Last Seen Contemporary Movie

[Tommy Jarvis]

Craving 2023 ★★★½

A fun little flick in the vein of the second half of FDTD. Four drug addicts come down upon a bar with waittress Felissa Rose and then a standoff ensues.

It floats along at a nice pace and it gets a nice, gory ending. The first flashbacks make it a tad messy, but that works itself out over the course of the film. The pace was okay, the characters were no Shakespeare, but kept you invested. And the ending was a good pay off. My impression: somebody loves his creature features. With perhaps a dab of Cronenberg and/or The thing thrown in for fun.

For fans of decent low budget productions.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Oppenheimer 2023 ★★★★★

One of THE big productions of this summer. A grand biopic with a suitable ensemble cast. Even if you don't enjoy the movie, you will get your fun from the pop quiz in recognizing everyone in this flick. Oh, there's Florence Pugh. Hey, it's Ken Branagh as Niels Bohr. And who is that guy playing the lawyer?

Not that that's necessary, though. The three hours just flew by. All with relevant information to make the picture of Robert Oppenheimer as complete as possible. As a man with flaws and as a man who is aware of his flaws and his mistakes and how he has to live with them. Without any attempt to make him too likable. Somebody confronted with the type of choice bobody should have to make.

We see the whole rise of Oppenheimer and the conception and production of the bomb. With the final test as the big climax. Complete with Hollywood style tension. Will we be able to go through? Will it go well or will we all die? Factually correct? Probably not everything, but you forgive the tension for storytelling purposes.

And also a picture of a time where things got done. We want to realize this groundbreaking technology. What do we need? Build a city in the middle of nowhere? Then... let's build a city. So it was written, so it was done. Oops, we forgot kitchens. Fine. Let's fix that. Living in an era where a lot of have lived through or are living through an infrastructure project turning a seemingly endless farce with an equally endless stream of Nimby's, politicians, lobbyists and general ne'erdowells who keep shit from getting done... That came close to home too.

And of course the hearings afterwards. With Nolan's vision telling how even groundbreaking techniques and world changing events can go sour because of things like personal pettiness and vindictiveness. All over a tiny throaway conversation between Oppenheimer and Einstein. With RDJ in an amazing role as Strauss. And Cillian Murphy in an award guarateed performance as Oppenheimer. From an abandoned hospital bed to the Oscar stage? It might just happen.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 2007 ★

Military types do shouty bits in bursty bursts and fight mountain dwelling rapists.

From a movie that the Wrong Turn franchise is indebted to, we somehow went to a poor man's Wrong Turn.

[FryeDwight]

Originally Posted by Tommy Jarvis

Friday the 13th: Death Curse 2019 ★★★

Maybe not much plotwise, but their heart is in the right place. You can tell that they love the series. The references to the series seemed more subtle: a quick photo of “aunt Ginny” (Amy Steel) and a reference to a line by Martin the caretaker. And that's about it.

More room for a fes solid kills and the final confrontation with, admittedl,y a good idea and an equally decent approach and execution.

Hard Candy 2005 ★★★★½

Good lord, was this intense.

The movie lives up to the premise. What you get is a very well crafted thriller about topics we as a society are not always equally comfortable talking about: torture, pedophilia, child abduction,... and even (slightly) touches upon topics like adulthood and age of consent at one point with Hayley's line about a girl being able to “imitate a woman” without necessarily being one.

The writing kind of solves the ethical dilemma by turning Wilson's character into a genuine monster where we only ever so often get a glimpse of what lurks beneath his socially adapted exterior. Page's character is painted as a sort of venging angel. In that aspect perhaps closer to Bronson in Death Wish than to the girl from Audition.

It's not gory, certainly when knowing that the film at one point involves a castration scene. Having said that, I doubt a lot of men were feeling completely comfortable when Hayley got to the actual cutting. Hence creating an atmosphere found in some great horror movies where your imagination fills in the blanks left by the movie.

Also, this is a movie that relies heavily on the performances by the main actors and they do it very well. Wilson and Page create a fascinating power dynamic where the upper hand shifts at several points in the film.

Great stuff. It got under my skin. Certainly recommended.

HARD CANDY is certainly very intense. Two extremely unpleasant people playing "Cat and Mouse" with one another. I thought it was quite good.

Thinking back on it, Wilson's character more than likely was guilty of what Ellen accused him off. After He finds out that the "Procedure" wasn't done, You figure He would have gotten the Hell out of there pronto! Instead He goes back into the arena for more abuse.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Originally Posted by FryeDwight

HARD CANDY is certainly very intense. Two extremely unpleasant people playing "Cat and Mouse" with one another. I thought it was quite good.

Thinking back on it, Wilson's character more than likely was guilty of what Ellen accused him off. After He finds out that the "Procedure" wasn't done, You figure He would have gotten the Hell out of there pronto! Instead He goes back into the arena for more abuse.

I think the element of revenge and humiliation was present too.

Him wanting to get back at her for doing this to him is stronger than his common sense.

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

Mother May I, 2023. 6/10

Director: Laurence Vannicelli




The Last Voyage of the Demeter, 2023. 8/10

Director: André Øvredal




The Communion Girl, 2022. 7/10

Directed by Victor Garcia




America Latina, 2022. 6/10

Directed by Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo

[FryeDwight]

THE RUINS (2008). Four somewhat shallow people vacationing in Mexico join up with a guy going to meet his brother at a Mayan ruin. Once there, They discover they have walked (literally) into a nightmare.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Leonard Maltin describes TR as "A cross between THE DESCENT and THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS" which pretty much describes it perfectly. Although none of the characters are a bargain, they still don't deserve what happens. A decent thrill and a few serious gross-out moments. ***

[Amaltheaunicorn2023]

[IMG]https:/

[Tommy Jarvis]

The Hills Have Eyes 2 2007 ★

Military types do shouty bits in bursty bursts and fight mountain dwelling rapists.

From a movie that the Wrong Turn franchise is indebted to, we somehow went to a poor man's Wrong Turn.

3AM 2017 ★½

Monotonous, not much going on.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Todd Tarantula 2023 ★★

This 2023 release is best described as a graphic novel style interpretation of one of the weirder David Lynch movies (Mulholland drive, Lost highway,...). So expect a plot that sometimes (seemingly) lacks in coherence.

The titular Todd finds out that a) his father is killed (in a dream) and b) that his bike is stolen. So he looks for his bike and tries to reconnect with his father. Who in real life is still alive. Kind of. Sort of. You'll find out.

The plot was sometimes a tad too confusing to keep me invested. And the acting has its ups and downs. Particularly the dialogue just before the bar fight sounds less like Blade Runner and more like a Nostalgia Critic skit.

That said, I did like the visuals (the colours give it something serious comiccy) and while I picked on the plot, I also want to mention that the script has some good ideas like the time travelling.

Two and a half stars. It would be a stretch to call it entertaining, but it certainly had qualities.

Blood Thirsty 1999 ★½

A vampire flick without fangs and a look and two leads closer to a softcore porno than to horror. You would expect the male lead to look like Andrew Stevens, but this guy gives away more of a Billy Burke-vibe.

Since it's the late nineties, one of the leads auditions for a band with generic indie/alt rock and a Dollar Store Nick Cave as their lead singer.

I kept expecting to see Tommy Wiseau walk in. Hahaha! What a story, Celia.

[hammerfan]

Currently watching Ringu