Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Part 3: Abandon All Hope Of A Good Season

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 is a supernatural horror TV Series. The show revolves around a young witch called Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka), she is half witch and half human and is unlike her peers on both sides on the supernatural vial. The series sees her learn more about her powers and herself and go on various adventures with her friends.  Part 3 sees Sabrina go to hell to get her boyfriend back, thereby becoming the new Queen of hell, as well as battling against a horde of pagans that worship the Old Gods and want to see the destruction of Sabrina’s coven.

Before I get into this review I just want to say I genuinely enjoyed the first 2 parts of this series, there were plenty of great horror moments to keep me interested, despite being linked to the Archie comics and therefore to Riverdale this show had avoided most of the terrible pit falls of that show. At least it did for a time.

Part 3 is by far the worst so far, The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina always had a distinct sense of identity, but it loses it this season. It basically becomes a more out there slightly scarier Riverdale which is the worst thing I could ever possibly say. The supernatural horror takes a back seat to relationship drama and teenage angst, I understand this is the main market for the show, but the other parts still had good horror elements mixed in to make these moments bearable. What’s more there is a musical interlude every 5 seconds, which feels very Riverdale, these songs feel like they have no natural place in the show instead feeling like plot padding and a chance to show off their licensed music.

Another thing that makes this part the worst for me is Sabrina herself. She has always been brash and impulsive following her heart rather than her head, but this season is ridiculous. She repeatedly does things that put everyone she cares about in danger just because it is what she wants to do. When she is trying to become The Queen Of Hell, she won’t take souls unless she thinks they deserve it, which is baffling as they sold their souls to the devil in the first place. What’s more her whole holier than thou attitude quickly becomes grating as she seems to think she knows better than everyone else on screen; proving her to be the embodiment of every self-entitled, self-important arsehole ever; what makes this almost comical is that she is near always wrong.

Don’t even get me started on her friends, they literally exist to further the plot and fill-out the near hour runtime of an episode. In a supernatural horror show, I don’t want to watch a 10-minute cheer leading sequence. This series is going down the toilet fast.

Pros.

A few good horror sequences.

Lilith continues to be great.

Cons.

Sabrina is hateable.

It feels pandering and Riverdale esque.

It’s vapid and self-involved.

1.5/5

Reviewed By Luke

 

 

 

Colour Out Of Space: Nicolas Cage And H.P Lovecraft, Terror And Mania

Colour Out Of Space is a horror film directed by Richard Stanley. It is an adaption of the H.P Lovecraft story of the same name and marks the start of a Lovecraft trilogy that Stanley wants to direct. The plot follows a family of farmers whose life starts to take a sinister turn when a meteor crashes in their front garden; said meteor and the things that come out of it interfere with time and space and create monstrosities.

This film is everything you would expect from a Lovecraft horror film, monsters from a hellish other plane, grotesque mutated humans that make your skin crawl and a deep and unrelenting sense of existential dread and terror. Straight from the beginning when we are introduced to Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), we see the mystical elements that make up this story and the wider Lovecraft universe.

Adding to this sense of madness Nicholas Cage plays Nathan, Lavinia’s father, he is just a humble farmer and family man. As the film progress we see Nathan become more and more insane as his life slowly falls apart and he is forced to kill his Alpacas and his Wife and Son. Cage as we all know is fantastic when it comes to playing manic characters, he has great energy and is able to flip out on a dime. Cage’s performance in this film is just as insane as we would expect; his casting was a touch of genius.

The ending of this film is also great as it ends with this sense of calm, but also heavily implied ideas of post-apocalypse. It has a looming sense of hopelessness that I find perfectly embodies the Lovecraftian spirit.

My only issue with the film is that they could have spent more time showing us the other plane that would have been really cool, the little taster we get is great, but I would like more. Furthermore, the wider Gardner family outside of the two I have already mentioned are all fairly one note and feel paper thin; I would have liked them to have more to do.

Overall, this is a perfect Lovecraftian horror film, it has everything you would want it and boasts a fantastic Nicolas cage performance, it is slightly let down by some of the less developed characters, but it is a hell of a start to a trilogy. Overall, if you like Lovecraft, Nicolas Cage or just horror in general then this is a must see!

Pros.

A near perfect Lovecraft adaption.

A great ending.

Nicolas Cage.

The unrelenting horror.

Cons.

Slightly underdeveloped in parts.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Rocketman:A New Blockbuster Star Is Born

Rocketman is a musical biopic directed by Dexter Fletcher. The film shows the troubled life of world- famous musician Elton John (Taron Egerton), his rise to fame and the trouble he had once everyone new his name.

This film is one of those films that came out in the middle of the Musical Biopic fad, that saw the likes of The Dirt and Bohemian Rhapsody be released to various levels of success. What’s more it also marks a return for Egerton to working with Fletcher as his director; after they worked together on another biopic Eddie The Eagle.

Egerton has proven himself over the last decade to be one of the best up and coming actors. He possesses not only an easy-going charm that makes him near impossible to root against, but also a great versatility of emotional range. He brings all of these considerable talents to his take on John. No punches are pulled here, John is shown as a broken and self-destructive character, but also the victim of a hard life and a cruel family. John’s desire to entertain and be loved bleeds through into every scene and it is all thanks to a magnificent performance from Egerton.

Not only can Egerton act, he can also sing. Unlike Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody Egerton is actually singing and performing all of the songs and he does a really good job of it; if the acting doesn’t work out, which it will, he always has a back up career in music, which he proves here.

This film also strikes a nice balance between comedy and tragedy, as there are good laughs to be had, but also real emotional stakes. Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton John’s mum is haunting, her toxic relationship with her son can’t help but make you feel uncomfortable.

My one criticism with this film is that some of the songs and more fantastical elements feel forced in. With many musicals the songs are the highlight and to an extent that is true here, but there were a few times when I was like “another song really” because I felt like the scene didn’t need it. This is especially true in the beginning of the film where it feels like they have a musical number every 5 seconds. Moreover, the fantasy elements like when John converse with a younger version of himself at the bottom of his swimming pool feel strangely out of sync with the rest of the film, which for the most part feels like a grounded realistic affair.

Overall, this is a very entertaining musical biopic that has heart and laughs. Taron Egerton once again delivers a masterful performance that was deserving of wider acclaim.

Pros.

Laughs.

Heart.

A Great Elton John.

Cons.

Some Of The Songs Feel Forced In.

As Do The Fantasy Sequences.

4/5

Reviewed By Luke     

Dracula: How To Destroy Potential In One Episode

Dracula is a three-part horror TV series developed by Sherlock creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. The story is yet another retelling of Bram Stoker’s seminal novel Dracula this time with a twist. This time around the Harker family take up a new position in the narrative, and the struggle between Dracula and Van Helsing is shown to exist across multiple lifetimes and members of the Van Helsing family.

This series left a bitter taste in my mouth. I love Dracula and I’ve read the book several times and consumed most media related to it and my issue with this iteration of the story wasn’t the changes or the fresh take, but how they chose to end it. That third episode was woeful, and that seems to be near universally accepted. Not only do they have Lucy Westenra, and the rest of the characters as 20 something club goers, which is painful to see, and informs me that Moffat and Gatiss haven’t ever actually talked to a young person in their lives. It is beyond cringey. Worse so, they decide to have Van Helsing and Dracula die together almost as lovers, which is not only a slap to the face, but also a kick in the balls.

It is such a shame that the third episode is as bad as it is, as the other two episodes were nothing sort of terrific. I liked the changes to the established story in the first few episodes as they made sense, and the direction the story took was fresh and interesting. I liked most of the stuff they were putting down, it had just the right amount of good horror mixed in as well. What’s more the new Dracula Claes Bang is magnificent; he is my favourite on-screen iteration of the character so far. He plays the character with just enough humour to be likeable and just enough menace that you never want to let your guard down. I would love to see more of his interpretation of the character, but sadly we will never get that.

Overall, the first two episodes of this show had it set to be something special, but the horrific, cringey mess that was the third episode not only shot the series in the foot, but also put a stake through its heart and set it on fire. The first two episodes would have been 5/5, but that third episode ruins it all.

Pros.

Claes Bang Is Great.

The First Two Episodes Are Magnificent.

Some Of The Changes Work.

Cons.

The Cringe Inducing, Lore Destroying, Baffling Third Episode.

The Idea Of Having Dracula and Van Helsing Romantically Linked.

3/5 and that’s being generous.

Reviewed By Luke

Mascots: Life Behind A Costume

Mascots is a mockumentary film directed by Christopher Guest. The plot of the film revolves around several mascots who are competing for the World Mascots Association championship’s Golden Fluffy Award; hilarity and hijinks ensue.

I have had this film in my Netflix que for quite some time, there has always been other films that have got in the way of me watching it, that should have told me something.

Mockumentary films for me are incredibly hit and miss, for every What We Do In The Shadows there are thousands of others that are either middling or bad. This I would say is on the better side of middling, but only just.

For me, the idea of people who dress up as mascots and have that be a big part of their life is an intriguing concept. There is a lot to mine from this topic as a lot of people, myself included, only have a very surface level knowledge about this subject. To an extent the film does dive deep into the topic albeit in a humorous way.

That was my main issue with the film, the comedy. This is a very quirky film and a lot of the comedy steams from that, however, for me 98% of it didn’t land. A lot of the time Mascots may have got a weak smile out of me, but that was it. I found a lot of the jokes to either be hitting low hanging fruit or incapable of delivering. The film did make me laugh once though, when one of the characters was explaining to the other about Furry culture; that amused me greatly. Take all of that with a pinch of salt of course because as we all know comedy is incredibly subjective and personal.

I thought a lot of the characters were unique and memorable, especially Chris O’ Dowd’s Zook. In my opinion this is one of this film’s greatest strengths; it’s originality. The characters are all very different to one another and have different motivations and drives, as such it is interesting to see them interact on the big screen. The wide variety of different characters helped to keep my interest spread across the whole ensemble.

Overall, this is a quirky and deeply original film, however the comedy really didn’t land for me, which meant in the end I didn’t feel much for this film. It is nice to see Chris O’ Dowd give a good performance for a change.

Pros.

Novel and Original.

Interesting Characters.

Chris O’ Dowd.

Cons.

The Comedy Didn’t Land.

It Was Mostly Forgettable.

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

BoJack Horseman: Back In 2014 Netflix Made The Best Animated Show

BoJack Horseman is an adult animated comedy series, which along with Big Mouth and a few other series make up the bulk of Netflix’s original animated content. The plot revolves around BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett), a past his prime actor that still likes to pretend he is relevant. Over the 6 seasons of BoJack so far, we have seen him be plagued by his demons and then try to overcome them. As well we have been introduced to a wide cast of characters that are all rich and varied, in many ways the supporting cast help to make the show what it is.

BoJack Horseman is known for being deep and mature, the show often goes to the darker side of life and has a lot to say while it is there; often times having a very nuanced take on said topics and themes. Part of what makes this show so special is how well it works as a character study, the character of BoJack has been broken down and rebuilt time and time again as such we feel like we, the audience, know him; he is a three dimensional character which is nice to see in an animated show. The other characters that appear in the show get as much development as the titular horse if not more, characters like Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), have whole episodes dedicated to their characters as such we care deeply for them all.

What’s more the writing of the show present Hollywood, here called something slightly different, in a very realistic way, it does not sugar coat it. BoJack Horseman shows the ugly side of Hollywood, the side that can drive a person to drugs or alcohol or many other vices; it handles this in a very mature way. This is a show that can make you think/feel just as much as it can make you laugh.

Overall BoJack Horseman is one of Netflix’s best shows, it is one of the most widely praised as well, the writing is nothing sort of superb and does a lot of things that you wouldn’t expect to see from an animated series let alone an animated comedy series. It has made me personally consider things about my own life and has had an emotional connection with me, it is a real shame that the series is coming to an end tomorrow, as of the time of writing, I just hope that the series can end on a high note and becomes one of the best series of modern times.

I can’t rank the series as a whole yet, as it hasn’t ended and this is an overview of the show as a whole, as opposed to an individual series review, I can’t make a final judgement, but if I was ranking the seasons so far it would have to be a 5.

Reviewed By Luke

Avatar: A World Beyond Imagination

Avatar is an epic science fiction film directed by James Cameron. The plot of the film revolves around Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a marine who arrives on the planet of ‘Pandora’ to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and join the Avatar Program. Once Sully dives into the native’s culture he realises that they are a wonderful people and that he is on the wrong side of the conflict; he then goes native.

The story of his film is one we have all seen before, solider goes undercover and learns about another group of people and then switches sides, think Dances With Wolves. There is a timeless quality to the narrative. The Na’vi’s world is deep and rich and every inch of it seems rife to explore, it is stunningly designed, and each character design is a marvel to look at; James Cameron truly did something special with this film.

Sam Worthington is serviceable as the lead, but he is in no way memorable. It is a surprise to no one that Worthington has been in nothing of note since about 2010, his time has very much passed. My main issue with his performance is that anyone could play that character, he doesn’t make the character his own. This problem is only made more evident when you compare his performance to some of the heavy hitters in the cast such as Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver. Stephen Lang plays the film’s antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch, a man who wants to wipe the Na’vi out as he sees them as a threat and as standing the way of what he wants.

Lang is easily one of the best things about the film as he is a great menacing villain and one that has something about him. When Cameron brings out the inevitable 4 sequels, that no one has asked for or wants, I would love to see Lang return; with some type of Science Fiction magic obviously.

 

Overall, I think the strongest thing about this film is its world. It is this world that I want to see more explored not the characters. I hope the sequels reflect that. If Cameron can show us more of this world then I think they could be hits. The thing that stops me from grading this film higher is the fact that the main character is bland and in no way unique.

Pros.

Stephen Lang.

Beautifully Designed Creatures And Characters.

Fantastic World Building.

Cons.

Pacing Issues.

Sam Worthington.

3/5

Reviewed By Luke

The Wicker Man: Not A Bee In Sight

The Wicker Man is a British horror film directed by Robin Hardy. The film centres on Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), who travels to the remote Summerisle to try and find a missing girl, and once he arrives, he finds that the locals have abandoned Christianity and have embraced a pagan religion that involves human sacrifice.

This film is the stuff of filmmaking legend not just in the horror genre, but in British cinema in general. It is one of the best UK horror exports. The reason why it is so revered is because it plays on the fear of ‘others’: people who aren’t like us, and in this case in positions them as a direct threat to Christianity. There is a shocking and unpredictable nature to this film which is accompanied by a creep building sense of fear and permeates the whole film.

To me this film reminded me somewhat of Children of the Corn as they both had an underlying sense of something isn’t right here and has the antagonists worship some other evil deity, that is proven to be real to some extent. The Wicker Man also plays on the idea of being single minded, the protagonist is so convinced that his Christian way is right that he is blind to everything going on around him; a mistake that proves to be fatal.

The late great Christopher Lee appears in this film and he is phenomenal. Not only is he terrifying but he has that cult leader quality; the ability to convince others to do what he says through sheer magnetism. Lee proves his worth as a horror master a veteran of the genre, his Lord Summerisle should give you goose bumps.

There are some explicit scenes here and there that serve a purpose narratively but do feel a little over the top. The thing about these scenes is that they seem to come out of nowhere, they serve the purpose of showing how the pagan society clashes with the protagonist’s Christian views and can be viewed as quite shocking, especially when the film came out.

Overall this film is a masterpiece of horror filmmaking, it has been copied into modern horror (here’s looking at you Midsommar) because there is a timeless quality to this story that will never go out of fashion. A Must Watch!

Pros.

A Fantastic Culture Clash.

A Compelling Mystery.

Christopher Lee.

A Very Unique Identity.

Great Atmosphere And Horror.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed By Luke

The Do-over: Sandler At His Most Unlikeable?

The Do-Over is a buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Barnett. The plot follows Max (Adam Sandler), a man who has recently found out that he has cancer, he then, very fortunately, finds out that there is a drug that can cure cancer on a recently dead doctors I-Pad, he then fakes his and friend’s death, because why not, and then takes over the life of the dead doctor and his friend as a means to find out the cure.

Does that plot sound confusing to you? It should do. I tried my hardest to sum it up for you all in the clearest way I could, but it was hard. It doesn’t help that every word that comes out of Sandler’s characters mouth seems to be a lie, which makes understanding what is going on quite hard.

Netflix era Sandler is near-universally hated, I personally don’t think his Netflix work is as bad as some people say it is, but it does have some woeful moments and bad Sandler performances. The Do-Over is one of those performances, Sandler’s character Max is loathsome, Sandler takes some of his less likeable qualities from his other movies and turns them up to 11 here. If I didn’t know better, I would say he must have thought he was playing the villain. Every single bad thing a person can do Sandler’s Max does and then some; all the while we are supposed to cheer for him.

You know it is a bad state of affairs when Sandler’s Co-Star David Spade vastly upstages him. Spade plays Charlie, Max’s childhood friend who ends up taking over the life of the deceased doctor I mentioned before. Spade himself is a terrible actor and has given many many bad performances, but here he is charming and likeable; more so than Sandler. In a lot of these films that Sandler does he likes to include his real-life friends, they are usually there to support Sandler and take an easy paycheck, they aren’t supposed to upstage him crucially, however, Spade does.

Can I say before I wrap this review up, that this film much like Let’s Be Cops that I reviewed recently features Natasha Leggero, here playing Charlie’s Wife Nikki. Leggero is a hugely talented comedic actress and I am tired of seeing her only getting bit parts in films, she deserves parts that reflect her talents. She is one of the highlights of the film.

Overall this film is not offensively bad, which is my personal measure for Sandler quality, there are a few good jokes here and there and Spade and Leggero are good. My issue with this film that stops me from scoring it higher is the fact Sandler is just so damn unlikeable in it.

Pros.

Spade Is Actually Good.

Leggero Is Great For The Short Amount Of Time She Is On Screen.

There Are Some Laughs.

Cons.

The Plot Makes No Sense At All.

Sandler Is Deeply Unlikeable And Almost Unwatchable.

3/5

Reviewed By Luke

Dragged Across Concrete: A Pulp Fiction Novel Done In 159 Minutes

Dragged Across Concrete is a Neo-noir action thriller film, directed by S. Craig Zahler. The plot revolves around two cops, Brett (Mel Gibson), and Anthony (Vince Vaughn), who are suspended after an excessive force incident. However, for various reasons both men need to make money, so they decide to rob a group of criminals that have robbed a bank.

Craig Zahler is a very strange filmmaker to talk about as his films have a very specific style to them, if you have ever seen any of them you will know what I am talking about, said style can be incredibly polarising. I enjoyed his debut effort Bone Tomahawk but thought that his follow-up Brawl In Cell Block 99 went a little too far for my tastes and veered into vile and uncomfortable viewing. This film, however, seems to hit a sweet spot, it has moments of extreme violence, but these aren’t excessive rather instead well used.

One of my favourite bits from this film is one of those violent moments. Jenifer Carpenter plays Kelly a recent mother who is having separation anxiety as she has to be away from her baby and go back to work, can I just say here that even though her role is under 10 minutes I think this is one of the best performances of Carpenter’s career, once she is back at work she gets caught up in the bank robbery and killed. What makes this worth talking about is the fact that this is incredibly shocking as she is a recognisable actress, and had a big part in Cell Block 99, we don’t expect her to die so suddenly yet she does. This moment actually made me gasp out loud, I am being serious.

The antagonist of the film is also terrific from the moment we are introduced to Lorentz Vogelmann (Thomas Kretschmann), he is menacing. Furthermore, the choice to have him be in a mask for most of the film really adds to the sense of terror. He is the first ‘bad guy’ in a long time that has actually captured my interest.

Gibson and Vaughn are both solid leads and have a good repour, you can easily buy that these two men have been partners for some time. Moreover, the character motivations for the two are well written as well, Vaughn’s Anthony wants to propose to his girlfriend, he dies as he listens to a voicemail of her rejecting him this perfectly captures that gritty sense of reality that this film is going for. Brett, on the other hand, wants to provide a better life for his family, which in a sense he does, and this provides the film it’s happy ending.

Overall, this film feels as though S. Craig Zahler has brought a pulpy crime novel to the big screen in the best way. Usually, these sorts of films, especially with a run-time as long as this (159 minutes) start to lose my attention, but this one kept me hooked right the way through to the end. A modern masterpiece in noir cinema. A Must Watch!

Pros.

It Is Genuinely Shocking.

It Is Everything A Pulpy Crime Film Should Be.

It Is Gorey But Doesn’t Over Do It.

Great Leads.

A Career Best For Jennifer Carpenter.

Cons.

None.

5/5

Reviewed By Luke