Theatrical Cut

Fortunately, I've gotten a lot that I needed to say about the trilogy out of my system with my review of Fellowship. So, The Two Towers is an odd one - probably the greatest film that I would describe as odd. It's not as tight as Fellowship and also not quite as epic as Return of the King. Yet somehow, this entry features some of the mist memorable moments trilogy. It's just that those moments aren't woven together…

Theatrical Cut

Whenever I rewatch these movies, I need to plan my week around them. Writing up a piece about one of them feels similiar. I guess I should start with my relationship with its source material: not a big fan. I just couldn't bring myself to continue with the audiobooks of The Lord of the Rings after I've finished Fellowship. The Hobbits endlessly singing songs about the tipsy cat, who plays the fiddle or whatever that was, is just…

Even with a fresh post-Northman excitement, I think I've seen the first not-so-great film by Robert Eggers. Don't get me wrong, Nosferatu is an audiovisual feat. Especially the sound design played a huge part in the setpieces that I enjoyed. But a lot of the film just didn't quite catch me. Early on I felt a little let-down already. For Eastern Europe I have a certain fascination, as I've been on a lot of trips through the region. I've got…

Dang, should have watched this earlier. But as I remember it, consensus upon release was: it's an alright revenge film. I usually don't care for those. And yes, this is basically The Lion Kion, i.e. Hamlet. In my opinion, that is just the framework on which Robert Eggers hangs a lot more. He makes that very clear with the first appearance of Ethan Hawke's character. The oh-so noble king has a bunch of newly captured slaves in tow. That's when…

Once more I fell for the Australian Barnum Swindle, the Gracey Scheme, or whatever you want to call it. In the past four years, I have seen this six times. None of my absolute favourite films did I see this often. Guess that makes The Greatest Showman one of my absolute favourite films. For now, I won't give it the highest rating - to retain some plausible deniability. To be clear, I am well aware of some of the films…

Afterwards in the pub, my better half summed it up quite well: "I wanted to like the film, everyone involved tried their hardest, but it couldn't quite win me over." I might land a little more on the positive side with this. Since Greatest Showman I was curious what Michael Gracey would do next and when I heard about the CG ape, I was all fired up for this. This chimp that Wētā FX had lying around on some hard…

[Recap of 2024 below]

A few weeks ago, I have put on In Bruges which is one of my favourite Christmas movies. I attribute a lot of its one-of-a-kind melancholic atmosphere to Carter Burwell's score. And wouldn't you know it, he pulled that one before with Fargo. The score during the opening credits is unmistakably Burwell's creation. It's almost oppressive but sets the perfect mood for this wintery and gloomy (yet very funny) movie. What I am trying to say:…

Lots to unpack with this one. Quite early on the film made very clear that it was a horror film about social anxieties. All those people taking pictures with their flash on during that concert already made me feel uneasy. The score is pretty overwhelming, that could have been done less on-the-nose but it did the trick. I was on the edge just watching the Danish parents sip their wine. The film makes it very clear that Danish dad Bjørn…

What a film! This technicolour dream is even more of a joy on a rewatch, then you can take in more of the tiny details. The transition from sepia Kansas to the world of Oz is a perfect movie moment. Just when you marvelled at it, the film throws an unbelievable amount of munchkins at you. You also have to deal with the weird plotpoint that the house landed on one of the witches. What now? No time to ponder,…

Schlockfest 2024 (Bonus)

Aquaslash! A quick reddit research beforehand told me that it's best to skip to somewhere around the 50 minute mark. That's when the actual aquaslashing happens for about 10 minutes. Let me tell you, it's quite something to see those bodies get neatly quartered at the waterslide's outlet. I can't get over that one guy who tries to hold on to the other guys hand but has to dramatically let go. Dude, it's a waterslide and you…

Schlockfest 2024 (3/3)

The final film of our marathon was the notorious 90s flop Showgirls. Fittingly for this particular film, with us four dudes sitting in a room that started to smell like booze, we even managed to recreate the sad atmosphere of a strip club.

Overall, it didn't proof as the hoot of a bad flick we were hoping for. With that target audience eliminated, I think this is a movie for no one and fitting for no situation.…

Schlockfest 2024 (2/3)

After the mostly unpleasant watch of Dragonball Evolution, we decided for a true so-bad-it's-good classic. Miami Connection checks all the boxes. Most importantly, it has a delusional writer/director/leading man at its core with Y.K. Kim. On the fabulous Bluray there is even an introduction to the film by the guy. With all those motivational books in the background, it is very clear that Y.K. Kim is a conman; but more in the vein of a benevolent grifter,…