Log: week 15 / 2021

Isaac is short on cash, his landlord makes him a weird deal he cannot refuse. He is paid good money to take care of the man's niece, who lives in a remote house and suffers from a mental affliction. Isaac accepts the offer, but once they arrive at the house there happen to be a few other caveats.

The little bunny contraption is genius, the setting is uncanny and the lead actors do a great job. There are some unnecessary flashbacks in the middle and it might've been better if the film had left a few more things unexplained, but the superb score keeps the tension high and the film is creepy from start to finish. Good stuff.

The plot is relatively intricate, following Qing Ming who goes to Tiandu to fulfill his master's last wish. Once there he gets involved in a pretty dark mystery involving the princess. At the same time, the structure of the film is pretty basic, with gradual reveals that uncover a lot of hidden drama between the main characters and leave no mystery behind.

The sets and costumes are lush, the cinematography is beautiful and the score has some excellent music. The problem here is that the drama is a little too heavy-handed and plentiful for a film like this, which creates some pacing issues. Other than that, a fine film, it's clear Guo feels at home in this genre.

The animation is actually pretty decent. Certainly not a top tier anime, but the action scene are richly animated, the designs are quite grotesque and there's a surprising amount of detail. It's not enough to save the film, but at least it prevents the film from turning into a complete failure.

The music is absolutely horrendous, the English dub is beyond terrible (tried looking for a Japanese one but no dice) and the plot is total chaos. It's fun for a while, but I got pretty bored halfway through, which still leaves about 45 minutes of high-paced nonsense. Not a great film, but I guess it's hard to argue with nostalgia.

Audrey and Henry have lost both their daughter and grandson. Unable to get past their grief, they come up with a pretty dark solution to their problems. To get their grandson back, they need the help of Becker, a young pregnant woman. They kidnap her, though with the solemn promise that they won't hurt her.

The performances of McCarthy and Richings are pretty great, there are some cool creature designs and a couple of very worthwhile scares. The best bits are in the middle part though, meaning that finale is just a tad underwhelming. Still, a solid film by Dyck, let's hope he gets another swing at horror and doesn't get stuck directing 20 more Hallmark films.

The film serves family drama, following three generations of trashy hillbillies. It's a subject that has the potential to quickly dissolve into clichés, rather than try a more subtle approach Howard goes full in and exploits those clichés until the film becomes an absolute parody of itself. It's just a shame he never even seems to realize it, as it tries to keep a straight face from start to finish.

Not sure if the Razzies are on this year, but Close and Adams certainly deserve one. Howard and Zimmer too, just invite them all on stage at once and it'll be a short show. This was absolute drivel, the worst kind of drama stretched to reach the 120-minute mark. A real low point in Howard's career.

The sound design is the biggest problem, from a film like this I expected something snappier, darker and more daring. And with a lead character that is into experimental music, killing people to convert their misery into electronic dance music, the actual music is way too flat and uninspired. I understand I have a rather high bar when it comes to music, but this just wasn't raw and angry enough

Performances aren't great either (some secondary part in particular are below the norm), the police investigation is poor and while pretty original, the kills lack impact. While that sounds harsh, there is quite a bit to like too. The premise is original, the key scenes are well executed and the finale is pretty rad, it just wasn't enough to lift it past the disappointment.

The only redeeming element of this film are its above average special effects. By modern standards its nothing special (and even for its time it wasn't exactly shocking), but at least they don't look completely out of place. Whale doesn't save them for a late finale either, which made it a little easier to sit through the ordeal that was the rest of the film.

The performances are very overstated and crummy, the invisible man himself is a parody of a villain and the plot is too simple even for the film's limited 70-minute runtime. It's only when objects are flying seemingly unaided through the air that the film retains its cheesy charm, otherwise this wasn't really worth my time.

It's probably a lot more interesting for people with an active interest in American (pop) history/culture. Personally I don't care much either. The music is terrible, other historical references have been done so many times before that I really didn't have to see them summarized again.

The animation is pretty interesting, but the art style is ugly. Characters are dull, the background art is lifeless and the film is at least 45 minutes too long. It saddens me to say this about an animated film from the US that isn't squarely aimed at kids, but this pandering to the past is just too damn tiring.

The Rinkaiji family looks like your average happy, suburban family, but as is often the case, drama hides behind their happy front. When daughter Sugina meets her stepfather in the park while skipping school, they decide to forgo society's expectations, starting a little company of their own.

Performances are decent, the cinematography is pleasant and the tone is light. The first half is a little too meandering though, as there is no real urgency and no obvious point to the film. Kaneko corrects that during the second half and the film did leave me with a rather pleasant feeling. Hardly a masterpiece, but very agreeable filler.

It's the first film where Ocelot experiments with 3D characters, which feels like a terrible mistake. While Ocelot's style is peculiar and unique, there's a point where animation becomes merely crummy and that line is being crossed here. Some of the background textures are nice and the colors pop, but the characters are simply disastrous.

The plot is pretty basic and quite moralistic. It offers plenty of opportunity for a fun adventure, but the lifeless character models are a big hindrance. It drags the entire film down (though the poor voice actor doesn't help either). What's left is a somewhat intriguing train wreck. It's difficult to pull your eyes away from the screen, but only because your brain keeps wondering how a thing like this came to be.

Stella is on the verge of killing herself, when someone rings the doorbell. It's a mysterious stranger who presents himself as a guest who made a reservation to spend the night in the spare guest room. Stella isn't very keen on inviting him in, but the invasive attitude of the man leaves her no other choice.

The setting is brilliant, the camera work stylish, the score on point. The performances are more than adequate too and the mystery is intriguing, it's just a shame that the halfway through most revelations are behind us and Lodovichi leans more on drama to fill in the remaining gaps. It's a pretty great film, but it had potential to be even better.

The kids find themselves at the mercy of their teacher. He has shown them a video that has hypnotized all of them, leaving them with 100 trigger actions that forces them to commit suicide when performed. The problem is that they have no clue what these actions are, and doing anything out of the ordinary may lead to their untimely death.

It's a fun premise, the performances are solid, the kills are bloody (though not every kill is quite as original) and the pacing is slick. It's a bit of an adjustment to see Takeba handle this type of material, but she does a good job. 100 Signals is a perfectly fine and enjoyable horror film, food for genre enthusiasts.

These films also don't age very well. Monsters vs. Aliens is a decade old and looks cheap. Ugly character designs, poor detail and generic camera work make for an unappealing-looking film. That the problem with films that hope to get by on technical chops alone, you really need aesthetics if you want to last.

But it's the atrocious and desperate attempts to be funny that completely ruin this film. The comedy is mostly just loud. The jokes are very predictable and the running gags are annoying, adding insult to injury. 90 minutes doesn't sound very long, but when every single minute of it is painful to watch, it's pretty damn excruciating.

After a short introduction, Lisa ends up in a tiny metal room, completely oblivious to how she got there. A hatch opens and a small crawlspace reveals itself. Lisa has no choice to go in, hoping she can find her way out of there, but the road to freedom is littered with traps and lethal pitfalls.

With a limited cast and locations, Tori can show his worth as a director. The setting is atmospheric and stylish and never loses its appeal, the film feels claustrophobic, the traps are slick, performances are solid and the mystery is kept alive until the very end. The film isn't terribly original, but that's hardly an issue if you can accept this for what it is. Prime genre fun.

Tung is a somewhat crude cook dating a famous actress, Deborah is a feisty woman who just got fired from her job. They meet each other when Deborah bumps her car into Tung's. Both are quite loud and headstrong, but after a couple of drinks they end up in bed. Romance ensues!

Tony Leung and Sammi Cheng work well as an onscreen couple, there are some funny bits and the pacing is decent, but after the halfway mark it gets a bit too predictable and once Tung starts doubting which girl to pick, the film does lose some steam. It's a pretty solid romcom though, just don't expect anything original.

When scientists on Earth discover Gorath is racing towards Earth, they send a mission to investigate the mysterious planet. None of their attempts to stop the planet are successful, mankind's final desperate plan is to attach a ton of rockets to the South Pole, hoping to push Earth out of its trajectory.

The first half hour is a bit sluggish, but once Honda is allowed to go crazy with his trademark miniatures sets and vehicles, Gorath becomes a lot more interesting. Add to that a giant sea lion and some good old destruction fun (poor Tokyo) and what you have is a pretty cheesy yet entertaining film.

Tom and Janet have been happily married for 14 years. So happily in fact that they've never had a serious fight, make up right away whenever there's some kind of disagreement and are still madly in love with each other. It drives their friends crazy, but then some strange guy shows up on their doorstep and tells them something is wrong.

Performances are solid, the film has visual flair, the soundtrack is fun, the comedy is pleasant and the mystery is kept alive until the very end. The finale lacks clear answers and isn't quite as imaginative as the film's premise, but that's just a small mishap in an otherwise fun and entertaining film.

The art style is interesting (though not exactly pretty) and the paint technique they used is insane (every single frame is painted), the animation on the other hand is quite poor and while you can practically see how much effort went into this film, it doesn't translate to something that is very pleasing to the eye.

The characters are rather dim and the film lacks focus. None of the plot lines are very interesting and the meandering nature of Bombay Rose doesn't really make for an intriguing watch. It's a shame that all the technical effort isn't met with good direction, fleshed out characters and a more captivating plot.

The story is extremely basic. Hoppity needs to save the inhabitants of Bugsville when their little piece of heaven is on the verge of being destroyed by a giant skyscraper. How exactly that leads to bugs singing is still a bit of a mystery, but it's safe to say that the plot isn't carrying too many surprises.

The animation is decent and some of the character designs are pretty nice, but the film's a bit loud, some of the characters are plain obnoxious and the songs have no added value whatsoever. It's still a pretty standard children's animation that may have some technical chops, but doesn't accomplish much beyond that.