Never tell them the odds when The Reel Nerds review Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Pick your Poison!
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There’s nothing quite like a good Martial Arts Film! Unfortunately, this isn’t really one of those. I wouldn’t call it a good film but rarely are exploitation/kung fu films. So I’ll excuse it. But there is also only like one good fight scene in the film. That is kind of tiresome.
Five Deadly Venoms, also known as The Five Venoms, is a Hong Kong film directed by Chang Cheh and is part of The Shaw Brothers line up of films. Five Deadly Venoms follows a young Martial Arts Student who’s master dies but warns him that his five previous students, each with different fighting styles, might use those powers for evil. So the young student must track down and prevent the this from happening. That’s the setup.
The film is one hundred percent not that though. Basically the evil that they might use their powers for, ends up being the fact that there is a hidden treasure and it essentially becomes a Martial Arts version of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Also, the young student doesn’t really need to defeat them because most of the film ends up being a courtroom drama. The young student finds that the student who studies Toad fighting style is a good guy. Then the rest of the students try to frame him for murder. That’s what most of the film ends up being about. A courtroom drama can be a cool film. But when I walk into a kung fu film, I expect a kung fu film. Not a mistrial and political thriller. Especially with the title Five Deadly Venoms. I’d expect more!
But let’s talk about the Martial Arts, because really if you are walking into one of these films, that’s what you are looking for. And the fight scenes are few and far between. There are a couple that shows off the fighting styles, which really just end up being superpowers. The big one is the Toad’s fighting style which allows him to not be penetrated or really have any weakness. This makes him invincible, which also makes his fight sequences fairly boring. The only real interesting fight scene is at the end when five of the students (one of them died along the way), end up facing each other. That one is interesting but the actual movements and choreography never really changes throughout the scene. Making the scene end up being boring. It doesn’t help that two of the styles, Scorpion and Snake, are essentially the same thing with minor caveats. The final fight goes on for a bit too long then ends suddenly and along with the fight scene the entire film ends. It feels unfulfilling in a way. I wanted the fight sequences to be a bit more. I guess it’s personal preference but I wish the kung fu film had more kung fu and less courtroom drama.
I will say that in a very kung fu film fashion, my favorite part of the film is the dramatic overacting done by the performers. If I haven’t completely persuaded you to not see this film, then one thing I will say in its favor is that those elements to make a few of the scenes fun. How certain elements of the film are shot are also fun. I will say that my experience might have been a little tainted because around ten minutes into the film, a group of people came and sat behind me. This involved them using my seat as a cane and jerked around my seat to find theirs. They then proceeded to grunt and go “oh no” and “oh damn” every two minutes in the film. It was awful and it ruined my mood. So I might have liked the film a bit more if I wasn’t annoyed by them. Also, if you are part of those people, I hope your parents get divorced and you recognize that it’s your fault.
Anyway, not super impressed by the film. Wish it was a bit more fun. But apparently, I might be in the minority as a bunch of rappers have apparently written songs about this film. Which is interesting I guess. So if you are a rapper and are interested in writing a song, maybe this film will be up your alley! Check it out in that case I guess.
The Reel Nerds welcome filmmakers Olivia Carmel and Demi Deherrera from The New Freedom to join them in a maximum effort review of Deadpool 2.
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The Reel Nerds couldn’t agree on a movie for this week, so we each thought about which movie gems would fit in the Infinity Gauntlet.
Welcome to the Scream Factory Crypt! In this binge series I will be watching all my Scream Factory titles I own alphabetically! Scream Factory is my favorite imprint of Blu-Rays because they take movies that studios and the public might not adore but have fans and deserve to be given respect. This will take a long time as I have over 120(!) titles and counting, I know I will have more before I finish, so stay tuned! Not only will I talk about them on the podcast but I will review them here as well so you can see how I feel about aspects of each release. Part 10 is Bite!
A bachelorette party gone wrong! Casey (Elma Begovic) and her friends are on a trip to Central America when Casey gets bit by an unknown bug. Casey is also having doubts about marrying her fiancé. But soon all of that seems insignificant as Casey’s bite turns her into something monstrous.
For a low budget film that Scream Factory picked up, Bite will surprise you with its practical make-up effects. They are gross and horrific, with some gore to spare. Bite follows a lot of transformation tropes, something happens, victim is in denial, victim accepts what’s happening to them, victim becomes a monster and eventually kills other people. Bite does suffer from being a low budget film as well. Some of the acting is not very good. A couple of points in the film I was rolling my eyes on how some of the dialogue was delivered. Not always the actors fault as some of the dialogue is clunky and just plain silly. Elma Begovic is pretty solid as Casey, her transformation is awesome. Too bad her fiancé played by Jordan Gray is awful, in character and in acting ability. He should angrily drink more whiskey from a glass, oh wait he does that like five times in the film.
The make-up truly shines. Casey’s transformation is pretty wicked. She is scary, and menacing with a great help from the make-up. The set design is pretty solid as well. As Casey changes, so too does her apartment. It slowly changes into an insect hive complete with goopy eggs and slime.
The video isn’t too solid. It might be the limit of the production but a lot of it looks muted and washed out. It is the first time I haven’t been too impressed with a Scream Factory Blu-Ray. Not terrible, not great.
The audio is good. The drips and rips come through extremely clear. Dialogue isn’t too important in a movie like this, but it sounds a little washed out.
For a movie that came out of nowhere it is cool that Scream Factory gave it some nice features. There are five featurettes about the production. Especially cool if you like the make-up effects as there is a featurette that focuses on it. The other feature is a pretty solid commentary track by Writer/Producer/Director Chad Archibald.
Bite is a fun, gooey, gory B-Movie. It doesn’t do anything new with the transformation horror sub-genre, but it delivers solid make-up effects, which is the most important aspect of these films.
Film: C+
Video: C+
Audio: B-
Extras: B
Overall: C+
Do you ever want to feel artistically superior to all of your friends? Maybe you are tired of your friends talking about how great the latest action film is and want to sound better. Maybe you want to impress your date with obscure film trivia. Maybe you think that knowing a lot about film history and art will somehow validate your meaningless existence and will replace that ever-growing pit in your heart that tells you that you don’t matter and no one cares about you. Well, don’t worry! Because I watch a bunch of art house films and can give you recommendations on what to watch and what to feel superior about! So without any delay, let’s get pretentious!
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BOY was I worried about this one. For over a year now I’ve heard nothing but praise for this film. This film premiered in Cannes, last year and ever since I feel like I haven’t been able to avoid talking about this film. And I’m not even a huge Lynne Ramsey fan! I’ve seen We Need to Talk About Kevin, and I thought it was pretty good. I wasn’t blown away by it, but that is primarily because I was a big fan of the book and had too high of expectations. But I thought she was clearly a stylish director with a distinct vision and had nothing against her. I had no reason to think this film was going to be bad. And every film person around me was like “HOT DAMN HAVE YOU SEEN THE TRAILER/POSTER/PROMOTIONAL TELEVISION AD FOR THE NEW LYNNE RAMSAY FILM, WHICH NAME IS LONG AND I HONESTLY CAN’T FULL REMEMBER WHAT EXACTLY IT IS?” And I’m like “yeah”. And that’s how that conversation goes. And usually, when this kind of situation happens, I end up seeing the film and thinking “yeah”. And that’s about it. So I was worried that I was going to walk into this film and think it was just okay. But it’s actually a bit higher than okay! So that’s nice.
You Were Never Really Here is a new thriller from director Lynne Ramsay. You Were Never Really Here follows Joaquin Phoenix as Joe, a man whose job is to find kidnapped girls when the client doesn’t feel comfortable going to the police. Joe is hired to find the daughter of a state senator and then things start going south fast. This is one of those films that talks quietly and moves loudly. You might not fully understand every element of the film. But you will understand enough to get from point a to point b.
The first thing I will mention is how good the acting in the film is. Joaquin Phoenix is great as always. And what this film does that I thought was an interesting choice was to cast primarily unknown actors. Each actor has been in a few films here and there. But with the exception of Phoenix, most of the actors are fairly low level and non-famous actors. It definitely adds to the experience and disbelief. And although almost no character has more than maybe ten lines, they say so much with those lines as well as what their emotions and actions say. I want to give a special shoutout to Judith Roberts, who plays Joe’s Mother. As she might be one of the major highlights of the film.
Briefly, I want to point out that while I watched the film I very much enjoyed the soundtrack, which is composed by Jonny Greenwood, who also did Phantom Thread last year. While I enjoyed it when I was watching the film, I write this review almost a week later and I can’t remember most of the score off the top of my head. So I guess keep that into consideration.
I think if I had to give a favorite aspect of the film, I would list the editing. How the film is presented I think is, for a lack of a better word, charming. How the story is told is woven with Joe’s own personal PTSD which makes for a very interestingly presented film and story. Again, you might not understand exactly every part of the film. But you will get from point a to point b. You might not understand why Joe has PTSD. But you will understand the effects on him which is really the point of the film.
At a really brisk runtime, I would recommend this film to those that are looking for a more artsy thriller, or at least a different thriller. I described this film to a couple people as what would happen to Liam Neeson’s character if Taken didn’t have a happy ending. It’s a slow burn until it isn’t. But when you get there, you realize that the fire of the slow burn was leading to an explosion.
Welcome to the Scream Factory Crypt! In this binge series I will be watching all my Scream Factory titles I own alphabetically! Scream Factory is my favorite imprint of Blu-Ray’s because they take movies that studios and the public might not adore but have fans and deserve to be given respect. This will take a long time as I have over 120(!) titles and counting, I know I will have more before I finish, so stay tuned! Not only will I talk about them on the podcast but I will review them here as well so you can see how I feel about aspects of each release. Part 9 is, Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon!
Ten years ago, Behind The Mask burst onto the horror scene. Part faux-documentary, part straight up slasher film, Behind The Mask was one unique film. In lesser hands this film would not work, but the cast and crew fully understand and appreciate the movie they are making.
Behind The Mask follows a film crew composed of three college kids, Taylor the overly eager reporter and her crew of Doug and Todd. They are following around Leslie Vernon as he prepares for the ultimate slasher night. Vernon has the mask, the set-up, plus he is working really hard on his cardio to prepare. Vernon is giving Taylor unprecedented access to him while he prepares. He introduces her to his mentor Eugene and his wife. He also tells her why he choose his specific victims and how he plans on murdering them. The last 30 minutes of the film has a pretty great twist as Leslie’s plan unfolds, and things aren’t quite as they seem.
Behind The Mask is such a great horror film. The cast is outstanding. Nathan Baesel as Leslie Vernon is amazing. He has you laughing one minute and scared the next. He is able to weave in and out of threatening and goofy with great ease. Also “Final Girl” Angela Goethals is great as she soon learns that maybe interviewing and following around a serial killer is a poor career choice. The cast is also peppered with horror royalty, Robert Englund, Kane Hodder and Zelda Rubinstein to add more credibility to an already impressive cast.
The Scream Factory release of Behind The Mask sports a new HD master from the digital intermediate. The uptick from the DVD is immediately noticeable. Higher resolution and greater detail can clearly be seen. My only complaint is some of the documentary footage is out of focus. There are some points in the film where it is really jarring, especially when Leslie and Eugene are conversing at Eugene’s house.
The audio packs the right amount of thrills. The film oscillates between a documentary style to a more traditional horror film on the fly and the soundtrack reflects those changes as well.
Behind The Mask is a Collector’s Edition and it has a couple of great new features, the highlight being, Behind The Mask-Joys and Curses, a nearly 30 minute long retrospective with cast and crew. The Scream Factory release as carries over most of the extras for the DVD release including two audio commentaries. Be on the look out for an Easter Egg as well. Press left when Behind The Mask-Joys and Curses is highlighted and Leslie Vernon’s mask will appear, it’s cool I promise.
Behind The Mask-The Rise of Leslie Vernon is one of my most favorite horror films. I am over the moon that Scream Factory gave this movie the release it deserves, even if you own this film on Blu-Ray, Scream Factory’s new Collector’s Edition is worth the upgrade!
Film: A-
Video: B+
Audio: B+
Extras: A-
Overall: A-
Do you ever want to feel artistically superior to all of your friends? Maybe you are tired of your friends talking about how great the latest action film is and want to sound better. Maybe you want to impress your date with obscure film trivia. Maybe you think that knowing a lot about film history and art will somehow validate your meaningless existence and will replace that ever-growing pit in your heart that tells you that you don’t matter and no one cares about you. Well, don’t worry! Because I watch a bunch of art house films and can give you recommendations on what to watch and what to feel superior about! So without any delay, let’s get pretentious!
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Aight, so I have a lot of opinions on Jean-Luc Godard. I’m going to try to keep those to myself as I will inevitably get sidetracked into talking about that for too long. But I might dip into that naturally as this is essentially a biopic on Jean-Luc Godard.
Godard Mon Amour, also known as Le Redoutable in some countries, is a new film from French director Michel Hazanavicius. If that name sounds familiar and you don’t know why Hazanavicius won best director and best picture for The Artist a few years back. Godard Mon Amour tells the love story between legendary and influential filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and actress Anne Wiazemsky. I honestly think this film is fairly well-intentioned and is fairly inoffensive. So before we get into the shortcomings of the film, let’s talk about what I thought was good.
I would say the film in all aspects is fine. Nothing really stood out to me as fantastic or absolutely amazing or anything like that. Everything is passable, from the script to the set design to the acting. I will say that the two leads to a fine job. Again, nothing huge or noteworthy but good enough to not get too tired of them. Louis Garrel, who usually is a pretty boy in what I’m familiar with him, plays the gross looking Godard pretty well. The audience I’m fairly certain is not supposed to like him, and he plays a not well-liked person well. I was more interested in Stacy Martin’s performance as Anne Wiazemsky a bit more though. I can’t place my finger on it, but I thought Martin’s performance was just a tad bit more drawing. She has a better stage presence and knows how to fill a shot well. Again, nothing great. She certainly won’t make anyone’s best of the year list. But she does a fine job.
I will also say that the editing of the film is interesting but primarily because it mimics that of Godard’s filmography. This is where the film starts to get a little tricky. The film’s intentions are clearly not in favor of Godard. In fact, you could say the film acts as one big “go screw yourself” toward Godard. I mean given how much Godard screwed with Cannes throughout the years, then to premiere this film at Cannes… It’s a bold move. What’s kind of interesting but in a way a downfall is that the films selected audience are people who have seen Godard’s films and don’t like them.
You need to have a pretty vast knowledge of Godard’s style and filmography to fully understand and appreciate this film. But at the same time though, the film doesn’t want you to particularly like Godard either or his styling. So in order to fully appreciate this film, you have to watch Godard’s films, not like them, then continue to watch at least half of his filmography. So you have to be me. And even I didn’t really like it all that much.
The film tried to add more stylings into its base to make a fairly simple romance biopic into something more. And I give it credit for at least trying that. Unfortunately, the style doesn’t match the substance. The film has both, which can be a great thing. But watching this film is like biting into an apple and tasting an orange. Both are good, but they don’t particularly complement each other very well.
The Reel Nerds travel back in time 30 years to the movie landscape of 1988!
The Reel Nerds try to collect all the stones when they review Avengers: Infinity War.