Got a good amount of movies to talk about, mostly falling into fitting the holiday.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) This was an odd movie to watch. The chemistry was unpalpaple between Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and whoever those two were paired with, but it ended up being a bit slice-of-life like as they both questioned their relationship with each other. There was also the sex cult, which... I would say is probably comparable to what we see in Game of Thrones which made it a bit of a trendsetter at the time. You'll find great acting in this movie as well as some good back and forth between the leads, but if you're looking for some explosive climax you'll be disappointed. It's not bad by any means, but it will be wise to adjust your expectations. 7/10
Solaris (1972) I'll have to agree with Tarkovsky here and saw that this wasn't as impressive as his work on Stalker. There's a lot of intrigue with the sci-fi elements, but it didn't manage to catch my attention that much. Do you think I'd like the remake more? 6.5/10
Frankenhooker (1990) For a movie that is very much focused in becoming a B-horror film, it does have some progressive elements into it, such as showcasing the plight of sex workers and Jeffrey being the poster boy for what would be the 'nice guy' in the future. Limited budget aside, the budget isn't that bad either and Patty goes a great job portraying the titular monster with all those facial expressions. But other than her, the other actors don't really measure up and neither does the script despite the interesting message the movie is trying to imply. I can definitely see why it's considered a cult classic, but I don't see how it can go any higher than that. 6/10
Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On (2022) I went on to watch the short videos first and thought they were alright with some brilliance sprinkled in there. The movie ended up blowing those expectations out of the water. It ended up both being a hilarious outing as well as a devastating drama that will rip your heart out. Definitely A24's second best outing this year. 8.5/10
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) This all had the makings of a disaster. Hollywood's record of bringing back franchises from the dead haven't been the best. This was doubly so if you're only sending it directly to streaming. But this year seems to be an exception for the most part, and this movie continues that trend. The witches hardly lost their step from their last outing and all had their highlights. The biggest surprise was that the newcomers were... actually pretty good. The movie did its best to move away from stereotypes and helped exceed my low expectations. It also had a few instances of hidden depths with its storytelling. It's not as good as the original, but I didn't have the first one that high up in the first place. Overall, both stories are decent fun to watch with your kids. 6.4/10
The Sting (1973) Thankfully this one is more light-hearted fun as a con artist seeks revenge on a mob boss in the best way he could: swindle him out of all of his money. As far as the cons themselves go, they're brilliantly done with all the potential twists and turns that happen throughout the movie. The Newman and Redford duo from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are impeccable as ever along with familiar director George Roy Hill, but everyone pulls their weight in this one. The final heist had me grinning ear to ear with how they got me good. It's not as well known, but I highly recommend checking it out as it stands well with its more classic brethren. 8.5/10
Going Places (1974) I had to check out to see why the people who made The Jesus Rolls wanted to adapt this movie so badly. YMMV on how much you can handle these two assholes, but they managed to get a good amount of laughs out of me. And the show managed to make their slice of life experiences much more interesting. That said, it's borderline impossible to make something like this to be tasteful. But it's something to check out if you're a fan of black comedy. 6.75/10
Black Adam (2022) This is a movie that just reeks of a bad director mucking up what could have been a decent popcorn flick. Most of the cast struggles to make anything out of their script, either because their dialogue is uninspiring or they weren't that good. The action can't even match the bombastic style of its inspiration Snyder outside the first 30 minutes of the film. And to be clear, there are a few good bits about the film from Bronson's performance as Fate to their attempt to criticize superheroes for keeping the status quo to the music which is surprisingly good (sadly it isn't implemented well in the film itself outside the credits). I will say that Snyder's style is harder to replicate than I previously thought. But in that case it should be more imperative for the DCEU to play its own different styles to see what fits rather than copy someone else's work whether it's Snyder or the MCU (I'm looking at you Atom Smasher). 4.75/10
Bartok the Magnificent (1999) It's been a while since I checked this one out. I was actually trying to find this movie for the longest time until a video essay reminded me of it. For the most part I agree with its assessment that this is the best set of music Don Bluth has made along with the choreography to at least stay competitive with Disney's counterparts. The story itself is pretty basic, but it does subvert expectations in a few clever ways. The voice acting here is pretty great too with Kelsey Grammer having is most underrated role to date. This just needed more time to fully tell its story. It sucks that Bluth got removed from the movie making business right when things were turning around for him, but maybe some of his works can get people to see him in a different light. 7/10
