grayghost-40225 Reviews

Mandy (I) (2018)

A Modern Sword and Sorcery film?

[10/10 · 4 June 2024]

If I had known what this movie was, I would have seen it much sooner. I know it's very early considering I just watched it, but I think this is one of the best films ever made.

What I thought was going to be a psychedelic slasher film has turned out to be a modern remix on sword and sorcery. I won't spoil any more than that. Don't expect too much substance though, this is a film of vibes and atmosphere that completely justifies itself.

For the first time in recent memory, I refused to look at the time left because I didn't want this movie to end. It's a good script and cinematic effort, elevated to greatness by Nicholas Cage's performance.

This was everything I wanted out of The Spine of Night. I liked that movie, but didn't realize how much more it could have been until I saw this.

Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)

A beautiful film, if a little too quiet

[5/10 · 31 March 2024]

This lacks the usual trashiness of Troma movies, and it brings a more traditional artistic vision to the screen despite its exploitative premise. I was hoping from the trailer that this would be hilarious, but all the best parts are shown in the trailer itself. It's actually pretty quiet, with only occasional escalations of violence.

Leroy's Momma (Gail Neely) gets very little time to run around kicking ass and killing Nazis. Most of the film follows gang politics as the Nazis take control of the beaches.

This movie was at least very pleasant to look at. There are tons of crazy outfits and characters, but what I liked most was the cinematography. There are some really nice abstract sequences and scenic establishing shots. Leroy's murder and funeral were surprisingly beautiful. When the Nazis aren't surfing they wander through an industrial nightmare covered in graffiti and shrouded in smoke.

The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak (1984)

The Queen's Will is the Will of the Queen

[6/10 · 23 March 2024]

You probably already know if this is your kind of movie. Campy, violent and packed with gratuitous nudity. However, the most striking thing about it is its sets. They're often large and impressive, qualities they share with a certain other asset in this film. Like many great adventure films, we get to see a wide variety of exotic lands: the crowded markets of Hong Kong, some lush jungles and, most interestingly, the underground labyrinthine city of Yik Yak.

This film is most enjoyable if taken with friends and libations. It had me laughing out loud more than once, usually due to the banter between Gwendoline and Willard. Willard (Brent Huff) plays the paragon of a mercenary hero who is violently uninterested in the quest. Violently is not an understatement. He strikes, insults and otherwise manhandles these two women constantly throughout the film, yet they continue to pursue him, seemingly because he is the only white man in Hong Kong. Oh, also he's really good at killing people. Unfortunately for Gwendoline, this brute is the first man she's ever kissed, and her virginal whims bind her to Willard, leaving her hopelessly in love with him. That appears to be the film's justification for why she keeps pining after him despite his literally nonstop rejections of her.

An hour into the film, they arrive in Yik Yak, a land of topless women in leather lingerie. This half of the movie was something of a let-down. Despite the grand sets, the environment feels sterile. None of the women they meet speak English or even appear to have any kind of inner life. Are they slaves, or perhaps some kind of specially bred automaton? No way to tell, it's never explained. One of them gets eaten by native male captives in the bloodiest moment of the movie.

The villain is alright, she's this flamboyant older woman who has designed this weird civilization because she wants to grow diamonds from the earth. She has a foppish eunuch assistant named D'arcy who is quite entertaining. Honestly, the land of Yik Yak felt quite unimaginative, not really doing anything new with the idea of a fantastical land of "Amazons."

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

No One Will Ever Enter This Room Again

[7/10 · 9 May 2023]

But many will return to watch The Pit and the Pendulum. Of all the horror I've seen of this period, this one holds up pretty well. Colorful, macabre, and haunting, this film is worth watching for the visual flair alone, but the story isn't half bad. A VERY loose adaptation of the book, but it certainly felt like a story contemporary to Poe's works.

Pros: Vincent Price is great, constantly riding the line of suspicion and sympathy. Is he deranged or bereaved? We never know what he really thinks.

Amazing painted landscapes, and some colorful sets.

A handful of genuine shocks. Much of the violence is obscured, but when it's not it will catch you off guard.

Good length for a movie with a small cast, doesn't last too long.

Cons: Vincent Price doesn't talk at all after his last monologue! The climax of the film is too quiet, it really loses momentum after all of his buildup.

Some story beats and the general treatment of women characters feel dated. With little exception all violence against women is off screen, and the girls usually stand by screaming while the scary men do their thing.

One thing I found hilarious was the moment Don Medina is accused of lying and sneaking around, he begins this sob story of how scary it is he doesn't even know he's doing it. And everyone believes him! That felt like way too common a trope in 50's-60's horror: the terror that I'M the monster oh no!

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Ok script elevated by stellar cast

[7/10 · 20 April 2023]

The concept is good, but the script felt a little understated and the lines weren't always great. Luckily the cast was more than capable of carrying the show with excellent deliveries and body language. Hoffman steals the show, but everyone was very good. Lots of great character moments.

The editing in this movie is borderline obnoxious, the flashing transitions between timelines made this feel cheaper and older than it is. Indoor scenes are nicely composed, especially in the high-rise. Outdoor shots are mostly overexposed, again cheapening the film.

The story was functional until the end. Gina's story doesn't really go anywhere, and the climax felt so drawn out and clumsy it seriously affected my feelings on the film.

Far from the best of either Hoffman's or Sidney Lumet's work, but it was still an entertaining watch for fans of either.

Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity (1987)

Our Universe is vast and full of wonder

[5/10 · 9 February 2023]

This film is a paragon for the sci-fi/fantasy B-movie scene. It met all my expectations for the genre, and it was appropriately short. By the time your attention is waxing, the movie is nearly finished.

The biggest appeal of this film is the sets. They're large and detailed for a genre that was often just shot in woods and fields. I thought the erotic scenes were a bit more tasteful than other films at the time, and there is very little fetishized violence towards women for a film with "slave girls" in the title.

The dialogue tries incredibly hard to be witty, only for the actors to underperform it such that it is almost unbearable at times. That is, until Don Scribner shows up. He seems genuinely unhinged and is clearly enjoying the script, making him the star of the show. He kept me glued to the screen through the exciting end.

The sequence in the temple was the most fun in the whole movie, kinda surreal with monsters and hand-to-hand fighting. I wish the madness contained within only bled out to the rest of the island.

9 (I) (2009)

A lot of potential

[6/10 · 28 September 2022]

The first 10 minutes feel like 30, in a good way. The world feels like it has so much texture; there's a lot to take in. Unfortunately, once our main character "9" begins meeting the rest of the cast, things go downhill pretty quickly.

Pros: Very cool cast. This movie looked great for an independent 3D animated film. The monstrous machines that our characters meet are unlike any you'll see elsewhere. It has a uniquely mature tone for an animated film, especially for one from its time. You won't expect all the twists and turns in the story.

Now the cons: hardly anyone has any lines. John c Reilly and Crispin Glover in particular have less than 10 lines each it seems. Their characters are in many scenes but never seem to say anything. While Elijah Wood performs well, no one else seems to give much energy to their characters.

The animation does not hold up today unfortunately. Most of the character models are smooth 3D dolls with burlap textures painted on. This leads to some weird warping of the image around their eyes and joints. During action sequences it is very difficult to tell characters apart as they all have the same basic ragdoll model, with only slight variations in colors or head shape. The sound design leaves a lot to be desired too. All the machines sound like dinosaurs from Jurassic Park.

While you won't expect every twist in the film, you probably guessed from the first 20 minutes what the big reveal would be at the end.

This film feels like they had the perfect cast and crew for a masterpiece, but seemingly they lacked the support to bring it all together.

Nitpicking here: why do they breathe so much? There's a scene where they hide from a monster, and 9 covers his mouth because it can hear him breathing. The scene before this showed us he has a voice box, so what was that about? Another character falls over panting after running. So strange.

Zardoz (1974)

Thoroughly Bizarre

[10/10 · 4 September 2022]

So many films blow their budget or their concept at the start of the film, and then fall back on cheaper effects and tropes in the later acts. Zardoz delivers completely and consistently. It is as surreal and visually stunning in the final scenes as it is in the opening.

Unfortunately, (perhaps fortunately?) I was not able to procure a copy with subtitles. I was doing dishes in the first act, so I could not follow the plot at all. Nonetheless, I was completely invested in it's unique beauty.

Initially I was going to rate it a 9 out of 10, wishing that the story could have been less convoluted. After reconsidering it, I think to ask that of it would be an insult to this treasure of a movie. Almost definitely not for everyone, but if you are looking for something unique and unsullied by boring Hollywood tropes, then this is an excellent choice.

Better Call Saul Presents: Slippin' Jimmy (2022)

What were they going for?

[1/10 · 26 July 2022]

This seems like the show was entirely written and conceptualized before the Better Call Saul IP was tacked on at the end. The tone is alien compared to the parent series: many episodes are fantastical. What about BCS warrants a possessed nun episode?

Despite the weirdness of the show and its very adult IP, the show almost seems oriented to an elementary audience. There's next to no cursing, and if its plot was further simplified it would be suitable for preschoolers.

So I have to ask, who is this for?

Le guerriere dal seno nudo (1973)

An Unusually Skilled Sword and Sandal Adventure

[6/10 · 24 November 2019]

This movie's greatest selling point is the sex. There is tons of it, even for an exploitation film. I wouldn't go out of my way to review this if that was all it had to offer though. It presents minimal plot yet an interesting take on politics in the city of Amazons. Most impressive of all however, is the acrobatics.

For some reason, women in American movies at this time were, more often than not, poor fighters. Even in the 80's, Sandahl Bergman, the queen of fantasy adventures, could just barely pass as someone trained with a sword. She was in at least three I can think of in which swordplay was important to her character, yet she never once sold me that she could use it. Against the odds, every major and minor character in War Goddess can fight. On foot, horseback, and in mud, these women can wield any weapon and perform any feat. It's very impressive.

Raising Arizona (1987)

The Coen Brothers Meet Mad Max

[5/10 · 19 November 2019]

Unlike much of the Coen Brothers' work since 2000, this movie has a campy feel, despite its high production value. Raising Arizona carries the style of kung fu and road warrior movies: lots of absurd action, cartoon-like characters, fast-moving camerawork.

It feels similar to the later films Wild at Heart and No Country for Old Men. Despite sharing settings, imagery and cast, Raising Arizona comes out weak compared to the other two. While the first two are respectively fantasy and gritty realism, both paired with fantastic characters, Raising Arizona is caught somewhere in between, without enough time to let the characters come into their own. The erratic world the movie takes place in lends to its silly slapstick nature, the execution is less than ideal.

Despite its great cast, most of the movie lacks dialogue. The opening minutes of the movie are fast paced, witty, and stylized. While the style is never lost, the humor and speed fall off early on. I was personally put off by the endless action scenes, starting with the heist itself. They drag on far too long. They are colorful, but not funny or exceptionally exciting. It begins to feel like many kungfu movies at the time, as if all the relationships in the film are there to build up to a flashy final battle/showdown.

Not awful by any means, but far from the Coen movies we know today.

Sonny Boy (1989)

I Have Words Now, But What Good Are They?

[4/10 · 19 July 2019]

This film is a blast, watch it with your friends sometime.

It starts off as a twisted mobster fairy-tale, similar to David Lynch's "Wild at Heart." Full of wild and unusual characters, the greatest flaw is that no one in this movie seems to be able to make up their minds. Slue and Pearl are always fighting, but sometimes switch sides only to fight more. In every scene starring Weasel and Charlie P. they seem to trade personalities, each in turn being nervous and sly, or reckless and dumb.

Chekov's gun (or rather, his howitzer) is surprisingly and spectacularly used in the first act to much greater effect than if saved until the end. Along with this unusual device, the comedy of the film is generally spot on. Although not always intentional, there are plenty of moments which will make you laugh-out-loud, from Pearl's introduction, Sandy's jump scare (she swigs a beer and smiles to reveal the most black and barnacled set of chompers you'll ever lay eyes on), and Rose's utter lack of awareness towards Sonnyboy's condition.

The movie takes a Tarzan-Jane path with Sonnyboy's love interest, but subvert traditional stories by making Rose a complete idiot. She discovers him naked in a cage, decides he's just a shy teenage boy, and proceeds to tell him her dreams while he clearly wants her to let him out. Their bizarre relationship culminates with Rose's line "How come you never talk to me?" in the final act.

The final enigma is the ethical spin of this movie. The wise town surgeon, "Doc," condemns Slue with the line, "Now good people are getting hurt." Nothing crazy, but it's really not clear who the "good" people are. Everyone except Sonnyboy are either criminals, or part of the town lynch mob out to kill him. Sonnyboy should be likeable for his good looks and sympathetic circumstances, only his goblin-voiced inner monologue distances him from the viewer. It's not even a revenge story like you might expect, he just kinda loves everybody for no reason.

Anyway, definitely fun, but lacks the substance to send a message or push the limits of filmmaking.

Permanent Vacation (1980)

A Film For The Fans

[5/10 · 13 June 2018]

As a long time Jim Jarmusch fan, I'm only finally getting to his older work. Permanent Vacation was a pleasant look at his roots and early style, but is seriously lacking in substance.

The film plays like a character study. There isn't much of a story, and the movie is short enough that it's over before you realize it is. The voice over could have worked, but the script was weak and occasionally cliche, and no one in this movie was a professional actor.

What this movie does have is an enthralling soundtrack and raw sound. The combination of sound and grainy footage gives the movie a powerful atmosphere that can be hard to find in recent Hollywood films. However, Jarmusch's later movies like Ghost Dog and Only Lovers Left Alive reproduce the urban jungle, with the added bonus of being better films overall. This is not a movie for the uninitiated, and it offers little that wasn't improved in Jarmusch's later work.

Brigsby Bear (2017)

Better than ROOM

[9/10 · 24 March 2018]

The movie was the perfect length. I think one of its greatest qualities was that not a single scene was wasted. Everything we saw was relevant, and no longer than it needed to be. I don't want to sound cynical, but I feel like that's an increasingly prominent problem in film.

Story-wise, this movie covers everything. The Creative Process is the most prominent storyline, but it also touches on autism, the struggle to connect with your own children, and of course, kidnapping victims returning to society. All of these things are compact and unobtrusive, so you don't even really need to think about them in order to still enjoy the movie. It's a feel-good movie at heart, so it doesn't require analysis to enjoy, but the potential is definitely there. Great to watch with family, or maybe with friends if you're working on your own creative project.

I have to say, Mark Hamill plays a better father in this movie than he does a Luke Skywalker in the recent Star Wars films. I just love how it's vaguely mentioned how James was kidnapped for 25 years, but no one really explains how it happened. Little things that are left unsaid really make this movie shine.

I would only warn that there are few "jokes" in this movie. It's comedy because of the context, not cause characters spout stand-up in between scenes. Brigsby is funny as a concept, and that's all it needs to be. Lastly, if I could change one thing about this film, I'd make the final film a little more "real." James's final movie just looks too poor for me to believe that so many people would watch it. However, that doesn't detract from the positive message presented at the end.