__Hello. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. I’m posting this on the weekend of November 5th, so if you happen to be reading this in the UK, have a good Guy Fawkes Night.🙂
__Speaking of which, I usually publish these compilations of fifty-word reviews on the first Saturday of every month, to recap what I’ve seen for the first time during the prior month. However, there wasn’t one in October because, for a while now, I’ve been busy working on video versions of all the reviews I’ve written so far this year. I’m planning to upload them on YouTube before the end of the year, which means working on them almost flat-out. Therefore, I’ve had so little time to watch movies or video game longplays that, if I had posted on October 7th as per normal, it would have been a very short entry indeed. So I decided to save it and post two months’ worth of reviews here.
__I hope you enjoy them.🙂
__Let’s start with the very few movies I’ve seen in the cinema since my last post on September 2nd.
Past Lives (2023)
Two childhood sweethearts are separated and grow up apart. Their interactions decades later are marked with lingering feelings, questions of what might have been and what different people they are now. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t grab me emotionally. My favourite scene mocks the Hollywood approach to this story.
My rating: 70%.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
It has a leisurely pace, but miraculously never feels like it’s dragging. However, I often had trouble discerning the dialogue and therefore following the story. I was unclear, for example, on whether Ernest was participating in crime willingly. So I can certainly see the appeal, but it didn’t blow my mind.
My rating: 65%.
The Creator (2023)
It has its moments, and I like the simulants’ design, but it’s retreading mundane AI-related themes and not in a novel way. The story is thoroughly predictable every step of the way, be it Joshua’s character arc, Nirmata’s identity or the truth behind the fateful incident that started the war.
My rating: 55%.
__Next up, some movies from earlier in the year that I caught up on at home.
Sisu (2023)
The opening is terrific, beautifully introducing the protagonist with no dialogue. Then it becomes an increasingly silly action movie when he starts fighting back against the Nazis pursuing him. Its over-the-top violence is charmingly goofy at first, but his escapes become so preposterous that suspension of disbelief is utterly demolished.
My rating: 55%.
No Hard Feelings (2023)
The laughs are a bit sparse, and Maddie’s mandatory attempts to flirt with Percy are just plain awkward at first, but it becomes pleasant enough when they start to form a genuine bond (age difference aside). Jennifer Lawrence’s nude fight scene is definitely a comedic highlight for its sheer absurdity.
My rating: 60%.
Asteroid City (2023)
It’s Wes Anderson’s usual flavour of visually striking, complete with crafty camerawork, but at times the storytelling gets too bizarre for its own good, especially the dramatised meeting between playwright and actor. Most of the story is the play within the narrative, but the behind-the-scenes interludes don’t always flow together.
My rating: 55%.
Beau Is Afraid (2023)
It’s basically a three-hour fever dream. There are a couple of moments that effectively convey Beau’s mental state, but if the whole experience is in his head, I have to wonder what inspired it. It could be anxiety or severe paranoia, but last I checked, those didn’t have hallucinatory effects.
My rating: 45%.
Barbie (2023)
To my surprise, I liked it. I know very little about the Barbie phenomenon, but the movie educated me through its satire. It mocks everything from gender politics to montage music. The amplified goofiness does somewhat impair it, especially making the real world just as much a caricature as Barbieland.
My rating: 70%.
A Good Person (2023)
An enjoyable drama following two people whose lives are affected by the same fatal car crash, anchored by two strong performances. Florence Pugh plays the sole survivor, whose guilt and addiction to painkillers induce a cycle of self-destruction. Morgan Freeman plays a former alcoholic struggling to raise his teenage granddaughter.
My rating: 70%.
__Now for some older movies that I saw as per my Halloween tradition of watching a few horror movies I’ve never seen before.
__Interestingly, my original agenda included House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects, but I didn’t know there was a second sequel until Halloween itself, so I decided I might as well complete the Firefly trilogy and added 3 from Hell to the list as well, watching it the next day and putting in some Halloween overtime.🙂
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
This was one of the first films shot in primitive Technicolor, and it works very well here; visuals like the opening fire must have been eye-popping at the time. The film itself is not the most cohesive, but still generally gets the point across, particularly when Igor first sees Charlotte.
My rating: 55%.
House of Wax (1953)
I think this remake is far superior to the original. The plot is better written and more engaging because the stakes are much more personal for the characters. Interestingly, much like how the original helped push the envelope for colour film, this version was one of the earliest 3D movies.
My rating: 80%.
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
The music strikes completely the wrong tone, making it feel more like a music video than a horror movie. I ended up more fascinated by the psychotic family than fearing for the supposed protagonists’ lives. Not to mention, the editing is awful, often ending scenes with jarring, entirely unrelated images.
My rating: 45%.
The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
This sequel shines an even brighter supportive light on the murderous family. They may be vile and dangerous to the public, but they do genuinely care for each other. It’s fascinating to compare them to Sheriff Wydell, who (spoiler alert) reveals himself to be a monster in a different sense.
My rating: 70%.
3 from Hell (2019)
It essentially repeats The Devil’s Rejects: they escape the law, torture an innocent party, then are threatened themselves at the end. It’s disappointingly derivative and nowhere near as effective, but not unbearable because it’s still a decent formula. A pivotal scene is edited out of order for no apparent reason.
My rating: 55%.
__Now let’s switch from movies to video games.
__I mentioned in my last entry that I was watching walkthroughs of the Final Fantasy games after VII to see if I’d be interested in buying any of them. We covered VIII and IX last time, so now let’s see how X and its sequel fared. (I’ll get to XII once I finish editing the videos I mentioned earlier, and I’m skipping XI altogether for one simple reason: it’s an MMO.)
Final Fantasy X (PS2)
The opening scene is borderline incomprehensible, but finally explained once the adventure begins and the world is gradually unveiled. The characters are likeable enough to keep me interested in their journey, which delves into their religion. It does have a few moronic moments, but unlike VIII, they’re not too distracting.
My rating: 60%.
Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
The franchise’s first direct sequel is not bad (baffling opening notwithstanding), but doesn’t enhance its predecessor in any essential way. Yuna, now a treasure hunter of sorts, deals with the aftermath of the prior game’s events while unravelling an ancient mystery. The 1,000 Words song sequence is definitely a highlight.
My rating: 55%.
__And finally, a few games that I just bought or downloaded recently, and took some time off to play so that their rating section on the list I keep of all my games would no longer be blank.
Super C (NES)
It retains the invigorating run-and-gun formula of the original Contra, but keeps you on your toes by spawning enemies behind you much more frequently – constantly, in fact. The Alien inspiration is also much more blatant. Area 6 was the most frustrating for me because of all the random bug-like projectiles.
My rating: 85%.
Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES)
The bosses are spectacular, and it adds the ability to hold two weapons, some of which are even better than the classic spread gun. Personally, I can only handle it on easy mode, otherwise it’s so ridiculously harder than the two NES games that it becomes more frustrating than fun.
My rating: 70%.
Contra: Hard Corps (Sega MD)
For me, Sega wins the 16-bit Contra duel hands down. The challenge never detracts from the fun, whereas Contra III is often just plain annoying. Plus, you can hold up to five weapons, there are four playable characters and some branching paths along the way, offering much more replay value.
My rating: 85%.
Wolfenstein 3D (PC)
This classic first-person shooter has you, to quote Brad Pitt, doing one thing and one thing only: killing Nazis. No objections there, but navigating the levels is more irksome because there’s no map, making it very easy to get lost. You might say this game walked so Doom could run.
My rating: 75%.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
It combines the 3D character models from Mario Kart 64 with the flat maps and collectable coins from the original Super. My experience taught me never to choose a heavy racer for the Lightning Cup, because it’s packed with bends so tight that I could barely stay on the track!
My rating: 70%.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube)
One of the more fun entries in the series. Its defining feature is having two characters share a kart – one to drive and one to use items – which ties into its introduction of cooperative play. It also introduces new power-ups, including special items like the Giant Banana and Bowser Shell.
My rating: 85%.
__My interest in the Contra series was inspired by the Angry Video Game Nerd’s Contra How I Remember It video. Up to now, the only Contra game I bothered with was the first one, but after watching the aforementioned video again, I decided to finally give not all but some of the others a chance.
__Similarly, I was inspired to play Wolfenstein 3D after seeing one of the newer Wolfenstein games mentioned in a YouTube video; I can’t remember the context.
__And as for the Mario Kart games… I only had experience with about half the series, and the titles I’d played were scattered throughout it, so I thought I might as well complete the set.
__Well, that’s it for now. I’ll certainly be seeing more movies as they’re released over the next couple of months, so I guarantee there’ll be at least one more of these “first impressions” posts before the end of the year, but I’m not sure when exactly. There might not be enough to justify it on December 2nd, so it’ll probably be posted on December 30th instead to close the year out.
__Until then, take care.
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