Why didn’t I review this band before? I mean, I don’t LOVE them, but I’ve reviewed plenty of (obviously) (much) lesser bands.
Oh well. Here goes…
Sounds good from the start. “Hey Man, Nice Shot” isn’t about Kurt Cobain, to make it less interesting for you.
It’s got a shorter version of The Crystal Method’s “Trip Like I Do” that rocks.
But wait, there’s less!
Takes a dip after track five, but even the filler isn’t all that bad.
I really like Richard Patrick’s voice; when soft it conveys sensitivity and yearning, but he can also roar in fury with the best of them, and he seems to know when to do which most effectively.
Inspirational Quote: “Oh my God, this is the best…”
(“Hey Man, Nice Shot”, “Jurassitol”, “Take A Picture”)
Creepy, at the very start. But that’s the problem: it never gets any creepier, like they shot their wad on a compelling intro to pull in the viewers.
There are some nasty visuals throughout, but not as many as you’d like in a movie where that’s the only thing of real interest. And if you struggle through movies with nasty visuals because you want to hang in there for the acting and storytelling and character development…yikes. Never, never, never watch this.
Starts getting pretentious and unbelievable not too far in.
Character connections and conflicts and just interactions in general seem a bit forced; done out of necessity.
Lots of overacting – especially the cop. And the characters’ personalities seem to shift rather than maintain or evolve.
It’s poorly written and – for the most part – poorly acted.
Lowered a notch for screwing up such a simple horror concept.
The general critical consensus, as I understand it, is that most of Paul’s post-Beatles work is substandard.
And there’s a LOT of it, so I’m not going to waste my time.
This, on the other hand, is a pretty good album if you don’t expect too much from it.
And if you include the original American album release track “Helen Wheels”.
(“Band On The Run”, “Jet”)
It’s almost all a conversation/debate/conflict/etc between two entities.
The acting is pretty good, I think. The psychiatrist is rock-solid if somewhat overshadowed, and the “demon” is quite impressive, I think…very interesting, if a bit too much of a blinker.
Lots to think about, I think…a lot of interesting questions are asked, a lot of interesting statements are made.
Lots of anger, frustration, push-pull…
There’s a great section of discussion that I can really relate to, regarding the wisdom of a battle against an omnipotent creator…regarding “the moral of the thing” in unwinnable struggles.
Stupidity/Insanity or Bravery/Courageous Defiance.
Creepy…certainly at least somewhat intriguing…somewhat “original”…
Not a masterpiece, certainly…some predictable moments, some cheezy moments…
Moving at times though, also, certainly…again, a nice intellectual boxing match from both actors.
I wonder…am I sad, or glad, that it’s not a masterpiece? Because if it was, it would be HORRIFYING.
33:59-39:00 – Great discussion, nice to have it done so well.
If it’s trying to “make a statement”, to “convert” (so to speak) to any religious/moral IRL position, I’m not buying it.
Thank…God?
Interesting and thought-provoking and disturbing though, at least somewhat, and I’m glad I watched it.
There are times when I think “Ok, this is starting to fall apart…” but it never really totally does.
But I hate the ‘Blair Witch’ attempt to pretend it’s meaningful in any way by talking about “demonic manifestations” and an exorcism reportedly taking place on set during production.
You don’t have to be Christian to be Good. You don’t have to be an atheist to be Evil. And vice-versa: there is no intrinsic connection between religion and morality.
Good and Evil is a question of morality. Choose to be Good, please. And do so because you BELIEVE in doing so, regardless of religion (or lack thereof).
FAIR USE: CRITICISM – And anyway, this question has already been answered, like it or not:
Nice ending, too.
Inspirational Quote: “I mean…what happens to an atheist uh, that is confronted by Demonic Evil?”
A pissed-off, outspoken racist man has some extremely unpleasant experiences that alter his views on people in general.
1 – Pretty good
2 – Obvious/Cliche, and
3 – Obvious/Watch out for snakes!
The ending doesn’t get maudlin, thankfully, in the true spirit of the original series.
Second:
Boring and cliche take on aging and the desire to be young again.
Fresh young minds. Nom nom nom…
Third:
Modern update of sorts on ‘It’s A Good Life’, one of the best TZ episodes ever.
Definite creepy feeling when you realize (if you hadn’t been prepared for it) what’s up and wonder where it will take you, as the upside is definitely enticing.
I won’t ruin that other than to say that it delivers, at least somewhat. I was pretty impressed, actually.
Worth a watch.
Fourth:
(Singing) “Only (an inferior and unnecessary ‘Nightmare At 20,000 Feet’ remake) pads the film…”
Decent extro segment.
Quite frankly I think only the intro/extro, first-of-the-first and third are worthy of viewing.
I couldn’t imagine a dumber opening, given the title of the “film”.
Main Street field, walking as a robot trying to be a human (Phantom Creeping), creepy waitress scene…
I’ve got a good idea of my grade, barring a miracle…now, to relax and enjoy with the occasional comment.
– A riveting response to Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”.
– FREEZE FRAME
– Imagine random out of place printouts
– The Clap
– Rotting Carcass
– Calm panning shots
– The Bird Blitz
Since I have my glorified blog backed up in several remote locations, you’d actually be doing me a favor (monetarily) by succeeding in destroying this site.
I mean…I’d just have to get a new hobby.
*shrug* You’re not doing very well, anyways.
Everything here is somewhere(s) remote, so have at it.
Distinctive vocals, that’s for sure. But my overall displeasure at the musical results is just as distinct.
There’s one great female-Meatloaf-ian song (no, not the “I’d do anything for love…” one), but most of it is just embarrassing and/or head-shaking and giggle-producing.
And it’s covers plus hired songwriting; nothing from Ms. Tyler. I *hate* that.
“I’m livin’ in a powder keg and kickin’up sparks…” *blazingly defiant, energy coursing through me, shown in my eyes and crooked smile*
So the vast majority of people are greedy, selfish, insensitive a$$holes who act according to their own best interests.
And when this happens to coincide with acting good to someone else, that’s not really being “a good person”…it’s doing what makes you feel good.
If you happen to – for whatever reason, including simply just BEING BORN THAT WAY – gain enjoyment from being an incredibly nice person, you’re not any better than those that happen to – for whatever reason, including simply just BEING BORN THAT WAY – gain enjoyment in the inflicting of suffering upon others.
What matters, when it comes down to it, is what you truly believe…and what you do, REGARDLESS of how you feel.
If you believe in being Good not because it makes you feel good – though it does – but because you BELIEVE in it, and you BEHAVE that way, that’s truly Good.
And good for you.
If you believe in being Good despite how you feel – good or horrible, or anything in between – and you BEHAVE that way, that’s truly Good.
And, in a way, even more admirable and deserving of happiness.
And good for you.
If you don’t believe in sh1t, on the other hand…well, if you don’t believe in sh1t, but merely act “Good” in order to obtain desired reactions for yourself, then you’re not “bad”…but you’re not really “Good”…you’re a greedy, selfish, insensitive a$$hole.
And of course there are those that don’t believe in sh1t AND ACT THAT WAY…hideous monstrosities that delight in doing wrong. I’ve known SO, SO many of them.
It takes me by surprise when I meet a truly GOOD person…they’re very hard to find.
Please…BE ONE. And if you find another, treasure and appreciate them.
Shirley Jackson – if my experience so far is a good indication – has a knack for making anything creepy, be it actually creepy or not. That is to say, a lead-up to what you feel will be something dark and disturbing even from a relatively harmless introduction, e.g. ‘The Lottery’.
That is the case here to begin with, and it makes it much more pleasurable to know that she has this ability, at least, to deliver on such build-up.
It’s a competently written, slowly developing witchcraft/shared isolation story from the witches point of view instead of the ignorant revolting pheasants.
Unfortunately, this turns out to be a lot more build-up than pay-off. ‘The Lottery’ delivers much more in much less time.
I wouldn’t bother with the film version. I’m certainly not going to.
A borderline-great movie. And I’m a d@mn harsh critic.
Basically it’s one man’s descent into madness…though to be fair there’s not *all* that much of a “descent” here…he’s pretty far gone not too far into the movie. It just gets more and more extreme, harder and harder to overlook.
Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant, which is no surprise, he’s a great actor. I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that he drew at least in part from painful life experiences to create Arthur Fleck.
It’s very well done. You can easily get lost in the despair that permeates the city/movie. Really fcken depressing, actually.
May profit from repeated viewings, if you wanted a better understanding. But I was too fcken depressed after one watch to plan for any more, and even now I wish – in a way – that it didn’t exist.
Misfortune leads to several incidents that aren’t Arthur’s fault…then again, those aren’t be-all excuses for everything he eventually does.
Visually disturbing and creepy. It’s difficult to know everything that is real and everything that is not.
NOT for the weak of heart. Scenes of graphic violence.
Gets a little slow at points. but I think (and will give the benefit of the doubt based on the rest) that this is intentional, in a way at least. Meaning, yes, here are some horrific and disgusting and terrifying things…and here’s something dull and slow as a real-life contrast. *shrug* Maybe, maybe not. In any case, I like my interpretation enough to enjoy it as such.
The vast majority of people are selfish, insensitive, rude a$$holes? I can’t really disagree with that.
Connection to ‘Are You Being Served?’ = Gary Glitter
I’m just here for the shower scene, basically. (Around 1:04:15, if you’re interested).
But hey, I am an unprofessional critic, and so I will of course watch the whole thing (and review it, vis the words you’re reading now) in the spirit of FAIR USE: CRITICISM.
Hey, Michael Ironside younged pretty well.
Hahaha…I wonder if MST3K got the potato power idea from this.
It’s actually not that bad, all joking aside. Creepy, pretty well acted, some cool one-liners…nothing special but fairly decent. Sort of a poor man’s ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’.
Inspirational Quote: “The music’s too loud…this rock and roll will never last.”
Found this randomly and gave it a (there’s-no-other-way-besides) quick listen.
It’s barely what I (and most people, at least before I got old) call an EP, which was good in two ways:
1) I didn’t have to listen long if it sucked and I wanted to review it anyways, and
2) The ratio of decent noise to sh1t is a lot higher when you only have to fill out 12:41.
It’s not bad. I have no idea WTF they’re talking about, nor do I care, but it sounds somewhat interesting.
Will it hold up to repeated listenings? No idea, cuz I’m gonna leave it at this and move on.
So, you know, if you like hard rock where the vocals are (mixed in and) basically dual/do-all hooks with the music, give it a try maybe?
