| COMING NEXT WEEK |
| 17-Apr |
My Spy |
| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
32509 |
| Total Ratings: |
249627 |
| Total Reviews: |
28483 |
![[189701540 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?189701540)
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| WHISTLERS, THE |
"Police, adverseries."
Jay Seaver says... "For all that some rightly complain about filmmakers being pigeonholed, there are times when filmmakers seem to do it to themselves. Take "The Whistlers", which has a clever premise for a heist, a nice cast, and an intriguingly twisted network of surveillance and corruption - and a writer/director in Corneliu Porumboiu who seemingly can't be satisfied to just make an entertaining genre movie. He acknowledges their appeal, references them, and otherwise sets up bits of meta-commentary, but doesn't capture the actual excitement of such movies." (more)
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| FANTASTIC FUNGI |
"The fungi are at the very least fascinating."
Jay Seaver says... ""Fantastic Fungi" is put together so well that it may take some sort of interruption while watching it to notice that it has seemingly gone from "nifty science documentary" to "cult recruitment video" without causing whiplash. It's impressive editing, actually, when a film can make you sit up and wonder just how you got somewhere seemingly so far from where you started, and then look at it in whole and say, actually, that's not so big a trip after all." (more)
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| EXTRA ORDINARY |
"When Irish Eyes Are Shrieking"
Peter Sobczynski says... "When I sat down in the screening room to watch “Extra Ordinary,” I must confess that I knew precious little about it other than the fact that it was from Ireland, it was a comedy having to do with the supernatural and that the only member of the cast who was instantly familiar to me was Will Forte. As a result, I cannot honestly say that I went into it with any expectations to speak off and I was thereby a little blindsided to discover just how good it really is. This is a cheerfully silly romp from start to finish that deftly combines broadly outrageous gags and situations and situations with quieter, but no less amusing, character-based comedy. Yes, I know that everyone is anticipating, either eagerly or warily, the new “Ghostbusters” movie but if there is a competition for the title of Best Horror-Themed Comedy of 2020, this film has already set a pretty high bar for that particular prize." (more)
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| HUNT, THE (2019) |
"Both Sides Now"
Peter Sobczynski says... "At one point during “The Hunt,” the controversial dark comedy-thriller hybrid that was famously pulled from its original release slot last fall after the first trailer hit and some people took offense at what they assumed it was about, one of the characters caught up in the titular event is trying to analyze what might be a clue as to what is going on but is unsure how to read it—is it the work of a smart person trying to come across like an idiot or an idiot trying to come across as smart. My guess is that many people charged with analyzing this particular film are going to be feeling the same way after watching it. It contains a premise that certainly grabs ones attention and suggests the kind of barbed and uncompromising satire that harkens back to Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Unlike that story, which took its outrageous and bleakly funny concept and used it as a springboard for genuinely thought-provoking social commentary, “The Hunt” quickly reveals itself to be good at establishing its own provocative premise but not so hot when it comes to the follow-through—it ends up essentially being a one-joke movie where one’s enjoyment will depend to a large degree on how quickly they get tired of that particular joke." (more)
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| ONWARD |
"Wizard World"
alejandroariera says... "Twenty-five years ago next November, a digital animation upstart financially supported by one Steve Jobs raised the bar on what could be accomplished in animation with the release of their first full-length feature film, “Toy Story.” Following its critical and box-office success, Pixar kept raising the ante with such films as “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.”, “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille.” They found a friend in the Walt Disney Animation Studios from day one (although they did have several “disagreements”) until 2006 when Disney acquired Pixar. And even though Pixar enjoys enormous amounts of creative independence, they have also marched in lockstep with their overlords. Out of the eleven films they produced in the last decade, seven were sequels and four of those were for the “Toy Story” and “Cars” franchises. So, the high expectations from fans surrounding this year’s release of Pixar’s first two original films since 2017’s “Coco” is understandable. And while “Onward,” the first of these two releases, doesn’t reach the giddy highs or as has as many visually memorable moments as the above mentioned Pixar films, there is still plenty to enjoy. “Onward” is, in a way, the appetizer to the full fledge meal that “Soul,” their other original production, promises to deliver this summer." (more)
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| ONWARD |
"Not Exactly Upward"
Peter Sobczynski says... "I have seen every feature that Pixar has produced since they revolutionized the animated film industry a quarter-century ago with the groundbreaking “Toy Story” and while I have adored a good number of them and disliked a few as well, their latest effort, “Onward,” marks the first time I emerged from viewing one of their projects with the kind of reaction best summed up with that pithiest of phrases, “meh.” It has all the elements that have made their past films so memorable—a striking visual style, unusual characters, a storyline that is fanciful on the surface but which contain strong emotional underpinnings—but for some reason, they just don’t quite come together in a successful or inspired manner. It isn’t terrible by any means but it certainly isn’t that good either. Watching it is like eating at a restaurant whose chief asset is that it is in a convenient location—it is just good enough to be sort of satisfying for most tastes but at the same time, you know in your heart that you have had better meals." (more)
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| WRETCHED, THE |
"Not wretched and more creative than usual."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2019 FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: "The Wretched" does things that relatively few horror movies seem to think of, and does them with a skill that a lot of its brethren that are traveling more well-worn paths don't necessarily manage. That's enough to get the horror fans most susceptible to becoming jaded excited about it - the ones who love this stuff but who, in their jobs as festival programmers or production company employees, see every movie less creative filmmakers crank out must find their eyes going wide. I don't know that it will be the case for those not quite so immersed in the genre; somewhere along the way, there maybe should have been a little something more to make its often audacious choices really hit home." (more)
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| INVISIBLE MAN, THE (2020) |
"A Universal Monsters revival that's focused on the right things."
Jay Seaver says... "I don't suppose this sort of thing matters much to other people, but I'm awfully glad that Leigh Whannell went through the effort of making the invisibility stuff (which usually falls apart with four seconds of thought) in his version of "The Invisible Man" work even though this is absolutely the sort of horror movie that could get away with the whole thing just feeling right and digging into what actually scares people. It's the sort of clever, modern take on the classic Universal horror tales that they should have been looking for with Dark Universe." (more)
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW: LAMBS AND SLAUGHTER
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of "Clover," "Never Rarely Sometimes Always," "The Other Lamb" and "Slay the Dragon" and learn how you can help a couple of wonderful art house theaters and see some excellent movies at the same time." (more) |
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ISLANDS IN THE STREAM: WEEK TWO
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "And now, let us begin Week Two of this new endeavor in which I shall be offering a daily streaming recommendation for you to peruse from the vast amount of stuff out there. Hopefully you will find them helpful and/or entertaining and keep coming back every day until all this lunacy finally ends. If not, feel free to drop me a line at petersob@efilmcritic.com to explain how terrible I am at this or, even better, you could perhaps suggest a title of your own that I could tackle at some point." (more) |
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'I'M STANDING THERE DRENCHED IN PANIC. ALL THESE SHERIFFS LOOKING AT ME, AND THEY KNOW, MAN. THEY CAN SMELL IT. SURE AS THAT FUCKING DOG CAN, THEY CAN SMELL IT ON ME.'
- Mr. Orange, Reservoir Dogs
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