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My GF showed me this movie, and it was v cute. However there is one of the meanest subplots in this that made me so mad, and everyone light-heartedly signed off on it, to the point where I’m convinced it was some metaphor for North American colonialism, even though I’m more so on the “they were settlers” side of the the argument. Regardless, I’m glad I blurayed up on this little known Ontarion cult classic and it’s in my collection. Stoked to watch this with the director and cast commentary track on.

I love the John Wayne energy Russell is pulling from in this role.

Movie should have ended with the baddie burning in the pile of skulls instead of the tacked on final showdown in the torture chamber. 

I wish instead of rushing the final act, that Craven would have added about 10 more minutes and ironed out the rushed pacing.

Either way, there are sequences and camera angles and editing tricks that are really super rad and creative.

I brushed shoulders once with Brian Trenchard-Smith, he was at Fantastic Fest 2008 presenting a 35 of his film Man from Hong Kong and he did a q&a  — it was tight.

This movie is odd, lol.

I’m not gonna lie —this is cinema.

Little fun fact about me. This is one of the 5 movies that made me love cinema. I saw this in 1990, on VHS probably about 50 times.

Albert Pyun is vastly responsible for shaping my outlook on life. He was a treasure. And his films should be adored and studied. 

This movie particularly with its budget constraints you could tell was visionary and cavalier — highly stylized from the same cloth Raimi came from, but arguably more ambitious.

Need to see the recut from 2011, because the end is so underwhelming. Regardless, thank you Albert. Rip.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

It was cool that they made this. It just does not hold up well, unfortunately. Used to love this movie as a kid.

Decent fight and stunt choreography,
tee bee aytch

First time rewatching this 1993.

It’s actually so bad it’s good. Though me and my gf were on gummies. 

But we couldn’t stop watching and the camera work has no right being as good as it is.

Watched on Wednesday April 23, 2025.

Couldn’t pull me in.

Unfortunately this was fantastic. Thoughts coming later.

First 2/3rd of this ruled. Fell apart in the final third, though still with a couple moments. Shame. Regardless, stoked to see what the director does next.

This was super gross, and yet a super safe, sanitized, maximize views from general audience presentation. You can tell there is a talented editor behind this however the milktoast, censored presentation really does a disservice to the story for the sake of a wider audience. Not to mention often times posing questions with conjecture  that never is fully explored, making me feel there wasn’t any real meat on the bone for Subway to have known, as it’s briefly suggested with no evidence or exploration other than a mere opinion.

Either way, it will make your skin crawl at parts even though it’s drawn out (kind of was fine with that aspect) — dude is seriously mentally ill and it goes to show what fame, money can lead to if you’re not on the right side of the coin.

Took me six sit-downs to get through this.

It’s one thing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a compelling story and granted that some
of these action sequences are really impressive (it better be for $150 million), but Mad Max world building could actually probably happen, if the world went to shit, but I promise you, twig-like women wouldn’t be at the forefront of any battle on this level.

I could not get past that. It’s on me, it really is.

However, I grew up adoring and respecting with the likes of; Sarah Connor, Ellen Ripley, Tomb Raider, Chun Li, Katana, Sonja Blade, Cynthia Rothrock, Michelle Yeoh, Rachel Ticotin, etc and never batted an eye, and some of my fav characters from GoT are Brianne of Tarth and Arya Stark, not to mention one of the best video games of all time, Ellie from The Last of Us.

This is so hyper-focused on ing the Bechdel Test that it turned me into a curmudgeoned boomer within the first 5 mins.

On top of it, I legit didn’t care about anything, unlike the masterful Fury Road.

Dear George Miller, bring back the testosterone. I’m fine if you still consult third wave feminists for the screenplay, just give the women muscles for fuck sake.

Comparison of Army Physical Fitness
Standards for Males vs. Females

APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) Differences:
 • Push-ups: Men must perform more repetitions than women for the same score.

 • Sit-ups: Standards are similar, as this event has less disparity between genders.

 • Two-mile run: Men are required to run faster than women for equivalent scoring.

ACFT (Army Combat Fitness Test) Differences:

 • Deadlift: Women have a lower minimum weight requirement than men.

 • Plank: Replaced sit-ups;
more challenging for women due to upper body strength differences.

 • Run: Women are allotted more time to complete the two-mile run.

 • Failure Rates: Women fail at significantly higher rates (40%-65%) compared to men (around 10%).

General Observations:
 • Gender-specific scoring remains in fitness tests, but combat roles require meeting identical standards.

 • Gender-neutral scoring was initially attempted but reverted due to high female failure rates and retention concerns.

Harry Potter has A LIP, not lips.

The fight scene between Dumbledork and Voldefart is still so good.

Watched on Sunday March 30, 2025.

Watched on Saturday March 29, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 26, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 26, 2025.

Guilty pleasure. Damn books got me

Had its moments and I was entertained by Hugh Grant, but it got weaker once the choice was made.

I hate really liking Polanski films. But every time I see one I haven’t, I reallllly, reallllly enjoy it. He’s actually a damn good director.

Honestly pretty milk toast, approach to low hanging fruit.

Imagine making this let alone enjoying it.

Felt like a student film (it is) but doesn’t say much of anything interesting.

“It’s as satisfying to me as cumming”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

Idgaf about Billy Graham, but this doc does an incredible job of telling me why I should. It’s tough to make docs and they really pulled through with good archival footage and narration.

Bunch of half wit losers parading around with a dead foreign flag that the country they’re in crushed in ww2, how ironic freedom of speech can be. 

Unholy piss does it piss me off that Shitler plagiarized the swastika, and these fucktards worship it like it’s a sacred shape from god.

They sieg heil a cake at a birthday party dedicated to shitler, they def want to bang him.

Self-loathing, lost and afraid of a changing America, with a narrow, spiteful, tribalistic, reductionist perspective on life,

Watched it again while cooking Mexican tortilla soup for my girl, just so she could see how bad it was.

This was so bad that it makes me appreciate remakes.

Hit or miss acting, but this is essential viewing and understanding the context of its release and themes make that so.

Weirdly had very emotionally gripping parts, but overall just not my thing. Sure the performances were good but this just felt off and surreal in a bad way.

I stand corrected, this two part made for tv movie secretly slaps. I my grandmother saying “oh I just love Armand Asante” lmao — same director as Tango & Cash, House of Fools, and Maria’s Lovers — as well as an early collaborator with Tarkovsky, it’s really no surprise that this is kind of a rad two parter. There’s gore, a star studded cast, and great camera work and special fx. I don’t know what to tell you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Shame, because Keaton is fantastic in this.

Just a shrill, two dimensional, adaption of a sociologically deep novel. Especially for the film’s duration, it has no reason to be this stunted.

Watched on Sunday February 4, 1996.

Higgins absolutely shreds in this.
Watched the remaster at Cinemark Valley View.

Watched on Wednesday February 5, 2025.

I really, really wanted to like this more. 

Soderbergh has a special place in my heart, notably Schizopolis, Erin Brockovich, SL&VDTP and The Limey, specifically.

I was engaged from front to back with this lean, semi-compelling ride. However, the high schooler vibes just wasn’t it for me.

Oddly enough there was a moment it felt like Clark’s KIDS, during a specific scene, but the cartoonish villainy of the antagonist just didn’t work for me at all.

There were some really strong sequences in this for sure and where the acting was on point it was very on point.

Underneath this supernatural family drama is a secret commentary (whether intentionally or not) on the castration of the father figure and the socially constructed, masculine abnormality of modern maternity, where the wife is the callous, emotionally unavailable and overly pragmatic, and the downside to her excessively logical approach to interpersonal and paternal relationships. 

How the entity works is very similar to Lowery’s A Ghost Story, but less fleshed out and more a jolting twist, opposed to the aforementioned meditative reveal. 

Regardless, Soderbergh is a master. And a lot of people are gonna love this movie.

Wow. You became not only Batman but Birdman and Beetlejuice. Spring Chicken Keaton. What a secretly visionary and cheeky educational spectacle and Oscar-nominated when it meant something.

I bet this goes so hard when you’re not watching it on the Russian equivalent YouTube at 240p from a sketchy vhs transfer.

My second tackling of unknown Palm d’or nominees

Bill Murray being Bill Murray and partially in the director’s chair. An often deadpan and overly sarcastic study on thorny fate.

Gorgeous to look at. A little too idyllic for its duration however, with long takes feeling well too drawn out. Making for a very boring viewing. A great film to fall asleep to, only if you were bilingual tho. Otherwise you’re just gonna turn it off.

If Guy Maddin was a nature guy.

4th time over the years rewatching this since I initially saw it at Fantastic Fest 2008.

Still a pretty great slow burn.

If this had a more harrowing, atmospheric score, a bit more vicious in its portrayal of the genocide perpetuated by the Hutu and a less by the numbers telling of this historic atrocity it would be gut wrenching. Regardless, this movie slaps. And I’m not usually a Don Cheadle guy. By far his best performance and role. Would love to see him in more stuff like this.

Żuławski’s L’Amour Braque is pure chaos—like a three-day bender distilled into 100 minutes of screaming, sweating, and existential dread.

It’s a loose Dostoevsky riff, but Żuławski doesn’t care about plot; he’s here to make you feel.

The camera is feral. Jean-François Robin, who also shot Betty Blue (my favorite film), brings the same feverish intensity to the visuals.

It’s a love triangle wrapped in a gangster movie, but really it’s just an excuse for Żuławski to explore obsession and madness.

The performances are unhinged, and everything is coked up to 11.

The melodrama is so intense it feels like it might burst through the screen. 

Truly deranged cinema—an absolute vibe.

• The Changes
• The Ghoul
• Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
• The Fiend
• The Witches
• Wild Country
• Penda's Fen
• Chocky's Challenge
• Quatermass and the Pit
• The Shout

...plus 649 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• August in the Water
• The Fifth Seal
• Still Life
• The Wrung-Out Man
• Avetik
• Rebels of the Neon God
• The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales
• The Other Christopher
• Found Memories
• Fe

...plus 2512 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Naming favorites is easy. Numerically ordering those favs from first to last is near impossible.

• Light Sleeper

  A kindred spirit to Shraeder’s own American Gigolo. Dafoe and Sarandon have grounded chemistry that’s undeniable. My jaw dropped during a very traumatic scene and the end is so fucking bitter sweet, pure Shraederian depression porn

• Betty Blue

  Brooooo, don’t get me started on this masterpiece. Dysfunctional romance that feels sprawling in all the right ways.

• The Blackout

  Modine is electrifying in this.

• sex, lies, and videotape
• Eyes Wide Shut
• Bad Guy
• Rushmore
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being
• The Night of the Hunter
• Good Time

It’s impossible for me to pick finitely. I’m just gonna lie or pretending the context is stranded on an island for 20 years and I have one movie to watch a year.

• The Master
• Betty Blue
• The Thing
• The Wages of Fear
• Baxter
• Phase IV
• Mauvais Sang
• Mulholland Drive
• Yojimbo
• Cop Land

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This is the other 20 additional years stranded on an island. You can only watch one film a year.

• The Piano Teacher
• Heat
• The Chaser
• The Hotel New Hampshire
• The Lives of Others
• Zodiac
• In the Heat of the Night
• The Quiet Family
• The Holy Mountain
• Naked Lunch

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Continue the tradition of being stuck on an island for 20 years and only being allowed to watch one movie a year.

• Mommy
• Gozu
• The City of Lost Children
• Prisoners
• Natural Born Killers
• Crying Fist
• Flexing with Monty
• The Boxer's Omen
• Fist of Legend
• Big Trouble in Little China

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Read the list name, idiot.

• The Lives of Others
• The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
• Blue Spring
• Birdy
• Twentynine Palms
• Betty Blue
• The Last Great Wilderness
• Eyes Wide Shut

Pretty self-explanatory, "older films" must've come out at least 20 years ago. Primarily based on director's influences and recommendations. The movies either have common themes, filmmaking techniques or an overall similar atmosphere.
Suggestions welcomed!

1. Midsommar
2. The Wicker Man
3. Moonlight
4. Killer of Sheep
5. Parasite
6. The Housemaid
7. Roma
8. The Young and the Damned
9. Good Time
10. After Hours

...plus 560 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Tux and Fanny
• Twilight of the Ice Nymphs
• Foxfur
• The Bunker
• Dead Man's Letters
• Chekist

I dare you to watch these pieces of shit in order, 21 days in a row.

• Battlefield Earth

  John Travolta's ion project. He put up millions of his own wealth for this one, since following Scientology in 1975

• Glitter

  More like "Clitter" am I right?

• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
• The Room
• Catwoman
• Alone in the Dark
• Basic Instinct 2
• Norbit
• The Happening
• Dragonball Evolution

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

If it has fins and swims in water, IT’S A FISH.

Don’t give me that porpoise, mammal shit.

• Jaws
• Free Willy
• Deep Blue Sea

  Rennnnnnyyyyyyy

• Big Fish
• Rumble Fish
• Big Fish & Begonia
• Fish
• Fish
• Fish
• Fish Tank

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies that left me scratching my head on how they are highly revered.

• Knives Out
• Jojo Rabbit
• The Neon Demon
• Drive
• Interstellar
• Booksmart
• Us
• Under the Silver Lake
• The Shape of Water
• Boyhood

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
• American Psycho
• Repo Man
• The Mask
• Grease

• The President's Last Bang
• Phase IV
• The Master
• Norwegian Ninja
• Possession
• The Thing
• The Devils
• Nightwatch
• s Ha
• The Aura

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Altered
• Baby Blood
• Day Watch
• Dog Soldiers
• In My Skin
• Nightmare Detective
• Night Watch
• Pandorum
• Possession
• Session 9

...plus 54 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Out Live
• Flash Point
• SPL: Kill Zone
• Fist of Legend
• Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
• Righting Wrongs
• Dog Bite Dog
• Triad Wars
• Legend of the Sacred Stone
• 14 Blades

...plus 22 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.