Change Your Image
bradenpeters
Reviews
Plein soleil (1960)
Atmospheric, engaging, enthralling
Purple Noon wasn't the first film Alain Delon starred in, but it was the one that made him a star. Purple Noon is an autopsy of a near-perfect crime, and a compelling look at the man who commits it. One of Purple Noon's most obvious assets is Delon's acting. Tom is fascinating because Delon makes him so. This isn't a run-of-the-mill villain; he's a complex character with a well thought-out reason for everything he does. In addition to Delon's fine performance, Purple Noon is characterized by expert camerawork and crisp direction. Clement understands how to sustain tension without drawing it out too far. The film is exactly the right length, as are each of the individual scenes. There's nothing so engrossing as watching a truly intelligent thriller, and that makes this film a rare treat. If you enjoy atmospheric high intelligence content and aren't put off by subtitles, then you can't spend a better hour and a half than watching this movie.
Midnight Madness (1980)
Nostalgia revisited
Midnight Madness is pure nostalgia and I challenge you to see it and not resipiscence about the "good old" happy days of innocence and leisure. The core premise is this: Five teams, each representing a different college clique stereotype, compete to see who can solve the most clues and reach the finish line first in an all-night scavenger hunt-inspired race. Seen through the lens of 2017 viewing, perhaps the most startling thing about Midnight Madness is the overt stereotyping. It's more than a little amusing to consider that these exaggerated caricatures were perceived as only slightly satirical circa 1980. Admittedly, the movie is a comedy (although sadly one in which nearly every joke fails) so nothing in it is intended to be taken too seriously but it offers a window into how pop culture once viewed nerds (weird, physically feeble dweebs) and jocks (dumb hulks). Likability lay in being in the middle with no obvious eccentricities or non-conformities. 5/10 (Nostalgia revisited).
Midnight Madness (1980)
Nostalgia revisited
Midnight Madness is pure nostalgia and I challenge you to see it and not resipiscence about the "good old" happy days of innocence and leisure. The core premise is this: Five teams, each representing a different college clique stereotype, compete to see who can solve the most clues and reach the finish line first in an all-night scavenger hunt-inspired race. Seen through the lens of 2017 viewing, perhaps the most startling thing about Midnight Madness is the overt stereotyping. It's more than a little amusing to consider that these exaggerated caricatures were perceived as only slightly satirical circa 1980. Admittedly, the movie is a comedy (although sadly one in which nearly every joke fails) so nothing in it is intended to be taken too seriously but it offers a window into how pop culture once viewed nerds (weird, physically feeble dweebs) and jocks (dumb hulks). Likability lay in being in the middle with no obvious eccentricities or non-conformities. 5/10 (Nostalgia revisited).
Knocked Up (2007)
Hilarious and heartwarming
A funny film by Judd Apatow Knocked Up will keep your funny bones tingling. Knocked Up includes plenty of laugh-aloud moments and many more that generate subdued chuckles. Apatow understands what audiences find funny and, more importantly, knows the criticality of comic timing. A lot of his jokes work because they are delivered perfectly. The dialogue is sharp, the characters are developed as more than props for gags and pratfalls, and there's a respect for the audience's intelligence that is often not evident in summer movies. However, what makes Knocked Up special is that it also has a heart. Deep down, Knocked Up is as much a romance as it is a comedy. The film is surprisingly touching, especially as it chronicles the attempts of the leads to find common ground. If you like raunchy humor Knocked Up is one of the best films in its genre- you won't go wrong here.
Chimera Strain (2018)
Cool movie
Awesome film with some great ideas. Henry Cusick plays a scientist, a crazy genius of sorts who decides to cryo-freeze his two children. There are flash forwards and jump cuts, voices in the head and some bizarre mutilation experiments. This is more horror than thriller when you think about it. The genetic modifications bit will also bring in a lot of morality ridden talks and debates. On the visual front you'd be hard pressed to say that this is a low budget film. Although there isn't a lot of variations in the location the look of the scientists' lab, the icy-cool cryo chambers and the effects used for the computers is pretty good.