Mark McPherson's Blog, page 40

“Halloween Kills” Review

As the sequel to 2018’s Halloween, Halloween Kills finds little else to explore in its slasher continuance. The previous picture was strong in that it used Laurie Strode’s trauma and making the picture more about her struggles with PTSD than the unstoppable killer of Michael Meyers. But with Meyer’s returning from his fiery grave of the last film, what’s left to explore? This film seems to suggest there’s an angle of how fear breeds hate. What it ultimately stresses more than anything is that M...

“The Addams Family 2” Review

The Addams Family was the darkly comedic family unit that seem perfectly suited for animation. I said as much in my review of the 2019 animated film and I still hold that belief. Just as with that first animated film, however, the kid-friendly animated adaptations by MGM are not exactly suited for the creepy and kooky family. That being said, this film edges closer to the Addams Family better suited for subversion than pop-culture plucking.

There is at least a more Addams-friendly element to...

“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Review

The buddy dynamic of Eddie and Venom was by far the highlight of 2018’s Venom. Nearly an hour exposition was a drag to sit through but little bursts of brilliance were here and there. It was more entertaining to watch Tom Hardy eat chicken out of the garbage and hop into a lobster tank than it was slogging through a standard mad scientist alien story. Let There Be Carnage is the sequel that is wise enough to know that this is the real meat of Venom and serves up a delicious comic book farce, tr...

“No Time To Die” Review

The James Bond character has gone through quite a few changes during the era. It would have to. You can’t keep churning out a franchise for 25 films over the course of decades by just doing the same old thing. With this final film, No Time To Die, Craig’s legacy is sure to go down as the James Bond that took risks. The long-running spy was locked into a saga where there were consequences that led into each sequel. Those consequences pay off quite well in this fitting conclusion to ...

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Review

The biopic on the religious icon of Tammy Faye feels like a lot less than the superior documentary of the same name. It doesn’t help that the opening credits reference the documentary as well. Upon leaving the screening, the praise I heard was that the film humanized Tammy. Sure, but so did the documentary. While this film still does that, it filters that message through mixed performances and some off-beat choices for dark humor.

at least gives a great performance in the ti...

“The Night House” Review

There’s great confidence in a film such as this to just chuck the reasonable explanations out in the window in favor of thematic importance. It’s a feature that is sure to be a frustrating component for that nitpicky audience member who apparently MUST know the secrets of a mysterious house. But do you really? If you’ve been on this ride before, ask yourself: Are the answers more important than what a film makes you feel? On this level, The Night House succeeds in being a thrilling bit of terro...

“Vacation Friends” Review

Two couples go on a vacation to the same resort in Mexico. One couple is a cautious yet yearning duo who are trying to find something more as they venture into marriage. The other is a troublesome twosome who live every day as though it were their last, which is probably a good excuse for why they use cocaine instead of salt for margaritas. They get together and sparks fly but not as high as one would hope for a comedy with wild weddings and stoner trips. The animal poop may be par for the cour...

Red Flag Movies of Film Bros

Over on a certain social media website a certain user made a post there about red flag movies; movies where if you see someone cite them as their favorites or have them in their collection, you should interpret that as a warning sign of their personality. Though the post had posed the question of what were green flag movies, everybody hopped on the red flag movie portion because the examples given were Fight Club and Joker.

Those who are new to this level of online film discourse or were una...

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Review

In a cinematic universe overflowing with spies, robots, aliens, and super-soldiers, it’s refreshing to know that there’s plenty of room for more fantasy. Shang-Chi feels like a pleasant addition to the unstoppable machine that is the MCU. It’s a film that won’t exactly push these films into a new realm or genre, given that this isn’t the first or last film we will have seen with fantasy creatures, fantastic powers, and rich with lore. It may be the first that has stunning martial arts that feel...

“Free Guy” Review

Free Guy is a video game movie that thankfully finds more to explore than how many references can be made and how much of a game can be replicated. That much is covered thanks to the VFX-friendly director Shawn Levy. What’s more interesting is how this film takes all the ridiculousness and morally questionable actions through gamer culture and weaves a tale of both existentialism and romance. Not exactly what I was expecting out of a film that is overflowing with gunfights, car chases, and cras...