Queen of the Damned (2002)

Vampires! Back to the time of the mummies, the Egyptians. That’s what this film presents. I had started watching it a few times before actually waiting and watching all the way through. The reason for this was that it was like a silly band bio pic. Things quickly change from that and it becomes a contender with the likes of Interview With a Vampire and other hit films.

Queen of the Damned (2002)
R | 1h 41min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror | 22 February 2002 (USA)

The vampire Lestat becomes a rock star whose music wakes up the queen of all vampires.
Director: Michael Rymer
Writers: Anne Rice (novels), Scott Abbott (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Aaliyah, Stuart Townsend, Marguerite Moreau

It’s ironic they named this film “Queen …” because her role really doesn’t come for some time. Mostly we see the plight of LeStat, his rise to fame as a rocker, and his mysterious nature of feeding on his fans.

The director, Michael Rymer, did the remake of Battlestar Galactica in 2004 but otherwise he hasn’t done much more. He does a good job here, the message intertwined throughout is coherent and the film works. There is one scene I love where the fans of the band are watching vampires fighting on stage doing supernatural things and they cheer because they think it’s part of LeStat’s show. The first half lags a bit, they could have sped all that up in my opinion. For that it loses a couple points. The music is amazing. Fans of Anne Rice novels and vampire movies will enjoy this film. I recommend it.

8/10

At time of writing this, it is streaming on Netflix.

The Rezort (2015)

Another take on the zombies! This one is unique and interesting as well. It’s sort of a Jurassic Park meet’s Zombies. In like fashion, a trip to this park is not cheap, it’s an experimental resort for the wealthy.

The Rezort (2015)
1h 33min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | 15 June 2016 (Philippines)

The ReZort, a safari park, offers paying guests the opportunity to kill as many zombies as they please following an outbreak.
Director: Steve Barker
Writer: Paul Gerstenberger
Stars: Dougray Scott, Jessica De Gouw, Martin McCann

Steve Barker is the director. He isn’t well known for much apart from another film he made called The Outpost. There is much excitement here and the cast does well in its interpretation of the script. Some people may not be impressed because I found this film on Netflix but it was very entertaining and interesting to see a new take on the genre.

The premise is that rich people pay large amounts to shoot zombies. s you might imagine, the zombies come undone and start killing people and turning them into zombies. The visuals of the vacation scenes at the beginning are elaborate and the graphics of the zombies stand up against a Hollywood blockbuster. These zombies are more pensive and it seems they can do more than just blindly saunter. They can track a person.

The zombies turn almost immediately so that presents different challenges than the slower turn time in The Walking Dead. Then there are the issues of it being a business and whether the loss of life should be covered up or not. The actors are not well known but they deliver excellent performances. The writing is not a 10 but it serves the film enough. Writing something unique in this genre is bound to be a real challenge. The writers here pulled it off.

As a film to pass the time, this one delivers. For fans of the zombie genre, I definitely recommend it to you.

6/10

At time of writing this, it was streaming on Netflix

Terminator Genisys (2015)

Upon hearing the mention of this film on a podcast with Movierob, I was prompted to watch it for the first time. The special effects were as good as any other film and the Terminators were just as cool as II. I don’t know why the critics didn’t care for it because this critic enjoyed it immensely.

Terminator Genisys (2015)
PG-13 | 2h 6min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi | 1 July 2015 (USA)

When John Connor, leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline.
Director: Alan Taylor
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis, Patrick Lussier | 2 more credits »
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke

The director is Alan Taylor, known for Game of Thrones and Thor. The direction is good here, the lines are heard and the characters seem to be working in unison. Other than that, it looks like any other Terminator film, maybe a shade darker.

If you can get the timeline in semi-focus, you’ll understand what’s going on. I’ll leave that up to you because I really didn’t mind the hodgepodge of events and people coming and going younger and older, most notably Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s cgi at its best. Emilia Clarke plays Sarah Connor and you may have seen her in Game of Thrones and Me Before You.

This is a great action film. It’s not perfect but I still recommend it as a fun, worthy part of the franchise.

9/10

At time of writing this it’s available streaming on Amazon Prime.

The Big Sick (2017)

This is great: a bio pic about a comedian trying to make it and how he fell in love with his girlfriend. Oh, and there’s some Pakistani ethnic issues that threaten the relationship as well since he is Pakistani and she is white.

The Big Sick (2017)
R | 2h | Comedy, Romance | 14 July 2017 (USA)

A couple deals with their cultural differences as their relationship grows.
Director: Michael Showalter
Writers: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
Stars: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter

I had seen Kumail’s work here and there and I’ve always thought he was a chill comedian. IN fact, in this film, something I noticed was how calm he is, even in face of rejection or turmoil. As the smooth dialogue would transpire I’d think to myself: “I wonder if it went down this smooth in real life?” I’m really impressed the way he broke out with this film that essentially a love story of how he and his girlfriend (now wife) met. I find that charming.

The director Michael Showalter has some good stuff on his resume. The film I recognized the most was My Name is Doris with Sally Field. That was a fiction but it watches like a bio pic. He shows the dark side of Doris, not just the funny one. This ability shows up in his directing on this film, he’s done a stellar job here.

Zoe Kazan plays Emily, Kumail’s love interest. Hear me when I say this: she embodies the character. I think she was a great casting choice. I never miss a chance to see a Zoe Kazan film and this one is no exception. I loved her in this. She actually resembles the real Emily. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter play her parents. They do a great job testing and finally accepting Kumail. The hospital scenes are really the heart of the film. A sub plot of the film is his family’s attempts to arrange a bride for him. These scenes are funny and add a lot to the believability of the characters. It’s all done without pushing Pakistan into your face, like My Big Fat Greek Wedding does with the Greek culture. It’s subtle and keeps you curious. Another sub plot is the Improv club where Kumail and his friends are honing their craft. They all live on the cheap which is fun to see as the camera travels into and among their zone.

For romantic comedy fans, this one’s a must. I give it my highest recommendation!

10/10

At time of writing this, the film is still in theaters.

Raw (2016)

A slow rolling horror that builds to a crescendo. Also, we get to learn about the French Vet training system. It’s a lot like the most intense hazing colleges of the US. And then there’s the eating of flesh thing, yeah that’s there too.

Raw (2016)
Grave (original title)
R | 1h 39min | Drama, Horror | 15 March 2017 (France)

When a young vegetarian undergoes a carnivorous hazing ritual at vet school, an unbidden taste for meat begins to grow in her.
Director: Julia Ducournau
Writers: Julia Ducournau (dialogue), Julia Ducournau (screenplay)
Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella

I’ve held off watching this for months because of the subtitles. When I finally got some time to sit with it and not multi-task I have to say I enjoyed it as a horror film and had a very good time watching.

Everything is bare-bones here. It almost watches like an old 70’s film. There is a building where she goes to school and there are dorms. The film goes nowhere else. The story as it unfurls is odd and a bit hard to imagine as true, but this is horror right? The film opens with a long open road and a figure running in front of an oncoming car. Soon after the collision, the pedestrian saunters up clearly in pain and goes to the car window. Then the story begins of the female protagonist going to vet school. She goes through hazing, which her older sister approves to be done to her. There is a scene of being splashed in animal blood and another of eating raw rabbit organs. As a result she develops a taste for flesh, I’m afraid I missed how or why this happens. There are events, a twist, and a morose conclusion.

It’s an ok way to spend a runtime. It’s not as good as I had hoped and the subtitles certainly are not deep or enriching in any way. Still, it’s shocking and fun with latex and blood which most of us horror fans get the fun in. It’s also interesting seeing a coming of age experience in another country. For fans of the horror genre I recommend it!

7/10

Watch this online on Amazon Video for $5.99

Trainwreck

Many short comedy sketches by Amy Schumer inserted to a full length movie script. Vulgar, understated, ridiculous, sarcastic, ingenious fun.

I confess I look at critic ratings prior to seeing movies, expecially ones that aren’t out yet. I saw Trainwreck garnered high 90 percents from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes which really surprised me so I was interested. The cover looks like Bridesmaids and the Hangover had a baby and that’s somewhat accurate. What I didn’t know going in was that the protagonist has starred in her own Comedy Central show for two years. In fact, she’s been on Ellen and spurred viral footage of her riffing and making Ellen snort she’s so funny. I think it would help for people to know she is an established comedy commodity with a distinctive vulgar and often understated style. Without that knowledge, one could make the mistake of thinking it’s just another sex and puke comedy dangled before primal eyes.

Maybe that alone will work for most viewers. We’ve been so inundated with gross films in the last 20 years for which audiences show their love through ticket sales. As for me, I think if I didn’t know of Miss Schumer’s notoriety and idiosyncratic style, I might has scoffed through most the movie. As is was, I enjoyed watching her brand of humor for a couple hours. Speaking of hours, there were some scenes about 3/4 of the way through when she and her boyfroend, Bill Hader, start fighting like a married couple where the film truly dragged for me. It’s for those scenes as well as unnecessary penetration scenes that didn’t add to the comedic lines for me. In other words, the writers didn’t have to stoop that low to relate with the audience. That a; having been said, I found this film a hoot to be sure. My wife and I were in tears during the sex scene with John Cena. He’s the perfect hunk to demonstrate what talking dirty is not.