BLINK TWICE
ILLUSIONS !!
PRAISE: Director Zoe Kravitz and Co writer E.T. Feigenbaum take specific controversial subject matter ,fame,the pleasures of life and celebrity worship and put a darkly comic comedic spin on it. Most of the movie works for the most part and it's no wonder there is a trigger Warning for this film because it's a huge reflection of horrible situations people have experienced in real life. Channing Tatum does really well as mogul Slater King . He's charming,nice,attentive and giving. As Frida Naomi Ackie is very believable as a woman who falls under his spell. The way she fawns all over him and the casting of a certain actor actually reminded me of a couple of characters from the movie Showgirls. It's easy to see how things and the illusion works because of the invitation to a beautiful island and the liquor and psychedelics are flowing and dinner seems to be at nine,the sun is shining and the women are fine. But something sinister may be simmering beneath the pleasure.Kravitz not only wants the characters to lose themselves in the indulgences they are engaging in but the audience watching the movie too. There's a good who's who in the casting including: Alia Shawkat Adria Arjona, Camilla Liz Caribel, Trew Mullen,Geena Davis, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, and Haley Joel Osment. When the blood and gore starts flowing i thought it was amusing at times because of the way things are set up in the movie.I thought the path of a character was going a certain way and said Oh they are going to try and make me think a certain way about the character and I liked how that was played with.
PROBLEMS: I thought some parts of the movie were overdone in such a repetitive way that it loses the fun of the dark humor and jump scares. I wanted more from the ending which felt kind of basic around its edges.I also felt there was some contradiction tied to the ending.
Scale of 1 to 10 an 8
The Crow
Love & Revenge
Praise : I'm not going to compare this movie to the 1994 movie because it truly tries to be it's own thing. I did enjoy the performances by Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven and musician FKA Twigs as Shelly. I liked their whole broken people bonding thing and enough time is spent between the two to make the love between the characters believable. There is a good build up to the ultra violence and gore. There are several unique and great kills. I enjoyed a truly wicked and ultra entertaining moment.As the villain Roeg Danny Huston does what he does best so much so I was looking forward to his inevitable showdown with Draven. The writing and direction made me feel the loss and the yearning especially when coupled with great looking and dreary set designs. It's odd that there were no press screenings for this as if it truly belongs in the August dumpster but it definitely doesn't.
PROBLEMS: The pacing could have been better. I had the same problem with this movie as i did with the movie Trap when it's extremely obvious that something
is going on but hundreds of people dont notice because hey they are so into a show they're watching?!?There are some moments which I felt were to convenient. The latter portions of the movies climax felt a bit lackluster to me because there was such a great build up in its beginning.
Scale of 1 to 10 a 7
