Log: week 37 / 2021

Miller pulls open another can of atrocious pop songs and has a bunch of animated animals sing and dance to them. The comedy is still extremely dire, there's no lack of bland life lessons and though the animation is technical proficient, the film's a real eyesore. Not that I'm a Mad Max fan, but I'm glad he ditched Happy Feet to continue that franchise.

The digital scenes look nice enough, but aren't that special. The mix of horror and sci-fi feels a little forced and the horror bits aren't nearly as scary as Blomkamp hoped they'd be. But it's nice to see a familiar concept like demonic possession get a novel twist, even when the execution isn't quite there. A decent horror flick, but you'd expect Blomkamp to do better.

The quality of these comedies tends to vary, 72 Tenants of Prosperity ends up somewhere in the middle. The constant bustle is quite amusing and there are some decent gags, but the jokes can be pretty childish too and the film's a pretty big mess with lots of ups and downs. Decent filler, but impossible to recommend unless you know what you're getting yourself into.

The white man/black man pairing was probably more interesting when it was first released and the conversations between the two are pretty on the nose, but once their trek through the wilderness starts they make for an interesting duo. The second half of the film fails to uphold the tension and by the time the film finished, I'd stopped caring about both leads. Not terrible, but it could've been a lot better.

Slimane's characters is decent, but he's merely a sideshow in this film. His friends and family got on my nerves, unnecessary dramatic twists dragged out the runtime and I didn't care much for Kechiche's aesthetic choices. The middle part of the film is pretty decent, the first and final act didn't really do it for me.

The direction is very bland, the horror bits look cheap, and the performances are weak across the board. Also, at nearly two hours long, the film grossly outstays its welcome. The mix of horror and sci-fi is kind of fun though and there are a couple of decent moments. Sadly, they are few and far between, and hardly worth making the effort of sitting through the entire film.

Though Connolly has a rather small part, his characters (and performance) are crucial to the film's success. His character supports the somewhat outrageous events of the second half and grounds the kids' lovely sense of humor. The rest of the cast is solid too, the mix of drama and comedy works well and while I never got the idea I was watching a true masterpiece, it's certainly a film I'll fondly remember.

Performances are nothing special, and the direction is very basic. There's a rather crude split between the more dramatic parts and the funny bits, though it has to be said that by the end of the film, the drama did prove to be somewhat effective. It's certainly not the worst film in its genre, but it's not exactly memorable either.

I'm certainly no fan of straight-up slapstick comedy and Laurel and Hardy are pretty much the primary representatives of the genre. The comedy is repetitive, predictable and simply not funny to me. The story is negligible, performances are overall poor and the plot is merely an excuse for the gags. Terrible stuff.

Remote woods, five guys, one shooter. Prey isn't out to revolutionize the genre, but the atmospheric location, some very minor twists and the solid presentation make sure that genre fans won't have much to complain about. It's welcome filler in a genre that hasn't seen all that much action lately.

There used to be a time when these pubescent girl dramas fared better with me, but unless the characters are really on point or the film tries to at least shift some boundaries, they've become tougher to care about. Performances are decent though, the cinematography certainly isn't the worst and the soundtrack feels contemporary, other than that the drama left me rather cold.

The direction is extremely bland, the comedy is an acquired taste and Moretti's performance wasn't very appealing. I can see how some people would find this film amusing, but it left me cold all the way through. At least it was split up in three different parts, which saved it from complete and utter dullness.

The plot's a little farfetched and the action isn't all that convincing, but the film's biggest problem is that it just isn't as tense as the first one. Performances are solid, the cinematography on point, the score is decent, and the plot twists interesting, but in the end it doesn't really amount to much. A decent but forgettable sequel.

I'm not a dance expert, but even I could see the level of execution isn't very high here. Zhang and Han try to make up for it with light comedy, but that's a pretty poor solution. The music is also atrocious, the CG is subpar and though the ending of the film isn't quite as expected, it's still pretty cheesy. At least the two manage to shoot some pretty pictures and the performances aren't too bad, but that's not enough to salvage this film.

Poor performances, bland cinematography, a non-score and a very basic plot make this an extremely forgettable film. No doubt De Mornay and Johnson were big enough to draw some unsuspecting souls to watch the film, just as Lumet's name may have convinced a confused shopper, but this is little more than a bland 90s thriller.

The plot is pretty simple, also very predictable, but the direction is solid. Nice camera work, a pretty great score and pleasant performances make this a fun little horror flick. It's not that memorable and certainly not the type of film that will thrive beyond its original release, but if you're looking for solid horror filler, it's a very safe bet.

Ko delivers a somewhat kooky comedy that is never quite a fun as its premise suggests. The performances are overstated but not really funny, the crime elements feel out of place, the functional look isn't charming at all and few jokes land. Like most Hong Kong comedies, pacing and runtime are redeeming factors, but Ko made better films than this one.

There's a rather understated but quirky sense of humor that adds a little spark to the film, but it isn't quite enough to make up for the slow pace. The occasional nice composition isn't enough to give the film much visual flair and the ending wasn't quite as heroic as it was supposed to be. Not the first film, but it did feel pretty unmemorable.

Hudson and McConaughey are a rather bland couple, the constant pestering gets old very quickly and the drama in the third act doesn't really work when you don't care for the characters. Some secondary characters are fun and there are a couple of scenes that stick out, but there are much better romcoms out there.