glenpolin

A sci-fi masterpiece. As with other sci-fi fare, it takes some time for the story to take off... but once it does, the magic doesn't stop. Thrills from start to finish. Spielberg at his usual best.

The film slowly builds up like a classic conspiracy thriller, then goes off the cliff with a script that couldn't quite figure out how to wrap things up. A "love story" is forced in and makes zero sense, leading up to a third act that just crashes into the ground, undoing the buildup before it. Mackenzie is a great director, and he does his best with the material. And the cast including Riz (who is slightly miscast here, thanks to the poorly done "romance" angle that was forced in) are great. But the story simply can't hold things together as it edges towards a very silly finish.

To start off, this is not a thriller. If it were, it would be a very poor one. It is a unique character drama that studies masculinity in the modern world, and does so in an engaging manner for most of its running time. Foster is an incredible actor, but as others have noted, he plays into the effeminate aspects of the character a bit too much. I would partly blame writer-director Buxton for not guiding him a bit more towards finding a balance, as to not become overbearing scene after scene. It makes the character less likable and harder to relate to his struggle as he spirals downwards. Overall though, it is an original and engaging film that is worth a view.

They took the originally inventive genre-bending concept and turned it into a heap of philosophical drivel with a silly pretentious art house edge. It starts off decent, then goes into strange cutaways and irrelevant "look at me" stylistic shots that do nothing but distract. The characters and random movements of the plot only serve to push the overtly blatant theme. A pregnant infected? How in the world did it get infected on the "island" riddled with other infected? How about adding in cooky characters who only behave in bizarre ways to move the plot along, with zero believability? Don't overthink it, it was just placed there by Garland and company to help drive the plot into the nonsense it becomes. Stick to the audience reviews on this one, it's an absolute waste **** cast and crew.

As with many Blumhouse thrillers, the character motivations start to go off the rails in the last act, where they clearly make silly decisions to hit the next plot beat. But McAvoy is devilishly slick, and the film consistently maintains suspense until the end. It's worth a view as the more pleasant alternative to the original, which is just too dark.

Terribly dated, uneventful and repetitive film. Maybe it worked in the early 70s, but my goodness is it a slog of a film today. Predictable and nonsensical artsy frame after frame that doesn't even allow you to experience the suspense.

Huge DePalma fan, but no matter how much he tries to emulate Hitchcock here, his perversions tend to overtake the material. Where Hitchcock shined was in not showing as much. Also, it's quite predictable. There are some well written characters and great performances, but it takes much too long for the plot to get going. Also, the film has a never-ending cycle of false endings. It's definitely one of DePalma's inferior entries.

One of the best sci-fi neo noir's of the modern era. Feels like a classic in modern form, fitting with Johnson's methodical approach. Yes, there are many plot holes and contrivances, some that you wish weren't there. But the style and depth of the elements that work wholeheartedly make up for it.

Norton propels this familiar procedural into unexpectedly thrilling territory, giving the film a tangible energy. His co-stars keep pace—Gere, in particular, dazzles with his signature charm. Though the finale feels a bit rushed, it still delivers a satisfying punch. Ignore the original critics who unfairly judged it against the O.J. Simpson trial: decades on, it holds up quite well as a solid procedural thriller.

The film is excellent on every technical level. Affleck proves he is a great director. The entire ensemble is pitch perfect. And the story is a tensely written neo-noir thriller that delivers in every department. It does feel a bit overlong in the second half, but it's hard to blame the filmmakers since the original story has so many twists and turns.

This is definitely the superior film to the original. Ving Rhames is awesome and the story properly maintains suspense and thrills, fitting for the zombie genre.

It has its moments, but sadly pales in comparison to the remake due to some its more dated aspects. And my goodness, some of the cast is just terrible. Romero is great when his cast can act, otherwise some of the performances with the weaker performers turns into parody.

Hard to believe this was written by Koepp. Soderbergh does his best with the material, but the characters and story just collapse in on themselves within 30 minutes. It needed a major rewrite or polish.

This is an above average thriller that tells the story in the right way and takes an intriguing premise and delivers on its promise. Yes, some character behaviors seem haphazardly strewn together (Kat for example). But Thatcher's performance really elevates the picture. Definitely worth a view.

Berger is an incredible filmmaker, taking a not so interesting subject and make it a tense thriller. The performances from the stellar cast are also perfect. The story itself is a bit stale in its conclusion, which is one of its few flaws. But easily one of the best films of 2024.

To call this a film is an offense to the art form. Lowery is a great director, but this is an overindulgent mess that takes Kubrick's slow-long takes and strips it of all its meaning and depth. This is a haughty art piece for museums disguised as cinema.

The film starts off great, consistently looks great, and has incredible performances. But the story and the character's choices in the second half of the film start to make no sense. You start to wonder how no one involved in the project stepped in to help account for the shapeshifting character behaviors, making it clear that the last quarter was rushed to completion with no after thought, which undermines the rest of the otherwise solid film.

Just a cheap meaningless rip of other superior neo noirs. Hollow caricatures and a meandering slow moving plot with nothing to offer. The filmmaker mistakes style for substance. What a waste of a talented cast, especially Harris who is amazing as usual. Skip this mess.

Repetitive, lifeless, contrived, pretentious art house trash disguised as "mainstream" due to the on-screen talent involved. It feels like a student thesis film made by a horny teenage boy dragged into an overlong senseless feature that just tries to beat the point home over and over again with the same motifs. It is an extremely misogynistic film, committing the exact crimes it is poking fun at, yet done in the poorest manner ever committed to film. Other well-made body horror films like "The Fly" or "Videodrome" have a nuanced depth to counteract the disturbing elements being portrayed on screen. What this amateur filmmaker does is mistake repetitive beats of the EXACT same motifs (eggs, nasty food, more eggs, more nasty food) for gravitas. And she can not direct actors nor write dialogue if her life depended on it. If this was made by a man, it would have inarguably been the most offensive and derided film of the year. To call this anything but trash shows the level of taste the modern critics have fallen to.

Kendricks did a great job in every role, as actor and director. The only shot against this otherwise good film is the understandably disjointed structure, which sometimes loses the viewer. Trying to pack in all this info in 95 minutes must have been a nightmare though. Overall a worthy thriller with a deeper social commentary done right.

Feels like a very cheap TV film. All the killer had to do was break the glass... what an utterly silly film. It's like a cheap take on how to make the dumbest "serial killer" in the history of cinema.

Hard to believe Wright took this promising premise, started with a bang, then went off cliff to a whole lot of nonsense. A lot of cool music and cinematography doesn't offset for a nonsensical story. Style over substance at its worst.

One of the best thrillers ever made, rich in style and deeply layered atmospheric storytelling. One of Fincher's best, and just an overall amazing film.

It's hard to deny the power of the film, but it is ultimately a painful sequence of events that never really rise above beating the audience to a pulp with the damaged life of Monroe. Armas is great, until she speaks... the accent simply draws you out of the realism of the portrayal. They could have and should have considered dubbing her lines.

Such a pointless, empty exercise in style. I'm a huge Fincher fan, and it is hard to believe he made this lifeless silly film that is just a meaningless sequence of events.

One of Fincher's best. A taut thriller that builds and builds with incredible atmosphere that few can conjure up better than Fincher.

Excellent meta-horror comedy film that hits all the marks. It's a thrilling ride from start to finish, with the filmmakers winking at us at every step.

Truly is one of the greatest films ever made. Has the classic Hollywood feel with a darker edge.

An overall fun biker/gangster film with great stylistic flair and excellent performances. Just not a fan of the last act.

Saulnier strikes again. He subverts generic genre tropes, delivering a socially conscious tension riddled action thriller. And every performance is incredible, from Pierre to Johnson to Robb. A truly great film

Pays homage to a lot of classics, but always feels too on the nose with its underbelly. Southern Gothic morality tale that keeps beating the point home even as it enters the second slasher half.

An excellent film that provides character depth, emotional depth, horror, and social commentary without blinking an eye. Simply calling it a zombie film does it no justice. Worth all the accolades it has received.

What starts off as a beautifully shot nostalgic story slowly transitions into a boring personal story that is neither romantic nor interesting. Once it goes to the adult Nora, everything goes downhill. It's as if the writer-director was too close to the story to make it interesting for anyone besides herself. It becomes a slog to sit through on every level, besides the performances of Teo Yoo.

A bit dark for my tastes, but you can't deny the power of the film. An excellent film noir.

Even if you aren't a fan of musicals, this is simply one of the greatest films in the cinematic kingdom.

Beautifully shot and well directed, but ultimately too disjointed to tell the story it wants to tell. All the symbolism and metaphors abound, yet it simply doesn't come together.

A hollow exercise in ruining a great premise by creating a heroine who has no reason to exist in this vapid story. It attempts to show the darker side of the web via vignettes of a heroine who is as flat as a wall, meandering from scene to meaningless scene, with no rhyme or reason. And then you at least hope it will all come together in a semi-satisfying meaningful way. Let me save you the almost 2 hour running time and tell you, it won't. Art house trash at its finest.