Douglas Zanini

This movie was interesting, definetly an eyebrow raiser, which is what I think it was going for. The wackiness didn't bother me at all because I thought it's British and so I'm not supposed to get it. So from the outside looking in, and with an open mind that maybe this is not made so I would "get it", it was actually a pretty fun watch. Guys, it's a zombie movie. By now everything that had to be said and made about zombies was done. It's the wackiness that's the actual point of the movie. And there is a message here if you care to look for it. It's a reflection about life and death, and existing in the moment. Liberate yourself to the point past acceptance that the zombie apocalypse is not only normalized, it's okay. The movie actually goes out of it's way to say that the infection is confined to only Great Britain. They didn't need to do that, they could just never show anything beyond Britain and people would assume that the whole world is infected, but they don't, they actually included a whole character who's sole purpose was to prove that the world outside Great Britain is fine. This is very intentional from the writers, I think. It's like them saying "this is from Brits to Brits, Brits are gonna get it." And maybe "if this is Britain's zombie apocalypse then that's how it would look like". It's definetly not for everyone, I agree, but there IS something beneath the surface here, IF you care to look for it. If you look at this movie face value, then yes, it's just a trashy movie, but I didn't think so, I thought it actually had something interesting to say and it wasn't pretentious when saying it.

A masterful remake of a masterful game. As a massive horror (psychological and survival) fan, Silent Hill 2 by Blooper Team was my most anticipated game of 2024, and I admit I have had unrealistic expectations for this remake from the start but honestly... it surpassed even those. I despite having played other Silent Hill games in the past, I never actually played OG Silent Hill 2, and what a time to be alive. That game was not only remade, it was improved upon and it is being praised far and wide as the definitive version of the 2001 masterpiece, and having this experience as my fist interaction with the game made it even more special. Silent Hill 2 boasts of a small cast of great and realistically crafted characters, and let me tell you - it doesn't get anymore real than this. During the course of the game, you will play as and meet characters that, have experienced deep traumas like assault, loss, all types of abuse and more. It doesn't pull any punches in its themes like feelings of guilt, loss and specially depression and suicide. While the game does deal with those themes at its core, it does leave a lot of breathing room. I can recommend the game to any (adult) player because it doesn't stifle you with it but rather shows realistic depictions of people dealing with those issues - trying to cope and move on. Silent Hill is real. It's iconic foggy vistas are accurate depictions of how a person with crippling depression perceives the world around them. And once the game kicks into high gear... it simply doesn't stop. You embark on a slow, grueling and steady descent into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. Feelings of guilt, loss, regret, frustration, shame all manifest shaping the world around you as a twisted version of itself. But amongst it all are also those feelings of hope and the will to survive. Silent Hill 2 is very much a game about the journey of self discovery and acceptance, a path that, however much help we find all around us, must be ultimately trod alone. This is true for the protagonist, James, as much as it is true for any of us. The iconic town has been completely handcrafted from the ground up, and looks hauntingly beautiful. It fills you with dread of what you might find lurking in the fog, but also with fills you with a sense of wonder, a place that is begging to be explored. The excellent ambient soundtrack further fleshes out this mystical place, like the town itself is one big liminal space between the world you know and the deepest recesses of your own mind. While the camera is no longer fixed like OG SH, it was a massive improvement on the game's original formula not just in terms of how it plays, but how it was used to further elevate the horror aspects in the game. Its makes use of lighting and shadows, to give you a constant feeling of unease, that monsters could be lurking on every shadow and around every corner (and they often do). It lets you ease off those long moments of tension during exploration, for some well deserved revelations about yourself and the world around you. A few moments of respite before plundging you back into the depths of madness.

This is, by far, the best manga adaptation I have seen from Hollywood in my entire life. And, I was very lucky to experience it in 4D which was an amazing experience in and of itself, even if you are not familiar with the source material. The amazing world, fresh story, action-packed, edge-of-your-seat sequences and emotional performances, will more than make up for the price of admission. As a movie however, as expected, the majority of the people who were not familiar with the original works of Yukito Kishiro felt like the story was convoluted, and I get where they're coming from. There are just so many arcs Alita goes through, that it could take up easily 6 movies. Much of the original story is compressed into a very tight package, a 122 min running time, and I think considering the potential disaster, they handled it amazingly well. As a long time fan, I urge people to go experience this movie, in 3D if you can, or if not at least on the big screen. The visuals, CGI and motion capture tech, which was also used in the Avatar series are all present here, and it's amazing. Plus, the love, passion and devotion of the cast and crew spill through the screen the whole movie though. Rosa Salazar steals the show as Alita, giving off an impressive performance as well. This movie was a love letter to fans of the series, and an exciting invitation to newcomers. Alita finally has a chance to become a mainstream thing here with this movie, and hopefully sometime soon, she will get a second chance to captivate more hearts, which I know she can. People just need more time in the universe because its massive. Finally, when I read the original manga all these years ago, it was then one of the most creative things I had seen at the time. I really do hope a sequel gets made, because then people will really see what Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm Hyper Future Vision) is really all about, people will fall in love with this universe all over again, and it will then get the legacy it deserves.