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Frank's Movie Log

My life at the movies.

  1. Inside 2007

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. Starring Alysson Paradis, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin, Claude Lulé, and Dominique Frot.

    Christmas Eve night. Sarah, a young pregnant widow, sits alone in an isolated house. Tomorrow, her boss will take her to the hospital to deliver. But tonight, still grieving the recent death of her husband, she wants solitude. A knock at the door. A woman outside begs to use Sarah’s phone. Sarah demurs. The woman insists, calling Sarah by name. Alarmed, Sarah refuses. The woman leaves but Sarah soon catches sight of her outside a large window. The mysterious woman pounds the glass, then vanishes. Soon the woman is inside, and Sarah must fight for her and her unborn child’s lives. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    01 Feb 2022
  2. Blow Out 1981

    B-: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, and Dennis Franz.

    John Travolta plays a Foley engineer recording wind sounds for a low budget horror movie. A nearby car blows a tire and crashes into a lake. Travolta captures the audio on tape, only to discover he’s stumbled upon a far-reaching conspiracy executed by a sinister John Lithgow. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    31 Jan 2022
  3. Trouble Every Day 2001

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Claire Denis. Starring Vincent Gallo, Tricia Vessey, Béatrice Dalle, and Alex Descas.

    Hmm… How to offer a sense of Trouble Every Day without spoiling it? I spent the first fifteen to twenty minutes wondering what was happening. We’re thrust into a story already in its second act. As we get our bearings, the film coalesces into a meditation on self-destructive behavior with allegories of drug use and infidelity. It explores this theme from two perspectives: one a woman played by Béatrice Dalle and a man played by Vincent Gallo. The differing reactions from their partners proffers a commentary on contemporary sexual politics. To this end, the film works. But the metaphor it uses necessitates extreme gore and sexual violence. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    30 Jan 2022
  4. Black Widow 2021

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Cate Shortland. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz.

    Scarlett Johansson plays Natasha Romanoff, a Russian super-spy turned Avenger in this semi-origin story that opens with her as a tween in suburban Ohio. Her bucolic life shatters when authorities discover her family is a sleeper-cell, forcing them to flee to Cuba. There, she’s separated from her kid sister and shipped off to the Black Widow super-spy training program. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    29 Jan 2022
  5. Event Horizon 1997

    B: 4 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, and Joely Richardson.

    Seven years ago, the starship Event Horizon vanished after attempting humanity’s first hyperspace travel. Now it’s reappeared outside of Neptune, emitting a distress beacon. Laurence Fishburne captains the rescue ship dispatched to investigate. Onboard is the Event Horizon’s designer, played by Sam Neill. Upon rendezvousing with the Horizon, the rescuers discover the remains of a violent massacre and evidence the ship may be sentient. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    28 Jan 2022
  6. Swamp Thing 1982

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Wes Craven. Starring Louis Jourdan, Adrienne Barbeau, Ray Wise, and David Hess.

    Ray Wise plays a scientist working deep in the swamp on a top-secret government project. Adrienne Barbeau plays a government agent who arrives on-site. Sparks fly between her and Wise, but before the romance can blossom, a James Bondesque supervillain played by Louis Jordan raids Wise’s lab. This results in a freak accident that transforms Wise into a half-plant/half-man thing. The Swamp Thing. Gifted with superhuman strength and regenerative abilities, the Swamp Thing sets out protecting Barbeau from Jordan and his goons. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    26 Jan 2022
  7. Death Screams 1982

    D-: 1.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by David Nelson. Starring Susan Kiger, Martin Tucker, William Hicks, and Jennifer Chase.

    I had to watch Death Screams’ opening twice to grasp what happened. The inane logic and under-lit photography left me confused. For those that discover this review after searching “Death Screams opening”, allow me to proffer an explanation. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    24 Jan 2022
  8. Martyrs 2008

    B+: 4 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Pascal Laugier. Starring Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, and Robert Toupin.

    I expected a brutal, white-knuckle endurance test. I discovered a haunting, resonant, and surprising journey. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    20 Jan 2022
  9. Titane 2021

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Julia Ducournau. Starring Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, and Laïs Salameh.

    How to talk about Titane without ruining the experience? I can reveal the setup. A tween girl suffers a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. Upon exiting the hospital, she approaches the family car with an almost feral desire. We jump forward in time. The girl has become a woman, but the accident’s scar remains. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    20 Jan 2022
  10. 3 from Hell 2019

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Rob Zombie. Starring Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and Jeff Daniel Phillips.

    Ten years after The Devil’s Rejects, Baby and Otis escape jail with help from Otis’ half brother Foxy, played by Richard Brake. The trio flee to Mexico, where they’re targeted for revenge by a masked gangster. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    17 Jan 2022

Pagination

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