prowess and strong writing to be found in this film clearly meant to reach the largest common denominator as there is in your Oscar-bait films, if not more (in some cases).  I do know this... if you’re looking for a popcorn flick, pick this one and prepare yourself to be pleasantly surprised that you’re getting more than you bargained for.

Happy 27th Birthday to one of the films that helped form my film taste and sense of humor. It seems like only yesterday I was watching it on the SciFi Channel, not knowing what the hell was happening. Hail to the King, baby. #armyofdarkness #samraimi #brucecampbell #embethdavidtz #goodbadimtheguywiththegun #billpope #josephloduca (at Oswego, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8xo3RdAPet/?igshid=5qncrev8bqmb

Now showing on DuranDuranTulsa's Flashback Theater 🎥... Schindler's List (1993) on glorious vintage VHS 📼! #movie #movies #drama #historicaldrama #truestory #schindlerslist #nazigermany #WWII #tragedy #holocaust #LiamNeeson #RalphFiennes #BenKingsley #EmbethDavidtz #90s #vintage #vhs #StandWithIsrael

Old (2021)

I've never seen another movie tell the same tale as Old. This makes it unpredictable and interesting from the get-go. It also explains too much, which makes it easy to poke holes in its story. Whether you'll enjoy it depends entirely on your ability to suspend your disbelief.

Like many of M. Night Shyamalan’s films, the less you know going in, the better. This allows you to experience the strange goings-on as the characters do, which will distract from the loopy mechanics of this strange beach. Before going into more details and the premise, I'll tell you that it's worth checking out. You might find that it exploits a fear you didn’t even know you had. If some of it doesn’t seem to add up (such as Nikki Amuka-Bird’s character) just wait. Old doesn’t really have a twist. That word implies that everything you saw before will be turned on its head. What Old has is not the same as a reveal that “they were living in present-day the whole time” or “he was the hero’s father all along”!

With that said, the premise: Guy and Prisca Cappa (Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps) are vacationing with their six-year-old son Trent (Nolan River) and 11-year-old daughter Maddox (Alexa Swinton). While relaxing on an exclusive beach with some other resort guests, they suddenly begin aging one year for every thirty minutes.

Suddenly discovering your health will degenerate until death in a matter of hours or that your best years slipping through your fingers are real fears touched upon to various degrees. Even if the characters don’t explicitly express these, you feel it just looking at them. The way Shyamalan transitions between the different actors who play the same roles is effective. A different movie would’ve made the mistake of trying (and failing) to use computer effects to show rapid bursts of time. In Old, we follow enough characters that someone can walk away from the camera - for credible reasons - and then come back later looking completely different without making you feel like they’re cheating.

Though the dialogue is often stilted, the filmmaking is still good. Every second spent on the gorgeous sand with those beautiful cliffs and that pristine water is costing our protagonists a lot. You want them to hurry but an escape must be carefully planned - we see how fatal rushing things can be. Then, there are the internal dangers. Sometimes it’s a disease that goes untreated “for years”. In some cases, it's the psychological toll of losing your looks, your strength, your sight, your hearing, and your health. If you suffer from a mental disease, your mind might go. Someone on the beach snaps and they become an external danger. The premise also allows for quiet, contemplative moments as some people realize it’s too late for them, that all they can do is enjoy their twilight years.

Even when M. Night Shyamalan isn’t successful, his projects are interesting because they’re ambitious. Old shows that maybe he should get a co-writer to polish his dialogue and get a second opinion about which mysteries need to be left in the dark but it's more "good" than "bad". (November 7, 2021)

#ArmyOfDarkness first released in cinemas #OnThisDay in 1993 Art by #GrahamHumphreys (@humphreys7120) #CoolArt #Art #AshWilliams #BruceCampbell #EmbethDavidtz #EvilDead #SamRaimi https://www.instagram.com/p/BuD9qDngeJq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ibv0e9zj57u0

HALLOWEEN-A-THON 2021 Video 157: THIRTEEN GHOSTS #halloweenathon #halloweenathon2021 #thirteenghosts #arthurkriticos #tonyshalhoub #kalinaoretzia #embethdavidtz #dennisrafkin #matthewlillard #kathykriticos #shannonelizabeth #robertkriticos #alecroberts #benjaminmoss #jrbourne #maggiebess #rahdigga #cyruskriticos #fmurrayabraham #damon #matthewharrison #jacobrupp #mikecrestejo #aubreyleeculp #charlesandre #billymichaels #mikhaelspeidel #jimmygambino #danielwesley #susanlegrow https://www.instagram.com/p/CVrgyngLQv-/?utm_medium=tumblr

@marawilson #Robinwilliams #EmbethDavidtz #matildamovie ❤🇱🇷💙🎬🌻🌸🤍💕👏👍 #janedefloripa1 #janemthvdefloripa #janedefloripasc https://www.instagram.com/p/CGxZi9hnYtO/?igshid=anx409on9og4

𝟛𝟘 𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝕄𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖 🎥 🍿 DAY 07 a movie that makes you happy: Matilda 🎀 Directed by: Danny DeVito Written by: Nicholas Kazan & Robin Swicord Based on the beloved children’s book by: Roald Dahl Starring: Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz & Pam Ferris #30daychallenge #Day7 #Matilda #family #fantasy #comedy # MaraWilson #DannyDeVito #RheaPerlman #EmbethDavidtz #PamFerris #moviethatmakesyouhappy #books #youarenotalone #moviechallenge #quote #movie #movies #quote #TheMovieJunkie #MovieJunkie101 #ForTheLoveOfFilm #PeaceLoveAndMovies #HappyQuarantine #CovidApocalypse https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ssj7UlDRG/?igshid=ieq6kn79ri3o