Recent theatrical viewings

[Rev. Powell]

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE (2024): The lives of civil servant, a tour guide, two girls searching for a way to thaw a banknote buried in the ice, and a turkey magnate collide in a Winnipeg where everyone inexplicably speaks Farsi. Matthew Rankin's sophomore feature feels like a breakout for the Winnipeg director set to take the crown of Canadian absurdity away from Guy Maddin with this funny absurdist jaunt that ends on a surprisingly moving note. I reserve the right to bump this up another 0.5 stars, but for now 4/5.

[Trevor]

My fears were assuaged at the end of the movie when the five other people in the theater all started loudly complaining to each other: "That made no sense at all!" "That was terrible!" "I wanted to leave but I just thought it had to get better!" "Who did Cate Blanchet owe money to?" 4/5.

😳😃😄😅😂🤣😆

Reminds me of what I heard some very upset people say during a walkout of an INVICTUS screening 😃😄

[Rev. Powell]

BLACK BAG: A top British intelligence agent is given the task of ferreting out a traitor from 5 possible suspects--one of whom is his wife. James Bond for adults, with verbal cat and mouse games instead of car chases and a hero who's devoted to creating marital harmony instead of chasing Bond girls. John Le Carre fans will dig it. 4/5.

[Rev. Powell]

ASH: An astronaut finds herself stranded on an outpost on an alien planet with the rest of the crew dead or missing and no memory of what happened. Good acting and occasional great visuals from director Flying Lotus, but the ALIEN-inspired story is nothing special. 2.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

"The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie": Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (with the help of Petunia Pig) need to raise money fix their roof to meet code; in the process, they stumble upon a bubble-gum-centered alien plot to blow up the planet. Looney Tunes get a cinematic art upgrade in this standalone adventure, and it's nice to see these characters (quickly approaching the century mark) still getting a laugh from kids (even if they have to resort to more butt jokes to get them). 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

BOB TREVINO LIKES IT (2024): Thinking she's contacting her estranged father, a neurotic young woman befriends a man with the same name on Facebook, leading to an unlikely friendship. As unassuming as modest movies get, great performances from Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo and French Stewart save this crowd-pleaser from crawling under the burden of sentimentality and cliche. I fully expected to be the only person in the theater but was shocked when I saw there were about a dozen people in the theater; that's when I knew it was shot locally. (I recognized a few locations). 3/5.

[Dr. Whom]

The Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (2024)

Saw this one at Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film.

The use of a new chemical to combat foot-and-mouth disease gives rise to two unforeseen side-effects. A pig transforms into a human-pig hybrid and a soldier transforms into Bigfoot. The human/pig falls in with a group of wild boar, while the Bigfoot creature saves a girl who wants to kill herself. (the whole thing takes place in a suicide grove - there is a lot of suicide in the movie).

This South Korean animated feature is relentlessly bleak: a cast of characters are trying to survive in difficult circumstances, while being a***oles about it. If you like depressing movies, this is the one for you. It is let down, however by the quality of the animation, which is pretty dodgy. It doesn't rise above the early attempts at CGI characters. It is hard to tell whether it is meant to be ugly, or that is just the best they could do.
Reverend, if you haven't already, you might want to check this one out.

[Rev. Powell]

The Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (2024)

Saw this one at Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film.

Reverend, if you haven't already, you might want to check this one out.

Thanks! I'll see if it shows up anywhere on these shores.

[Rev. Powell]

WARFARE: A sniper team find themselves pinned down by insurgents in Ramadi, Iraq. Focused on a single firefight that plays out almost in real time, this ultra-realistic and super-intense, with no time for manufactured drama as the bullets fly. The script was created from the memories of the platoon member involved and was directed by an Iraq war veteran with the assistance of Alex Garland. I think this may have given me PTSD, so obviously anyone who has actually been in combat will want to stay far away. It benefits from the big screen and immersive sound. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

SINNERS: Black twin gangster brothers return from Chicago to their small Mississippi town in 1932 to open a juke joint with the help of their guitar-prodigy cousin; the complication is, vampires show up on opening night. Moving from period piece to horror, this black spin on FROM DUSK TO DAWN is a bloody good time at the movies, with smoking musical numbers throughout. AN easy recommendation that should please just about everyone on this board (I have been surprised before, though). It could receive Oscar nominations (especially soundtrack, editing, acting), but being released in April it may well be forgotten. 4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

THE UGLY STEPSISTER (2025): The Cinderella story (Grimm brothers version), but told from the point of view of the ugly stepsister. This Norwegian film features a surprising--even shocking--amount of black comedy, body horror, graphic sex, and tapeworms. What some women will go through to land a sugar daddy! 4/5.

[Dr. Whom]

Reflection in a Dead Diamond

An old man in a luxury hotel in the Riviera has flashbacks of his time a Bond-style secret agent when he chased the elusive assassin Serpentik, or did he?

Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani caused quite a buzz way back in 2010 with their 'postmodern giallo' Amer, and have since gained notoriety (at least in the Belgian arthouse scene). As I've never watched one of their previous efforts, I was curious.

This is a pastiche/homage to the stylish Italian Bond-ripoffs and fumetti of the 70s. If you think a movie should have a story and a character arc, this is not one for you. In fact, if you think a movie should have a plot or even characters, this is probably not for you either. What you get is a series of short super stylised, super cool vignettes, with a soundtrack to match. Fans of Calibro 36 will appreciate. These fragments may or may not add up to a story, I honestly couldn't say. Take Bava's Danger Diabolik, push the style up to eleven, add some meta and put everything through a blender.

Reverend, if you are looking for a weird movie, check this out.

[Rev. Powell]

Reflection in a Dead Diamond

An old man in a luxury hotel in the Riviera has flashbacks of his time a Bond-style secret agent when he chased the elusive assassin Serpentik, or did he?

Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani caused quite a buzz way back in 2010 with their 'postmodern giallo' Amer, and have since gained notoriety (at least in the Belgian arthouse scene). As I've never watched one of their previous efforts, I was curious.

This is a pastiche/homage to the stylish Italian Bond-ripoffs and fumetti of the 70s. If you think a movie should have a story and a character arc, this is not one for you. In fact, if you think a movie should have a plot or even characters, this is probably not for you either. What you get is a series of short super stylised, super cool vignettes, with a soundtrack to match. Fans of Calibro 36 will appreciate. These fragments may or may not add up to a story, I honestly couldn't say. Take Bava's Danger Diabolik, push the style up to eleven, add some meta and put everything through a blender.

Reverend, if you are looking for a weird movie, check this out.

Coincidentally, I just asked a movie critic friend about mine about that one last week. I pay attention to those directors but it kind of popped up out of nowhere. No idea when it will be available here in the US, but I do plan to keep an eye out for it.

[chainsaw midget]

Thunderbolts* 

(The asterisk is an important part of the tile, but I won't spoil you as to why because it's a big last minute reveal.)  I went into this expecting something mediocre.  While I haven't hated the last few Marvel movies, there's been something lacking in them.  This movie united a bunch of minor C-grade characters from previous movies (and a show) into a team, and it actually works wonderfully.  Plus it handles the idea of depression and loneliness in a way that still feels serious, but never drags things down. 

And Bob is a pretty cool character.