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danhundt-18597
Reviews
Horror in the High Desert (2021)
I never knew I was so gullible!
I confess: I didn't realize this was a work of fiction until I was most of the way through the film. They nailed the Netflix-style crime doc vibe, and the understated acting really had me going for a while there. I put it on without much thought while I was puttering around the house, but ended up sitting down when things got interesting and quickly found myself utterly absorbed. I wish everyone could experience this the way I did, completely ignorant that it was not real, because it was quite an experience that way, lemme tell ya. I praise the people who made this for their restraint, which really leant an air of realism to the work. This is not at all a pulse-pounding thrill ride but rather a slow-burning, extremely impressive imitation of modern murder documentaries. If you like those, then this may be up your alley.
The Axe Murders of Villisca (2016)
One Curious Decision After Another
The only reason this gets two stars instead of just the one is because I found the locations and establishing shots thereof strangely charming. Otherwise, just about everything in this movie is abysmal. The casting is just bizarre and the ages of the actors stretch credulity beyond the breaking point, the characters' backstories are hamfisted and seem to only exist to explain otherwise unexplainable decisions they make, and the true story the movie is named after seems to have almost no bearing on the plot whatsoever, like the writers thought it was an interesting enough event to simply lift the name but not to bother incorporating any of what actually happened into their story about people researching said event. At no point in the movie does anyone make a decision that a normal human being would make in those circumstances.
I was particularly impressed that the directors were even able to find a woman willing to act the part of the female lead, whose backstory was incredibly insulting and - as it turns out - entirely pointless to the character, since it never really drove any important plot point. At the very beginning of the film, it is revealed that the main antagonist (jock bully) has made a sex tape with her and put it on the internet and everyone in her high school has already seen it; she is considered promiscuous by her peers. She then proceeds to..... hook up with the protagonist with amazing ease, with very little time spent together and no particular chemistry on display, and with no easily explainable reason why they'd be feeling frisky at that moment, all of which seems to lend credence to what her fellow high schoolers have been saying about her. Truly one of the most terribly written characters I've seen in a movie.
There is no actual artistic merit to be found anywhere in this film.
The Silence (2019)
Not A Lick Of Sense Was Made
I struggle to think of a single scene in which any of the actors behaved in the way a normal human being would have under those circumstances. This movie might well have set a world record with it's enormous number of glaring plot holes. From beginning to end, nothing made particularly much sense. In a weird way it's almost worth watching simply because of the surreally bad writing. It was really rather remarkable.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
Shockingly, I loved it.
My wife and I have been mocking this movie for years, having never actually watched it. We just assumed it must be dreadful; it certainly appeared to have all the ingredients of an absolutely awful movie.
But somehow... it isn't. I'm telling you, this movie is about a billion times funnier than it has any real right to be. It certainly isn't high art, and there's nothing really resembling a unique and original storyline, and it's utterly rife with cliche.... and yet somehow it all just works. I can't quite put my finger on whether Kevin James just carried the day by being so all-in on this ridiculous character or if there was some other sort of voodoo magick at play here, but I absolutely laughed my ass off from beginning to end.
I rarely write reviews on here. I had to write one for this movie, because it's middling rating is an outrage to me. Before I saw it, I assumed this film sucked. Now that I've seen it, I'm calling it one of the best slapstick comedies in recent memory. If you're looking to turn your brain off for a bit and just chuckle at a doofus being dopey for a while, this movie will serve that purpose superbly.