Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a cult gem I’m absolutely ecstatic has managed to find its way to Blu-ray. Tom Stoppard’s 1990 idiosyncratic favorite features glorious performances, witty lines and an ingenious premise that makes me grin ear-to-ear just thinking about it.
As beautiful disasters go, Pan is kind of divine. It’s fascinating to watch, filled with sights and sounds utterly unique in and of themselves. None of which makes it a good movie, per se, but it is a fascinating, at times an intently hypnotic one, and as failures go, I’ll take more like this Joe Wright mess every single day of the week.
I’m not going to make the case that Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse was some unsung, underappreciated horror-comedy classic that was wrongly dismissed by critics and audiences during its initial release back in November of last year, it isn’t and it wasn’t. But the movie does make me laugh, and I can’t help but like the cast and find myself amused by a number of their antics. Also, the gore effects are relatively inspired, and that in and of itself make this one a-okay in my book. So there.
Deathgasm is a hoot, holding up beautifully on repeat viewing filled with a number of creative delights not necessarily noticed on first viewing. Howden shows a lot of promise with this debut, and while I’m not automatically excited about him tackling a reported sequel next and not something different, considering the talent he shows here I’m more than willing to keep an open mind.
Ghost Story is not the novel that inspired it. Large swaths of Peter Straub’s source material are almost unavoidably absent. But looking at it now, almost 35 years after its original release, the movie holds up rather nicely, anchored by a quartet of performance by some talented pros and some unsettling scare sequences ingeniously staged by the director John Irvin that more than impress.
Rebecca Ferguson is a star, plain and simple, and Tom Cruise’s fearlessness is still a sight to behold. But, truth be told? Rogue Nation doesn’t play near as well the second time around as it did the first. Still very entertaining. Still a good time. Just not nearly as rewatchable as the last two Mission: Impossible adventures have proven to be, and I’d be awfully remiss if I didn’t take a second or two to point that out.
The Final Girls is a total hoot, start to finish, beginning to end, and I admit to having watched it about four or five times since the Blu-ray arrived for review. It’s a genre-bending smash that gets better with each viewing, the film a glorious comedy-horror hodgepodge featuring stellar performances from Malin Akerman and Taissa Farmiga ranking as two of 2015’s finest.
I was able to watch Goodnight Mommy again, and, truth be told, it’s very close to a masterpiece. Still difficult. Still tough. Still emotionally devastating on an emotionally primal level. But the filmmaking is just beyond reproach, while the last half hour is mesmerizing in the extreme. Not an easy sit, but a worthwhile one, and here’s my push urging anyone with an even slight inkling of interest to make the attempt to give the film a go.
I don’t have a whole lot new to add. No Escape is incredibly well made, and is suitably thrilling for much of its running time. Yet it is also really difficult to watch at times, and I can’t help but feel a little xenophobic on some levels – which is maybe the point – for enjoying it as much as I did. Make of that what you will.