Annihilation – 2018

Score: 6/10

Annihilation is truly a weird one. It’s weird because of its subject and the visual style and everything that happens on screen and it’s also weird because it ended up losing money and being rejected by audiences despite high praises from critics. Personally, I found it to be an interesting one, powerful, engaging in parts and different from what I usually watch. But, and there is a big but here, the biggest problem I found in this one is the pacing. Everything happens so slow, basically it’s a festival of clichés and boring bumper stickers that come together and offer absolutely nothing in the end. Nothing happens, nothing worthwhile anyway, and you start and end in basically the exact same spot. And not even the best visuals in the world can save a movie that just goes around in circles…

The story is interesting as a concept, but poorly executed. The Shimmer could have been amazing, it could have been one of the best sci-fi concepts in a while. And yet it ends up just promising and promising and never delivering. You expect so many things to happen, you expect to understand why and how and yet you only get teaser after teaser. Don‘t get me wrong, I like teasers as much as the next guy, but all that teasing has to capitalize at some point or my liking will turn to disappointment. And that is what happens here, disappointment and an overall sense of pointlessness…

The characters are boring. There are a lot of good actors here that are simply not helped by the script. The movie tries so hard to make you care about them, it gives them all deep backstories, it makes them meditate about life and choices and what not. And yet everything seems just forced, shallow and most damaging, everything seems unrealistic. Considering the circumstances, the performances are okish, but still, I have to feel a little bit sorry for Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac, Benedict Wong and Sonoya Mizuno.

The visuals are amazing! They are by far the best thing about this movie and they will make you really believe that you are visiting another world, something magical and complex and almost impossible to understand. Especially towards the end, the visuals manage to express very well something different, something that is truly impossible to understand for a human being. That is a great achievement and I have to say that from the visual point, this one was one of the most engaging sci-fi horrors I have ever seen…

The film was definitely too deep for its own good. Or let me say it better, the film tried to be too deep for its own good. And this is why it didn’t appeal to audiences, this is why it failed at the box office… Because it tries so hard to make you think about things, it tries so hard to make you wonder about humanity. I didn’t feel what the movie wanted me to feel and because it was so focused on that, it ended up taking all my fun away. I get what the directors wanted to achieve here, but that’s not how you do it…

In conclusion, Annihilation is definitely a movie you should check out, because it is weird, it is different, it is something you don’t get too see very often. But don’t expect it to be more than something weird, don’t expect it to be offer you real and palpable emotions. It has promise, it had the potential to be truly great, but unfortunately it fails to capitalize on its interesting premise. It is all about conceptualization of principles but without any actual consequences. Everything that happens seems to happen in vain and just for the sake of it… Oh, and governments all around the world, if you are sending teams after teams of people into a place and none return, than maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t send any more? Just sayin…

Amityville: The Awakening – 2017

Score: 3/10

Amityville: The Awakening is a horror movie. And that says it all I think, because this one has almost all the clichés that drag this genre down. It’s too dark, filled with attempts at cheap scares and, most damaging, one of the worst acting performances I have seen in a while. This is not a movie that deserves your time and you should just skip through it or watch the first 5 minutes. That will tell you everything you need to know…

The story is nothing to speak about. This feels exactly as what it is, the 10^th movie into a franchise that has worn out its welcome ages ago. Nothing happens, there is just a string of clichés, one right after another. You are never surprised, you are never wondering about the plot, everything is streamlined from start to finish and you can guess the ending after 5 minutes. This makes it boring and predictable…

The characters are bland, stupid, not developed at all and not realistic. You don’t feel for them, you don’t care about what happens to them, overall the movie fails big time when it comes to creating any sort of tension and interest. It is boring and the actors are not credible on screen. And I seriously don’t get it, because Bella Thorne, Cameron Monaghan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mckenna Grace, Thomas Mann, Taylor Spreitler, Jennifer Morrison and Kurtwood Smith are actually not that unknown. So all in all, on the acting front, a shameful display!

We are analyzing a horror here so of course there are jump scares in the movie. Amazingly, the movie shows a little bit of restraint and they did not become too bothersome. And, to my surprise, one or two actually made me jump a little from my seat, which is always interesting. Especially the mirror one made me really think that I am in a true horror movie, so kudos for that. It’s a shame that these were not enough to save this movie overall, because all the other clichés end up drowning up the small good parts that you can find here.

I think I would have given this movie a higher rating if only I would have been able to actually see it. Everything is very dark and yes, I know, it is a horror, but a horror doesn’t have to be necessarily dark as fuck. I want to at least see and understand what is happening and there are a lot of scenes here, especially towards the end, in which I just gave up. Seriously directors of horror movies, if you don’t have the decency to make your movies watchable so that we actually see what is happening, I will not bother to change the settings to my monitor and make them absurdly bright just so I can see your shit…

In conclusion, if you are a huge fan of horror and you have seen a lot of movies from the genre, you could also see Amityville: The Awakening. It is full of clichés, it is dark and muddy, but it does have an interesting musical score and it does manage to pull off a couple of decent scares. And, that’s about it. If you don’t like the genre skip this because you will find absolutely no enjoyment here and you will only waste your time. I truly believe that this franchise is on its last legs and something needs to change drastically if they want to keep going with it. Until then, I am looking at my clock and it’s 3:15 AM so I guess it’s time to go make myself a cup of tea… 😛

The Hateful Eight – 2015

Score: 8/10

I can’t say I am a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. I have never been and I most certainly have a lot of problems with many of his movies. So I have to say that I went into this a little bit biased. But The Hateful Eight managed to change my mind and I ended up loving it. It is harder to see than most films, but if you manage to get to the end and think about it afterwards, you will discover that the experience was totally worth it. I would see it again and that alone says a lot about the inner quality of it.

The story is a little bit convoluted, but you can expect that already from a Tarantino movie. Nevertheless, it is interesting, it has twists and it manages to keep you alert. This is a great movie for someone who likes to talk and most importantly for someone who likes to discover people through the small things they say and the idiosyncrasies they display. The dialogue is carefully constructed and there are almost no continuity errors here. A great story, and a unique one at that, which is not easy to do!

The characters are amazing, beautifully created and highly relatable. You really feel you are in the Old West and you can’t help but root for not one, but almost all of them. It is amazing to see such a talented cast at work, and the names here will leave you speechless. It is one of the most impressive casts I have ever seen, and I have to commend performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks, Dana Gourrier and Zoë Bell.

The overall style of the movie is typical Tarantino. A small and almost impossible to identify silver line and a lot of hidden symbols that you have to understand in order to enjoy the experience fully. And here is my problem with this movie. Because of his style, Tarantino manages to make his films feel longer than they actually are. It is the same case here, because on a first viewing, I was almost pushed to the limit. You could argue that is because the 168 minutes running time, but I really think it’s the way everything is shot, with a lot of pauses and a lot of “art”. Too much art can hurt a movie and destroy your immersion, and I really hope Tarantino will stop doing this in the future.

The music, oh my God the music. It is by far the best thing about this movie, and although I was expecting something like this from a legendary composer like Ennio Morricone, I have to admit that he actually managed to surpass every single expectation I had. He is a true legend of cinema and any movie in the world would be enhanced by his atypical and powerful scores. It is a joy from start to finish, and especially in the open credits, the cross scene will leave you breathless… Simply breathless…

In conclusion, The Hateful Eight is definitely a movie worth watching. It tries to be a classic western and it manages to be totally different from whatever you have seen before. It moves slowly but at the same time the action makes you jump from your seat in more instances than one. Overall, I would say that it is a unique experience, completed to perfection by the atmosphere that Tarantino creates, by the amazing musical score from Ennio Morricone and by the spectacular performances of a stellar cast. Oh, and the constant swearing and racism is simply adorable. Now who doesn’t love listening to over 200 hundred swear words in one single movie? 😀