Didn't watch a single movie in August
... but so far I've already seen 11 this month, so that's good I guess. Here are my thoughts:
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Four Hands: I was expecting a more violent, traditional revenge flick than what I got. It was well shot and all the violence was really realistic, but even though I couldn't quite predict the twist accurately, I still feel like it wasn't that original. It was okay overall, not bad in the least but just "okay".
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Wij: a story about 8 friends and how things sometimes spiral out of control... I think it's based on some true events? Either way, I found the movie to be way too gratuitous at times "just for the sake of it". There were some interesting aspects, but overall I would've been just fine if I hadn't seen it. I didn't feel like "great, X hours of my time I'll never get back", but I wasn't that far off.
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Cutterhead: a woman goes underground to interview some workers that are currently drilling through the earth to construct a new subway (I think that's what that was?) but something goes wrong and they become stuck there without help and a very limited supply of oxygen. This was the first film by the director and I really liked how it was shot. It felt very real and authentic, though I was expecting more of a "characters are stuck and desperately try to escape throughout the whole film" in a frenetic, fast-paced kinda way, but like I said in a way it felt very realistic with humane reactions and whatnot.
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Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse: I simply didn't like it. I like horror films, and I also like weird, unconventional things... But when it's simply way too random with very little to go on, it just doesn't do anything for me. MAYBE there's a lot of stuff that I still need to read about for the film to make (more) sense. Visually and musically it was alright, but there didn't seem to be much of a story. I was extremely on the fence as to whether it was worth seeing it or not, and I should've gone with my initial gut instinct and said "screw it"... oh well, at the very least it's another movie I can check off my list.
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Inuyashiki: having read the manga and seen parts of the anime, I found the live-action film to be pretty good actually. Granted, the 2h film follows a different path than that of the manga (it goes down a more traditional good vs. evil route while still leaving some little room for all the other stuff) but it was still enjoyable. Sadly, a lot of awesome/violent scenes had to be cut/turned into something else, like the bad guy raiding a police station and killing hundreds as well as a bunch of planes dropping out of the sky, but it's no wonder that such things were cut from a japanese film... it would've been simply too much. But yeah, I had a good time, and the ending is definitely more hopeful than the one from the source material, in my opinion.
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Upgrade: I was slightly disappointed because what you see in the trailer is literally all you get, but it was a cool ride. Bonus points for going with a bold ending and not the typical, cliché ones. I wish there had been a little more to the story and more fight sequences, but it was awesome nonetheless and I'm glad I saw it.
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Luz: now this was a very peculiar film. It's only 70mins long, shot on 16mm film, was made as part of a university film project and had about only 120k budget. "Hypno-horror" would be the best way of defining the sub-genre, I guess. I really liked the concept, the way the story was told and how they kept everything minimalistic (due to the low budget, certainly) but also extremely interesting at the same time. The mise-en-scène was extremely clever, and there's also like only a handful of different locations. I always say I'm a sucker for long films and I'm always wary of those that are under 90mins, and especially those that are under 80mins, but I'm glad to say Luz was an exception. Luz works because it's "weird" in its own way, yet the story itself is quite simple.
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Knife+Heart: I only went to see this movie because a friend wanted to see it, otherwise I would've skipped it. I had read a lot of bad things about it, and the trailer made it seem like both the dialogues and acting were simply horrendous, but I was actually quite surprised in the end. It's still (probably) a film I wouldn't have watched any other time, and it's by no means a masterpiece, but it wasn't terrible. The visuals were nice, as well as the OST, and the whole thing in general was alright. I wouldn't have regretted NOT seeing it, but I was glad to find out gradually how it simply wasn't as bad as I was lead to believe.
And finally, the film I'd been waiting to see since it was announced who knows how long ago... The film I was so extremely hyped for that I didn't even watch the trailer - or any footage at all - because I wanted to go in as blind as possible... possibly the most anticipated film of the year for me...
Mandy was just incredible, it was everything I hoped it would be and it even went beyond that. It's definitely NOT for everyone, but it was simply amazing to me. The director previously made Beyond The Black Rainbow, but Mandy is definitely more approachable for the bigger masses and not just because Nicolas Cage is in it.
The story is actually quite simple, but the way it's told, shot and experienced is breathtaking and out of this world.
And the OST was so good I just had to own it, so I pre-ordered this
It also was the composer's, Jóhann Jóhannsson, last soundtrack because he unexpectedly and sadly died back in February, and I don't know if knowing this made the film feel sadder and heavier at times for me, but I did feel melancholic and could've easily cried during the final shots/sequences. There just was some undescribable sadness/tragedy to the whole thing, so yeah, I kinda had to own it.
I am definitely watching this in theaters at the very least 1 more time, possibly 2. It sucks that tickets are so expensive but holy shit, this movie has to be seen in a big screen.
As the trailer accurately points out, it's "
insanely violent and ethereally beautiful". If you're at all interested in seeing it, I suggest not watching the trailer/not reading anything further about it... but if you're curious, here's the fecking awesome trailer:
Nic Cage going full Nic Cage is always worth it, even (or especially?) when the film is terrible. Always brings that so-bad-it’s-good element to it.