yakuza warlord

I've only seen the first season of True Detective so that's the only one I can judge this one by. While NC is well filmed and well acted it meanders waaaay too much. Truth be told there isn't enough story here for this to be so long. Another pass through the writer's room may have helped to make this more concise. It's ridiculously bloated and desperately needed to be cut down. Writer/director Issa Lopez is a talented director but she overwrites and it hurts the material. Fortunately she has two great leads in Jodie Foster and Kali Reis. Foster is always good so no surprise there but the revelation is Reis. She is terrific playing a difficult character. She has to run the gamut emotionally and does so very well. She is not a traditional beauty but there is something about her that you can't quite put your finger on that makes her very appealing. As for the mystery it is unnecessarily complicated when it didn't need to be. The police seem to be all over the place for such a simplistic case when all is said and done. I also didn't care for the supernatural elements of the story. They seemed somewhat stereotypical considering they center around indigenous people. Cut the fat and pare this down and you have maybe a 3-4 hour program. If you can power through it it's worth a watch hence the 3 stars but be warned it's a bit of a slog.

This show is pure stupidity at its finest. Airheaded is an apt description of this show. The characters are constantly making boneheaded decisions and doing things NO ONE with half a brain would do. Yes it's well acted and well directed but the script is horrendous and so badly written it makes watching it torture. Please I beg of you DO NOT waste your precious time watching this! Even if you are bored find something else to do with your time. Black Summer is godawful!!! I didn't even make it through the first season. You may not either.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher is like an anthology film but all of the segments are connected by the various members of the Usher clan. The story is based on the Edgar Allen Poe classic but it is really an amalgamation of many of Poe's stories: The Black Cat, The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart, etc. The performances are solid however in this film the younger actors outact the veterans for the most part. Carl Lumbly and Mark Hamill stand out among the vets as a justice obsessed prosecutor and a fixer slash attorney respectively. I couldn't make heads or tails of what Carla Gugino was supposed to be so it made it difficult to judge her performance. The direction, cinematography and music are top notch. Mike Flanagan is proving himself to be a master of horror and someone who understands the necessity of story to a film. I won't give away the story but it is a fascinating watch. You don't need to be familiar with Poe's work to enjoy this but it adds to the fun of watching it if you are. I highly recommend this to any that love a good story and good acting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It is well shot, has great performances and a story that tells you just enough but doesnt just spoonfeed you everything. That last part may be a problem for some people who like everything spelled out for them. Me, I like a film that asks me to draw some of my own conclusions. Be forewarned it moves slowly but deliberately, another thing I like. I love when a director challenges you to stick with a film and in the case of this movie the payoff is worth it. The ending is a kick! This film isnt for everyone. While it has some gore it isn't overly gory and it's more spooky than scary. It's also what I call a Round Robin movie meaning it starts at a point then brings you back around to show you how you got there. Movies like this and Candyman are the kind of horror films I enjoy. Horror films that emphasize strong characterizations, atmospheric cinematography and chills over gore are right up my alley. If you do as well this is definitely one you need to see.

VHS Viral is a mixed bag of a film. It's not as good as the original VHS but it's better than 2. The best story of the bunch is a story about a failed magician who finds a demonic cloak. The acting is really good, its well written,the fx are convincing and the direction is solid. The second story about a scientist who invents a dimensional gateway is 2nd best. It's not as good as the first story but it isn't boring. However it gives too much information leading up to the big reveal. The ending was kind of sad but understandable. The last story about a bunch of skater kids that encounter entities in Mexico was well shot for what it was but that's about it. The wraparound story starts off interesting but doesn't go anywhere which is sad because it had great potential. This leads me to the biggest problem with the film: I know the whole found footage device is the hallmark of the franchise but imho it holds these films back from being better than they could be. The first story skirts that issue by shooting the film in a documentary style. The found footage style also gives the film a headache inducing quality that sometimes makes it tough to watch. Is this worth seeing? Yes. Is it good? Well it isn't terrible. It's an entertaining time killer.

Among the weaker entries in the VHS franchise 94 could've been good if someone had bothered to put some effort into the script. 94 starts out promising with a wraparound story that ultimately disappoints because it ends up going nowhere. A SWAT team raids a warehouse for a drug raid but instead comes across a bunch of televisions and dead bodies. Had this been connected to one of the stories it could've had more of an impact but instead it ends up going nowhere. Of the five stories here only two are any good. One about a rat creature that dwells in a sewer and the other about a mad doctor doing ungodly experiments. Both are well done although neither ends well. The other three are forgettable drivel that should've been left out in favor of better stories. If you're familiar with the franchise this is closest to Viral more so than 1 and 2 which were quite entertaining. I liked Viral better than this and that's saying a lot considering it was more miss than hit as well but it was still better than this. Two side notes: 1. I think the whole found footage trope is an albatross around the neck of this franchise that it needs to abandon. Not only does it hamstring the filmmakers it is pretty played out at this point. Shooting the stories regular would give the directors more of an opportunity to show their true skills and not be hampered by a device that limits their presentation of the material both stylistically and in what they can and cannot show. 2. The cinematography and editing for this film is absolutely dreadful. You can barely make out what's happening in many of the stories and the film is edited like someone gave a six year old the footage and said, "Just do your best kid." For this to be the fourth film in a franchise and to look this amateurish is shameful. I don't know which is worse, a bad film or a bad film that could've been good with just a little extra effort. A real shame. Smdh.

Just finished watching @zola and while it isn't bad it isn't really good either. This movie could've been a cult classic and may become one but it lacks...something. The parts don't make a complete whole. The direction is solid, the performances are good, it is sharply edited, the score by Mica Levi is terrific and the cinematography by Ari Wegner gives the film a certain visual look that is very appealing but it lacks a certain something to bring it all together. Also the film could've been much funnier. There were missed opportunities for sharper dialog that could've took the film up a notch. The other glaring problem I had is the movie doesn't end it just sort of stops. There's no closing third act or resolution to the situation. I don't want to give you the story points because for all the movie's flaws I think it deserves to be seen and the best way is going in blind. Be forewarned the dialog is very ghettofabulous. Lots of slang and profanity. At the end of The day is it worth seeing? I say yes but just know it's not for everyone.

Destroyer is a film that should be seen at least once but only once. It's too artsy to be a credible action picture and too underwritten to be a character study. Nicole Kidman deserves credit for throwing herself into her role as Erin Bell but her makeup is so distracting it takes away from her performance. She looks like an extra from The Walking Dead. Kidman plays a cop who is haunted by a case that ended badly. She has been wracked with guilt over a decision she made years ago. That decision has impacted both her and her daughter's lives and not in a positive way. I won't tell you more but to be honest there really isn't more. It's pretty simplistic really. The subplot with the daughter is straight out of a Lifetime movie. The other actors are good but their parts are underwritten. The script is more like a sketch than an actual finished product. Kusama does a solid job directing but her pacing is so brutally slow it makes the film a chore to watch. It took me two days to watch this. I would love to see what Kathryn Bigelow would've done with this or Michael Mann. This needed an experienced action director imho. I didn't hate this movie but I didn't love it either. It's worth a watch but be forewarned it's not what you think it is and the bad reviews are understandable but for the most part unwarranted. I struggled with giving this three stars. I really wanted to give it two but I don't think it's a two star film. I just wasn't moved by it. It's not great but it isn't good either. It's somewhere in between. It deserves to be seen once but only once.

Have you ever watched a movie and when it was over thought, "Not bad but it could've been better "? That's The Possession Of Hannah Grace in a nutshell. Well directed, terrific cinematography and reasonably good performances are wasted in a story that ultimately goes nowhere. Another pass through the typewriter could've helped the script. Let's start with the good: the direction is terrific. This film doesn't look cheap or tossed off. Diederik Van Rodijen is a true talent and I hope he gets another opportunity to direct again with a better script. He has a real eye and puts together some really great sequences. The cinematography by Lennert Hillege is top notch. This film is a feast for the eyes. The makeup and camera work are very well done. Kirby Johnson as Hannah gives a truly creepy performance. Shay Mitchell does her best as does the rest of the cast. There's really not a bad performance in the bunch. Everyone acquits themselves well. The bad is the script. Let me be clear it's not terrible it's just missing...something. This movie is worth a watch for all the good but you'll see what I mean when you watch it. It has some tense moments and nice jump scares but it lacks some element I can't quite put my finger on.

The Mother is an action picture that echoes John Wick in so many ways its easy to see why Lopez made it. The cinematography is terrific and the direction is stylish. Beyond that there isn't much to hang your hat on here. The film starts off on a solid note but gets stuck in one gear after. The script is badly underwritten and filled with clichés. Lopez's character being an ice hearted assassin who speaks very little, the villains are Snidely Whiplash mustache twirlingly evil, the daughter is forever a damsel in distress and the henchmen can't shoot to save their lives. It's all John Wick lite. The saddest part is this could've been good with another draft that changed some things and fixed others.The performances are a byproduct of the poor script so you don't get anything in that department. Lopez has no personality, Lucy Paez, the daughter, is sort of annoying and Joseph Fiennes is boring. The only one who comes out somewhat unscathed is Omari Hardwicke as an FBI agent named Cruise. He is given very little to do but he tries to elevate the material to no avail. This could've been an entertaining little programmer but the script is terrible. I will give Lopez credit for not doing another one of those godawful romantic comedies like Maid In Manhattan or Second Act and yes she is game but the script fails her.