|
| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
31874 |
| Total Ratings: |
248715 |
| Total Reviews: |
28172 |
![[177110332 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?177110332)
|
|
|
| AVENGERS: ENDGAME |
"No, Robert Iger didn't pay me to like this movie."
Lybarger says... "If there’s a good way to sum up the differences between DC’s superheroes and Marvel’s, it might be that DC stalwart Batman’s pain and reason for being is that he has lost his family to crime. In Marvel’s case, many of their characters suffer BECAUSE of their families." (more)
|
|
| AVENGERS: ENDGAME |
"A Supposedly Fun Thing Part II"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Although “Avengers: Endgame” is far from my favorite of the 22 entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that have been released so far, it does contain the one moment that I have been looking forward to in the entire run of the increasingly expansive franchise. During the massive scrum that makes up a good chunk of the last hour, one character—it hardly matters who—approaches another one and makes the standard declaration of how the second person killed their loved ones and ruined their life and yadda yadda yadda before preparing to destroy them. The second person—they shall also remain nameless but I suppose that figuring out this person will not be much of a chore—looks at the first person, furrows their brow (at least as much as they can) and remarks “I don’t even know who you are?” Yes, the MCU has finally gotten so vast and so overloaded with characters, each with their own detailed backstory and array of powers/abilities, that even the other people in the story have begun to lose track of who everyone is and how they relate to everyone else. Yes. it is clearly meant to be a funny line but as someone who has felt increasingly lost at sea as the franchise has pursued a bigger-is-better aesthetic to absurd extremes, this was perhaps the one moment in the entire series that seemed to be speaking for me. This is not to say that the film is terrible by any means but unless you are in the mood for three solid hours of relentless fan service dedicated to convincing you that the countless hours you have spent watching all the earlier films (not to mention all the TV shows and additional ephemera) have not been in vain, you may come away from this hymn to big-screen excess yearning for, of all things, a little than what has been provided here." (more)
|
|
| MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE, THE |
"Keep your expectations realistic."
Rob Gonsalves says... "It’s well-nigh impossible to assess Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating, oft-foiled "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" as just, you know, a movie." (more)
|
|
| HELLBOY (2019) |
"Without sequels, just an inferior reboot."
Jay Seaver says... "It's kind of a shame that this relaunch of "Hellboy" didn't light up the box office, not because it's a particularly good movie which deserves success - it isn't - but because the chance of sequels and spin-offs was the best argument for starting fresh rather than having Guillermo del Toro direct another one to complete his trilogy. There's just enough potential here that you could see it getting refined into something better with another bite at the apple, but now it can't help but be seen as anything other than a misguided disappointment." (more)
|
|
| HER SMELL |
"How Dirty Girls Get Clean"
Peter Sobczynski says... "The year is still relatively young, I suppose, but is hard to think that there will be a more discomfiting cinematic experience this year that “Her Smell,” writer-director Alex Ross Perry’s brutally visceral drama that introduces viewers to a character that most viewers will write off as a spectacularly vain and self-absorbed monster after only a few minutes and then unsparingly observes her in unsparing detail as she goes completely off the rails thanks to a toxic combination of drugs, ego and neediness and then as she struggles to come to terms with everything that she lost along the way. For many viewers, it will all simply be too much—and at 135 minutes, it may strike others as too much of too much—but for those who are able to endure it all, his portrait of a toxic and self-destructive personality crisis writ large is a strangely compelling affair that is anchored by one of the most hellaciously go-for-broke performances that you will likely encounter on the big screen anytime soon." (more)
|
|
| UNDER THE SILVER LAKE |
"It Follows"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Man, what a difference a year makes. it was just about this time last year that the anticipation level for “Under the Silver Lake,” the mysterious new film from David Robert Mitchell (his first since the release of his indie horror hit “It Follows”), hit a fever pitch when it became one of the two U.S. films to play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately, the word after the premiere was not particularly good and while some critics found some interesting things about it, many dismissed it as a weird and unfocused misfire from a talented filmmaker who had bitten off far more than he could possibly chew. After that, things quickly went downhill as its distributor decided to delay its summer release until Christmastime amidst rumors that Mitchell was working on a reedit. Then it was mysteriously yanked from the Christmas schedule at the last minute and disappeared from view until it was recently announced that the entire release of what was once considered to be a big-ticket item had been reduced to a grand total of two theaters this weekend followed by it hitting VOD this coming Tuesday." (more)
|
|
| CHAPERONE, THE (2019) |
"Slight, but with two very charming performances."
Jay Seaver says... ""The Chaperone" is cheerier and more effervescent than it sometimes seems like it should be; it tells the story of a woman who finds happiness and otherwise makes a less-than-ideal situation better in small, pragmatic ways in a way that's faithful to its 1922 setting despite the modern instinct to want more confrontation and a sharper edge. This movie is pleasant and accommodating even when it seems like it maybe shouldn't be, but that's hardly a mark against it - it's a modestly delightful story that makes a virtue out of finding the best way to look at difficult situations." (more)
|
|
| MISSING LINK |
"Charming, beautiful, just generally well-done."
Jay Seaver says... "There were only a handful of people in the theater for a 3D screening of "Missing Link" on a Sunday evening two days after it opened, and while there are potential reasons for sparse attendance in the description, I'm starting to wonder what more Laika has to do to get people to come out for their movies. "Missing Link" is, as is customary with this company's productions, whimsically designed, big-hearted, impeccably voiced, precisely and beautifully filmed one frame at a time, and just generally everything one might wish a movie for the whole family to be. What else do these guys have to do?" (more)
|
|
FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW:
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of "Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse," "Little Woods" and "Wild Nights with Emily."" (more) |
|
'ANY MONKEY CAN TAP HIMSELF OUT FINANCIALLY MAKING A MOVIE. THE IDEA IS TO TAP YOURSELF OUT CREATIVELY FIRST.'
- Robert Rodrgiuez, Director
|
| |
|
Articles 
