Movie Diary 2018 by pahaK

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) N

I think I've seen the first Ant-Man but I don't remember anything from it. In here Wasp's mother is lost in the quantum realm and with her father she tries to find her. Ant-Man has some connection with the mom so they need him to get her location. There's also this ghosty lady after the mom, FBI monitoring Ant-Man's house arrest, etc. Like usual there's lots going on all the time.


Most of the time Ant-Man and the Wasp feels tired and bored of itself. Acting is very stale and the plot isn't too intriguing either. Chasing the stolen laboratory tries to be funny and full of twists but it lacks both heart and wit. Even the humor doesn't work (the truth serum stuff being an exception).

Some action sequences look good and there's at least an attempt to utilize the size changes in interesting ways. The car chase is kinda cool but it feels awfully similar to Matrix Reloaded highway chase. Outside the action there's just nothing else. Awfully boring film.

Demonia (1990) N

An archaeological team in Sicily is doing research on ancient Greek influence on the area. Liza, an assistant to professor in charge, is drawn to the nearby medieval monastery. When she discovers the skeletal remains of five crucified nuns from the cellar Liza accidentally releases the an evil from the past.


This is one of the worst Fulci films I've seen. The premise is fine but the story ends up being a senseless mess. There's no suspense at all and most of the time characters just wander aimlessly around with someone dying every now and then. We learn practically nothing about the nuns and there doesn't seem to be any logic or goal in their killing spree (fortunately at least some of the murders are pretty good... but not the cat scene ).

There are some glimpses of Fulci's visual prowess but in comparison to his better works Demonia looks really bland. Even the scenery is, well I guess bland is the right word here as well; lots of white stone, sand, pale blue sky, etc. but very little dark tones to contrast it. Acting is passable but there are no real characters. All in all very disappointing nun horror by the master.



Recommended movies: Dark Waters is considerably better horror involving nuns and monastery.

That's EXACTLY what my friends thought of it.

Amélie (2001) R

Amélie is a young woman who's escaped her loneliness and dull reality into fantasies since she was a little girl. She yearns for love but instead of trying to find someone she rather just dreams of happiness. One day, by accident more than anything else, she decides to start "helping" others and while doing so she meets a young man equally weird as she is. Can she find the courage to face the real world?


Like Jeunet's films in general Amélie looks really beautiful. To me he kind of defines the look of modern French movie (probably because he's the first modern French director who's films I enjoyed as a young man). Amélie isn't as wild in its cinematography as some of his earlier works but it makes it up with its rich colors. To put it short visually the film is amazing.

When it comes to story Amélie isn't my kind of movie. I don't mean it's a bad romance (quite opposite actually, I'd say it's clearly above average) but that I rarely enjoy pure romances. The biggest single issue is the character Amélie; I can only assume that she's meant to be adorable in her own weird and naive way but to me she seems like a borderline psychopath who doesn't consider other people real and thus has no moral issues in meddling with their lives for her own amusement. For me a film like this needs to have a protagonist I like but Amélie certainly isn't such.

Other than the annoying main character the script is pretty nice. There's too much narration that mostly focuses on needless information (a joke that didn't work for me) though. Acting is good but like in many French films the characters are exaggeratedly weird. The music was kinda irritating but rather fitting. Small fantasy elements worked well and enhanced the film's likeness to fairy tales.

Not my type of film with annoying lead (there were some aspects of her I could relate to still) but brilliant technical execution. It's not even close to being bad and I can easily see why someone else could think it's great. For me it's merely OK.

Malevolent (2018) N

Brother and sister are running a scam business that helps people getting rid off the ghosts. When an elderly woman asks them to help with the noisy ghosts of three little girls who her son allegedly murdered they assume it's just another gig. Things start to go wrong when the siblings are actually seeing the girls.


Malevolent is run-of-the-mill ghost film with extremely predictable twist. It's doesn't manage to build any kind of suspense and resorts to couple of weak jump scares. Directing and cinematography feels weak and it fails to utilize the large old house at all. Ghosts don't feel like ghosts either but more like jailbait Marilyn Manson groupies.

Characters are actually above average for a B-horror. They're not particularly likable but they at least feel remotely human. Acting is also decent for a film like this. Budget restraints are clearly visible and I'm pretty sure that some of the violence happens offscreen due to lack of money. Not a complete turd but something the world could easily have lived without.

Tried this 2 nights ago. Fell asleep.

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November (2017) N

This is basically a tragic love story set in medieval Estonian village; young woman loves a young man who in turn falls in love with a daughter of a local baron who's totally out of his league. The love story is mixed with heavy dose of folk story style fantasy elements that are usually both comedic and rude.


The main story is very traditional tragedy and it mostly works. More comedic folk story side also has lots of good stuff (like an interesting defense against the plague and the love potion scenes) but in the end these two halves of the film kinda work against each other. At least for me the rude humor of the film takes away from the tragedy.

By far the best thing in November is its looks. It's amazingly beautiful black-and-white film and especially the outside shots are absolutely stunning. At times the inside shots with actors look little too theatrical and too staged. Acting ranges from good to too theatrical as well. Soundtrack is very nice but also little uneven (more ambient and noisy parts worked really well, some of the more traditional music pieces were kinda generic).

November is one of those films that are annoyingly close to being really good but only manage to be OK. Favoring either the drama or humor more would probably have been a good idea. There's also the personal issue with the film's narrative style - it's not Russian film but it has lots in common with them (kinda like a 75/25 mix of Russian and Finnish cinema). Also it's always weird for me to watch Estonian films because I have to use subtitles (English ones in this case) yet a decent amount of spoken dialogue is like perfectly understandable Finnish (for those who don't know Finnish and Estonian languages are very close to each other)

Oh, I didn't know that .

Excellent movie diary, pahaK!!! I've been slowly working my way through it for the past week or two. I admire the blunt honesty in your write-ups. Your ratings might lean toward the negative side of the spectrum, but I prefer that to the people who rate everything four stars or higher. I'm not sure our taste is all that similar (you've hated/disliked a lot of films that I love), but we definitely seem to be drawn to similar types of films. I've also added quite a few films in here to my watchlist.

I don't agree with the implication that you made a few pages back that filmmakers behind movies that are inherently silly or tongue-in-cheek aren't taking their art seriously. I think you said that in your write-up for Jack Frost (a movie that I find quite hilarious) and a couple other B-movies. Personally, I like when films seem to be made with the sole intent of providing silly entertainment. You can often tell that the people involved with the film were having a blast behind-the-scenes, and that same sense of fun is often transported to viewers. That doesn't necessarily mean that the filmmakers are half-assing their own art, even if the art itself is purposely goofy. Just as much hard work can go into making light-hearted, silly films as serious films.

Now that I'm caught up, expect me to comment much more frequently. Keep up the good work!

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It seems that there's a small misunderstanding here. I definitely agree that "as much hard work can go into making light-hearted, silly films as serious films" and my complaint about these specific films not taking their art seriously is precisely pointed towards the lack of such work (as perceived by myself). I do adore some comedic stuff (like most Monty Pythons, Fawlty Towers and quite a few Abrahams&Zucker films) but many of those B-movie parodies just have nothing witty in them (IMO of course). I don't see the fun in copying scenes from one's idols and then making them purposefully bad; like I've said many times I don't like B-films because of their technical shortcomings but despite of them.

You're welcome There's not that much discussion going on at the moment but hopefully it'll change.

Léon (1994) RR

12-year-old Mathilda's family is murdered by crooked DEA agents. She manages to escape to neighbor. When the said neighbor, Léon, turns out to be a professional hitman Mathilda tries to get him to kill the bad cops but ends up becoming his apprentice. She never forgets her revenge though and on top of everything she falls in love with Léon.


Léon is one of my favorite films even though I don't give it full rating (there's one big issue and one small that take away half popcorn but more of them later). What separates Léon from most other films is its main characters and their relationship, a 12-year-old girl who's in love with an adult man. I guess it's a touchy subject but in my opinion the film manages to do it very nicely and (at least to me) it never feels dirty or wrong. Both of its main characters are very well written and their relationship evolves naturally.

Léon is almost like a superhero vanishing into shadows and just walking into DEA building to get Mathilda back so the film is not realistic in any way. Like Besson's films often have there's this borderline fantasy feel to Léon which is kinda enhanced by the over-the-top performance of Gary Oldman as the psychotic DEA agent and Léon's childlike mentality. Natalie Portman as Mathilda is great mastering the whole emotional spectrum. There's not that much action in the film but most of it is done well.

So what's wrong with it (here comes the spoilers, by the way)? The big issue I mentioned is Léon's death. I firmly believe that he's killed only to prevent controversy from the developing romance. The death is written sloppily; overcautious and extremely professional Léon decides to go back to their old hotel after raiding the DEA building and, secretly from Mathilda, starts to kill the corrupt cops but doesn't start with the leader. The minor issue is more like a personal preference but I would have preferred if Mathilda had actually killed someone in the film.

Mostly very well written, character driven action-drama with great acting and memorable characters. It's also very sad film but the sadness is slightly tarnished by the one poorly written death. Besson's best movie.

Errementari (2017) N

A film based on Basque fable about a blacksmith who makes a deal with the Devil but doesn't like the outcome and captures the thing. He lives as a hermit shunned by the locals and guarding his prisoner until one day a little girl wanders into his house and unknowingly frees the demon.


Like November few days ago Errementari is very much like a folk tale or fable. Demons have very humane characters and they have obscure weaknesses (like kind of OCD forcing them to count the spilled peas). People are misunderstood, the ones shunned by the normal folk are actually the best of all and the bravest of all is a little girl.

Errementari looks really beautiful. The settings are gorgeous and cinematography gives them justice. It has hints of del Toro in it and maybe even little Russian style thrown in the mixl. Make-up and effects in general look great as well, especially considering the 3 million euro budget. It looks like lots of effort has been put to the visuals. Acting seems to be fine too but it's hard to judge with language you're not familiar almost at all (an old dialect of Basque).

As a story it has the usual fable issues which might not be issues for everyone but they're for me (at least a little). The characters are very one dimensional because their not meant to be actual people but representations of individual characteristics. Story itself doesn't care about logic and things just happen when needed; like a proper fable it's more interested about the ending than how it gets there.

A visual treat that kinda handicaps itself by being what it is, a fable. It's still perfectly fine film and if you're into fables and folk tales you should definitely check it out.

Trench 11 (2017) N

Near the end of WWI a small group of American soldiers led by two British officers and guided by a Canadian tunneler go to investigate an abandoned German underground complex. They try to find the German chemical weapons research notes but the truth is quite a bit different than they expected.


Trench 11 is decent war horror film (a sub-genre that's surprisingly rare). It's pretty much Cronenberg's Shivers transferred into an underground bunker with more varied effects on the infected (at least that's what they tell us, all we get to see is the violent behavior). It also resorts to lot of zombie cliches as the infected constantly jump from nowhere. Story's premise isn't bad but it would have needed something more.

Settings look good enough but it's basically just few tunnels and couple of rooms. Gear looked authentic enough for me (had to check the shotguns because I didn't know they looked so modern already in WWI). Effects were pretty good too (nice shotgun blast to the head). Acting was rather weak, especially the main villain.

Mediocre B-horror that get a little bonus for the WWI setting but loses that with bad acting and cliched script.

I suppose so. I like The Keep (1983) and I remember quite liking Deathwatch (2002).

The Keep is pretty good but it hasn't aged too well. Deathwatch I saw when it was new and I don't remember it too well but I do have an impression of mediocrity (it did have some nice settings though if I'm remembering the right film - the corpse filled trenches specifically).

The sound issues are a big problem unfortunately. If only it could be 'restored' in some way.

Well this is it . It's already a horrific, surreal situation before you get to the supernatural part. The best bit as I recall was:

Yeah, I think I'm talking about a right movie I'd need to watch Deathwatch again at some point but I'm vaguely remembering I didn't like the ending (this is very common issue for me, I don't know if people just write bad endings or am I wired somehow wrong to dislike them so often). But there were some great scenes like the one you described in the spoilers.

Yeah, I felt the same. There must be umpteen examples of things I've watched where the potential was amazing and they just failed miserably. I recently watched Faces in the Crowd (2011) and that's a classic example of a brilliant concept let down by the execution.

The Beast Must Die (1974) N

There's a millionaire hunter who invites bunch of people to his estate for a few days. Each of his guests has a shady past and there's something that connects them to unexplained deaths. He's convinced that one these people is a werewolf and he intends to find out who - and after that kill this fearsome beast.


The Beast Must Die has one of the worst scripts I know. Newcliffe seems complete idiot who's given no thought at all how to accomplish his goal. With Dr. Lundgren he could have devised a plan to reveal and kill the werewolf without risking anyone else (a small amount of silver mixed in everyone's food). Or he could have just monitored the surveillance to see who the werewolf was during the first night. And why did the werewolf even accept the invitation during the full moon?

The film reminds me of some Finnish B-films I saw as a kid due to director being a local, eh, celebrity (Visa Mäkinen is his name, in case anyone's interested to find some real trash films). Good example of incompetent film making is the car chase in the early parts of the film - it takes a long time, there's no sense of speed or urgency and those "shortcuts" make no sense at all.

Acting is terrible (I hope Cushing was just pissed off for accepting the role). Music isn't exactly bad but it just doesn't fit the film at all (yeah, the lead is black but the film is hardly a blacksploitation). Pseudo-scientific werewolf theories rate pretty high on stupidity. Only positive things I can think of are that the film appears to take itself seriously and the unintentional humor following from that (there are moments that are slightly amusing because they're bad enough).

The Dressmaker (2015) N

A woman returns to her old home town, Dungatar (love the name, by the way). As a child she was forced to leave after she was accused of killing a boy. She sets up her dressmaker's shop at her mother's house and starts to meddle with people from her past trying to find out the truth, forgiveness, maybe little love and eventually even revenge.


The Dressmaker is little uneven mess of romance, drama and comedy that could have benefited from focusing more on either its lighter or darker side. It's mix of Lynch-like townsfolk, family friendly comedy, syrupy romance and amnesia based mystery solving is too much over the place for me to get a firm grip of its intent. Also its indetermination makes people's motives quite hard to figure (especially those who were kids when Tilly was sent away).

Visually the film is feast for the eyes; scenery is gorgeous and it's yellow-brown barrenness is nicely contrasted by Tilly's colorful creations. I also liked how the opening title sequence is used to show us Tilly's past (initially I hoped it would be a cleverly made intro but it kinda failed in the end). Acting is top-notch but I'm not sure if Kate Winslet was a good choice for Tilly (she looks too old when compared to other people who are supposed to be about her age, especially Hemsworth who's 15 years younger than her).

So my main issue is the film bouncing from style to style and sort of breaking its narrative in the process. There are good scenes or parts in all the styles but in my opinion they don't work that well together. Some of the drama is really forced as well and amnesia is pretty high on my hate list when it comes to plot devices. Maybe it's just not my film because it's technically solid, well acted and has enough personality to stand out. I didn't hate it but it's just barely decent for me.