Mad Max: Fury Road Review

Did I watch the same movie as everyone else?

George Miller returns to live action film-making after years of making stories about singing penguins. Awesome.

The world has plunged into chaos. We are running out of vital resources. Everyone has become insane and reduced to a single instinct- survive. Mad Max currently stands at a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 8.9/10 on IMDB as well as a 89 on Metacritic, and is seen as one of the greatest action movies not only of the year, but of all time...ugh...

Film is subjective. I may love a movie and think it's one of the best films ever made, and someone else may think it's a piece of crap. That's the way cinema works and that's what's so wonderful about it all- there's something for everyone. That being said, Mad Max: Fury Road sucked and I'm right and you're wrong. Okay, I'm just joking but still, SERIOUSLY? This film is being compared to T2, Die Hard, The Matrix; this movie has no business being in those types of discussions. I simply do not understand why this movies is being so universally loved. Don't get me wrong, I loved the look of the movie. It felt dirty and lived-in, the cinematography and stunt choreography is out of this world. The usage of practical effects is mind-blowing. But at the end of the day, if I don't care at all about the people driving a car in a movie, I'm not going to care if it crashes- no matter how crazy and realistic it may look. I did not care about any of these characters whatsoever, which is disappointing because you have some amazing acting talent here including Tom Hardy, Nicholas Hoult, and probably one of the best working actresses today- Charlize Theron. But none of them were given any real time to shine. The first hour of the movie there were maybe 10 lines of dialogue, most of which were bad ADR. Fury Road is just 2 hours of flashy, gritty, ridiculous, crazy, and gratuitous shots of cars flipping over and exploding laced together by a thin plot lead by characters you don't care about and don't root for. You can only give me a cat and mouse story for so long before I start wanting the mouse to just get caught so I can go home and sleep. I was not invested whatsoever, I was just waiting for it to end, and I kept wondering how much blood Max can give to people before he just dies already. I have to watch this again and maybe my views will change, but as of right now this is probably one of the most overrated movies I've seen in quite sometime. Poor story, thin plot, nameless insane characters, and no clear stakes- but hey, cool explosion. Final Grade- C+

It Follows Movie Review

A movie about a sexually transmitted demon. I swear, they should really show this movie in some sort of Sex Ed class; it will thoroughly get the point across. 

Don't worry horror fans, the Annabelle's and Ouija's of the world can't hurt you anymore. From writer/director David Robert Mitchell comes a horror film centered around Jay- a nice, attractive, young girl with her whole life ahead of her. However, after having sex for the first time with her mysterious boyfriend, she discovers that he passed a curse on to her that causes a terrifying entity to follow her wherever she goes. No one else can see it, no one can help. It can take any form. The only way to survive is to pass it on to someone else, or run- if it catches you, 

you're dead. 

Let's begin with the negative feelings I have towards the film. From the get-go, this premise sounds relatively preachy and peculiar. It's executed wonderfully, but when analyzed deeply, it's just a small little metaphor for AIDS- nothing more, nothing less. It Follows can be appreciated as an ambitious piece of artful cinema, but not so much as a coherent narrative. Occasionally the complete subversion of expectations and diversion from the formulaic horror movie story structure works against the film instead of in it's favor. But in the end, one can't help but fall in love with it's retro-style approach to the material. Novice director David R. Mitchell is clearly influenced by the late 70's- early 80's style of film making. It harkens back to a time when horror movies were directed by Academy Award Winner Stanley Kubrick or legendary film director Brian De Palma, and not by a soulless movie studio hoping to make a couple bucks. There are some real, genuinely well-crafted shots in the film. It reminds you how innovative one can be with a camera. The actors all do their jobs well. No character seems cliched, however, this somewhat works against the film since no one was extremely memorable either. The sound design was average for a movie with this low of a budget, but it excels when it comes to my favorite aspect of It Follows- the score. That freaking amazing score. It's retro roots are seen most in the film's Carpenter-esque soundtrack that is simultaneously beautiful and haunting. Overall, It Follows was a nice little trip to the theaters. It didn't keep me up all night, but it certainly kept me entertained. The fresh story structure is admirable while also a little off-putting, but there is so much to enjoy in It Follows that I'm willing to forgive most of it's flaws. Final grade- B+