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Entry tags:
Film Diary May 2024
Total films:
May 02: Late Night With the Devil (2023)
May 05: The Frighteners (1996)
May 07: Lord of Illusions (1997)
May 11: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
May 11: Cronos (1992)
May 15: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
May 20: Mysterious Skin (2004)
May 22: Kidnapped for Christ (2014)
May 31: Terrifier (2016)
I had mixed feelings on "Late Night With the Devil". Overall I just felt it wasn't a successful film; the gimmick really drew me in, and there was enough substance to make me consider buying the Blu-Ray, but ultimately... I do think the use of AI soured me a little, but my opinion is mostly unaffected. Even if it didn't use AI, I would still consider it ... kind of an overbudgeted mess. Like, they put so much work into the sets and costuming that I feel bad rating it low, but outside of the gimmick, the story itself just doesn't hold up.
"The Frighteners", god, I gave this one like... 2 stars out of 5. It was not enjoyable to me, I found it very bloated and boring. The elements I DID like were Jeffrey Combs as Milton Dammers and the ending sequence with flashbacks to the Natural Born Killers in their hospital massacre. But it's worth noting that I watched the director's edition, and the theatrical release might be free of the "boring and bloated" problem.
I don't have much to say about Lord of Illusions by Clive Barker or Cronos by Guillermo del Toro; imo both were excellent films but just didn't resonate with me personally; Cronos was the better of the two. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was delicious fun, I've been a lifelong fan of the OG Planet of the Apes movies but I never got around to Conquest as a kid! Is it a GOOD movie? No. Must a movie be good for me to love it? Also no. This movie slaps.
Mysterious Skin is truly excellent. I do have one gripe with it which is hard to verbalize. There's a teenage girl in the film, our main character's best friend. I can't tell if she's just a bad actress, or if the dialogue written for her rubs me the wrong way for another reason... She's too wise and too flowery, and she's the only character that doesn't feel like a real person to me. She's more like the magical, motherly girl-friend who innately knows all of life's answers. But despite that, this is an amazing film and it made me cry hard at the end.
Kidnapped for Christ is a documentary about the troubled teen industry, made by a filmmaker who initially went to the camps as a believer, and then slowly turned on the camp's staff when she witnessed the abuses there. It's not as in-depth or damning as the book I read on the same topic last June, but it's worth a watch for sure.
And then Terrifier -- low-budget but with a very likable killer. I loved Art the Clown! I watched this movie twice in a row, once on May 30 (not paying full attention) and once on May 31 (glued to the TV). It has major flaws, but again, must a movie be GOOD? XD
May 02: Late Night With the Devil (2023)
May 05: The Frighteners (1996)
May 07: Lord of Illusions (1997)
May 11: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
May 11: Cronos (1992)
May 15: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
May 20: Mysterious Skin (2004)
May 22: Kidnapped for Christ (2014)
May 31: Terrifier (2016)
I had mixed feelings on "Late Night With the Devil". Overall I just felt it wasn't a successful film; the gimmick really drew me in, and there was enough substance to make me consider buying the Blu-Ray, but ultimately... I do think the use of AI soured me a little, but my opinion is mostly unaffected. Even if it didn't use AI, I would still consider it ... kind of an overbudgeted mess. Like, they put so much work into the sets and costuming that I feel bad rating it low, but outside of the gimmick, the story itself just doesn't hold up.
"The Frighteners", god, I gave this one like... 2 stars out of 5. It was not enjoyable to me, I found it very bloated and boring. The elements I DID like were Jeffrey Combs as Milton Dammers and the ending sequence with flashbacks to the Natural Born Killers in their hospital massacre. But it's worth noting that I watched the director's edition, and the theatrical release might be free of the "boring and bloated" problem.
I don't have much to say about Lord of Illusions by Clive Barker or Cronos by Guillermo del Toro; imo both were excellent films but just didn't resonate with me personally; Cronos was the better of the two. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was delicious fun, I've been a lifelong fan of the OG Planet of the Apes movies but I never got around to Conquest as a kid! Is it a GOOD movie? No. Must a movie be good for me to love it? Also no. This movie slaps.
Mysterious Skin is truly excellent. I do have one gripe with it which is hard to verbalize. There's a teenage girl in the film, our main character's best friend. I can't tell if she's just a bad actress, or if the dialogue written for her rubs me the wrong way for another reason... She's too wise and too flowery, and she's the only character that doesn't feel like a real person to me. She's more like the magical, motherly girl-friend who innately knows all of life's answers. But despite that, this is an amazing film and it made me cry hard at the end.
Kidnapped for Christ is a documentary about the troubled teen industry, made by a filmmaker who initially went to the camps as a believer, and then slowly turned on the camp's staff when she witnessed the abuses there. It's not as in-depth or damning as the book I read on the same topic last June, but it's worth a watch for sure.
And then Terrifier -- low-budget but with a very likable killer. I loved Art the Clown! I watched this movie twice in a row, once on May 30 (not paying full attention) and once on May 31 (glued to the TV). It has major flaws, but again, must a movie be GOOD? XD