Review – The Nun 2

At this point I’m actually kind of impressed by the sincerity of the Conjuring universe’s belief that audiences will remember and care about the plot and character details from previous entries. Wrong on both counts in my case. Thus I had to content myself to let the intricacies of demonic possession wash over me while praying that none of it would be on a test later. See if desperate

Review – Evil Dead Rise

This seems to have been designed primarily to unseat Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive as the bloodiest movie ever made. The fact that Jackson’s entry was also released as Braindead should tell you most of what you need to know about its competitor. I guess it had an eerie moment or two, but for the most part it was a witless gorefest unworthy of the Evil Dead franchise. See if desperate

Review – Meg 2: The Trench

I wish I had a better understanding of the plot structures and other conventions of Chinese action movies. Like the original, this was fairly obviously made to screen on both sides of the Pacific without a lot of regional adjustment for either market. I guess the assumption was that Chinese audiences would expect silly characters and an episodic, fragmentary story, and US audiences wouldn’t care as long as they got plenty of giant sharks. If you liked the first one, well, they made you another one. See if desperate

Review – Shazam: Fury of the Gods

Other than a passing affection for the Saturday morning live action version from the mid 70s, I never thought much about Shazam as a kid. And other than the first movie in this set, I haven’t thought much about the character since. There’s just something about a child transformed into a superhero that seems aimed at an audience other than a guy in his 50s. Though I wasn’t surprised to find myself outside the target demographic, I was a little puzzled by the decision to spend the money to hire actual actors (Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren) to play the villains. Their performances notwithstanding, this is mostly effects-intensive goofiness. Mildly amusing

Review – MK Ultra

Watching this movie about cruel medical experiments actually feels like experiencing a cruel medical experiment. This nearly scriptless parade of patient abuse and sexual assault revels in ASMR noises and reaction shots. Honestly, the clips from old “educational” films are the best part of the production. I guess I can see why the filmmakers would take this approach – particularly in the absence of the budget required to make something better – but that does nothing to make this worth watching in any way. Wish I’d skipped it

Review – Renfield

Back in the 1970s, there was a version of Transactional Analysis for just about everyone. Though I don’t remember TA for Vampires, I guess it’s better late than never. The title character (Nicholas Hoult) struggles to come to grips with his codependent relationship with his master (typically hammy Nicolas Cage). The result wavers between clever and annoying. I found it particularly interesting that the story seemed comic-book-inspired even though it wasn’t. Perhaps that’s just how Hollywood works now. Mildly amusing

Review – Memory: The Origins of Alien

Alien was one of my powerful movie obsessions when I was a kid, and it remains my favorite entry in the franchise (no disrespect intended to the first sequel). So a lot of the behind-the-scenes trivia was stuff I already knew. Still, it was fun to revisit some old memories, see the outtakes and cut scenes, and even learn a new thing or two. Fans should definitely give this a look, and even folks who aren’t passionate about the subject may nonetheless find this interesting. Mildly amusing