Had quite a busy day today, so these came a little later than expect sorry. New earphones arrived off eBay today after my last pair got brutally ripped in two by a hand rail at the train station. Despite being the same model, they rocked up being a woman's model (just because I pick aqua for a headphone model advertised as genderless, don't assume I want a women's model!). As a result, they were way too small, but the rubber quality was also tough, and the sound sounded like a fart in a tin can! Sure enough, a strange Russian factory slip fell out of the box, so I'm returning the awful wrong product fakes, and had to trudge around a local shopping centre with a gift card from my birthday to find a good pair. Only problem was going back and forth across 3 stores on complete other sides of the centre to contemplate what to choose from very poor selection. Came home with a nice sony pair though.
Anyway, thank you all for your fantastic comments, some quite humorous as well. It's always good to hear different opinions on the films I watch, which as Nosferatu(42) said, emotional reviews always allow for. One thing I've always liked about this forum is it's very much a community rather than randoms shouting a single comment then leaving, like others feel like (ahem blu-ray). Thank you very much for your support.
Without further ado, the final part of 31 reviews, 8 pages and 5,300 words of reviews later. I need to make sure I write these more often to lessen the load.
We're The Millers - 7/10
I have never felt so uncomfortable watching a movie. I give it a good score because ultimately it's a very well done comedy based around a clever idea, is very funny, and all works, but it suffers from American Pie syndrome, in that it is extremely heavy in cringe worthy scenes and second hand embarrassment, but ultimately the humor is less crass than those movies, which is why it works.
Citizen Toxie - 8/10
I feel like this is the dark horse in the Toxie franchise. Made many years after the last few, there's a lot different about this one to last three, to the point where beyond characters, it could almost be a standalone film. Characters all look different, a myriad of new characters are introduced, the tone is wildly different (from slapstick violent super hero comedy, to extremely crass and poor taste). Ultimately, it still manages to be quite funny and pull off a great Toxie story, but my god it is all in so poor taste, the humor is as Un PC as you get and quite disgusting at points, but also very very very funny. The hospital hallway massacre in particular is a great scene. If you're a fan of Toxie it's a fantastic watch, but just be ready for a shift in tone and negative levels of political correctness.
Inherent Vice - 10/10
Saw this in cinemas on release, and I loved it. For the most part I had 0 clue what was going on, but it started to make sense in the final half. It takes a hell of a long time to understand, but everything is weaves together so intricately and perfectly that it all actually does make sense, it just takes some time to put the pieces together. PTA's cinematography and direction is master class here, with nearly every shot and element being perfectly constructed to create a prime aesthetic and honest portrayal of the period and the people in it. Everyone in the movie gives fantastic performances. The thing that tops it all off, like a cherry on top, it's the humor. It might be subjective, as none of my friends laughed much at all, but I was in hysterics, in particular the scene in the golden fang building and the following car ride. This is one to give a watch and then rewatchs, to soak it all in and have a great time.
Focus - 7/10
Will Smith stars in this strange little movie about a con artist and an aspiring one he tutors. Less about the con, and more about the romance. An elaborate con is pulled during the Super Bowl, leaving a Chinese business quite poor, as a result of what appears to be an honest bet. Lots of interesting twists and you think this is what will drive the second half of the film, revenge or something. Nope. Many years later, the old flame he left behind is back interfering with his new con, involving a race car algorithm. Quite an old little film, which had a lot of advertisement for something that felt very very small scale. There's nothing really big or overly dramatic in this movie, and the romance isn't massively sappy or anything. It's a charming con/romance, with lots of nice entertaining twists in the plot along the way.
Faust: Love of the Damned - 5/10
Part of the Arrow boxset, Jeffery Combs plays an artist who gets possessed to get revenge (similar to Retribution), however when he is possessed, he turns into a superhero like character with massive claws that is impulsed to kill. This film showed so much promise in the first part. A ****ing kick ass soundtrack, and some really cool action, but it just gets stupider and stupider as it goes and then the ending is just awful. Which was a shame, because the idea was really cool, it had Jeffery Combs, and the metal soundtrack had Machine Head and Fear Factory in it!
Hollywood Shuffle - 9/10
Watched this on a local international channels streaming app. An aspiring actor is auditioning for the role of a jive talking pimp in this scathing criticism of the the few roles offered for black actors in the 70's and 80's. The story is interjected with little vignettes, including fake ads for black acting schools starring the fantasy successful main character, and a Ebert and Siskiel parody called Sneakin into the Films, filled with parodies of other successful films of the time. It's charming and wholesome, taking a stand for improved roles and telling a heartwarming story about what's really important, success or self respect and representation for you and your people. Quite an underrated and unknown film really, and well worth a watch, as it's still quite relevant in this day and age.
Princess - 8/10
A 2006 Danish animated film that really is very adult and mature, and quite dark and sad. The animation quality is quite average, as I believe it was animated in Flash, and I'm not sure whether the version I watched was uncut or not, as there are heaps of different run times on various websites. It follows a former pastor whose sister, a famous pornstar, dies and leaves a child in his care. Shocked and disturbed at the product of the corrupt lifestyle the child is, confused about what is normal, reclusive, and showing signs of abuse, the brother goes on a rampage intending to remove every shred of his sisters career from the planet. There's a lot to talk about with this movie. It's quite minimal, with a low key score, mostly quiet dialogue, and some quite tender scenes. This is interspersed however with occasional quite seriously brutal scenes of violence, and live action camcorder flash back scenes of how the sister got into pornography. The faults of the movie come from the sadly unrealistic nature of some parts. Despite it being an animated movie, it wants to be very real. However, the main character has unexplainable perfect fighting abilities, as well as shooting and combat abilities. He also somehow manages to perpetrate some serious serious violence and damage, to the point it becomes a tad odd how little is done by police. The ending is very sad, and the movie will leave you quite empty, but it's touching in a way, and a great criticism in my opinion of the toxic pornography industry. See it.
Turkey Shoot - 8/10
The Australian classic, also from the streaming service. This goes back a very long way now, probably about 4 months. Quite an enjoyable exploitation, pretty brutal and fun. I remember a lot about what happened but very little on how I felt about it.
So there you have it. Now that that's done I'll make sure to post my purchases of the last few months over the bought thread tomorrow. This has been quite fun
