filmunknown

THE BOYS (S2, 2020) Developed by Erik Kripke • Starring Carl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Aya Cash and Anthony Starr • Point Grey, Original, Amazon
SUMMARY: The Boys fight against Vought continues when a new superhero, St******nt, pushes for The 7 to have more control
THE STORY: Many storylines pick up with a bang as we follow each of Boys who come out of hiding to try and expose Vought for their corruption. New superheroes, new superterrorists and more blood this show delivers all the blood and jokes from before in another solid season for this dark superhero show complete with a stronger finale
THE ACTING: The entire cast returns in full form, highlighted again by Urban’s Butcher and Starr’s Homelander. As we continue to slowly peel away at both characters we see more vulnerability and therefore stronger and stronger performances. Cash as St******nt holds herself well and the addition of Giancarlo Esposito is fantastic
THE LOOK: The show did well to balance a new season without going crazy with a new budget. VFX were slightly more convincing that season one and more believable. It continues to deliver shocking moments and interesting twists while keeping up with the tone of the first season
CRITICISMS: With nearly all of the storylines being very effective, I was not however satisfied with The Deep’s arc. A good chunk of time is given to him off to the side for their to not be a resolution or turning point for him. Other than that I was very entertained and enjoyed the season just a bit more than season 1 as the finale was better and I like what I’m seeing going into season 3
SCORE: 8.5/10

@ New York City

SPAWN (1998) Directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé • Starring Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Nicol Williamson and Martin Sheen • New Line Cinema
SUMMARY: A dead soldier is brought back to life as a demon hellspawn equipped to avenge his death and save the world
THE STORY: In one of the most poorly written superhero films of all time over exposition, cliche characterizations and a unclear story directive thoroughly undermines a strong character and source material. It’s evident that visual flare was given more emphasis than the story itself and it’s just corny as hell
THE ACTING: Decent performances by White as Spawn bringing as much of an emotional arc as he could muster with the script. Leguizamo is unidentifiable as the boisterous Clown, not holding back in his character’s insanity. The rest of the cast is, well, terrible as they cannot escape the corniness and flat dialogue
THE LOOK: There’s decent vfx and then some of the absolute worst, it’s a display of some unhinged decision making. The visual tone is ok, the costume and creature design is pretty on point with the comics and most of the practical effects work, but the video-game-like cgi is horrible, even for its time. Give them credit for swinging for the fences, but they struck out hard
CRITICISMS: Production woes made an adventurous project worse; unhinged cgi, R-rated material dumbed down to PG-13, botched editing cutting out most story development, and simply a project too adventurous for its time. Again I give some credit for risk taking, for really going off the rails to try and push the boundaries, but the film obviously lost grip on itself and came out a complete mess
SCORE: 4.5/10
@ Hell

THE HAUNTED MANSION (2003) Directed by Rob Minkoff • Starring Eddie Murphy, Marsha Thomason, Jennifer Tilly and Terrence Stamp • Disney
SUMMARY: A spooky family comedy of a workaholic real estate agent who blindly drags his family to haunted mansion
THE STORY: More worries about his next sell then spending quality time with his family Jim Evers finds him and his family trapped in a haunted luxury estate full of ghosts and ghouls. A foreboding curse and lessons of family time are a simple take but there’s many homages to the ride and is led with a fun and lighthearted tone
THE ACTING: The legendary comedian Eddie Murphy never waivers and despite a generic character still injects some laughs. Most often reactionary acting the whole family does well to be comedically scared. Stamp is intimidating with his booming voice, however his character was one note and repetitive
THE LOOK: Looking back to 2003 this film actually have some pretty great vfx and it aged well as they didn’t try to do too much to make it stand out. The vfx are subtle but effective and the many homages to the ride in which the movie is based off is a lot of fun. It’s classic in the way that it’s exactly what a Disney haunted mansion would look like
CRITICISMS: It starts off pretty slow, not picking up with real entertainment until like 30 mins in. Given that time there’s some character development, but it’s very simple and straightforward. It’s not laugh out loud funny but it’s an enjoyable family comedy, especially around Halloween time
SCORE: 6.5/10 @ Louisiana

UNDERWATER (2020) Directed by William Eubank • Starring Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel and Jessica Henwick • TSG, Chernin, 20th Century Fox
SUMMARY: A group of survivors attempt to escape a deep sea drilling facility with dangerous creatures closing in
THE STORY: Working within the typical sci-fi horror formula; dangerous/mysterious event, given an objective, team gets picked off one by one. There are still intriguing scenarios and moments to deflect your expectations but it’s still pretty straight forward. The surrounding conflict is tense, but the character development and creature motivations are weak
THE ACTING: Stewart and the rest of the cast do we to build the tension and fear, but at the same time it is also a bit basic and not as visceral and raw fear as you would expect. T.J. Miller completely ruins the tone by trying to inject his trademark sarcasm. I would have been just fine without these miss attempts at humor
THE LOOK: I got a strong vibe of Alien in the deep sea. Claustrophobic, dark, dirty and broken the atmosphere serves the sci-fi horror genre very well. There was always a sense of realism and authenticity with that small dash of sci-fi to elevate it. I loved the underwater suit design, but I wasn’t fully sold on the creatures
CRITICISMS: It was the terrible injection of humor by T.J. Miller that completely ruined the tone of the film for me, I would have been just fine without it. They also left the creatures too vague, I didn’t understand their motivations or origins. The crew barely even had a guess, so the creatures felt unexplained and glossed over, but it all still worked as a fun sci-fi horror film
SCORE: 7/10

@ Marianas Trench

ALIEN (1979) Directed by Ridley Scott • Starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt and Ian Holm • Brandywine, 20th Century Fox
SUMMARY: A working class space freighter discovers a strange planet and comes in contact with a dangerous alien life form
THE STORY: Taking a dark and disgruntled look at space, where blue collar workers are just out for a paycheck rather than heroic scientific exploration you bring the film to the viewers level. Insert a parasitic Alien impregnating humans to birth super predators sparks a horrific survival tale with undertones of sexual violence countered by a female lead
THE ACTING: The characters are a tremendous platform for some great performances as, again, the blue collar archetypes make them incredibly relatable. Most of the cast are irritable and disgruntled at their circumstances, but thrust into survival mode pulling out some great performances and reactions
THE LOOK: I put sci-fi in two categories of look: “2001’s clean” and “Alien’s grime” That working class aesthetic is show in a un-manicured and aging, underfunded space shuttle, dark and gritty. The alien and the mystery behind it is expertly peeled back to keep up must and tension with the dark atmosphere excellently hiding the monster; horror 101
CRITICISMS: Often I hear “It’s too slow”, mostly because they’re comparing it to it’s action packed sequel, which is still great, but is a different style entirely. This slow paced horror film grips you into the relatable characters bewilderment and terrorized survival. I’m not a space marine! Slow tension executed well to me is better than any quantity of bullet casings
SCORE: 9.5/10
@ Space

VAMPIRES VS. THE BRONX (2020) Directed by Osmany Rodriguez • Starring Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV and Sarah Gadon • Broadway Video, Universal, Netflix
SUMMARY: A comedic horror adventure of three boys who look to stop the gentrification of the Bronx from vampires
THE STORY: Set up a bit on-the-nose three kids see their neighborhood being bought up by a mysterious real estate firm that they soon suspect to be a front for vampires. Inspired by many vampire lore and sequences the film is pretty straight forward but has a light energetic tone good for a fun adventure but lacks any depth to really follow through
THE ACTING: Without harshly critiquing young, inexperienced actors the performances are ok, the three boys working well together, but again there lacks depth. Placed more for comedy most supporting role are also decent, the villains a bit one note, but fun in the end
THE LOOK: Very little vfx are used, which I do appreciate as the film focused more on characters and the environment of the Bronx, but when the vfx do come in their are very amateurish. Some even come off as straight to tv stunts from the early 2000’s with noticeable cables. The editing also extremely choppy and lacks urgency
CRITICISMS: The entertainment value is there, especially ones looking for a fun Halloween young adult adventure, but the film really lacks in ex*****on. The characters are set up nice, the first half decent, but by the end the flaws start to outweigh the positives. It’s still fun, lighthearted, an enjoyable young adult adventure with decent vampire lore and hunting tactics
SCORE: 6/10

@ The Bronx

THE WALKING DEAD (S10, 2019-20) Showrunner Angela Kang • Starring Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Ryan Hurst and Samantha Morton • Skybound, Valhalla, AMC
SUMMARY: A dangerous new group stalks the communities by wearing zombie masks and blending into hordes
THE STORY: With many regulars gone the show is held up well by Daryl and Carol with a dangerous new group that injects the horror back into the show. Despite some annoying logic from a few characters the arcs continue to evolve well within the core group. The mid to second half draws out a bit, but I’m glad to see this solid conflict wrap up
THE ACTING: Taking the center stage Reedus and McBride do very well and the show has consistently puts out some great acting. Morton and Hurst start off as incredible villains, really creeping you out, but a bit one note and their performances plateaued, but overall strong acting across the board
THE LOOK: There’s no question the makeup and vfx team continue to put out the greatest zombies on screen ever. There are some larger scale shots that look a bit too cg, but the zombies are always so inventive. The whisperers set a creepy tone, blending with zombies that builds tension and unpredictability
CRITICISMS: The back and forth nature of Carol, hinged unhinged, calculated then reckless and plain stupid is frustrating. Often I felt annoyed with the logic of some characters in order to create new drama. It’s unfair to judge the show vs the comic, but the lack of Rick and Carl are huge holes for me. With a show that’s lost a bit of momentum I enjoyed the entire season emphasized more zombie horror again
SCORE: 7.5/10 @ Alexandria, VA

THE EVIL DEAD (1981) Directed by Sam Raimi • Starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManicor, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly • Renaissance, New Line Cinema
SUMMARY: The gory cult horror classic of 5 friends while at a remote cabin awaken spirits of the dead and witness demonic possessions
THE STORY: Leaning right into the B-rate horror with a dash of dark comedy, this story lightens itself, but remains terrorizing. The manifestation of the dead is the most intriguing part as it’s not one particular character, but an ominous and ever present force attacking the group through their own bodies. Possession makes for sharp turns and unexpected scares
THE ACTING: Decent, but obviously amateurish and inexperienced as many B-rate style horror movies often do. The performances do pick up drastically when the possessions occur and many actors deliver shocking and eerie moments in flurries. In the end it’s still wrapped in an independent 80’s horror film so acting isn’t the best
THE LOOK: The gore and shock value of disfigurement and dismemberment is excellently achieved through practical makeup and stop motion that doesn’t cut away. The camera movements, often tracking and pov, steady cam as if you are the demon entity watching is extremely effective at pulling you in and providing the trapped atmosphere
CRITICISMS: There’s one attack scene, a sexual abuse, that is unnecessary because it doesn’t mesh with the theme given how the later possessions manifest. Its certainly a horror theme, useful in a story dealing in horrors of sexuality, but here’s its out of place and therefore gratuitous. Besides that scene you have a fantastic 80’s horror film with the right amount of gore and campy, dark humor
SCORE: 8.5/10
@ Tennessee

DEATH NOTE (2017) Directed by Adam Wingard • Starring Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, Lakeith Stanfield and Willem Dafoe • Lin, Vertigo, Netflix
SUMMARY: A supernatural thriller of a death God’s journal that will kill anyone who’s name is written in it
THE STORY: When a bright high school student finds a deadly notebook he starts finding deserving people to kill while an introverted prodigy detective sniffs him out. However, this film didn’t know what it wanted to be; started off very Final Destination, vigilante superhero, then detective thriller dashed with high school romance, maybe one too many elements misguided it
THE ACTING: Again not understanding a clear direction the tone fluctuates and as the film develops characters and their performances are less compelling. Stanfield is given the most to play around with and Dafoe delivers as the most experience actor, however there’s not enough of him. I loathed Qualley’s character and Wolff is simply ok
THE LOOK: The first death sequence had some promise and it is literally downhill from there. No other death scenes come close or are even really shown. The film started with a great tone but fell away to cliche high school mediocrity. The soundtrack of soft rock is terribly decided on and the cinematography had a amateurish feel
CRITICISMS: Maybe the marketing threw me off, but the first 30 minutes seemed promising but as you go it continually declines. The character motivations are weakly developed and I really disliked the character of Mia and her arc. I didn’t know what kind of movie I was watching. That’s not always bad to play with genres, but here it wasn’t executed well and in the end is a lackluster experience
SCORE: 5/10
@ Seattle, Washington

THE LODGE (2019) Directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala • Starring Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh and Richard Armitage • FilmNation, Hammer, Neon
SUMMARY: A psychological horror of a woman troubled by her past surviving a suicidal religious cult
THE STORY: After an horrific family loss a soon to be step mom joins a mourning family on a remote winter trip where her past demons start to haunt her. The movie deals with heavy themes of su***de and repentance in a slow eerie burn that felt rather uneventful. I often appreciate slower, less theatric horror, but this wasn’t entertaining enough
THE ACTING: The performances are good amidst very depressing and creepy subject matter the cast emotes those troubling emotions well. Keough of course is given the most room to play with her character’s psychological torment that continues to spiral. The kids played by Martell and McHugh are decent enough, with Armitage as well, but all work best in the third act
THE LOOK: Again I prefer steady, well choreographed and composed horror rather than resorting to jump scares and wow factors, so this film appealed to my more arthouse-horror preferences, but the pace and mediocre thrills eventually came off boring. The set design was simple yet effective and the moments of psychological torment were semi-creative
CRITICISMS: What made it hard to watch is the film’s strong themes and graphic portrayals of su***de, a very heavy subject matter and one not palatable for those afflicted or traumatized by it, so disclaimer. It’s certainly horror because it plays off those terrible happenings, but the uneventful and often boring nature of this film makes hard to watch or enjoy
SCORE: 4.5/10

@ The Lodge

PRISONERS (2013) Directed by Denis Villenueve • Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano • Alcon, Madhouse, Summit, WB
SUMMARY: A father takes matters into his own hands to try and find his kidnapped daughter in this harrowing thriller
THE STORY: In an eerie but powerful drama slowly brewing in the torment of a missing child. The mystery is extremely compelling and the revelations are perfectly timed. It’s an unsettling slow burn that keeps you riveted as the character’s are pushed to their emotional and physical limits
THE ACTING: Jackman shines in a raw, visceral performance with intense passion and frustration as he takes finding his daughter to the extreme. Gyllenhaal also performs well, but in a much more reserved role. All characters are faced with great inner conflict and the emotional torment is clearly presented by each actor even without needing dialogue
THE LOOK: Set in a dark, depressing downpour the tone of the film is excellently captured in its production design. The bleak and eerie atmosphere makes for great suspense as the shot often tells more by what it’s not showing. The film does well to cut around and present only what’s needed to unravel the mystery and push the characters into further emotional conflicts
CRITICISMS: It’s an unsettling experience, it doesn’t have to show graphic images to present the disturbing nature of the movie. It’s not hard to watch it’s just not an enjoyable experience. It’s a creepy story that’s all too realistic and plays with any parents fear of losing their child. That does make for a very powerful and compelling film that’s excellently crafted
SCORE: 8.5/10 @ Pennsylvania

BLADE (1998) Directed by Stephen Norrington • Starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N’Bushe Wright and Kris Kristofferson • Amen Ra, Marvel, New Line
SUMMARY: A vampire hunter, on a personal crusade, looks to thwart an ancient ritual that would wipe out humanity
THE STORY: Jumping straight into the vampire underworld we follow an established vampire assassin Blade, who himself is half vampire, hunting for a particular vampire Deacon Frost. With a small team we follow Blade and his bloodlust while being conflicted with his own nature in this violent and rated R superhero flick
THE ACTING: For the most part this is a pretty strong cast that isn’t too corny, which so many action movies of that era tend to do. Snipes is intimidating more in presence than from dialogue, but again refrains from being too corny. I give credit to Dorff as the villain who also avoided those cliches in a role that could have very easily gone wrong
THE LOOK: Solid production design, great character design, is established immediately with a tremendous amount of blood, stuntwork and one badass vampire assassin costume. The vfx are surely outdated but tasteful, other than final sequence where the vfx gets carried away and really shows its prematurity. The techno score is ok, but the action choreography as a whole is very fun
CRITICISMS: No matter what this film can’t escape the corniness of 90’s action flicks, however this film does pull off that style well with its dark tone. The vfx are of course outdated now and there’s some silly dialogue and performances meant to be very serious, but overall this is a very entertaining and dark twist on a superhero film, bloody and full of action
SCORE: 7.5/10
@ Los Angeles, California

FRANKENWEENIE (2012) Directed by Tim Burton • Starring Charlie Tahan, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Winona Ryder and Martin Landau • Tim Burton, Disney
SUMMARY: A stop-motion family horror of a boy who brings his pet dog back to life
THE STORY: Reimagining the story of Frankenstein and his monster this film adapts that into a family friendly story about a boy and his dog. The film does drag a bit through the middle, but ends with a great monster attack finale. The antagonists motivations are less intriguing but the adaptions from the original story are all really fun
THE ACTING: The voice acting is pretty average, despite having some strong names like Short, O’Hara and Ryder with her signature depressed tone. Victor played by Tahan is good, but given some lack of experience it can be pretty straight forward. As a whole the cast works, but also nothing special
THE LOOK: I’m a huge fan of stop motion and all the intensive work that goes into it. There’s certainly a particular style of Tim Burton and it’s prevalent here, but at the same time set in a more realistic world. There’s some moments where the clay texture shows, maybe a bit rough around the edges. I loved the black and white aesthetic, another great homage to the original film
CRITICISMS: I lose steam through the middle of the film, the antagonists storyline picks up and I’m not as interested. It at least picks back up in the end, but as a 1hr27min movie it still feels a bit long. The voice acting it’s average, the stop motion is average at times and the whole things is simply pretty average. It’s of course a fun Halloween movie
SCORE: 7/10 @ New Holland, Pennsylvania

THE HUNT (2020) Directed by Craig Zobel • Starring Betty Gilpin and Hilary Swank • Blumhouse, Universal
SUMMARY: A satirical political action horror of snobby liberals who hunt a bunch of dim rednecks
THE STORY: Summary says it all and anybody who takes it seriously doesn’t get it. Waking up gagged in a field, given weapons, then promptly hunted, this action horror pits red versus blue while blatantly making fun of both. Ridiculous characters are knocked off one by one or in groups as we inch closer to a less divided frame of mind
THE ACTING: Given the ridiculous nature and often tongue and cheek, stereotype humor there’s actually some decent performances. Most notable is Gilpin who is quite reserved and lacks empathy, but then has flares of comedy and some great lines. The others are again ridiculous, but meant to be so and can be hit or miss
THE LOOK: For some of the controversy I heard and it’s delayed release I expected even more violence and death scenes than we get. Sure it’s violent, unsolicited and seemingly needless violence but nothing controversial. It’s directed more in the way of humor, but actually incorporates some strong effects and a great extensive fight scene
CRITICISMS: I get the humor, but at times it was just a little too much, too on-the-nose and the motivations for “the hunt” were in my mind weak and undeserving. The silly tone took away from something meaning a bit more, but the film focuses on lampooning both sides, no logic or reasoning for either side it’s all a farce and for that I could enjoy the bloody fun
SCORE: 7.5/10 @ America

ENOLA HOLMES (2020) Directed by Harry Bradbeer • Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Louis Partridge and Helena Bonham Carter • Legendary, PCMA, Netflix
SUMMARY: A mystery tale of the sister of Sherlock Holmes as she travels to London to try and find her missing mother
THE STORY: While her older brothers are off making names for themselves Enola is raised in the country by her mother, but when she mysteriously vanishes Enola is thrust out on her own in a coming of age tale. There’s a decent mystery to solve however it gets interfered with a second that diverts the adventure a bit, but in the end is still clever and the message clear
THE ACTING: Millie does great in her title role as a spunky, strong willed young girl who’s reluctant to fall in line as the expected lady of class. Her direct address narration also adds for a bit more fun from her performance. Cavill and Sam Claflin as Sherlock and Mycroft are strong and Carter shines in her limited but important role
THE LOOK: Again the direct address narration added a lot of fun and energy to the story as well as a great use of flashback editing and detective work using quick juxtapositions. As a young adult film the tone is pretty lighthearted and the production design too, but there’s some decent action and peril at the same time
CRITICISMS: The story diverts it’s mission about halfway through that made other story beats seem useless, but in the end you see Enola’s arc come together. However, there still was one key revelation, a serious one too, that felt left behind. I would have wished for that key beat to play out. In the end it was a fun tale, a good set up to a series I can see growing more serious as it goes
SCORE: 7.5/10

@ London

BEETLEJUICE (2018) Directed by Tim Burton • Starring Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara and Michael Keaton • Geffen, WB
SUMMARY: A newly dead couple are haunted by the living in their house and hires a poltergeist to be rid of them
THE STORY: Flipping the script on your haunted house scenario we follow a newly dead couple unable to scare off the terrible, snobby, upper class family that moves in. Enter Beetlejuice to turn the house upside-down in a hilarious and spooky fantasy adventure with a great balance of whimsical horror and dark comedy
THE ACTING: Keaton gives a once in a lifetime performance as truly insane, manic, obnoxious character of Beetlejuice. At times it’s almost too much, his character unsavory, but Keaton’s delivery is always perfect. O’Hara is also fantastic as the snooty new house wife with Ryder’s goth teen balancing her well. I’m not a fan of Baldwin’s monotone delivery, but Davis performs better
THE LOOK: We can now take the Tim Burton look for granted, but remembering here is the first real take on that look you get all the great things about it. Taking horror elements and twisting them in a fantastical and comedic tone makes for so much fun. I also love the use of stop motion, practical effects and models with a truly original and zany production design
CRITICISMS: Beetlejuice is a creep, with some suggestive misogynistic material that in this day in age doesn’t and shouldn’t fly. But Keaton delivers it in a way that is still always funny. I’m not a fan of Baldwin’s delivery, coming off very monotone throughout the film, his dialogue bored me. Nevertheless this is a Halloween classic and the first great look at Burton’s whimsical horror style
SCORE: 8.5/10
@ Connecticut

BLOODSHOT (2020) Directed by David S.F. Wilson • Starring Vin Diesel, Eiza González and Guy Pearce • Original Film, Sony
SUMMARY: A visually powerful sci fi action adventure of a soldier killed and brought back to life as a cyborg weapon
THE STORY: Playing with memory loss there are a lot of great reveals and story beats that keep this from being your straight forward action flick, most notably with a key reveal halfway through. What seemed like a bit of a cookie cutter start turned on its head and made more characters more complicated and compelling
THE ACTING: I’d like to think we all know what we’re getting with Vin Diesel, the 2000’s action hero style of acting, but here I felt Diesel was actually good. One of the better roles for him established early on in an emotional moment. Pearce is good, but familiar to his other roles and I enjoyed Lamorne Morris, but other support felt weak
THE LOOK: I enjoyed the visual tone, visual effects and production design. The technology was cool and the various ways they presented the technology was interesting. There’s some sequences playing with smoke and color that are visually stimulating and I loved incorporating cgi environments in the film as a nod to movie making technology
CRITICISMS: I went in with little to no expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. It of course has some cheesy “action movie star” moments and there’s some weak supporting roles and cliche dialogue but there’s a fun and surprisingly innovative energy to this film. It was visually stimulating and pretty entertaining and fun
SCORE: 7/10
@ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999) Directed by Spike Jonze • Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and John Malkovich • Gramercy, Propaganda, USA
SUMMARY: A unique and creative dark comedy of a puppeteer who finds a portal into becoming John Malkovich
THE STORY: When a failing puppeteer takes a job filing at a odd, low ceiling, office he finds a mysterious door that allows him to be John Malkovich for 15 minutes. Him, his colleague and wife become obsessed in a weird love-quad as they traverse through one of the most unusual, sometimes uncomfortable, one of a kind stories in film
THE ACTING: There’s a very odd energy and the characters are even unlikeable. Cusack is effective but again pretty unlikable, especially in his actions. I always enjoy Malkovich and it’s funny to see himself play a satirical version of himself. Diaz and Keener are also effective it’s just hard to pinpoint what I liked or didn’t just at how odd everything was in this film
THE LOOK: The most unique aspect of the film comes some subtle but effective set design, like a low ceiling office and this off portal into Malkovich. One of the best scenes incorporates many Malkoviches in one sequence. There’s a quirky, offbeat style to everything and everyone that just adds to the creativity and uniqueness of it all
CRITICISMS: The film is just odd, it may not be for everyone. The biggest obstacle is there is little to no likable characters, so despite the unique tone and creative storytelling and premise I can’t find myself rooting or having sympathy for anyone. But here’s a film style and a creative premise rarely seen. It may not be your favorite film, but you’ve never seen anything like it
SCORE: 7.5/10 @ New York City