hankychan Reviews

The Aviator (2004)

Beautiful

[9/10 · 18 November 2019]

Not too long ago I considered Scorsese to be highly overrated. I'd liked a lot of his films but didn't think any aside from Taxi Driver were amazing. When I heard about The Irishman and how it's a culmination of Scorsese's career, I decided to watch/rewatch all his films.

Now I consider him one of the greatest living filmmakers as many others do. I look forward to checking out the other films of his I fear I underrated.

As for this film, it's a beautiful epic capturing Hughes life with style and grace.

Piranha 3D (2010)

This is trash, but I like trash

[7/10 · 5 November 2019]

Alexandre Aja makes trash, this movie is trash, it's also immature, has quite a bit of dodgey CGI and has some not so amazing acting.

What makes it amazing is the fact thy Aja is aware of these things and he's laughing at them too, he also has style, at no point does this feel generic, it is always very clear that you are watching an Alexandre Aja film.

He also really knows how to pace horror, one kill at the beginning, then about an hour of buildup (with only 1 obnoxious fake out scare)

Would I prefer if Aja used his talents to make something other then trash? Yeah, but I also like trash.

Hellboy (2019)

Kinda loved this?

[6/10 · 27 October 2019]

Niel Marshall Is one of my favorite directors despite only having made 2 films I'd consider great (The Decent and Doomsday). He just has so much style, he shoots action incredibly well and he rarely takes himself very seriously.

The screenplay for this film is pretty weak, lots of boring humor, stock story, I enjoy the characters to be honest they're pretty fun.

Anyway, Jovovich is queen and this movie is fun.

Dogs Don't Wear Pants (2019)

You all need to see this

[9/10 · 3 October 2019]

I blind bought a ticket for this because of the amazing poster and interesting name, that was an amazing decision.

It's an odd, beautiful and hilarious story, presented with insane talent. This director is exceptional, every frame is beautiful and interesting. The film is very low on dialogue which lets the director show how amazing he is at visual storytelling.

Apparently people walked out of this? It has some hard to watch bodily harm scenes but to be honest it's really not that bad. No one in my screening walked out.

If this director keeps up this quality he is going to be hailed as a master in 50 years

Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)

I have really mixed feelings about Fulci

[8/10 · 30 September 2019]

His first I saw was Zombi 2 which I loved in spite of how boring the first 30 minutes were, then I watched Four Of The Apocalypse and City Of The Living Dead, I found both to be like the first 30 minutes of Zombi 2.

At that point I wasn't a very big fan then I watched The Beyond, same as Zombi 2, boring opening 30 minutes, masterful last hour.

This film is similar to those but there's no defined mark, it goes from being boring to genius from one scene to the next, I think the problem is, unlike his contemporaries Fulci didn't really know how to film interestingly at all, and wrote kinda stale dialogue. What Fulci knew how to film extremely well was action, and horror.

So his great films never quite reach amazing because they're diluted by the boring bits. Still there's lots of Fulci films I haven't seen and maybe they're better in terms of dialogue scenes.

(the scene in this film in which vigilante justice is enforced is one of the best scenes in film)

Glass (2019)

I wasn't expecting to love this at all

[7/10 · 12 September 2019]

Wow. Ok.

I consider unbreakable a masterpiece and Split a pretty great film, besides those and The Sixth Sense I hadn't liked any of the other films I'd seen from him. This film got pretty mixed reviews and it was a modern Shyamalan script so I was skeptical.

The first act was pretty great, maybe a bit slow but that does lend well to making the film feel like more of an epic, the second act had me fuming, there is a twist that had me genuinely angry, then as the film keeps going and more is revealed I slowly realized how incredible the whole thing is, by the end I was more engaged then I have been while watching a film for a while, during the last 20 minutes I was pretty consistently in tears. What Shyamalan did destroyed my expectations, it was perfect.

Aside how great the story is and how perfectly it blends with the previous two films, this film is incredibly beautiful visually, it has the same cinematographer as "Us", "Split" and David Robert Mitchell's newest film, out of these this is by far his best work, despite it's visual beauty, it lacks what split lacks, the extreme intelligence of framing and blocking that Unbreakable had, Unbreakable in my eyes is one of the most precise and perfectly framed films ever, Shyamalan has lost that it seems, and I think the incredible beauty of his latest two has more to do with his incredible cinematographer then him.

Anyway, I really hope Shyamalan keeps up this recent rebound and continues to make great films, because when he makes bad films he makes really bad films but when he makes great ones he makes films that really resonate with me and manage to dig deep into my heart.

Ps. This is definitely in the top 5 superhero movies I've seen

Us (II) (2019)

Though a great film, it is a step down from Get Out

[7/10 · 9 September 2019]

Took me a while to get around to this, I also plan to watch The Florida Project soon which is another film I've been meaning to watch.

Anyway, I really like this is film, especially the beginning when it's just the family interacting, comedy and characters seem to be Peele's strong point. It's very well shot, it has a nice atmosphere, I really like the way Peele uses music.

The film is pretty creepy but when the horror starts the film dips in quality a bit.

Anyway, I really love the cast, especially both sets of parents, all are really funny and have great chemistry. The kids are great actors too which is great, it's nice that Peele cares enough find good child actors.

The film does have its flaws... While watching the film at the beginning I just thought the twist was supposed to be assumed, but then later in the film there's some red herrings and then a very dramatic reveal of it, I just found that very weird, if you've ever seen a film ever, you know that if they cut away from something then something happened, ex. if they cut away before you see someone get murdered in a horror film, they're almost definitely alive. So by the end I realized it was supposed to be a plot twist... So that's sorta dumb

Also, there's an out of place and boring exposition scene at the end of the film that semi explains stuff, but like if you're not going to explain everything don't do an obnoxious exposition scene. Because then I don't feel as if it's up to interpretation, I just feel as if you're deliberately holding information while giving other information very bluntly.

Anyway, I like the ending, but they use the song "Les Fleurs" which PTA used in Inherent Vice like 5 years ago, so it's all I could think of during the ending, it usually annoys me when films use songs other films used but since this film is very new it annoyed me ever so slightly more.

I'm definitely looking forward to Peele's next film, in 40 years he'll be thought of as one of the great American directors with a large filmography full of great films.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Good, but certain elements distracted me

[7/10 · 5 September 2019]

While watching, knowing Welles often didn't get final cut I brushed off lots of the flaws as studio re-edits, by the end it was pretty distracting.

It wasn't until after I finished I researched what was changed, it's insane how much they with this film, looking back, everything amazing about the film seemed to be Welles' original ideas and everything that wasn't amazing or at times was sorta bad seemed to be the work of the studio.

What very possibly could have been a masterpiece was ruined by the studio, instead being a flawed hallow shell of its former self, but it's still a great film as Welles's genius still shines through often, it's just sad that it could have been so much more.

Bijitâ Q (2001)

I've been going through the Miike films I thought I might have a different opinion on when re-watching.

[6/10 · 3 September 2019]

Yesterday I watched Audition which I loved more than the first time I'd seen it, today I watched this.

I figured that my 6/10 rating was unfair as when I first watched it I gave up pretty quickly and was on my phone the rest of the time, this time, I made sure to not once look at my phone but still... My reaction was the same, despite its quality I find it tremendously unengaging, I'm not even sure why, I just do. I wanted it to end, I was bored from start to finish, I will definitely re-watch this in some years to see if my opinion has changed because I do very much respect and appreciate this film, I just really don't like it.

Paycheck (2003)

Good direction

[8/10 · 3 September 2019]

Ok.

Yes, the first 15-20 minutes aren't very good, the events of the film are beyond stupid, most of the dialogue is terrible, it's insanely unsubtle, there are many point in which the film crosses to so bad it's good territory, everyone literally explains everything like even when there's news papers on a wall showing you the story and the film gives you lots of time to read them, Ben still explains the whole thing But!! This is one of the most entertaining films ever, for that and the quality craftsmanship I can look past the wealth of flaws, especially since many of said flaws add to the enjoyment.

Night on Earth (1991)

A film that gets better with each segment

[8/10 · 28 August 2019]

The first segment is pretty good but doesn't have the best acting and isn't very funny. The rest are great, the highlights being the last two.

Night on Earth is an interesting delve into 5 different groups of people in 5 countries that are in Taxis, like all Jarmusch films the dialog and characters are incredible.

This film doesn't look amazing,nothing too special cinematography or lightning wise and it gets a bit boring looking at a Taxi for two hours.

The worst part about the film is how repetitive it is. Until the last two segments, the segments have very similar structure.

Overall it's great, it probably deserves a 7 but the last two segments are incredible so I'm going to give it an 8

Phantom Thread (2017)

Almost perfect

[9/10 · 28 August 2019]

Another period piece by PTA, Phantom Thread is the story of a two way abusive relationship.

The film is incredible but what I want to talk about is the problems people have with the film.

A lot of people have problems with a decision made halfway though the film and the ending, I'm confused about why people think it doesn't work because without that decision this film would be a weird depiction of an abusive relationship.

Another problem I've heard is the relationship feels too rushed, but that's the point. He meets her right after leaving another woman, it's obvious he hops from woman to woman gets infatuated then getting bored.

The Banishment (2007)

Awesome

[8/10 · 28 August 2019]

The Banishment is the second feature from Andrey Zcyagintsev, a man whom I consider to be a master at his craft, and when Michael Haneke dies will be the best living director.

This film, like his others is a technical feat, everything is perfect, like all of his films this film has child actors and they are all incredible. I find it hard to put to words how brilliantly crafted this films is, sadly I have my problems with the script.

There is an extended flash back that I think was unnecessary and had a reveal that took away from the film. The fact it was never revealed to the main character made it feel completely useless.

This is definitely Andrey Zcyagintsev's worst film, but that's more of a complement to Zcyagintsev than an insult to the film

Speed Racer (2008)

Not for me

[4/10 · 27 August 2019]

I really appreciate how much effort was put into recreating the anime feel, so much of what I hate about this movie isn't even really a valid complaint, it's just the stylization revolting me completely.

Seriously, good job but I got absolutely nothing out of this film, I can definitely see why people think it's a masterpiece but I hate it with all my heart.

It's getting a 4 instead of a lower score because despite how ugly I think it is, and how boring I found it, it's undeniably very well crafted, well acted, well edited etc.

Hard Target (1993)

Pretty good

[7/10 · 26 August 2019]

The sound design is awful but that sorta makes it more fun.

Also, I'd hate to drop a cup in this universe, it would explode into flames then I'd have to fall over in slow motion while doves fly by.